The Road To Glory [EN]: Chapter 651

< 65. I Descend >

“I’ll just say it as it is. I don’t know who it is, but I just want to see the stage again. Encore!”

“No, how can we give up on our work! We have to guess who it is.”

“…Don’t you think the viewers might feel the same way?”

Only when the MC trio’s banter subsided did the silence break.

“Still, let’s at least make a guess. What could their identity be?”

The MC trio simultaneously looked at the boy on the stage.

The Imae mask had a hole for the mouth, so his smiling lips were visible.

No stubble, and his skin is good, so I thought he might be younger than I thought. He’s also on the skinny side.

“Is he an idol?”

“Shall we ask Mr. Chorangi Mask, our idol expert?”

“Why am I an idol expert…”

Coldbrew Wonder, wearing the Chorangi mask, trailed off, seeing that no one believed him. Wonder, who debuted in 2024 and is now in his 7th year as an idol, shook his head as he looked at the Imae mask on the stage.

“I don’t think he’s an idol. As an idol…”

Wonder replayed that absurd performance in his mind.

Vocal, range, arrangement, vocalization. An all-rounder type artist with nothing lacking.

Of course, there were many all-rounder type artists who were idols or came from idol backgrounds.

Still, his opinion that he wasn’t an idol was firm.

“First of all, I don’t have anyone that comes to mind among the people I know.”

“Oh, you’re so sure even though you said you’re not an idol expert.”

“Haha…”

Wonder is a 7-year idol.

Whether they are senior groups, peers, or juniors, he has a wide network, so he knows the idol scene well, at least.

Of course, he might not know if they recently debuted, but still, to be an idol.

“He seems more suited for solo work than a group. I think he’s a singer-songwriter or someone who used to be in a band.”

His tone and presence make it difficult to belong to a group. In other words, he’s a presence that breaks the harmony.

To embrace an artist with that level of ability, shouldn’t the other members have similar abilities? Is that even possible?

If there was such a crazy group, there’s no way they wouldn’t have become famous.

In the case of a one-man team, even if not as a group, he would have been known as an individual somehow.

If he doesn’t know, he’s not an idol.

But even if he was a singer-songwriter or someone who used to be in a band, there’s no way I wouldn’t know someone with this level of skill.

The afterglow of the stage still makes his head spin.

It felt like he would know as soon as he heard the name.

While Wonder was pondering alone, the MCs excitedly spoke to other artists.

The existing mystery game was so easy that it didn’t feel like a mystery at all, but now it felt like a true mystery game.

“Mr. Leave, please say something too.”

The Bunoe mask, no, Leave, sniffled.

Leave, who had been clapping or praising on other stages, was just sniffling without saying anything, so she became the MCs’ target.

“It was a really… impressive stage.”

Leave didn’t seem to have any intention of guessing who it was.

She just stretched out the word ‘really’ and emphasized her sincerity.

“Wow, this is the first time we’ve seen this reaction from Leave. Then a surprise question! You’ve been holding back your answers until now, but did you see this stage and want to pair up with someone?”

“Yes.”

The MCs were slightly taken aback because they didn’t expect her to answer so quickly.

“Is that person perhaps Imae Mask-.”

“Then, can I propose a pair right now?”

It wasn’t even time to choose pairs yet.

Leave’s half-joking remark drew sensitive gazes.

Leave, undeterred by the gazes, looked at the boy on the stage. She knew who the child wearing the Imae mask was. She already knew she would pair up with the teacher, but…

The pair proposal wasn’t a lie.

Even if not on this program, she wanted to collaborate with him.

“Let’s give our Imae Mask some time to decide. Then, the interview will be the last-.”

While the MCs endlessly stretched out the ending like a lecture, Shin Ju-hyuk looked at Hwang Ryong-pil.

‘I’m sure he said something.’

Hwang Ryong-pil, feeling his gaze, turned to him.

Shin Ju-hyuk had a lot to say to him.

For example, whether there was another reason he suggested a collaboration to Hae-il. But he didn’t have time to ask Hwang Ryong-pil.

The moment everyone had been waiting for had arrived.

“Now, you’ve seen the last stage! Let’s have time to choose pairs!”

The artists’ eyes flashed at the MCs’ declaration.

“Now, the method for deciding pairs is-!”

Whether it was a reaction or genuine, the artists leaned forward.

It was as if they would jump forward if a whistle was blown. At that moment, the MC, receiving a signal from the writer, hesitated and said.

“We’ll let you know shortly!”

To be continued!

#

“Why are we suddenly taking a break?”

“Ah, there are some parts that need to be supplemented.”

“Do we have to reshoot?”

“Not really. Please wait a little bit.”

When one of the MCs asked about the break time, which hadn’t been mentioned before, the writer readily told them. Of course, not in detail, but in summary.

Originally, they were going to proceed by sending love calls [formal offers to collaborate] in the order of the last stage. They would send a love call, and if it was rejected, they would move on to the next in line.

Director Jang isn’t a survival program expert for nothing.

It’s an unfortunate process for the singers in the later stages, but it’s meant to show a thorough dog-eat-dog world.

However, Director Jang never imagined that the last stage would explode like this. It seemed like it would be the opposite of his grand plan, so Director Jang declared a break.

He thought he should organize things once this happened.

Just because filming is on break doesn’t mean people have to sit in their chairs and wait.

Someone jumped up eagerly,

And there were people who were subtly watching.

“Hello?”

An artist who had only exchanged greetings and passed by now approached Imae Mask first. You can’t see his face, but his attitude showed that he had a lot to say.

Imae Mask turns his head.

He looks really young at first glance, who is he?

In fact, if he wasn’t Korean,

If he hadn’t covered it by rewriting it in Korean,

To exaggerate a bit, I might have suspected that they brought HALO [a British musical artist].

Arranging HALO’s music, which I had never even thought of arranging, was not something anyone could attempt.

The level was just crazy.

Of course, there was no way that HALO, who is British, would appear on a Korean broadcast, not in the United States or the United Kingdom.

“Do you have any artists in mind?”

And that’s where it started.

As someone started to bring it up, other artists subtly approached.

They regretted not talking to Imae Mask in the waiting room earlier.

“Did you see my stage?”

Stage image, style, harmony of voice, etc. Even if it didn’t fit, they wanted to collaborate.

Mostly, they focus on arrangement.

Imae Mask has various advantages, but everyone gathered here is an artist in their own right. There were already many artists who sang well, had a wide range, and had solid vocalization.

But that arrangement was different.

If you’re an artist who has at least once torn your hair out to produce a decent sound source, it’s enough to make your eyes roll.

“Can you spare some time?”

It was then.

The artists who had been subtly hinting at pairing up turned around at the familiar voice.

They never thought that Teacher Hwang Ryong-pil would step in himself.

The pupils of the artists who had been eyeing their prey shook.

Regardless, Imae Mask, who occasionally nodded and answered but never revealed his identity, got up from his seat.

Their gazes briefly turned to them.

:

There are many eyes watching on the set.

One is Hwang Ryong-pil, who everyone knows – even though he’s wearing a mask. The other is an artist who showed a stage that no one had imagined a little while ago.

“He’s collaborating with Teacher Hwang Ryong-pil? Isn’t that a bit of a mismatch?”

Looking at them, some artists thought positively,

And those who had seen or heard about the meeting completely recognized the boy’s existence and gave up neatly.

Meanwhile, Hwang Ryong-pil and Imae Mask were in a place where people’s ears were somewhat far away.

“You’re so impatient.”

Hwang Ryong-pil opened his mouth first.

“I told you to wait until I got an answer. You couldn’t even wait that long.”

He was grumbling, but he wasn’t saying anything.

“I never gave you an answer.”

“No, after showing such a stage.”

Hwang Ryong-pil gave him the praise he could for Halo’s question.

“So. Do I have to get a number and wait in line?”

Hae-il chuckled.

Hwang Ryong-pil protested as if he was serious.

Just as the stage was attractive to him, it would be the same for other artists.

“In the end, it turned out like this.”

Director Jung filmed the process of 12 artists forming pairs into six teams.

Pair decisions and all sorts of reactions that followed.

Artists who were subtly disappointed and singers who seemed dissatisfied. And combinations that viewers wanted and unexpected combinations.

Oh, and the shock through identity reveal.

Everything was captured on the broadcast as it was.

It was the first filming with a lot to see in many ways.

Director Jang witnessed the bizarre situation of established artists flocking to the youngest boy and giving him numbers.

It was shocking that the boy was a real joker card, but on the other hand, he was satisfied that it seemed to be flowing according to the purpose of the program.

‘Our music is not dead’ is not only to show the viewers, but also a declaration to the artists who are currently dominating the music charts.

Maybe our program can be the antithesis of that artist. That’s the picture I want the most.

And Director Jang vaguely thought.

That the one standing at the forefront of that antithesis,

Would be the old man with the Yangban mask [a traditional Korean mask representing a nobleman] on his head and the boy with the Imae mask in his hand. This bizarre combination.

From now on, they will not be on the set for a while. The process of all the artists working in a specific space will be captured by a reality camera.

That’s how the first filming ended, and the train heading to ‘2030 Song Festival – Rendezvous’ departed. The journey for a day in May began.

The first platform the train will stop at,

Was a trailer released without notice.

#

Before the first filming and the production of the trailer, there was high interest in the program featuring Korea’s representative singers, including ‘Hwang Ryong-pil’.

Not as much as at first, but inquiries continued to come in,

And it was mentioned in the community every now and then.

[So the lineup is Hwang Ryong-pil, Shin Ju-hyuk, Lee Sung-rim, Leave…?]

[What on earth are they doing that’s so amazing]

[Are they doing Masked Singer or something]

└The lineup has already been revealed

Then, a video suddenly appeared on YouTube. KDS Entertainment Channel. The thumbnail was just black, so people initially thought that KDS had accidentally uploaded it incorrectly.

However, those who clicked on it realized the value of the content, even though nothing was showing in the thumbnail due to a YouTube error.

Fireworks are launched.

A scene from a concert flashes by,

And cheers fill the screen.

<2030 Song Festival - Rendezvous>

And time begins to go backwards.

Each person wearing a Hahoe mask [traditional Korean masks] is gathered in a waiting room.

And the camera flips around and leads to the stage.

“Nice to meet you.”

A man wearing a Yangban mask.

From the voice singing the music of an old female singer, anyone would recognize who he was.

But instead of introducing him, videos of other stages are shown for about 7 to 10 seconds.

The emotional stage of a small woman wearing a Bunoe mask

The man wearing a Seonbi mask [a mask representing a scholar] can’t control his rock sensibility. No matter how you look at it, he doesn’t seem to be trying to hide his identity.

In fact, only their faces are covered, but their body shapes are visible, and they are so famous that it was not difficult to guess. Even now, there are comments listing their names at the top.

Numerous stages flash by.

People who were checking the lineup had no choice but to lose focus as the stages were endlessly listed.

Since they roughly knew what the lineup was like, what kind of broadcast this was

And what the title of the program, Song Festival, meant – whether they were really going to hold a song festival was important.

But the trailer doesn’t answer those viewers’ questions. Only twelve stages flashed by.

Fortunately, the stage that showed 7 seconds at the beginning was reduced to about 3 seconds, so they knew it was coming to an end.

[So when is it happening]

When someone complained and waited for the date.

A familiar organ melody was heard.

“Oh Lord”

A familiar accompaniment and

The voice engraved on it.

With that, the trailer ended.

The black screen didn’t have the date or the intention of the program written on it.

? and ! were engraved on the faces of the people who were blank for a moment.

[Wait a minute]

[What’s the last stage]

[Why are you showing the front ones for a few seconds and so short]

[Could it be]

[???]

No one asked about the program date.

Something more than that caught his attention.

At this time, when only speculative comments such as ‘Could it be’ and ‘Maybe’ were increasing,

[Isn’t it Halo?]

Someone mentioned the name directly.

[No way]

Someone refuted rationally.

[If you want to call him, you’ll have to spend all of KDS’s capital lol [laughing out loud]]

└If he comes out, advertisers will bring money to pay, why even capitalㅋ

└Even if you don’t go to advertisers, fanatics will pay

[Did Halo really come?]

[Did Halo reveal his identity? Is he really a high school girl in the military?]

└What is this bastard talking about? He’s a macho man who hits 3 reps of 1,000

[No]

At first, the viewers who were excited that he had come gradually regained their reason.

[Isn’t it right to think that it’s not Halo who sang it, but just someone who covered it?]

Yes, there was no way that a Billboard singer who was doing well overseas would appear on a Korean broadcast.

Besides

[The voices are similar?]

└Are there only one or two people in the world with similar voices?

└In the first place, he sings in Korean, would the sun speak Korean as Oh Lord?

‘Oh Lord’ was clearly in Korean.

There was no way the broadcasting station would have forced Halo to speak Korean.

Yes, it was definitely a cover.

As soon as they admitted it, the hot water cooled down in an instant.

[The cover is right, but hmm]

[Isn’t it crazy? Every cover uploaded on YouTube is just mediocre, but they covered it on TV?]

└ If it’s Shin Na-bak, isn’t it worth it?

└ Not really… I’m not looking forward to it. Halo’s color is too strong, so all the covers are weird.

└ Please don’t let it be my singer, pleaseㅠㅠㅠㅠ [crying emoticons]

└ It’s amazing to deify a Billboard singer lol (999+ dislikes)

[Let’s judge by looking at it]

But no matter how I think about it, Halo’s cover is an overreaction lol

[Still, I’m curious lol Who on earth thought of covering Halo, even on TV]

Noise and interest in the cover stage.

With that wave, the issue of the new program also grew.

[Who am I? A total collection of Korea’s representative singers!]

[Will the song festival really be held in 2031?]

[I, Descend. He who everyone has been waiting for is coming!]

Not only people in their 40s and 50s, but even those in their 20s and 30s who are far from the living room were brought in. Everyone speculated about the new program, and even reporters poured out their imaginations.

Director Jang, who was monitoring people’s reactions, smiled brightly at the successful trailer and waited for the first broadcast to come.

In the meantime, the artists visited their pair’s studio one by one.

“Is this your studio?”