The Road to Glory

In the end, Rill couldn’t even bring himself to say “H.”He watched the boy’s new song performance of “Welcome to my world” with a heavy heart. However, he also knew that if he wanted to, he could call out the boy’s name at any time. Even now.So his inability to speak HALO’s name wasn’t a matter of timing.Rill recalled the conversation they had at the label.-I thought it wouldn’t be long now. Until the day I call your name.Yes, he had said it wouldn’t be long now.Even if he didn’t forcibly reveal it, he would soon reach the top. Rill decided to be uncharacteristically patient.However, he didn’t want to part ways like this.Since they had already broken the rehearsal order with an ad-lib, breaking it one more time wouldn’t make a difference.After the special guest’s new song performance, Rill persistently engaged the boy in conversation.“Roh. Could I ask for one more favor?”“What is it?”It’s not a difficult request.Just. Something came to mind.“The unreleased song you showed on the last day of the concert. Could you possibly perform it?”The unreleased song that was only rumored about.He wanted to hear that song.It wasn’t uploaded to NuTube yet either. Above all, he had a hunch.Rill somehow thought that song might belong to HALO rather than Roh.The assessment that it was somewhat different from Roh Haeil’s music.And considering that Roh Haeil had released a full-length album at the time of the concert, it was entirely possible.Since HALO’s albums come out monthly, he must surely have some songs prepared.In fact, it was half speculation, but Rill had a strong intuition when he saw Halo smirking at his request.Maybe really…?Finally, the boy answers.“Alright.”At that single response, those who understood English cheered, and those who received the translation belatedly followed suit.Eventually, the boy came forward and gently played the electric guitar, and soon his voice resonated.The music called “Until dawn comes” had Korean lyrics and was much more peaceful compared to HALO’s music so far. However, within it, HALO’s unique sensibility existed.A dusky dawn unfolds.The daybreak that suppresses all the whirlwinds of confusion.It soon declared an end to the war, but there was no joy or elation afterward.As if those who survived the war were greeting their devastated hometown, a deep sense of futility was felt.The soft and gentle melody was the “mood-killing music” that the audience who came to see Scorpion was most concerned about, but no one would dislike it.Tears welled up in someone’s eyes.They were swept up in intense emotions.The boy’s voice, replacing an acoustic song with an electric guitar, dispersed, and the special stage came to an end.A moment of silence.What soon greeted the boy was the cheering method of Scorpion fans.They stomped their feet, expressed comfort, and sang with their true voices until their throats were sore.The Scorpion members also clapped enthusiastically as if they had enjoyed it.“…I listened well, Roh.”Scorpion thought while savoring HALO’s unique exhilaration.How can you not know even now?He wanted to shout at the people chanting Roh Haeil, but it got stuck in his throat and couldn’t come out.And he answers to himself.Indeed, only a genius can immediately recognize another genius. Just like me.“Thank you for granting my request.”My beloved The Sun.“When can we hear that song again?”It took 11 seconds for Scorpion’s question to be conveyed to all the spectators. Cheers erupted at the question that perfectly represented the audience’s hearts.Halo answered honestly.“Around the time the thirteenth album comes out?”“Thirteen. Then it’s not far off.”Even if you can’t speak English, it’s hard not to know the word “thirteen.” People started to murmur.That’s because Roh Haeil had just released his first full-length album. But the thirteenth album?“Must be a joke?”Someone muttered.Even more incomprehensible was Scorpion’s answer.Not far off?What are they talking about? Is this American-style joke?Those who had thrown the audience into utter confusion paid no heed and exchanged greetings.That was the end of Roh Haeil’s special stage.Thus, Scorpion’s stage began again, and the day of the fans who had been desperately waiting for his visit to Korea ended perfectly, wearing out their throats with encore, encore, encore, encore.Scorpion’s concert, which gifted a hellfire-like performance to metal fans. It was almost regrettable that they had a Japan tour right after.“Please come again next time.”“I’ll buy lots of albums!”“Please invite Haeil again next time!”Those who had come to the concert chased them to the airport and waved. Scorpion turned back and gave a thumbs up.‘I will be back.’At the promise to return, the older male fans shouted, “Woah!”Although Scorpion’s concert ended like that, it wasn’t over yet. First, Scorpion’s Stargram was uploaded as if leaving a comment about the Korean concert or Roh Haeil, and it circulated on various communities.The post uploaded with the message [@SCORPION: It was the best concert. Thank you, Roh and Korea] included a proof shot of Roh Haeil’s gift that only 830 chosen elite knights had received.└ Wow, he was really a successful fan└ No, I’m so jealous… damn└ Scorpion succeeded, met Roh Haeil too└ How to get Roh Haeil’s goods: Become a star and invite him as a guest└ Lol so easyReviews and reactions about the Scorpion concert popped up like mushrooms the next day.That’s when it started.[Roh Haeil, Special Guest Appearance at World-renowned Metal Band Scorpion’s Korean Concert][K-pop Singer ‘Respected’ by World-famous Band][What Happened at the Scorpion Concert?][The Easiest Way to Get Roh Haeil’s Small Theater Concert Goods]As if someone might think Korea was the holy land of metal, the names ‘metal’ and ‘Scorpion’ dominated the internet the next day.Even those who weren’t usually interested in metal knew the name Roh Haeil.Even those who weren’t interested in Roh Haeil flocked to hear about the “K-pop industry leading the world.”[OMG is this the rise of a star? Met a world-famous band leader while traveling?][If they praised him that much, someone might have set it up. I’ve been Googling for 3 hours and still can’t find the Trafalgar guitar battle video. Has anyone found it?][With that level of friendship, it seems he really came to meet Roh Haeil? What connections]And finally, fans who had seen Roh Haeil’s performance, breaking through the terrifying number 830, also flooded into the cafe.[Everything’s good but two songs are too short ㅠㅠ][He performs so well even here, why 830… sigh]└ Just hearing 830 makes my hands and feet tremble[?? Wait, Roh Haeil appeared as a guest? Why didn’t anyone tell me???]Above all, what caused the biggest reaction wasn’t people’s words, but the fancam videos.As Olympic Hall accommodates over 2000 spectators, an incomparable amount of fancams were uploaded compared to Roh Haeil’s previous small theater concerts.A NuTube video titled [(311022) The guitarist I thought Scorpion had newly recruited…] hit a million views in just a few hours.And the fancam of the unreleased song that was performed at the last small theater concert but hadn’t been uploaded until now topped the real-time hot videos.[(Fancam)(4K 60P) Roh Haeil – (Unreleased song) Until dawn comes]└ Wow… it’s just awesome└ I saw someone who attended the last concert begging for it to be released, and now I’m doing the same ㅠㅠㅠㅠ. Please release the sound source… You’ve completed it, so please release it└ Roh Haeil is definitely a genius and God Scorpion hyung is a god.└ He made him do that, as expected of God God God God hyung ㅜㅜ└ From today, any insult to God Scorpion hyung will be considered an attack on me.Numerous videos uploaded to NuTube.Among them, two videos were the first to be known and hit high view counts. There might be people who haven’t seen them at all, but there’s no one who has seen them only once.However, this wasn’t the end.People weren’t satisfied with just the videos.Those who cried listening to the unreleased song at first and wasted hours marveling at the guitar performance belatedly focused on the talk exchanged between Scorpion and Roh Haeil.What was going around in communities wasn’t just the two videos. Of course, tears and curses passed here and there, but serious discussions were taking place.Among them, the first discussion was about Struggle (Struggle│HALO’s 1st album title) that Roh Haeil and Scorpion supposedly played last winter, mainly shared in the HALO community.And the second. The discussion that’s now taking place in earnest was about the conversation between Roh Haeil and Rill regarding the unreleased song.Roh Haeil’s answer to Rill’s question, ‘When can we hear that song again?’-Around the time the thirteenth album comes out?At first, they thought it meant there were no plans yet, but the more they thought about it, the more peculiar the number thirteen seemed.[Why thirteen of all numbers?]└ Do we really need to find meaning? It’s just the same as no comment└ I thought that was a bit strange too.└ Isn’t it just saying he’ll release it around the hundredth album?└ Then he could just answer ‘someday’. Specifying the thirteenth, doesn’t that mean something?└ Roh Haeil just released his first full album, what could there be up to the 13th?While most told them not to attach meaning to one person’s doubt, some agreed.[You can just think of it as Friday the 13th or something, or maybe Roh Haeil is Christian. 13 is a special number in Christianity]└ 13 is the 6th prime number and the 7th Fibonacci number. There are 13 Archimedean solids.└ Stop Wikipedia!└ It’s an unlucky number, what else could it be. It’s obviously just a number he thought ofThe number thirteen was certainly strange. What’s even stranger was Scorpion’s response.-Thirteen? Then it’s not far offJust as people murmured “Is this an American joke?” at the concert, it was an incomprehensible conversation.Then someone said.[Guys, since Haeil makes comebacks three times a year, theoretically it’s possible within 4-5 years, right?]└ LMAO 4 years is not far off indeed└ This is the karma of Roh Haeil for mentioning the number 13└ Considering karma, Roh Haeil should release up to 830 albums for real└ If another singer heard this, they’d be like “K…i…ll… m…e…”They even came up with theories that would make other singers beg for death.In fact, if they had dug a little deeper here, a more in-depth conversation might have taken place, but people didn’t. Also, because the world was bustling with articles.For instance, HALO’s 9th album title ‘L=299m/s’ entering the Billboard Top 9 for the first time. ‘I AM HALO’ staying on the Billboard Top 100 for the longest period.Roh Haeil receiving a music show 1st place trophy without appearing on music shows. Or the completion of casting for the original musical ‘Rock’, which was most talked about among musical fans.And there was another piece of news that the industry people, not the public, focused on. Veil, who had accompanied Scorpion from Taiwan, remained in Korea instead of following Scorpion’s Japan tour.This was the biggest issue in the entertainment industry, which is very interested in the overseas music industry.Isn’t it August Veil?To the public, he was known as the only person who knows HALO’s identity, but what he carries isn’t just the name HALO.Before being the CEO of the music distribution company Veil.He was the owner of Augustus Records.Everyone knows that John Leonard is currently the CEO of Augustus. But what’s important is that the true owner is still August Veil.Singers, idol agencies, broadcasting stations, etc. couldn’t help but be interested in his movements, given the presence of the owner of a major agency that encompasses music production and management, ranking among the top four along with Sony and Warner Brothers.He wouldn’t have just come to Korea for fun, there must be a reason why he stayed in Korea.And that was the same for Rekka John, who persistently followed August Veil, in charge(?) of Veil company.‘Who did he come to recruit?’He had already memorized the list of singers publicly disclosed on the Veil company website.To the extent that he wasn’t confident about himself if asked about Veil company’s singers on a quiz show.As far as he knew, among the singers contracted with Veil, there was only one rock band from Japan of Asian origin. So he wouldn’t have come to care for a singer.He must have come to contract a new singer. Considering that he stayed personally instead of sending an employee, it was likely to be quite a famous singer.‘Damn old man. Does he intend to never meet The Sun like this?’August Veil had noticed his presence long ago. He regretted not acting more discreetly, but he wasn’t too disappointed when he thought about the money he had earned decently from NuTube.With other paparazzi already dropped out and gone, if he were to discover The Sun in this situation, he would make an astronomical amount of money. He fantasized about riding a luxury yacht and frolicking with beautiful women on a private beach.The moment the old man settled in Korea, he gave up.‘Might as well photograph the new singer he’s going to recruit.’John waited with a camera at a cafe across from the hotel where August Veil was staying.Suddenly, a familiar old man comes out to the lobby. John’s eyes lit up. A luxury large taxi in front of the old man. And then another small taxi closely following behind the van.Seeing another passenger getting off there, John didn’t pay much attention.John hurriedly ran out of the cafe. The old man was not clearly visible, hidden by the large taxi, but he must have surely gotten on.John got into the car he had rented as soon as he arrived in Korea and tried to follow the large taxi that had just departed.Suddenly, the small taxi that was closely attached to the large taxi catches his eye.‘Wait.’John pondered.He hadn’t properly seen which car the old man had gotten into. He thought he had gotten into the large taxi because he couldn’t see inside the taxi properly, and because he had seen the old man standing in front of it.But what if the old man hadn’t gotten in there?Because the old man knew of his existence.As John was conflicting, he saw the two vehicles’ directions diverge. There’s no time to ponder. It’s time to make a choice after all.“Damn old man!”John decided to trust his instinct and followed the small taxi. Not knowing Seoul’s geography well, he only feels ominous. The taxi passes through smoothly without stopping much.If only he could confirm the old man wasn’t there, he would turn the car around immediately.How long had he driven?John lost the taxi due to the cars parked closely near buildings and one-way roads.“Fuck!”Hitting the steering wheel with a ‘thud’ and cursing, he was about to turn back when.John suddenly realized this neighborhood was familiar.Where had he seen this place before? He had never been to other neighborhoods because he had always been chasing after the old man.Why does a neighborhood he’s never been to feel familiar as if he’s seen it once?A memory flashes by unexpectedly.Scorpion!He recalled that the alley and shops that appeared in videos and photos of a boy’s label that Scorpion visited as soon as they came to Korea were very similar to this place.“Wait… If it was Veil who got in that taxi, then coming here…”Of course, there are many entertainment companies in Seongsu-dong. But he didn’t know that much, so Jon inadvertently hit upon the correct answer.“Is he coming to see that guest right now?”Hi everyone, I've completely translated this novel! For those who love this novel and wanted to binge read until the last chapter, you can go to my Patreon "Shop" page. There, I have a product in which you can read them with discounted price!