Debut or Die

Chapter 197

Testar’s reality show remained popular even after entering season 2.

No, rather, in terms of popularity, it received a better report card.

This was because Season 1, which was aired on TV, raised decent viewership ratings, and the term for Season 2 to air on TV was significantly reduced.

One week.

In addition, there was a slight difference in the amount of editing on WeTube and TV, so die-hard fans watched both.

Of course, there were more viewers who took advantage of the kind and quick labor of netizens.

[Hour Hall TV Additional Cut (1/3)]

: (Video)

0:43 Interview with Cha Kitty’s grandmother

3:58 Keunse’s whistling section

5:02 Park Moondae’s smile collection

– Grandmother’s pick is Chungwoo… As expected of my man

?Wash your feet and go to sleep

– Crazy Lee Sejin, you’re even good at whistling, just how far are you going?

– You smile when giving bonus services? Park Moondae is guilty

It was the first time since <Idol Inc.> that the group Testar itself was directly exposed to the public in terms of entertainment.

Of course, fans happily enjoyed the timing of the sales.

For a while, they thought VTIC would sweep off everything by themselves, but it felt good to see Testar come out even during their inactive period.

[Testar’s Hour Hall that started season 2]

[The popularity of Testar members throughout serving in the US]

[An idol who can weigh 30g with just his hands]

In the first week when the first and second episodes of season 2 aired, dozens of popular articles went up and down on the Internet every day.

The momentum didn’t die in the third and fourth episodes, which were released the following week.

[Testar’s secret friend tour!]

In this tour, the members became each other’s secret friends through a lottery.

[Kim Raebin: It’s Chungwoo hyung!]

[Ryu Chungwoo: Ah, it’s Moondae.]

[Bae Sejin: …Lee Sejin.]

And they had to buy the ‘gift that person would want to get’ that the selected members had chosen in advance as souvenir tourists without being caught.

Let’s laugh at Testar who was trying their best to be exempted from the punishment and acting as a spy…Or so was the plan.

[PD: The members’ caring deep friendship! It will be a tour that shows the power of friendship!]

[Ryu Chungwoo: Ah, I see!]

[Ryu Chungwoo: Then let’s pretend we don’t know each other.]

[The crew: !!!!]

Ryu Chungwoo’s innocent and transparent destructive method completely ruined it.

The members stood in a line, entered the mall one by one, and came out with a fully wrapped gift box.

[PD: E-Everyone. Don’t you want to know who the secret friend is?]

[Lee Sejin: Yes~]

[Kim Raebin: It’s going to be revealed in half a day anyway, so I think I can endure not knowing.]

Despite the PD’s desperate plea, Testar didn’t budge.

In addition, Cha Eugene misunderstood PD’s words as a question.

[Cha Eugene: Ah! Me!]

[PD: Ah, as expected! Eugene-ssi, you’re curious~?]

[Cha Eugene: No! I already know! Secret friend is a Spanish word! Buddy^[1]The Korean word for secret friend here is ???, read as manitto. And after a quick double-check with Google, manito means buddy/pal in Spanish. I think Cha Eugene was mistaken and thought that the PD was asking what manito is. !]

[Park Moondae: !!]

[Moondae is unfamiliar with the maknae’s knowledge….]

The PD holding his head and Park Moondae who admired without expression were cross-edited with a gag.

Anyway, it was a development that broke the cliches, which was made possible because they picked the amount of laughter they received from the PD while doing sales in anger.

Besides, it didn’t end here.

In the latter half of the broadcast, not only they enjoyed the entertainment, but they also took care of the professionalism and the heart-warming moments.

In the evening after they visited the safari and the shopping mall to their heart’s content.

[Lee Sejin: Should we make a toast over there? With drinks!]

[Ryu Chungwoo: Should we? What do you think?]

[Seon Ahyeon: I’d love to…!]

[Bae Sejin: Let’s just order drinks.]

As if the members were having sincere conversations in a pub and making obvious editing points, the broadcast portion that started with this conversation changed its nature due to one factor.

[Lee Sejin: Is that a karaoke machine on stage? Ah, this has a karaoke concept!]

The place that Testar entered was a karaoke bar with a karaoke machine.

[Ryu Chungwoo: Come to think of it, Moondae looks like he wanted to sing.]

[Park Moondae: Me?]

[Lee Sejon: Wow~ Applause!!]

[Park Moondae: (Tibet)]

And while playing around, Testar eventually grabbed the karaoke machine and sang.

[Park Moondae: (Singing passionately)]

[A professional ruckus at a nice pub]

[He sings so well that we wonder if it is necessary…]

Although the subtitles were playful, the skills were indisputable.

And it was also Testar’s job, which was highlighted for the first time on the reality show.

[Cheers and applause]

Being certified among foreigners who had no awareness of them all gave viewers a strange vicarious satisfaction.

In addition, it wasn’t just Park Moondae.

[Lee Sejin: Hyung-nim~ Don’t you want to sing a song?]

[Ryu Chungwoo: Shall we? Raebin, do you want to sing with me?]

[Kim Raebin: I will do my best!]

The members took turns using the karaoke machine alone or in a group of two or three people.

There were almost no Korean songs, but it didn’t matter because everyone knew how to sing a few pop songs anyway.

Later, they got drunk with the atmosphere and even danced with an unknown customer, singing an old American boy band song.

[Cha Eugene: You got a vibe~ (Meaning you’re pretty good)]

[Customer: I know! (Meaning drunk)]

[This cool customer even bought a drink, saying that they were impressed]

While keeping the humor alive from time to time, they essentially fulfilled the personality of music and entertainment, so there were more things to see.

Testar passed the time naturally without forcing themselves to sing their own songs or make promotional remarks.

Thanks to this, viewers were able to enjoy only the content without feeling burdened.

[Seon Ahyeon: Uh, if we order more here, I think it’ll be put into debt…!]

[Lee Sejin: Oops]

[Park Moondae: It’s time to get up.]

And finally, when they returned to Cha Eugenen’s house, they reached the peak of the heartwarming moment with the cut where they gave gifts to each other.

[Ryu Chungwoo: Moondae gave his cushion to Eugene. That’s why I picked this.]

[Seon Ahyeon: What I prepared is a wrist rest. Well, since Raebin uses the computer a lot…]

The moment it was about to end with such a good cut.

[Cha Eugene: Popcorn is delicious!]

[Bae Sejin: ???]

The camera focused on Bae Sejin, who was dazed after receiving a colossal-sized popcorn box from Cha Eugene.

[Bae Sejin: W-When did I ask for this…?!]

Bae Sejin’s protest was suddenly cut off, and subtitles appeared with peaceful BGM.

[Reading Result]

[In Bae Sejin’s gift list]

[There was a snack.]

[Cha Eugene won]

And the cut eventually captured Bae Sejin waddling around carrying the popcorn box as the ending. The aftertaste was good when the last part was decorated with laughter.

Since then, a delicious preview had been added to raise expectations, making it a great entertainment show.

Therefore, the response was bound to remain friendly.

– It’s so funny

– Please make this series for other idols??

– I think it’s fun because it’s Testar, let’s do it for a long time with Testar

– Seriously, I’ve been waiting for Wednesdays these days. Please go on for a long time~

Of course, there were comments from other groups that tried to keep them in check, but it was so popular that there were people who really only liked entertainment itself.

Of course, the fans started screaming and shouting.

– Please make a comeback before this trend is gone

– You have to strike when the iron is hot, T1

– Start an activity or something, you bastards

It was a desperate cry saying that they shouldn’t let go of this entertainment special.

It was only during the awards ceremony season that they said it less often because they knew there was a definite influx factor—the awards ceremony stage, but this time, Testar wasn’t committed to any schedule.

– What if they add a tour? There’s a lot of possibilities that they’ll go overseas more boldly after knowing that they’re doing okay in Korea

– I heard it’s the month after Mirinae’s debut. Aren’t our kids behind schedule?

– It’s not just a day or two that these bastards are senseless, I am so anxious;

– Don’t tell me that you’re going to mess around while the reality show is running. Don’t skip all the sweets and do your job when we clap

Fortunately, news broke out before the reality show aired next week.

[Testar’s <Enchanted ME> Seoul Encore Concert Ticket Opening Announcement]

It was the news of the encore concert in Seoul.

– Finally

– Crazy, I love it so much

– It’s been a while since I saw them??

?You need to get the ticket to go see them

?I’m going to succeed even if I have to sell my organs

As if worrying about the addition of the tour schedule was a lie, fans were delighted with the addition of the Seoul concert.

It wasn’t just because you could see them in person. The content of their bias concert in Korea was expandable.

This meant that once they entered the country, in consideration of efficiency, there were many cases where the domestic schedule was carried out rather than immediately re-departing.

For example, something like a new album comeback.

– I know it’s only been a few months since Picnic, I have a conscience, I’ll be content with a single

– If they at least held one event, they’ll have more opportunities to go off

– Wait for me, Moondae. This noona is going to break her savings account… I’m going to go to the fan signing event this time????

Testar even had a history of releasing a new song at their first concert.

Testar’s fan community began to flutter with expectations, ‘Isn’t a comeback not too far away?’.

– Raebin just verified the wrist rest that Ahyeon gave him. I think he’s trying to tell us that he’s working on the music

It was time to creatively interpret all the members’ SNS posts as hints for a comeback.

In addition, not long after that, the agency really announced an activity.

– Huh?

But it wasn’t Testar.

[Mirinay (Miry-nay) Debut Intro -‘NO magic in this WORLD’]

It was a preview video for the junior’s debut.

– Ah?? It’s already annoying that they share the agency’s channel

– Wouldn’t it be better to just post them on the group’s official channel from now on?

– The kids are cute, I am cheering for them

Testar’s fans grumbled and ignored the video, or clicked on it out of curiosity.

However, there were some people who clicked because they felt strange.

‘Magic? …Magic?’

‘The background color is purple…’

And they were faced with a familiar mise-en-scène from the first scene of the video.

[…]

With the sun hanging at the end of the ground, a teenager in a school uniform standing by a scarlet window looked back.

It was an image that they had seen somewhere.

– It’s Magical Boy

The association was too obvious.

* * *

It was one o’clock in the morning in Korean time.

I was sitting on a plane seat while moving on a schedule and watching the video uploaded an hour ago.

Surprisingly, the airline provided Wi-Fi.

“Hmm.”

On the screen, an idol in a school uniform was captured by a window in a very familiar composition and suddenly jumped through the window.

And suddenly, in the dark of the night, she fell onto a huge spider web, turning into a cocoon and fading out.

The scene that reminded me of ‘Magical Boy’… was in the first 3 seconds.

“Oh.”

They used their brains.

I smirked and turned off the video.

In fact, I’d already heard of it.

The title of the junior group was finally decided with the previous candidate song that they wrote and composed by themselves.

So what is this?

‘It’s like they’re going to peel it off to the limit no matter what.’

They wanted to try using ‘Magical Boy’ as a way to promote Mirinae’s title.

Just enough that it could be excused as fragmentary ‘homage’.

Even if Testar fans openly publicized it and got pissed off, they would only drag on the aggro so that the public support was uncertain.

The persuasions of the hubae who listened to my advice skipped out the essentials and only slightly touched the trap that I set up.

‘…It’s smart.’

Yeah. I admitted it.

I didn’t know who came up with the idea, but it seemed that the company made a decision on a more intelligent level than I thought.

And I felt worse than expected.

‘This won’t do.’

Don’t you feel like making a little contribution somehow following their plan?

‘I don’t want to see them making decisions on their own, leaving out the party concerned who get hit by bullets.’

I didn’t know what my place would be like in half a year, so I was slowly pulling on things I hadn’t bothered myself with.

‘Let’s tear up the factions.’

I had to make some trouble for the company.

• 1. The Korean word for secret friend here is ???, read as manitto. And after a quick double-check with Google, manito means buddy/pal in Spanish. I think Cha Eugene was mistaken and thought that the PD was asking what manito is.