Debut or Die - Chapter 68

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com

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A Fatal Illness if I Don’t Debut – Episode 68
“….”
A moment of stunned silence fell over the room.
The Director repeated the words back as if he’d just heard an absurd joke.
“…Magical girl? You mean the stuff kids watch? Like Luna Moon?”
“Yes.”
Park Moon-dae quickly clarified the situation before the Director could express his displeasure.
Click.
“Of course, I don’t mean literal children’s magical girl content.”
The PPT advanced another slide, revealing ethereal, dreamlike prop shots.
A classroom window glimmering in the sunset glow.
A cracked flip phone’s sky-blue wallpaper.
A classroom clock shimmering with violet effects.
….
“Rather, if we reconstruct it using only the symbolic motifs inherent to that genre, it becomes a genuinely competitive category. Given the current retro trend, it’s a choice that captures both mass appeal and forward-thinking vision.”
“…Hmm.”
Park Moon-dae displayed several retro marketing case studies on the PPT. Among them was even an SNS viral campaign conducted by T1, the parent company of the Agency.
“Furthermore, if the dreamy song atmosphere harmonizes with keywords like ‘youth’ and ‘magic,’ we can absolutely achieve artistic merit through art film-style production.”
Artistry.
He’d struck precisely at the Director’s weak point.
When the Director had discussed in-house idol production, Park Moon-dae had picked up on what kind of image he wanted for this Agency business.
‘He wants to look sophisticated—this will definitely work.’
He’d already laid sufficient groundwork discussing mass appeal earlier, so he’d covered the commercial angle thoroughly.
“Here are the related image references and arrangement drafts.”
Park Moon-dae advanced the PPT, showing the additional image materials he and the members had carefully selected.
Finally, he played a short clip of Song 7.
The chorus section.
But it felt different from the demo.
“…!”
“We’re planning to proceed with the full arrangement in this direction.”
Kim Rae-bin, standing beside him reviewing the presentation materials, gave a subtle nod of approval.
Seeing the person who’d led the arrangement work looking satisfied brought a strange sense of relief, and the rest of the members relaxed slightly as well.
‘He hasn’t slept because of this.’
It was fortunate that Ryu Chung-woo had a car and a driver’s license. They could just text the manager and head to the studio.
Of course, the manager who woke up and saw the message that morning was shocked.
“Ooh….”
The Director let out a peculiar exclamation, then began nodding his head repeatedly.
And he started clapping.
“Ah, you really do need young, talented people like this. Preparing a full presentation in just one day like this—bang! Impressive~”
‘Looks like he’s pleased.’
Park Moon-dae stifled a snort.
The Director had been spouting what barely qualified as praise to the staff—something about how we seemed better than the kids getting hired these days—before finally getting to the point.
“Great~ let’s proceed with this approach.”
“…!”
“Thank you!”
“Ah, it’s because it’s me approving this. The other department heads, those old guys—they don’t really understand this kind of thing~”
Park Moon-dae watched the Director take credit and smiled as earnestly as he could manage. It was the same vibe he used when dealing with professors.
For the record, the members who witnessed that expression were exchanging meaningful glances behind his back, silently asking each other: “Just how badly did he want to do that seven?”
“Of course, Director. Since I have your trust, there’s one more thing I’d like to mention.”
“Hmm?”
Park Moon-dae advanced the PowerPoint presentation, which he’d thought was finished, by one more slide.
“It’s about the song the company provided for us.”
“…?”
“The baseball club concept was really something we loved too. Right?”
“Absolutely!”
“We’ve been dying to try it.”
“We heard you decided on it for us, Director. Thank you so much!”
Park Moon-dae and the members exchanged the pre-planned responses with practiced enthusiasm.
‘Finish before the company people snap out of it.’
“So we were thinking—to bring out more of that traditional baseball club feel, what if we incorporated a different genre instead of disco?”
“What, what?”
Park Moon-dae smiled faintly.
“What if we used rock?”
“…!”

* * *
Two weeks before Testa’s official debut date announced by the Agency.
An article appeared on the portal site.
[Ajusa’s Testa Makes Explosive Debut on June 18th]
[Major Rookie Testa from Audition Program Counts Down to Debut]
[TeSTAR Arrives… June Music Industry Shakeup]
The date was about five days later than the original deadline we’d set, but the fans’ response was still scorching.
After all, there hadn’t been a single update for the past two weeks.
-Finally
-Guess something was happening behind the scenes. Phew…
-20 days left. Now I can wait without worrying.
-Nothing has been posted on the kids’ SNS except the first post. I hope you guys take good care of me! Everyone is busy preparing for the album, right?ㅠㅠ
-The reality show schedule was set too, I hope the teaser drops soon
Some fans were slightly concerned about the overlap with VTIC’s schedule, but since the debut date had already been announced, they accepted reality and made peace with it.
The kids are gonna love this lolol There were quite a few members who said they admired VTIC, right?
-Well, it’s not like they’re releasing simultaneously anyway, there’ll be about a week’s difference, so it should be fine.
-I’ll get to see Moon-dae and Chung-ryeo meet again
└Just thinking about it makes me smile
Fans spun all sorts of theories from that single piece of news.
There were certainly some dissatisfied fans, but the general sentiment was still to wait and see.
And then, a week later.
With less than two weeks until the comeback.
-Why isn’t anything coming out?
People exploded.
-Is the Agency even doing their job?
-Teaser images should’ve dropped by now, why nothing? The members’ SNS are completely silent too
-How can there be zero hype like this? It doesn’t make sense logically
-Did they just post that article and lock the members on some island? No sightings anywhere;;;
-They’re not abandoning the members and pocketing the investment money, right? We won’t stand for it.
A sinister atmosphere hung in the air, as if an official statement could drop any moment. The hastily constructed Agency website was already inaccessible due to traffic overload.
On that day, just before the rage would tear the internet apart.
-Crrrrazy what just dropped (link)
The teaser dropped that night at midnight.

* * *
[TeSTAR ‘Magic Boy’ Official Teaser]
“….”
The thumbnail displayed two hands reaching toward the sky. A mesmerizing blend of golden and violet light painted the heavens, immediately capturing the eye.
But the moment I clicked play, the screen cut to black.
But when I clicked play, a black screen suddenly appeared.
Click.
An English narration flowed across the screen with subtitles.
[As a child, I always returned home before the sun set.]
[There were no nights when the moon rose in that daily routine.]
[And now]
[I gaze out the classroom window.]
[The sunset was descending.]
Whirrrr— click.
The sound of film projecting echoed.
In that instant, the twilight sky flooded the entire screen.
Golden, violet, and crimson rays collided in a dizzying cascade.
A music box melody chimed.
♬♪♩♪- ♬♪♬♪- ♪♩-
Two notes dripped like water droplets across the screen, painting it in dreamlike hues.
The camera gradually pulled back. A white frame enclosed the fantastical sky.
It was a window with billowing curtains.
And there, leaning against the frame, was In-young asleep.
[….]
The back of a black-haired boy in a white summer school uniform.
Scattered around him were worn baseball gloves and baseballs.
The boy shifted slightly. Sunset light poured through the gap.
♬♪♩♪- ♬♪♬♪- ♪♩-
The moment his white uniform was tinted pink by the sunset.
The billowing curtains seemed to sweep open wide, then shattered like crystalline shards, glowing brilliantly white.
Psshhh….
Those transparent crystal fragments cascaded onto the boy’s back, scattering violet sunset in all directions.
A breathtaking symphony of color.
And then.
The screen faded to black.
[Magic Boy]
[06.18. 00:00]
“….”
The thirty-second video ended there.
But the staggering view count spoke volumes.
[Views: 5,191,045]
It was an insane surge.
Apparently, we hit three million views in less than a day.
Considering Testa had virtually no overseas presence, it was astounding.
“What do you think?”
“P-people… they like it?”
I nodded.
“Yeah.”
“Th-thank goodness…!”
Several members who had been doing an Internet detox for their mental health before debut collapsed onto the floor.
The tension drained away, and exhaustion darkened their vision.
‘I get it.’
Honestly, if the response had been poor, my own mental state would have crumbled too.
Right now, I’m just working like a cow suffering from insomnia on day twenty-five….
‘…Still, the timeline is cutting it close.’
The teaser was originally supposed to release later. We hadn’t even finished editing the “Magical Boy” music video yet.
But if we delayed any longer, the people waiting would probably stress themselves sick, so we all pushed hard to move it up.
‘The Agency finally seemed to get nervous.’
Regardless, the response was overwhelmingly… positive.
-Insane quality, why is it like this
-How do you even come up with a concept like this;; I’m genuinely bewildered, give me your account number
-You guys are already fun, already a masterpiece
-What? Magical Boy? You’re my magic… ugh
-So that’s why there was no news, you were making this… then I guess I can’t complain, okay understood
-My wallet belongs to Testa. Reserved from the teaser.
Not a single comment subtly criticizing the group stood out. The praise was so overwhelming that negative comments were buried.
From my perspective, the teaser turned out well. We picked the right parts of the song to reveal, and the direction was balanced.
‘Showing only our backs so people couldn’t tell who appeared was a good choice too.’
If we’d blatantly featured just one member in a survival show group’s teaser, there’s no telling what would happen.
And above all, the visual quality was exceptional—we’d thrown serious money at it. We basically bought our way through the time crunch.
‘People’s expectations have gotten pretty high… but since the song is good, we should be able to pull it off.’
Additional content would keep dropping over the next few days, so the fans wouldn’t have anything to worry about.
“…Guys, snap out of it and get ready again.”
“Yes….”
At Ryu Chung-woo’s exhausted voice, the members dragged themselves up like zombies.
I tossed my phone aside and joined them.
“You did well. The music video is almost done—just this one song left to film.”
“Wow….”
“The schedule will focus on choreography practice from here on.”
“….”
It was hell on earth, no exaggeration.
“Yes!”
In the oppressive silence, only Cha Yu-jin’s response rang out cheerfully.
Then, a staff member approached.
“Setup is complete~”
“Got it!”
The second music video shoot was winding down.
In truth, considering that filming typically begins at least a month in advance, this schedule was absolutely insane.
‘…Which means everyone involved is locked in for all-nighters.’
By the way, the same director who shot “Magic Boy” was directing this one too.
‘This company’s operational staff definitely knows how to work.’
I wasn’t sure where they’d pulled the music video director from, but they’d managed to secure a promising young director in no time. It seemed like they’d intercepted him through connections.
It was the kind of ambitious move you’d expect from T1’s experienced hires.
…The problem was that no one knew when the powder keg of an overeager Director and a chaotic company system would explode.
Especially that executive who’d gone blind chasing the publicity of “Testa’s agency is here” and immediately started pushing articles about a debut within a month—I wished he’d resign on the spot.
…Let me just push that thought aside for now. I need to work, and I don’t need the extra stress.
“Does everyone know their own shooting schedule?”
“I didn’t really have anything special to memorize.”
“Me neither!”
“Oh right~ we didn’t have anything special. Sae-jin hyung’s going to have it rough, huh?”
“…Not really.”
Lee Sae-jin answered curtly, though she didn’t seem uncooperative.
Both music videos we were shooting ended up having storylines, so we’d decided to make good use of her background as a child actress.
‘Hmm, it wouldn’t hurt to give her a little encouragement to work harder.’
I spoke to Lee Sae-jin.
“Actually, I was impressed watching you. …You’re really good at this.”
“….”
It wasn’t entirely hollow flattery. Her experience clearly showed—she was the only one among us who didn’t look amateurish even in unedited shots.
“If it’s Moon-dae’s feelings, I understand. That guy gets embarrassed even when only the back of his head appears in the teaser~”
Nonsense came from an unexpected source.
Big Sae-jin quickly averted his gaze the moment I turned to look at him and pretended to be occupied with something else. That bastard really….
“…I was trying to make a living off this, so I might as well do it well.”
“Pardon?”
Lee Sae-jin didn’t answer further. She simply followed the staff with a slightly sunken expression.
‘Even praise gets that reaction.’
I held back a sigh. I didn’t have the energy to be annoyed.
“Alright, let’s start with the group choreography scene~”
“Yes!”
I adjusted my posture to match the choreography formation and mentally reorganized the schedule.
Normally, concept photos should have been released first, but the schedule had been pushed back due to the teaser video, so they were scheduled to be released around the time the album dropped.
‘So then… the reality show will probably be released first.’
I had expected the teaser video to drop by the following week at the latest, but even now it felt quite delayed with only a few days left until the broadcast.
And as expected, the reality show teaser went up that night.
[Testa Living Together TEST]

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com

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