The Road to Glory Chapter 205 - [Side Story] Chapter 7. Welcome To My World D-1

People are curious about stars’ private lives.

After work, the office worker turned on the TV while eating chicken, out of habit. He hadn’t set a specific channel, but coincidentally, an unknown rookie actor was introducing their house on “Home Alone.”

While ravenously tearing into a chicken leg, he thought.

‘They live more normally than I expected.’

The house wasn’t as massive and luxurious as those of some chaebol or major star.

Just like any other person living alone.

Having lived in a cramped one-room apartment before, he could relate to how the actor tried to utilize space efficiently and live practically.

The office worker, who had been blankly watching until the end of the program, thought that if an unknown actor’s life could be this interesting, how much more interesting would a star’s life be?

Just like when a movie star with over ten million viewers appeared on “Home Alone,” their house, their cat, and their hobbies became huge topics of discussion.

For instance, that person who was the first Korean to win the Grammy “Album of the Year.”

The office worker wasn’t as passionate a fan as his younger sister, but he was just humanly curious about what kind of person they were.

As mentioned before, they were an artist who even won a Grammy.

A genius among geniuses who emerged from Korea, a wasteland for rock music, and had just turned twenty.

As an ordinary Korean living an ordinary life as a company employee, the office worker admired artists, and he was particularly curious about the life of the most popular artist or genius these days.

If an ordinary member of the public felt this way, he wondered how desperately the fans must want this.

Even he knew that Halo wasn’t an artist who made many broadcast appearances.

Well, of course, many fans say they love even Halo’s free-spirited nature as an artist, but still, it would be different if he appeared on TV, right?

But well, broadcasting stations weren’t stupid, so they must have tried to cast Halo.

Especially during this time when he had brought honor to the nation, how could they not try to cast him? His fandom size even overwhelmed idol fandoms.

When he asked his broadcasting station friend, who always talked about celebrities they knew while drinking, about Halo.

-How’s Halo?

-Halo? Ah, um.

Seeing his friend’s awkward expression, he initially thought it meant something negative.

-Why? Is Halo not good?

-Ah, I don’t know…

-Is he so bad that you can’t even understand him?

-No, I’ve just never met him, never passed by him, never even seen him. Just… nothing.

-?

His friend said they hadn’t seen them for two years.

Of course, while his friend had never been in charge of music shows, they had been in the entertainment department for a long time but had never seen them even once.

That’s not easy to achieve.

As expected of Korea’s representative free spirit.

While he was an excellent artist who didn’t cause trouble and made good music, it must be hard being his fan.

For that reason, it was clear that if Halo appeared on such variety shows or other broadcasts, it would cause a sensation.

Anyway, even cold chicken is delicious.

The office worker was preparing to clean up while eating chicken breast. That’s when it happened. His phone rang with a notification sound.

The office worker, who had turned off KakaoTalk notifications and usually kept other notifications off for his precious rest, found it strange.

‘Did I set an alarm or something? At this time? Or finally, did five stars become four stars…?’

Swallowing the chicken breast, the office worker picked up his phone.

[NuTube 1 minute ago

wave_r has posted ‘Welcome to My World (Episode 0)’]

The office worker, who was trying to recall if he had subscribed to such a channel, saw the familiar title and his eyes widened.

Welcome to My World?

Wait, this.

“…Hold on.”

The office worker hurriedly clicked the banner.

:

A video had been added to the channel that had been empty since ‘Confession.’

With Halo (Roh Haeil)’s side profile sitting in a studio as the thumbnail, elegant text was written.

Welcome to My World

And as the video automatically played, ‘Episode 0’ appeared.

Wasn’t ‘Welcome to My World’ such heart-fluttering text?

The title and title track of Roh Haeil’s first full album.

Maybe they’re planning to make a music video with songs from the first full album? Or a concert preview? Anything else would be good too.

People who had been endlessly watching just the Grammy performance and acceptance speech due to lack of content clicked on the video.

A black screen with no text.

As the camera gradually moved upward, it showed a straight road. A van crossing it.

What was that van?

Just as people were wondering who was riding in it and where it was going, the camera showed a road sign.

Welcome to LAS VEGAS

And suddenly the screen turned, revealing the spectacular view of the desert city, Las Vegas.

Magnificent fireworks and dazzling lights.

And a banner welcoming cars entering the city appeared in the camera.

Love this world

The message that had touched the hearts of countless visitors to Las Vegas appeared again.

Love this time

And

All of us love you.

Music began to fill that banner.

With the sound of drums, the Halo band at the Grammy Awards was captured on camera.

The excitement of the Grammy ceremony venue was added to Halo’s ‘Struggle,’ and the camera captured the ecstatic stars.

Among them were behind-the-scenes cuts that hadn’t been broadcast. The hearts of those who knew Halo had received an award after this performance pounded.

It felt like experiencing that thrill again.

A Korean singer making top stars go wild.

It didn’t seem like they were just reacting out of courtesy.

A guitarist who tried to stay still but couldn’t help but wiggle their fingers, and a pop singer who looked like they wanted to jump onto the stage right away.

Eventually, the music faded and completely disappeared with a click sound, and a digital countdown appeared in golden color.

‘Is it over?’

At this point, the office worker thought they were going to release behind-the-scenes footage from the Grammys. After all, it was common for artists to release footage they had filmed after some time had passed.

However, what was questionable was the meaning of the thumbnail and title.

Well, the thumbnail could mean an interview about their thoughts. But was there any reason to specifically use the title ‘Welcome to my world,’ Roh Haeil’s first album?

If it was ‘Welcome to my world,’ rather…

That’s when it happened.

From the black screen that he thought had surely ended, another clicking sound was heard, and the countdown numbers that had been counting down began to count up.

Like a hacked clock.

And when it exceeded the numbers it could display.

With a camera ON indicator, lights came on.

The camera showed an office.

It was an ordinary office if you could call it that, or more specifically, it had the open office interior design typical of foreign companies.

And through the window visible on the left side was the Seoul skyline. The office worker, looking carefully at Seoul, realized it was very familiar.

“Oh, that’s…”

Hongdae.

More precisely, isn’t that where Halo’s temple, no, label is located?

And the viewpoint seems exactly like Halo’s label-

Along with this realization, a man’s voice was heard.

[Hello, Mr. -.]

Though censored, the camera slowly moved up.

Past feet and legs, finally showing a man.

[Hello everyone, I’m Roh Haeil.]

The same face as at the awards ceremony.

However, Halo, dressed more casually than then, raised his hand in greeting and sat down on the sofa.

The camera captured both Halo’s front view and the Seoul skyline visible through the window.

[It’s been a while since I’ve greeted you. Have you all been well?]

The very person who had always disappeared and upset fans spoke with a relaxed expression. The office worker wanted to record his sister’s shout of “If you’re playing around in LA, tell us how you’re playing!” and play it for this person.

[I have some news to share with you all.]

[It might be surprising, or unexpected, but-.]

Having said that, Halo spoke as if it were natural.

[Good news.]

What’s fascinating is how each word, though still seemingly insignificant, commands attention. Also, his confidence that it would be enjoyable had exactly the appearance of someone who was beloved, making the office worker unconsciously feel happy.

Before he knew it, Halo, now holding a guitar, played the intro to ‘Welcome to my world.’

It was music they had always heard, and it had always been good music.

And as the camera flowed, it showed numerous scenes.

Halo’s daily life of stretching and waking up in darkness, playing guitar, seriously contemplating music, and hanging out with others.

The scenes that fans wanted to see more than anything but could never see flowed by one after another.

[Is this recording right now?]

A scene unfolded.

A woman with medium-length hair, famous as Halo’s keyboardist, awkwardly waved at the camera.

[Who knows]

[They’d tell us if they were filming, right?]

And soon after the indifferent voice was heard, the woman moved away from the camera. The camera captured the scene of the workroom.

Among the members sitting in a circle, a black-haired boy was visible.

Soon they began chatting comfortably.

The atmosphere seemed warm just by looking at it. The office worker wanted to hear their conversation, but the sound began to fade away.

And at some point, the boy’s voice completely disappeared, and then

[What?!]

Only the surprised voices of the members were heard again.

What exactly had he said?

Though the boy’s attitude was casual, the members’ expressions became serious, making viewers serious as well.

And the scene suddenly changes.

A familiar street where countless people pass by.

“Hongdae?”

A man with his face completely covered by a long coat, mask, and sunglasses stops in front of a building.

The man, no, Halo, lifts his sunglasses and makes a number one with his index finger, and like magic, golden letters appear elegantly beside him.

[Welcome to my world D-1]

“!”

The video ended like that.

However, the office worker realized this wasn’t the end.

Because others would expect as much as he did.

#

Reactions came up as if they had been waiting.

[HALO’s current location?]

[The meaning of Welcome to My World? Grammy winner returns as NuTuber?]

[Which platform will broadcast Halo’s daily life reality web entertainment?]

Similar internet articles kept being uploaded, and NuTubers covering current affairs also focused on Halo’s content.

[New NuTuber threatening the ecosystem *sweat*]

[Roh Haeil account subscribers rapidly increasing in real-time]

[Shock! The reason broadcasting stations boycotted Halo?!]

[Did everyone hear? He’s back! #King_is_Back #Oh_Sorry #Sun_rises_again]

But what welcomed it most enthusiastically was

[Finally!!!!]

[A daily reality show… I thought we’d never see it ㅠ]

[They said they hired label staff, and finally things are moving]

[Welcome to My World. Getting chills just hearing the name]

[Whoever suggested reality to Haeil will be blessed]

[Finally we can see how our Sun lives]

Until now, these were fans who had said their singer’s charm was their freedom from being bound by broadcasts.

When someone teased “Halo (Roh Haeil) doesn’t appear on TV?” no one could have imagined these were the same people who would reply [Yeah~ your singer hasn’t been able to make a comeback for 3 years] or [Why should he appear? My singer is doing fine on his own. Only broadcasting stations are missing out].

[HOT Fan NN Years Experience Teaser Video Analysis (200% Brain Fiction) (+100)]

[When did Halo come to Hongdae??]

[Always wonder this but what skill does Halo have? How does he hide so well?]

[Hope they make like 100 seasons, nothing more nothing less]

This was the same in overseas communities.

Popular posts were so filled with talk about Halo’s second account that other posts were getting buried.

“Yes, this is Label H. Ah, yes reporter.”

“PPL? That hasn’t been planned yet-.”

“I apologize, but we haven’t received any separate investment-.”

“Detailed information will be provided after tomorrow’s video is released.”

The calls to Halo’s label wouldn’t stop.

There were continuous inquiries from reporters asking why they hadn’t mentioned Halo was in Korea, broadcasting stations making new casting offers, advertising companies’ proposals, and viewers’ questions.

The interest was so fervent that they had to disconnect the phone lines with Halo’s permission.

And above all, the clearest indicators were shown in the subscriptions to Halo’s second account, or Roh Haeil’s first account Wave_r, and the likes on ‘Welcome to My World Episode 0.’

[Wow waver(Halo’s account yes) subscribers doubled in minutes after uploading]

└ But this is just the beginning *shivers*

└ For real HALO vs Roh Haeil structure coming soon lol

└ NuTube revenue double event

└ But even all that combined can’t compare to copyright revenue

└ What NuTube revenue compared to copyright revenue from 15 albums (Halo 14 + Roh Haeil 1)

└ My…peers…still…listen to…Struggle

[Heard Halo’s fandom was strong but the number of likes is brutal]

[Always think this but seriously, this kid lives life alone]

Meanwhile, the “kid living life alone” that everyone acknowledged

Looked up at the mountain with a bewildered expression.

The weight of the guitar case along with sound recording equipment pressed heavily on his shoulders.

It was hard to say it was difficult when the people who came with him were carrying even heavier equipment.

“We’re going there?”

Though he liked traveling, Halo, who was used to modern convenient transportation, looked up at the mountain. It really was a mountain and field with few signs of human presence.

That’s when Teacher Moon Seoyeon’s mentor turned around and asked.

“Are you not coming?”