Debut or Die-Chapter 341
“‘Mundae Mundae, the ginseng wine is sold out.’
“......”
I checked the post by the seller of the ginseng-infused liquor kit, which was being shared as a trending topic on social media.
“I never expected this much support. Thank you so much. I will donate part of the proceeds in the name of TeSTAR’s Park Mun-dae. 🙇”
That’s right. The Byeol-ui Byeol-gok incident had become a full-blown meme online. The fact that we resolved it so cheerfully at the perfect moment had an incredible effect.
People found it hilarious across all tastes, and our response was so on point that it spread shamelessly everywhere.
And the funnier you looked into it, the more jokes you found.
Now that I see it, the account name literally screams “I’m TeSTAR’s side project,” lol
ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ Byeol-ui Byeol-gokㅋㅋㅋ
That photo of them casually lying that they couldn’t sign the contract because they were studying.jpg
When the Ruin Factory people contacted us, they must have been screaming too—three visits just to force us into debut.
Even the fact that Byeol-ui Byeol-gok formally arranged the boss theme from 127 Section got new attention, and humorous image edits imagining how we felt at the time were circulating everywhere.
‘Everyone’s having a blast.’
Thanks to that, all unnecessary controversy defense was wrapped up in one shot.
Is anyone else feeling like this was a perfectly scripted viral campaign?
└ Go watch the video of an award-winning idol TeSTAR getting knocked out, then come back (link)
└ If they’d planned to cause a stir, why would they lie about studying? It’s obviously a mistake anyone can see, lol
The message was clear: don’t spoil the fun. Those who’d already thrown insults and done a full reversal once didn’t want to do it again—it was exhausting and boring.
Of course, some fans felt disillusioned or angry at those who’d insulted us then flipped their stance. But overall, everyone was relieved by the quick turnaround and focused on restoring the bombed OST star ratings.
‘The plagiarism incident was a big deal, after all.’
I wondered how far we could stoke the meme before crossing the line.
“Oooh, this is funny. How about Rae-bin posts something imitating these?”
“That’d be fine.”
To keep the mood light, we decided to join in the meme ourselves at least once.
‘Hope we can wrap it up before it goes too far.’
I shrugged. If possible, once we’d secured domestic favor, I’d package it as an anecdote when we went to the U.S. Perfect talk-show material—ties in to the movie, too.
But that plan fell through: some foreign guy beat us to it before Rae-bin even posted.
“......?”
First up was an American game YouTuber. After all, the Byeol-ui Byeol-gok arrangement account had been introduced to gamers by this streamer, a fan of 127 Section. He seized on this golden clickbait.
[KPOP boy bands are everywhere... they lied to me!]
He baited people with that title and then ended with genuine admiration and enthusiastic reactions that K-pop fans couldn’t resist.
[Oh my god, what the heck. The owner of this arrangement channel is a K-pop band? The Cosmic Gunner band?]
[And so they did that game collab trailer? Not actors?]
[How could they not be actors!]
[They write their own songs? Then they wrote the movie’s soundtrack too? Of course—they run the arrangement channel!]
He acted horrified, clutching his ★ 𝐍𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 ★ forehead, each line tantalizing the hearts of K-pop fandom and national-pride junkies alike.
Since he had so many American subscribers, the news even reached the Rimestone movie fan base curious about the game’s lore.
They plagiarized themselves? This is hilarious lol thanks for the heads-up
Honestly, I feel like I got hooked. Where should I start? :D
Stop tagging everything with K-pop. TeSTAR is a unique, awesome group beyond that label!
Yeah. Even people who had prejudice or resentment toward K-pop came around to say, “This is an exception and deserves recognition.”
‘Not a bad opening.’
If more of those “exception” comments came, it would swing back to criticism, but we hadn’t reached that point yet. So if it had ended there, it would have laid a warm foundation, ready to be used as an episode later.
The problem was the second guy.
“Park Mun-dae! Check this out.”
“...?”
I looked at the YouTube video Bae Se-jin showed me. It was a talk-show clip.
[Jason! Could you share any rare, unique behind-the-scenes stories you haven’t told elsewhere?]
[Ha ha!]
[If you don’t tell us, I’ll faint right here and all the crew will testify you’re the culprit!]
[Alright, alright! Let’s see... During additional shooting, something really funny happened: a foreign star cameoed!]
The supporting actor from the bar scene in the movie had appeared on American television and spilled the beans.
“Do you remember him?”
“Nope!”
“Unbelievable how he’s so nonchalant telling the story.”
He probably had no fresh anecdotes for the talk show and had mentioned K-pop occasionally on social media, so he painted a vivid picture from what the crew told him.
[It was like a real live concert on that tiny stage set. I was like, “K-pop bands really nail the performance!”]
[Then he acted like a top-tier actor would on set!]
[And then it came out they had a secret arrangement channel?]
[What band does that? Were they specially trained??]
Even without ever seeing us, he wove the staff’s remarks into a story that sounded authentic.
“At least he gave us a good intro.”
“Yeah.”
It seemed like entertaining commentary, explaining us as if we were mysterious reclusive masters of the East—and Americans loved it.
‘The story itself is funny.’
[I wish I’d gotten his autograph. He disappeared so fast. Hope to see him in the next Cosmic Gunner installment.]
This anecdote on a prime-time U.S. talk show made a big splash. People who were vaguely curious about the movie’s crazy band but never looked into it took it impressively to heart. They let algorithms lead them to TeSTAR’s band performances, the plagiarism fiasco video, and our game-collab trailers.
Can’t believe they composed that black hole track in four days!
A band that’s the embodiment of subculture
Any more English songs? :(
They’ve made great songs in their own language too (link)
Not sure how this reads, but calling them a survivor group from a survival show really fits
Thanks to that, we began to be embraced in the U.S. as these bizarre, fourth-dimensional foreign geniuses.
‘Doesn’t suit us.’
But I planned to milk it. I nodded.
Of course, that wasn’t the climax. The final result that left all the members agape was still to come.
A few days later.
“Th-this... this...!”
Seon Ah-hyun held up the Billboard 200 album chart.
[2. Cosmic Gunner Special Edition / new!]
“...!”
The movie album debuted at number 2. Although “Soundtrack” appeared instead of TeSTAR in the artist field, it was still an absurd achievement.
“Whoa.”
“Wow... I mean, we expected this, but it’s insane.”
But it didn’t end there. The movie’s main theme, which we’d composed, even charted on the Billboard Hot 100.
[9. Black Hole / new!]
“Aaah!”
It debuted at number 9. I’d heard movie OSTs occasionally hit number 1, but never expected a top-10 entry.
‘It worked.’
“Rae-bin will pass out!”
“I didn’t... But without much deliberation, composing it in four days and even making that sample-overlap mistake—does this rank make sense...?”
“It’s fine, Rae-bin’s fine.”
It was pandemonium—and well deserved.
I leaned toward Ryu Cheong-woo among the shrieking crew and asked quietly,
“This wasn’t a Friday release, right?”
“Right. It wasn’t.”
Especially for less than a full week’s tally to yield that position—that was unbelievable.
I checked the analysis scores.
‘Airplay scores are solid too.’
Even on unknown groups, radio stations played it widely. Long live major films. The lowered entry barriers of the U.S. market were pure honey. The operation was a success.
“Good.”
“Should we post a thank-you message...?”
“Let’s do it! And share the Billboard news!”
I nodded again at the excited faces. We had to strike while the iron was hot...
“And then start the next album.”
“Oh.”
With momentum like this, if we delayed, it’d be as useless as strapping oars to a surging tide.
‘Before the Rimestone image fades, let’s entrench with the next album.’
I cracked my neck. Ryu Cheong-woo added gently,
“Yeah. The results are even better than we discussed during the last camp. Everyone worked so hard... Let’s make our album just as great.”
They nodded vigorously. Seeing real numbers clearly motivated them.
“Yes!”
“We’ll do our best. For the people who discovered us through the movie OST and our existing listeners, we’ll make something everyone can enjoy!”
“Alright! Go TeSTAR!”
“Um, shall we eat and start right away?”
Energized by their sense of achievement, they enthusiastically mapped out a grueling camp schedule like exam students. A good attitude.
And honestly... I felt grateful. I thought of my own circumstances that nobody else knew and twitched my eyebrow.
‘K-pop record broken mission—accomplished.’
‘...I’ve got less free time than I thought.’
According to him, Big Moon could only stay in Ryu Geon-woo’s body until August. Now only four months remained to complete the mission. If things went as planned, it was entirely possible... but plans and execution never align perfectly.
The next four days passed in relentless grind without incident.
“No more coffee.”
“Mundae Mundae, talk some sense into him.”
“Give up.”
The concept was nearly finalized, the music-video synopsis and album design were ready. Only the title track remained to be properly crafted. We’d even surrendered our phones to focus. Then:
“Ten-minute break!”
“Yay~”
On a weekday morning, given a rare short break, I finally checked my phone.
‘Any new news?’
Instead of news, I saw a string of missed calls.
[VTIC Shin Challyeo sunbae-nim]
“...?”
‘What’s this?’
It felt ominous precisely because it was so random. I hesitated, then called back. The call connected immediately—he must have had his phone too.
“Sunbae-nim.”
– “Yes, junior?”
His voice was calm, but the next words were anything but.
– “Could you open the door for a moment?”
What?
“What door?”
– “The front door.”
No way.
Despite my denial, I headed from the living room—where the others were scattered on break—toward the dorm’s entrance. I unlocked the chain and opened the door. Outside stood, expressionless, on the steps...
“......!”
“......”
It really was Shin Challyeo.
‘He’s lost it.’
That guy had just shown up unannounced at our dorm.
