Debut or Die-Chapter 375

Pointing at me—saying you’d jump into a deathmatch against the strongest contestant mid-survival?

I’ll be honest.

‘It’s a good idea.’

If your plan is to have a rolling stone knock out the one that’s set, and you trust your skills, it’s a solid strategy.

Besides, this isn’t a nationwide vote survival show—it’s an agency survival. The public knows the boss calls the shots and accepts it to some degree.

It means if someone truly outstanding appears, they’d rather change the rules to pass them on, even if they lost fair and square.

But still...

‘You pick Cheongryeo?’

Cha Yoo-jin, you bastard—you were supposed to pick me!

– Positions don’t even overlap, and to avoid awkwardness if we hang out later, that made the most sense.

– Okay. We’ll do our stage with Mundae hyung!

That’s exactly what you said last night.

‘You scripted everything, and now you’re going rogue?’

I fought a twitch in my eye as I stared at Cha Yoo-jin.

Showing any reaction would only screw me over.

“Very well. Those of you seated opposite are now your rivals and competitors.”

The boss read the lines with false gravitas, but I was too pissed to respond.

I just feigned a deep breath as if nervous.

“Of course, competition must have rewards. Anyone who defeats a Supplement Class member is guaranteed Honor Class in the next evaluation.”

“...!!”

The trainees, who’d been uneasy, suddenly brightened at that carrot. Easy bunch.

“And the trainees not selected for that duel will receive a group assignment: ‘Showcase your teamwork.’ Lead the two who challenged you to form a trio performance.”

I nodded.

In other words, they’re shoving one of those one-on-one deathmatch contestants into each group assignment to serve as the fall guy. They phrase it well, at least.

So who did I end up with?

VTIC’s Shin O.

“.......”

Lucky draw indeed.

“Pleased to work with you!”

“I’ll give it my all.”

I led the two of them to a vocal practice room, then checked the randomly assigned song.

‘No snatching between us either.’

The company boss—read: the agency handlers—had picked this track as suitable for the three of us.

– Bluejack’s “Icy Eyes”

A late-2000s EDM debut song that rocked K-pop when autotune reigned.

Roughly, it’s about your crush having eyes so cold, but you’ll muster the courage to pursue them—typical cliché lyrics.

Hearing it now makes you cringe extra.

[Oh ohoh Icy Eyes so cold~]

A classic hook repeating a short phrase; the only chance to show vocal chops is a five-second ad-lib high note near the end.

“.......”

Hm.

“Oh, I like this song!”

Supplement-class VTIC /N_o_v_e_l_i_g_h_t/ reacted enthusiastically.

‘...Chaeyul.’

I paused my analysis and recalled my conversation with Cheongryeo right after stepping off stage to swap tapes and mics.

– Junior, I never contacted Chaeyul, never brought him here.

– You’re not calling it coincidence, are you?

– Rather than coincidence... it was bound to happen.

He smiled subtly.

– Whenever a survival program runs, Chaeyul always joins as Supplement Class.

– ...!

I understood his meaning.

– ...Always.

– Exactly. Chaeyul was in the group from the start. I didn’t pick him.

I recalled Chaeyul’s status window.

[Jin Chaeyul]

Singing: C+ (B+)

Dance: B (A)

Looks: A- (A+)

Charisma: S- (S+)

Trait: Circus (A)

An all-rounder with top-tier potential.

Fitting for a first-string idol, though right now he’s just a solid lead dancer.

But the charisma...

‘Almost on par with Cha Yoo-jin back in AJUSA.’

And his trait backs it up.

[Circus (A)]

: Because acrobatics should be enjoyable.

– +150% stage adaptability

– No personal offbeat behavior; never clashed with other members; always loved by the public.

If such a guy excelled in a survival show...

‘Even I’d pick him if I were the boss.’

A convincing explanation.

But the kicker:

– Interestingly, whenever he naturally appears via the survival program, he always targets the same position.

– Main vocal.

And this time, that main vocal is... me.

Cheongryeo’s add-on “I didn’t expect him to pick me since the usual pick was still here” was unbelievable.

The important thing is Chaeyul is up against me.

‘And check the song selection.’

I bit back a laugh. They picked an EDM hook track with only a five-second ad-lib to showcase vocals?

‘I just sang my solo stage and came down.’

Whoever chose the matchup clearly wanted to neutralize my strengths.

‘Perfect.’

Welcome.

[No~ Nonono....]

The song ended. I clapped my hands lightly for the cameras recording reactions.

Then a slightly excited voice asked,

“So, do you have any arrangement ideas?”

Chaeyul spoke. Time to step back a bit.

I gave a faint smile.

“As long as we can perform, I like most genres.”

“Wow....”

He meant “expose your tactics,” not “be impressed.”

Next was even more absurd.

“Me too!”

“Me... uh, I’ll treat it as an experience and work hard.”

“.......”

I realized.

These guys... are yes-man suckers with zero opinion of their own.

Now I knew why Cheongryeo picked them. I spoke as neutrally as I could.

“Then since it’s a contest, how about we go for something intense?”

No objections.

“Intense is really cool and great!”

“Okay... let’s go, team!”

Suddenly?

Anyone watching would think this was a team competition. I looked like a senior stuck doing group work with two rookies.

‘Ryu Geonwoo’s only a trainee for three months, what the hell.’

If I grab too much of the spotlight, I’m greedy; if they falter, I’m accused of sabotaging them.

‘I need to prevent that.’

I’ll highlight this unfairness in the interview without letting editors cut it out. I nodded.

I also needed to adjust my communication style.

“Then tell me which part you think looks coolest.”

Using more objective terms instead of “what you want” or “wish for” would get concrete answers.

Sure enough, usable replies appeared.

“I think the intro part looks awesome!”

“Um, the bridge here.”

“In that case, let’s arrange to highlight both those vibes.”

“Yes!”

I crafted the arrangement direction, sprinkling in phrases to show I valued their input.

We also divided the parts so each got what they considered “cool.”

“.......”

Doing this for the camera is a pain.

It reminded me of someone I used to do this with every time...

– Mundae, Mundae!

‘Stop.’

No point missing someone who isn’t here. Let’s do the job properly.

I quickly outlined the next stage. At least these two would cooperate—better than AJUSA.

Late at night brought a brief break.

‘I’ll stick with this.’

I took my notebook with arrangement notes and wandered down a side hallway for some air.

Since it was nearly dawn, other trainees were scarce.

“Have they all returned to the dorms?”

Then:

A familiar stride rounded the corner on the opposite side.

Cha Yoo-jin!

He raised his hand and hurried over.

“Hyung! Ubeubeup!”

Perfect—just the two of us. No small talk; follow me.

I led him into a camera-free blind spot.

“Uh....”

Cha Yoo-jin opened his mouth, then shut it when I gestured to zip his lips. Right—no audio.

Instead, I held out my notebook and pen.

– Why did you pick Cheongryeo?

I wrote that.

– Now’s not the time for impulsive moves. You’re not trying to stay in this multiverse thing forever, are you?

I folded my arms and watched him.

Cha Yoo-jin pressed his lips tightly, then grabbed the pen and wrote fiercely.

– Not impulsive. I got contacted right before filming. [He said he wanted to face me. He claimed the viewers would enjoy it—and it sounded convincing.]

His English-laced scrawl was logically structured. I didn’t interrupt and read slowly.

– And someone else picked you first —> Another VTIC senior!

“......!”

‘I see.’

Obviously the production pre-coordinated Supplement Class picks to avoid duplicates.

But that meant Chaeyul had already chosen me in the previous selection.

‘So he remembered Cheongryeo’s words and picked me instead?’

That guy’s story about it not being his choice was bullshit, yet Cha Yoo-jin freely admitted his own. I twitched an eyebrow.

Cha Yoo-jin didn’t stop writing.

– And I’m confident I’ll win. 100%.

– Hyung Mundae, you think I’ll lose?

I took the pen back and wrote my reply.

– No.

Honestly, picturing Cha Yoo-jin losing on stage is hard.

– But that’s only if we judge by stage alone.

– This is his company, remember.

You don’t know, but he’s navigated these processes dozens, maybe hundreds, of times.

I heard Cha Yoo-jin scoff.

– It’s fine. ☺

– Hyung, do you feel like you’ll lose? You can’t beat VTIC people? U_U

Oh, really?

I wrote,

– Remember this too: immediate wins and losses aren’t the point. The buzz volume is.

We’re debuting together after all.

– lol OK!

Cha Yoo-jin wrote in bold letters about three times larger, then shrugged.

“I’ll do well. I’m excited!”

“Good.”

Now we’ll squeeze as much buzz as we can.

‘I will too.’

After parting ways down the hallway, I returned to the practice room.

Shin O was hunched in a corner, loop-listening to his part until he dozed off. Chaeyul perked up.

“You’re back!” 𝓯𝓻𝓮𝙚𝙬𝓮𝙗𝒏𝙤𝒗𝙚𝙡.𝒄𝒐𝓶

“Yes.”

Then he said,

“Hyung, speak casually. I’m nineteen, you know!”

“...Alright.”

He even dared use informal speech with his senior of many years. I nodded.

“You can talk casually if you want.”

“Okay!”

He didn’t back down, so maybe his brain’s just innocent.

I sat. He was watching me still. Time to ask something.

“Come to think of it... may I ask why you picked me?”

“Aah, that....”

He absentmindedly scratched his head, not realizing I might want a deeper reason.

“Actually, I wasn’t originally a LeTi trainee... I thought it’d be hard for me to join this program.”

A surprisingly realistic answer.

“So I wanted to perform with the best. I figured I’d gain something from it.”

He murmured, face bright, saying he’d watched my first solo performance.

“If I’m going to fail anyway, that’s the best I can do.”

Hmm. A guy who’s never failed saying that—he’d probably end up disappointing people unintentionally in a trainee life.

I smirked.

“I don’t think you’ll fail.”

“Really??”

“Yes.”

“Thank you!”

He bowed, face full of hope and anticipation.

‘...No.’

I had planned to feign warmth, saying “We’ll both make it,” but he seemed to forget that if he makes it, I’d fall.

I watched him and was silent for a moment.

What the hell...

‘...Let Shin Jaehyun handle it.’

I don’t know. He’s had no issues for ten years; there must be a way to manage this. I’ll look after my own group.

“How about one more practice, then head to the dorm?”

“Okay!”

A week passed, and the day of the first deathmatch arrived.

[Supplement Class Kim Rae-bin – Win!]

[Contestant confirmed!]

Third stage.

Kim Rae-bin targeted a rapper with a similar vibe and crushed him.

‘Impressive.’

[Park Jeong-woong – Expelled from Honor Class]

[At risk of elimination!]

If he’d known he was a producer’s son, he should’ve clung to pop and dance, not center on rap. Stupid kid.

I clicked my tongue at the loser.

Kim Rae-bin bowed repeatedly, then courteously backed off to his spot.

His old teammate seemed a bit flustered, but there was no fault to find.

– Rae-bin, think of everyone you meet on this show as grandparents—you’ll treat them kindly.

A solid tip for the edit. I nodded.

“Now, the next performance is....”

And next up was a stage likely to be cut as the final act.

“Honor Class: Shin Jaehyun.”

It was the deathmatch between Cheongryeo and Cha Yoo-jin.