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Debut or Die - 368'...So, this is...'I regained my senses in the practice room of another person's agency, CheongRyu, who looks to be in his early 20s.It's a crazy situation.I turned my head. Only then did I meet my eyes with my reflection in the huge full-length mirror that takes up the entire wall.-......!-That's what you used to look like before, isn't it, hoobae-nim?Yes.The one reflected in the full-length mirror was Ryu GunWoo. The one who used to be my body.However, it's not the reflection of a guy in his 20's who at that time looked very tired.He looked like he just graduated from high school, now he looks to be the same age as CheongRyu.I swallowed saliva and raised my hand. The young Ryu GunWoo in the mirror followed me.'...Ryu GunWoo.'But somehow... that appearance is a bit different from what I looked like back then.Things like the look, the atmosphere and the body.-Park MoonDae's appearance seems to remain. Is it like they've been combined? Haha, that's unusual.It gives me goosebumps.'No, fuck. Don't be presumptuous.'It might be because of the facial expression.At that time, I didn't look very good due to college entrance exams and life's problems, but the guy in the mirror seemed to have managed quite well.'.......'How did you take care of yourself?-The starting point is different this time. Hmm, from different ages.I turned my head. CheongRyu was already reaching for his phone to check the date and situation.I reach into my sweatshirt pocket. I found an old phone.-We are of different ages.-Yes. Every time I rebooted before, it always started when I was 18. But this time the date is a few years later, at the age of 20? Hmm, that's not right. Is it because someone made us reboot together?I pulled my phone out of my pocket and checked the date on the lock screen.[201X / 01 / 08]-...!Certainly, the date was strange.Although I look about 20 years old, I should have been a few years older than I look now.In the first place, Ryu GunWoo should be older than CheongRyu, but now we look similar in age.'Neither this nor that makes sense.'Only then did my mind become clear. The age thing became clear.This is no different from 'Daydream.'-This is a dream.-What?-I'm not sure, but I have experienced something similar.I briefly described the dream I had while I was in coma after the car accident. CheongRyu listened without any change in expression.-...Our ages do not match the date. Also, neither my appearance nor the place where I came to my senses fit.I came to a conclusion.-So this is not the past, we seem to be in a dream that doesn't match.-Ah.CheongRyu smiled.-Isn't that what you wish to believe?-.......I clasped my hands.-So, is there a better guess than that in the current situation?-The surreal situation of going back to the past has already happened, but do you think it's a dream because other factors are contradictory? Isn't that too arbitrary a judgment?-.......-Obviously you have to think this is the reality and act accordingly. Hoobae-nim, no, hmm.... Do you want me to call you GunWoo hyung?-Stop.This bastard is accepting it and proceeding too fast.But after taking a deep breath, I regained my composure.Because there was nothing wrong.-First of all... you're right. We need to respond realistically.-Yes.It's stupid to look at things the way you want to believe. It's reasonable to assume the worst and act.Besides.'I'm tired of seeing...this bastard.'It may have been because he willingly followed me, but he got caught up in this craziness anyway...which he seems to have rebooted into.Although I don't know if he's excited or if he wants to kill someone.'I need to fix my mentality.'I don't know what kind of sudden action could happen. I shut my mouth.Also... I need to identify the cause.'Where did the mistake come from?'Let's review the situation on the plane at the time.There was a status window with an error that appeared like crazy all around us, and that guy....-Hmm... I can see that.-...!CheongRyu also saw the status window!I felt as if I had received a blow to the head.'No way.'The system... entered this fucker and his disabled status abnormality came back up?This guy's state anomaly?It was infinitely back to the starting point.[Correction (Disabled)]Let's do it again.→ If it fails, it will go back to the beginning.As already confirmed in the case of Seon AhHyun, state abnormalities that have been inactive are likely to be reactivated.'Even if the system did not enter it directly, it could have become a kind of catalyst.'I immediately checked CheongRyu's status.'Status window.'No, I was going to check.But... the window didn't appear.Chiichik!Instead, a strange glitch appeared and then disappeared.That indicated something that was true.'...KeunDal.'It means KeunDal is in a state where he can't appear in the status window.I clenched my fist.'Shit.'I think it was screwed up correctly, but I don't know where it started.At that moment.A cautious voice was heard from behind.-Hey, hyung-nims.-...!At the door to the practice room, which I hadn't realized was open, a tall guy stuck his head out.It was a familiar face.-Ah, hmm, good afternoon...!It was a member of VTIC, ShinOh.Of course, he looked much younger than in reality. He spoke again with a nervous look on his face.-The Director called us, but he sent me to call you because you hadn't met yet....-Is that so? Wait a minute.CheongRyu listened to him gently and said to me.-Shall we go?-Yes.Let's follow the situation for now.CheongRyu and I moved along with ShinOh.We walked down the hallway of an unknown agency.Until we arrived at an office.And the CEO, who looked like a clerk, called many young people and lined them up.I'm sure they're all trainees.'About 20 people.'Considering the size of this company, that obviously didn't seem to be the total number of people.TL/N: LeTi is a famous and powerful agency (SM, YG, JYP or HYBE type), so the number of trainees it must have is much higher. The 20 trainees gathered should be the best they have at the moment, and from among them they will probably choose those who will debut soon.-I have called them to encourage them because I am paying special attention to them. Do you understand?-Yes!I can see some familiar faces among those who have been called up. I saw a couple of guys who will be making their debut in a small to medium-sized agency in a few years.And I can also see the faces of VTIC members I know.'The one who called us is ShinOh. The one next to him... is that JooDan?'No matter how you look at it, both of them are standing at the end of the line, as if they are not going to enter the debut group.It's obvious.'CheongRyu must have figured it out.'ChaeYul, who is not here, seems to have been picked up separately.I realized that the guy next to me was an experienced person who had combined reality through several attempts.Meanwhile, the Executive Director of the agency is selecting, encouraging and asking questions to some people as if he is checking each one.Shin Jae-Hyun, you take good care of the children.-Yes.Shin JaeHyun, who had not yet received the stage name CheongRyu, nodded to the boss with a simple expression on his face....How many times did this guy go through this moment?At that moment.-And Ryu GunWoo.-...! Yes?Why did he call me all of a sudden?The man called CEO wiggled his fingers over his mouth, as if he was mocking.-GunWoo, you have merit because you're of a good age and have a good academic background. Don't worry about useless things and practice more.-......Yes.I can't believe that the advice Ryu GunWoo received to be able to debut in LeTi is a bunch of nonsense.'Heum.'I checked the attitudes and expressions of the people around me.People smiling brightly, in the front row next to CheongRyu.And if you combine what the boss is saying....'I'm in the first team.'I guess I'm a LeTi trainee. And that I am in a debut group.In any case, the chief manager said a few more words that seemed moderate and dismissed the trainees.-JaeHyun hyung, will you stay for practice?-Hmm, I'll see.-Okay.I frowned after checking that the trainees of the debut group disappeared down the hallway.'The Director seemed to be looking for something.'First of all, let's put it aside because the priority isn't whatever the CEO of this company is conspiring.'I have to get out of this dream right now.'As fast as possible.I have no idea how time flows in real life or what kind of mess will have happened.'I'll look for some clue.'I decided to check my position here.'I should start by checking my phone.'It's a lot of personal information.I walk down the hallway, pull out my old smartphone and fiddle with the screen....-.......Shit, I don't know the lock pattern.I tried a couple of times, but it was still locked. I don't know what else to do, but... maybe it's good to take a detour.-Shin JaeHyun.-Hmm?-Do you have any record of conversation with Ryu GunWoo on your phone?Considering the situation where we practiced together before and we were lying close, it must be that we know each other.-Yes there is. Here you go.As expected.I looked at the phone screen CheongRyu dutifully held out.[LeTi 16to Shin JaeHyun: Tell me the address you moved to, hyung ^^][Why do you want to know?]...But if GunWoo answered like that, why did he bother to send a reply with an address underneath?'Is he crazy?'I heard CheongRyu chuckling.-Hmm, I guess we were close. That's convenient.-.......-Ah, you asked because you didn't know the lock pattern. It's a diamond. We're in the period where the company unifies the pattern for the debut group phones for management reasons.That means we're working with crazy idiots who have no privacy.And on top of that it seems to be working very well. It's a disaster.* * *-Huu.It is 11 o'clock at night.I'm heading to the place called Ryu GunWoo's rented house, as listed in CheongRyu's messages.What about the lock pattern of my phone? Surprisingly, the company's diamond pattern has also failed, so I have left it unattended just in case.-Really? I guess it hasn't been long since Ryu GunWoo-ssi joined the agency.'Damn it.'That was all we could think of.I should take it to the service center tomorrow to get it fixed. I held back a sigh and moved my feet.CheongRyu also agreed to go home first.-Let's talk again after we figure out the situation.-Okay.It was a reasonable judgment.The problem is... the building I arrived at, where my living quarters are, looks better than I thought.'It's an officetel.'How much money did you use to do this?Looking at the building, which seemed to be quite large and broke the balance as it was too out of the ordinary, I moved on.This is just a dream, not reality.Ttiriririk-And, fortunately, I passed the front door of the building thanks to an access card that was attached to the phone.I was thinking of going back to the company's practice room if necessary, but I got lucky.'This might work by opening the front door.'I went upstairs to find my home number and did the same process to unlock the door, then reached my hand over and pulled the doorknob.The door opened smoothly.Even though I was sure no one would be home... the lights were on.And I heard a voice.-Are you home, hyung?i-...!-You practiced for a long time today.Sitting on the living room sofa in comfortable clothes...There was Ryu CheongWoo.Just like me, he looks like he's 20 years old.'What's going on?'-Hyung?The Ryu GunWoo here... he seems to live alone with his relative, Ryu CheongWoo.-Hyung, have you ever heard of this course?-...The professor doesn't seem to ask for a lot of credits.-Hmm, you're right.I don't know what I'm doing now. I rolled my eyes, reflexively evaluating the three-credit course that 20-year-old Ryu CheongWoo showed me.Then I saw it.In the living room, there were two teddy bears...uselessly handed out at college entrance ceremonies.That's two of them.'I'm going crazy.'It is completely confirmed.It was clear that Ryu CheongWoo entered the same university as me.Even those two teddy bears look the same.'It means we entered the same year.'But why is he calling me hyung? No way I had to retake the exam to go to the same university when I was on active duty.TL/N: He means there is no way he would have asked for a time off from his (possible) previous university to study and take another CSAT exam to see if he gets into the same university as CheongWoo, given that they both seem to be the same age and even be the average age at which one finishes school to start university studies. This break is something Korean college students tend to do to get into better universities.-.......I asked casually and with some irony.-Why do you keep using honorifics when we are the same age?At worst, I can excuse myself by saying I've been drinking.-Ah, hmm, when I was little I thought you were my hyung... so I got used to calling you that. If it makes you uncomfortable, don't worry.Ryu CheongWoo smiled a little embarrassed. Are you serious? He's being too meticulous.I repressed my urge to mumble and reflexively came up with a valid question.'...What about archery?'At that age, I'm sure I'd still be doing archery. Come to think of it, it was strange that I was entering college now.However, the moment I tried to ask him a question that might make the only relative I live with suspicious, I saw it.A blue, transparent line that suddenly appeared.-.......At first I thought it was a hallucination.But as if it was crawling... a long line was drawn in the air and finally became a quadrilateral.And some letters appeared on the plane located between the lines.[$@&&!5 Hyung!]This is KeunDal's status window.-...!I got up from my seat. And I immediately went into the bathroom and closed the door.Kung.-What is the status?[I don't know either. I thought it was working, but it avoided me. It's fine now].As if he had barely stepped out of a narrow space, the letters of the text message appeared with difficulty.It didn't look right. But the words didn't stop.[And there's #$@^ status window.]A pop-up window appeared.A phrase that looked familiar.[Enjoy your]That's right.It's a sentence that starts with the words I saw in my reverie. I clenched my fist....But it was a rush to judgment.Because the end of the sentence was different.[Enjoy your reality :D].......It wasn't 'dream', it was 'reality'.'Reality.'My head froze as if I had been hit with cold water.The pop-up window shook again.[It's not something I wrote, hyung. I'll do my best. Reset!@^]What?-Wait, you're in danger.......Before I could tell him to wait a moment, the status window disappeared.'Damn it!'Why won't these bastards listen to me? I slammed my fist against the bathroom wall nervously.At that very instant.A light flashed like a neon sign.[START / Registration complete!]Player: Ryu GunWoo (Park MoonDae)The light flashed through the hologram like a prism, illuminating everything in front of my eyes.It shone as if firecrackers were going off and a new window was created.[The quest has arrived!]→ Awakened colleagues: ?→ Fame required: 1000 ExpTL/N: 'Exp' are 'Experience points' in games.Small letters appeared in KeunDal's pop-up window.[This...]It was a new game system.
_____________________Endnotes:'신오' (ShinOh) is the stage name of one of VTIC's members, which combines the characters of his last name and the second syllable of his first or 'real name'. His full real name is '오윤신' (Oh YoonShin), and yes, 'Oh' or 'O' is his last name.'주단' (JooDan) is the stage name of the second VTIC member introduced in this chapter (and first time to be introduced with his name in the novel), which also combines the characters of his last name and the first syllable of his first name or 'generation name'. His full real name is '정우단' (Jeong WooDan), only this time he has mixed the characters 'Jeong' (정) and 'Woo' (우) to make it 'Joo' (주).But why is the first syllable of a name called the 'generation name' and the second syllable is known as the 'real name'?By ancient convention of Koreans, the first syllable of the name indicates the generation in which it was born, i.e. all babies in a family tree who were born in the same year might have the same first syllable of their name (examples: Ha-Eun, Ha-Neul, Ha-Joon); while the second syllable is the real name that differentiates it from cousin babies (example: Eun, Neul, Joon).In this novel, we have the case of Ryu GunWoo (류건우) and Ryu ChungWoo (류청우).'Gun' or 'Geon' has the hanja character (base Chinese character) '件', which can mean 'case', 'matter', 'subject', 'example' and, interestingly, 'precedent'.'Chung' or 'Cheong' has the hanja character (base Chinese character) '淸', which can mean 'clear', 'pure', 'honey', 'syrup' and also 'Qing', the name of a dynasty in China. Obviously ChungWoo clarified that although his name can separately mean 'clear blue', the real meaning of his name by joining both syllables together is 'Family Leader' (he mentioned it in his official birthday interview).Now, why ChungWoo and GunWoo have the same second syllable of their names, does it mean the same thing?Unfortunately, we don't have the true meaning of GunWoo's name, as MoonDae only explained the meaning of 'MoonDae' in his interview for obvious reasons.So why did I translate it as CheongWoo and not ChungWoo, and why CheongWoo and not Cheong-woo or Cheong Woo?When I started translating the novel (although, I started publishing it in Spanish in August 2021, I started translating it since June of that year to have chapters ready) there were not many references to help me with the names. I know there was also a blog in English that started translating it around that time, but since I was also starting out, I didn't want them to compare our translations of the first chapters, especially when I made too many mistakes since I was just learning how to translate a novel.I was confused about the names of ChungWoo and GunWoo and was afraid of misspelling them, and since the translator websites always gave me both results, I preferred to differentiate their names as CheongWoo and GunWoo.It is worth noting that when CheongRyu or CheongRyeo (청려) appeared, I also confused his name with CheongWoo for that very reason.It's funny that when I first entered the KPOP world, I got used to the names in the Spanish fandom being spelled in a running form (Shim Changmin, Jung Yunho, Kim Jaejoong). Years later, when BTS went to give a speech at the United Nations General Assembly in 2018, I noticed that Min Yoongi had on his official badge his name written in a form like 'Min Yunki'. Then, when I saw the introduction teasers of each ATEEZ member, I noticed that they wrote their officially romanized names separately (Kim Hong Joong, Choi San, Jung Woo Young). Finally, when I started translating this novel, the translators sometimes gave me the names separately, separated by hyphens, or in a running form (Bak Moon Dae, Bak Moon-dae, Park Munde).It is confusing, but believe it or not, all the ways in which these names are written are accepted.Attached is a translation of a comment from the author of the blog 'Ask a Korean!', which answers these questions.In summary: it's messy. There is an official, ROK endorsed romanization system that was adopted in 2000. However, many names were transliterated before this official system was established. Some used older systems like McCune-Reischauer, some made up things on their own and some, like my parents, just used what their English teacher suggested. The result is a huge hodge podge of variations. Consider the family name "박"; using the current system, it's romanized as "Bak." Yet in English, most Koreans romanize it as "Park." Of all the variants I've seen, it's probably the least accurate, but because it's been used for so long, it's become defacto. Yet, I've also seen other Koreans use "Pak", "Bahk" and "Bak." You see similar things with other last common names like "이" (officially "I" but commonly "Yi," "Rhee" or "Lee") and "김" (officially "Gim" but defacto "Kim"). With this much variation in family names, you can see why given names are an even wider hodge-podge.
That explains why the confusion. I was also questioning the reason why Koreans officially romanize Chung Woo, and even though it is not officially romanized Shin JaeHyun's stage name, they write it as Cheongryeo, taking into account that both Chung Woo and Cheongryeo have '청' in the first syllable of the name, so the pronunciation is the same.On the other hand, after researching this, I set out to hear the Korean pronunciation in detail before determining how to write the name of the last VTIC member to be introduced. '정' can be written as 'Jeong' or 'Jung', '우' can be written as 'Woo' or 'U' and '주' can be translated as 'Joo' or 'Ju'. The English pronunciation of both forms is similar, although comparing the Korean pronunciation of the characters in Hangul and in each romanized version, I chose the ones that sound as similar as possible to the actual pronunciation (the Korean pronunciation of 'Jeong' (romanized) is not similar to 'Jung'). Obviously the pronunciation in the Spanish version would be 'Chong VuDan', but out of global habit, I go by the English translations.By the way, since when I started translating this novel I couldn't decide on a way to write the names, I decided to mix them and instead of 'Park Moon Dae', 'Park Moon-Dae' or 'Park Moondae', I ended up writing 'Park MoonDae', even though that is against the rules of the Real Academia Española. Okay, that's what I get for being a Latin pigeon (peruvian) and making a mazamorra (sweet and thick porridge, but also means spoil something and present it messy) out of this novel~.
_____________________Endnotes:'신오' (ShinOh) is the stage name of one of VTIC's members, which combines the characters of his last name and the second syllable of his first or 'real name'. His full real name is '오윤신' (Oh YoonShin), and yes, 'Oh' or 'O' is his last name.'주단' (JooDan) is the stage name of the second VTIC member introduced in this chapter (and first time to be introduced with his name in the novel), which also combines the characters of his last name and the first syllable of his first name or 'generation name'. His full real name is '정우단' (Jeong WooDan), only this time he has mixed the characters 'Jeong' (정) and 'Woo' (우) to make it 'Joo' (주).But why is the first syllable of a name called the 'generation name' and the second syllable is known as the 'real name'?By ancient convention of Koreans, the first syllable of the name indicates the generation in which it was born, i.e. all babies in a family tree who were born in the same year might have the same first syllable of their name (examples: Ha-Eun, Ha-Neul, Ha-Joon); while the second syllable is the real name that differentiates it from cousin babies (example: Eun, Neul, Joon).In this novel, we have the case of Ryu GunWoo (류건우) and Ryu ChungWoo (류청우).'Gun' or 'Geon' has the hanja character (base Chinese character) '件', which can mean 'case', 'matter', 'subject', 'example' and, interestingly, 'precedent'.'Chung' or 'Cheong' has the hanja character (base Chinese character) '淸', which can mean 'clear', 'pure', 'honey', 'syrup' and also 'Qing', the name of a dynasty in China. Obviously ChungWoo clarified that although his name can separately mean 'clear blue', the real meaning of his name by joining both syllables together is 'Family Leader' (he mentioned it in his official birthday interview).Now, why ChungWoo and GunWoo have the same second syllable of their names, does it mean the same thing?Unfortunately, we don't have the true meaning of GunWoo's name, as MoonDae only explained the meaning of 'MoonDae' in his interview for obvious reasons.So why did I translate it as CheongWoo and not ChungWoo, and why CheongWoo and not Cheong-woo or Cheong Woo?When I started translating the novel (although, I started publishing it in Spanish in August 2021, I started translating it since June of that year to have chapters ready) there were not many references to help me with the names. I know there was also a blog in English that started translating it around that time, but since I was also starting out, I didn't want them to compare our translations of the first chapters, especially when I made too many mistakes since I was just learning how to translate a novel.I was confused about the names of ChungWoo and GunWoo and was afraid of misspelling them, and since the translator websites always gave me both results, I preferred to differentiate their names as CheongWoo and GunWoo.It is worth noting that when CheongRyu or CheongRyeo (청려) appeared, I also confused his name with CheongWoo for that very reason.It's funny that when I first entered the KPOP world, I got used to the names in the Spanish fandom being spelled in a running form (Shim Changmin, Jung Yunho, Kim Jaejoong). Years later, when BTS went to give a speech at the United Nations General Assembly in 2018, I noticed that Min Yoongi had on his official badge his name written in a form like 'Min Yunki'. Then, when I saw the introduction teasers of each ATEEZ member, I noticed that they wrote their officially romanized names separately (Kim Hong Joong, Choi San, Jung Woo Young). Finally, when I started translating this novel, the translators sometimes gave me the names separately, separated by hyphens, or in a running form (Bak Moon Dae, Bak Moon-dae, Park Munde).It is confusing, but believe it or not, all the ways in which these names are written are accepted.Attached is a translation of a comment from the author of the blog 'Ask a Korean!', which answers these questions.In summary: it's messy. There is an official, ROK endorsed romanization system that was adopted in 2000. However, many names were transliterated before this official system was established. Some used older systems like McCune-Reischauer, some made up things on their own and some, like my parents, just used what their English teacher suggested. The result is a huge hodge podge of variations. Consider the family name "박"; using the current system, it's romanized as "Bak." Yet in English, most Koreans romanize it as "Park." Of all the variants I've seen, it's probably the least accurate, but because it's been used for so long, it's become defacto. Yet, I've also seen other Koreans use "Pak", "Bahk" and "Bak." You see similar things with other last common names like "이" (officially "I" but commonly "Yi," "Rhee" or "Lee") and "김" (officially "Gim" but defacto "Kim"). With this much variation in family names, you can see why given names are an even wider hodge-podge.
That explains why the confusion. I was also questioning the reason why Koreans officially romanize Chung Woo, and even though it is not officially romanized Shin JaeHyun's stage name, they write it as Cheongryeo, taking into account that both Chung Woo and Cheongryeo have '청' in the first syllable of the name, so the pronunciation is the same.On the other hand, after researching this, I set out to hear the Korean pronunciation in detail before determining how to write the name of the last VTIC member to be introduced. '정' can be written as 'Jeong' or 'Jung', '우' can be written as 'Woo' or 'U' and '주' can be translated as 'Joo' or 'Ju'. The English pronunciation of both forms is similar, although comparing the Korean pronunciation of the characters in Hangul and in each romanized version, I chose the ones that sound as similar as possible to the actual pronunciation (the Korean pronunciation of 'Jeong' (romanized) is not similar to 'Jung'). Obviously the pronunciation in the Spanish version would be 'Chong VuDan', but out of global habit, I go by the English translations.By the way, since when I started translating this novel I couldn't decide on a way to write the names, I decided to mix them and instead of 'Park Moon Dae', 'Park Moon-Dae' or 'Park Moondae', I ended up writing 'Park MoonDae', even though that is against the rules of the Real Academia Española. Okay, that's what I get for being a Latin pigeon (peruvian) and making a mazamorra (sweet and thick porridge, but also means spoil something and present it messy) out of this novel~.
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