Debut or Die-Chapter 340

“Let’s take a look at the public reaction to ‘Byeol-ui Byeol-gok’ and TeSTAR’s Kim Rae-bin plagiarism controversy.

Or rather, I’ve categorized the people who are thrilled to finally have a perfect excuse to trash TeSTAR.

First up, Type 1:

The so-called ‘I never saw it coming.’

“I thought Rae-bin was a genius or whatever, but look how it turned out... Ugh.”

“I’m in total shock. I never thought an idol who even won Daesang would do something like this.”

“I’m really disappointed in TeSTAR. Isn’t Korea going to become a laughingstock?”

These emphasize, “I never thought TeSTAR could be this bad”—as if they’d never had a negative opinion before. Of course, flipping this around is equally satisfying, which brings us to Type 2:

The so-called ‘I knew it.’

“Facial analysis is science.”

“They weren’t an edgy edit during AJUSA—they seemed so sweet, but their PR was so strong.”

“The final tech tree usually leads to drugs. Is Rae-bin babbling incoherently? Lol, divine suspicion.”

They revel in the freedom to spew all kinds of speculative insults and rumors that normally would get them shut down. And the ultimate one, Type 3:

Elevating ‘Byeol-ui Byeol-gok.’

The more you deify the victim, the more satisfying it is to swing at the offender.

“The tracks on the Byeol-ui Byeol-gok channel are so pretty—I understand why it was plagiarized.”

“Haha, I’m a music major, and Byeol-ui Byeol-gok is the original. Rae-bin kept referencing them but crossed the line.”

“They just cosplayed a genius while the real genius was right here, lol.”

“So, if we predict how Mozart of our time—and reputed genius—Kim Rae-bin of Byeol-ui Byeol-gok might react...”

“...It’d be ‘Thank you?’”

“Oh, that’s it.”

At Big Sejin’s remark, the members sighed or gave hollow laughs. The ones who had stopped Rae-bin from immediately posting “Byeol-ui Byeol-gok is TeSTAR” on SNS were already gathered at the dorm in the dead of night as soon as they returned from the airport.

“What about Rae-bin?”

“He’s asleep. Fast asleep.”

“Okay.”

“But why are you stopping him? Let’s just tell everyone it’s us! Show ➤ NоvеⅠight ➤ (Read more on our source) them what justice tastes like.”

“Hmm~ Yoo-jin, this kind of thing is better if you prepare what you’re going to say.”

Big Sejin gave a wry smile.

“There are people who’ll get mad that they were tricked by a misunderstanding.”

“Ugh... how lame.”

“Yeah, it’s a bit much.”

He was right. As soon as we reveal that Byeol-ui Byeol-gok is run by TeSTAR with Rae-bin at its core, mainstream opinion will flip completely. But depending on how we do it, there could be unnecessary side effects.

I folded my arms and spoke.

“People might say we did it on purpose for publicity.”

“True, that’s possible.”

Someone might spin a theory like “Right after signing the OST contract, they made a YouTube account to upload the ‘127 Section’ arrangement...”

Honestly, the speed of our response is suspicious, and it’s too perfect to be a coincidence.

Huh... they sign an OST contract for the Ruin Factory movie and then create an account to upload game arrangements? Lol.

This is such a setup, T1 idiots, lol.

We don’t need to leave that bait out there. Ryu Cheong-woo interjected seriously.

“But we can’t wait too long. Rae-bin’s taking too much flak.”

“Right. It’s a serious misunderstanding.”

If we leave it alone under the guise of ‘having a meeting,’ the backlash will only grow.

“I don’t want to apologize,” he thought.

Many of the people who joined in hating over the plagiarism scandal won’t want to admit they were wrong. They’ll look for any excuse to blame someone else.

Seon Ah-hyun made a tearful face.

“Even if it’s a misunderstanding... isn’t this too much? They’re not even letting Rae-bin explain...”

“...Yeah. It’s harsh.”

I nodded.

“It’s the unintended consequence of a hit song.”

If it had been just an album track that sparked the controversy, fine, but this OST is riding a wave of national pride.

“It’s turning a vicarious thrill into vicarious shame.”

They were angrier about the prospect of international embarrassment. That’s the downside of the national pride meta. Even if our title track had a plagiarism scandal, the internet wouldn’t be this noisy.

“Sigh.”

I gave a hollow laugh, watching the subscriber count on the Byeol-ui Byeol-gok YouTube channel rise in the overheated atmosphere. Big Sejin looked horrified when he checked.

“Whoa, it’s over 100K subscribers.”

“Told you.”

Even this became noise marketing. Should we tell them to register it as a monetized account so it can start earning and cover the licensing fees?

Fighting!

Subscribed! The songs are insanely good.

☆★☆★☆Rhymestone, look here, this is the original. This genius!☆★☆★☆

Amazing for a college student. Talent knows no age.

Reading the comments, Bae Sejin muttered with a wry expression.

“...Isn’t Rae-bin getting as much praise as he’s getting hate...?”

“Y-yeah...”

It was a funny situation that was neither happy nor sad. Cha Yoo-jin stretched.

“Whatever. If the next one goes well, they can’t say a word! Let’s just tell everyone quickly!”

Consistent per usual. And, surprisingly, Ryu Cheong-woo spoke up solemnly.

“Actually, I think the same.”

“Huh?”

“It might just be me being optimistic, but... honestly, I think it’ll be fine without all the drama.”

Hmm.

“Honestly?”

“Yeah, I think we just explain why we made that channel. It’s actually a good story.”

“Hmm.”

Might as well go straight. It was the right approach. Lay out the facts honestly.

“How about we issue an official statement through the company?”

Then, a low voice came from behind me.

“I...I agree.”

“......”

“Eek!”

“Sorry!”

Turning my head, I saw Kim Rae-bin standing awkwardly behind Bae Sejin, who was panicking.

“You—are you even sleeping?”

“I woke up a few minutes ago. I came out for some water and happened to overhear you in conversation while moving quietly!”

“Oh...”

We should have felt guilty discussing someone who wasn’t there, yet here he was, offering an excuse.

Anyway, with the person involved now present, the mood shifted to hear his opinion.

“So... you think this approach is good? Be totally honest?”

“Yes.”

Rae-bin sat down among us and nodded.

“The reason I started operating the Byeol-ui Byeol-gok channel was because my hyungs wanted to help me through my slump with a fun hobby. I really want to make sure people know that.”

“R-Rae-bin...”

“Although we won’t be able to keep it up as a hobby for much longer... I’ll find another healthy hobby!”

Rae-bin clenched his fist.

“Oh.”

I gave a broad smile.

“Right. Let’s just be honest.”

“...!!”

I heard them whispering beside me.

“Mundae... Mundae?”

“Did he drink or something?”

I ignored them.

“Rae-bin’s right. Sincerity always shines through. Being honest is best.”

“Thank you!”

“...Wow~”

Big Sejin gave me the ‘stop joking’ look. Look at this guy. Of course, we still had more to say.

“But instead of going through the company, why don’t you do it yourself?”

“Oh, then on TeSTAR’s SNS...”

“No, not there.”

“...?”

“Then where are you going to post it?”

I grinned and handed my smartphone to him.

“Maximize the impact. Let’s go.”

Half a day after the plagiarism scandal broke, the internet was still ablaze. The mess escalated as every old rumor about Kim Rae-bin resurfaced, almost before things calmed down. Meanwhile, the OST’s chart rankings were skyrocketing, and people were bombing the ratings with stars as the controversy kept regenerating buzz.

The live stream for Byeol-ui Byeol-gok just started!

[My statement regarding the plagiarism controversy.]

People clicked like crazy when they saw new content. After a black thumbnail, the screen revealed...

[Hello. I’m Kim Rae-bin of TeSTAR, running the Byeol-ui Byeol-gok channel.]

???

Why was he appearing here...?

In casual clothes, sitting in the dorm room, Rae-bin held a sheet of paper and continued seriously.

[First, thank you to everyone supporting the channel. And I apologize for causing this issue.]

What is this?

Why was the person at the center of the plagiarism scandal awkwardly thanking everyone on someone else’s channel?

“Are they going to say they’ve come to an agreement with the other party?”

“Isn’t this too lame if it’s a forced appearance?”

But Rae-bin pressed on.

[Last late autumn, I fell into a slump and had trouble composing... My hyungs used their free time to organize a hobby camp for me.]

[I want to stress that what happened was entirely my mistake, and my members bear no responsibility.]

Viewers assumed he was here to apologize for plagiarism, and the insults poured in.

So you plagiarized at a hobby camp?

What is a hobby camp? Apologize properly.

How embarrassing. What’s with doing this on a civilian channel when you have an agency?

Ugh.

[Because of my mistake, some samples got mixed in...]

At that moment, one member peeked from the corner of the dorm room—it was Seon Ah-hyun.

???

She waved enthusiastically at Rae-bin, then realizing it wouldn’t help, slinked back off-camera and whispered in his ear before disappearing again.

Rae-bin’s eyes widened and he nodded.

[Oh! Didn’t I mention? I’m Byeol-ui Byeol-gok!]

??????

[I’m sorry. I should have said this first, but I got ahead of myself wanting to explain...]

The chat exploded again. Rae-bin, unaware he could see the live chat, carried on.

[To be precise, this account was run by all of TeSTAR to upload arrangements and compositions we worked on at the hobby camp.]

[Thank you for all the support. Seeing your comments recently has really encouraged me!]

Huh?

[If I match each track to the member who led its arrangement... Oh, I almost got off topic. Sorry again!]

Say it now!!

Crazy.

Is this real...

The chat turned to jibberish, but Rae-bin simply stuck to his prepared explanation of how things went wrong, with just one extra note:

[With your positive feedback, we even used these tracks as a portfolio when contacting OST clients.]

This line, subtly inserted by Park Mun-dae to preempt any suspicion that the OST came from the hobby account, made it look like we never planned to hide anything. Rae-bin, believing he was just expressing thanks, delivered it earnestly.

Wow.

I’d never have guessed.

Byeol-ui Byeol-gok = Kim Rae-bin, god-genius Mozart era.

Once again, the chat flipped to laughter and support. People enjoyed the honesty and humor—no one blamed him for misleading anyone, and the trolls who came just to hate started slinking away.

Where’d those haters go? Gone.

This is so fun.

Is this the power-cottin’ meta?

Next came Rae-bin’s detailed account of how he composed the OST and how the sample overlap happened.

[With only four days to produce the demo due to time constraints, mistakes in sample usage occurred...]

That, too, evoked sympathy and understanding.

Tight deadline...

Poor guy, under so much pressure.

Idol life isn’t easy, lol.

It felt like watching a behind-the-scenes documentary on a blockbuster film’s OST project. Rae-bin’s explanation was under five minutes—any longer would have backfired—so the broadcast was winding down.

[Knock. Knock.]

[Ah!]

Rae-bin turned toward the half-open dorm door. One by one, the rest of TeSTAR shuffled in, awkward as if arriving late to a meeting. The chat erupted in “ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ.” 𝒇𝒓𝙚𝒆𝔀𝓮𝓫𝒏𝓸𝙫𝓮𝓵.𝓬𝙤𝙢

[We apologize for causing trouble!]

Seeing them bow in a group shot worthy of an apology thumbnail, the chat roared.

[Sorry! It was my idea! Just a hobby!]

[We never imagined it’d turn out like this! Rae-bin’s innocent!]

It was so genuine and hilarious.

Lol, we’re sorry.

Bet they couldn’t sleep.

Good on you guys.

The mood lightened, fully transforming the controversy into a cheerful anecdote.

[We’ll see you next time without mistakes!]

The camera wobbled a few times before the live ended, but the comments kept buzzing with the after-effects of the unexpected comedy.

Are you kidding me, lol.

You guys live for fun.

At the same time, social feeds filled with posts like:

[Identity of Byeol-ui Byeol-gok]

[Kim Rae-bin and Kim Rae-bin, plagiarism controversy peacefully resolved... .jpg]

Only after those went viral did TeSTAR upload evidence of the prank to their official SNS:

Now we can finally say... the ginseng wine Park Mun-dae drank at the composition camp lodge

(photo)

Everything is a matter of timing. The only thing Mun-dae didn’t anticipate was that this timing would be even more perfect than he’d imagined.