Debut or Die - Chapter 70

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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 70
I unlocked the door and stepped into the room, where Lee Sae-jin, who had been sitting dejectedly on her bed, startled.
“Ah…!”
“Get a grip.”
I settled onto the opposite bed. Ryu Chung-woo and Big Sae-jin, whom I’d expected to follow me in, were nowhere to be seen.
‘…They must have tactfully made themselves scarce.’
Those two had every reason to.
Well, it didn’t matter. With Lee Sae-jin in that state, sleep was off the table anyway. Might as well find out what was on her mind.
‘I wish we had some alcohol.’
There was no chance of that in a dormitory for an idol group barely launching. I broached the subject without it.
“You know the Company will call you in for a meeting tomorrow morning or early dawn anyway, right?”
“…!”
“If that’s the case, wouldn’t it be better to sort through your thoughts here comfortably first? Running away won’t change the situation anyway.”
“….”
The “That makes sense” trait didn’t activate this time, and only after considerable time had passed did Lee Sae-jin finally speak.
“…I don’t know.”
“Know what?”
“What I actually want to do….”
“…?”
It seemed awfully late to be wrestling with career choices now.
“Do you want to go back to your Agency and continue acting?”
“…I don’t want to go back.”
“So you do want to keep acting?”
“…Isn’t that obvious?”
Lee Sae-jin buried her face in her palms.
“I never even considered being an idol in the first place….”
“….”
This reminds me of when an abnormal status popped up…
I clicked my tongue.
‘So she didn’t participate in the audition of her own volition.’
“You participated in Ajusa because of your former Agency, it seems.”
“…Yeah. I’d been resting for so long… they said I needed to do something like this to get work offers.”
“I see.”
I spoke without thinking.
“You were working hard for someone doing it reluctantly, though.”
“…I had to work hard anyway. I couldn’t afford not to.”
Lee Sae-jin bristled slightly.
‘Hmm, that had a different tone to it.’
I recalled what she’d said to me in the finals.
-You’ll debut, so it’s not over, right? …I envy that.
Wasn’t that just him saying he wanted to keep going? Besides, I could see the changes in Lee Sae-jin’s status window clearly.
‘The F is gone now.’
Lee Sae-jin had raised her Dance stat from an F when filming started all the way up to D+.
That was no growth that could be achieved by doing it apathetically without any real interest.
So I got a sense of what was happening.
“Actually, it was fun.”
“…!”
“Once I tried it, I found it enjoyable, so I ended up working harder without even realizing it.”
“….”
Lee Sae-jin clamped her mouth shut. She couldn’t deny it.
“Right. …Standing on stage was good. I even thought I wanted to keep doing it. But acting too… I want to keep doing that as well.”
“…? Then do it.”
“What…?”
I couldn’t understand why she was even agonizing over this.
“In a year or two, the Agency here will naturally slot in individual activities for you anyway. Do acting. Once you complete five years, it’ll be renegotiation season, so if you want to stop being an idol, you can just continue with acting.”
Lee Sae-jin, who had been listening with her mouth slightly open, soon let out a bitter laugh and shook her head.
“…I can’t.”
“Pardon?”
“You don’t know what kind of place my former Agency was.”
“….”
Well, I didn’t know much about it. Acting wasn’t my specialty after all.
Whether Lee Sae-jin had half-given up or not, she spilled out the situation.
“Dream K over there… it’s not a quality Agency. If I stay here under this Agency like this, they said they’d blow something up out of spite.”
“Did they get some kind of leverage on you?”
If drugs came up here by any chance, I was planning to recommend withdrawal first.
Fortunately, Lee Sae-jin frowned.
“I didn’t live that recklessly. …They mean they’ll just blow up some plausible rumor in tabloid form.”
According to her explanation, there were already several actors who had been sent off like that when they didn’t renegotiate.
When renegotiation season comes, they deliberately spread rumors to lower the asking price.
‘It’s like a textbook example of an unscrupulous entertainment company.’
“Hmm, do you have a predicted lineup of rumors?”
“Mine’s obvious. …First, they’ll establish the narrative that the audition was for an acting comeback and that I never wanted to be an idol anyway.
“Mm.”
“Then after that, they’ll spread weird tabloid rumors about infidelity or… well, anyway, things that can’t be proven as crimes.”
“Well, our investor is T1, so I don’t think they can go that far there.”
“The first one is meant to set the tone first. That’s the purpose—to make T1 cut me off.”
Lee Sae-jin muttered bitterly.
“After all… it was added on at the last minute anyway.”
“….”
“My public opinion on the Internet isn’t good right now either. There are plenty of people saying to do it without me. …Because I’m not good at it.”
“…Hmm.”
So he’d dug up all of that.
There had certainly been some talk like that circulating.
About the supplementary recruit, the actor-turned-trainee, and how the group would be so much better without the one with the lowest stats—that sort of thing.
I shrugged my shoulders.
“That public opinion will weaken once we debut.”
“…That’s just empty reassurance.”
“No, I mean it’ll actually happen.”
“…What?”
“We’re debuting simultaneously with VTIC. The moment you’re competing against them, the group will unite internally.”
“…!!”
It was a natural law—when a powerful external enemy emerged, internal unity followed.
“Besides, once you’re gone, someone else becomes the target. That’s how it always works. So you shouldn’t base your decision on that.”
The desire to eliminate whoever appeared weakest was a behavior seen in any group. It wasn’t something unique to Lee Sae-jin.
Lee Sae-jin seemed to choke up slightly, but soon composed himself and shook his head.
“Still… there’s no way to stop my former agency right now. Even if I talk to my current agency, they can’t completely block malicious rumors.”
“Then you should do it directly.”
“What?”
I crossed my arms.
“You should announce it first yourself.”
“…First?”
“Post about how your former agency forced you to participate, but you found your true calling and don’t want to go back. Really emphasize the ‘coercion, pressure’ from your former agency. Frame it like you escaped successfully thanks to the audition.”
“…!”
“Then even if rumors come out, they won’t gain much traction, right?”
The idea was to set the tone so fans could defend you by thinking, ‘Ah, so the former agency is spreading rumors.’
Once public opinion shifted, the former agency would find lawsuits burdensome, and then T1, reluctant to give up their shares, would handle it cleanly on their own.
Lee Sae-jin fell silent for a moment, mouth slightly open.
“…What were you doing after dropping out of school?”
“I came to the audition.”
This repertoire never changed. At least this time, there was no mention of the National Intelligence Service.
“Then discuss it with your agency that way.”
“…Alright.”
Either way, I’d sorted out the situation roughly. Ryu Chung-woo could handle the rest himself. I suppressed a sigh.
“…Should I post it on my SNS account?”
“Make sure to say you’ll write it by hand.”

* * *
After news of the lawsuit against Dream K, Lee Sae-jin’s former agency, broke, the entertainment news sections of the Internet were invariably filled with related stories.
The unfair contract terms were indeed legitimate, and coupled with the Broadcasting Station’s abuse of power, diverse reactions emerged.
-Taking someone away mid-contract is too much. They should maintain the contract and just handle management themselves
-Then they’d be double-dipping on settlements. These kids aren’t outsourced workers, so why should they have to deal with this;; Actually, this arrangement is better for idols
-Honestly, since the former agency didn’t do anything right, didn’t they send her to the audition? Now that things are going well, asking for her back is so transparent lolol
-If you factor in trainee coaching and miscellaneous expenses, the former agency has a legitimate grievance.
-Ugh, this is exhausting because of Lee Sae-jin. Let’s just give her back and do this with six members. Honestly, the stage quality and team atmosphere are both better without her
Particularly harsh were the reactions from those advocating to remove Lee Sae-jin.
-Seriously, she’s not helpful at all
Let’s just say we made a sacrifice for our kids to do well, and get out of here quick!
-A week before debut and this happens
-Who wants to see the face of someone who reluctantly participated in the audition and somehow debuted by enduring? Nobody, right?
-She passed Testa without sleeping, crying, and just running toward the stage—an actress doesn’t fit our group, please remove her
In response, a vicious cycle of Lee Sae-jin’s fans being hurt repeated itself.
And the next morning.
For the first time since their initial post, Testa’s SNS received a new notification.
Fans who clicked at lightning speed saw a post with a handwritten letter photo attached.
-…!
It was Lee Sae-jin’s post.
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[Hello. I am Lee Sae-jin, a member of Testa.]
: Regarding recent news and discussions, I am writing this to share my thoughts.
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The carefully written text in neat handwriting began with a story about my childhood in the entertainment industry.
In summary, it meant that my former agency had subjected my young self to grueling exploitation.
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[…Due to such excessive schedules, my health deteriorated and I had to stop working as a child actress. A schedule where I couldn’t sleep more than three hours a day was simply too much for a twelve-year-old body to endure.]
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And just as I was barely recovering and attempting a fresh start, the former agency forced me to participate in an audition.
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[…Since I had never stood on a stage before, I refused multiple times. However, I was placed under tremendous pressure with explanations like ‘If you don’t appear on this program, you will never receive another role,’ and I ended up participating in Idol Corporation.]
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And in that audition I participated in.
I discovered unexpected, profound joy, as I wrote.
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[Good friends who approached me, someone passive in peer relationships, and the stages we created together were so incredibly joyful. Standing on that stage was thrilling and blissful.
Though I never expected it, I became desperate to continue this work. I yearned for it.
And so gratefully, my dream came true, and now being able to debut alongside these wonderful friends is such a precious opportunity for me.
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And truly, I’m grateful that this dream has come true, and being able to debut now with wonderful friends is such a precious opportunity for me.
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Lee Sae-jin concluded her post by saying she truly wanted to debut as Testa alongside these friends.
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[I apologize for not sharing good news in my first post. I promise to return with news that brings joy to you all as a Testa member. Thank you for reading this long post.]
========================
Not long after the post went up, the sentiment among Testa fans who had been even slightly favorable toward Lee Sae-jin began to stir.
I’m crying / Boo hoo / Wah wah
-T1 was right this time. And Dream K said something like being beaten.
“And where did your agency’s conscience go, treating a 12-year-old kid like that and then talking about unfairness? Isn’t what you guys did unfair?”
-T1 was right this time. And Dream K said something they deserve to be hit for.
Honestly, I sometimes wondered if I accidentally ended up at Testa too… if this is really what I want to do, you know? I’m sorry.
Fans who had been with her since her child acting days felt even more heartbroken.
-Thinking about how she appeared on broadcasts with a bright smile even though she was suffering so much at just 12 years old… it breaks my heart…
-I thought Sae-jin had grown up and become more composed… sigh…
-I wanted to see her acting again… but more than that, I want to see her doing what she wants to do. Going back to that agency is absolutely not an option.
And once public opinion shifted, those who had enjoyed ostracizing Lee Sae-jin fell away considerably.
Of course, there were still plenty of people being sarcastic, but at least the numbers had tipped in the other direction.
Lee Sae-jin’s being a bit of a sentiment seller too lol. But what can you do, she’s still the worst at it, sigh.
You’re doing better than someone who gets jealous of a 23-year-old and leaves hate comments! haha
Haha, that’s brutal.
Lee Sae-jin is saying that among idols, she’s seen ones who are doing okay, so she wants to keep doing it, haha… After doing it for about 3 years, it seems like she’ll desert it, and I just feel bad for the kids who got eliminated.
└How twisted does your thinking have to be to interpret it that way…
└These people’s trait: they mock the failed contestants in other posts too, saying they lost to Lee Sae-jin
Because audition-passing fans felt a sense of empathy reading Lee Sae-jin’s post, even individual Testa fandoms began to feel repulsed by malicious comments about this incident.
Seizing this opportunity, Tnet reined in Dream K with a carrot and an overwhelming stick.
Articles quietly disappeared and were resolved, and on the day when fan sentiment reversed.
Like driving in a wedge, another teaser dropped at midnight.
But this time it didn’t go up on Testa’s official YouTube channel.
Instead, it was added to Tnet’s Testa Reality section.
[TeSTAR ‘Hi-five’ Official Teaser]
‘Did the channel change?’
‘But it’s not a magical boy concept…?’

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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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