The Road to Glory – Chapter 36 – Only Those Who Endure Survive in This World

Author: Dawn

At the moment when the Atlantic waves began to ripple slowly,

The noisy Korea during the weekend became quiet on weekdays – no, it rather reached its peak.

[(Rapidly Rising) Show by Show (Show your show 3. Support Song) | JJ]

“Wow, I thought it was good, but it seems people’s ears are the same after all. It made it in the end.”

“What? Ah, Show by Show.”

“Yes, a newcomer is soon going to beat even your song, right, Noona?”

She giggled and slurped her drink through a straw. Liv, known as the Queen of Digital Music in South Korea, was still as pure-looking as someone in their 20s despite turning 30 this year.

Fresh enough to even film a Pocari Sweat commercial, she went “Ah, refreshing!” as she ruffled her hair. Hmm, not bad.

“If the song does well, the broadcast will too, so I’m fine with it. But. I won’t easily give up first place.”

She pretended not to care, but soon the manager chuckled at her words. It seemed half a joke, half serious. The pride of the Digital Music Queen! The staff went “Ooh!” and gave her a thumbs up.

“Well, it’s still a long way before Show by Show reaches number one. The Cold Brew album did well this time too, and we have to beat Carol who keeps coming back to life like a zombie.”

It was still far for Show by Show to reach number one.

However, even as the manager spoke, she realized it.

All the songs she had just mentioned were among the formidable top ten hits.

Yes, 9 PM on Monday.

Show by Show had finally entered the top ten. Someone said Show by Show’s chart board looked pretty, and they weren’t wrong. The steeply upward graph had never bent even once.

There was one reason for this.

The song was good.

To be more specific, the hook was incredibly catchy. In fact, some even said it would have done well no matter who sang it.

“Hello, Director!”

Liv got out of the van and greeted each staff member as she entered the filming site.

The filming site was an Ilsan studio, and today’s shoot was for the losers’ revival round featuring participants who had been eliminated from the 1:1 battles.

And in the next shoot, mentor-mentee pairs would be formed. Of course, all the mentors had already thought about which mentee they wanted to pair up with.

Liv casually glanced at Gillaon while greeting the participants who had arrived early.

The participants who had won the 1:1 battles didn’t know how to react to her greeting, while those participating in today’s losers’ revival round…

The participants of the losers’ revival round felt somewhat regretful. Unlike the victors who were relaxed and friendly with each other, these participants showed two reactions.

“Hello, Liv-nim.”

Those whose defeat was evident bowed weakly to her despite still having a chance, and the other group desperately tried to survive.

“Jinsoo, aren’t you thirsty? You want a Pocari Sweat? I’ll buy it for you.”

“Jinsoo, are you cold?”

They were trying their best to get close to the only participant among the losers’ revival round whose revival was certain – in other words, the dark horse.

Since he was currently dominating the Watermelon chart, it seemed they wanted to suck up to him.

They were also conscious of being exposed to the camera.

Liv, who had experienced a long period of anonymity as a teenager, could fully understand them.

“No, no, I’m fine.”

She also understood the awkward position of a child suddenly being treated friendly by surrounding adults.

Liv rolled her eyes and glanced at Producer Hwang Jeil, who was actively conversing with the PD. (+) ^[1]

There were two main reasons why the participants were confident in No. 56’s revival.

First, the power of ‘Show by Show’.

As the only song among ‘Soyou’s’ support songs to enter the Watermelon chart – and even land in the top ten – the PD couldn’t easily discard No. 56’s card, no matter how lacking his skills were.

However, since they couldn’t forcibly change the rules for No. 56, there was still a chance he could be eliminated.

And yet, the reason participants were confident was because of that Producer Hwang Jeil.

His expression, which had seemed ready to spew criticism during the second round’s acappella stage, had changed drastically as soon as he heard ‘Show by Show’. He had even openly made a love call to Jang Jinsoo afterward.

There had never been such a persistent and blatant love call before.

She understood why Producer Hwang Jeil had gone crazy. Still, even to Liv and the other mentors, he seemed to have gone a bit too far, as he didn’t seem to consider the pair battle at all for the next shoot.

He had already decided on No. 56, no matter what.

It seemed that even if No. 56 was eliminated from the losers’ revival round, Producer Hwang Jeil would still pick him, using the one wild card given to mentors.

Well, it wasn’t bad.

If he really wanted to pair up and couldn’t ignore No. 56’s potential as the creator of ‘Show by Show’.

However, one thing that bothered her was the existence of the composer and arranger who had their names listed together with No. 56 on the ‘Show by Show’ release.

If the No. 56 that Producer Hwang Jeil revived with a wild card didn’t show that much potential, how would the participants who had tried to get close to No. 56 react?

And the viewers who saw it?

Especially the fans of someone other than No. 56.

“Hello.”

“Ah! Hello, senior Liv! I’m a fan! I’m No. 56, JJ!”

No. 56, who stood up in a fluster and gave her an admiring look, was too young.

He would probably get hurt a lot, just like her.

There was no way to avoid getting hurt.

All he could do was endure.

“I’ve been listening to Show by Show.”

“It’s an honor! I listen to your songs every day too!”

“Liv-ssi, you’re here?”

When the PD called her, Liv smiled at No. 56 once more and turned her head.

She felt gazes fixed on her back.

As she clip-clopped away, she silently cheered him on.

There was nothing she could do for the kid.

Only those who endure survive in this world.

[Congratulations. Your participation in the NUTUBE Partner Program for the NUTUBE HALO_OFFICIAL channel has been approved, and you can now earn revenue on NUTUBE.]

“Finally…”

Halo checked the long-awaited approval email.

Finally, the NuTube company had worked, and the revenue generation permission email had arrived.

Soon, money would be deposited into his account linked to NuTube.

Unfortunately, however, it wouldn’t arrive today. According to the official document, revenue confirmation was on the 10th of every month.

And it was usually deposited on the 21st.

So Halo would be able to receive his revenue from next month onward.

Still, the fact that revenue would come in made him excited. Halo smiled brightly and opened a green window.

There were many things he wanted to buy, so it was good news.

Of course, if he told his mother, she would have bought them for him, but he didn’t ask for everything. His mother’s money wasn’t his.

Also, his mother had already kept her promise, so Halo was satisfied with that.

He would buy the rest himself.

He added the equipment he had been eyeing to the shopping cart. This world had developed efficiently not just in broadcasting, but overall.

He could choose and buy items without having to go to a department store or market, and they would even be delivered to his home.

Plus, there were reviews from buyers.

He added various instruments, computer components, and just things he liked.

After the total exceeded 10 million won, he stopped looking at it, unsure of how much he needed. Halo’s thought was to buy as much as he could afford.

He had no concept of saving.

To him, spending was like groundwater. No matter how much he spent, it kept gushing out. He could spend recklessly without worrying about any kind of spending.

His love for luxury wasn’t going anywhere.

If he had managed his assets, it might have been different, but unfortunately, he had a separate asset manager.

A few days later, when Jang Jinsoo came over after finishing a shoot, he was horrified to see this.

“Hey, are you trying to go bankrupt or something?”

“Why are you at our house again?”

“I was eating a triangle gimbap at the convenience store when I ran into your mom…”

Maybe it was because they lived in the same neighborhood that they kept running into each other.

“I heard you got permission to generate revenue on NuTube, but isn’t this too much spending? How much revenue do you think NuTube will even bring in?”

“Why not?”

When Halo asked as if it was obvious, Jang Jinsoo briefly lost his words. Were all rich kids like this? He couldn’t tell if Halo wasn’t actually rich.

“People like us doing unstable jobs need to do personal finance in advance. Not stuff like Bitcoin, but invest in things like installment savings or safe assets.”

Then Jang Jinsoo started creating an Excel file.

He seemed so familiar with it, just like Halo’s former asset manager, that when Halo blankly stared at the Excel file, Jang Jinsoo scratched the back of his head, wondering if he was being too nosy.

“Since I don’t get allowances like you, I learned how to manage early on while doing part-time jobs.”

For some reason, he seemed quite skilled at it.

“Anyway, why don’t you save up for now and get a studio later?”

“A studio?”

“Yeah, not only is it a problem to buy the equipment you’ve picked out, but it’s also a problem to manage it all. Wouldn’t it be better to get a studio first…?”

It wasn’t like Halo hadn’t thought about it.

However, when he searched for real estate, the price units were different from his NuTube revenue, so he dropped the idea right away. He had no idea how long he would have to wait with that revenue.

“I can’t even pay the rent.”

“Impossible with your current revenue. Especially if you want to get one nearby.”

Jang Jinsoo nodded, then opened NuTube.

And he looked at the conditions for revenue generation.

“Let’s think about ways to increase your revenue. For example, by putting in ads.”

He showed various types of ads.

However, Halo wasn’t too keen on the idea.

It was understandable, considering putting ads in music releases.

Just the thought of music being interrupted by ads was dreadful. Even if it wasn’t in video format but as banners, he didn’t like it. It felt like randomly sticking unnecessary memos on his album.

“Anything else?”

At Halo’s response, Jang Jinsoo nodded as if he had expected it.

“Then there’s only one option. Increasing the video length.”

“Forcibly lengthening the music releases…”

“No, not that. It seems you don’t know since you only upload music releases, but others upload covers, behind-the-scenes videos, vlogs, and longer videos too. If you upload additional long videos, your revenue will increase.”

Then suddenly, Jang Jinsoo remembered.

Roh Haeil’s busking videos.

It seemed like he had no qualms about exposing himself to people.

“What about behind-the-scenes videos or music videos?”

He seemed to enjoy being exposed to people, and more importantly, all the tracks recorded for the first and second albums would suit music videos well.

Judging by the slightly crazy comments, it seemed people would love whatever Halo did.

However, Roh Haeil didn’t seem interested. His expression was as indifferent as ever, making it clear he was only half-listening.

Jang Jinsoo gave up.

It would be impossible unless Roh Haeil joined a label or hired people directly, considering how much work he was already doing.

He could consider it after the revenue started coming in.

Though he might not even do it out of laziness.

Jang Jinsoo sometimes wanted to open up Roh Haeil’s mind and see what he was thinking as he lived his life. And then he would leave him to figure it out on his own.

While Jang Jinsoo made cruel speculations, Halo was seriously thinking about revenue sources, though not in the way Jang Jinsoo had suggested, but rather a problem he had been pondering since last night.

Halo recalled the numerous emails he had received.

Now he had deleted them all except for one.

“I’ve decided.”

“On what?”

He had finally decided.

To sign a contract with a music distribution company.

“Kids, let’s eat.”

As Halo came out of his room, he found pamphlets near the sofa again, spread out as if trying to catch his attention. Halo smirked and ignored them.

At first, he had thought they were some tourist pamphlets.

“What are those?”

“Just ignore them.”

Jang Jinsoo approached out of curiosity but turned back in shock after seeing the lengthy English text.

“Is it a thesis or something?”

No, it wasn’t.

They were promotional university pamphlets.

Pamphlets for famous universities overseas.

He didn’t know where they had been obtained, but he knew who had gotten them.

For some reason, it seemed like they were easily allowing this side of things.

It even seemed they had thought about this.

“Can you read all of those?”

“Yes.”

“Wow, how… Ah, right. You were a model student, weren’t you? I forgot.”

While Halo hadn’t been a model student, he had no way to explain, so he just nodded vaguely.

Throughout the meal, his father kept glancing at Halo, as if expecting something. It was clear he was waiting for a specific university’s name to come out of Halo’s mouth. He had even prepared pamphlets for music universities like Berkeley or Juilliard, seemingly on purpose to pique Halo’s interest.

But Halo still wasn’t interested.

Still, Halo did intend to state his intentions. Even if he didn’t mention universities, he had something to say.

“I have something to tell you.”

“Go ahead and say it.”

At Halo’s words, his father briefly paused. In that moment, his mother responded.

“I’ve already told you that I don’t want to join a separate agency, but since I want many people to listen to the music releases, I’m thinking of signing a contract with a music distribution company. What do you think?”

“How is… a distribution company different from an agency?”

His mother still didn’t know much about this area. Halo kindly explained.

“Usually, without the intervention… no, the managing and overseeing that management companies do, they only handle distribution issues.”

“So it’s like the distribution team separated from an agency, right?”

“Yes, that’s right. And they also provide supplementary services.”

That’s what the official document that came via email said.

Not only simple distribution, but they also assist in obtaining ISRCs (International Standard Recording Codes) and UPCs (Universal Product Codes), collect NuTube royalties, provide streaming reports, and other services.

This was something he could show his parents after the meal.

“Haeil, which one do you want to sign with?”

His mother mentioned names like Universe Record, Sona’s Music, Winner Music – companies she vaguely knew.

None of them were music distribution companies (aggregators), only major labels.

It was understandable that the general public wouldn’t have heard much about music distribution companies. Such companies didn’t actively put themselves out there like major record labels, but rather played a supporting role behind the scenes.

“You probably haven’t heard of them.”

“An overseas company, I see.”

Halo nodded at his father’s words.

Well, his channel itself was almost a foreign account, so it made sense.

“I’ll show you the emails after the meal. But there’s something I want to discuss.”

“What is it?”

Halo recalled the line he had seen last night.

“They want to have a meeting.”

“Isn’t that only natural?”

His mother spoke, and his father agreed.

“Either for them to come here, or for me to go there, so I’m wondering what to do.”

“What do you want to do?”

“I…”

Halo recalled the distribution company’s address.

London. A nostalgic name. The scent of his hometown wafted from the very letters.

“I want to go.”

After Halo spoke, the meal ended.

His father, who had put down his spoon, said:

“For contracts, you usually have to meet in person. Let’s go see them once and then decide.”

Author's Thoughts

Hi everyone, I've fully translated this series. If you love the series and wanted to binge read until the end, you can go to my Patreon "Shop" page. Instead of buying the advanced chapters one by one, you can buy them in one bulk (with discounted price too)!