Debut or Die

The participants’ first stage was a new theme song.

Since the season was endlessly successful, a second theme song was put in hastily to match the assortment.

‘I think I’ve heard it somewhere before.’

Park Moondae hoped that it was because he had heard this song in the future. Or else it would be plagiarism.

In any case, the audience’s response was tremendous even though they didn’t know the song. It was fun just to see the participants moving in real life.

Of course, the reaction of viewers watching on the screen was different.

– ? What song is it

– Why do you sing <Just Me>? You got a weird one

– Guys, let’s debutㅠㅠ

– Whatever the song is, Seon Ahyeon is great, it’s an undeniable fact

– Eugene, be the center forever

– I’m so nervous that my heart feels like it’s going to jump outㅠㅠ

– Let’s debut and be happier

Comments calling out the participants and cheering for them quickly passed by, flipped through, and updated so fast that it was almost unreadable.

“Huft.”

“I’m sweating.”

The participants who came down from the stage in front of thousands of people for the first time were excited and out of breath.

‘I don’t even know what I did.’

Park Moondae, who focused all his attention on not making mistakes because he learned it in a hurry at the last minute, twitched his eyebrows.

There seemed to be a lot of people, but they almost looked like a hologram due to the distance from the stage. Because it didn’t feel real.

And before the participants could come to their senses and the tension settle in their bodies, they were busy running around changing their costumes to match the time.

In the meantime, an MC appeared on the stage and led the show.

“Ah, what a great first stage!”

Since it was a live broadcast that would last over 3 hours, each part was hosted by a different person to reduce fatigue as much as possible.

“There are still many stages left to prepare! Guys, please stay tuned!”

The MC, who had hosted several audition programs, skillfully ad-libbed and dragged the time until the VCR came up.

“The team stage prepared by the participants for this final, in what order was it decided?”

Soon, a light-hearted video of the participants deciding the order through a mini-game was shown.

‘I couldn’t sleep because they filmed it at midnight.’

Park Moondae, who heard the sound from below the stage, recalled the situation at that time.

They chose primitive methods similar to cockfighting, so naturally, Ryu Chungwoo won a complete victory.

‘Should I say it’s a predestined outcome?’

What was surprising was that Seon Ahyeon made a good save. Thanks to him remaining right before Ryu Chungwoo, Park Moondae’s team secured the second priority on deciding the order.

Of course, it was not easy to choose the remaining order. The production team put the order from the last place and decided it like that.

It was a method that always appeared when survival shows wanted to be a little cruel.

Of course, the participants who were already forsaken skillfully escaped the trap. They reacted exaggeratedly and laughed, adjusting the atmosphere.

[Park Chanjoo: H-Huh?]

[Lee Sejin (Keun) : Aigoo~]

Park Moondae heard the sound of Keun Sejin deciding the order with a laugh echoed from above.

Thanks to it being decided at the last minute, he could also hear people on the other teams making strange noises about the unwanted orders.

“Wow, that’s scary.”

Just in time, Keun Sejin, who was moving the microphone to his costume next to Park Moondae, heard the sound and stuck out his tongue.

Although he was on the rise, it was not at the level of having his debut confirmed, so he was more nervous before the team match stage.

Keun Sejin’s hands were shaking, which was rare. Park Moondae clicked his tongue.

“I heard Kim Raebin has cheongshimhwan.”

(TL note: cheongshimhwan is a pill formulated with thirty-odd herbs including bezoars, ginseng, and Chinese yam root, used to treat various symptoms such as numb limbs and fit of apoplexy, epilepsy, etc. in traditional Korean medicine. Sumber: Wiki.)

“It’s fine~ I’ve never eaten it before.”

Keun Sejin waved it off and behind him, other team members dressed in their costumes ran.

“Team Park is going up~”

The staff shouted and ran to the side. Due to the need for staff both above and below the stage, the number was insufficient and gaps were created here and there.

“We’re going too, right?”

The moment the participants tried to follow suit, Seon Ahyeon raised his hand.

“W-Wait, F-Fighting… Can’t we do it?”

“Shall we?”

Park Moondae quietly held out his hand.

The team members quickly put their hands on it. Lee Sejin also reluctantly held out his hand.

“Fighting!”

The broadcast-free drill ended shortly.

“I want to say something, but we don’t have time, so let’s run~”

Laughing at Keun Sejin’s antics, the team members ran hard to the hallway.

And at the same time, in the concert hall.

After the VCR ended without showing the final sequence, The MC finally led the way to the next stage.

“We introduce the first team performance that was decided after a fierce battle…”

Instead of the VCR, the participants’ profiles appeared on the screen.

[Seon Ahyeon (2), Kim Raebin (5), Park Moondae (6), Lee Sejin B (7), Lee Sejin A (11), Kwon Heeseung (18)]

“Team <Challenger> is the first to take the stage!”

The profile disappeared, and the image of the participants high-fiving their team name attached to number 1 appeared on the screen.

– ???

– What, why are you already coming out

– Guys? Guys?

– Guys, why the openingㅠㅠ

Fans who were confused thinking of the general competition program soon realized the situation.

– Fools, it’s better to be sent out first.

They didn’t wait until the performance was over to vote, they were already voting, so it was unconditionally advantageous to go first.

That is, only if you’re confident you’ll do well!

In an instant, audience reactions changed.

– That’s right. Coming out early is the answer

– Ahㅋㅋ I already knew it, you guys didn’t know?

– Kya, they’re smart

– The kids are smart, I guess I’ll just have to trust them^^

– I already believe in them!

Besides, squashing the start was a fairly courageous choice anyway.

People watched the stage preparation process with high expectations.

[Team members: Thank you for the food~]

Participants sitting inside the PPL franchise cafe and talking over drinks were first broadcasted.

– Moondae took a strawberry shake… I want to nom-nom his cheeks, so cute

└Reported. (Reason: Perversion)

└That’s too much, It was Moondae who did wrongㅠㅠ

└I got the PPT, please reveal yourself

└Crazy peopleㅋㅋㅋㅋ

The tension in the comments was also eased briefly on the screen without tension.

Participants were talking softly in the video.

[Park Moondae: First of all, is there a concept you want to do?]

[Kwon Heeseung: That! I want to do something I haven’t done before!]

[Lee Sejin (Keun): Me too!]

[Seon Ahyeon: Me too!]

[Park Moondae: Um… Okay.]

A caption <Teacher Park of Rabbit class> passed by.

-ㅋㅋㅋㅋ

– The kids are all gentle, so it’s comfortable to watch

└What about Lee Sejin?ㅋ Lee Sejin?ㅋ Lee Sejin?ㅋ Lee Sejin?ㅋ

└Don’t start with the martyr, he sent Choi Wongil away

└Don’t go there, you hypocrite bastardㅋㅋ

-The problem is that the children are gentle, but the viewers are not

Of course, the reason why they looked more gentle on screen was because they were filming again for PPL after the concept had already been decided.

[Kim Raebin: I would like a concept that goes well with the title <Final>.]

[Lee Sejin (Keun): Wow, that’s good, too!]

[Lee Sejin (Actor): So what kind of concept would suit it?]

After that, there was a moment of silence. The caption <Team members lost in thought> came out.

It was Park Moondae who broke the silence.

[Park Moondae: Among the images of ‘last’, ‘the last minute’… How about bringing out that feeling?]

[Lee Sejin (Keun): Ah, there’s only one left. That kind of feeling?]

[Park Moondae: Hn, but not too heavy. It’s better if the viewers can enjoy it without being too into it.]

Then Seon Ahyeon raised his hand. By the way, Seon Ahyeon’s stuttering symptoms finally stopped being implemented in the subtitles after the production team got cursed at for several episodes.

[Seon Ahyeon: Then… How about something like ‘■■’?]

Exclamation marks appeared on the participants’ heads on the screen.

[Kim Raebin: I want to do it…!]

[Lee Sejin (Keun): Oh, me too! I think it’s going to be fun.]

[Kwon Heeseung: That sounds good?]

Even Lee Sejin, who nodded, appeared on the show.

[Park Moondae: Then our theme is… ‘■■’, it is.]

Wow! The screen was switched to the smiling faces of the participants who clapped their hands with exclamations.

And the theme keyword was never mentioned again.

There were only a few cuts of the participants practicing and being praised while recording in the video.

[Eagle (Composer): Your voice is great!]

[Seon Ahyeon: Thank you…]

Seon Ahyeon’s ears turned red, and he bowed down and went back to his seat in a daze; Park Moondae’s part after his turn was given an okay at once.

The composers smiled at each other and asked Park Moondae.

[Eagle (Composer): Can you sing it again from beginning to end?]

[Park Moondae: Yes, I’ll try.]

Of course, it didn’t show him singing it again from the beginning, and interview cuts with composers were inserted.

[Eagle (Composer): I love them all. This team is really good. The arrangement of the song also feels like, ‘Oh~ It’s good?’]

[Eagle (Composer): There is almost nothing to fix. If they just do it like this (I think they will do well.)]

And it was also crossed with heartwarming recording scenes of other team members.

Because it was the final, no strange cuts were forced on them, so there was no malice in the editing.

However, it was impossible to guess the theme because only the non-characteristic parts of the lyrics were extracted as if they were ghosts.

Thanks to this, viewers were rolling around wondering about the word that was processed as ‘Beep–’.

– What is it

– What is it let me know

– Show me what you showed them…!

– Ugh, I’m curious. I need to see the stageㅠㅠ

– What kind of innovative suggestion did they come up with that it had to be edited out?

– I think they cut it to hide the amount of preparation for the stage. I’m getting mad

– It would be funny if it turned out to be nothingㅋㅋ

While the viewers were talking, the <Challenger> team, who had decided on the main dancer without much conflict, practiced the choreography endlessly, and the VCR was quickly over.

Along with the phrase <Please check out their performance now!>.

– ?

– Is that it?

– The stage just starts like this?

– The stage is coming out

When the viewers were a little flustered by the screen that ended blandly, the main screen that had returned to the concert hall was capturing the backstage screen.

The black screen crackled, blue and red glitches popped out, and white text appeared.

[Challenger]

: A challenger

: A person who tries to beat a former winner in a game, fight, or sports event.

After a while, the screen went off with a sharp mechanical sound.

And the theme melody of the song began to fill the concert hall.

Transformed to 8-bit.

Beep- beep- beep- ting!

The blatant electronic sound started as a melody and gradually developed into harmony.

Just like how the classic game evolved into a modern console game, the melody quickly became three-dimensional.

And the moment the theme melody turned around, the backstage screen opened.

Swoosh!

Participants walked out of the black stage with blue and red lasers.

As they settled down, the 8-bit melody changed and faded into a small accompaniment.

“…”

The audience also reflexively stopped cheering and kept their mouths shut.

The figures on the stage slowly formed a formation.