The Road To Glory [EN]: Chapter 1601

< The Tide of Glory - Episode 160 (160/237) < Episode 160: World Unification >

“Shall we get started, then?”

Light floods the dark screen.

A male anchor stands before the camera.

[And now, for our final news story. Today has dawned, and we have only one day remaining.]

Frow, dressed in the neat attire he wears perhaps once a year, announces the impending deadline with a complex and subtle expression.

His voice fades into the distance as the camera focuses on the numbers on the electronic board, counting down like a time bomb.

Less than 24 hours remain.

[We hope you have a pleasant day.]

The soft background music begins to swell.

Halo catches the plastic bottle thrown to him.

It was lukewarm, but even that felt refreshing.

“Going smoothly.”

“Smoothly? Hardly. It’s noisy as hell.”

“You’re just realizing that?”

“It would be nice if the noise was because of me, but it’s because of *him*. Do you know how many calls I’m getting, asking how we managed to get *him*?”

“You too?”

Jason grumbled at Halo while talking to Frow.

“I hate how these guys who were too busy before are suddenly calling. What do you think?”

“Well, you’re just realizing that?”

Halo chuckled, quoting Frow again. He acted as if it were only natural that they would seek him out.

Jason shot him a dirty look but couldn’t deny it. As he said, ‘you’re just realizing that’ was right.

“By the way, don’t you think the newbie is adapting a little *too* well?”

Frow asked, putting his arm around Halo’s shoulder.

“Be honest, this isn’t your first music video, is it? You’ve shot, like, thirteen of these, haven’t you?”

“Well, it’s my first *here*.”

“Yeah, I knew it. Figures. You’ve done it in Korea.”

Frow nodded, as if he had expected it. His words were somewhat off, but Halo didn’t deny it. Except for the ‘Korea’ part, it was true.

When someone asked when he had done it in Korea, he just laughed it off, and the reason why he was so unusually skilled at shooting music videos remained a mystery.

Today is the first day of the music video production, with group filming.

And on this day, after smoothly proceeding with the filming and heading home…

“Mr. Halo, excuse me, but there’s something you need to check.”

From Veil’s secretary, who is currently acting as his manager, Halo received a package.

“It’s a package from Switzerland.”

Inside the car, a gift box and documents were waiting.

Halo looked back and forth between the documents and the box, then opened the small box first. A strange light flickered in his eyes.

“This isn’t chocolate.”

“Pardon?”

“It’s nothing.”

Smiling faintly, Halo took out what was inside.

The drawing that looked like hardened chocolate.

The design that would put surrealism to shame appeared in the form he had wanted.

Halo thought that he should have written an explanation rather than drawing. Great artists eventually elevate even poorly expressed ideas into art.

The universe implemented on a small disc.

The two orbiting planets served as the hour and minute hands.

Halo put the watch on his left wrist and then read the documents.

Roughly, one page was a *very* polite interpretation of the drawing he had expressed, and the next page was a letter saying how glad they were to be collaborating with him, including the product warranty that he hadn’t checked in the gift box.

He didn’t expect to receive proof that the custom order was progressing so well so early. Not a design, not a sample, but a completed form.

And the arrival of this meant that the world tour was not far off in another sense.

Come to think of it, it was almost time to announce it.

The ten countries he would be visiting. Ten cities and ten schedules.

And.

“I understand that 1,000 gifts will be provided at the concert, but how will they be distributed?”

Since it was only discussed with Veil, the manager showed curiosity. Given that the scale of Halo’s concert was definitely not a thousand people—it would be at least tens of thousands—he was curious how 1,000 gifts would be provided.

At that moment, Halo raised the corners of his mouth and looked out the window.

“Isn’t luck that comes to me by chance more enjoyable than luck that everyone shares?”

“Yes? Well, I guess so?”

By nature, happiness is more enjoyable the more you have it alone.

Like a lottery or gacha [a type of vending machine or capsule toy popular in Japan, often associated with gambling-like mechanics].

The manager nodded. His nod might lead to the misfortune of the majority.

And that was also the case in the online world, which had become noisy with unexpected ultra-luxurious collaborations.

[Wow, what kind of combination is that? It’s crazy···]

[Frow is finally coming back with a new song]

[But why is Jason there? Shouldn’t he be with Halo···?]

[Baby Sun, the photos are so cute]

[Halo is doing collaborations]

└ He did one with Hwang Ryong-pil a long time ago

└ No, but No Halo’s first collaboration is Hwang Ryong-pil, and the next collaboration is Frow. Who’s next?

[Scorpion Reel, keep your eyes open and snatch it “Who is that bastard”]

└ Is that article title real?

└ When did Scorpion and Halo date? Why is the title like this?

└ lol, I went to Byeol Gram [likely a social media platform] and this is a euphemism

Even though the exact release date wasn’t announced, people were already excited, saying it smelled delicious. The collaborators were rappers, singer-songwriters, etc., but they were also well-known for their unique personalities and talents on YouTube and TikTok. The public couldn’t help but be enthusiastic about the combination of these geniuses.

[So, he’s going to sing that song on this tour, right?]

└ !

└ No··· Please be quiet, Halo, let’s find our roots

[I can’t believe I’m seeing a Halo collaboration before I die]

[How did you get him!!]

[Frow, you bastard!! I’ll give you a deep kiss when I see you next time]

However, what is most noteworthy is that this is Halo’s first collaboration. How good will the music be when geniuses gather?

And Augustus Records, the label to which the singers other than Halo belong, actively promoted this. Articles were released every day, and they expanded the scope with music videos, etc.

It seemed like they were enjoying the fact that they had Halo.

On Bluebird [likely a social media platform, a stand-in for Twitter/X], they left a message saying, ‘Halo, welcome. Don’t you need a new home?’ and had a pointless war of nerves with Veil’s Bluebird.

Moreover, although it wasn’t reported in the articles, when the collaboration contract with Halo was being processed, the representative of Augustus Records himself brought the contract, not the manager or 담당자 [Korean for ‘person in charge’].

Of course, he seemed more interested in Halo himself than the contract. With fervent eyes, he told him to say anything he needed, which was roughly similar to Veil.

While everyone was eagerly awaiting the release of the new song and music video, the schedule for Halo’s first world tour was finally revealed.

On Veil’s SNS [Social Networking Service], the company conducting the tour, and Halo’s YouTube account, with content that might be somewhat shocking.

[LA][Hamilton][?][London][Paris] [Vienna][Sydney][Bangkok][Hongkong] [Seoul]

As the locations were revealed along with the 10 cities, people who had been praying that it wouldn’t be a small theater discovered that No Halo had booked the Seoul Arena as promised.

[Finally, it’s not a small theater]

[Goodbye to the terrible small theater! Let’s never meet again!]

Some people viewed this positively, but people’s hearts are fickle.

[But why Seoul Arena instead of the Olympic Stadium…?]

[Isn’t Seoul Arena a bit small?]

[Could it be that he kept his promise…?]

└ He promised to do it at Seoul Arena at the old fan meeting…

└ Haloㅠㅠ Thank you for keeping your promise, but please book a bigger place

└ No, we thought Seoul Arena would be big enough back then;;;

└ You didn’t say Halo!!!! If you had said Halo, we would have said Sangam [a larger stadium in Seoul]. No, just do it in Gwanghwamun [a large public square in Seoul]. It can accommodate ten million people

└ He abandoned 66,000 seats to keep his promise of 16,000···.

└ ;;;; Everything is good, but what about Byeol Gram?

[Hey, is it just me, or is my eyesight bad? What is this?]

└ ???

└ Hey, I don’t think the arena is important right now

Those who were caught in the shackles of promise—thank you for keeping it, but *why* did you keep it?—soon discovered something even stranger.

[But why only one performance day?]

[????]

[Wait. Halo?]

And this wasn’t just a Korean reaction.

[Canada loves Halo, Only Thanks]

[I knew he would choose The Forum, LA]

[Your highness, to your country.]

[What? Why isn’t Germany there?]

[Venice: Let’s ride a gondola, we’re preparing the carnival again for you]

The reactions that were initially divided into whether their country was included or not soon became unified.

[Wait, Only one day?]

[How many people does the Forum accommodate in one day? – Reddit]

└ 12,245

[Can someone tell him how many Americans there are?]

[Once in each country? Everything is good, but America is not small. Rather, remove boring Canada and add a schedule in Florida]

└ Are you kidding me? In Toronto

[You guys are also one country. The EU is not one country! But he seems to think of the European Union as a country, and why France of all places! in Barcelona]

└ Just happy in Vienna

└ What are you talking about, we are also an independent country! He has to come to all 50 states in Texas]

└ Wow, it seems like he just rekindled the Civil War

[I should have left sooner if I knew this would happen]

What the Koreans who knew No Halo were warning about was the small theater, not the concert schedule.

In fact, holding it for only one day in one country was no different from a small theater concert.

[But am I the only one who feels a little relieved? It’s so funny to see foreigners spitting blood after only *we* suffered lol This is the taste of a K-singer]

└ I know, who told you not to believe it? lol

Foreigners who were running happy circuits only when the collaboration was announced are finally seeing the spicy taste. Koreans, feeling a sense of camaraderie, laughed and enjoyed it, forgetting when they were tadpoles.

One unfortunate thing is that they are not frogs. Still tadpoles, they recalled their tadpole days.

Still, if we think positively, getting hit often makes you less painful.

[If it’s only one day, I don’t think we can rest assured]

└ Who said they were relieved here lol

└ Is there anyone here who is relieved? lol

Maybe not.

[But isn’t the situation a bit serious right now?]

└ Does this look *not* serious? Even if we stand, the whole nation has to fight for 26,000 seats

└ Is it the whole nation···?

└ What are you talking about?

Someone pointed out the countries Halo would be touring.

Only ten cities. Among them, Asia had three places, and East Asia only had Hong Kong and Seoul.

[Quiz. Halo’s fandom is huge in Asia, do you think they’ll give up neatly?]

Could they give up so easily on Halo’s first concert? No one affirmed it.

[The Japanese and Chinese fandoms must be no joke]

After laughing at the foreigners, they belatedly realized that 26,000 seats were not the important thing. The real problem was that they were only performing twice in Asia.

At first, they laughed at the reason why Halo didn’t choose Japan, saying that the Japanese performance culture wasn’t good and that it wasn’t his taste, but they realized the seriousness.

[The Chinese will flock to Hong Kong, and what about the Japanese···?]

[Will only the Chinese flock to Hong Kong···?]

[China and Japan are like that, but isn’t there a country with an even bigger land mass above them?]

[There’s no reason why Europeans or Americans wouldn’t come here, right?]

└ Ah

└ lol

└ lol

No Halo’s biggest fandom, ‘Do you think we’re a joke,’ was the first to raise this issue and spaced out.

The happy circuit that someone had turned on at the fan meeting started circulating in the community again.

[Seoul Arena··· All-con [attending all concerts]···?]

[Ticketing is easy···?]

[Weren’t we all supposed to be happy this year?]

There is a way to be happy.

Non-possession. You can be happy if you don’t have greed.

But no one will be able to practice the truth of life.

Those who suffered (?) from No Halo’s lack of communication policy and respect for minority opinions last year were properly filled with venom.

That devastated 덕질 [deokjil – obsessive fandom] strangely stimulated stubbornness rather than making them give up, and they wanted to be in that minority.

That doesn’t mean that people who get into the minority are satisfied and come out. Not to mention all-con, there weren’t many people who watched the show twice—estimated to be only one person—

[Let’s think in reverse and do ticketing all over the world except for Korea]

[88 days around the world, let’s go~~]

[Still, isn’t our country a powerhouse in internet technology?]

They, who even sublimate pain into humor, didn’t know. That there was still more to come.

Of course, they couldn’t know right away.

It was when the ticketing site opened that they noticed the existence of the ‘golden ticket’ reminiscent of a certain chocolate factory.