Debut or Die-Chapter 407

It was still before sunrise in the dorm room.

I sat on a cushion and, in a low voice, delivered my thirtieth analysis:

Why reality is better.

“VTIC hardly does any solo activities, so their image hasn’t saturated. In the long run, that’s far more advantageous. Here, you’ve already expended that potential.”

“Maybe. But conversely, here you’ve already proven your individual recognition and skills.”

“...Their group fandom was destroyed.”

Jesus Christ. I stifled a sigh, and he chuckled.

“That can be stabilized next year when they focus on group activities. You can refine image consumption and concept then.”

“...So why bother with that at all? If you go back, you’ll have an established fandom and a coherent concept.”

“That’s true.”

He agreed easily—but I wasn’t fooled.

“But if you consider only growth potential, here you could scale even bigger. You already have proven members and songs.”

Fuck, seriously.

I pressed my fingers against my temples. Conversations with him had been like this all along.

He never exploded or lost his cool. He simply refuted my argument for returning and I’d retort, and so on.

Group potential, market distribution, personal achievement, image, results...

A debate to the death.

Damn it.

I’ve been sparring over words for hours. My head’s throbbing.

Neither hunger nor other bodily urges disturb me—it’s eerie.

“Want some water? Might not be drinkable, though.”

“I’m fine.”

I pressed my palm to my forehead, then suddenly thought of a more fundamental question:

‘...Why are we even doing this?’

Logically, there can be no conclusive answer. Both of us agreeing on one outcome?

There’d have to be some absolutely airtight, objective parameter—and that’s impossible.

When you compare performance-based careers, everything is just probability. In fact, this world has a slight edge.

‘...This is wrong.’

I’d been dragged by his momentum, fighting pointless battles. I lifted my head. Cheongryeo sat at the desk in exactly the same posture.

I shifted my position.

“You know as well as I do that this isn’t a question with a decision. We never said, ‘Let’s measure which world makes us more successful idols and then go back.’”

“.......”

He was fully aware from the start, yet he actively participated in my disposable ‘one-time group plan’ with no future.

He bet on returning. Now he pulls this bullshit... I recalled what he said earlier:

“I was going to go along with your plan, but now I want to hear more of your thoughts.”

And after hours, my chilled brain produced a conclusion.

“So... you want to say that you’ve been cooperating with me all this time?”

Despite having other options, you still aided me—and now you’re pissed because I questioned you about withholding something.

‘So you lost any reason to cooperate.’

Even saying it felt absurd. That he, the GM the system itself granted us, would pull this shit—outrageous.

‘What a bastard.’

But he didn’t deny it.

“Well, you seemed more interested in caring about people than the goal, so I thought about it.”

He tilted his head.

“And then... you said yourself, there’s no reason to return.”

“If you look at it that way, sure.”

I inhaled. My head cleared a bit.

He was under a misapprehension—and so was I, just moments ago.

“I misspoke.”

“Hm?”

“Forget career for a moment.”

Not only is that incomparable, but the very notion wasn’t ‘go back to that perfect first-tier idol career.’ I remembered what I told him when he’d encouraged me toward suicide:

“VTIC wouldn’t mind even a little decline, would they?”

Exactly.

It wasn’t social success measured in numbers but another value. For example...

“You decided to stay in reality even if that shitty thing happened, then released an album and had experiences after one member left.”

“.......”

“Doesn’t that mean something to you?”

In reality, aside from your four peers, nothing else mattered—but you chose to keep living, build an album of new songs, try solo activities, face the unknown answer sheet, and ultimately rise up as a group. The sense of accomplishment. That new award acceptance speech.

“You actually included that when you decided to return to reality. You didn’t just cooperate with me—you were driven by wanting back what you’d invested.”

For the first time, Cheongryeo faltered. I saw him lace his fingers in his lap.

But the reply twisted.

“Now that I think about it, we can just redo all that here.”

Fuck.

I raked my hand through my hair.

“It only matters because you can’t redo it...!”

“No, actually—listen, this place is literally made by the system.”

I slammed the bed roughly.

“Are you seriously planning to live here with the system? So you can mooch honey as some GM?”

“.......”

“You’ve zero remorse for the bastard who suffered because of the system?”

“.......”

He didn’t answer for a long moment. I drew a deep breath.

Then, in a low voice:

“‘Suffering’?”

He seemed puzzled. 𝒻𝑟𝘦𝘦𝘸ℯ𝒷𝑛𝘰𝓋ℯ𝘭.𝘤𝘰𝘮

A chill ran down my spine.

“That... I can’t really agree with.”

“...!”

“In the end, you gained another chance at success because you could restart, right?”

Oh, damn.

“Removing the system was to prevent this benefit from going to someone outside control. You can’t just use the system as a tool.”

“.......”

“Of course disgust was part of it—but I don’t think that was the only reason.”

I fell silent. Here’s the problem with this bastard.

‘He’s mentally conditioned to see restarting as a gain.’

How could I persuade him now?

“.......”

Silence returned. I leaned my head against the bed, deflated.

If time is infinite as you say, I should just shut up.

But to my surprise, he spoke first shortly after, his voice subdued.

“But if it were only emotional reasons, I’d understand why you want to go back.”

“...!”

“Yeah. You had your parents’ issue too.”

I gritted my teeth.

“And you didn’t tell me then, either.”

Even when I explicitly pointed out my memory error.

“That’s....”

His tone lost some of its flatness; he trembled slightly.

“...I’m sorry.”

“.......”

I stifled a sigh and closed my eyes.

“You thought that if you told me about the status window, I’d suspect you and wreck my efficiency.”

What a ridiculous bastard.

“I would’ve just believed you.”

“...!”

“Sure, I’d monitor more to see you weren’t doing stupid things. But more than that, I’d try to find ways to exploit it.”

Not ‘wreck efficiency,’ you son of a—

“...Really?”

“Yeah.”

I shifted restlessly.

“I was honest with you from the start about the status window. What I didn’t share was minimal—just a privacy thing.”

“.......”

It was you who backstabbed me.

Soon, in a soft low voice:

“I understand.”

Phew.

I rubbed my face.

He’d let his guard down.

‘There’s also the Gold-2 issue....’

I know. Appeals about feeling sorry for Kwon Hee-seung won’t work—he’s not the kind to move on that. He sees people as resources. But if I asked if he’s changed at all since that hammer-mad reset syndrome...

That wouldn’t hold either.

But this was a dead end. If he doesn’t truly accept why he wants to return...

‘He might sabotage again.’

I couldn’t allow that.

‘I’ll fix his mindset before leaving.’

I made my decision and opened my eyes.

Then, abruptly, I saw a popup.

[Error: Mundaeya...?]

“...!!”

I nearly bolted upright.

[Error: !]

[Error: Looks like Mundae noticed!]

The popup cheerfully updated.

So that was Keundal.

Until these appeared.

[RAB: You finally saw it. I was really worried if it was serious.]

[Sejini: Park Mundae, are you okay? Does calling you “MundaeMundae” make you notice?]

[BaeSJ: Answer me please]

What is this.

Keundal put on a show in front of Seon Ah-hyun.

Time had frozen, and he spilled that Mundae-hyung was being threatened(?) while also telling Ah-hyun who he was.

Of course, Ah-hyun wasn’t so foolish as to be stunned.

He calmly demanded, “Show me proof so I can believe you.”

[That!]

Keundal racked his brain—but he knew the truth:

He had no proof.

‘Sob....’

Being just a body felt so limiting.

As soon as the game paused, unaware he was regaining human sensation, Keundal kept thinking.

Then he remembered someone.

[Rae-bin knows about me!]

Ryu Cheong-woo, fed up with the hellish interrogation loop, had provided detailed proof of Keundal’s existence.

“But... can I meet Rae-bin now?”

[Ah....]

The problem was Rae-bin was frozen too...

‘There must be something.’

Keundal scoured the status window UI.

Then, delving into his mental world of complex algorithmic code...

‘Huh?’

Because he was in “Environment Settings,” he discovered something modifiable: a hastily added function at the bottom.

[Gold Shop]

Gold?

‘...Connect!’

Having already seen Ryu Geon-woo’s detective show, Keundal opened it immediately.

A simple menu appeared.

[Create Chat Room – 5000G]

[Invite – 1000G]

He realized.

This was it.

‘Hyung, sorry for spending without asking—but I’m doing this to help you!’

He purchased both options at once.

A new function unlocked.

He manipulated the popup.

[Enter chat room?]

“...!”

[Calling Rae-bin now!]

And, the moment Ah-hyun accepted the popup to enter, he flew crazily to Seoul.

He managed to contact Kim Rae-bin, who was getting makeup touch-ups at a photoshoot.

Naturally, Rae-bin was frozen, not an error.

‘But!’

Keundal already saw who’d entered the chat.

The person who could nullify the system error.

[Enter chat room?]

A golden orb merged into Rae-bin’s connection, spreading the error.

It worked!

The error was shared between Keundal’s mind-status window and Ah-hyun via the chat room.

And a new chat message:

[RAB: ...??]

[RAB: Is this a dream?]

Keundal held back a cheer.

[Error: That’s how you can send messages to Mundae now]

‘...Right.’

I glanced at the frenzied chat and nodded.

I had a rough understanding. Kwon Hee-seung sent a tearful SOS and Keundal managed it.

But honestly...

‘...Is this necessary?’

I don’t know how chat alone will help them.

‘No, even if not by chat, beating this bastard won’t yield anything.’

I thought it over and scrolled through the chat reluctantly:

[Tiger: Hyung, what’s happening? Are you fighting?]

[BaesJ: Did you meet the one who trapped us here?]

They hadn’t heard details—just knew I was in trouble. I hesitated, then sent a message.

It works by thought.

[Apple: It’s not that. I need to persuade someone.]

[BaeSJ: Who!]

At that moment, a popup appeared at the top:

[Participants: 8]

[※ Remaining Gold: 5000G ※]

Hm?

[Leader: Everyone, I think typing chat consumes ◈ Nоvеlіgһт ◈ (Continue reading) energy. Let’s have Mundae speak and we just give advice.]

There were no objections.

“.......”

After a moment, I typed:

[Apple: When do you feel like you want to return to reality?]

Maybe I’d get a hint. Better than nothing.

Soon the chat window filled up:

[Tiger: When we want to do our stage!]

[RAB: There were various cases, but most frequent was craving to listen to our released album.]

[Error: Going to the airport alone today reminded me of living together. I think it’s that moment.]

Performance, album, activities, dorm—varied answers.

Ryu Cheong-woo said DreamK chants pop up when shouting slogans; Bae Se-jin said when idol stages appear in algorithm on W-Live. And the final answer:

[Sejini: When I miss who I was back then.]

The common thread was...

Moments of strong longing, nostalgic triggers.

“.......”

I typed again:

[Apple: That helped. Thank you.]

Just as the Gold deduction notification appeared again, I heard his voice:

“What are you looking at?”

Not surprising—done openly on purpose.

I opened my mouth:

“A chat window filled with crew messages just popped up for me.”

“Hm?”

“Whatever you do, don’t try to check it. It’s a loophole.”

The GM shouldn’t see it. The system might block it.

He chuckled.

“You’re thorough.”

“Yeah.”

After a pause, I asked him:

“Can I use my status-window function here?”

“With admin permission.”

“I want to try.”

“.......”

He didn’t refuse. I summoned the companion list again:

[Shin Jaehyun: Considering a companion’s words (//~^)]

I spoke slowly:

“You were in the companion list from the start.”

“Right. Because I’m the GM.”

“And you remembered from the start.”

I raised my head. Cheongryeo was standing.

“You’ve never awakened.”

“.......”

Consider that function: we only discovered the memory-restoring awakening cheat from the 127 Section explanation. It’s not an official system feature.

‘Then...’

I could understand why it’s so rough. It wasn’t originally intended.

‘They said a wave of emotion and memory would wash over you...’

I spoke:

“Want to try awakening?”

“Why?”

“It might give you new information.”

He seemed to ponder briefly, then nodded with a strange look.

‘Alright.’

I pressed the awakening button for my companion Shin Jaehyun.