Debut or Die-Chapter 248

The power was back on in the villa.

After a hot shower and the laundry finished in the dryer, we all sat around eating the chicken soup. They even made a big pot of rice porridge.

“Ahh, this is it...”

“Hyung, this is amazing!”

“Your cooking is always so good, hyung!”

“Thanks, guys.”

Honestly, since there weren’t many vegetables, it probably didn’t taste better than eating out—but given the circumstances, two native chickens were reduced to bones in no time.

‘Not bad.’

I thought ahead to our future meals.

With a cellar that size, there had to be other preserves—spices, olives, things with long shelf life. In this emergency, we could probably use one or two more items with the owner’s understanding.

...I didn’t search thoroughly in my rush to come back upstairs, though.

‘Crap.’

That nightmarish memory flashed again, making my head spin.

Forget it. It won’t help my sanity.

“Huh—still no contact from production?”

“Yeah. Should we go outside and try again?”

The others were brainstorming how to reach the crew on their freshly charged phones.

‘Well, power’s restored and we’ve got food—no need to rush.’

Even the updated forecast wasn’t completely reliable, but in a day or two this would blow over.

From now on, I thought, forget airtime—focus on being as comfortable as possible here. We’d definitely crossed the line with this show.

I set down my spoon and suggested, “Should we check the underground storage for vegetables? It’s an emergency, so we might use a little more.”

“Sure, why not?”

“I’m in—oh, and let’s clean up that blood, too! The producers will freak out if they see it like we did.”

“I’ll fetch a mop...!”

Once we cleared the table, we grabbed cleaning supplies and headed back to the basement—flashlights in hand, in case of another blackout.

‘I bet there’s olives, spices, maybe canned fruit...’

As expected, we found a few extra items.

“Oh—look, wine~”

“If this cheese is rare or expensive, would we owe the owner compensation if we eat it?”

“...Let’s just leave it.”

But in the basement, we discovered more than just food.

“Whoa, check this out.”

“...!”

While scrubbing the freezer’s bloodstains, we spotted another door cleverly hidden in the shadow of the giant machine.

This one was small—tall enough that I had to duck slightly to enter.

Ryu Cheong-woo examined it. “Huh, this is...?”

“...Is this finally the boiler room?”

A plausible guess.

“Open it!!”

“If the gas line shut off after the power went out, we’d be in trouble—let’s at least check.”

“Yeah, good idea.”

“Okay!”

We agreed. I steadied the mop against the wall, turned the metal doorknob, and pulled.

Scree—

The door slid open smoothly, revealing something unexpected inside.

“A hallway?”

“Flashlights!”

Shining light down the passage, we saw a concrete corridor bending out of view.

This wasn’t the kind of structure you’d find under a normal house.

A rush of cool, underground-smelling air blew past.

“Whoa.”

“What is this??”

“Is it okay for us to go in...?”

Forgetting their earlier terror, the guys whispered excitedly at the prospect of exploring.

I understood—stuck indoors with nothing to do, this was a thrill.

Ryu Cheong-woo squinted and pointed. “Looks like an emergency escape route—see those exit lights?”

“Ohh.”

Sure enough, a faint green glow seeped from deeper within.

‘They built this for disasters.’

Wouldn’t you have to tell the cast about it? But it’s the owner’s call, I guess.

Cheong-woo shrugged. “Since we’re stranded anyway, no harm in checking it out.”

“Let’s go! Let’s go!”

“...Should be fine.”

So, as before, we wedged the mop to keep the entrance propped open and walked down the corridor—every flashlight blazing.

The passage was surprisingly long. After passing three or four exit signs...

“I think this actually comes out beyond the villa.”

“Yeah.”

None of us knew where the tunnel led, so tension rose.

I sighed. “Stay here. A couple of us will jog to the end and check...”

“NO NO NO!”

“What? We all have to go together!”

“......”

Total chaos.

Anyway, we went around another corner or two and finally—

“There—there’s a door!”

At last, the corridor ended in a door with a strangely stylish lock, though it wasn’t engaged.

“The owner’s got taste, huh?”

“Right.”

I waited for the chatter to die down, then put my hand back on the handle.

“Okay, on three—”

“Hold on, Mundaemundae! Everything like this should be done together, right?”

“Yeah! I want in!”

“...Fine.”

Since there were no cameras, the seven of us all grabbed the door and chanted a cheer like some middle-school retreat. They seemed to enjoy it, so who was I to judge?

When Bae Sejin reached out to help, I stepped aside just enough.

“One, two... three!”

Clack.

There was a bit of resistance at first, but with seven strong pulls, the door swung fully open.

And then—

Crash!

“...!”

“What the—??”

Inside was a darkened room—but nothing we saw mattered because—

“AAAH!!”

“UWAAAAH!!”

Screams identical to those we’d heard in the basement hours before echoed so frighteningly that nobody took in the surroundings.

“??!”

“Uh?!”

Outside the door... were people.

Faces we recognized.

Holding camera rigs as if ready to strike, the production staff stood there in shock.

What the hell?

‘Why are you here?!’

“No—what are you doing there?! Where did you come from?!”

“Good lord!”

They looked just as horrified and dropped down in front of us.

“Urrgh!”

Both groups, utterly flustered, shouted ★ 𝐍𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 ★ at each other until finally calming down.

“So... you were on emergency duty?”

“Yes... that’s right.”

They all looked ragged—apparently stuck here for days without proper showers.

“No one expected the weather to trap us like this.”

Hearing that triggered my memory.

‘The text.’

[Everyone, it’s impossible to launch boats or walk on the island. Please stand by while we arrange a plan.]

So there were actually resident staff on the island.

I mean, leaving the cast alone to film for hours while the crew vanished? That’d be insane—there’d have been accidents.

But I guess nobody foresaw a storm this severe.

One producer groaned. “Forecast only said scattered showers... ugh.”

And so, unprepared, the crew was stranded here—short on water and food, enduring hardship.

Of course, the obvious question arose.

“But what is this place...?”

“Oh, this container set we’re in! It’s from that escape show.”

“...!”

I remembered checking outside the villa on day one.

“That container with the logo?”

“Yes, yes.”

Apparently they repurposed the unremoved escape-show container as their emergency base.

“We’d have used it for tourism content if the weather held up... but yeah, that plan’s sunk.”

“Hahaha...”

Still, they said it was surprisingly livable—enough comfort for people to last days.

They’d been using it as temporary quarters, and then we burst through the wall into their hideaway.

“The wall panel?”

“Yes. How did you find this corridor?!”

When they realized where we came in, they were stunned.

“No way—this was here?!”

“I’ll never forgive Director Park....”

Behind the scenes, I later learned that during the escape show, this structure was meant for the cast’s route—never seen on camera. The head producers knew, but the junior crew on standby didn’t.

Regardless, they hadn’t contacted us because—

“We figured you had little food and would worry if we told you we were stranded too.”

They’d brought us here intending us to enjoy a healing show, and felt embarrassed by how it turned out.

I saw their subtext.

‘They thought TeSTAR would freak out...’

True, we were stuck with no excuse. But then a surprising comment came.

“I think we still have a few fixed cameras working.”

“Eh?”

“The new equipment—some infrared cams should still be running.”

“No way~”

“...”

That was fine—there were no cameras in the basement anyway, so they couldn’t show that footage.

From there, they made sensible rescue plans.

“There’s plenty of supplies in the villa! Come on back—thank you for your help.”

“Yes. Let’s get you cleaned up and fed before anything else.”

“Y-your health...?”

“I’m fine... sniff.”

“They thanked us.”

Grateful for a safe indoor route instead of that dangerous unpaved road, the crew moved back to the villa.

And upon exiting the door, they exclaimed—

“Oh, so this is the way out!”

“...??”

Why the familiar reaction?

“Writer Choi wanted to do a treasure hunt here for today’s content.”

“None of us here set it up, right? Anyway, we’re all new to this... oh, lots of supplies here too. Great.”

They cheered, then scattered to locate the hidden cameras.

“Phew! We can salvage these shots!”

“...”

Unbelievable.

I couldn’t help blurting out, “Wouldn’t the story jump without coverage in the corridor?”

“Ah, don’t worry.”

They smiled confidently. “We ran record cams just in case. We got you on tape too!”

“And the editors will piece it together—no worries.”

“....”

Fine—let it go. If anything could become content, this would.

‘Just survive the basement blackout.’

But an even more amazing discovery came next.

As they inspected cameras around the villa, one producer groaned, “Ah, the main cam’s dead...”

Then Kim Rae-bin unexpectedly produced a camera of his own.

“...!”

That was one of the handhelds given to us—you know, for roaming the island in the latter half of filming.

‘We all thought those were stored away and forgotten.’

Even I had nearly forgotten it. But Mister Overprepared had clearly filmed something.

The crew was grateful. “Oh! Thank you.”

“We’ll return it.”

I shrugged. A few clips at best...

[Day One of Stranding, 9:11 AM. Recorder: 21-year-old Kim Rae-bin of TeSTAR, in charge of producing and rap.]

[I intend to document all events in case. ...]

“...”

On the camera, Kim Rae-bin’s serious face filled the frame. He narrated everyone’s background in detail, then gave updates every three hours—a one-man disaster movie.

[12:00 PM: Distributed canned food and instant rice. Hope it doesn’t run out before the storm ends.]

[6:00 PM: We all slept in the living room last night. Cha Yoo-jin told a creepy story that needlessly spooked everyone—Ryu Cheong-woo surprisingly enjoyed it.]

And on the day of the blackout, pumping his fist:

[We... will save the chicks!]

“...”

“Ha ha ha—that’s awesome!!”

“Rae-bin, you’re the best!”

“R-really?”

I realized it immediately.

‘We’re doomed.’

And sure enough...

That camcorder footage became the trailer.