Debut or Die

‘Ah, this is perfect.’

Confirming the faces of the guests, this was the thought of the great senior MC of the entertainment industry.

‘A popular idol and an idol who graduated from a prestigious university? I can’t miss this topic, I have to secretly compare them.’

Having worked on more than 20 episodes, he already had a clear idea of how the editing would turn out.

Of course, if he recklessly compared them, he would receive huge criticism from the fans of that popular idol, ‘Testar’.

This was an educational program, so it wouldn’t be too obvious.

He would save the scenes of Testar members’ activities somehow, or if it didn’t work out, he’d edit them in a cute way.

‘Hey~ it must be hard if you’re a middle school graduate pairing with a Korean University student.’

The MC snickered inwardly, saying that the production team would have a hard time editing it in a warm-hearted way.

Then, the sign came.

“Ah, it’s coming!”

He shouted to the camera and quickly waited in the corner of the set.

“When are we getting off?”

“Where am I?”

The six cast members, who covered their faces with hoods, waddled along the guide.

The MC raised his thumb to the camera and shouted with emotion.

“What’s up with the clothes?”

“Wow!”

“That surprised me!”

“Come on, take off that monstrous thing!”

“Huh….”

The cast dragged their hoods down in confusion.

And they were surprised.

“Oh, where are we?”

“It’s like hanok^[1]A hanok, also known as the joseonjip in North Korea and China, is a traditional Korean house. Sumber: Wiki. …?”

“It’s like the Joseon Dynasty.”

The cast members whispered to people they were familiar with or wanted to look close to.

And the MC paid attention to today’s subject of interest, Park Moondae, who calmly listened to Seon Ahyeon’s whisper.

‘He’s calm~’

It was a calm face, with black hair and a handsome look. The MC inadvertently had a prejudiced thought, thinking that he didn’t have the impression of someone from low educational background

‘Idols these days have good figures.’

He nodded inwardly at the sight of the blonde Seon Ahyeon, and quickly said his lines before the confused cast could add words for gags on themselves.

“There will be a big event today, so be sure to dress up and attend your seats in time! Then I’ll leave it to you.”

The MC, who spoke roughly in mixed modern language, slipped out of the window paper door with his hands behind his back.

“No, where are you going??”

“Hyung-nim! Hyung-nim!”

“Wow, there are no steps in this program.”

The door closed tight, leaving the panicked cast behind.

“Oh, we get a big fish today, too!”

MG skillfully threw a comment and moved to the monitoring room with a grin.

It was the MC’s duty to react and add commentary here while watching the guests’ awkward behavior or performance.

‘Let’s see~ For about 20 minutes, they’ll talk nonsense because they can’t figure out the airtime.’

MC sat down in front of the monitor, predicting the trend so far.

And he saw an exception.

[Think about what the administrator who looks like the MC said. I think there are three steps to the goal: find out what kind of event it is, get dressed, and attend it in time.]

[That’s right, that’s right.]

[As expected, since he’s from a survival program, Moondae is very calm.]

[Then we have to leave this room first… This looks like an escape room. There is a lock next to this door.]

[Huh? I see!]

Park Moondae quickly moved on.

“Wow~ He’s fast! He’s fast!”

The MC was perplexed even as he hit his palm and dutifully uttered exclamations.

‘What is he?’

He explored the room, not giving people time to talk nonsense. It was a quick decision.

What was even more surprising was the next scene.

[Now, I’ll read it to you. Listen, guys.]

A long-time comedian took out a Korean paper from a small box next to the door and recited the first quiz.

[Hmm, ‘We decide on the distribution of the six students in this class, and they are Eul, Gap, Byeong, Mu, Ki, and Jung. The terms are as follows.’ …What is this?]

Below that, there were several lines of conditional sentences that didn’t match each other, starting with the sentence ‘If Eul and Gap are assigned to Jiphyeonjeon^[2]The Hall of Worthies, or Jiphyeonjeon, was a royal research institute set up by Sejong the Great of the Korean Joseon Dynasty in March 1420. Sumber: Wiki. together, Byeong is also assigned to Jiphyeonjeon’.

It was a fairly complex question using real logic.

It was a bombardment of historical and cultural entertainment.

“Hahaha! Ah~ everyone’s faces!”

And right when the MC was just starting to enjoy the reaction of the cast who were freaking out.

[‘Gap’ and ‘Gi’ are working at Jiphyeonjeon.]

[…??]

[I-Is that so?]

[Yes. And if you rearrange them in order… It’s a military weapon^[3]Military weapon = gab-eulbyeongjungmuki/갑을병정무기 .]

Park Moondae pressed the first and sixth buttons simultaneously on a six-stage wooden lock.

It unlocked.

[Ohhhh??]

[What’s this, what’s this?!]

“No way??”

The answer took less than three seconds. The MC looked at the monitor with his mouth wide open.

He almost asked the production team sitting in front of him, ‘Is he from a prestigious university?’.

“Can you solve it as soon as you hear it like that?”

Production teams shook their heads and formed X here and there. The MC burst out laughing. And he cried out inwardly.

‘I thought he was a middle school graduate!’

Even the guy who graduated from Korean University was clapping his hands on the monitor. That speed meant he wouldn’t make an appearance.

And this situation repeated several times.

[Let’s see if there’s anything else in this room before we leave]

[That’s a very good idea~]

[T-This…!]

Seon Ahyeon, who searched the room at once and found a hidden box and a quiz, handed over the reading role to the prestigious university student.

[Then I’ll read it! ‘The way to catch flying animals is to shoot arrows, and the way to catch wild animals is to throw spears. Sea animals are like land animals…’]

It was a logical problem that required wit with a little bit of nonsense added, but as soon as he heard the question, Park Moondae opened his mouth.

[Hmm, three flying animals, one wild animal, two sea animals, one flying animal.… I wonder. And if you think of the animals as four gods… Wouldn’t it be possible to replace each with the directions of east, west, north, and south?]

[Four gods? Are you talking about Azure Dragon^[4]The Azure Dragon, also known as Qinglong in Chinese, is one of the Dragon Gods who represent the mount or chthonic forces of the Five Regions’ Highest Deities. He is also one of the Four Symbols of the Chinese constellations, which are the astral representations of the Wufang Shangdi. Sumber: Wiki. ?]

[Oh! I get it! The flying animal is a trick! Like this?]

[Yes, like that.]

The lock device, which could be pulled up and down on both sides, was unlocked in an instant by the excited cast members.

[Wow!]

[Hey, you’re so smart! This crazy kid!]

[Thank you.]

“Huh? It shouldn’t be like this, though?”

Park Moondae in the monitor bowed his head at the compliments and the pats of the cast. And the production crew murmured at the MC’s words.

“They’re supposed to solve it only after going around it once…”

It meant he had solved it with his own sense and logic without hints from the geography and location.

At the PD’s words, the MC purposefully got angry.

“Yeah~ If you cast such a smart guy, you should have raised the difficulty level and showed the bitter taste of culture!”

The camera captured the scene of the PD sinking. The intention to be funny worked well enough, but the MC was impressed inwardly.

‘Wow~ As expected, natural brains are more important in things like this!’

It was half right and half wrong.

In fact, Park Moondae in the monitor was a little nervous.

‘Well, I copied LEET and PSAT.’

Even when he watched the previous episode to prepare himself, he thought that it felt familiar somehow, but they were really the same questions with only words and steps added.

‘Once you solve it, it somehow stays in your head.’

So he just finished it a lot faster.

And even if it wasn’t the case, honestly, it was still favorable to Park Moondae.

‘If you know the logical symbols, you can organize them in one line.’

This was embarrassing for Park Moondae, who had taken a logic course for his senior class in preparation for the PSAT in the last semester and received good grades.

‘It’s like comparing them to a guy who took a leave of absence after finishing his freshman year.’

Park Moondae looked at the Korean university student with a slightly pitying gaze, but he soon realized that he wasn’t in a situation to help others.

‘Anyway, it’s going smoothly.’

The people around Park Moondae, who were quite satisfied, were busy checking the contents of the box.

[What’s inside??]

The contents wrapped in silk… It seemed to be a book that had just been made.

And both the cover and the inside were full of Chinese characters.

[Oh, hm…?]

[I don’t know. What kind of Chinese characters is this?]

[I don’t know either.]

[Perhaps, just in case… Should I take it?]

[Yes, yes, then Ahyeon will take care of it… Shall we go out now?]

[Yes!]

Then, Park Moondae talked to Ahyeon.

[Can I take a look at that for a second?]

[Yes!]

Park Moondae quickly looked through the inside of the book handed to him, then smiled.

[…?]

[Ah, thank you.]

[Come on, guys. Let’s open the door together!]

[Yes!]

Seon Ahyeon took the book back into his arms, and the cast quickly opened the door after counting down on the door.

[3, 2, 1, open!]

[…!?]

[…!!]

And they stiffened.

Outside the door… it was a busy hallway with courtiers passing by.

[Oh my god, this must be a palace.]

[They’re all outfits that I saw in historical dramas…!]

It was time to move on.

“Oh~ it’s going to be fun~”

As the MC said that while watching the monitor, the full-fledged skit continued.

[A group of bizarrely dressed people…!]

[Argh!]

The members who came out of the room were reprimanded by the courtiers and started hiding in the huge, closed palace.

[Wow, I’m going crazy.]

[Shh! Let’s go quietly.]

[O-Over here, the door is open…!]

[Good job, Ahyeon!]

Finding an unlocked door, they found clothes in the room’s closet.

[Oh~ it’s gwanbok^[5]Gwanbok = traditional clothes worn by officials ?]

[That’s cool.]

It wasn’t gwanbok.

[Isn’t that the cheonggeumdanryeong^[6]Cheonggeumdanryeong = The formal attire worn by scholars in the Joseon Dynasty. worn in Sungkyunkwan^[7]Sungkyunkwan was the foremost educational institution in Korea during the late Goryeo and Joseon Dynasties. ? It looks like they just passed the national examination in Sungkyunkwan.]

[This program really stakes its life on the backstory.]

[Yes?]

[Ah, it’s nothing~]

Through a skit with the courtiers, the cast realized that what they were wearing was a kind of school uniform worn by Sungkyunkwan scholars

And through an official who claimed to be their Sungkyunkwan teacher, they learned that the event they were going to attend was the king’s event

[Hurry up and attend to it!]

[How?]

[King! We have to go see the king!]

[Wow, I see!]

[One thing, before that… Don’t you have something to do? Ahem.]

[What…?]

They brought small food to Sungkyunkwan as a kind of ritual to give to their teacher instead of giving him tuition, but they managed to get a real official uniform and moved to the next step.

“Park Moondae is good at cooking, too.”

The MC, who was drinking PPL drinks while looking at the monitor, spoke in a completely resigned tone.

The production crew sighed.

This time, the performance of the cast was very fast. Simply looking at the problem-solving scene, the amount of footage was a little worrying.

Of course, it was entirely Park Moondae’s fault, but it wasn’t the more shocking part.

As the problem was solved quickly, they faithfully performed the roleplay to fill the time.

[What was your favorite game in Sungkyunkwan?]

[What could it be?]

[M-Moondae?]

It was quite cute to see Seon Ahyeon hurriedly respond while being taken aback by Park Moondae’s evasion.

‘That guy takes care of his dongsaeng’s gag footage.’

The MC, who misunderstood Seon Ahyeon as the dongsaeng, felt a bit touched and fed up at the figure of Park Moondae conceding the skit to Seon Ahyeon and Golden Age’s main vocalist and subtly urging them.

‘There’s a reason why he won first place in the audition~’

Just looking at him, he was like a ghost spirit.

[Hmm… What do you think?]

[Uh, um, hold on. Let me calculate!]

In some quizzes, he even stepped back and gave a chance to the prestigious university student, but it didn’t give as much impact as Park Moondae’s quick accuracy.

‘Hey, how is that going to be edited~’

The MC, who had secretly clicked his tongue, realized right after.

‘The situation has completely turned around…?’

Originally, the production team expected a quiz show from the prestigious university student and planned to give Testar heartwarming and cute footage, but it became the complete opposite.

In addition, the prestigious university students were from a group that wasn’t really well-known, so the production team didn’t have to take care of them anymore.

Even Seon Ahyeon, the other member of Testar, looked much more like a real scholar because he had such a good mask and an elegant response.

‘Hey, that’s scary. I’m scared.’

The MC stuck out his tongue.

Park Moondae definitely took care of his junior, the prestigious college student, but it became a picture that the prestigious university student couldn’t accept.

In the meantime, the story of the cast on the monitor advanced rapidly and reached the final gateway.

But the gate was already open.

[There’s something you need to deliver quickly…H-Huh, you brought it…?!]

[Yes…?]

The thing that the person who introduced himself as a bureaucrat of Jiphyeonjeon wanted to find was the book they had immediately found in the first room.

[Awesome!]

[Moondae! Thank you!]

[Everyone solved it together… Um, thank you.]

Park Moondae once again endured the patting hands of the cast.

[Isn’t this the fastest record?]

[The shoot will end when the sun rises!! Hurray!]

The cast moved their steps excitedly and finally arrived before the end.

And the hidden quiz appeared.

[For what business are you visiting the palace?]

[We have to know that too…?]

[Ugh…! Guys, retreat!]

When the cast members were planning a tactical retreat with their pupils shaking.

[That, I thought about it.]

Park Moondae whispered to the cast.

“It’s you again!”

When the MC shouted joyfully, everyone in the monitoring room waited for Park Moondae’s words with excitement.

[The king right now… I think it’s King Sejong the Great^[8]Sejong of Joseon, personal name Yi Do, widely known as Sejong the Great, was the fourth ruler of the Joseon dynasty of Korea. Initially titled Grand Prince Chungnyeong, he was born as the third son of King Taejong and Queen Wongyeong. Sumber: Wiki. .]

[….!]

[W-Why??]

[This book.]

Park Moondae picked up the book that he had been asked to deliver and turned over the contents inside. Numerous Chinese characters unfolded.

[Isn’t this just like Korean?]

And Park Moondae’s hand stopped in one place and pointed to the top.

The first letter of the chapter that he inadvertently skipped over…It was shaped exactly like ㄱ.

[Huh?]

[Hold on!]

The cast checked the book in detail.

The shape was different from the modern one, so it looked a little unfamiliar, but when they looked closely, they could see things that looked like Korean vowels and consonants all over the top.

[Heol, wait. So, this is Hunminjeongeum^[9]Hunminjeongeum is a document describing an entirely new and native script for the Korean language. The script was initially named after the publication but later came to be known as hangul. Sumber: Wiki. ?? That’s why it’s King Sejong the Great?]

Park Moondae nodded ambiguously and expressed.

[Hmm. But Hunminjeongeum is said to have been made by the king himself. It would be strange for the scholars of Jiphyeonjeon to deliver it to the king. So, what’s left is…]

[What’s left is?]

[I think this is <Hunminjeongeum Haeryebon^[10]Hunminjeongeum Haerye, or simply Haerye, is a commentary on the Hunminjeongeum, the original promulgation of hangul. The Hunminjeongeum Haeryebon is the printed edition—bon means “book” or “edition”. Sumber: Wiki. >.]

It was a book that explained the principle of creation and usage of Hunminjeongeum.

You might have inadvertently thought that it was written in Korean, but in fact, it was written in Chinese.

This book was about introducing ‘Hangul’ to those who used Chinese characters.

Park Moondae smiled faintly.

[I learned that it was made by scholars of Jiphyunjeon. So, I think we can enter and give it to him after telling King Sejong that this book is <Hunminjeongeum Haeryebon>.]

It was indeed the answer.

“Wow!”

The MC was amazed. The production team in front of him was letting out similar sounds.

And the cast in the monitor was also excited.

[Hey, Moondae-ssi, you even know that?]

[Wow! I think that’s correct??]

[The circumstance is perfect! Somehow, I got that feeling when I entered Jiphyeonjeon!]

However, Park Moondae’s words didn’t end there.

[And I think there are two people who will fill that role.]

[Huh?]

[Before… Do you remember the question of military weapons where ‘Gap’ and ‘Gi’ were assigned to Jiphyeonjeon?]

[Yeah, I remember!]

Park Moondae nodded.

[I think that’s us.]

[…!]

[The number of names is the same, and the number of people who passed the exam is the same.]

Unexpectedly, the back story intertwined.

[So I think the two people who work at Jiphyunjeon should deliver this Haeryebon, but in order of age…]

Park Moondae raised his hand politely.

[It’s this hyung-nim… and this dongseng.]

[…!!]

Park Moondae smiled faintly, pointing to the oldest cast member and the youngest cast member, namely, the prestigious university student.

In the monitoring room, there was only admiration.

“That’s amazing, seriously.”

[You’re a genius.]

[You flatter me. Actually, I think might be guessing too much.]

[No, it’s correct. This is the correct answer. My gut tells me that.]

As the cast said, it was correct.

‘Isn’t that a picture you’re not supposed to figure out until you get a lot of hints and break them down? Whatever, let’s just move on.’

“Do you know all about Korean history? Huft.”

The MC got fed up with Park Moondae, who avoided the final tough questions and answers, but he quickly picked up his clothes and put them on anyway.

It was about time.

“Come on, let’s go down~”

He went to the palace with the staff who was dressed like courtiers in a parade.

Just in time, the cast had also made up their mind and passed through the frontward of the palace.

“‘Gap’ and ‘Gi’ of Jiphyeonjeon have come to present <Hunminjeongeum Haeryebon> to Your Highness.”

“…Welcome.”

“Yes!”

The cast cheered and went inside with quick steps.

Then they saw him.

The MC sitting on the throne.

“You’re here?”

“Ugh!”

The MC triumphantly confused the spirit of the cast who appeared with the <Hunminjeongeum Haeryebon>.

“Hyung-nim! No, King Sejong the Great!”

And after the embarrassed eldest member of the cast called him King Sejong, the scene ended with a gag and captions that said, \'※ King Sejong is called by his temple name that was set after his death\' and \'Extreme Spoiler\'^[11]I wasn’t familiar with it so I had to do some research. The eldest member called him King Sejong the Great but it was a name that was set after King Sejong’s death (Names like this are commonly called temple name/myoho). In this skit, King Sejon is still alive, hence the ‘Extreme Spoiler’ is referring to the name he’d get after his death. .

“Great!”

Park Moondae’s solution turned out to be the correct answer.

“Wow~ that was great!”

The MC tapped Park Moondae on the shoulder as he greeted him at the end of the filming.

“Thank you.”

Park Moondae smiled and bowed his head.

MC glanced back at the prestigious university student and Park Moondae.

‘They can’t be compared.’

It was already a foregone conclusion that Park Moondae’s questions-and-answers footage and his tremendous performance would be broadcasted as it was.

And Park Moondae was already considering the side effects of this.

* * *

“T-The shoot was fun!”

“Yeah.”

I nodded. It was really fruitful.

Seon Ahyeon smiled.

“M-Moondae… You’re good at Korean history.”

I shook my head.

“No, I studied beforehand.”

“H-Huh?”

I meant it literally. I had studied beforehand.

“I watched some episodes before that broadcast.”

I’d watched about 5 of them. The rest were done a little differently.

First of all, I made a table list of <The Calls of the Past>’s 25 episodes with titles and plots.

And after excluding them, among the impressive events remaining in Korean history with similar trends in quizzes, I selected those that occurred in an era that didn’t overlap with the latest 3rd round.

‘The invention of Hangul and the June Democratic Uprising was the most likely choice.’

After that, I just had to memorize all the achievements and incidents that had happened around that time, even the minor ones.

‘If the scope is reduced to that extent, doing that is worth it.’

I had so much experience memorizing knowledge while preparing for civil servants.

In addition, there were still many pieces of Korean history that I had studied before.

“Y-You did a great job…T-That was really cool!”

“Thank you. You did a good job, too. You’re good at finding things. Your skits were good too.”

“N-No…, that was you!”

“What did I do?”

I kept chatting with Seon Ahyeon while moving in the car.

And just before arriving at the next set and joining the group, I slipped into the bathroom.

“I’ll stop by for a minute.”

“Yeah, okay~”

“G-Got it!”

But instead of going to the bathroom, I headed to the closed space behind the parking lot.

And I called the company.

‘It’s about time.’

Today’s filming was scheduled to air this weekend late at night. I thought I’d deal with it before then.

The rat.

“Yes, hello.”

Am I calling the operation team? No.

“Is this the management office?”

Management office. It was the office that had the operations team as its sub-organization.

“Can I speak to the director?”

Originally, isn’t it the most effective to plug this directly into the highest person involved?

• 1. A hanok, also known as the joseonjip in North Korea and China, is a traditional Korean house. Sumber: Wiki.
• 2. The Hall of Worthies, or Jiphyeonjeon, was a royal research institute set up by Sejong the Great of the Korean Joseon Dynasty in March 1420. Sumber: Wiki.
• 3. Military weapon = gab-eulbyeongjungmuki/갑을병정무기
• 4. The Azure Dragon, also known as Qinglong in Chinese, is one of the Dragon Gods who represent the mount or chthonic forces of the Five Regions’ Highest Deities. He is also one of the Four Symbols of the Chinese constellations, which are the astral representations of the Wufang Shangdi. Sumber: Wiki.
• 5. Gwanbok = traditional clothes worn by officials
• 6. Cheonggeumdanryeong = The formal attire worn by scholars in the Joseon Dynasty.
• 7. Sungkyunkwan was the foremost educational institution in Korea during the late Goryeo and Joseon Dynasties.
• 8. Sejong of Joseon, personal name Yi Do, widely known as Sejong the Great, was the fourth ruler of the Joseon dynasty of Korea. Initially titled Grand Prince Chungnyeong, he was born as the third son of King Taejong and Queen Wongyeong. Sumber: Wiki.
• 9. Hunminjeongeum is a document describing an entirely new and native script for the Korean language. The script was initially named after the publication but later came to be known as hangul. Sumber: Wiki.
• 10. Hunminjeongeum Haerye, or simply Haerye, is a commentary on the Hunminjeongeum, the original promulgation of hangul. The Hunminjeongeum Haeryebon is the printed edition—bon means “book” or “edition”. Sumber: Wiki.
• 11. I wasn’t familiar with it so I had to do some research. The eldest member called him King Sejong the Great but it was a name that was set after King Sejong’s death (Names like this are commonly called temple name/myoho). In this skit, King Sejon is still alive, hence the ‘Extreme Spoiler’ is referring to the name he’d get after his death.