This feels like a cheaper version of debut or die but a parasocial fan edition. The system...

Idk bout that tbh, I've read debut or die 's novel and yes similarities are there, but it ends at the systems and them being in the idol industry.
Esp knowing some of the spoilers for this story, it's definitely deeper and more intentional than what your comment is suggesting.

I can't see any deeper and more intentions in this story, it's just a protagonist having a PARASOCIAL relationship with her idol. The system's rewards and punishments isn't balanced or consistent. The characters also aren't well written since most of them have one trait/behavior shown. Maybe I'm missing other perspective of the story that you can elaborate so I can understand it :>

Spoiler:





All of our MCs actions rn seems very para social yes, but it's because we lack some key infos. Does the characters seems way too obsessive in her pursuit of making her favorite idol the top of the industry? Yes, it's because they have a past. This is actually their 4th life . Yes, they've been at this before. It's basically a cycle. In the original timeline, where the system hasn't interfered , MC and yeonwoo ARE IDOLS TGT. They're friends, in the same hs, and are both aiming to be idols. Mc hv always been the younger sister in her sibling's life too. The one we saw in the first chapters are actually their 3rd timeline. Where yeonwoo wished that they never met through idol industry. Because in their original lives, Their relationship was destroyed by it. And the timeline keep repeating because in each timeline, one of them got the help of the system and both of them keep choosing to save each other. So they've been at this cycle forever, they're friends, maybe even deeper than that because their whole lives, was always laid down to save each other.

So yea, it IS deeper than just a para social relationship. While I myself believe the writing and the portrayals of the manhwa could do better to communicate this to readers early on, it's extremely demeaning to immediately lable a story a cheaper version of another story THIS early on in the story.

Woah, that’s really mind-opening. If the author had portrayed or hinted at the plot better, the story would have felt much stronger, because without prior background a reader can only judge it based on what is presented. Right now, it feels lacking, and simply saying “we don’t have a whole lot of info about the plot” doesn’t quite justify it, since a well-written story should still be engaging and spark interest even early on. And of course, I apologize for calling the story a “cheaper version” of another. I should have worded that better. What I meant is that the lack of clear plot hints and buildup makes it easy for readers to draw such comparisons. Thanks for this new perspective. I appreciated it <3

Honestly debut or die was worse in my onion they dragged it

I'm a big fan of DoD (my first Idol novel that I have read and is my top 3 novels from all time) but I need to tell you this, you are reaching. Just because a story is about idols and systems (which I know DoD helped popularize) doesn't mean they are a cheap copy or just reusing the same formula. Unlike Moondae who didn't want to be an idol because he didn't dream about, HSY doesn't want to be an idol because her objective, from the start, has been to make NYW debut. She is someone older that feels weird taking the chance of another child from debuting, unlike Moondae who had no choice for it because he will die if he doesn't do so. Although both appear to be forced by the system to become idols, the choices and the way they respond is different. Also, systems tend to be bastards, you can't really compare them because no matter what story you read they always strive towards an objective whether the protagonist likes it or not.

I feel that is time we end this xx is a copy of yy because with all literature you will see people using the same ideas and moving them towards different directions. It would be a copy if her personality was the same as Moondae's, her actions and situations similar, and the whole plot similar, this is not.

I get where you coming from, after all people have different tastes, however do understand I did read debut and die even up to recent chapters, the thing is, I still find it boring, everything is honestly just a repeat, and moondae, [ I understand his personality from his backstory,] is just bland, out of anybody in his series he has the worst personality and every time he’s on screen I yawn. Not to mention how great the first half of the manwha was versus how boring the rest is. Now that it just feels bland and so repetitive and predictable.

holy yuri

why the hell would the author drop a big spoiler early on in the story? what would be the point of reading the story then? you can’t just get big pay-off without reading a story.

As a huge debut or die fan, I’m kind of disappointed in a fellow fan for thinking like this since this story is pretty different, especially if you’ve read other idol stories. It makes it seem like debut or die fans always compare other stories to DoD since it’s one of the more popular idol manhwas.

There’s a lot of overlap because that’s the nature of an idol story, so when you’ve read a lot of them, you can naturally see the clear differences between them. (For example, in DoD there’s a clear favor for darker themes in their live shows while this one had a focus on fresher themes being a better idea. Or, the mc not being as smart about the way she’s being evil edited. Moondae was very careful about not giving the pds any way to evil edit him. Meanwhile, hyeseong is just a fan who got to become an idol, so she’s not as good at navigating that.)

Overall, there are very clearly different themes in this compared to DoD. Moondae’s only goal was survival and he used his smarts and understanding of idols, pop culture, and the future knowledge he had, to make sure to achieve that goal. Meanwhile, Hyeseong has a completely different goal of making another idol debut. She’s much more clumsy than moondae and seems to be winging things as they come(which is still very charming.)

The views of the system is different too. From the start, the system in DoD is an antagonistic force as it literally forces moondae to be an idol and threatens him with death. It pushes the plot forward externally. Meanwhile, in this, Hyeseong is using the system as a way to help her achieve her own goals. It isn’t an inherit antagonistic force and the plot is being pushed forward by her own internal forces(her love for yeonwoo). So, even the reasons for the plot being moved is based off two different reasons(external vs. Internal).

Of course, a similarity between moondae and Hyeseong is that they’re normal people who had no plans to debut from the beginning. However, they are very different characters. Moondae is reserved and usually very expressionless, and he honestly thinks a lot. Meanwhile, Hyeseong is much more relatable to the average idol fan and shows many different expressions.

It makes sense since Moondae wasn’t an idol fan and only knew about idol knowledge because she used to be a photographer for fancams to make money. He’s pretty smart and has good intuition, based off his own sense and what he knows about the future. He was even about to become a civil servant, completely removed from the idol world. Meanwhile, Hyeseong is a regular office worker who’s just a huge idol fan. She’s like the opposite of moondae, she only works so she can support her favorite idols. She’s deep into the idol fandom, but she only has the basic knowledge an idol fan would have of the inner workings of the idol industry. She’s much more impulsive than moondae.

Also, in debut or die, moondae did have some haters, but he never had this level of hate or evil editing that Hyeseong is getting. This recent storyline never existed in Debut or die. I love debut or die, but I don’t think I’ve ever felt this scared about how my idol babies will get out of their predicament.(with moondae I never had to worry lol)

Maybe you just haven’t read a ton of idol manhwas, but many idol or even just showbiz manhwas have similar tropes, but there is a clear difference between this and debut or die. Especially when you just break down the main characters personalities.

Also, there have been many hints that something was off about the system in this story. The way Yeonwoo is behaving strangely and the visions that Hyeseong is seeing is proof of that. It was clearly foreshadowed so I don’t know what you mean.

Sorry it got this long.

This is a really good reply, DOD is personally one of the better idol stories out there, I just dont like to see when people compare idol stories as if they are all the same

Same! It just gives a bad look to DoD fans