I'll Die If I Don't Debut - Chapter 001
Isn't it an unwritten rule that waking up to an unfamiliar ceiling means you're in another world?
Not for me. I woke up in some moldy motel room.
"Ugh……"
My head felt like it was splitting open. I clutched my forehead and sat up. A musty-smelling blanket slipped off my feet.
So…… let's see, I think I confirmed that I failed the exam again this time, drank alone until I passed out.
Did I crawl from my studio apartment to a motel?
"Am I crazy……"
I cursed at myself as I walked into the bathroom. I figured I'd splash some water on my face and check what I looked like. Even without looking, I knew it'd be the face of a exam student soaked in alcohol.
And when I saw the mirror, I crashed to the floor.
"Urk! ……Fuck."
I reflexively cursed, but unable to believe the situation, I gritted my teeth.
I shook my head with trembling hands. Then I looked into the mirror again.
An unfamiliar face still stared back at me from the mirror.
A scrawny, pretty-faced kid.
…I steadied my breathing to keep from panicking. I desperately craved a cigarette I had already quit.
"…Hah."
I just then realized my voice was unfamiliar too.
I felt like biting my tongue off.
What the hell is this situation?
Barely keeping my wits about me, I dragged this unfamiliar body and searched the motel room.
I found what appeared to be a suicide note and an empty pill bottle on the bed. Looked like this kid had attempted suicide by overdosing on sleeping pills.
Skimming the suicide note, it said something about being an orphan, dropping out of school, feeling unjust and hopeless, so they were leaving this world.
It left a bitter taste in my mouth for no reason. Even after swapping bodies, I'm an orphan again.
I also found a wallet left on the cheap vanity table. Rummaging through it, I found a few bills and this body's ID card.
[Park Moondae 0X1215 - 3XXXXXX]
"Last digit is 3……"
So I did regress. I muttered in a deflated voice and examined the photo on the ID. It looked better than the reflection I saw in the mirror earlier, but the face still seemed awfully dark.
Still, for someone with such a gloomy impression, it was a decent face and he looked young for his age. Twenty-three now? I thought he'd be younger.
"……"
No, now's not the time for such thoughts.
I tried hard to think calmly.
Anyway, I roughly grasped the situation and calmed down. I was starting to think I should look for my original body's whereabouts and come up with a countermeasure. This kid who attempted suicide might have ended up in my body.
I grabbed the wallet and opened the motel door.
And I froze.
Snow was drifting down outside the window right in front of me.
…It was July before I got wasted and passed out.
"Dear God."
I swallowed hard. Then I scrambled back into the motel room and picked up the desk calendar.
[202X December]
…It's a calendar from 3 years ago.
My vision swam.
It didn't take that long to calm down again. Well, swapping bodies had been a bigger shock than traveling to the past, after all.
I sat on the edge of the bed and sighed. Why did it have to be when I don't even remember any lottery numbers?
Then I jerked my head up at a sudden crazy thought.
…Actually, it might not be the past but a different world, right?
It was an insane thought, but overwhelmed by an insane situation, it sounded convincing.
Webtoons and web novels I occasionally read seemed to have this kind of thing come up quite a bit. Were they called Hunter genre…?
I mumbled softly in a dazed tone. I guarantee I looked pretty out of it.
"Status window…?"
But of course, nothing happened.
Damn it.
I pounded the bed with my hand in shame.
Like that would ever pop up, you idiot…….
[Name: Park Moondae (Ryu Gunwoo)]
Level: 0
Title: None
Vocals: C
Dance: -
Looks: C
Charisma: -
Trait: Infinite Potential
It popped up?
I rolled off the bed.
"Urk!"
Groaning from my aching back, I thought:
The status window contents… aren't what I expected?
* * *
"……"
With the status window actually appearing, I was able to calm down as much as I wanted.
Since this was clearly a situation that defied the laws of physics, it really hit me that this wasn't a joke.
Right now, I had left the motel and entered a nearby PC cafe. It was to check if there were any other variables besides this world being 3 years in the past.
For reference, I asked the counter to call my original number, but it said it was a non-existent number.
My university account couldn't log in either, and the SNS accounts I made for assignments had disappeared too.
In other words, it seems like the original 'me' doesn't exist in this world.
Not that I have any great regrets.
My parents already passed away in an accident when I was in middle school, and all contact with relatives had been cut off around the time I entered college.
It wasn't like I had any decent connections, and the few relationships I had all disappeared as my exam prep dragged on.
Plus, considering the years I wasted as an exam student, it basically meant this was a body that wouldn't be strange to cut ties with.
"Here's your ham ramyeon."
"Ah, thank you."
I finished my cold self-assessment and received the tray. Then I slurped the ramyeon while looking at the search engine.
Hmm, 3 years ago would be when I was studying 'in earnest' and making a mess of things.
It was the era when I canceled my smartphone and disconnected my internet, so these pages don't feel completely familiar.
But I didn't feel any sense of incongruity either.
It exactly felt like 3 years ago. The things that were trendy back then caught my eye. Games, movies, songs… idols.
Idols, huh.
"Hmm."
I put down my chopsticks on the empty ramyeon bowl. Then I crossed my arms.
That status window, no matter how I looked at it, was specific to idols.
I didn't understand why I ended up in this body, but could it be related to the contents of that status window?
Did the original owner of this body, 'Park Moondae,' make a wish because he was an idol trainee?
……Or was it because of my college days activities?
I really had no idea. But I should use whatever I could.
"Status window."
When I mumbled almost at the level of a breath, the translucent status window suddenly popped up in my vision again.
Vocals at C rank, Looks at C rank too. The rest were blank.
Was it because I hadn't tried?
That thought suddenly occurred to me, but I decided to put it aside for now. There was no way I'd want to unleash dance and charisma right now in this situation.
Then should I check the other contents of the status window?
I recalled the noraebang sign I had seen on my way into the PC cafe.
* * *
"Oh."
First of all, to state the results of my check, C rank didn't seem to be a low rank.
I could sing quite well. The tone was good, and the volume was decent. The vocalization was clean too, so it gave the impression of 'good basics.' I definitely thought there was talent here.
And what was even more surprising than that was that this window appeared.
[Achievement Unlocked! 〈First Attempt〉]
Level 0 -> 1
Acquired 1 point!
"Achievement?"
It was just me repeating it to myself, but another window popped up.
[Achievements In Progress]
10 Attempts (0/10)
100 Attempts (0/100)
First Experience (0/1)
10 Experiences (0/10)
…….
The scroll bar continued endlessly downward. …So it's grindwork. And the units jumped up shamelessly as they went. Plus, half of them were blank, apparently unable to be checked.
I lost a bit of interest and closed the window.
Still, since I received something called a point, should I try using it like a game?
I brought up the status window.
At the bottom, 'Remaining Points: 1' was newly displayed.
"Allocate 1 point to Vocals."
Then the contents of the status window changed.
[Name: Park Moondae (Ryu Gunwoo)]
Level: 1
Title: None
Vocals: C+
Dance: -
Looks: C
Charisma: -
Trait: Infinite Potential
Vocals immediately became C+.
Is this really being reflected?
I immediately selected the song I had sung earlier. And I sang it the same way.
"……I'm good?"
There was definitely a difference. It sounded easier to listen to, and a more polished sound came out. It felt like my throat had naturally acquired the way to sing like that.
And the 'Trait' that appeared on the status window.
"Infinite Potential, huh."
For normal people, the results relative to effort vary depending on innate talent. And even with effort, there are limits. The maximum achievable growth, the limit of potential.
But this status window now showed that the efficiency relative to effort was absurdly high, and there was no growth limit.
Plus, I had confirmed that skills actually improved when I tried it.
I stroked my chin and thought.
Idols….
Was it telling me to make this my new body's career path?
And at that moment, a popup jumped up above the status window.
"…!!"
[Sudden Event!]
Status Effect: 'Debut or Death' has occurred!
Below the bright red letters, more text continued.
['Debut or Death']
If you fail to debut as an idol within the specified period, you will die
Remaining period: D-365
"What?"
It was an absurd content, but I had a ominous feeling.
Since waking up in another person's body was already a crazy situation, there was no guarantee that something even stranger wouldn't happen.
As soon as I finished reading, the bizarre popup disappeared.
And sure enough, a strange item was added to the status window.
[Name: Park Moondae (Ryu Gunwoo)]
Level: 1
Title: None
Vocals: C+
Dance: -
Looks: C
Charisma: -
Trait: Infinite Potential
!Status Effect: Debut or Death
Is this for real?
"Fuck……"
I spat out a curse and covered my forehead. Cold sweat broke out.
I had already confirmed that the status window worked. I couldn't ignore the possibility that this bullshit text would also come true.
Why the hell did something like this pop up? Because I thought of idols?
I let out a laugh of disbelief. But at the same time, this thought crossed my mind:
'…Could this be punishment for selling data all this time?'
Right, idols.
Actually, it was a familiar field for personal reasons.
During my college days, I filmed for idols as a proxy and made decent living expenses. In the process, I did some… money-obsessed things too.
I saw all sorts of things and heard all sorts of rumors.
Besides, they say environment makes the person; I used to film so much that I even over-immersed myself in this field for a while.
I voluntarily researched various things back then, so it's a field I have some knowledge about.
I rubbed my face to wipe away the cold sweat. Then I crossed my arms and glared at the status window.
I don't know what's what. It's absurd, and it's infuriating.
But I have no intention of dying.
So let's calm down.
Right, I was a trash-tier life anyway, and now I'm being given a fresh start. And with such advantageous conditions to boot.
Plus, to track down why I ended up in this body, I'll need to use and investigate this unrealistic status window more.
"Hmm."
My self-rationalization was complete. I grinned, half-crazed.
…Around this time, an idol survival show blew up big, didn't it?