Debut or Die-Chapter 414
The System’s host, Keundal, reversed course—suppressed the System’s own ego and seized control.
[Waaaah!]
I wiped the cold sweat from my jaw and grinned.
“Well done.”
“Yes! It worked!?”
‘I thought crippling the System with an error would be enough.’
In truth, the moment this fails, it’s over—this was a gamble too. But Keundal himself suggested doing it.
–“Hyung, um... Plan B.”
–“If we ever need to use it, how about I transfer the error directly?”
And I half-agreed. If this thing returns to reality still as the System, the only ending is absorption.
‘It’d just become a status window.’
In fact, the crazy idea to blow up the System on the plane partly came from predicting that it’d end up a status window without its body. I won’t deny it.
To return to reality as Ryu Geon-woo, something else was needed.
Either sever total connection to the System—
‘Or else...’
–Trigger the System’s self-destruct.
This time, I’d wipe it out.
I swallowed and quietly asked, “How does that sound?”
“Uhh...”
Keundal, dazed, looked at his own body. The surrounding background quivered as if warped, and he lifted his head as if to confirm.
[I feel like I can do anything.]
“...!”
His form darkened and the vague world grew sharp.
[In here... there’s nothing unknown, nothing impossible. If we just configure it properly, every wish flows naturally...]
He murmured, the background swirling around him like a whirlpool.
Stars appeared.
[Hyung... I want you to be able to do everything you want, too.]
This won’t do.
“If you stay, you know STier will disband, right? From ‘Magic Boy’ to ‘Savior,’ even if we replay it exactly, it won’t feel the same.”
[...! Of course I know! No, what did I just...]
The hologram sparked, and Keundal’s face regained expression.
‘I can’t believe he just talked about “first-time thrills.”’
Funny that this is what makes him snap out of it—but since it succeeded, it worked. Watching STier’s comeback had been his only joy in those years of status-ailment life.
‘...I just remembered I did something similar.’
I nearly recalled my office-worker days watching STier—but this was more urgent.
[Ah! This is weird! I can’t control myself. Wow, this power...]
In any case, it might infect him too—so we had to finish quickly. The System might recover from the error and strike back.
“Right. Let’s do it. You remember what to do?”
“Yes!”
The final plan was simple.
‘Self-destruct sequence.’
Blow up the System here and now.
Of course, to protect Keundal from collateral influence, we’d insert a brief procedure.
“I’ve sent it, hyung!”
Ding.
A status window appeared before me.
[Player: Park Mundae (Ryu Geon-woo)]
[Delete the game?]
[Confirm]
There were deliberately no other options—just the self-destruct button you confirm.
‘Phew.’
Honestly, it felt exhilarating.
Another status window popped up at the same time. I shifted my gaze to the one before me.
[GM: Shin Jaehyeon]
[Disconnect from the Server?]
[Confirm]
“You go first.”
“Hm.”
Cheongryeo glanced at the hologram Keundal and said, “Do you need a moment to prepare?”
“No.”
He’d done enough—just press it.
The moment Cha Yoo-jin heard my answer, she reached straight for the Confirm button.
Click.
The world’s lights flickered and cracked.
Rumble.
‘It’s collapsing.’
A silent crack formed in the background, the scene trembling as if about to fall apart.
[Assign a new Server?]
“Don’t touch that.”
“You’re too paranoid.”
Still, she put her hands down.
‘Now the only thing left...’
One.
I placed my hand on the status window hovering like a mirror above the shattered background.
Then—
[Stop.]
“...?”
A popup appeared.
‘Keundal?’
But that figure...
[Hyung??]
Ah, right.
This was the System.
Apparently, when Keundal expelled the System ego, their roles swapped. Now the System ego clung to the status window.
‘Oh. Goodbye.’
I ignored it and moved to press the button, but it stubbornly popped up again.
[The System saved you from death. You know that. You gave up your life long ago.]
[Everything you have now comes from the opportunities the System gave you. Think of the chances you’ve had and your achievements—because you didn’t die.]
Look at this bastard.
Facing existential erasure, it suddenly spouted empathy to stall me.
“Hey.”
I chuckled. “Park Mundae was the one who gave me chance—where do you get off acting like you did me a favor?”
The parasite that fed on my energy for years as a status ailment is talking charity?
...One misstep and I died.
“Tsk, hyung?”
I wasn’t talking to you—be quiet.
I gestured at Keundal. The popup updated.
[Absurd notion. Foolish.]
Introducing itself?
‘Has it changed tactics?’
Trying to bait me into arguing to buy time? Fine.
I opened my mouth as if to retort.
And shouted, “Keundal—now!”
[Yes!]
In that moment, Keundal’s hologram overflowed with glitching, then his form warped and vanished.
[Waaah!]
He abandoned the System’s control error and returned to my status window.
[Now—■■■?]
Thanks to that, as the System ego tumbled from Keundal back into the System—
“Goodbye.”
I punched through the popup and hit the button.
Wham!
Game deletion.
The popup trembled.
[I am... deleted...]
But that was it.
Boom!
The glitch-filled humanoid System exploded.
And the cracked world shattered.
Tens of thousands of fragments dissolved into the void in a transcendent spectacle.
Even the immense aftershock arrived a moment later.
“Ugh.”
The System that formed this world was obliterated. A deluge of raw energy surged, threatening to shred everything.
Shards scattered. Only emptiness remained.
I looked back at Cheongryeo. Her status window flickered with cracks.
Mine did too.
“Success.”
The moment I uttered that, all sensation vanished.
Whoosh.
Pure white.
[-------]
Silence.
And then—
“...Mundae?”
Slowly and dully, as if my stunned hearing was returning after a massive impact, I heard a voice.
“Mundae!”
“...!”
I opened my eyes.
The first thing I saw was...
“Mundae, you’re awake!”
“Hyung!”
“M-Mundae, you’ve been through so much...!”
It was the group surrounding me.
The members who’d been tirelessly discussing Plan B peered at my face like they were watching a spectacle.
God.
“Oh. You’re back to your senses.”
“Yeah!!”
“I really thought we were doomed when the chatroom exploded!”
“But thank goodness. Seriously...”
If this kept up, someone’s ears would burst or shoulders fall off—one or the other. I grinned and shook my head, standing up.
“Thanks for worrying.”
If it were reality, I’d be on the plane; if still in the System world, at an awards show... but it was neither.
“This is...”
...Ryu Geon-woo’s officetel.
More precisely, the officetel where Keundal—who’d won the lottery to inhabit Ryu Geon-woo’s body—lived.
And through the living room window... a breathtaking sunset from “Magic Boy.”
The same place I’d visited last time.
[This is the mental world I created!]
It was the mental realm I passed through when returning from Ryu Geon-woo’s body back to Park Mundae’s.
Keundal popped out, grinning broadly—exactly as before.
He was still glitchy, though.
‘Then.’
I must be this... ambiguous figure that looks like both Park Mundae and Ryu Geon-woo.
Sure enough, Big Sejin was fussing as usual.
“Wow, you two look like brothers!”
He probably did it to stay calm in this madness—but people seemed to like it.
“Hehe, thanks!”
I don’t know why.
The grinning Keundal soon realized it wasn’t the time for that and changed expression.
“I invited you all here to minimize the shock. I brought a bit of the System’s power—anyway, it worked!”
“Shock?”
“Yes. When you leave, you can choose.”
Keundal stepped aside, revealing the officetel entrance.
–See you later!
A nameplate glinted. Leaving through that door seemed to return you to reality.
[You can remember what happened here, or simply forget it or recall it faintly like a dream.]
“...!”
That was... a great service, I guess.
‘Who’d want to forget?’
I paused but realized again how bizarre this all was—living with status ailments for years.
One wrong word and people would think you’d taken drugs.
‘For my peace of mind, better to remember.’
Actually, I’d probably suggest we all just forget it...but anyway.
“Of course I want to remember.”
“.......”
“Indeed. This unique, fantastical experience will surely inspire me.”
“No need to watch Rimestone movies anymore. I made one myself.”
They blurted it out without hesitation!
I was a bit taken aback, but not a single person hesitated.
“...There’s something I definitely want to remember from what we did here!”
“Ooh~ That’s interesting. Me too.”
Even Seon Ah-hyun joined in.
“I feel like I’ve learned so many new things and grown... me too...!”
[Understood! Then, think that as you open the door and step out!]
Cheers erupted.
“At last!”
“Mundae... when you get back, turn the plane right around and come back to the dorm!”
It wasn’t my plane, and I had no idea what reality looked like now—but okay.
Ryu Cheong-woo laughed and patted the members on the shoulder.
“Great job, team.”
“Hehe!”
“Don’t forget to yell ‘Mundae, Mundae’ and come here!”
Like we’d won an award or finished a tour finale, we huddled for a quick group hug.
These guys are suffocating.
‘Not penguins, though.’
It must’ve looked ridiculous—but who cares.
“All right, let’s go!”
“Yep!”
Just as if preparations were complete, Kim Rae-bin raised his hand.
“Wait—shouldn’t we formally invite our seniors first?”
“Gah.”
I nearly forgot—everyone looked back.
‘Speaking of which, where are the VTIC guys?’
I didn’t see them, which was odd.
Turning toward the hallway, I spotted them—not in the living room but sitting at the kitchen table, wearing contented expressions that made me uneasy.
“Huh.”
“TeSTAR always looks so close-knit—it’s nice, right?”
“Yeah, yeah. Hard for a big group to do that.”
In their real-world forms, their real ➤ NоvеⅠight ➤ (Read more on our source) selves seemed stronger than when they debuted on Wises— even their manner of speech had slightly changed.
Still, not a single one of them from the past year had disappeared.
Chae Seodam emerged from the kitchen, smiling sheepishly.
“Um, once you’re back, you won’t be able to call me ‘hyung,’ but... is it okay to drop honorifics? Just ‘Mundae’!”
“Yes.”
“Great! Mundae, you can speak casually too, okay?”
That part, at least, was tricky given our age difference.
But he took my silence as a yes, smiled brightly, and in the farewell to TeSTAR members, naturally headed for the entrance.
Then, with a burst of enthusiasm, he said, “You all must come visit! We’re few in number, so it gets boring sometimes. I’ll never forget Wises!”
“Feels like we did a project group ourselves.”
“Yeah, exactly!”
Then the two asked Keundal if this was the door, waved, and stepped out through the door in turn.
“.......”
When they returned, we won’t technically be the same group—so we might not see much of each other. But they proved themselves useful, so I’d be fine keeping in touch.
I leaned against the wall, waiting for the last VTIC members to leave...
“......?”
Why hasn’t that guy gone yet?
I saw Joo Dan standing in front of the door.
He turned his head, noticed Chae Yoo-jin moving to open the living-room window, and the TeSTAR members and Keundal trying to hold her back.
“Yoo-jin, wait—let me ask you something first...”
“You idiot!”
Already distracted by VTIC’s farewell, their focus wavered.
Seeing that, Joo Dan murmured in a serious tone.
“This timing is perfect. I have something to say to both of you.”
“Huh?”
He spoke without expression.
“You both experienced regression to the past, correct? The order seems to have been Jaehyeon hyung first, then the juniors.”
“...!!”
What the hell?
“And I deduced that because of your chatroom and casual conversation—anyone with background knowledge could guess.”
“.......”
“.......”
No—only you figured it out on your own.
“Your reflex revealed it, Mundae. So structurally... hmm, you narrowly avoided being on the same axis as the antagonist... my—”
Muttering to himself, he sighed lightly, about to say more.
“Well...”
But then his eyes met Cheongryeo’s emotionless gaze.
And he immediately whimpered.
“I’ll shut up and enlist.”
“Good.”
“And... goodbye.”
Joo Dan fled through the doorway without hesitation. I folded my arms and, watching, asked Cheongryeo.
I gestured.
“Then you... go see the exhibition.”
“Of course.”
He answered nonchalantly, then touched his chin and added softly, “...It’s been ten months, hasn’t it?”
A faint smile passed over his face, then he left through the entrance.
“See you soon.”
With that, he was gone.
“.......”
“Everyone left?”
“Yes.”
Turning, I saw Ryu Cheong-woo and the others who’d escorted Chae Yoo-jin.
Ryu Cheong-woo smiled and stood beside me.
“You said we could talk casually.”
“Oh.”
Right.
“Okay then.”
I immediately changed my speech.
Ryu Cheong-woo looked momentarily surprised, then grinned.
“All right, Mundae. Let’s go.”
The front door opened again.
“Once you’re back, contact us no matter what. And don’t forget to return to the dorm!”
“You got it!”
Then we stepped forward.
Beyond the door was nothing but light, so bright it hurt our eyes.
Yet no one hesitated; we burst through the door together.
Moments later—
Whiiiiiir—
“...!”
I opened my eyes to the roaring of engines.
Cheongryeo’s private jet.
‘Ah.’
I looked around: leather seats, ivory cabin walls, glossy kit fittings.
Everything remained just as before departure.
And Gold 2—Kwon Hee-seung—was asleep in his seat.
He was breathing.
I immediately checked my smartphone for the date.
“.......”
[Saturday, July 9]
Just as it was.
Nothing had changed.
“Whew.”
I sighed and sank back into my seat.
Keundal—who’d already woken—handed me a glass.
Non-alcoholic champagne.
“You’ve arrived safely.”
“...Yeah.”
I snatched the glass Keundal offered.
And thus, I returned to reality.
