The Road to Glory – Chapter 156 – War with the Shadows

Author: Dawn

[He’s really excited about being Halo]

While most people reacted positively to the boy confidently announcing his concert, there were also those who didn’t.

Just as there is light in the world, there are also shadows.

There were people who disliked Roh Haeil, or Halo, or even denied that they were the same person.

[What concert, seriously]

[I bet he’ll artificially limit the audience to 830 again to create artificial scarcity. That’s how he make it look popular]

[Wasn’t that music box or whatever merchandise just to increase the value of his concert?]

There could be various reasons why they disliked the boy with two names.

Surprisingly, however, these reasons were similar to what Halo used to hear in the past. Even though they were seemingly not the same person.

Some people disliked him because of his nickname as Apollo incarnate and his praised appearance, saying he looked annoying and would probably live like trash. As for his personality and character, well, there wasn’t an insult he hadn’t heard. While some people pitied or respected him for his past, others criticized him.

There were even people who called the album that won him numerous awards garbage.

Despite the different time periods and even different worlds, those who disliked him invariably came up with similar reasons.

Still, until now, they couldn’t raise their voices much. Whether as the rookie singer Roh Haeil or as the monthly Halo, he had shown an incredible run so far. Moreover, because of the numerous fans he brought along and the impact of the Coachella stage, the anti-fans who hated Halo’s dominance in the world had kept their mouths shut until late May when they suddenly surfaced.

Finally. Because they found something to criticize other than his character, appearance, or education, and it was even the reason why they couldn’t openly criticize Halo until now.

[By the way, it’s clear now. No news since releasing the 13th album in March until late May. Looks like he’s burned out]

[Is it even certain that Halo composed those? Now that he’s in the public eye, maybe he can’t steal anymore?]

[I still can’t accept that RHE is Halo? 99.99% chance he’s in cahoots with August Veil. I really hope he gets caught and ruined. I’ve always hated how he acted like the world was his oyster]

[One thing’s for sure, there’s a high possibility that the 13th album has separate composers. RHE is a silver spoon, maybe his parents got it for him? Especially if his dad is a professor, it all adds up]

From a common sense perspective, if there were separate composers, the copyright wouldn’t solely belong to Halo – the composers wouldn’t have allowed that – but human imagination knows no bounds, and they gradually painted a more plausible picture.

Thus, many people still doubted the reason why monthly Halo was possible, and as June approached with no news of HALO’s 14th album, they became convinced.

Whether Roh Haeil really composed all those or not, monthly Halo had finally ended, and it was clear that he had burned out.

[The sudden concert announcement is obviously to cover up the fact that he can’t release an album]

Logically, if not releasing an album for a few months indicates a slump, then every singer in the world should be considered in a slump. But they didn’t think that far. After witnessing the unbelievable feat of monthly Halo for over a year, their standards had become too high.

[If he had continued releasing albums every month, I would have acknowledged him, but he’s finally showing his limits]

[After all that talk about The Sun The Sun, he turns out to be just an ordinary guy]

[Opened the packaging only to find it’s mostly air]

[I predict he’ll drag it out with concerts for a year and then keep stalling with broadcasts and whatnot]

These were still minority opinions.

But the shadows were as insidious as the light was strong, and given the chance, they might grow in volume.

And as if on cue, there was another piece of news welcomed by the anti-fans.

[RHE went to the hospital]

Inside information had leaked from a major hospital. Even though it hadn’t even been reported in the news and its veracity was uncertain, they were stirred by this single piece of information.

[Hospital? What hospital? Did he get into an accident or something?]

[Is it certain that it’s not just a regular check-up but he’s actually sick?]

[Yeah, my acquaintance is a nurse there and it’s confirmed that Roh Haeil came to the hospital]

└ Which department did he visit?

└ Not sure about other departments, but he got a vocal cord examination

It wasn’t just that he was sick or visited due to overwork.

Interest peaked at the mention of vocal cords, the most crucial part for a singer.

[Did RHE injure his vocal cords?]

[He sang just fine at the last performance, what could have happened?]

[Maybe he just got vocal nodules from drinking? Judging by his singing, he seems like the type to do everything to the extreme. He’ll probably get into a drunk driving accident soon]

Numerous suspicions arose. At that moment, something flashed through someone’s mind.

[Hey, come to think of it, RHE is only 16 now, isn’t it about time for his voice to break?]

Meanwhile, at the same time.

Halo’s phone rang.

The caller was August Veil.

It seemed he had called after hearing the news about Halo’s hospital visit.

“Good afternoon.”

The calm greeting made the person on the other end of the phone pause for a moment. August Veil was about to get straight to the point but realized he was being uncharacteristically hasty.

[Are you doing well?]

His voice was hoarse.

Halo belatedly realized it was dawn in England.

It seemed he had called Halo as soon as he woke up and received the report.

How urgent must it have been for him not to read the rest of the report?

[I heard you went to the hospital? Is it related to the PTSD from back then?]

“Yes, it’s been a month, so I went for a check-up while I was at it.”

[And the results?]

“Of course, I’m fine.”

Originally, he had planned to get the check-up after a longer interval, but he was starting to get busy with preparations for going abroad, so he decided to get it done while he was there.

[And-]

August Veil uncharacteristically couldn’t continue his sentence.

It’s not like a vocal cord examination was anything special.

One might think something was wrong with his throat.

[Did you get it because of the tour?]

As if he didn’t want to hear that Halo was sick, August Veil asked, and Halo confirmed. Of course, it wasn’t solely because of the tour.

“And I got it checked just in case. I felt like my vocal range had expanded.”

[Your vocal range expanded?]

During the musical curtain call, his lower register felt easier than usual.

In a normal situation, he would have just thought it had improved, but given Roh Haeil’s age, there was something to be concerned about.

Unless he had already gone through puberty, it wouldn’t be strange if his voice started breaking now.

“So I came to check if my voice was breaking, but-“

Apparently, that wasn’t the case.

They added that his vocal cords were very healthy. Of course, being a minor, and also because they couldn’t predict when his voice might break, they advised him to be careful. The conclusion was that it hadn’t happened yet.

“It’s a shame.”

August Veil didn’t seem to view ‘voice breaking’ very positively. This was because those who started singing at a young age often struggled to adapt to their voices after puberty.

But Halo seemed positive about his voice breaking. Well, from his perspective, he was still more used to Halo’s voice than Roh Haeil’s, and Halo’s voice was lower than Roh Haeil’s.

Halo, who desired such a manly voice, was secretly disappointed that his voice hadn’t broken yet.

[Since the doctor advised against overexertion, it would be better to keep this tour moderate]

August Veil never intended to overwork Halo in the first place, but considering that he was a minor whose voice could break at any time, he decided to reduce the scale of the tour even more.

As it was a world tour, they would still travel around the world. But it seemed better to either reduce the number of countries or the number of performances in each country.

[How about not scheduling consecutive performances?]

“I can-“

[If the voice break you’re hoping for comes during the concert, we’d have to cancel, wouldn’t we?]

“…”

During voice break, one shouldn’t strain their voice.

Singing a few songs might be fine, but most doctors would strongly advise against a tour.

Halo imagined what would happen if he proceeded with the tour as he wanted and his voice broke. Given his personality, canceling concerts would be out of the question.

Whether it rained or thundered, as long as there was even one person watching his performance, he wouldn’t stop.

Even if his voice broke, he would normally push through. He’d sing even if his voice was torn to shreds.

But as always, what weighed on his mind was-

-Son.

His mother who truly loved him, and the existence of Roh Haeil.

Halo finally agreed.

The Sun members would wail if they heard, but there would be no consecutive performances in one country.

Even if it boasted an enormous population and vast territory.

[Instead, I have some good news. I’m thinking of scheduling a world tour to celebrate the release of your album.]

Usually, world tours are conducted along with the release of new songs.

There could be various reasons, but promoting new songs would be one of the biggest reasons.

“Album release?”

A bewildered voice was heard.

At times like this, Halo, who seemed his age, appeared confused by the mention of an unplanned album release. And judging by his silence, he must be waiting for August Veil to continue.

August Veil smiled faintly, like a grandfather looking at his grandson.

He wasn’t telling Halo to release a new song right away. He had cherished numerous artists and had never forced anyone, including Halo, to release music.

However, ‘release’ wasn’t incorrect.

August Veil spoke with a faint smile.

[You don’t have an album yet, do you? I mean, a physical album.]

“!”

While Roh Haeil would have already released a physical album, Halo, who had contracted with Veil, had only released digital music. Therefore, he didn’t have a single physical album.

[If you don’t want to, we can cancel-]

“No, I want it.”

A quicker response than ever was heard.

Well, what singer wouldn’t want a physical album?

[Then I’ll take it that you agree. You’ll have some things to do.]

August Veil, noticing Halo’s implicit desire, decided to expedite the CD pressing.

However, the CD pressing didn’t proceed as smoothly as expected.

As August Veil had previously operated August Records, he maintained partnerships with cooperating companies while running Veil. With more and more places discontinuing CDP production, it was natural to maintain relationships with high-quality companies.

Although Veil was a music distribution company, they had consulted with contracted singers about CDPs and introduced partnering companies if desired. When Veil placed the order for Halo’s album production, they didn’t think there would be any problems given their good relationship.

They felt something was off when the confirmation email for the request was delayed.

Unlike typical British companies that would respond within a few hours or at least on the same day, the companies’ responses were delayed. When replies came after a few days, they said they would accept the order, but the price was ridiculous.

Caroline, who closely examined the invoice wondering how a single CD could cost thousands of won, found items that weren’t requested.

“Did I request something like this?”

Caroline – Halo’s representative at Veil – doubted her eyes and called the company.

What she heard was nonsense.

They claimed there was a request to engrave gold foil on the CD, which should clearly be in the email. When she asked to check again, a man with an unfamiliar voice rambled on, saying that for Halo’s CD, wouldn’t it be natural to engrave gold foil?

If nothing else, this person couldn’t be his fan constantly adding extra conditions like gold foil.

Therefore, there was only one reason. They needed to add things like gold foil to increase the unit price of the CD.

“This is troublesome.”

It was quite unpleasant to see people who had maintained good cooperative relationships suddenly change when they heard about Halo’s album.

Even when she showed her displeasure, the other party remained nonchalant. She couldn’t tell if they were being stupid or if they thought they were dealing with some big corporation.

There wasn’t just one CDP factory in the world.

[Let’s think about this flexibly. It’s not like we’ve quoted an unreasonable price. This album is going to succeed anyway, right? If the unit price is high, you can just raise the album price. There are plenty of people who will buy it.]

Caroline laughed silently.

Her junior, seeing her face, was startled and pretended not to notice.

Caroline had a habit of smiling more when she got angry.

[The physical market keeps dying because of the digital market. If you help us out a bit, we can maintain an even better relationship in the future-]

Caroline eventually hung up on the man.

There was no reason for them to contract only with partnering companies.

So, Caroline contacted other companies and snorted with laughter.

She knew that many CDP production lines had been discontinued. It’s true that with the increased use of digital music and streaming, CD production has been decreasing day by day.

But this was not right.

“These bastards are colluding.”

Caroline clenched her fist.

It was clear from the similar nonsense they were spouting, albeit with slight differences.

If they had confirmed the date through pre-orders, they might have even gone on strike to raise the unit price.

Caroline wondered how they could treat Veil like this, of all people. It’s not like Halo won’t release albums in the future, and don’t they care about the business relationship they’ve built up until now?

And at the same time.

Those anxiously waiting for contact exchanged words like “Is this really okay?” “Will it be alright?”

When Caroline hung up in anger, there were people saying they should call back and apologize.

They were all in the same business, and while they were a bit greedy, they weren’t greedy enough to ruin their own business.

They didn’t think all the conditions they offered would be accepted either.

What they wanted was a reasonable middle ground.

Since it was going to be a successful album that would set incredible records anyway, if they could just raise the unit price a little, they would press the CDs very diligently.

What they believed in was August Veil’s character. He was a meticulous businessman who knew how to use both carrot and stick, and would send a contract that both parties could agree on.

Of course, they needed to give him some time to cool down. During that time, they could wait with the contract deal with Augustus Records that the boss had secured. Although they knew Augustus Records belonged to August Veil, Augustus Records, having lost Halo to August Veil, was aggressively trying to take over the market regardless of Veil, so they believed Augustus Records wouldn’t break the contract over something like this.

They were also thinking people, not acting solely out of greed.

But there was one thing they overlooked.

While August Veil as a businessman might try to avoid losses even when angry, there was one ill-tempered person who prioritized himself over any losses.

Moreover, this person had higher decision-making power than August Veil. Although he didn’t own shares in Veil, August Veil would respect his opinion more than his own.

[I wasn’t planning to tell you about this-]

When the CD matter was delayed, Halo directly asked August Veil, and August Veil had no choice but to report on the current situation.

And the answer came.

“Then the answer is clear.”

[Yes, indeed, a compromise-]

Halo said.

“We won’t do it.”

“!”

August Veil was startled.

Although his voice was calm, given the situation, Halo might have been angry.

[We could change to a different company, but those with certified quality-]

August Veil understood it as Halo saying he wouldn’t contract with companies in England, but Halo had a different idea.