The Road To Glory [EN]: Chapter 2201

[Extra] Episode 22. Pre-Meeting

“Do we really have to go this far?”

The line stretching from the front of the exhibition hall since dawn resembled the endless body of a snake. Even time-rich tycoons who managed to free up their Monday morning felt suffocated by this spectacle. This might be the doubt they harbored in their hearts.

Or—.

“So, the only addition to the existing exhibition is Halo’s work? And there aren’t any press tickets. It’ll be uploaded to Halo’s YouTube channel eventually, so do we really need to wait? The line might be shorter on other days, *sunbae* [senior colleague or mentor].”

“Leave if you don’t want to wait. I absolutely have to cover this. Exhibitions are different the second time you see them. I wanted to cover a sound art exhibition again, and this is perfect. I definitely have to see Halo’s work. If you’re just going to wait for it to be uploaded on YouTube, what’s the difference between that and reading the comments or articles?”

Those who had already seen the exhibition before began to reconsider. Was it really worth waiting this long to see it again?

According to the publicly available exhibition list, the only addition to the existing content was the recordings of the talent donors, including Halo’s work, which were in the same place.

But how many people would be looking forward to the recordings of other volunteers?

They weren’t artists with extensive portfolios, just talent donors.

They were chosen for the gallery, so they must be carefully selected, but there wasn’t much more to expect.

“And I think today is the perfect day.”

“Yes?”

The junior reporter’s eyes widened.

“With this many people lining up, they’ll probably switch to a reservation system starting tomorrow. Which is more likely? Have you ever tried to get Halo concert tickets?”

“…”

“Or are you good enough at buying scalped tickets?”

Neither was the case.

“This might be the best chance we have.”

The junior reporter imagined the exhibition failing due to bad word-of-mouth, but didn’t voice his objection.

The 15-second recording released on YouTube was truly special.

Enough to want to hear it through the exhibition’s sound system.

“If you have nothing to say, listen to that 15-second video again and think about the article title.”

With that, the senior reporter plugged wireless earphones into his ears.

The junior reporter cautiously turned on YouTube.

The last 15 seconds of ‘Welcome to My Earth’ were widely circulating as shorts and clips. Even ‘Welcome to My Earth’ had an enormous number of views, but the 15-second shorts, with the neat title [The earth(15”), HALO], were spreading across the internet at lightning speed, not only on YouTube but also on Star Gram, Face Note, Bluebird, and more.

Indeed, even he would click on anything with HALO in the title, whether it was a video or an article, and if he saw words like ‘The sun,’ he would flinch and probably click on it thinking it was a new album.

“Oh, it’s starting.”

The ticketing started fifteen minutes before the 11 a.m. exhibition time.

The junior reporter, who had been annoyed, unconsciously counted the number of people with a mix of excitement and nervousness, wondering if he would be able to get in today.

Just as the ticketing began, the Gallery Cheonsang’s announcement of a reservation system was posted, just as the senior reporter had predicted. The junior reporter’s spine tingled as he couldn’t even access Star Gram to read the announcement.

‘The server crashed… What?’

He wasn’t sure if the Cheonsang announcement was really the cause.

But given the timing and the traffic overload message, he couldn’t help but wonder.

Seconds later, an internet article announced that the Cheonsang Gallery would be implementing an advance reservation system for exhibitions starting the next day, with reservations available from the day before for the 11 a.m. and 3 p.m. time slots.

It went without saying that all the 11 a.m. time slots for the following day were sold out.

Foreigners would be too busy looking up what ‘Green Window’ was, so they were probably all Koreans.

‘Wow, I’m glad we didn’t play the odds.’

“We will now assist with the viewing.”

They had to line up for ticketing, but they also had to line up for entry.

Still, it was better than the ticketing line.

The junior reporter, tilting his head and trying to see beyond the closed door, stood before the guide and listened to the entry instructions.

The entry instructions for exhibitions were generally similar.

Touching the exhibits, smoking, using mobile phones, taking photos, and any behavior that could disrupt the viewing were prohibited.

“Lastly—.”

And there’s more?

The junior reporter exclaimed at the following words.

“The viewing time per session is limited to 60 minutes. We ask for your understanding as the large number of visitors is causing delays.”

The newly added rule applied to all exhibits, but considering it hadn’t existed before, it couldn’t be anything but a rule for a single piece.

“60 minutes?”

The reporter thought.

Wouldn’t 60 minutes be enough?

Compared to its size, the gallery didn’t have that many works.

If they rushed through, they could spend 40 minutes listening to Halo’s work alone, and still have about 20 minutes to leisurely see the others.

“Excuse me, does the time limit include the museum shop?”

“No, there is no time limit for the museum shop.”

“Oh.”

The people behind them were glad to hear that.

“Then, enjoy your viewing.”

The guide smiled gently and held the closed door.

The slowly opening door and tunnel.

He hadn’t even heard any sound yet, but he didn’t know why his heart was racing so much at the sight of a ray of light in the distance.

#

Have you ever been to a sound art exhibition?

Sound art. An exhibition that presents sound as a form of art, introducing the resonance of sound in various categories.

Through works such as audience-led performances, interactive sound, and visual music.

The firmly closed door opens wide.

One by one, as you pass through the dark tunnel, you encounter hundreds of small speakers and the sounds they emit.

With each step down the stairs, you get closer to each speaker, feeling like you’re walking into a forest.

It was the sound of nature that we, who live in the city, were missing.

“Wow, amazing.”

The first exhibition hall, which created the first impression of the exhibition, began with refreshing sounds and lighting. With each step down the stairs, not only did the sound intensify, but the blue light also deepened, finally leading to complete nature.

When you enter the second exhibition hall, it feels like entering a darkened theater.

There, without any special effects, a sound projector is prepared, illuminating a single wall. Visitors can turn the projector and watch and listen to a time-lapse of the city’s *moseup* [ 모습 – appearance, figure, shape] recorded on the projector.

It was the sound of a day that we, living busily in every minute and second, had missed.

The junior reporter’s hands moved busily to write down the changed feelings he had when he heard it the second time. There was definitely much more to see the second time.

The first time, he focused on the sound and visual aspects, but the second time, he saw the method of expression. He could see the dynamic implementation of the relationship between hearing and sight, which gave him much more to write about.

“Let’s go.”

“Already?”

“You said you were only here to see Halo’s work. It’s time to go.”

“I guess so.”

The junior reporter took his hand off the notebook.

He wanted to see it more leisurely.

“I want to see more too. I heard some bad news.”

“What is it?”

“The line ahead is crazy. We might not be able to see it if we’re not careful.”

“What line?”

They had already entered, so what line?

As the junior reporter asked blankly, the senior reporter urged him on.

‘What line is he talking about? Is Halo’s work like thirty minutes long or something?’

It had only been fifteen minutes since they entered, so why was he telling him to hurry?

The junior reporter grumbled inwardly as he got up.

The junior reporter, who had been glancing at the other exhibition halls as he passed by, first felt something was wrong when he got closer to the special hall where Halo’s work was exhibited.

A line of people stretched out, with only one exhibition hall between them and the special hall.

“Wait, what is this line?”

The junior reporter, wondering if there was some kind of bottleneck or if something had broken down, couldn’t help but suspect.

The couple in front of them also complained.

“This isn’t some kind of amusement park, why aren’t they moving forward?”

“Right. Isn’t this really inconsiderate?”

“We only have a limited time as it is.”

“I was just going to listen to Halo’s music, but all the time will be spent in line.”

“This is totally crazy.”

Thanks to them, he could hear the sounds from the exhibition hall they were lined up for to his heart’s content.

The sound of old animation film passed by, and old nostalgic cartoons were being broadcast. It was a cartoon from memories where it was now difficult to find low-quality videos.

The sound of nostalgic cartoons and the theater turning the film.

The theme of this exhibition hall was ‘Parents’ memories missed by those living in modern times.’

It was a very friendly sound.

It was also amazing to see film cartoons that were now hard to find.

But that was only once or twice.

The line didn’t seem to be getting any shorter, and as he listened, he felt like his eardrums were being wound up, not the film.

“Honey, let’s just listen once and leave.”

“Okay, honey. Let’s leave quickly so that other people can see more.”

The junior reporter stepped into the special hall when the couple in front of him had said this for the forty-fifth time.

“Finally.”

Was it a work he hadn’t seen before?

The special hall probably had a large sphere-shaped exhibit in the center that would play Halo’s work, and headphones were prepared along the walls where you could listen to the sounds as you walked towards it.

It was clear that these were the sounds collected by the graduate students on the same day.

The junior reporter, who listened to the first headphones, was surprised that it was better than he thought.

He had heard that they would only upload carefully selected sounds, but it was as good as the sounds collected by professionals.

It must have taken blood, sweat, and tears for the graduate students to be able to collect sounds like professionals, but to the reporter, who didn’t know the process well, the sound quality was good.

Was this really Hanyejong [a prestigious arts university in South Korea], where only geniuses went?

It was vaguely similar to Halo’s recordings.

Was it because they collected the sounds from the same place?

It felt like a file that classified each natural sound from the 15 seconds.

While waiting by filling the time with sound collection files placed everywhere, the junior reporter wondered why the line wasn’t moving.

It didn’t take long to find out.

The seats were already full, so he stood behind the wall, and the door of the exhibition hall slid shut.

The exhibition hall was shrouded in darkness.

There were no special visual tools or devices here.

Only speakers embedded in all directions.

The reporter swallowed unknowingly at the silence that fell over the exhibition hall.

It was then.

The sound began with a small breeze.

This was the sound that was also uploaded to Halo’s YouTube.

Then, a drop of water falls.

Clear and pure like a xylophone.

‘Wow…’

The ripples spreading across the pond are transmitted as sound.

The wind starts from the deepest part of the pond.

Following it, the water droplets tilted, and the wind spread.

In an instant, the vegetation raised its head in a tremendous wind, and the waves of water spread out.

‘Wait a minute…’

The reporter perked up his head.

The leaves spread out in the touch of the wind.

The sound of water droplets rising regularly in his ear.

‘No, this is—.’

The two sounds merged into one, and sunlight fell on top of it.

The trees and branches stood up, and the moment the wind passed through the forest—

The whole world began to ring.

The sound of water became a drum,

The vegetation and branches became trumpets.

The wind leads this orchestra with stringed instruments.

Since each sound was recorded separately, all the sounds couldn’t be combined, but the sounds left like afterimages piled up and created harmony, and that was what the boy encountered in the forest—.

A newly born bird chirps.

The wind gently caresses the baby bird, carries it out, and tells it about its new friends in the forest. The trees sing a song of welcome with their branches and leaves.

There are many hardships and crises in the world, but you will be able to overcome them. Just like they did.

The reporter recalled episode 4 of ‘Welcome to My Earth.’

-It was here.

At that time, the boy discovered the early-born bird and gently lifted it with both hands.

Just like the wind did.

And he lifted the baby bird with both hands, put it in the nest, and said.

-Now, go back.

The song of the world that Halo heard was heard.

The lights flickered and began to turn on one by one.

The guide came in and asked those who had exceeded the one-hour viewing time to leave. When he repeated it two or three times, half of the people left unwillingly.

The rest didn’t budge.

Then the lights went out again and the same sound was heard.

‘This is the forest.’

It was the forest he had been to every time.

The exhibits he had seen before were amazing, but they were sounds he already knew, but this was a special sound that he wanted to hear again.

‘This is how Halo hears it.’

The whole world is singing.

They each had their own voices, as if they each had their own names.

It was new, diverse, and rich.

Why hadn’t he tried to listen to this song sooner?

They had never hidden it.

It is said that when blind people first open their eyes, they are surprised that the world is so bright. Next, they marvel at the diverse colors, and then they shed tears at the beauty of the colors.

The junior reporter thought he was opening his eyes for the first time like them.

He wanted to run to some forest right away and listen to this sound, but he couldn’t move.

Because if he left this place, he wouldn’t be able to hear this sound again.

He felt like he could understand Halo for the first time.

If he could live listening to these sounds every time, it wouldn’t be difficult to make such good music.

How rich a world do geniuses live in?

He was sad that he wasn’t born into such a world, but he was touched that he could peek into it like this. This lingering feeling seemed like it would last for a long time.

‘It’s already over?’

The junior reporter, who hadn’t moved from his seat until the time limit, was startled when he arrived at the museum shop.

This place was full of people.

People who couldn’t escape the lingering feelings of the special hall were sitting in the museum shop.

“Are there any Halo, no, special hall goods?”

“Anything… please… or can’t I re-enter?”

“Don’t you sell NFTs? Ah, please take all my money.”

It was fortunate that there weren’t many goods.

A horde of zombies who seemed like they would offer their wallets as they were and employees who were saying sorry.

The junior reporter, who had unknowingly taken out his wallet, put his wallet back in when he heard that there were no related goods.

There had never been a time when he wanted to hit himself as much as he did now for leisurely re-watching the exhibition halls he had already seen. If he could go back to the past, he would grab himself by the collar and run straight to the special hall.

He speaks the theme of the special hall where Halo’s work was exhibited.

“The sound we are missing with our eyes open.”

At those words, the senior reporter turned to him and smiled helplessly.

“That’s right. It’s a sound we can’t hear.”

What they had to do now was decided.

Reserving tickets for the exhibition the next day, which opens at 3 p.m.

And, an article.

Gangnam Cheonsang Gallery, where a large crowd gathered.

Reviews from visitors who visited within an hour of the exhibition opened were popping up like mushrooms.

[The sound of world exhibition; What is the world of a genius like (HALO Special Hall)]

[An opportunity to realize once again that Halo is a genius in the sound exhibition]

[Literally “The sound we are missing with our eyes open”]

[The reason why Halo can release so many albums]

[I’m leaving a review of the exhibition. Genius music experience possible, it’s real]

[I’m going to climb a mountain after seeing the Halo exhibition]

Among them, the director’s interview is quoted and posted everywhere.

[The world of a two-eyed person living in a one-eyed world]

#

The exhibition with the addition of the Halo Special Hall led to a huge craze for two weeks.

The Green Window reservation system crashed several times, and the stock price also crashed, and there were countless jokes that foreigners came to Green Window as a group, and Green Window recognized it as a DDoS attack and blocked it.

[Two weeks on whose nose to put it – a Korean expression meaning ‘it’s only been two weeks’]

[Please even just the sound sourceㅠㅠㅠㅠ – Korean slang expressing a strong desire for the sound source]

[Why am I the only one listening when it’s so good?]

[Please how can i get sound art gallery ticket]

[I think this is discrimination, please stop discriminating against foreigners:(]

Above all, the director had never heard so many inquiries about extending the exhibition. There were even ultra-capitalistic inquiries asking to raise the ticket price to 10 million won.

But anyway, they didn’t extend it, and they didn’t sell related exhibition goods, and it seemed like they heard *byeolsori* [Korean term for nonsense or absurd requests].

Fortunately, a week later, Halo’s YouTube episode 5 was uploaded with ‘Sound Collection Full Sound Source File’ and a video that seemed to have been filmed by Halo, and the ticketing competition rate was

[What is it that the bastards who listened to it are ticketing again *yangsim oedi* – Korean slang questioning the conscience of those who already attended]

[Can’t you put a limit on the number of views instead of the viewing time limit?]

It doesn’t seem to have decreased.

After all, the sound quality at home is not the same as the sound quality in the gallery.

[I just came back from the exhibition… Halo is really… a genius]

[A real genius in a created genius]

[I heard the word genius a lot when I was young… I can’t hear things like this]

[Is there something wrong with my ears? Halo collection, isn’t the sound recording like music?]

└Everyone is talking about that now

[Is this a recording, not editing? Isn’t it all fabricated?]

└That’s a *tteokbap* [떡밥 – bait or a hot topic] that passed in one day

└ Halo’s YouTube has unedited versions, and experts say it’s a recording. Sound also has afterimages like pictures, so you can listen to it continuously (Source: The reason why Halo is a real genius ver. Sound afterimage utilization)

[Someone said that it’s natural for a kid who listens to these sounds to have a slump;; I can’t sympathize with it no matter how I think about it, can’t you just release anything?]

└ Just release the *seupjak* [습작 – practice work or amateur piece]

└ Even if the song is weird, I’ll listen to it about a hundred times thinking my ears are weird

└ ㄹㅇㅋㅋㅋㅋ [Korean slang abbreviation for ‘real’ or ‘true’ followed by laughter]

[I was having fun watching the next episode of Welmaworld being delayed because of the sound source beggars who keep asking for the sound source]

└ Isn’t that a good thing?

└ Hey, how many times have you been to Cheonsang Gallery?

└ (Writer) Me? I’ve only been there four times (Authentication.jpeg)

└?

└ Four times in a week?

└ Do you really want to die?

└ (Deleted post)

“I guess they think it’s because of this that it’s been delayed.”

PD [Production Director] Namgoong rubbed his chin.

The reason why the Baekundo content that was supposed to be in the next episode of Welmaworld was delayed was not to upload the sound collection file.

Rather, it was because there was a request from the broadcasting station.

A very subtle request came to delay the broadcast of Baekundo to prevent people from gathering during filming, and the label, where Halo’s safety is the most important, accepted.

The next episode will feature daily life, members, and staff interviews again, and the Baekundo content is scheduled for the episode after that.

“Still, it’s a bit of a shame that we can’t film the pre-meeting video.”

Well, they said they would give us the unedited video, so I guess we’ll have to appease them with that.

Was Halo meeting the other cast members well at the pre-meeting? PD Namgoong was personally really curious about who would be coming this time. He heard it was a top star.

“Hello, baby? How have you been?”

Halo smiled faintly at the people who were already at the pre-meeting.

They were people he hadn’t seen in a while.