Debut or Die-Chapter 247
Stranded on a deserted island—day one.
Kwa-kwah-kwang!!
Outside the villa, the wind and rain still raged like madness.
‘I’m glad whoever built this place was obsessively safety-minded.’
At least the villa was intact.
I held back a sigh and flopped onto the living-room floor. Cha Yoo-jin plopped down beside me.
[Look at it this way: the outside world’s been wiped out by a zombie apocalypse! That’s why we’re safe in this cozy shelter.]
“You’re really comforting.”
“Hee-hee!”
Don’t laugh, you jerk.
It did make me smirk a little, but my head was spinning.
‘How are we supposed to film anything?’
If we lose a few days of footage, this show is genuinely screwed...
[Hyung, we can’t film right now anyway. So relax~ and just chill.]
“...”
[There’s no need to worry about anything humans can’t control.]
...He speaks with such certainty.
I shut my mouth, looked out at the storm, and had to admit...
‘What can I do about the weather?’
We were just a fill-in program slot—screwing up one variety show wouldn’t ruin our lives. We’d nail the next one.
“You’re right.”
“You got it!”
I lay in the living room watching the rain until it was time for lunch.
At lunch, the seven of us ate the same rations, and it truly felt like a disaster movie.
“Mmm, should we check the barn for eggs?”
“Sejin, you’ll get swept away.”
“Okay.”
After two uninspired meals, time felt suspended. My already-slow phone data had started crawling.
‘I really am isolated...’
With nothing to do, and having excused myself from cooking today’s meal, I sat in the living room—where the weather was most visible—and thought.
We’d exhausted the board games, and there was no way to go find food outside...
Bzzzzz. Thump.
“...!!”
At that moment, everything went pitch black.
“Huh??”
“Is everyone okay?”
It was a blackout.
On an uninhabited island at night, there’s no other light source. Pure, pitch-dark blackness.
I shot up.
Someone grabbed my shoulder.
“...!”
“Hyung!”
“Right.”
It was Cha Yoo-jin. She’d gone to get laundry from somewhere.
I recognized her voice, then heard the others.
“Guys, don’t move—let’s let our eyes adjust to the dark.”
That was Ryu Cheong-woo.
“Y-yes...!”
“Man, if that had happened five seconds earlier, I’d have stopped mid-dishwashing.”
That was Seon Ah-hyun and Big Sejin.
Cha Yoo-jin was right beside me, Kim Rae-bin on the sofa. That left...
‘Where’s Bae Sejin?’
At that moment, I heard the thud of someone falling and a muffled cry.
Uhhhn!
“...!”
“Hyung!”
Thankfully, his voice returned unharmed.
“You okay?”
He was trembling a bit. I called in his direction.
“Do you need help?”
“N-no, stay there. I’ll come to you.”
“No—stay put.”
You stay still.
I turned on my phone’s flashlight and stood up.
“Let me go with you!”
It was fine to go together, as long as nobody throttled each other.
I grabbed Cha Yoo-jin, and we followed the others, moving quickly toward the light.
“Sejin hyung, are you there?”
Bae Sejin lay face-down in an awkward position. When the flashlight beam hit him, his face lit up. He was genuinely spooked by the blackout.
“You okay down there?”
“...I’m fine. No problem.”
He grabbed Ryu Cheong-woo’s hand and got up, but he was tense.
“Um... I think I knocked something over when I fell.”
He swallowed.
“Something... slid out and landed over there.”
He pointed. I swung the flashlight in that direction.
A half-pushed cabinet.
And behind it... a door?
The beam revealed a drab-colored fire-door.
“No way.”
“What is that?”
Bae Sejin had spotted it only because the floor emitted a faint glow—some kind of phosphorescent paint, it seemed.
“Is this like, a secret room?”
“I think it’s an emergency exit!”
“Sounds plausible.”
We muttered among ourselves, then sensibly agreed we shouldn’t enter private property without permission.
‘...It looks like it leads underground.’
Structurally, the door probably connected to the flower-meadow path nearby.
Big Sejin murmured behind me, sounding eerie.
“Isn’t this like one of those horror movies where you’re stuck in a snowy cabin and some hidden door unleashes the terror—ah!”
“Cut it out.”
I slapped his back and returned to the living room. The others hurried after me, grabbed flashlights from their rooms, and reunited there.
“Whew.”
“Shall we search for more flashlights?”
“There’s one in the pantry by the entry. I’ll get it.”
With Ryu Cheong-woo’s help, we gathered enough flashlights to feel a bit better.
The problem was, we had no way to recharge our phones.
‘We’ll have to ration them.’
No electricity, no choice. I clicked my tongue.
“Hey, we might be in danger. How about we huddle together and sleep here?”
“Absolutely!”
“Tell us a scary story!”
That night, we all camped out in the living room. Cha Yoo-jin insisted on telling a scary story in English and had me translate—depleting more of my dwindling energy.
The next morning, things got even crazier.
“The chicken coop...!”
“Huh? It’s floating away??”
The two days of rain had flooded the front yard.
Chicks from the coop were bobbing in the muddy water, almost washed down the slope.
Cluck-cluck!!
A desperate chick call echoed.
“No!!”
“We have to save them...!”
In panic, all seven of us dashed to the coop in pajamas, without umbrellas or rain gear.
‘This is insane.’
“Grab them!”
“Careful not to slip—stay low!”
Luckily, our regular workouts paid off—no one face-planted in the muck.
After a scramble, we rescued every chick. Cha Yoo-jin and Ryu Cheong-woo were the heroes of the hour.
“Thank goodness!”
“Whew...”
Soggy yellow bundles in our arms, we waddled back to the barn and restored order.
“Phew, that was close.”
“Let’s grab some eggs while we’re here!”
We were soaked, but the rescue gave us pride.
And... eggs.
‘Hmm.’
I cleared my throat.
“How about we eat one of the hens?”
“Excuse me?”
“Huh??”
“There are five hens—one won’t break the group.”
“...!!”
Seven adults could handle one chicken.
Kim Rae-bin nodded.
“Good idea. Overeating rations isn’t great for health...”
“No!! No! Absolutely not!!”
“How can you say that right after saving those little chicks!!”
“They can’t understand us. And aren’t farm animals meant for eating?”
Ironically, those most enthusiastic about the hunt were outraged.
Cha Yoo-jin was the fiercest.
“We’re not eating them!! We’re raising them!!”
She went full Little Prince, mixing English and Korean to explain with passion.
[As the Little Prince’s rose is special, these chickens are special to us?!]
All right, I get it.
“Ha ha. Fine. Let’s just take the eggs.”
With Ryu Cheong-woo’s intervention, Kim Rae-bin leaned in and whispered to me.
“I strongly propose that if we catch a chicken, we shouldn’t share it with Cha Yoo-jin.”
“...”
In any case, clutching eggs, we returned indoors.
But another surprise awaited.
“...The water’s freezing.”
“Right.”
The power outage had cut the hot water. Bae Sejin—used to sweltering summer showers—got a shocking immersion.
‘This won’t do.’
Thankfully the stove ran on gas, so we could at least heat food, but that, too, had limits.
After dinner—rice topped with sunny-side-up egg and tuna chili flakes—I spoke up.
“We need to fix the electricity first.”
“Indeed.”
“I agree, but... we lack any expertise.”
Our similar backgrounds—artists and athletes—left an awkward silence.
Then Bae Sejin ventured uncertainly.
“Can’t we just reset the breaker box?”
“Oh.”
“That could work!”
Perhaps the distribution panel tripped when Cheong-woo’s breaker went down.
I’d been imagining some grim solar-power shutdown because of the cloudy days, but...
‘Maybe it’s simpler.’
Ryu Cheong-woo crossed his arms.
“Where would it be? I didn’t see one near the entry or outside.”
“Shall we ask...?”
We tried texting the PD, but messages failed—no signal.
“Maybe strong winds damaged it?”
“Being so remote, that’s plausible. Signal’s been spotty anyway.”
“Hmmm.”
We decided unanimously.
“With nothing else to do, let’s hunt the breaker.”
“Let’s do it!”
So we split into small teams, each with a flashlight, and began exploring every corner of the villa.
We’d find it before sunset.
“Huh, nothing here.”
“...”
Why can’t we find it?
–Probably because our chances were slim.
–Yeah.
I teamed up with Big Sejin and Kim Rae-bin to search the first floor. In houses, breaker panels are usually tucked away on the lower level.
We spent a while, but no panel.
“Could it be on another floor?”
“Maybe, but...”
In a house, you’d expect it downstairs, right?
Then Kim Rae-bin raised his hand.
“Could it be behind the secret door Sejin found earlier?”
“...!”
“Oh–that’s possible.”
I recalled the drab fire-door behind the cabinet.
‘Definitely... worth checking.’
If it led underground, there might be a boiler room with the panel.
“Shall we go?”
“...Yeah.”
We headed to the hallway corner where the cabinet had been. The further we went, the darker it got—no windows. Even in daylight, we needed flashlights.
“Good we brought these. Could’ve been scary.”
“Flashlights really are essential.”
We reached the cabinet, pushed it aside, revealing a large fire-door under the beam.
‘Overkill for a boiler room entrance...’
“Should I open it?”
“...You go ahead.”
Better for the one holding the light to stay back.
I grabbed the door handle. It wasn’t locked.
Creeeak.
Unused and uneasy, it swung open.
Inside was pitch black and silent.
I shone the flashlight—and saw °• N 𝑜 v 𝑒 l i g h t •° a stairway descending.
“...”
“...”
“This is kinda creepy.”
It was just my imagination.
“Let’s go.”
“Wait!”
“How about we join the others searching upstairs first?”
“You’re scared too—your face gives it away.”
At the insistence of the two biggest cowards, we waited and joined the second-floor search team.
“There you are.”
“Wow, it’s pitch dark!”
Bae Sejin and Cha Yoo-jin. I doubted they’d actually finished the second floor, but since they were here... let’s go.
The five of us wedged the fire-door open, switched on flashlights, and descended the stairs.
The basement was cool, with a rusty, fishy smell.
Thud-thud.
“Why would anyone build this?”
“Must be the owner’s taste.”
“True.”
Thud-thud.
“...I’ve been wondering.”
“Yes?”
Bae Sejin stopped.
“Why build a villa on a deserted island...?”
“...”
A chill settled over us.
“Well, maybe they liked the privacy~”
“But they offered it to a TV show.”
Bae Sejin, sweating, said, “If I liked privacy, I wouldn’t do that.”
“...”
Silence fell, then everyone tried to defend.
“Maybe they love TV!”
“They might have a friend at the network!”
“...Right. Sorry.”
Bae Sejin fell quiet.
I craned my stiff neck and pointed ahead.
“We’ve come to the bottom.”
“Oh.”
The stairs ended, opening onto a wide chamber stacked with wooden crates on all sides.
“A storage room?”
“Looks like it.”
I kept scanning walls for the panel—and spotted something unexpected.
“...!”
“Huh?”
Another door—double doors, even.
Nothing remarkable, except... blood?
Big Sejin’s voice trembled. “Isn’t that blood?”
Sure enough, dark red liquid oozed under the doors.
“...”
Once I realized it, the “rusty” smell made sense.
‘Iron.’
Blood.
“...!!”
“Aaagh!!”
“Eek!!”
Panicked screams filled the chamber.
I staggered back.
‘Call for help...’
Where the hell would I call? What is this?
[Oh my god what the hell is this XX! It’s blood!!]
“I told you something was off!! Aaagh!!”
“We need to go up, now...!”
Then—
Clack.
The lights snapped back on.
In an instant, the chamber was revealed.
“...??”
“Huh?”
Bright, tasteful ceiling lights had flipped on. The atmosphere inverted.
The creepy “warehouse” was actually a stylishly designed cellar.
“...?!”
The crates were mere props for ambiance. Clearly an interior-decor storage.
And the door I’d seen was...
“...a freezer.”
Yes. What I’d thought was a door was a sleek, gray freezer.
“...”
I marched over and opened it.
A cold burst hit my face. Inside, sausages and meats were thawing, blood dripping onto the floor.
The source of the smell.
“...”
“...”
A long silence.
“Oh—this is where it was.”
“Mu-Mundae, I found the breaker...!”
“...Guys?”
While the third-floor search team came down, the rest of us stood dumbfounded, replaying our folly.
I won’t deny I was part of that group.
“There’s a lot of meat, at least.”
“Right—just mistook it for human!”
Quiet down.
Regaining composure, I retrieved still-frozen meat from the freezer.
We’d have to apologize to the owner later, but a natural disaster should buy us some understanding.
“See? Good thing we didn’t slaughter a hen.”
“Yeah.”
I nodded as Cha Yoo-jin enthusiastically hoisted a frozen native chicken.
“With the fridge back on, let’s move some food upstairs.”
“On it~”
‘Thank goodness we didn’t look like total idiots...’
I secretly sighed—then realized that relief was fleeting.
...These cameras’ batteries last longer than I thought.
