Debut or Die-Chapter 420
“Ohhh, let’s start! Hurry!”
“Oops, wait a sec!”
Keun Sejin, who had insistently made popcorn in the hotel microwave, plopped onto the sofa, giggling.
‘Damn it.’
Of all days, today was our tour retreat.
I slumped into the nearest chair like livestock being dragged to the slaughter. Seon Ah-hyun, restless for no reason, spoke up.
“Um... we don’t have to watch the live broadcast. We could just watch a movie and still have fun...!”
“Monitoring comes first.”
“Mm...”
Seon Ah-hyun fell silent, and Ryu Cheong-woo grinned as he grabbed the remote—thick-skinned as ever.
“Alright, then let’s play it.”
“Yeah~”
The smart TV began streaming live on WeTube.
[4, 3, 2, 1, 0]
[Di-ri-ring~]
“Ooooh!”
The world premiere of Healing Artisan TeSTAR episode 4 was starting.
...the long-awaited horror experience.
[Selected by Happy Trip]
[England’s Horror Attraction Course]
Even the text was blood-red.
Whether for a summer scare special or not, episode 4’s opening was loaded with every eerie effect imaginable.
‘You want us all to do a horror attraction together, huh?’
Nope.
[Horror Proxy Service]
[※TeSTAR gets frightened, viewers get healed.]
“......”
Kind of unfair... no, the wider the audience, the better.
“Uahaha!”
Soon enough, whoever on screen screams will scream—let’s just sit back and watch.
The screen showed famous British horror spots, then cut to the first attraction chosen by the Happy Trip team.
[Evil Spirit Hotel]
[A venerable European horror-attraction franchise that assaults the senses with hyper-realistic, bone-chilling terror...]
Very atmospheric.
“...That one was pretty scary.”
“Right? They went in without knowing how anyone would react—now we get to see it!”
I crossed my arms.
The TeSTAR members, shrieking among themselves, eventually split into teams and entered the attraction in turn.
In the flickering, ominous halls of a 20th-century-style building, dark crimson blood stains were everywhere.
The moment you stepped inside...
[Screeeeeeak]
“Ah!”
“That’s already so scary!”
As the front door slammed shut, the attraction began. With each careful step down the dank corridor, bizarre phenomena occurred outside the hotel-room doors.
Thud.
[Lee Se-jin: Aaaah! Oh my goodness!]
[No staff have appeared yet]
Keun Sejin, watching his own overreaction on screen, munched popcorn.
“Ooh... I’m curious~”
About what that guy on screen is doing.
“No, I mean—who’ll have the best reaction? Ah, Se-jin can’t lose!”
“......”
I see that little jerk’s smirk as he watches me. I know what he’s thinking.
Just then, amid the screams on screen, a yellow head showed up in the infrared camera.
It was me.
[Park Mundae: (frozen stiff)]
[By the way, speaking of this guy’s track record...]
Clips of my past horror-reaction moments on various TeSTAR reality shows scrolled by.
[What will Mundae do today?]
After that ominous subtitle, the live feed resumed and I...
[Waaah!]
“Ah, please save me! Ah!”
Suddenly Room 404’s door flew open on the left, and a woman, bound to an old bed, crooked her head and crawled out. I...
[Park Mundae: (bows)]
[????]
[Polite gestures]
Dropped a courtesy nod, then dashed into the corridor after the sprinting members.
“...?!”
“Park Mundae, you...?”
What are you so surprised about?
I laughed and crossed my arms.
I told you I’d done my homework.
Meanwhile, as TeSTAR watched the live broadcast together, fans were giggling at episode 4’s opening and eagerly awaiting the members’ reactions—especially from the one known for the biggest gap in ghost reactions.
—I’m so hyped for Park Mundae
—lolol Mundae pretending not to be scared... I can’t wait
And the attraction’s intro was so seriously creepy that even brave members grew desperate.
[Heartfelt negotiation to add more participants]
[Lee Se-jin: ...Don’t you think it’d be more fun if PD-nim and the writers joined us??]
[Bae Se-jin: Right.]
[Cha Yoo-jin: Exactly! Everyone should go in!]
Not a chance.
[Kim Rae-bin: Then I believe you must have planned a course for multiple people at once!]
—First time I’ve seen Rae-bin that forceful
—Our bunny’s not a medieval rabbit but a real one now
[PD: Oh? I don’t see that in the proposal... but hey, if TeSTAR wants it, sure! We’ll go in as teams~]
[Kim Rae-bin: Thank you.]
[Lee Se-jin: Much appreciated.]
[PD: But isn’t the Happy Trip team a bit... provocative? They picked such niche courses!]
At that, the members all turned to glare at the culprits. Ryu Cheong-woo gave an apologetic smile; Seon Ah-hyun’s face reddened.
But they couldn’t back out. Then the PD whispered like a devil.
[PD: Shall we make that team go in one by one?]
[TeSTAR: W-wait!]
[Is this... ✿❀true friendship❀✿]
It didn’t work.
Not because of friendship.
[Cha Yoo-jin: Those hyungs aren’t scared anyway!]
[Bae Se-jin: Right, if we split them up, they’ll be our target.]
[Lee Se-jin: Exactly. They go in one at a time!]
No-reaction bravado.
Instinctively, they couldn’t part with that safety totem.
—lololololol
—Right, you don’t kick the least scared out of the group
—Two Se-jins suddenly in sync—what’s happening lol
So the first-attraction teams, after debate, split 3–2.
[Ryu Cheong-woo team: Lee Se-jin, Cha Yoo-jin, Park Mundae]
[Seon Ah-hyun team: Bae Se-jin, Kim Rae-bin]
—Here come the cowards again!!
—Ah lol the first team roster alone is so noisy!
—It’s already so fun, guys
Naturally, when all the biggest scaredy-cats piled into one team, fans excitedly envisioned the chaos.
However...
[Park Mundae: (bows)]
—???
Our resident coward, Park Mundae... was calm?
—What the heck
—Did he take a chill pill?
—Was all that fear just an act?? He gave up the character today?
Viewers were aghast.
Suddenly, the video cut to an interview segment.
And the truth came out.
[Park Mundae: I did my homework.]
The calm guy said it, somehow proud.
Viewers were even more shocked.
—How on earth did you do that
—Did you take a crash course in horror?
Comments erupted as the footage returned, showing Park Mundae’s hotel room the day before.
[...]
Park Mundae lay on the bed, intently studying his tablet PC.
He was on various horror-attraction websites. Occasionally his eyebrows twitched, but he kept checking...
Then his interview line popped up.
[Park Mundae: I looked up all the famous horror spots’ websites and their WeTube videos in England.]
—No way
—That thorough
—How much does he hate being scared, seriously—Mundae
—Why is he so serious
But he didn’t stop there.
[Park Mundae: Then I saw a staff-member vlog recommended.]
—??
—Wait—
—A vlog?
Indeed.
Just like park employees’ vlogs, attraction-staff personal vlogs existed too.
[Park Mundae: That vlog even linked to that person’s SNS account...]
...so from that web, he ended up finding the staff member’s ten-year-old daughter’s birthday party and their amazing vacation plans.
On screen flashed the warmly permitted staff member’s SNS feed.
[Park Mundae: I learned the staff playing the bed ghost is going on a fantastic vacation at a Spanish beach.]
[Park Mundae: (thumbs up)]
Then the footage returned to the attraction.
[Ahhhh!]
But this time, the bed ghost wore an in-heart filter and a heartwarming BGM played—just as Park Mundae had imagined.
—What???
—lolololol
—This is insane lolol
Park Mundae’s over-preparedness had reached the point where the ghost looked like a hardworking member of modern society.
[“We support bed-ghost staff on their vacation! —The Producers”]
With that «N.o.v.e.l.i.g.h.t» subtitle, Park Mundae cheerfully pressed on with the first attraction.
[Homework Success!]
He closed the door behind him like a conquering general and completed the attraction.
None of the other members on screen noticed the scheme—they only fussed over him.
A perfect crime.
—Incredible.
—Mundae was brave and cool, not scared of ghosts at all—so awesome
He even gained affection for it. Still, Park Mundae likely felt satisfied, recalling his professional dedication.
...If it had ended there.
But the next cut, spotlighting other members, returned once more to Park Mundae.
[Park Mundae’s ambitious planning succeeded on day two as well.]
[However]
The subtitle cheerfully changed.
[It actually wasn’t necessary!]
On day two, the attraction was a survival challenge in a fog-shrouded cemetery.
That line appeared.
[Lee Se-jin: Ah, I’ll use the exemption ticket~!]
[Cha Yoo-jin: I’ll use mine too!]
Beaming smiles—two of the members best known for impressive horror reactions gleefully used their exemption tickets.
[Park Mundae: ...!!]
[↑The one who swore he wouldn’t use it]
Park Mundae quickly grabbed the team leader.
[Park Mundae: Cha Yoo-jin, didn’t you say you wouldn’t avoid this?]
[Cha Yoo-jin: I’m not avoiding it! But I want to do that one!]
Indeed.
The exemption ticket holder’s content was... zombie hunting.
[Cha Yoo-jin: Hyung, you use your ticket too! Come with me!]
[Park Mundae: (strained refusal groan)]
[Cha Yoo-jin: Oh...]
Cha Yoo-jin looked hugely disappointed but then enthusiastically disappeared with Lee Se-jin to hunt zombies.
—lolololololololololol
—So Yoo-jin
—That looks way too fun lol!!
—At this rate Mundae might end up alone?
Of course, the content didn’t collapse.
[Kim Rae-bin: I will not use mine! The fewer people, the more one must endure fear alone, limiting the fresh enjoyment for viewers.]
[↑Saintly Type]
—Bet a buck Rae-bin treated Mundae to late-night snacks
—Now I see why they love Rae-bin
—Understood
Thus, the remaining TeSTAR members were whisked away into the cemetery-style attraction for voluntary horror fun...
Still, Park Mundae held his own.
Once the two biggest screamers vanished, his calm chase felt thrilling in its own right.
—Mundae did well there.
—He was pretty composed lol
—Wow, Ryu Cheong-woo, why do I find you so cool here;;
So ended the eventful day two. On the final day...
Once again, Park Mundae emerged before the crew, triumphant—only to hear the unexpected.
[Ryu Cheong-woo: Ah, in England the schedule was tougher, so...]
[Park Mundae: ????]
[Ryu Cheong-woo: We saved the last attraction for the next country.]
[Park Mundae: ...!!!!!]
That meant...
His homework was all for nothing...!
—lolololololol
—Failed to predict the exam scope
—PD-nim, you broke your promise!
—Second crushing defeat
So he ended up having a blast on Mexico’s terrifying Island of the Dolls until his sports drink fizzed out...
[Seon Ah-hyun: Mundae, I’m sorry. Let’s use our exemption tickets together...!]
[Park Mundae: (momentarily imagines what would happen)]
[Park Mundae: It’s okay.]
[~It was not okay~]
—Ah, Ah-hyun lol ㅠㅠㅠ
—Mundae, cut Ah-hyun some slack, she’s so sorry lol
Episode 4 thus ended with a genuine horror experience and, fittingly for summer, scored huge views—a happy ending.
All except one.
“Uahaha!”
“Kuh—ugh!”
That night’s retreat ended with Park Mundae confiscating all the other members’ popcorn.
Still, Park Mundae would claim victory next week.
His team—Do What We Want—finally got to air the healing course they created!
