The Road to Glory – Chapter 140 – Chaos of Confusion

Author: Dawn

“The performance order is entirely up to Coachella’s discretion. Even headliners cannot interfere with the performance schedule.”

This was Coachella’s response when August Veil contacted them after discovering Roh Haeil’s name in Coachella’s official announcement.

Just when they were whining to please invite Halo. After it was confirmed, Coachella cut them off firmly.

As if they decided it was time to show the record company who’s boss in such situations.

However, it didn’t take long for Coachella to contact Veil back. They probably didn’t expect to be calling again just hours after firmly rejecting the request.

The Coachella representative was so urgent that they kept calling Veil’s company, and when they finally got connected to August Veil, they immediately got to the point.

[What exactly is going on right now?]

“I’m not sure what you’re referring to.”

August Veil, who had stood up after nodding to Chairman Arbor and Halo, replied slyly.

[I’m asking about what’s happening in Paris right now.]

“Paris. Such a beautiful city.”

[Are you serious?]

The representative, clearly in a hurry, continued urgently.

[Is the request to place Mr. Roh’s stage before Halo’s related to the current situation?]

Due to the upcoming festival, Coachella, which had been monitoring the situation of the festival participants, discovered the video shortly after it was uploaded and called an emergency meeting.

This was their most important…

Could it be about Halo’s identity?

As August Veil continued to play dumb, Coachella reverted to their old ways and whined again.

“I’m not sure who Mr. Roh is.”

[Mr. Veil! Please don’t do this, just tell us one thing. Is Mr. Roh really Halo? If so, we’ll seriously consider your request, so please answer.]

“Hmm.”

However, August Veil’s answer wasn’t forthcoming.

After a moment of silence, Coachella, now in the subordinate position, went crazy waiting for the response from August Veil, the superior, unable to hang up the phone.

At that point, August Veil’s voice was heard again.

“But is that really important?”

[Pardon?]

“Whether Roh is Halo or not, the whole world is paying attention now. Soon, people all over the world will know the name Roh Haeil, so does the truth really matter?”

[!]

August Veil continued in a sly tone.

“The stage right after the performance of the boy suspected to be Halo is Halo’s stage. What does this mean? Is it because the boy is the real Halo? Or is it a device deliberately set up by Coachella to gain attention?”

[…]

“Whether he’s the real Halo or not. The important thing is that the truth will eventually be revealed on the Coachella stage.”

Veil’s words were not at all the answer they wanted to hear. But it was clearly a statement that hit the core of the issue.

Right. Wouldn’t anyone be curious?

He was dying of curiosity too.

Isn’t that why he urgently contacted Veil like this?

The representative felt a shudder at the idea that “the truth would be revealed at Coachella.” The more he thought about it, the drier his mouth became.

[Regarding the stage and rehearsal… We will seriously consider Mr. Veil’s request.]

In the end, there was only one thing he could say.

[…However, there’s one thing I’d like to ask.]

“Oh?”

[You can answer or not. This is not a question I’m asking as a Coachella director, but out of personal curiosity. I won’t tell anyone else.]

August Veil listened to his question.

“Roh… Is he really Halo?”

Soon after, the phone call ended, and August Veil returned to his seat and clinked glasses.

“This worked out well. I know an excellent recording studio in Paris. But are your members ready too?”

Halo replied with a faint smile.

“Yes, they say they’ve arrived safely.”

When dawn broke, the world did not become as quiet as a vast sea. Rather, a storm was brewing that was beyond control.

Of course, a street performance video of a boy wouldn’t suddenly make it to national broadcasts.

No broadcasting station would hastily report in a situation where it wasn’t certain if he was Halo. – There was a precedent where the media had become ridiculous due to false Halo reports before – The newsrooms were frustrated that they had to just watch this hot topic.

But it was different in places with fewer restrictions, no need to worry about authority, and where production and consumption happen simultaneously.

In those places, numerous people appeared to share their opinions, and they are still heatedly arguing, and just as it has been until now, no, even more than before, full-scale discussions were taking place.

It was just one video.

However, the ripple effect of that video spread infinitely.

[It’s really The Sun’s voice]

At first, impressions about the voice.

Then, stories about the boy with that voice.

[He’s not even black, he’s Asian]

[Why the hell are we talking about race now, you fucking racist]

[More importantly, he looks too young]

└ All Asians look like teenagers anyway

└ I heard he might actually be a teenager

If this was the debate that occurred on the day the video was uploaded, the next day, tens of times more people became aware of the existence of the “video,” and the discussion grew a hundredfold.

The most representative aspect was, undoubtedly, the image.

Most people were intensively analyzing the images of the Venetian plague doctor and the boy.

Someone even extracted the boy’s image from the Paris busking video and created a 3D model like the Venetian Halo.

In a three-dimensional space composed of X, Y, and Z coordinates, an Asian boy with white hair and a crow doctor stood back to back.

Of course, the doctor wearing a large mask and dressed in a suit and coat appeared larger, but…

[This is a bit…]

Although it might not be 100% accurate due to the refraction of umbrellas, rain, cameras, etc., even at a glance, one could tell they were similar.

[No way]

[Is it just me, or do they look similar?]

[Maybe they look similar because they’re both thin and tall?]

It didn’t take long for the name and personal information of ‘Roh Haeil’ to spread across the world.

[The boy, that is, ‘Roh’ is a famous idol from Korea!]

[He’s a rookie who debuted last year, and he’s currently the hottest star in Korea]

In fact, it wasn’t strange.

Even if an ordinary person showed similarity to Halo, they would instantly become a popular star, which happened last year.

Not just an ordinary person, but an entertainer from a country.

It was only natural that the personal information of a sudden star would spread quickly.

[I just got some hot news about ‘the boy’! Roh is a mega k-pop singer who debuted last year and swept the music charts. And he just turned 16]

└ What music charts?

└ They say he debuted with a mini-album in February last year!

└ If it was February last year, Halo also released an album, right?

└ Then it’s not him

└ (Original poster) And I’m not sure if this is true, but they say he released two singles in summer and one full album in fall

└ ?

[I brought Roh’s albums! You can see them on NuTube Music (by the way, they’re in chronological order)]

-From now (From Today On) OST Album: Two songs

-Another Life (Roh’s 1st Mini & Debut Album): four songs

-2030 SONG FESTIVAL, Rendezvous Album: single

-Lighthouse at night (Roh’s 1st Single album): single

-My world (Roh’s 1st full-length album): 12 songs

└ Huh?

└ Wait, it’s not just one or two. How many songs is this in total?

└ Didn’t they say he debuted last year? Did the meaning of ‘last year’ change while I wasn’t aware?

└ Did someone hold a gun to his head and force him to release 20 songs?

└ But I heard he doesn’t promote much in Korea

└ What? He released 20 songs and that’s considered not promoting?

└ If 20 songs are not much… What kind of country is Korea? Do singers there release fifty songs a year?

└ More importantly, he’s only 16! Seriously, this is child abuse

[Can someone compare how many albums Halo released last year?]

└ You just need to know how many months are in a year for that 🙂

└ Ah! I hadn’t realized that!

Everything from the songs he released to the broadcasts he appeared on and his activities started to become known.

More persistently than ever.

What’s a bit unusual is that Halo’s malicious fandom, the so-called Hellys, who would usually attack at the slightest suspicion, have kept quiet.

Some mocked that they went to bully those on the “liar list” again, while others thought they were going easy on him because he’s a 16-year-old minor.

But those who know the Hellys well said that they’re not the type to go easy on someone just because they’re a minor.

The confusion didn’t subside easily.

Rather.

The more the personal information of the boy most similar to Halo recently became known, the more they seemed to be entering a labyrinth instead of getting closer to the truth.

[I’m confident about this. That song, that voice can only be The Sun’s unless God deliberately created another person with the same voice]

[Everyone agrees that the appearance of the plague doctor and Roh is almost identical, right?]

[And that guitar case.]

[Maybe we shouldn’t have assumed the plague doctor was Halo from the beginning]

└ How far are we going with this? He is Halo

└ You might not recognize your parents’ voices, but you’d recognize The Sun’s voice!

└ Your parents might not recognize your voice, but they’d recognize The Sun’s voice

└ Then what’s the truth? If both the plague doctor is Halo and that boy is too, does that mean he’s Halo?

Between Halo and ‘Roh’, there were numerous obstacles from race to cultural background and age.

However, the biggest obstacle was that ‘Roh’ was a singer who had been very active in Korea.

The fact that he released about 20 songs, and those 20 songs were of high enough quality to enter the – not Billboard, but – K-pop music charts, was proof that they couldn’t be the same person.

If they hadn’t known he had his own label, they would have reported it as child abuse, as the boy was living more diligently than anyone else.

Now that the person who could pull them out of this labyrinth has disappeared, their frustration continues to escalate.

[Everyone’s saying they don’t understand the music releases, but there’s something I understand even less. Even though the language is different, we can hear Halo’s voice in ‘Roh’s’ Korean music releases, so what have the Korean people been doing until now? Is Halo not popular in that country? This debate should have happened long before Roh disappeared]

└ I agree. Roh isn’t unknown, they say he’s the hottest star in Korea

└ Asian people are usually quiet, you know

└ Or maybe they hid it to keep it to themselves?

└ I think so too. They might have a bit of a shady side and deliberately hid it to keep it for themselves

└ Is it possible that Roh has already returned to Korea and they’re hiding it?

Koreans can be indifferent to others, but at the same time, they can be overly conscious of others’ gazes.

Therefore, they were generally aware of the current uproar overseas, and when the arrows of debate flew towards Korea, they felt truly wronged.

[My foreign friend is asking if people in Korea don’t listen to Halo’s music]

└ What the hell are you talking about?

In fact, Korea was in the biggest uproar.

The theory that Roh Haeil = Halo had existed for a while.

But it wasn’t a main issue, and everyone passed it off as a joke. No one imagined that the ‘Roh Haeil = Halo theory’, which they thought would occasionally pop up only in Korea and then die down, would be imported from abroad.

[Is Roh Haeil really Halo?]

[Where did Roh Haeil really go in all this?]

[Has Roh Haeil returned to Korea?]

└ If he had returned, would it be this quiet?

└ Only Roh Haeil’s band returned

└ The Roh Haeil Paris video was uploaded recently, so he’s probably still in Paris;;

They, too, had many questions they wanted to ask Roh Haeil, and so they were genuinely curious about his whereabouts.

However, the label that was supposed to represent Roh Haeil’s official position was like a ghost company with no employees, and the stargram that hadn’t posted anything yet was doubtful whether it was Roh Haeil’s real account.

Roh Haeil’s band, who were said to have returned, had also disappeared at some point, and Roh Haeil’s house had been empty for a long time.

As it had once been a hot topic that Roh Haeil’s father was a professor at Korea University, reporters flocked to Korea University, but the only answer they could hear was that he was on sabbatical.

Why did Professor Roh Yunhyeon’s sabbatical year have to be this year of all years?

Inevitably, they sought out Roh Haeil’s elementary and middle school teachers, but they couldn’t give a definitive answer either. Rather, they were more perplexed, asking if Haeil was Halo, and the principal, who had prejudices against Halo after seeing news about the Hellys, gave irrelevant answers like all their students are good and don’t drink or smoke.

The broadcasting stations were in chaos too.

Everyone coming and going at the broadcasting stations was talking about Roh Haeil and Halo, debating whether it was true or not. What was more embarrassing was that there were protests in front of the broadcasting stations demanding the truth be revealed.

The broadcasting stations didn’t know anything either.

It wasn’t for nothing that they were re-airing all the broadcasts Roh Haeil had appeared in. That and contacting JTC’s entertainment department were all they could do. To the ‘Spring Again’ team, who might know the truth in this situation.

“PD Park, speak up!”

Spring Again’s PD Park was dragged(?) to the broadcasting station upon his return. He was immediately summoned before the higher-ups, and they interrogated him directly.

Asking if Roh Haeil was Halo.

He didn’t know the higher-ups, whom he had barely seen once or twice before, could move so quickly.

It felt like he had seen their faces so many times it was sickening. And, PD Park realized at the same time. No matter how high a position they held, they were all the same when they couldn’t bear their curiosity and rushed over.

“I-“

After giving the same parrot-like answer and coming out, PD Park was now called by the next level of higher-ups.

The question was the same.

“Is Roh Haeil really Halo?”

“I, I really don’t know.”

“How can you not know! What did Roh Haeil say? Did he really not say anything?”

“Yes, he just sang and left.”

“What, you’re a PD and you didn’t even try to stop him!”

PD Park’s pupils shook, and his face was as pale as someone suffering from anorexia. Anyone who saw him would think he was a person being interrogated for committing a crime.

“Hey, Park Insu.”

“I… I really don’t know.”

“Hey, look up. Are you okay?”

Only the CP, who was his senior, checked on his condition. However, PD Park’s mind had long since gone blank, and his words were the same.

“I really, really don’t know anything. I don’t know what’s going on. I don’t know anything.”

“Why I couldn’t stop Roh Haeil-ssi. Really…”

The CP who had been watching him quietly sighed.

“The only one who can solve this situation is Roh Haeil, but do you really not know where he went?”

At first, he thought meeting Roh Haeil was lucky, but after Roh Haeil sang ‘Supernova’, he had been in this state ever since.

He couldn’t come to his senses, as if he had been electrocuted. He couldn’t understand anything. The voice does sound like Halo’s, but unless he knows for sure, he can’t give a definitive answer.

Everyone else grabs him and asks questions. Is Roh Haeil really Halo. But he really wanted to grab Roh Haeil and ask him.

‘Haeil-ssi, are you really Halo?’

Not asking then and letting him go was his greatest regret.

Realizing that PD Park was in no state to answer, the CP patted his shoulder.

“Then who else might know?”

“August Veil?”

“Would Veil answer our calls now? Also.”

“Roh Haeil’s parents and Roh Haeil’s band would know, right?”

“Surprisingly, they’ve all disappeared.”

As if they had all made an agreement.

“If we could just find one member of Roh Haeil’s band.”

Unable to contain his frustration, the CP pulled out a cigarette. It would be a big deal if they could just find them.

He had no idea where these people who weren’t showing up at the label or at home had gone. Had they hidden somewhere in the mountains of Gangwon-do?

“Kids, come in, this is our hideout.”

“Wow! Hello.”

“This is Gonghak, and Deoksoo.”

“Hello, I’m Nam Gyuhwan.”

Moon Seoyeon looked around the hideout.

A band hideout that looked like it came straight out of a movie unfolded before her.

Wow. She didn’t hide her admiration.

“Shall I show you where to put your luggage?”

“Ah, yes! If you could, that would be really appreciated.”

“F-Follow me. We can go upstairs. It’s empty now…”

Han Jinyeong and Bae Gonghak giggled behind Kim Deoksoo, who was uncharacteristically stammering. Kim Deoksoo, who was only a manly man in 2D, couldn’t muster his usual attitude in front of a real woman.

“But is it okay to go up like this without permission?”

Moon Seoyeon asked as she climbed the stairs to what was said to be an empty room.

“It’s, fine.”

Kim Deoksoo, who had cut off the conversation so abruptly, belatedly realized his mistake when Han Jinyeong continued the explanation.

“It’s okay. This building belongs to Deoksoo.”

“!”

“A building owner higher than the creator?”

“No, it’s not a big deal.”

Kim Deoksoo waved his hands as Nam Gyuhwan looked at him with eyes of respect.

“I just happened to win the lottery first prize…”

“Gasp!”

“What do you mean you just happened to win the lottery first prize.”