Debut or Die-Chapter 313
“I never thought about bouncing out of Park Mundae’s body and returning to my own?”
Of course I did. From the start I tried to figure out a way back.
The problem is... I never considered returning along with the original body’s owner.
[...]
“......”
“Be quiet. I’m thinking.”
“Yes....”
Hearing that quivering echo of a voice, I pressed my palms to my temples.
My head was pounding.
‘Fuck.’
Everything was a mess... No, first I need information.
“You... you’re Park Mundae.”
“Yes, yes...!”
There wasn’t much color in that voice, but I could pick up the tone.
It sounded like a timid kid.
‘Damn it.’
Could the “Talk with Park Mundae” reward I got for clearing the mission be this?
It was ridiculous. Suddenly, as a “reward,” I’m forced up on stage with a stranger... Wait a second.
“...!”
I’d been about to accept an award. At a live music awards show.
My blood ran cold.
“Geonwoo hyung...?”
I ignored him and stood up immediately, searching around.
“What are you doing?”
“Phone.”
I tossed the blanket aside and whispered.
“Where’s my phone?”
“I don’t know... I don’t even know why I’m here...!”
I tore apart the room until I spotted a small TV on the table beside the sink.
‘TV?’
I never bought one... Whatever, I turned it on.
I flipped to a news channel, expecting a breaking alert. And then I saw it.
At the bottom of the screen, the date:
“...!”
[December 15, 202X]
Four years ago.
Not today, the late-November awards ceremony when TeSTAR won their first daesang.
...December 15. Park Mundae’s birthday.
The very day I’d slipped a sleeping pill and passed out in a motel, and ended up in his body.
The day everything happened.
“...Ha.”
I stumbled back and almost fell off the chair.
“You okay??”
Back here again?
‘No.’
It can’t be.
This is... way too similar to when I was in that coma, and back then too... Right. I’m sure now.
“Another dream.”
“Huh? Hyung!”
I perched on the chair, interlacing my fingers. The tremor in my hands eased.
“Alright. Let’s talk.”
Since this is supposed to be the “reward,” it must have some purpose.
I spoke without hesitation.
“Park Mundae. Why did you say you didn’t know why you’re here?”
“Huh? ...Yes.”
Whether it was a lie or not, he clearly couldn’t calmly explain why I’d taken over his body. Time to press in reverse.
“Then what were you doing right before this chaos began?”
“I... I was...”
His voice wavered anxiously. I waited patiently.
“I came to visit you in the hospital.”
“Visit me?”
I’d never heard Park Mundae mention an older brother.
Yet here was an unexpected answer.
“Hyung Geonwoo... your hyung.”
“...!”
Me.
Visiting me? At the hospital? That was weird... But it confirmed something.
‘This kid knows me.’
He’d instantly called me “Geonwoo hyung” without hesitation, certain of our connection.
I seemed to have a lead. I kept asking.
“When was that?”
“Well... it’s strange, Hyung, but I was living in 202X, and earlier during the broadcast the year looked odd....”
So he was the future Park Mundae I’d last seen in that “truth check” moment.
The one who bought me a meal and kept in touch, who didn’t exist in my memory.
His trembling voice echoed again.
“Hyung... you don’t remember me?”
“I can’t be sure.”
“Wha—??”
Meaning I might not know him.
“Tell me what you remember from your last memory. My memory is all scrambled.”
“O-okay....”
He hesitated, then began calmly recounting his memory.
“I came because I was worried—you were hospitalized, Hyung. When I regained consciousness, it was like this....”
“Why were you hospitalized?”
“...Um, from overwork.”
I nodded.
“Don’t lie.”
“!”
There was no way I’d been hospitalized for overwork. And his tone changed when he lied.
“You were admitted for a different reason.”
A theory flashed through my mind.
“...You tried to kill yourself.”
“...Yes. Hyung... you were so pained and exhausted.... Do you remember that?”
Of course.
At the last truth check you tried to die, but barely survived and ended up in the hospital.
At least luck was on my side. I shook my head.
“Alright. So when you visited, what did you talk about?”
“We didn’t talk. You were still unconscious.”
“......”
So I’d been in a coma.
I probed further, but he really hadn’t done anything at the hospital. No lies there.
That left one more thing.
“What were you thinking?”
“Huh?”
From our hypothesis about the time-travelers, the moment you return depends on your last thoughts or desires.
I’d never wanted to enter Park Mundae’s body. I needed to check his last thoughts too.
“I’m curious: what was your final thought back then?”
For all I knew, he might have thought “If this is my future self, I’d run away.”
[...]
His voice trembled more, but he answered without hesitating.
“It was nothing special. I just thought I hoped you’d live a long, healthy life....”
“...!”
I hadn’t expected that. I fell silent, feeling ashamed of how petty I’d been.
‘Damn it.’
After a moment, I spoke.
“First... I’m sorry.”
“Huh??”
“Sorry for interrogating you out of the blue. You must’ve been startled.”
No wonder—your body gone, just your voice left behind. Panic would’ve been normal.
Dream or not, it was stupid of me to bark orders. I needed to be more rational.
“Anyway, thank you for thinking that when you visited.”
“Oh....”
He sounded flustered.
“No, thank me? You helped me so much and I haven’t repaid you....”
Repay? Ridiculous. He probably hadn’t had many helpers. He said that about a stew I bought.
I appreciated it, but moved to something more productive.
“That’s fine. More importantly, what exactly is your state right now?”
“O-oh! I can’t move my body... but if you move, I can kind of feel it...?”
“Right.”
We share the same body, but I hold control.
Anyway, this “Talk with Park Mundae” is happening—this bizarre way of talking inside the same body.
‘Why bother like this?’
If they wanted a dream, why not let us each occupy our own bodies?
Maybe in my reality the “real Park Mundae’s consciousness” no longer exists, so they instantiated him here.
“Hmph.”
Not a great hypothesis, no conclusion. I needed to understand this dream’s structure.
I stood up and resumed searching for my phone. Then—
“Hyung, want me to find your phone?”
“Yeah.”
“I think it might be in your back pocket.”
He added uncertainly.
“I feel something there....”
Right.
I slid my hand into my jeans’ back pocket and found a familiar rectangle.
I sighed.
“Thanks.”
I clicked it open, then a popup appeared:
“Network registration failed.”
“...?”
A message you’d see on an unactivated phone. No number....
No way.
A sudden intuition made me look around.
I’d overlooked it living here before, but there was something off.
And I found the cause.
“Hyung?”
A family photo sat on top of the system window.
Four strangers. A picture I’d never taken, bought, or placed.
Someone else’s trace.
“......”
A thought raced through my mind.
When I first entered Park Mundae’s body, I’d checked Ryu Geonwoo’s active accounts, phone number, site IDs.
They were all gone.
At first I thought it was a parallel world, but after verifying “old accounts and records remain,” I concluded the data had supernaturally vanished.
‘Ryu Geonwoo disappeared from all of reality—online and offline—the moment I entered Park Mundae’s body.’
And if I’ve suddenly “appeared” here—four years ago—without any connection to my reality...
I touched my face to check, unconsciously.
“Hyung!”
“......”
Ouch.
‘Fuck me.’
I sprung to my feet and examined the room more closely.
Then I concluded.
‘This isn’t my place.’
And the pain meant it wasn’t a dream. This is fucking real.
So realistically, my first move is...
“Let’s get out.”
“We’re leaving??”
Right. If the lease reset, I’m trespassing on someone else’s apartment!
I bolted from what had been my rental room, leaving everything untouched so no one would know I’d been there.
The next problem lay ahead.
‘What I’ve got now...’
A flip phone with no service, and about 140,000 won in my wallet.
“......”
No bank account either, obviously.
‘I want to kill someone.’
I ground my teeth, then called out:
“Status window.”
Something popped up.
“Receiving reward.”
“......”
Stay calm.
Take it positively. When reward collection finishes, I’ll revert.
I slammed down my last memory before the award speech. It wouldn’t help now.
“Phew.”
Park Mundae’s echo, now understanding the situation, buzzed softly.
“Hyung, are you okay? What the hell is happening....”
“I’m fine.”
I wasn’t, but whining changes nothing. I zipped up my lips and sat.
The most urgent thing:
‘I have no home.’
And not just a home—no reality base. All my social connections reset.
I didn’t know how long {N•o•v•e•l•i•g•h•t} this mess would last, but I needed a working phone now.
...So there was only one choice.
I reached a decision and headed out.
“Where are we going?”
“Convenience store.”
I added casually.
“I’m buying lottery tickets.”
“Lottery...? I know I’m in the past, but I don’t know the numbers....”
He was misunderstanding.
“I know the numbers.”
I opened the phone again.
Though dead for calls, I could check the day of the week.
– Friday
And tomorrow, Saturday, was the lottery draw.
Think about it.
I immediately wondered why I didn’t know stocks or lotto numbers when I first arrived; of course I’d check the next-day winning numbers.
An experience that memorable sticks.
‘I still remember them.’
As soon as we entered the store, I bought about twenty tickets, covering every confusing combination.
“One of these has to win.”
His echo trembled like gulping saliva.
“Hyung... you’re a genius.”
Not genius—just pragmatic. To explain that, I need to tell him what happened in my body.
‘But he looks exhausted.’
He’s starting to feel the reality of this. I need to give him a break.
I booked a modest lodging. I just need to last until Monday morning, cash should suffice.
‘Rest first, then explain.’
Once he’s clear-headed, I’ll tell him everything.
As I lay on the bed, I said:
“If you can’t sleep after I do, wake me up.”
“Huh? N-no! I’m fine....”
“Wake me.”
I checked that “Receiving reward” remained in the status window, then drifted off.
Light flooded in beyond my eyelids. 𝚏𝕣𝐞𝗲𝐰𝕖𝐛𝐧𝕠𝕧𝚎𝚕.𝐜𝚘𝗺
“Geonwoo hyung...?”
“Huff.”
I inhaled and opened my eyes. I must have slept deeply; my head felt clear.
And I heard almost-tearful relief in his voice.
“Hyung! I thought you’d be gone...!”
Why so glad? I pushed myself up.
And froze.
“...?”
Not a motel, but an officetel interior. Outside the window, green trees and bright sunlight.
“......”
Definitely not December.
“What the hell.”
Park Mundae spoke first.
“Hyung! The lottery! We won! It’s 1.2 billion won!”
That was good. But it meant enough time had passed to claim the prize and buy a house.
I asked him precisely.
“A lot of time must’ve passed since buying the ticket.”
His voice dropped.
“Yes. After I bought them, I woke up the next day... and you were gone, so I became you...?”
What?
“So that’s how it went....”
My head spun at that nonsense.
‘Stay calm.’
At least the money was real. I looked around this cleaner place, relieved about finances.
But the kicker came next.
“And, Hyung... after you disappeared, something weird popped up....”
“What?”
“Look at this....”
A moment later.
[Status Ailment: ‘If you don’t pass, you die!’(1)
‘7th Grade Public Service Exam’ first written test: if you don’t get a passing score, death]
“......”
These fucking guys...
