The Road to Glory Chapter 146 - Until Dawn Breaks

The main stage of Coachella was covered by a large tent.

On Thursday night, the inside of this tent was bustling with Coachella staff.

Rehearsals for the singers who would be using the Coachella main stage during Friday, Saturday, and Sunday were in full swing. Due to the limited space, they were given scheduled rehearsal times, and as each finished, they vacated for the next team, allowing the rehearsals to proceed smoothly.

However, today was different.

Thursday afternoon.

At the rumor of Roh Haeil’s rehearsal, the singers remained seated in the staff area as if it were their rightful place. Despite their own rehearsals having finished, they sat nonchalantly, or pretended to be nonchalant, while their eyes darted about busily.

Since they couldn’t be chased away when their own teams had already left and they were just sitting there, and because the staff were equally curious about Roh Haeil who was making an appearance after 2 months, the rehearsal venue was becoming increasingly crowded under an unspoken agreement.

Along with the joyful music and performances, tension flowed beneath the rehearsal stage. As time passed, the tension grew.

Finally, a boy wearing a straw hat appeared. It was a bit earlier than his scheduled time.

The boy, who didn’t seem to have tanned at all under the hot sun, entered with a friend his age, taking off his sunglasses.

“Mr. Roh, you’re early? Where’s the band?”

“They’ll be here soon.”

“Ah, I see. Then is this your manager?”

“Well, I guess you could say that?”

Jang Jinsoo, who had submitted a career exploration application form to his school for a week, entered cautiously.

He was still unsure if he was allowed to be here. Roh Haeil had said the rehearsal atmosphere was relaxed so it would be fine, but how could he trust the words of someone who had never even been to a rock festival except for a university festival?

But soon he had no choice but to forget his confusion.

‘Wow…’

A gathering of all the pop stars he knew.

Seeing these people he had only seen on TV right in front of him made him nervous and excited. It was amazing and enviable that Roh Haeil would be performing with such people.

‘When will I be able to perform here like Roh Haeil?’

If he ever did, wouldn’t he die from nervousness?

He wondered just how big of a liver Roh Haeil must have to be calmly talking with the staff in this situation.

At that moment, Jang Jinsoo sensed the subtle atmosphere flowing through the rehearsal venue. The subtle atmosphere hidden beneath the joyful sounds was something familiar to Jang Jinsoo, something he had experienced before.

Gazes that seemed to be observing or guarding without directly speaking. It was just like the participants from the ‘Show’ days.

Right, foreigners might not be good at distinguishing Asian faces, but there’s no way they wouldn’t recognize the face of the boy who had turned the world upside down for 2 months.

Everyone was conscious of Roh Haeil while pretending not to be.

Among them, there were probably some positive people, and conversely, some negative ones.

To such people, Roh Haeil would be no different from an outsider. Perhaps even someone who had stolen attention from the stage.

“Hi, guy.”

Or not?

A pop star wearing a tank top and hot pants approached Roh Haeil with a friendly smile. Then she started conversing in English.

Jang Jinsoo, whose listening skills were still lacking except for greetings and simple words, couldn’t understand, but both sides seemed cheerful.

They even hugged like foreigners soon after meeting for the first time. Jang Jinsoo was shocked to see Roh Haeil, despite his personality, being sociable and even doing bise with his favorite singer.

‘I want to be Roh Haeil for just 1 second…’

At this moment, he envied Roh Haeil more than ever before.

“Hmph, it’s his world alright.”

Jang Jinsoo instinctively turned his head at the voice coming from nearby. He couldn’t understand what was being said, but judging by the nuance, it was quite hostile.

“Hey, Watson.”

“What.”

“I heard a rumor that Halo is coming today, when does he come?”

“!”

And this time, he understood without difficulty.

The word HALO. And the basic English question word When.

When does he come.

The man who shouted to his manager loud enough for everyone at the rehearsal site to hear clearly didn’t consider Roh Haeil to be Halo.

And then another cheerful voice was heard.

“What’s wrong, there’s Little Halo right here.”

Roh Haeil’s gaze slowly turned.

Jang Jinsoo realized that this nuance was definitely not a good one either.

“Well, I’m not sure if people will acknowledge him though.”

As Roh Haeil’s lips curled up, Jang Jinsoo sprang to his feet. That was definitely the expression right before causing some trouble.

However, the pop star who had been talking with Halo was the first to retort.

“Is that advice from your own experience? I hear you’ve been having a lot of visitors at home lately.”

“Cathy, shut up.”

Hearing their conversation, a glint appeared in Halo’s eyes, and soon he spoke as well.

“Ah, so you’re the 86th Halo. Nice to meet you.”

Pfft.

Laughter settled over the rehearsal site.

It wasn’t a good sight to see a young singer being bullied, and it was also funny that the person doing the bullying had pretended to be Halo before.

Jang Jinsoo felt a bit relieved seeing Roh Haeil laughing among the people. Since last week’s Coachella, Jang Jinsoo had worried that people might reject him. He had felt a bit uneasy after encountering that strange psycho.

But seeing him chatting with people and lightly brushing off the malice like this, it seemed to be okay.

‘Maybe I worried for nothing.’

Jang Jinsoo tilted his head and decided to go get drinks since he was here as a manager anyway. It should be about time to get thirsty.

Since Roh Haeil hates Americano the most in the world, he decided to buy water and fresh fruit juice.

After finishing such an eventful rehearsal, Coachella’s second weekend arrived.

And Coachella welcomed what might be called ‘historic’ guests.

It was glamorous from Friday morning.

It’s not just about the audience as numerous as the grass in the Indio desert. Celebrities who had passed Week 1 relatively quietly moved directly to visit Coachella.

To the point where it seemed like only famous people had gotten tickets,

Numerous celebrities including social media and NuTube influencers, models, and actors who had gained popularity in certain dramas visited.

Korean tourists couldn’t believe their eyes.

“Wow, this is insane.”

If they had seen Cheon Younghwa, an actor from a 10 million viewer movie, while coming out of the parking lot earlier, this time they saw Lee Jeongmin, currently the hottest male actor, and a top star couple. People you’d expect to see at a year-end awards ceremony for a broadcasting station started appearing one by one.

And it didn’t end there.

Those commonly referred to as Roh Haeil’s golden network were seen. These people who were said to be very busy these days had somehow managed to come to Coachella in their packed schedules.

The parking lot filled only with huge broadcasting station vehicles and sports cars, and the swarm of Helicopters flying in the sky weren’t even surprising anymore.

What was rather surprising was that there were more than just a few people wearing The Sun necklaces among them. The Sun members existing worldwide probably weren’t just in the internet world after all.

Among them were actors and singers, as well as doctors, teachers, judges, prosecutors, politicians, and many other professions.

Above all, the real deal was from the actual day, Sunday.

Businessmen who say it’s a waste of time to pick up money lying on the ground were seen.

From the representative of G, one of the three major guitar manufacturers in the U.S.,

To the chairman of the luxury brand Arbor, which has Roh Haeil as its ambassador. August Veil was also with him, and personnel from companies that had used Halo’s music for advertisements also visited one after another.

Even the chief designer of a luxury perfume company that once advertised they would find you anywhere in the world came in person.

It was clearly the most glamorous Coachella of 2032.

Although Coachella announced that they would exceptionally allow live broadcasting and provide streaming services, everyone had made the effort to come in person.

This proved that they were curious about Halo to the extent that they couldn’t be satisfied just watching from home.

To be precise, whether he was really a 16-year-old kid, Roh, or not.

‘What happens if he’s real?’

Someone wondered.

If Roh is really Halo. If they’re the same person as the voice analysis results showed, what would happen?

It’s understandable because the Halo that the world had imagined until now was very different from Roh. Excluding the talk about him being white, he was thought to be a middle-aged British alcoholic.

Roh seemed to be on the complete opposite end from the man who was thought to be boisterous, with a body that anyone would respect, and large tattoos on his body.

On the other hand, how should they describe Roh?

His appearance was closer to that of a typical K-pop idol.

He had the image of a tall but thin honor student with fair skin.

While disappearing after causing chaos in the world wasn’t very K-pop idol-like, that was the first impression.

‘Would they accept such a Halo?’

Burly men wearing The Sun necklaces pass by in a group. Just by their appearance, they were obviously Hellys. On the internet, they’re revered as dark knights who punish liars, but in reality, they’re just hooligans. Like breaking into someone’s house and smashing their car-.

“What did you say?”

“Hey, Halo is-.”

“What?”

Troublemakers harassing passersby.

Could a 16-year-old kid really control them?

No, before that, could they even accept a 16-year-old kid as their Sun, or their king?

“We’ll let it slide just for today. Shut up and listen.”

“Yeah, mind your manners. Turn off your phone alarms, don’t kick the seats in front of you, and don’t talk loudly! If you break even one rule, we’ll kill you.”

“I-I’m sorry.”

“Ah, my Sun… Today too, you have enlightened one lost lamb…”

No matter how you look at it, they don’t seem to be in their right minds.

Thud thud thud thud

People briefly raised their heads at the sound of the Helicopter.

They thought it was a heli-taxi arriving at the Coachella base camp, but it was a broadcasting station helicopter. (+) ^[1] TLN: Either it’s Helly taxi or heli-taxi. Can’t really tell from the lack of context. Sorry

The logo of the broadcasting station that would be live-streaming Coachella was clearly visible. Although they already knew it was happening, seeing the broadcasting station’s helicopter like this made it feel like something real was happening.

Just how many people were waiting for The Sun?

“Wow, this is my first time seeing a broadcasting station helicopter.”

“The helicopter even has lights attached. I thought it was some kind of rescue helicopter.”

“This is seriously awesome.”

“But it seems to be flying a bit unsteadily. It won’t fall during the performance, right?”

Thud thud thud thud.

Someone anxiously considered the noisy Helicopter sound.

“If that happens, the broadcasting station would disappear that very day. Do you think the families of the casualties and the Hellys would let it slide?”

“Why the Hellys?”

“The performance would be ruined because of the helicopter, and today’s last performance is-.”

“Ah, right. Finally, today-.”

Sunday, 5 PM.

The sun, which had been blazing at its highest point, gradually descended as the night approached. The time people were waiting for the most.

In a way, it’s an ironic statement.

“To think the sun’s time is at night.”

“Heh, that’s why The Sun group says the white night is coming.”

“That does sound quite plausible.”

Some said that the stage today might go down in music history, while others scoffed, asking how the revelation of a mere pop singer’s identity could be worthy of music history.

But even they waited with pounding hearts.

#

After the sun set, no one felt hungry.

This was true for the audience who could go to the food trucks anytime, and for the members waiting nervously behind the main stage.

“Hoo-ha, hoo-ha.”

“It’s finally here, that day.”

“Don’t you think we’ve jumped quite a bit from 1,000 to 70,000 people?”

“Next time, it’ll be even more.”

Halo approached them.

Wearing a robe made by Arbor, Halo was holding his usual guitar. The guitar engraved with H.

“That’s right. Next time, we’ll be standing in front of 6 billion people.”

“No.”

Moon Seoyeon, who had been catching her breath at Nam Gyuhwan’s words, laughed with an incredulous face.

“It’s a real world tour.”

The tension dissipated due to the absurdity.

“What did you talk about with the staff?”

“Ah.”

Halo recalled the words of the Coachella director who had called him just before the stage.

Roh Haeil’s performance time was from 8:30 PM to 9:20 PM.

He explained that Halo’s performance time was from 10:30 PM.

-Originally, there was a set interval between performances, so we just divided it arbitrarily.

“They told me to do well on my own.”

“Huh?”

Literally.

-From the moment you step on stage, the Coachella main stage will be your stage. Until you wish to stop.

“I guess that roughly means it’s a free-for-all.”

Halo nodded with a smile at Han Jinyeong’s question.

“Shall we go then?”

Without saying anything, the members reached out their hands.

Hands were stacked neatly on top of each other.

The order didn’t matter.

The tower built up was solid, as if it would never collapse even if someone made a mistake. Well, they weren’t the type to make mistakes easily anyway.

Halo stepped onto the stage alongside the members.

The pop star who had performed earlier reached out her hand to him with a smile.

She, who had been friendly since they first met, said, “I’ll be looking forward to it,” with a wink, then shook her long hair and went down.

• 1. TLN: Either it’s Helly taxi or heli-taxi. Can’t really tell from the lack of context. Sorry