Debut or Die

For now, I asked the company staff to give us some time to talk amongst ourselves.

And the discussion began.

“What do you think?”

“I want to go to America!”

“Alright. I take it Eugene is in favor of it and the hyungs will discuss it more.”

“Yeah!”

When Cha Eugene was about to be excluded from the discussion with Ryu Chungwoo’s gentle words, Keun Sejin intervened.

“Wait a minute~ Eugene, have you heard of this show?”

“<Nerdy Andy Show>? No!” Google search 𝙛𝘳𝘦𝐞𝑤ℯ𝗯n𝗼ѵe𝑙. c૦𝑚

This was the name of the show that we were requested to appear on. <Nerdy Andy Show>. And it seemed Cha Eugene really didn’t know this name.

“M-Maybe Eugene doesn’t know much about it because it’s new…?”

“That’s right. He said it’s on the rise right?”

The members talked amongst each other. I took out my smartphone.

“Moondaemoondae, are you going to look it up?”

“Hn.”

“Oh~ Let’s see.”

Anyone who saw this would think he was a guy who didn’t carry a smartphone in his pocket.

Anyway, perhaps they were lazy to search, I proceeded with the members sneakily looking at my smartphone screen.

As a result of a simple search using a translation program, the identity of the show was revealed.

“Oh, it’s their page.”

Of course, it wasn’t a famous American ground wave talk show.

But is it a small program that is completely marginalized? It’s not that either.

“Oh, that’s amazing.”

“It feels very distinctive.”

It was a pleasant broadcast in the form of a parody of a famous talk show.

And the content was… It was the subculture, so to speak.

It seemed to focus on games, comics, and superhero movies, but like the company staff said, the number of views on YouTube was quite high.

“Eugene, would you like to see this? Is it fun?”

“What is it?”

Cha Eugene poked his head into my smartphone screen where a talk show clip was playing.

Then, after looking at the screen for a moment, he snorted.

“…?”

Did this guy catch a problem?

“W-Wouldn’t it be fun…?”

“I don’t know. I don’t watch things like this. So nerdy.”

“H-Huh?”

…It just didn’t suit his taste.

Cha Eugene pouted.

Keun Sejin asked with a mischievous face.

“But you have to show up there if you want to go to America~ You have to come out and sing the game song!”

“It’s fine to show up there. I don’t watch it.”

It was a very professional attitude.

‘The question is, are we going to show up there?’

Looking at it, it was somewhat popular and it looked like a good program.

But I didn’t know if I wanted this to be our first stage in the US.

‘I don’t want to get involved with the game anymore.’

In the long run, the risks were significant.

Because Testar was a K-pop group and would make a K-pop album.

But even if we went there and did well, we could only come out with the image of the game character’s avatar.

Then, when we went abroad with a real Testar album later, there would be a huge gap from the first impression.

Тhе lаtе?t аnd mо?t рорulаr nоvеl? аt l?ghtnоvеlwоrld?соm

There was a good chance that it would come back as ridicule or betrayal.

‘If you don’t have much intention to enter the UK and US zone, it’s a good choice for media play…’

It was an American program anyway, so it wouldn’t be bad for an article.

‘It will help to remove the domestic-use image.’

It was a smoke screen saying, ‘We are also great at going global’.

In this case, I shouldn’t be too concerned with public opinion from the game community.

Even if people said that we were using the game for media play, it would quickly subside as long as we didn’t make new collaborations.

But the members didn’t seem to think this way.

They just took it as a career opportunity.

“Shall we? It’s a rare opportunity.”

“…It doesn’t matter to me.”

“I also think it’s a suggestion worth challenging. I hope we can play our song even if it’s the game collaboration song.”

It was a very progressive and rookie-like attitude. Hmm.

Surprisingly, Seon Ahyeon brought up a concerning issue here.

“W-Will it be all right? M-Moondae back then… said it’s not good to collaborate again… Is this… going to be okay?”

The last question was what I had been wondering myself.

Keun Sejin also stepped in. However, this guy was also in favor of it.

“Hey~ I’m not asking for a new collaboration, wouldn’t it be fine to have the stage? We’ll leave a good impression if we do it well~”

He must be aware of the importance of first impressions, but it seemed his ambition to enter the US had overcome the risk.

‘You’re saying we should take care of our popularity first.’

To make matters worse, Seon Ahyeon nodded with his eyes shining.

“S-Should we? I-I hope we can have a great stage…!”

I guessed he wanted to do it.

And the others began to join in, forming an atmosphere filled with motivation.

…It couldn’t be helped. I nodded my head.

“…Alright, I like it, too.”

“Ooh!”

“However, I want to show the group as much as possible.”

“The group?”

“Yeah.”

They must be wondering about how loose the term was, but after the explanation, everyone was convinced.

“Great!”

“Hmm~ We have to prepare well.”

“I’m glad I have some free time in my recent schedule.”

The group discussion ended in a jovial mood.

And the company staff I met again had opinions similar to what I said earlier.

But mine was slightly more specific.

“First of all… I hope we can sing one of our title tracks.”

“Ah~ Ah! Of course. We will definitely discuss that!”

“Yes, thank you. For the stage, the program only requests the selection of the songs, is it correct that we prepare the rest?”

“Yes. that’s right. If there is a concept or setting you want to do, I will try to match it as much as possible. As much as the time permits!”

“That’s great.”

Time, it would be fine. I smirked.

“I want a live band performance.”

“Ah! That’s great.”

“And there’s no need for costumes.”

“…? Yes?”

What the hell are you talking about? I guessed it was time for me to explain it once more.

* * *

The news of Testar’s appearance on an American program made it to the entertainment news main page at least once.

l?ghtnоvеlwоrld?соm fоr а bеttеr u?еr ехреr?еnсе

If the reaction wasn’t good after appearing, it would be difficult to play with the press, so as soon as the casting came in, the agency seized the opportunity.

The news quickly came to the fans who were enjoying Testar’s May university festival and Seon Ahyeon’s surprise birthday party video.

– Heol, going to the US?

– It’s time to talk about overseas, but I thought they’d start with Japan… As expected, the population targeting Testar is different.

– I can finally see Cha Eugene speaking English as much as I want. Callie Boy’s cheerful sexy accent??

– You have to take annual leave to see it live. Okay, I’m going to get food poisoning that day.

Rather than worrying about the neglect of domestic activities due to overseas tours, the atmosphere of ‘the world needs to know about such a great idol’ was overwhelming.

Because Testar had so many fans in Korea.

However, after the exact contents of the program and the casting process were revealed, it cooled down slightly.

– Ah they will sing the game collaboration song… No wonder the show felt a bit like that??

– It’s the first time K-pop appears on that program. This achievement is meaningful enough

– I heard that our kids gave a lot of opinions on the game collaboration, so it’s nice to see it come to fruition.

– I think this one will work better than the title track. I heard the collaboration song was on Billboard (screenshot)

– But I’m not going to let you go if the gaming bastards go crazy again. They’re geniuses, so what’s the point of making the collaboration song into a god song??

The last one was words that Kim Raebin’s solo fan pressed into her private account one letter at a time with anger.

‘These f*cking bastards really piss me off!’

She slammed the keyboard.

Because she was reminded of a dog fight with a malicious game user who was talking nonsense.

“When it was launched, they praised them as Godstar, but now they’re cutting off tails because the game becomes so popular!”

The fact that the situation had changed and the user base had changed a lot since then didn’t mean anything in front of Kim Raebin’s angry fan.

‘I wish they would get fizzled out. Ha!!’

She just wanted this game to quit!

In fact, Testar’s success abroad was far from advantageous.

‘If it goes well with this opportunity, they won’t be able to come out on music shows because they will be on tour. Either way, it’s not good for me!’

…But like this, on the day of Testa’s appearance on <Nerdy Andy Show>, she was also waiting to watch it live.

She even sat down in front of her desktop because smartphone screens were too small and had too many errors.

‘Sigh…’

Reality check dominated her shoulders.

She couldn’t help it. Kim Raebin and Park Moondae were held hostage by such a trivial program…

“Heol, are you seeing them again?”

“Hn, go away.”

“Hn, you.”

“If you call me you more time, I will really look for you.”

She cursed at her younger brother with her hands and then ignored him. But her younger brother glanced at her computer screen.

“Is this the one? Singing a game song in the US? Are they going to come out in costumes?”

“Hey, go away.”

“Oh my God~ Argh! Ugh!”

After being mercilessly slapped on the back, her younger brother ran back to the sofa.

Because <127 Section> did so well, her brother also played the game, so he knew the news.

‘Are you already crossing the line? I’m getting angrier.’

Kim Raebin’s solo fan gritted her teeth and stared at the computer screen.

Fortunately, the program began shortly after.

[Welcome to the Show!]

[This is… nerdy!]

[Oh, I mean, Andy~]

“What are you saying?”

American B-class CG and subtitles flew around.

And English poured out of the speaker for a while. The interim that showed up every few minutes was a bonus.

In summary, it wasn’t fun.

She could only recognize a few superhero movie characters.

Тhе lаtе?t аnd mо?t рорulаr nоvеl? аt l?ghtnоvеlwоrld?соm

‘What are you doing…’

Kim Raebin’s solo fan felt deep regret, saying that she should have finished her assignment and watched the edited version later.

Still, she watched it because it would be a waste, but fortunately, a preview of Testar appeared.

To be exact… It was a preview of <127 Section> OST performance.

‘F*ck…!’

Isn’t that just promoting the game?

She stomped her foot with a feeling of resentment. The commercial soon ended with the younger brother ignoring king kong’s nonsense whining.

And the stage was illuminated.

“…!”

In the spot where Testar would come out… There was a whole band.

‘Looks like they’re going to do a band live.’

She focused on the screen for now.

Soon after, Testar came up to the stage.

But they… were in casual clothes.

“Huh…?”

No, just in casual clothes, they looked neat. However, it wasn’t conceptual like their usual idol stage outfits.

“Huh? They’re not wearing costumes?”

As her younger brother said, they didn’t even the game character’s outfit or hairstyle.

It was just natural Testar. They looked like they would show up on a reality show.

Cha Eugene smiled and grabbed the standing microphone.

– What makes people live?

CHOICE!

And with the band’s live performance, the stage of the trailer song began.

DOOOM DOOOM DOOOM DOOOM ZZZZ-ING!

– I’m gonna survive.

Like you did before

Park Moondae coolly entered the high-pitched intro.

Testar sang with each holding their own standing microphone.

“…!”

The music… It was nice to listen to.

Her younger brother shrugged.

“He’s good at singing.”

Testar was originally good at singing live.

However, it was the first time that they had a performance where she could just listen to the song without any other elements.

In fact, most of the fans who were watching the program now had assumed that Testar would somehow put directing or choreography on the stage.

But there was no such thing.

It was just a neat and cool stage where you could enjoy the song.

They were good at using facial expressions and their gestures weren’t awkward, so they led the stage all the way only with that.

– Choose your way

Choose your side

She felt confident.

– Survive!

Testar brilliantly performed the game collaboration song with the image of a standard singer, not a character performer.

The siblings opened their mouths to the applause and cheers on the screen.

“Wow…”

“Oh~, I acknowledge it.”

Instead of answering, ‘Who do you think you are to acknowledge them?’, she tapped the desk in excitement.

‘Anyway, the performance was really good!’

They drew the line perfectly.

It was shouting, ‘We are not part of the game, we are the <singers> who made the OST for this game!’.

Тhе lаtе?t аnd mо?t рорulаr nоvеl? аt l?ghtnоvеlwоrld?соm

And because they had enough talent as a singer, it worked brilliantly and seemed natural.

[Wow~ That’s awesome!]

This composition was also revealed in the small talk after the first stage.