Debut or Die

Chapter 1

Isn’t it the constitution that it’s a different world when you open your eyes and see an unfamiliar ceiling?

But it wasn’t. I woke up in some moldy motel room.

“Ugh—”

It felt like my head was going to break. I grabbed my forehead and got up. The musty-smelling blanket fell under my feet.

So—let’s see, after confirming that I failed the test again, I think I fell asleep while drinking alone.

Does this mean that I roll in from my studio room to the motel?

“I’m going crazy….”

I cursed at myself and went into the bathroom. I thought I should get some water and check out my appearance as well. I’m sure I look like a drunk student studying for the civil service exam, even though I’m not looking at it.

And I fell down when I looked in the mirror.

“Ugh!—Fuck.”

I couldn’t believe the situation and gritted my teeth while reflexively swearing.

I brushed my hair with trembling hands. Then I looked in the mirror again.

I could still see an unfamiliar face in the mirror.

There is a skinny, fine little boy.

…I held my breath to keep myself from panicking. I had already quit, yet I found myself longing for a cigarette.

“…Whoo.”

It was then that I realized that even the voice was unfamiliar.

I feel like biting my tongue.

What the hell’s going on here?

I barely came to my senses and led the unfamiliar body to search the motel room.

I found a note in the bed that looked like a suicide note and an empty medicine box. This guy must have tried to kill himself by taking sleeping pills.

When I read the contents of the suicide note roughly, the content was that he was an orphan who dropped out of school; he died because he felt depressed and hopeless.

My mouth felt bitter for no reason. Why am I still an orphan while having changed my body?

I also found a wallet that was lying on a cheap dressing table. I looked around and found some bills and this body’s ID card.

[Park Moondae 0X1215 – 3XXXXXX]

“The last digit is 3….”

He was young. I looked at the photo on my ID card after I said it. It was better than the appearance I saw in the mirror earlier, but my face was dark.

Still, he looked young with a handsome face, considering he had a dark impression. Is he 23 years old now? I thought he’d be younger.

“….”

No, this is not the time to think about this.

I tried to think calmly.

Anyway, I calmed down by roughly grasping the situation. I think I should slowly find my original body’s whereabouts and come up with countermeasures. I don’t know if this guy who tried to commit suicide got into my body.

I took my wallet and opened the motel door.

And I hardened.

In front of my eyes, snow was falling from the window.

…It was July before I got drunk.

“Oh my.”

I swallowed my saliva. Then I rushed back inside the motel room and lifted the calendar on the desk.

[202X December]

—This is a calendar from 3 years ago.

My vision became dizzy.

It didn’t take that long to calm down again. That— because it was more shocking to me to change my body than to come to the past.

I sat on the bed and sighed. I don’t even remember the lottery number. Why.

Then I raised my head at the flash of nonsense.

…In fact, it could be a different world, not the past.

It was a crazy idea, but it seemed convincing because I was overwhelmed by the crazy situation.

This seems to happen very often in the webtoons and web novels I searched for. Was it called hunter…?

I murmured a little blankly. I’m sure it seemed pretty insufficient.

“Status window…?”

Of course, nothing happened.

Damn it.

I hit the bed with my hand in shame.

There’s no way, you idiot—.

[Name: Park Moondae (Ryu Gunwoo)]

Level : 0

Title: None

Vocal: C

Dance: –

Visual: C

Talent: –

Characteristics: Infinite potential

It’s open?

I fell out of bed.

“Ugh!”

I thought as I groaned in pain in my back.

The content of the status window is— not what I expected?

* * *

“….”

By opening the status window, I could calm myself down as much as I wanted.

It’s definitely a situation that ignores the laws of physics. But I can feel that this is not a joke.

Now, I’m out of the motel and in a nearby PC room. This is because I need to find out if there are other variables besides the fact that this world was 3 years ago.

For reference, I asked the counter to call my original number, but it said that the number was not available.

I couldn’t log in to the university account, and the SNS account created for the assignment also disappeared.

In other words, there seems to be no ‘me’ in the world.

Well, there’s no such thing as a lingering feeling.

My parents had already died in an accident when I was in middle school, and by the time I entered college, all of my relatives had lost contact with me.

There were no good personal connections, and any human relationships that existed disappeared as the preparation for the civil service exam grew longer.

Moreover, if I think of the time I had wasted as a student preparing for the civil service exam, it means that even if I quit, there’ll be nothing weird with it.

“The Ham Ramyeon you ordered.”

“Ah, thank you.”

I calmly evaluated myself and received a tray. And I looked at the search engine while slurping ramyeon in my mouth.

Well, it was 3 years ago that I set up a “full-scale study” for quite some time.

These sites are not very familiar to me because it was the time when I canceled my smartphone and cut off the internet.

But I didn’t feel out of place.

It feels exactly like 3 years ago. Things that were popular at that time stand out. Games, movies, songs—Idol.

Idols.

“Hmm.”

When I finished eating, I put the chopsticks in the ramyeon bowl, and I crossed my arms.

The contents of the status window were specific to idols, no matter how I looked at it.

I don’t know why I came into this body, but is it related to the contents of the status window?

Did the original owner of this body, ‘Park Moondae,’ want to be an ‘aspiring idol’?

—Or is it because of my college days?

I don’t know at all. But I should use what is available.

“Status window.”

As I mumbled softly, almost only with the sound of my breath, another translucent status window popped up in my sight.

My vocal is a grade C, and my visual is also a grade C. The rest are blank.

Is it because I haven’t tried it?

The idea suddenly came to my mind, but I decided to put it off for now. There was no way I wanted to show off my dancing and talent right now in this situation.

Then, should I check the status window for other content?

I remembered the karaoke sign I saw while entering the PC room.

* * *

“Oh.”

First of all, speaking of the confirmation results, grade C doesn’t seem to be a low grade.

I could sing very well. First of all, the tone was good, and the volume of the voice was good. Since the vocalizations were also clear, I would say that it feels like ‘the basics are good.’ I definitely thought I had talent.

And what’s even more surprising is that this window pops up.

[Achievement accomplished! <First attempt>]

Level 0 -? 1

You have obtained 1 point!

“Achievements?”

I was just asking myself, but another window popped up.

[Achievements in Progress]

10 attempts (0/10)

100 attempts (0/100)

1st experience (0/1)

10 experiences (0/10)

……

The scroll bar continued to endlessly the bottom—it’s hard work. Even the units are becoming more irrationally so. Besides, half of them are blank, so it’s impossible to check.

I got a little idea about it, so I turned off the window.

Still, since I earned a point, should I use it like in a game?

I called out the status window.

‘Remaining points: 1’ was newly displayed at the bottom.

“Distribute 1 point to Vocal.”

Then the contents of the status window changed.

[Name: Park Moondae (Ryu Gunwoo)]

Level: 1

Title: None

Vocal: C+

Dance: –

Visual: C

Talent: –

Characteristics: Infinite potential

Vocal becomes a C+ right away.

Is this really reflected?

I immediately chose the song I sang earlier again. And I sang it the same way.

“…I’m doing good?”

There was definitely a difference. It was easier to hear, and the sounds were more refined. It’s as if my throat has learned how to sing it that way.

And “Characteristics” in the status window.

“The infinite potential.”

Ordinary people’s performance depends on their natural talent compared to their efforts. There is also a limit to how many times you can try. The maximum possible growth, the limit of potential.

But now, this window shows that it is ridiculously high efficiency for effort and that there is no growth limit.

Besides, I confirmed that my skills were actually improving.

I thought, stroking my chin.

Idols—.

Does it mean I should pursue a new career path with this body?

At that moment, a pop-up appeared on the status window.

“…!!”

[Outbreak!]

Status Abnormality: ‘Debut or Die’!

Text lines continued beneath the red text.

[‘Debut or Die’]

If you don’t debut as an idol within the time limit, you will die.

Remaining period: D-365

“What?”

The content was ridiculous, but I had an ominous feeling.

It’s already crazy that I’m in someone else’s body, but there’s no guarantee that nothing more strange will happen.

As soon as I finished reading, the weird pop-up disappeared.

And, sure enough, a strange entry was added to the status window.

[Name: Park Moondae (Ryu Gunwoo)]

Level: 1

Title: None

Vocals: C+

Dance: –

Visuals: C

Talent: –

Characteristic: Infinite potential

!Status abnormality: Debut or die

Is this real?

“Fuck—”

I spit out cursing and covered my forehead. A cold sweat broke out.

I had already confirmed the existence of the status window. So it was impossible to ignore the possibility that even this shitty phrase would come true.

Why the hell did this pop out? Because I think of idols?

I burst out laughing. But at the same time, I also had this thought.

‘…It can’t be. Did I get punished for taking pictures and selling data of idols?’

Yeah, idols.

In fact, it was a familiar field due to personal reasons.

This is because when I was in college, I took pictures of idols on behalf of them and made decent living expenses. In the process—I’ve also had dirty tastes for money.

I’ve seen all sorts of things and heard all sorts of rumors.

Besides, the environment makes people; as I moved around and went to take pictures, I unnecessarily immersed myself in this field.

I was able to study this and that voluntarily at that time, so it is an area where I am well versed.

I wiped the cold sweat away from my face. Then I crossed my arms and looked at the status window.

I don’t know what was what. It was ridiculous, and I’m angry.

But I have no intention of dying.

So let’s stay calm.

Yeah, it’s a waste of life anyway, but it would give me a fresh start. And on such favorable terms.

Besides, if I want to track the reason I entered this body, I’ll have to use this unrealistic status window more and check it out.

“Hmm.”

Self-rationalization has been completed. I grinned with a sour smile.

…Around this time, an idol survival program was a huge hit, wasn’t it?