Debut or Die

Only the announcement for the first and second place was left.

I didn’t worry whether ‘Park Moondae’ would be eliminated like this.

‘There are no other candidates.’

Among the remaining people, no one was worth getting first and second place.

Ah, the guy who won third place at the last ranking announcement was spotted with his girlfriend, so public sentiment plummeted.

I feel a little bad, but… Isn’t it his own fault for meeting his girlfriend every time he took a break from filming while he was still participating in an idol audition?

“We’re revealing the first-place candidates now!”

The MC shouted some hints into the microphone. I rested my throat which turned sore due to the long procession.

And after a little bit of delay just like the previous rankings, the candidates were announced.

“Cha Eugene!”

Cha Eugene smiled and came forward. The people below cheered as if it was natural.

“And the other candidate…”

Let’s get ready to go

“Participant Park Moondae!”

As expected.

I came forward while receiving formal congratulations from some of the participants I wasn’t close with.

“Hyung, congratulations.”

At least Gold 2 seemed sincere, but I could see that he was forcibly pretending to be strong, perhaps realizing that he was about to be eliminated.

I just patted him on the back a few times and went up to the podium.

Cha Eugene, who was already climbing up, reached out his hand.

“Let’s shake hands!”

He looked very excited. I hoped he could keep this momentum and take it to first place.

I didn’t say much and accepted the handshake. The atmosphere of the concert hall temporarily became friendly.

‘Is my debut confirmed with this?’

I checked to see if there was a change in the status window, but there was only the ‘Successful stage’ pop-up that appeared earlier.

“The two of you, what do you think when you see the opposing candidate competing for first place?”

Cha Eugene immediately picked up the microphone.

“It’s really cool!”

“Haha! That’s a very clear answer~”

The MC laughed and asked fishing questions to create tension.

“Do you think you’ll win first place today?”

“I don’t know. But getting first place would be nice!”

Cha Eugene raised his thumb.

He sounded at ease enough to make the viewers feel fond of him but not to the extent that would make people resent him for joking around in the final.

“I see~ Now, let’s hear from participant Park Moondae. How do you feel when you see him?

I picked up the microphone.

“He’s such a good friend… I can’t believe I was mentioned together with this friend.”

“It was a very humble statement~ But, the first place… How about it, do you see a possibility?”

I knew you’d ask me this question somehow.

I took a break from answering as if I were thinking about it. Then I shook my head and replied.

“…It seems difficult… Um, to be honest, second place is also higher than my goal, so I’m just grateful.”

I didn’t know why, but when I answered ‘It seems difficult’ a small laugh broke out among the audience below the stage.

‘Did I sound too sincere?’

“Ah, it’s not too bad to come out in 2nd place? Won’t you regret it?”

“…Yes, of course, I’d appreciate it if I win.”

“Oh~ I see. Ladies and gentlemen, it was the resolution of participant Park Moondae.”

‘Tough guy.’

The MC barely stopped asking questions before getting back to it again.

The popularity, ratings, and reactions of <Re-listed! Idol Inc.>, and the (self-proclaimed) best treatment we would receive when we debuted, were broadcasted again.

And after a long wait, right before the announcement.

“The long-awaited first place is…… It will be revealed after the commercial!”

‘I knew this would happen.’

Originally, the candidates were supposed to be nervous and breaking down, well, they had to show such a dramatic reaction, but because the candidates were me and Cha Eugene, only applause and laughter came out

Instead, moans of resentment and several curses came out from under the stage.

‘I think they just threw out curses.’

I was almost certain that I just heard swear words popping out from behind the slogan ‘Moon Puppy’.

“Hyung! Debut! Do a lot of fun things with me!”

“…Great.”

As soon as the sign of the commercial break appeared, Cha Eugene started talking to me. He was completely excited, anyone who saw it would have thought he had already debuted and entered the dorm.

‘Are you really not interested in winning first place?’

Even so, saying that the first-place reward was an ‘amazing reward!’ was just to roughly survive.

If you didn’t have a desire for honor, it wouldn’t be weird if you were like, ‘I don’t know~ I just debut~’

However, if you knew what the first-place reward was, you wold be scared.

As I said before, the reward was actually a penalty.

In fact, since Cha Eugene was originally ranked first and he was also ranked first at the previous ranking announcement, I knew that he had a higher chance of winning.

But don’t people have this thing called premonition?

Looking at the Internet response I saw yesterday, I couldn’t help but feel anxious that ‘Park Moondae’ would win first place.

‘…I don’t know. Then I’ll just get cursed at.’

I gave up thinking. It was good enough that I could avoid sudden death.

After accepting a few words from Cha Eugene, the live broadcast resumed.

“The long-awaited first-place announcement, <Re-listed! Idol Inc>!”

The MC repeated what he had said earlier one more time. I could almost memorize it by heart.

‘He’s saying it slowly one at a time.’

To be honest, why are you taking so long when both of us are already getting on with it?

‘I think everyone has changed the channel.’

Fortunately, the MC finally said the name.

The long-awaited first place is…

“…Park Moondae!”

Although it wasn’t the name I had expected.

‘…It ends up like this.’

I got first place.

I lowered my head to hide my face in case it would show, but I realized an unexpected fact. It felt… good.

I didn’t care about the first-place penalty; once I heard that I had won, the adrenaline strangely rushed to the top of my head.

The taste of achievement was thrilling.

I almost laughed out loud.

‘This is stronger than when I got into college.’

Thanks to this, I was able to express my feelings right away without hiding my face.

“Congratulations~!”

Cha Eugene loyally gave a lot of hugs.

‘It’s American style.’

I gave back a short hug and picked up the microphone.

Looking at the concert hall from the same angle as the MC, some of the production crew under the forepart looked at me with an expression that seemed to be saying, ‘Aren’t you going to cry?’.

‘Yes. I am not.’

I just laughed.

Well, to be honest, half of it was thanks to luck and the status window… Anyway, I had parts in it too.

“Participant Park Moondae, your feeling! Please tell us how you feel.”

“Yes.”

I paused for a while, then I just spoke honestly.

Is it because I was suddenly drunk with adrenaline? There were no calculations in my head, and the words seemed to come out of my spinal cord.

“Honestly, my goal was to debut. I really wanted to debut, and I had to… So I didn’t even think about winning first place. I didn’t even expect it. I think my debut was already too good for me.”

I caught my breath.

“But… it feels nice to win.”

Cheers and light laughter broke out everywhere.

It was to the point that my next words ‘Honestly, I didn’t know this would happen’ were difficult to hear. The MC received a signal from the production team that ‘It’s still taking time’ and asked me again.

“Is there anyone you want to thank through this event?”

I was going to say it anyway.

“Well… I can’t think of anyone to mention in particular. Just, thank you to the people who invested in ‘Park Moondae’.”

A scream broke out under the stage, stopped for a moment, and then slowly continued.

“I wish I could give you something in return… Um, no matter how much you spend on me, I’ll try my best to make your spending produce the highest efficiency within the same price range. Thank you.”

I bowed my head at the end of my speech. Amidst cheers and applause, I could hear some sniffles.

Even the person holding the slogan ‘Moon Puppy’ seemed to have given too much strength to their hand because of the sobbing; the slogan was almost squashed and looked similar to ‘Nudannae’.

‘Just because of these words?’

I was a little embarrassed, but it was a relief that they liked it.

It tingled me a little to see people rejoicing with me even though it was not their business.

‘Not bad.’

At this rate, it didn’t matter if I got the first-place penalty.

As I made up my mind, the MC was conducting an interview with Cha Eugene, who came out second place.

Cha Eugene laughed and expressed his feelings to his mother in English, then waved eagerly to the audience.

He looked like he was openly enjoying himself, I could see why people took videos of him. He was the type that didn’t give people unnecessary stress or emotional exhaustion.

“Thank you~”

Cha Eugene cheerfully finished his speech. The production team sent him a sign to join the debut group next to the podium.

After Cha Eugene left running excitedly, the MC looked back at me.

The background music that created tension started playing.

“Now it’s time to make a choice.”

It had come.

I stood upright and put my hands together.

“A huge reward for the winner of first place, here it is! Let me show you. Participant Park Moondae!”

“Yes.”

“What kind of reward do you want?”

“…Well.”

I wanted to get 100 million won.

“I don’t know…. A quick debut?”

“Ah~ that’s important!”

The MC spread his hand.

“Now, show us the reward!”

Then, the intro video appeared on the large electronic display in the front and the electronic display next to it, and soon a message appeared.

[Prize money 50 million won!]

“…!?”

Why is the prize money showing up there?

“Yes! Participant Park Moondae immediately receives 50 million won as the first-place reward!” You can claim it as soon as this live broadcast is over!”

This couldn’t be happening.

Even in the midst of confusion, my head diligently drew out the actual amount. 39 million won.

Of course… It was good to receive it.

However, there was never such a thing as getting 30 million won like this either.

“Or! There is another option too!”

Following the MC’s words, a new message appeared on the electronic display.

[Recruit a new member!]

“With the authority of the first-place winner, Park Moondae can nominate one of the 14 participants who came up to the final ranking announcement as a team member to debut with!”

‘Here it is.’

This damn option finally popped up.

The first place’s ultimate reward to select one of the finalists to join the debut group!

Penalty disguised as a reward!

It had become even more vicious.

‘You’re asking me to choose between the prize money and the second option…!’

How can I pick the prize in this situation?!

If I chose the prize money here, I would be turning the remaining 14 people into enemies, so of course, I had no choice but to choose the new recruitment option!

I could already tell how I would get cursed at.

– 50 million won is a big amount of money, but it’s not as big as someone else’s life.

– You’re going to make a lot of money when you debut anywayㅋㅋ You really like money~ I can see his future in a few yearsㅎ

-I didn’t know you’d pick the prize money after seeing the kids suffer together… His image seems to be breaking down

Perhaps no one would have chosen the prize money, no matter who it was.

I was sure the production crew knew that and did this.

Putting some drama in the last episode of the program to torture the winner really sounded just like those guys who put negative votes as an official rule.

‘It’s pissing me off.’

Should I grab the prize money and get cursed at?

“Participant Park Moondae?”

“…Yes.”

I barely answered late.

All kinds of deafening screams were ringing out from the audience seats.

People standing below the stage also were also giving out names and screaming, but my head didn’t turn.

“Have you made up your mind?”

“…Yes.”

It was no good dragging it out too long. I opened my mouth.

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