Debut or Die

Chapter 53

“Moondae hyung as the leader?”

“Yes.”

Kim Raebin nodded earnestly at Gold 2’s question. The dumbfounded face reminded me of the team members’ reaction during the second team match.

‘Stop it.’

I didn’t want to get any more jokes.

However, Kim Raebin continued to speak without hesitation.

“First of all, he’s calm, has a good eye, and takes good care of his surroundings.”

“Oh.”

Keun Sejin scratched his chin.

Next to him, Seon Ahyeon nodded vigorously

“T-That’s right!”

Perhaps excited by the reaction, Kim Raebin released his words in rapid-fire succession. He seemed to be influenced by his own logic.

“Most of all, I think his greatest strength as a leader is to have good judgment in heat of the moment. Judging from these aspects, I think he will demonstrate good capabilities in situations where comprehensive creation is required.”

“…That’s true.”

Gold 2 nodded with a blank look as if swept away by the atmosphere. Lee Sejin was surprisingly quiet.

‘Did it work?’

I looked at the situation grumpily and suddenly realized that it was a good opportunity.

‘If I become the leader, wouldn’t I be able to pick out a desperate cut?’

It was the last minute anyway, so it was all or nothing.

It should be okay to try being a leader and show that I was working hard.

“I don’t mind. Is that okay with you guys?”

“O-Of course!”

The team members laughed amicably when Gold 2 was caught off guard and suddenly just answered.

I also laughed and organized the situation.

“Then I’ll try. I look forward to your kind cooperation.”

“Ooh~!”

“Congratulations~”

I got a round of applause and wore the leader’s badge. The ‘l’ sparkled on the cheap metal badge.

‘It’s not bad.’

Kim Raebin wrote the lyrics and Seon Ahyeon made the choreography, so I didn’t feel burdened.

‘I just need to be careful with Lee Sejin.’

I could only hope that the characteristic ‘I heard it’s true’ that I used and forgot a few times in the last team match would be worth its grade this time.

Oh, speaking of characteristics. I had finally leveled up.

This was thanks to the 1,000th practice points collected during the last team match.

‘I barely managed to raise my level by singing and dancing.’

I clicked my tongue and called the status window for the first time in a while.

[Name: Park Moondae (Ryu Gunwoo)]

Level: 13

Title: None

Singing: A

Dance: C+

Appearance: B+

Talent: B-

Characteristics: Infinite potential, I heard it’s true(C), I want to be the center (C), Bacchus 500 (B)

!Status abnormality: Debut or die

Remaining points: 1

‘I barely held back from wishing to have my dance filmed.’

It was hell to follow the choreography revised by Seon Ahyeon and Keun Sejin duo who had C+ abilities.

Just to be clear, my plan to save one extra point came close to being shattered because I never knew how things would turn out.

And there was one more thing left.

[Calling for fame!]

1,000,000 people remembered your existence!

: Draw Rare Characteristics ? Click!

‘One million people.’

It was a staggering number.

I realized that the people who remembered the name, face, and characteristics of ‘Park Moondae’ had grown to an astronomical number.

Actually, I didn’t leave this draw because I wanted to. I achieved it in the middle of the ranking announcement, so I didn’t have time to pay attention to it until now.

Anyway, I would spin this ] now.

As I skillfully glanced at the status window, the slot machine started to run.

And stopped in the silver space.

[Characteristic: Acquire ‘Unmoving Heart (B)’!]

The mind is not swayed by external impulses.

: Mental shock -50%

‘Not bad.’

It was a necessary characteristic in a situation where I was the leader. It would help me to not get upset. I was moderately satisfied.

But another pop-up appeared.

[You can only have three characteristics!]

[I heard it’s true (C)] ? Delete

[I want to be the center (C)]

[Bacchus 500 (B)]

[Unmoving heart (B) new!]

What?

‘Is this how you balance it?’

If this was a game system, letting me keep having characteristics indefinitely would be strange.

I sighed and skimmed through the list of characteristics.

First of all, ‘Infinite potential’ was not included.

‘It can’t be deleted and it seems it doesn’t count at all.’

According to the current pop-up, there were three possible characteristics. However, I had four characteristics so far, including ‘Infinite potential’, so my guess might be right.

“Hmm.”

I thought about it for a while and chose to delete it.

[Characteristic: Unmoving heart (B) has been deleted!]

It was a pity since I just got it, but it couldn’t be helped.

‘The others are still necessary.’

‘I want to be the center (C)’ was a waste to throw away because it corrected my talent stat.It had a lower grade than ‘Unmoving Heart (B)’, but it was effective.

And since I was the leader, now that I had teamed up with Seon Ahyeon again, it was dangerous to throw away ‘I heard it’s true (C)’.

In addition, I had no intention of throwing away ‘Bacchus 500 (B)’ no matter what came out. This thing was no different from the health potion in RPG.I had to carry it to the end.

‘Then all that’s left is Unmoving Heart.’

It’s a bit of a waste, but what else can I do?

In the first place, I wasn’t the emotional type, so it wasn’t a big loss.

‘It ends up like this.’

As soon as I turned off the status window, I heard excited voices around me.

“Chief Moondae! What should we do first?”

“Leader Park! Chief Moondae!”

“…”

Wow, I already got a nickname.

Throwing Unmoving Heart was the right decision but for some reason, I had a feeling that I would regret it throughout this practice.

I ignored the rising skepticism and proceeded with the meeting.

“First, let’s start with the concept.”

That was how the final practice began.

* * *

A few days later, while Park Moondae was working hard on practicing the final stage as the unexpected leader, episode 11, which included the ranking announcement ceremony, was aired outside.

Park Moondae’s fans of course enjoyed the portion of <Casting Call> where Moondae met with VTIC.

In particular, after seeing Cheongryeo openly answering in an interview, ‘All of Park Moondae’s questions and answers matched with me,’ some VTIC fans mixed in and enjoyed the broadcast.

– Meong Puppy who became shy after meeting Cheongryeo. [Video]

– Did you see Moon Puppy jump in shock when VTIC came in?? Our puppy, were you surprised?

– It was so cute that I commented every time Moondae was shown, but it was the same for Cheongryeo as well??

?Even the comments are similar… Sigh… The chemistry between the two is good, won’t they do a variety show together later??

?Yeah, no, why are you rubbing him together with VTIC?

?I’m a fan of Cheongryeo. Just ignore it. It’s low-level aggro. Moondae was so cute~

?Yes, thank you??

As the program entered the second half, fans who had already become experienced showed that they were not shaken by most of the agro.

– Who is the participant who perfectly matched our leader’s personality test?

?Park Moondae (21, main vocalist), nickname: Moon Puppy, likes chicken feet. A cute participant who always works hard?? [Multiple photos]

?Oh, thank you. I’ll buy stocks~??

?Thank you very much, we have a free product for the week, you see. If you can prove the purchase, the chicken gifticon event is in progress [Link]

When Park Moondae’s ranking was announced, the warm atmosphere of sharing was broken.

– ?

– Did he just call the Moondae?

– 6th place

– Crazy

– It fell down

– Is this real?

With Park Moondae’s current momentum, they naturally thought he would finish in third place or higher.

Fans who were confused and denied reality for a moment soon became angry.

It was anger directed at themselves.

– ????That’s ridiculous, how can Moondae fall like this?

– Every stage is legendary and the influx is overflowing, but his rank dropped??? Sigh…

– No, the stocks themselves only have good news every time, but his rank dropped??? It’s because the fans are lazy, it’s not Moondae’s fault

– What controversy does he have other than the early portion? Is it his lack of skills or his face… That’s not everything about him. You can see that he’s good at everything and care about a lot of things, he shouldn’t end up like this

– I’m already pissed off that the eager appraisers are talking bullshit???? I’m going crazy

Even at dawn after the broadcast, this atmosphere did not die down. Instead, it just calmed down a little.

– I can’t sleep.

-In fact, the number of stock sales increased for a while due to the reverse of Keun Sejin’s rumors but if we take that out, wouldn’t the ranking change?

– So, you’re saying Moondae is originally in 7th place?

– Ah I’m really at a loss for words

– Honestly, this stage wasn’t a stage that would make his rank drop. You would know if you like hot content

– Even though Moondae was the main vocalist, he was ranked 4th in terms of views and likes on fancams. This situation is absurd.

-Do you see what shareholders of other participants are doing? We’re the only ones who believed in stocks and just take care of ourselves

And all these opinions converged into one.

– If it continues like this, Moondae might get dropped off. Get a hold of yourself.

So the dawn just before sunrise.

Park Moondae’s fan sites were all on fire.

There was only one thing stuck in their minds.

‘I’ll show you!’

* * *

“The air outside is clear.”

It had been a while since I came out of the set. Beside me, Keun Sejin murmured in a rare gloomy voice.

‘It’s been a week.’

Due to sudden accommodation and filming set maintenance problems, participants unexpectedly got a short two-day break.

It was 10 days before the final and three days before the next broadcast.

<Idol Inc.> conducted a broadcast with surviving participants in the form of a talk show instead of the main broadcast the week before the final.

Of course, it was also a live broadcast.

It was fortunate that I had a short break before that. I was a little worried about the amount of practice, but I knew I would practice to death in three days.

“Is Moondae living in Ahyeon’s house again this time?”

“Y-Yes!”

During the break, I would be in Seon Ahyeon’s care for a while.

‘I don’t want to do anything.’

Being a leader… burned more calories than I thought.

I immediately followed Seon Ahyeon. His parents came to pick him up again.

“Hyung!”

I heard the voice I had heard every day for the past few days from behind.

“Hn, what?”

“If you don’t have a schedule for two days, do you want to go see the billboards that fans put up?”

“Um.”

I’d like to answer that I didn’t have a schedule right away. But, I was at a loss for words.

‘It’s time to go see it.’

They spent of lof money on it, so if I didn’t confirm it myself, they might feel down.

But I wanted to go alone.

However, if I refused and went alone, my relationship with Kim Raebin would worsen.

‘This isn’t some kind of dating sim game…’

It was a bit absurd, but it couldn’t be helped.

“Okay. Let’s do it.”

“…! Yes!”

Kim Raebin nodded with an excited expression. Then he took out his smartphone and started working hard on something.

“The most effective route to see the billboards is… How about this?”

I looked at the screen that Kim Raebin was holding out.

It showed a picture with a line drawn on the subway line.

It seemed he had drawn the location of the move on the map that marked the stations where my billboard was hung.

Sure enough, the related phrase at the bottom…

[Park Moondae’s subway latest ver. (27 stations)]

“…”

27?

Only places with a large floating population were marked with circles.

‘Is this… possible?’

It wasn’t some kind of VTIC global fundraising birthday , was it possible to catch 27 stations alone?

Keun Sejin, who was looking at his smartphone next to me, hit me on the back.

“Hey, you’ve got one more billboard than Cha Eugene! Subway Ads! You are number one!”

“Oh… Congratulations, hyung.”

“…”

What the hell happened during the week of practice?