The Road To Glory [EN]: Chapter 1281

< 128. The Sound of Spring >

Haydn, Beethoven, Mozart. Vienna, the city of music where countless musicians such as Franz Schubert and Johann Strauss II were born.

When they first arrived in this city, the antique and tranquil city welcomed them. It felt very different from Prague. Perhaps it was because of the history of so many musicians being born here, but the wide roads, tidy streets, and beautiful trees that seemed to be hundreds of years old created a classical atmosphere.

It was naturally Moon Seo-yeon who strongly wanted to come to Vienna. Although she had given up her classical music major, she had not abandoned the fantasy of Vienna held by musicians.

Rather than natural history museums or art galleries, she lingered around royal palaces, cathedrals, opera houses, and the footsteps of musicians from the old and present eras.

She didn’t forget to book tickets online for performances by the Vienna Philharmonic and operas—Moon Seo-yeon, who was leisurely with sightseeing, booked concert tickets for a full week.

Among them, Mozart’s *The Magic Flute*, which she was lucky enough to see first, was impressive.

Of course, she couldn’t understand how Prince Tamino fell in love after seeing Princess Pamina’s picture, but the fantastic music was enough. While Halo listened to the Queen of the Night’s aria and people admired the soaring soprano, he sensed the hatred lingering in the music.

In the end, she disappeared from the world, but the lingering echoes of the song she left behind captivated everyone, to the point of sleeplessness.

However, the charm of Vienna was not only in its antique buildings and splendid orchestra performances.

Unlike Vienna’s quiet and calm first impression, the streets of Vienna were more dynamic. Classical music echoed throughout the streets, and the smell of bread and coffee wafted from the cafes. Cars and carriages crossed paths, and modern buildings and Baroque-style mansions were harmonized.

Numerous modern people walked the streets, and airplanes or satellites passed overhead.

Vienna was a city where the classical and the modern coexisted.

Halo stared at the billboards erected on the street.

A photo of an elderly couple kissing underwater.

The phrase *Liebe das Leben* [Love Life] was written on it, and in front of it, an accordion played Vivaldi’s *Four Seasons*.

Mid-January in Vienna felt more like spring than winter.

It was like a platform that facilitated new encounters, reunited old relationships, and fostered new ones.

Halo stopped in the hotel lobby for a similar reason.

A pale-faced girl was sitting on the sofa in the hotel lobby. The girl sat quietly with her hands on her knees, and there was no one who appeared to be her guardian next to her.

“Rose?”

“···Roh?”

She seemed to remember after hearing her name called.

The girl who had come on the last day of his concert last summer was still the same. Unlike Halo, who was still in his growth spurt, the girl seemed frozen in time.

“Why are you here—”

“Oh my, Mr. Roh?”

He didn’t finish his sentence.

Per Aspera, who had rushed over, called him. In some ways, the world is a very small place.

In this vast continent, with countless hotels and mansions, to run into each other here was quite a coincidence.

“It’s been a while. I never dreamed I’d meet you in Vienna. I heard you were traveling.”

“Are you also traveling in Vienna, Mr. Aspera?”

Arvo’s chief designer, Per Aspera, was also surprised.

“No, we came to meet Rose’s mother. Her workplace is in Vienna.”

“Ah.”

So, the father and daughter who seemed to be from France had come to Vienna. Only then did Halo understand.

“I’d like to invite you to dinner tonight, but I don’t think it’ll be possible because Rose has a performance she wants to see. If it’s not too much to ask, may I know how long you’ll be staying in Vienna?”

Per Aspera was only briefly surprised and seemed genuinely happy to see him. He seemed to have a lot to say. On the other hand, Rose Aspera stood up as soon as her father arrived and hid behind him.

Halo remembered when she had called his name and greeted him. She seemed quite different now. A child’s mood swings happen as often as Halo’s, but this was an incomprehensible change.

“Rose, aren’t you going to say hello to Mr. Roh?”

Per Aspera didn’t seem to notice that Rose was intentionally hiding.

“Rose.”

Per Aspera was puzzled when Rose didn’t say a word and remained hidden behind him.

“Are you sick, Rose?”

“···I don’t want to say hello.”

“!”

Only when he urged her one more time did a small voice emerge.

“Rose, what’s wrong?”

Rose, who buried her head in his back and shook her head, mumbled.

“Roh tricked me.”

“When did Mr. Roh trick you?”

Per Aspera scratched his cheek and straightened up, looking apologetically at Halo, feeling embarrassed.

“I’m sorry, Mr. Roh. I think it’s because Rose misunderstood something last time. It’s the first time Rose has mistaken someone’s voice, so I guess she doesn’t want to admit it.”

Rose, who was hiding behind her father’s back, turned her head away when their eyes met.

“Rose, it’s not Mr. Roh’s fault. Are you going to keep acting like that?”

Halo stared at Rose for a moment, then looked away.

“Dad, let’s go.”

When Rose pulled on his clothes, Per Aspera couldn’t bring himself to shake off her small hand. However, he gestured as if to say he would contact him.

Halo nodded and turned to leave. He also had plans with the members.

#

Even though the city is full of classical music, not everyone living in Vienna and tourists only enjoy classical music, contemplation, and reading.

A little away from the center, there are many restaurants and pubs with a lively atmosphere. In those places, popular music that everyone knows was played, and they talked about the private lives of top stars instead of Goethe’s secret private life. Of course, as it was the season, the football channel was always on the television.

*The Marriage of Figaro*, which became a pub in the evening, had such an atmosphere.

*The Marriage of Figaro* was a hideout and a forum for debate where people of all ages, including college students, workers, and regular old people who wanted to unwind, gathered.

They gathered regardless of weekdays or weekends, and the owner, Jerry, who accommodated the needs of customers, gave up break time and earned money and regulars.

*Clang-*.

Since there were already various kinds of people, they didn’t pay much attention even if tourists occasionally came in.

“It seems like this is one of those local restaurants that’s on a blog?”

“Can you trust blogs? What’s good here?”

“Schnitzel!”

“Isn’t that a snack?”

“That’s Pretzel.”

One Asian woman, three men.

It wasn’t unusual because tourists often peeked in when there were a lot of people. The only thing that caught their eye was a guitar case that a boy or a young man was carrying on his back.

It was not only flashy but also had a unique design, so it caught their eye. In addition, as it was a city of music, they were also curious about the young musician.

However, as everyone resumed the discussion, even the remaining curiosity faded.

Recently, there was a hot news and discussion topic at *The Marriage of Figaro*. College students, office workers, and the elderly were all talking about the same thing.

The debate, which everyone spent time on seriously, began on New Year’s Day, January 1st. 2032 was a different year. Instead of talking about New Year’s events or New Year’s concerts that are usually held on January 1st, they were calling different names everywhere.

HALO’s 11th album, *Catch Me If You Can*.

It was due to an album released on December 31st in the afternoon.

This was like last winter.

The WHO IS HALO phenomenon, which had been quiet, flared up again.

HALO’s music continued to dominate the charts.

HALO’s album tracks were firmly in place on music sites, to the point where someone said that HALO was the only one who released an album this year—to be exact, last year. It was inevitable because they released albums faster than people got tired of them.

However, the issue was different from the music. People didn’t consume one issue for a long time, and it was buried among other issues. In fact, it was amazing that one issue lasted for a year, not just a month.

That was the moment.

The HALO identity debate, which was thought to be gradually sinking among many other issues, rose to the surface again.

Perhaps it was even more intense than last year.

The title of the 11th album was nothing more than HALO’s message to find him.

Even the HALO fans, who had been quiet until HALO’s direct message—or command—were seething and rising up. Not only online but also offline.

“I saw the Bluebird [Twitter] *Who is HALO* page, but they’re too narrow-minded. There may be a reason why they haven’t been able to guess HALO’s identity until now. In fact, if they haven’t been able to guess among retired singers, they should be removed from the list of suspects.”

“That doesn’t mean we can put every human in the world into the data network.”

“I heard on Reddit that they’re investigating entertainers all over the world, not limited to Europe and America.”

“How about developing a voice comparison program on YouTube? It analyzes the voices of all the videos uploaded to YouTube.”

“Oh, that’s a good idea! But is that possible? How do you make it?”

“Programmers have to think about that now.”

“!”

Perhaps because their voices were too loud, the tourists who were ordering schnitzel from the owner were startled and looked back at them.

The college students apologized and continued their heated discussion. And on one side, the conversation of Japanese students was heard.

“Hiro’s voice is similar to ours.”

“Looking at the evolving form of his bocar [vocal synthesizer], isn’t there a high possibility that Hiro is a Vocaloid?”

“Are you perhaps Mr. Noh Hae-il?”

The members, who were unintentionally focusing on the surrounding conversations, turned their heads when they heard familiar Korean. A man and a woman were in front of the boy with sparkling eyes.

“We’re Korean!”

“Hello.”

Halo greeted them casually. The international students were happy that the real thing had appeared.

“Could you perhaps sign an autograph for us? And a picture if possible?”

“Of course.”

“Wow! Thank you!”

As the international students were doing that, their group also noticed and approached. The international students skillfully explained in German that he was a famous Korean singer, and their friends also shone their eyes.

It was clear that they had never heard of the name Noh Hae-il, but they didn’t hesitate to take commemorative photos.

They took a full picture so that the bar of the store was well exposed, and they bowed their heads and greeted.

“A singer came to this store?”

Everyone was only talking about their own stories, but as it was a restaurant where only familiar faces usually gathered, the act of taking pictures and getting autographs couldn’t go unnoticed.

The owner at the bar looked at him, and the gentleman sitting next to him also cast his gaze.

Just because it was a city of classical music, there was no one who ignored or ridiculed popular music singers while upholding only classical music.

“Come to think of it, a foreign broadcasting station did request to film here. Was that also from Korea?”

The person receiving the drink at the bar answered the owner’s words.

“Why? It looks fun, why didn’t you accept it?”

“Looking at the size of the filming crew, it looked like my store would explode. It’s a shame I couldn’t hear the live performance, though.”

“Aren’t you already satisfied with your business?”

“That’s also true. I’m already full just from robbing you guys’ wallets.”

The owner chuckled at the old man’s joke. The old man in a suit put down the newspaper and asked.

“Perhaps, for the sake of that foolish owner, would you like to sing a song?”

Before Halo could answer, the owner shouted.

“No, why are you telling a guest who came to relax to work? Please rest comfortably, guest.”

“Is music work? I’m suggesting we interact.”

“Don’t do that to our guest who might become a regular, you should play a song.”

“I’m already a caught fish, aren’t I?”

When the old man took off his hat, the other people clapped. Again, this is the mecca of music. They welcomed both planned and impromptu performances.

The old man went to the old organ placed in the narrow store and sat with his back to the instrument. He wasn’t trying to play the organ that was brought in as a decoration.

Like gentlemen carrying cigarettes in their jackets and beautiful women carrying revolvers in their handbags, Viennese citizens carried at least one instrument.

He took out a flute from a small bag and brought it to his mouth.

Soon, a beautiful melody was heard.

“Wow···!”

It was Strauss’s *Voices of Spring*, a song composed by Johann Strauss II, inspired by a soprano, and widely loved today as a representative waltz symbolizing spring.

People wore subtle smiles at the sound of the delicate flute, like the sound of a bird.

The owner also watched with his arms crossed, and the guest who opened the door and came in also widened his eyes and listened.

Halo discovered Moon Seo-yeon’s fingers twitching as the flute’s melody ended. He chuckled and applauded when the old man’s performance ended.

“My skills are still the same, aren’t they?”

The old man proudly showed off his skills and returned to his seat. He seemed to have completely forgotten that he had recommended music to the boy and began to drink.

“Thank you for the good performance.”

“Did you think it was worth listening to?”

“Yes. May I give you an encore?”

“Oh!”

The friend sitting across from the old man exclaimed instead.

“Look at this! Asia, so—”

“Korea.”

“A singer from Korea is going to sing a song!”

The restaurant suddenly became as noisy as a live club. The Korean international students who had received a photo from Noh Hae-il also shone their eyes, and the store’s guests watched the boy with rapt attention, even when the owner called them.

“This is my band.”

“Oh! A band from Korea!”

Halo, who smiled faintly at the people who were happy no matter what he said, pointed to the organ.

“By the way, that organ isn’t just for decoration, is it?”

“Well, it’ll probably make a sound.”

The owner muttered as if he wasn’t confident.

At the gaze of Halo and the members, Moon Seo-yeon slowly walked to the organ. Fortunately, there was no problem with the sound.

“What instrument do you play?”

“I can play the guitar and bass.”

“Then! Wait a minute! I’ll lend it to you.”

Han Jin-young, who refused Halo’s guitar because it was too burdensome, received a jazz guitar that someone had left behind, and Nam Gyu-hwan crossed his arms and looked around, then pointed to the glasses hanging on the bar.

“Excuse me, can I use those empty glasses?”

When he asked confidently in Korean, the Korean international students laughed and translated for him. It didn’t take long for a temporary stage to be created. It may seem crude in some ways, but at least the people in this place thought it was as good as the orchestra in a splendid palace.

A woman sitting at the organ and a man leaning against the bar holding a jazz guitar. The glasses filled with water made a transparent sound like a xylophone.

Above all, the boy standing in the middle of the small stage leaned on the organ and made eye contact with the woman.

One, two.

At the boy’s command, the woman’s fingers began to move.

[The lark soars into the blue sky]

The sound of spring was heard in a scene as beautiful as a scene from a movie.

[The breath of the gentle warm breeze kisses the meadow, awakening spring]

The old man who played the flute was startled.

The boy’s encore was the *Voices of Spring* he had played.

[Everything shines brighter with spring. Ah-]

The old man soon chuckled and put his lips to the flute again to complete the boy’s stage.

“Oh my···. What is this?”

It was a rare and exotic scene.

The musical exchange between a young tourist and an old local.

The meeting of classical and modern music shared in a Vienna restaurant.

Even the sound of spring unfolding again from the mouth of a famous singer from a foreign country.

[Now all the suffering is over]

The youngest director of Team B of [broadcasting station name], who had been on a thirty-minute journey to get snacks due to the issue of the restaurant he had booked and the break time issue, opened his mouth wide.

Then he recalled the code of conduct and hurriedly sent a message to the senior director before the song was over.

[Target]

[Target found 1!!]