The Road to Glory Chapter 220 - [Side Story] Chapter 22. Pre-Meeting

“Do we really need to see this?”

The line stretched out in front of the exhibition since dawn, like an endless snake’s body. A breathtaking sight that even made time tycoons who made time on Monday morning suffocated. This could be the doubt they held in their hearts.

Or-.

“So, the only thing added to the existing exhibition content is The Sun piece, right? That’s why there’s no press ticket. It’ll be uploaded to The Sun NuTube eventually, so do we really need to wait? The line might be shorter another day, senior.”

“Go if you don’t want to wait. I need to cover this. An exhibition is different when you see it once versus twice. I wanted to cover the sound art exhibition again, and this worked out well. I definitely need to see Halo’s work. What’s the difference between waiting for it to be uploaded to NuTube and reading the comments and articles there?”

People who had already seen the exhibition had to think again. Did they really need to wait this long to see it?

According to the published exhibition list, the only additions to the existing content were recordings from the talent volunteers, including Halo’s work, who were in the same place.

But how many people here would be expecting recordings from other volunteers?

They weren’t artists with long portfolios, just talent volunteers.

Though they must have been carefully selected since they’re being exhibited in the gallery, there weren’t any expectations beyond that.

“And in my opinion, today is the perfect timing.”

“What?”

The junior reporter’s eyes widened.

“Since there’s such a long line, they’ll probably switch to a reservation system starting tomorrow. Which do you think has better odds? Have you ever tried getting Halo concert tickets?”

“…”

“Or are you rich enough to buy scalped tickets?”

Neither was true.

“This might be the best timing.”

The junior reporter imagined the exhibition failing due to bad word of mouth, but didn’t voice their objection.

Because the 15-second recording released on NuTube was truly special.

Enough to want to hear it through the exhibition’s sound system.

“If you have nothing to say, listen to that 15-second video again and think about the article title.”

After saying that, the senior reporter put wireless earphones in their ears.

The junior reporter cautiously turned on NuTube.

The last 15 seconds of “Welcome to My Earth” was circulating widely as shorts and clips. While “Welcome to My Earth” itself had tremendous views, the 15-second short, despite its simple title [The earth(15″), HALO], was spreading at internet speed not just on NuTube but also on Star Gram, Face Note, BlueBird, and more.

Well, they too would click on anything with HALO’s name, and flinch at words like ‘The sun’ – with a title like that, people would probably think it’s a new album and click.

“Oh, we’re going in.”

To match the 11 AM exhibition time, they started issuing tickets fifteen minutes before.

The junior reporter who had been complaining now found themselves counting people with excitement and nervousness, wondering if they’d be able to get in today.

Around when tickets were being issued, as their senior predicted, the Cheongsang Gallery posted a notice about the reservation system. The junior reporter tried to read the notice but when Star Gram wouldn’t even load, they felt a chill down their spine.

‘The server crashed… What?’

They weren’t sure if it was really because of the gallery notice.

But given the timing and the traffic overload message that appeared, they couldn’t help but wonder.

A few seconds later, internet articles announced Cheongsang Gallery’s “Reservation system starting from tomorrow’s exhibition / Reservations available from the day before for 11 AM and 3 PM sessions.”

It goes without saying that the next day’s 11 AM session was completely sold out.

If they were foreigners, they’d be busy just trying to figure out what the green search bar was, so probably all Koreans.

‘Wow, glad I didn’t play the waiting game.’

“I’ll help guide your viewing.”

Though they had to line up for tickets, they also had to line up for entry.

Still better than the ticket line though.

Tilting their head and trying to somehow see beyond the closed doors, the junior reporter stood in front of the guide and listened to the entry announcement.

Exhibition entry announcements are usually similar.

No touching exhibits, smoking, mobile phone use, photography, commercial use, or any behavior that would disturb viewing.

“Finally-.”

There’s more?

The junior reporter exclaimed at what followed.

“Viewing time is limited to 60 minutes per session. Many visitors are causing delays in viewing, so please understand.”

Though they said this new viewing rule applied to all exhibits, considering it hadn’t existed before, it couldn’t be for anything but a single work.

“60 minutes?”

The reporter thought.

Wouldn’t 60 minutes be enough?

Though the gallery was large, there weren’t that many works.

If he passed through quickly, he thought he could listen to Halo’s piece for 40 minutes, and leisurely view the others with about 20 minutes investment.

“Um, is the museum shop included in the time limit?”

“No, the museum shop has no time limit.”

“Oh.”

People behind also seemed pleased with that.

“Then please enjoy your viewing.”

The guide smiled softly and grabbed the closed door.

The slowly opening door and tunnel.

Though no sound could be heard yet, why did their heart pound so at the single ray of light shining from afar?

#

Have you ever visited a sound art exhibition?

Sound art. An exhibition that presents sound as a form of art, introducing the resonance of sound rather than pictures in various categories.

Through works like audience-led performances, interactive sound, visual music, and more.

The firmly closed door opens wide.

As you pass through the dark tunnel one by one, you encounter hundreds of small speakers and the sounds transmitted through them.

With each step down the stairs, as you get closer to each speaker, you feel like you’re walking into a forest.

It was the sound of nature that we who live in cities have been missing.

“Wow, this is amazing.”

The first exhibition hall starts with fresh sounds and lighting. With each step down the stairs, not just the sound but the blue lighting deepens until finally stepping into complete nature.

Entering the second exhibition hall feels like entering a darkened theater.

There, without any special effects, a sound projector is prepared to illuminate one wall. Visitors can turn the projector and see and hear the city’s appearance in timelapse.

It was the sound of a day that they missed living busily in every minute and second.

The junior reporter’s hand moved quickly to note the different feeling from their first visit. There was definitely much more visible on the second visit.

If they focused on sound and visual aspects the first time, the second time they saw the expression method. Seeing how they dynamically implemented the relationship between auditory and visual senses gave them much more to write about.

“Let’s go.”

“Already?”

“Weren’t you saying earlier we should just go see Halo’s work? We should head there now.”

“That’s true.”

The junior reporter took their hands off their notes.

They wanted to view more leisurely.

“I want to see more too. But I heard something bad.”

“What?”

“The line ahead is no joke. They say we might not get to see it if we’re not careful.”

“What line?”

We’re already inside, what line?

While the junior reporter asked confusedly, the senior reporter hurried them along.

‘What line are they talking about. Is Halo’s work like thirty minutes long?’

We’ve only been in for fifteen minutes, why rush?

The junior reporter grumbled internally as they got up.

The first time the junior reporter felt something was odd was when they approached the special exhibition hall where Halo’s work was displayed, after quickly passing through several exhibition halls.

There was a line of people stretching between one exhibition hall and the special hall.

“Wait, what is this line?”

The junior reporter, who had wondered if there was some bottleneck ahead or if something was broken, couldn’t believe it.

A couple in front also complained.

“What is this, an amusement park? Why isn’t the line moving?”

“Seriously. Isn’t this really inconsiderate?”

“And we have a time limit too.”

“I just wanted to listen to Halo’s music but we’ll spend all our time in line.”

“This is crazy.”

Thanks to this, they could listen to the sound from the exhibition hall where they were lined up until they were sick of it.

As the sound of old animation film passes by, nostalgic cartoons play. These were memories of cartoons that are now hard to find even in low quality.

The sound of nostalgic cartoons and film rolling in the theater.

This exhibition hall’s theme was ‘Parents’ memories that modern people have missed.’

Such a familiar sound.

The film cartoons that are hard to find now were interesting too.

But that gets old after once or twice.

The line showed no signs of moving, and after listening for a while, it felt like their eardrums were getting wrapped up rather than the film.

“Honey, let’s just listen once and leave.”

“Yeah honey, let’s leave quickly so others can see more.”

The junior reporter entered the special hall around the forty-fifth time the couple ahead had this conversation.

“Finally.”

Was this an unseen work?

The special hall had a large spherical exhibit in the center that would presumably play Halo’s work, and headphones were prepared along the walls to listen to sounds on the way there.

This must be the sound collected by graduate students on the same day.

The junior reporter was surprised at how good the first headphones were.

They’d heard they would only upload selected sounds, but it was no less than sounds collected by professionals.

Though the graduate students had to shed blood, sweat and tears to become able to collect like professionals, to the reporter who didn’t know that process, both the sound quality and quality were good.

Could this be because it’s the famous Korea National University of Arts?

It seems somewhat similar to Halo’s recording too.

Is it because they collected sounds from the same place?

Like files classifying each natural sound from the 15 seconds.

While passing time with sound collection files placed everywhere, the junior reporter wondered why the line wasn’t moving.

It didn’t take long to find out.

As the seats were already full, they stood behind the wall, and the exhibition hall door slowly closes.

The exhibition hall descended into darkness.

There were no special visual tools or devices here.

Just speakers embedded all around.

A true ‘sound’ exhibition.

The reporter unconsciously gulped at the exhibition descended into silence.

That’s when it started.

The sound began with a small wind sound.

This was the sound that was uploaded to Halo’s NuTube.

Then water drops fall.

Clean and clear like a xylophone.

‘Wow…’

The ripples spreading in the pond are transmitted through sound.

Wind starting from the deepest part of the pond.

Following it, the water drops tilted, and the wind spread.

In an instant, the undergrowth raised its head in tremendous wind, and the water’s ripples spread out.

‘Wait…’

The reporter raised their head sharply.

Leaves spread in the wind’s touch.

The rhythmic sound of water drops in their ears.

‘No, this is-.’

Two sounds merge into one, and sunlight settles on top.

As trees and branches rise and wind penetrates the forest

The whole world begins to ring.

The water sound became drums,

The undergrowth and branches trumpets.

The wind leads this orchestra with string instruments.

Though the sounds shouldn’t merge since each sound was recorded separately, the sounds that remained like afterimages pile up to create harmony, and that was what the boy encountered in the forest-.

A newly born bird chirps.

The wind gently caresses the baby bird, carries it out and introduces it to new friends in the forest. The trees sing welcome songs with their branches and leaves.

There are many hardships and crises in the world, but encouragement comes that you can overcome them. Just as they had done so.

The reporter recalled episode 4 of ‘Welcome to My Earth’.

-So this is where you were.

Then the boy discovers a prematurely born bird and gently lifts it with both hands.

Just as the wind had done.

And lifting the baby bird with both hands toward the nest, he said.

-Now, go back.

The song of the world that Halo heard came through.

The lights flickered and began turning on one by one.

A guide came in and requested those who exceeded the one-hour viewing time to leave. After repeating this two or three times, half the people left reluctantly.

The rest didn’t move an inch.

Then the lights went out again and the same sound plays.

‘So this is the forest.’

Though it was the forest they always went to.

While the exhibits seen earlier were interesting but familiar sounds, this was a special sound worth hearing again.

‘So this is how Halo hears it.’

The whole world is singing.

Just as they each had names, they had their own voices.

New, diverse, abundant.

Why didn’t we try to hear such songs earlier?

Though they never once hid it.

They say when blind people first open their eyes, they’re surprised at how bright the world is. Next they marvel at the diverse colors that fill it, and often cry at the beauty the colors possess.

The junior reporter thought they were like them, opening their eyes for the first time.

Though they wanted to run somewhere in the forest right away to hear this sound, they couldn’t move an inch.

Because if they left this place, they felt they would never hear this sound again.

For the first time, they felt they could understand the person called Halo.

If you could live hearing such sounds all the time, it probably wouldn’t be difficult to make such good music.

How abundantly rich a world these geniuses live in.

While regretting not being born in such a world, it was moving that they could peek into it like this. This lingering feeling would probably last quite a while.

‘It’s over already?’

The junior reporter who hadn’t moved from their spot until the time limit was shocked when they arrived at the museum shop.

This place was packed full of people.

People who couldn’t let go of their lingering feelings from the special hall were packed into the museum shop.

“Isn’t there separate merchandise for Halo, I mean the special hall?”

“Anything… Please… Or can’t we re-enter?”

“Not selling NFTs? Oh please take all my money.”

Fortunately there wasn’t much merchandise.

Zombie-like crowds ready to hand over their wallets and staff apologizing.

The junior reporter who had unconsciously taken out their wallet stuffed it back in at hearing there was no related merchandise.

They had never wanted to hit their past self who leisurely viewed the exhibition halls again more than now. If they could go back in time, they would grab their collar and run straight to the special hall.

They speak the theme of the special hall where Halo’s work was exhibited.

“The sounds we’re missing with our eyes wide open.”

At those words, the senior reporter turned to them and laughed helplessly.

“That’s right. It’s sound we can’t hear.”

What they had to do now was set.

Reserve tickets for tomorrow’s exhibition opening at 3 PM.

And, the article.

At Gangnam Cheongsang Gallery where countless crowds gathered.

Reviews from visitors who came within an hour of the exhibition opening popped up everywhere.

[The sound of world exhibition; A genius’s world (HALO special hall)]

[Another chance to realize Halo is a genius at the sound exhibition]

[Truly “The sounds we’re missing with our eyes wide open”]

[The reason Halo can release so many albums]

[Leaving exhibition review. Can really experience music genius fr]

[Posting about hiking after getting hyped from Halo exhibition]

Among them, the curator’s interview is quoted and posted here and there.

[A two-eyed person’s world living in a one-eyed world]

#

The exhibition with Halo’s special hall added led an incredible craze for 2 weeks.

The green search bar’s reservation system crashed several times, causing their stock to crash countless times too, and foreign visitors came to the green search bar en masse, leading to jokes in communities about the green search bar blocking them thinking it was a DDoS attack.

[Who’s putting two weeks on whose nose]

[Please at least release the sound file ㅠㅠㅠㅠ]

[Why am I the only one who hasn’t heard when everyone says it’s so epic]

[Please how can i get sound art gallery ticket]

[I think this is discrimination please stop discriminating against foreigners:(]

Above all, the curator had never received so many exhibition extension inquiries. There were even extreme capitalist inquiries saying to make ticket prices 10 million won.

But anyway, they didn’t extend it, didn’t sell related exhibition merchandise, and seemed to hear all sorts of complaints.

Fortunately, a week later, when ‘Complete sound collection audio file’ was uploaded to Halo’s NuTube episode 5 along with what seemed to be footage filmed by Halo, the ticket competition rate

[WTF people who already saw it competing for tickets again where’s your conscience]

[Can’t they add a viewing limit instead of time limit?]

doesn’t seem to have decreased.

Probably because the sound quality at home isn’t the same as the gallery quality.

[Just came back from the exhibition… Halo is really… must be a genius]

[A real genius among manufactured geniuses]

[I was called a genius a lot when I was young too… but I can’t hear things like this]

[Is something wrong with my ears? You know Halo’s collection, didn’t it sound more like music than just sound recording?]

└Everyone’s talking about that now

[You’re saying this is recording not editing? Isn’t this obviously fake?]

└That rumor passed in a day

└ Unedited version is up on Halo’s NuTube, and experts say it’s definitely recording because sounds leave afterimages like pictures so they can be heard continuously (source: Why Halo is Really a Genius ver Sound Afterimage Utilization)

[Someone said it’s natural for a kid who hears sounds like this to get slumps;; I just can’t understand no matter how I think about it couldn’t they just release anything?]

└ Just release practice work

└ Probably would listen like a hundred times wondering if my ears are weird even if they release weird songs

└ fr lmao

[Pissed that Welcome to my world next episode got delayed because of these sound file beggars I was enjoying it]

└ Isn’t that good?

└ Hey honestly how many times did you go to Cheongsang Gallery

└ (Writer) Me? Only four times (proof.jpeg)

└?

└ It’s only been a week but four times?

└ Do you really want to die?

└ (Deleted post)

“So they think it was delayed because of this.”

PD Namgung rubbed his chin.

The reason Baegun’s content for the next episode of Welcome to my world was delayed wasn’t to upload the sound collection files.

Rather, it was because of a request from the broadcasting station.

The label, prioritizing Halo’s safety, accepted their roundabout request to delay the broadcast to prevent crowds gathering during filming.

The next episode will feature daily life and interviews with members and staff again, and Baegun’s content is planned for the episode after that.

“Though it’s a bit disappointing we couldn’t film the pre-meeting.”

Well, they said they’d provide the unedited footage, so he supposed he’d have to be content with that.

PD Namgung personally wondered how Halo was getting along with the other cast members at the pre-meeting. He was really curious who would appear this time. He’d heard it was a top star.

“Hello, baby? Have you been well?”

Halo smiled faintly at the people already at the pre-meeting.

It had been a while since he’d seen them.