The Road To Glory [EN]: Chapter 2041

Adult Hobby Class, Weekday Afternoon D Group.

This class was the most unique among those Han Jin-young had taught.

It included a wide range of ages, from 20s to 60s, and a diverse group of professions.

There was a student from a prestigious university, a housewife with two sons, someone who claimed to be a white hacker [an ethical hacker who works to find vulnerabilities in systems], a freelancer who worked with computers a lot, and even a retired old man.

With such different ages, genders, and personalities, it seemed like it would be an awkward group from start to finish. But surprisingly, they got along well ever since that first day when they introduced themselves.

They became so close that it was hard to teach because their energy was so high. Still, Han Jin-young quite liked the classes with these unique individuals.

In any case, D Group was just a basic bass class where calluses were barely forming on their fingers.

They weren’t learning as a profession or for entrance exams, but as a hobby, taking time out of their busy lives to learn bass.

Therefore, Han Jin-young put the most effort into making sure they ‘enjoyed’ falling in love with the charm of the bass.

He tried to maintain a balance, providing feedback but also ensuring he didn’t undermine their confidence, staying within helpful boundaries.

That’s why Han Jin-young was suddenly worried about Halo’s feedback. It wasn’t that Halo had a personality that would curse or use harsh words, but he was very honest.

People who knew Halo well were used to it, but he worried that those who didn’t, or those with sensitive hearts, might get hurt and misunderstand.

But…

“…How is it?”

“It’s good.”

“Really? You can be honest.”

“It was really good. It didn’t sound like my song, though.”

“! What? Hahaha.”

Maybe it’s better than I thought…

“I keep making mistakes on this part every time I practice.”

“It seems like you’re not putting enough strength in your pinky. It might be better to switch to using your index and ring fingers.”

“Oh!”

Oh, at this rate, I can just leave it alone…

“Halo, can you play the bass too?”

“A little? I need to know what kind of sound comes out of the instrument.”

“Oh, how long did it take you to get the basics down? I feel like I can’t get the basics no matter how much I practice. I’m starting to think I don’t have any talent for bass.”

“Well, I don’t think you need to worry too much about the basics. I’ve never formally learned bass, but as I played, I found myself creating the most comfortable posture and playing. It’ll come naturally as you enjoy playing.”

“Really?”

No, no!

Han Jin-young’s shoulders twitched.

The words of a genius who could create his own music by imitating others without being taught bass were enough to mislead ordinary people.

Still-

Han Jin-young, who was about to jump in, hesitated when he saw the face of the housewife who was usually stressed about the basics.

The two continued their conversation.

“And I could tell you practiced a lot. There was a section that was made to be messed up, but you didn’t mess it up.”

“! You made it that way on purpose? Oh my gosh. No wonder it was so difficult.”

“Ah, does that mean the ‘Struggle’ part was also made difficult on purpose?”

Someone interjected.

“No.”

“That means you need to practice more!”

“Halo, even he says that part is serious.”

Laughter followed.

People didn’t leave Halo’s side.

They were like people meeting their first love, overjoyed at every word and reaction.

They laughed and accepted his honest evaluations as natural, and their reactions were so great.

It would have been nice if they were like this during regular classes.

Han Jin-young smiled faintly and watched Halo and the students, who seemed focused, and thought, “It’ll be okay,” and relaxed.

#

Halo smiled gently as he watched the people engrossed in playing the bass. As he always said, he liked people who struggled and tried to make good music, even if they were clumsy.

Han Jin-young was worried that he would give harsh criticism, but he had no intention of giving harsh criticism, just like he did to his old band.

Rather than being conscious of the fact that it was a hobby and not a job, he simply liked the way they tried hard.

And it was actually quite fascinating.

He had only ever met people who made music for a living, so it had been a long time since he had met people experiencing such basic difficulties.

“Hoo, hoo.”

Halo patiently waited for the college student who was taking excessive deep breaths. The college student, who was slowly holding the bass, began to play.

Her expression grew more and more tearful, and it seemed like she wasn’t playing as well as usual.

“Ah…”

Eventually, the college student put her hand down. She had given up before finishing the song.

“I’m the worst, aren’t I?”

And before Halo could say anything, she asked timidly.

“I haven’t heard you play badly yet, so I can’t say you’re bad.”

The college student, who apologized even though he hadn’t asked for an apology, soon let out a small sigh and her face darkened even more.

He didn’t mean to make the atmosphere so gloomy.

“I have stage fright or social anxiety. Even if just one person looks at me, I get flustered and can’t say anything because I think, ‘Ah, what will that person think of me?’ ‘What if I make a mistake?’ I don’t remember what I was going to do, and I act like an idiot. I’m trying to overcome that by learning an instrument like this, but it’s the same here.”

Halo, who had been listening quietly, tilted his head and asked.

“Is it important how other people think of you?”

“Yes?”

The college student, who was initially flustered by Halo’s response to her self-deprecating mumbling, continued.

“Yes, I care. I’m worried that someone will say, ‘She’s really bad,’ or ‘That’s funny.’ Of course, my friends told me not to worry because people aren’t as interested in others as I think, and that I can do well, but I can also make mistakes.”

“Halo, you don’t understand, do you?”

The college student asked as if she knew everything.

She wasn’t wrong.

Basically, Halo cared more about how he and his music were perceived than what others thought, and even if someone criticized him, he would say, ‘So what? I like it.’

Some people said he had a strong mentality [mental fortitude].

He didn’t know about that, but he certainly had strong tastes. He hadn’t experienced much failure, so he had a strong sense of self-confidence.

So it was hard for him to empathize with this college student’s concerns.

He didn’t worry about failure, so he didn’t get nervous on stage, he didn’t care much about other people’s evaluations and reactions, and he had the belief that most people liked him.

Still.

Halo tried to answer her question.

He liked people who liked music, and he liked watching clumsy people grow.

Halo slowly opened his mouth.

“First of all, I’ve never thought that people aren’t interested in others.”

“Yes?”

“On the contrary, there are quite a few. Especially if you’re on stage. Whether they came to see me or not, they’ll end up seeing me.”

The college student, taken aback by the unexpected rebuttal, turned pale.

The college student, who was about to perform bass soon, had all sorts of thoughts, wondering if she should just say she couldn’t do it.

“And everyone makes mistakes on stage at least once.”

He said scary things with a bright expression, making the college student feel like she was falling further down.

“But isn’t it a little fun when you make a mistake?”

“…? What is?”

Halo grinned.

“Suddenly, there’s tension on the stage. I think, ‘How am I going to cover up this mistake?’ and rack my brain.”

“The other session members will also be flustered. It’s fun to see them struggling and trying to fix it somehow.”

“!”

“And I also test how many people will notice my mistake today.”

“!”

This guy has a strong mentality.

The college student found Halo, who said that mistakes were thrilling, amazing and cool. It wasn’t for nothing that people became celebrities. It wasn’t just anyone could do it.

But still.

“I don’t think that way. If I make a mistake, it’s not just that people criticize me, but I feel like I’ve experienced a big failure.”

“If I make a mistake, does it look like a failure?”

No. The college student shook her head in surprise without realizing it.

Then what’s the problem? Halo spread his arms.

“Mistakes aren’t failures. They’re just a small element of the stage that I sometimes show.

And I sometimes think that people don’t really want a perfect stage without mistakes.”

“Of course they do. Then what do those people want?”

Wouldn’t they naturally want a perfect stage?

The college student asked persistently, thinking that the big star would comfort her.

Halo didn’t care and replied as if it were obvious.

“It’s me.”

“!”

“My music, my stage. And everything I’ve prepared. They come to enjoy that time while watching everything I’ve prepared.”

From then on, the college student kept her mouth shut.

“So if a stage fails, it’s not because of a mistake. It’s because I didn’t show everything I prepared.”

“!”

Halo’s words, which seemed to be about himself, became her words at some point.

“Isn’t that really a shame? I practiced bass really hard. Even if I’m not good, I can finish the song. People might think I didn’t prepare anything, but I really worked hard.”

Halo thought that the college student wasn’t satisfied because she didn’t respond.

However, the reason the college student didn’t answer was because one of his pieces of advice had pierced her heart.

Halo’s words don’t provide an ultimate solution to stage fright. It won’t change the personality of someone who cares too much about others.

But she remembered her actions a little while ago. She had given up the bass after making a few mistakes, which was not a satisfactory action at all.

-The stage ended without being completed because I didn’t show everything I had prepared.

-Isn’t that really a shame? I practiced really hard.

She looked at the bass for a moment, then raised her head.

“Can I try again?”

Halo nodded at those words.

“Let’s match it together.”

:

“How was it today?”

When Seo Yeon asked, Halo, who was strumming the guitar, raised the corners of his mouth.

“It was fun.”

It was fun to meet people who liked music after a long time.

They said his song was difficult, so he rearranged it to make it easier – but it made it even more difficult – and he only taught them how to pretend they didn’t make mistakes when they did. He wasn’t a proper instructor, but he didn’t know what those people would think. He had a pretty satisfying time.

He was especially interested when he heard about how they all started playing bass.

-But how did you all start learning bass?

A college student who wanted to overcome social anxiety or stage fright.

A housewife who didn’t even know the existence of ‘bass’ but wanted to learn about a field she didn’t know at all because her son was becoming a bassist.

A freelancer who started learning bass because of a bet he made while drinking with a friend.

And an old man who wanted to learn because he liked the sound of the bass.

It was amazing to see these people with their own reasons and worries practicing together with the goal of performing.

-Bravo!

-Hehehe, was it a little better today?

-Wow! You did really well.

-Was it obvious that I made a mistake?

-No. I didn’t notice at all.

If it weren’t for music, they might never have met each other.

Halo looked at them and wrote down the ideas that came to mind in his notebook. He didn’t know about slumps, but he felt refreshed enough.

“Then is the next player ready?”

“Of course!”

At Han Jin-young’s question, Seo Yeon nodded resolutely. If the first player was Han Jin-young, then the next player was Seo Yeon.

“The president will like it too!”

Han Jin-young, who knew roughly where Seo Yeon had spent her vacation, had a strange expression, but he wasn’t too worried.

Just as she had adapted well to the academy, she would adapt well there too.

Well, it might be a little more difficult.

#

Meanwhile, at Label H’s content planning team, PD [Production Director] Namgoong said after watching the filmed video first.

“What is this?”

PD Namgoong, who had just heard that he was called as a one-day ensemble helper at a practical music academy, was embarrassed when something huge came out.

In some ways, it was Halo as usual.

“Is this a slump…?”

Once again, a big question hit him directly.

If this is a slump, wouldn’t most people spend their lives in a slump, burnout, or something even worse?

If Halo hadn’t said he was in a slump himself, he wouldn’t have even suspected it.

After watching the video for a while, PD Namgoong shook his head and came to his senses. First of all, the important thing was something else.

Today he had to schedule the video.

Since he was uploading the video to YouTube, there were no restrictions, and he just had to go into the account and register it.

[Welcome to my World]

A new thumbnail comes to a place where there was only the original video. PD Namgoong imagined what would change at the exact time this was uploaded.

First of all, the number of subscribers is smaller than Halo’s main account, ‘HALO_OFFICIAL’, so the response may be a little slower.

But,

[Hello, everyone, this is Noh Halo. It’s been a while. How have you all been?]

Soon, many things will change.

First of all, the number of subscribers.

PD Namgoong swallowed nervously for some reason and pressed the reservation button.