The Road To Glory [EN]: Chapter 1651

< The Lucky Man - Episode 165 >

In the old days, a long line would have formed in front of a record store around this time. The owner, having been out since dawn, would look at the queue with a proud smile, stick a newly printed poster on the store’s window, and start the countdown.

The ticking noise is particularly loud.

However, time doesn’t flow as quickly as the people standing on the street would like.

When the police and reporters start hanging around the line, conducting interviews and taking pictures, the store’s door will open.

People will try to rush in like a tide when they see the door opening, but they soon maintain order because they are absolutely the ‘eul’ [in a position of weakness] in front of the record. However, controlling them isn’t easy.

Since there’s only one record they’re looking for, sales are going smoothly, but the owner notices that the poster he put on the window has disappeared.

HALO’s photobook, commemorating the new song, vanished like a ghost. The skill to steal it without tearing any part and even taking the tape is remarkable.

The owner eventually puts up a spare poster again, knowing from experience that someone will steal it about 3 or 4 times. He vows not to let his guard down easily this time.

The line doesn’t seem to be getting shorter, but what runs out first is the stock. The owner, having emptied the boxes, will put up a ‘Sold Out’ sign in front of the store. People sigh, and those who don’t know how to give up shout for hidden records, but the end is the end.

However, this time it was different.

With the release of HALO’s complete album first edition LP online, people no longer needed to stand in line at record stores or bookstores.

They just had to access the website and wait with their fingers on the screen. There was no need to stand in line with aching legs; they could soothe their boredom by keeping a world standard clock on one side and a community forum on the other.

While sharing stories about HALO’s world tour final schedule that took place recently.

More precisely, about the schedule that was undecided until the very end.

The schedule that was written as ‘LA and Hamilton Concerts After[?]’ was recently confirmed, and even the ticketing was completed.

Unlike the ticketing that took place in the summer, the undecided concert that took place in the fall, just before the world tour, naturally attracted a large number of people. People from all over the world who failed to get tickets or wanted to go to the concert one more time rushed in.

Moreover, it wasn’t just an ordinary concert.

Of course, who would say that HALO’s first world tour was an ordinary concert, but this concert had a slightly more special meaning.

[11.14 │Nanji Hangang Park (Seoul)]

From the fact that it was the only outdoor venue to the fact that it was Nohaeil (HALO)’s birthday above all else.

Turning 17 from 16 wouldn’t change his status as a minor, but from the fandom’s perspective, it was a day to commemorate HALO’s first birthday. They didn’t want to miss either the event prepared by the fans or HALO’s birthday party.

Besides, it was the last chance at the gacha [a chance-based reward system, like a lottery] when it hadn’t been revealed what the golden ticket was.

Thus, HALO’s ticketing went down to the very last minute…

[ㅅㅂ My house is in front of the Han River, but why can’t I goㅠㅠㅠ]

Someone was made to weep,

[I got it, I finally got it! I got the most important birthday concert even if I can’t go to the others!!!!!!!!]

Someone was happy enough to be filled with joy.

[Wow, that’s a Sunday, there must be so many people]

└ I’ll go even if I can’t eat [even if it’s difficult]

└ Yeah, you might hear it if it’s outdoors

└ Can you hear it?

[Wow, they’re doing a solo concert at Nanji Park. They usually only do it for festivals or corporate events]

└ HALO’s birthday is a corporate eventㅋㅋㅋ

└ Founding day of a large corporation ㄷㄷㄷ [an expression of awe]

Meanwhile, in such a noisy situation, there was a unique place that was calm. It was Korea University’s Everytime [an anonymous online forum for university students].

Of course, if someone certified a ticket, there would be a flurry of dislikes, but the topic of conversation now was not the Nanji performance.

[Was our festival on the 16th, 17th, and 18th? Haeil won’t be able to come]

[Why are you expecting it in the first place? Our lineup has been revealed]

[Is HALO’s invitation fee even possible?]

[If the student council had invited HALO, they would have already made a fuss like last year]

[I entered Korea University to see HALO’s performanceㅠㅠ]

[He’ll probably be in London by then?]

Perhaps because he promised to come last year, some people were sad, and others defended him, saying how could he come when the world tour overlapped.

In fact, everyone rationally knew that it was impossible due to the schedule.

Nevertheless, the reason for the disappointment was probably because Nohaeil had kept all the promises he had made so far.

Even if it wasn’t in the way they wanted.

He gave them the music shows they wanted -discovered in a cafe-, and opened the star-gram account he promised at the fan meeting -although it’s been left unattended until now-.

Then, someone said.

[He only promised to come to our school, so isn’t he just going to ‘come’?]

[The lineup has been revealed]

└ So he can ‘just come,’ right?

└ ???!!!

[If it’s Nohaeil’s style… Huh? Does that make sense?]

Someone’s analysis of Nohaeil -typically the reason why you need to write contracts well, ‘ah’ [meaning ‘different’] is different from ‘uh’ [meaning ‘similar’]- was famous, and it was enough to be tempted.

[HALO hasn’t promised to perform next time, has he…?]

[If it were another celebrity, I would have told them not to play with words, but Nohaeil… I think it’s possible?]

└ I can’t do it, I’m going to eat, sleep, and shower at school for three days during the festival

└ It probably won’t freeze in Novemberㅋㅋ

[What’s coming? It’s absolutely impossible because of the busy schedule. No conspiracy theories ㄴㄴ [no no]]

[If he can’t come this year, he’ll come next year]

[Actually, he probably couldn’t have thought about the world tour last year]

While Korea University was drumming and playing the janggu [a traditional Korean drum], and entering the depression and acceptance stage, HALO’s complete LP album was released.

That was the same as saying that HALO’s world tour first concert, LA The Forum concert, would start in the evening, so golden ticket holder John Doe thought there would be no happier day than today.

He got the LA concert that crashed the server, and he was even -although he didn’t certify it in the community for safety reasons- the owner of the golden ticket.

He didn’t know what would come out of the golden ticket, but it was clear that anything would be lucky.

So the man with the sun necklace around his neck had a leisurely morning.

He didn’t have to stand in line at a record store; he just had to buy the album released online.

But soon what he saw was.

“Huh…?”

His brain stopped.

He thought it would be bought quickly because it was the first edition.

He was a lucky man, and his computer endured that fierce competition.

The word [Sold out] was left in front of his eyes.

“What, it doesn’t seem like it’s been a second.”

Confusion, denial.

After that, all he could do was

Bang!

It was just hitting the keyboard.

The turntable audio, which he had custom-made for thousands of dollars to listen to HALO’s album, was receiving beautiful lighting from one wall, as if mocking him.

[This doesn’t make sense]

[Are there really this many people listening to LPs in the world?]

[How many copies of the first edition did they print in the first place?]

The sun is the most essential thing for humans, but it is sometimes terribly cruel. Like the sunlight that harshly shines on drought-stricken land, the concertgoers, who were a few hours away from the concert, collectively lost their minds.

There may be people in the world who failed to get tickets and even failed to buy albums.

It didn’t matter.

A limited first edition with numbering.

He thought the competition would be high, but his self-esteem, which had been high as a chosen one in that brutal concert ticketing, fell to the bottom.

[Isn’t there a server error?]

[I think so too. No one has bought his album yet]

As if mocking them, all they could see no matter how much they scrolled down was the album details.

Annoyingly detailed:

– Record (1)

– Lyrics book

– Sound source introduction book

– Postcard (6)

There are annoyingly beautiful design images.

HALO’s album covers were black and white photos up to the 5th album based on the 6th album, and illustrations that went well with the album from the 6th to the 13th album, and those photos and illustrations were also drawn on the LP, stimulating the desire to collect.

In addition, HALO wrote the sound source introduction book himself because the message or intention of the sound source had never been introduced separately.

And a postcard with something in it, but one of them must be a photo of HALO.

Everything was too well prepared for a limited edition, and those who knew that numbering was stamped there could not help but turn their eyes.

If someone finds out why so few first edition albums were released, they will surely explode. For example, if the story of why HALO had no choice but to produce the album on LP is reported in large letters.

But this is after HALO’s world tour first concert is over.

The morning that broke their mentality soon passed, and in the afternoon, they began to head to the LA Forum one by one. Those who decided to take a plane and do a day trip had been in line for a long time, and those who lived nearby or had booked a hotel also arrived at the Forum without being late.

The Forum, formerly the home stadium of the basketball team, looked like a temple standing tall on a vast land. From its huge size to the huge pillars reminiscent of a temple, it had grandeur and elegance.

The Forum, where countless world-class artists – Elvis Presley, Jackson Five, Freddie Mercury, Eric Clapton, etc. – have left their mark.

John Doe suppressed the feeling of defeat that he could not buy a record and stood here. It was still a long time until 8 p.m., but the line was quite long.

John Doe, who quietly joined the line, somehow thought that this line was not waiting for HALO’s concert, but for the stadium that existed in the past.

That’s because there were a large number of middle-aged men. John Doe, who looked strangely at those who seemed to be more suited to cheering songs and cursing the opposing team, realized that he was no different from them.

Still, there are some differences.

As befits LA, which is called the melting pot of races, various people using various languages were lining up.

Such colorful lines continued to grow, and as the sun set, they finally began to enter.

“Please enter.”

“Please show your ticket.”

They were not immediately guided to the audience seats.

The staff thoroughly checked the tickets, and as much as Americans, weapon possession checks were also essential.

The employees were startled because the first man to enter with the sun necklace looked very fierce, but he was surprisingly cooperative.

“Sir, can you take off your jacket-.”

“Of course, should I take off my underwear too?”

“…Please wear that.”

The man who came out of the search engine kissed the sun necklace. Anyone could tell he was a Heligan [a fan of HALO].

And there were more than one or two of them.

Those who were cooperative with the staff’s guidance and looked around seemed like they were hired as employees at this concert hall, not audience members.

Those who would throw a fist before the staff if someone caused a problem.

Therefore, an atmosphere of solemnity flowed through the concert hall, which was not suitable for the place.

Anyway, those who passed through the search engine moved to the counter instead of being guided to the audience seats right away.

I thought it was more systematic than most concerts, but the employees who scanned the barcode took something out from under the counter.

“This is…!”

As soon as the first person received the gift, attention was focused.

“Is it a golden ticket?”

“…Shall I kill you?”

“Okay, next person.”

The second ticket holder also received a huge shopping bag. Feeling a threat to his life, he quickly revealed that he was a general ticket holder, and the third holder, who had completed inductive reasoning in 3 seconds, politely held out his hand.

“Surely it’s not first-come, first-served?”

It’s not like someone is taking it away or it’s first-come, first-served, but people started to move extremely quickly.

Looking at the heat, looking at the people’s eyes turning, if they only gave gifts to golden ticket holders here, he would not have returned home safely.

Those who received the shopping bag can move to the audience seats. It’s truly ridiculous to hug the shopping bag like a teddy bear for fear of someone stealing it, but no one could laugh.

Finally, the first golden ticket appeared.

John Doe carefully showed his online ticket.

The employee’s eyes lit up, and the moment he scanned it, John Doe quickly turned off his phone.

“That’s… Is it?”

“Yes, we recommend opening it after you get home.”

“Ah, yes.”

I thought there was something, but the shopping bag he received was the same as the others.

As John Doe was quietly looking at the shopping bag, the employee added an additional comment.

John Doe, who had ignored the not-so-important comment, hugged the large shopping bag and waddled into the audience seats, as others had done.

Next to John Doe, who had a reserved seat on the second floor, sat a man whose arms were as big as an adult man’s torso. However, since he didn’t show any special interest in him, John Doe sat down and opened the shopping bag.

It had been a long time since he had ignored the employee’s guidance.

The man next to him seemed to have opened the goods once and was hugging a cushion.

There was a kind explanation that it was a cushion, but no one here would put their dirty butt on it.

John Doe glanced at the man’s shopping bag and took out his own items one by one, saying that his components were the same.

There was a cushion, an illustration postcard, and -basic – a glow stick, but it was the first time he had received such a gift at a concert, so he felt like he was going to cry.

Who would watch HALO’s concert sitting down?

Still, it was too much to give him a cushion so that his butt wouldn’t hurt.

“Oh, so sweet.”

John Doe, unable to hold back his exclamation, found a box at the very bottom of the shopping bag.

From the very soft velvet ribbon to the luxurious design engraved on the box.

It didn’t look ordinary at first glance.

“What is this?”

John Doe took out the box, which was the size of his palm, untied the ribbon, and opened the box.

“!”

John Doe’s eyes lit up as he checked what was inside. Subconsciously shrinking his body, John Doe raised his head to look around.

At that time, he met the indifferent man next to him.

#

Time is slowly running out.

Haeil, who is behind the stage, waved his hand after discovering a familiar face.

“Am I late?”

She came up and spun around in front of him.

A beautiful dress fluttered and shook, and a few strands of her dark brown hair fell down her neck.

“You came just in time.”

Haeil responded with a soft smile.

Prau thought he would invite Jason to the LA concert, but the guest for the LA concert was decided from the beginning. The same goes for Paris and Vienna.

She knows that the members are looking at her lewdly, but at least Haeil or she here didn’t care much.

“It’s like going back to that time.”

She muttered, recalling old memories, wearing a more gorgeous dress than before.

“You appeared and helped me back then. So that I can continue to perform…”

Haeil also nodded.

It was an important opportunity for her, but it was remembered as a fun episode for him.

There are not many opportunities to invade someone else’s stage.

Someone said that Haeil would enjoy fame by inviting famous singers as guests, but he didn’t need to step forward and enjoy fame.

The stage is always the way he wants it to be. If you do that, wealth and fame will come on their own.

“Let’s sing happily like then.”

She stared at Haeil quietly.

He had changed quite a bit from a year ago, but the boy had not changed at all.

Intense presence and genius talent.

And like then.

-Do you need my help?

-Would you like to perform with me? This time at my concert.

She was no longer thrown onto the stage alone, but even so, she could not refuse the helping hand.