The Road To Glory [EN]: Chapter 441

The Tide of Glory – Episode 44 (44/237)

# Episode 44: No Matter Who I Am, No Matter What I Look Like

No matter who I am.

No matter what I look like.

You will call me glory.

Halo stared blankly out the window.

No Hae-il’s reflection was visible in the window, only the building view beyond.

He was deep in thought.

He had finished recording faster than the third album and sent the music to Veil.

Everything was satisfactory, but something was bothering him.

He felt frustrated because he couldn’t figure out what it was.

“What are you thinking about?”

“Yes? Ah…”

Halo turned his head at his mother’s voice.

His mother, who had been talking to the real estate agent, was now next to him.

“How is it?”

She looked around the fourth floor with a face that suggested she found it acceptable.

The building was a bit old, but it looked clean due to the remodeling.

“Don’t you like it?”

“Well.”

Halo finally looked around the building.

He glanced around the room and knocked on the wall.

Thud, thud. The thin wall echoed.

It would be soundproofed, but still, the thinness concerned him.

“I’ll look around a bit more.”

“Yes, come anytime!”

His mother saw his expression and immediately realized he didn’t like it.

She gave the real estate agent a polite smile and left the building.

Halo was slowly looking for a studio.

He had only been looking at properties online, but today he came out in person.

It was the third building, and there weren’t as many places he liked as he thought.

“Should we grab something to eat before going in?”

His mother, who was originally going to go straight to the next building, suddenly suggested a meal.

Looking at her expression, it seemed she realized he was preoccupied.

Halo nodded and followed his mother.

While they were eating, his mother looked at him knowingly.

“Are you worried about Jin-soo?”

“Yes?”

Halo’s eyes widened at the sudden question.

“People are talking a lot. They say he’s a nice and really diligent kid.”

Ah, the news must have reached his mother as well.

Jang Jin-soo had failed the audition and was still getting hate.

Because he had been favored by producer Hwang Je-il and received a wildcard [an opportunity given despite not initially qualifying],
the fans of the other contestant who was eliminated instead, and people who just enjoyed tearing others down, were criticizing Jang Jin-soo.

“Is there anything we can do to help?”

His mother seemed to have grown fond of Jang Jin-soo.

Well, it wasn’t like they had only eaten together once or twice.

His mother quite liked Jang Jin-soo, who was very sociable.

However, helping in this situation…

“I don’t know.”

Everything that was going to happen had already happened, and he had been eliminated from the competition.

Even though public opinion was still fierce, interest would wane after a while.

Until then, what could be done to help-.

In Halo’s opinion, there was nothing.

“In the end, it’s a problem he has to endure on his own.”

He wouldn’t use the expression ‘there’s nothing I can do’.

But behind popularity and attention, there was always negative attention as well.

In this case, that negative attention had grown, and there was nothing those around him could do.

Halo felt the same.

As much as the world focused on him, controversy and rumors inevitably followed.

Of course, it was for reasons other than his skills, but it wouldn’t be much different.

Just as he overcame it with ‘I am halo’, Jang Jin-soo had to overcome it himself.

“Well, we can offer comfort.”

“I guess so?”

His mother’s face brightened a little.

#

Unprecedentedly, ‘his’ new music was uploaded to global streaming platforms, including Spotify, and YouTube.

This was a time no one had expected.

Moreover, while ‘he’ had released a regular album until now, this time it was a single album.

Even this time, there was no cover with an image of a plausible place.

Only a basic image was uploaded.

The music, uploaded without any special marketing, was actually at risk of being buried among countless other songs.

However, those who knew ‘him’ secretly listened to the music in the bathroom while working, and some people woke up at three in the morning, saying the sun had risen [an expression of sudden enlightenment or excitement].

And the blogger who was the starting point of the ‘manipulation controversy’ discovered that an answer had arrived to the question he had thrown out [Who is HALO] while in bed.

The answer that he was Halo began to resound in the world.

Halo already knew the music’s performance, so he didn’t think it would have a big impact on the current trend. Well, even in another world, people don’t change much.

As much as they had come to love Halo’s music again, he thought there would be likes and dislikes for the song that was uploaded this time.

But Halo didn’t know.

That things were different now than they were then.

People’s reactions, manipulation controversies, a rookie. A faceless singer.

What had changed in the midst of numerous changes was Halo himself, who sang the song.

The intention of the music was the same as the response to the rumors,

but this time, he focused more on his current self than on the self in the rumors.

Clearly, the same melody was used,

and the level of the lyrics was lowered, but the overall framework was similar.

However, the saying that you will eventually like me created a very different feeling.

That was enough to strike the heart of a certain country that valued individual freedom and will, with a history that began with pioneering.

At that time, Halo was in Hongdae [a district in Seoul known for its urban arts and indie music scene].

The first purpose was to give thank you gifts and travel souvenirs to the brothers who taught him MIDI [Musical Instrument Digital Interface, a technical standard that describes a protocol, digital interface and connectors],

and the second was… Since coming here, Hongdae was the place that had given him solutions when he faced any problems, so he came here instinctively.

However, he didn’t think he would meet Jang Jin-soo, because of the situation. Most people are not used to criticism and condemnation. He thought he would just stay home. Even if he did meet him, there was nothing he could do for Jang Jin-soo.

Halo strode down the stairs, which were now as familiar as his own home.

“Hello.”

And he.

“Wait, is that Halo?”

“No way, is that really Halo? Wow, Halo has grown so much!”

“You said you went on a trip. Did you have a good time?”

Among the welcoming brothers, he discovered a familiar face.

After the question ‘Why is he here?’ came the impression ‘He looks surprisingly okay?’

“Well, it’s about time he grew.”

“How much has he grown? I think he’s about 73 [likely referring to his height in inches]. Wow, kids really grow in the blink of an eye. He used to look like an elementary school student, but now he looks like a high school student. Jin-soo lost this one [a playful way of saying Halo has surpassed Jin-soo in some aspect].”

The brothers muttered that they couldn’t tease him about his height anymore and glanced at the shopping bag Halo had brought. It was a long shopping bag that looked like it contained alcohol.

“Is that for us?”

Then who else would it be for?

Halo put down the shopping bag containing the whiskey.

When he nodded, the brothers, as if they were somehow touched – as if they hadn’t expected him to bring a gift – came over and opened the shopping bag. Then, they let out happy screams as they saw the rather expensive alcohol.

And Halo turned his head.

“Did you have a good trip?”

“Yeah.”

After greeting Jang Jin-soo, he was a little surprised by his unexpected appearance. He thought he would be discouraged from being criticized, but he was more okay than he thought. No, he even looked resilient.

“Don’t worry about it. I failed because I wasn’t good enough.”

Jang Jin-soo answered calmly, as if he knew Halo was wondering. It was a really unexpected reaction.

So Halo said something he hadn’t planned to say.

“You’ve improved a lot.”

It wasn’t a lie.

By chance, he had seen Jang Jin-soo’s last performance through the algorithm. In the end, he was eliminated, but he saw how much Jang Jin-soo’s skills had improved there.

The pronunciation was corrected, and above all, the things he thought were bad habits were no longer visible. He couldn’t even think of that middle school student who had brought the original song ‘Show Me the Money’ [a popular South Korean rap competition TV show].

While he was having fun in Europe, Jang Jin-soo had not wasted his time.

As if his words were unexpected, Jang Jin-soo flinched for a moment.

“···Thanks.”

“It’s the truth.”

Halo shrugged.

Thinking that a conversation that ended with ‘thank you’ was better to hear than a conversation that ended with ‘sorry’.

The brothers asked if they could eat this, and then opened the alcohol before he could answer.

Clink.

Glasses that came out of nowhere clinked together.

Halo looked at the immature brothers – actually, peers – and got up from his seat.

It was time to go back.

At that time, he heard Jang Jin-soo’s voice from behind.

“Hey. I’m going to study.”

Study?

Jang Jin-soo continued, stopping at the sudden word.

“At first… I was just so tired that I thought about giving up everything. But when I saw someone running ahead, I couldn’t give up. I’m thinking of studying again from the beginning. I don’t know if I can do it, but I have to. So I want to beat you someday.”

That’s what he said, but he didn’t really look like he wanted to win.

Halo chuckled, and Jang Jin-soo looked at him.

He thought he was always being cautious about everything, as always. He didn’t think he would beat Halo, but Halo answered readily.

“Do it.”

It wasn’t a big deal, but Jang Jin-soo’s face brightened as if he had received confirmation.

“I’m going to work really hard this time.”

“When weren’t you working hard?”

Even without seeing him practice, the fact that his skills had improved was proof that he had lived diligently.

At that time, Jang Jin-soo answered.

“Yeah.”

“?”

It was an unexpected answer.

He thought he had been working hard, of course.

“I didn’t work hard.”

Jang Jin-soo stammered and continued.

“I wanted to look as relaxed as someone else. I felt embarrassed because it felt like I was the only one working hard. It felt like I was the only one lagging behind. Even if I stayed up all night, I never showed it. I just wanted to look like someone else.”

“…”

“But, I shouldn’t have done that. I didn’t have time to spare.”

Jang Jin-soo looked strangely refreshed even while denying his efforts and talent.

“I’m going to live really hard from now on.”

“…Okay.”

Halo suddenly thought of a sentence.

A child suddenly becomes an adult.

He didn’t really believe that.

He didn’t think there was such a thing as acting one’s age, and he thought age was like a D-day counting down to death.

But today. He seemed to vaguely know what that meant.

And on the other hand.

Halo discovered his old self in Jang Jin-soo.

The way he didn’t give up in a situation where everyone said it was impossible was the same as himself from some time ago.

Jang Jin-soo’s eyes were firm.

He no longer looked like a child.

#

“Ah, right.”

Jang Jin-soo shouted on the way home.

“Congratulations. You’re going to make a lot of money now. I really couldn’t have imagined you would do this well… Even if you became famous, I thought it would start in Korea first.”

“Yeah.”

When Halo answered nonchalantly, Jang Jin-soo gave him a look that said that’s like you.

“But looking at your channel, everyone is making guesses and going crazy. What are you going to do?”

In Jang Jin-soo’s opinion, the problem seemed to have gotten bigger than he thought. The image that other people were expecting was different from No Hae-il, at least here.

Ah, the guess that his hair would be white was correct as a result.

Now the black roots had grown a lot, but No Hae-il was still silver-haired. It was a different feeling from the white hair they were talking about, but it matched anyway.

“Are you going to go to a press conference now and say, ‘I am Iron Man!’?”

Halo didn’t understand what Jang Jin-soo was talking about, but he knew that it meant revealing his identity.

“I don’t have any plans for that for the time being.”

“Then are you just going to upload music? Like now?”

“Yeah.”

Like the conversation he had with August Veil, he had no plans to go out for music activities for the time being.

Then Jang Jin-soo tilted his head.

“Really?”

As if he didn’t quite understand.

“But didn’t you like being in front of people?”

Jang Jin-soo didn’t call him an attention seeker and spoke indirectly.

And he recalled what was in his head.

How much No Hae-il liked singing in front of people. From the busking he did in November, he remembered how he always enjoyed showing himself to people.

Also, he almost caused an accident on the subway, but he forgot to mention it.

Seeing him enjoy it more than himself, he thought he would soon be known to the world.

He didn’t quite understand how someone like that could be satisfied with just uploading music. Wasn’t that music an MP3 disguised as a music video or MP4 file?

“You seem to like showing off on stage and singing in front of people the most.”

He had seen him singing in the recording studio, but even so, No Hae-il seemed happiest when he was busking in front of people.

Jang Jin-soo asked Halo, who had stopped walking.

“You’re not going to do what you like so much?”

#

People say.

‘He’ must be a very famous musician from the past

It looks like he led a band

Who was in the band that hit the 60s?

Furthermore, they infer.

He must be British

An upper class or elite graduate who speaks with a posh accent

A middle-aged white man

Someone who has injured his neck or has been resting for a long time

And nouns were added.

Numerous nouns for Halo so far.

A drunkard, a smoker, a gym rat, a macho man… those nouns came together to create one form called Halo.

Halo looked at the ‘completed Halo’ image.

The ‘Halo’ that fans made with 3D illustrations was a completely different image from No Hae-il.

And it was written below that any form, even if it was different from this, was welcome.

His YouTube channel was the same. Unlike other videos that always speculated on his identity, the first comment on the video uploaded with ‘I am HALO’ was,

I already love you. whatever you are

Using whatever instead of whoever must have been taken directly from Halo’s lyrics.

And similar comments were made.

-Wherever you are, whoever you are, we will love you

-Whatever you are, I’m your first fan.

Halo thought.

‘If I don’t hide and sing in a different form,

when will these people recognize me?’

At some point, the corners of Halo’s lips curled up.

“Anyone can be confident in words. It’s not fun.”

The lyrics of ‘I am Halo’ resound.

No matter who I am

No matter what I look like

You will call me glory