NOVEL NEXT The Road to Glory
[1]
In English
Instead, the audience applauded. They seemed to have not expected much but were delighted as if receiving a Christmas present, marveling at his performance.“What was that!”“That was the best performance of my life, kid. Way better than that shabby guy over there.”“Want a drink?”Some offered him a glass of ale.Like most countries, the UK prohibits the sale of alcohol to minors under 18, but there is little control over drinking itself. In fact, even 16-year-olds can enter pubs under parental supervision, and statistics show that one in six children aged 11 drinks alcohol at home every week.“Unfortunately, ale is not to my taste.”While the UK is famous for ale, Halo preferred stronger drinks like whisky, gin, and rum.“Right, you’re still at the age for orange juice.”That wasn’t the reason.As Halo’s expression hardened, the uncle who had joked started chuckling, then rolled up several bills and stuffed them into the empty glass. The deep red pounds were a generous tip.“I can’t enjoy such a great performance for free.”Inspired by his generosity, others also added money, along with well-wishes for him to become a superstar, promising to buy his album when he debuts and attend his concerts. Some even suggested audition programs he should try.No one thought he was an established musician. How could they? He only appeared to be a youth—looking younger than his actual age.‘How should I handle this?’Halo stared intently at the money that couldn’t fit in the glass as he gave high-fives.In the midst of this, the man behind him suddenly grabbed his shoulder.What? Halo’s eyebrows twitched.The man’s eyes seemed to sparkle like fire.“You.”At first, Halo thought it was a confrontation.“Join my band.”“!”“I’ll treat you well. Definitely join.”The man didn’t seem offended or angry.He was looking at Halo intensely enough to be unpleasant.“You’re not already in one, are you?”Halo was about to say he was but shook his head. Since he hadn’t signed with Veil yet, he wasn’t in a contractual relationship with them.“Not yet.”“Good.”The man continued, shaking off a shiver of delight.“You’re a genius, kid. You have to become a guitarist. I’m saying you shouldn’t leave it as just a hobby.”While the audience simply thought he was young and talented, the man recognized the child’s talent.‘Struggle’ was an even more complex song than he had thought, not something just anyone could play.To see him play it so effortlessly—.The man gulped down his saliva.He was tempted. Tempted by the talent, and found it difficult to be patient at the thought of how beautiful his band would be with this child.“Join my band with me. The best guitarist in our team is there, you know? He’ll teach you a lot. Don’t you want to get famous? You can have it all—money, honor, everything.”The man took Halo’s silence as a positive sign and continued, spitting as he spoke.“We’re going to form the world’s greatest band. Kid, you play guitar, and I’ll sing. How about it?”Halo grinned.The man smiled back, seeming to think Halo would definitely say yes.What teenager wouldn’t want to become famous in the world?“No.”There was one.The man, who didn’t expect a rejection, moved his lips. Then he blurted out in an excited state,“You’re saying that because you don’t know, but I’m a really big deal, you know? This isn’t an opportunity that comes around anytime.”And to show off, he slightly revealed his face beneath the beanie. It was an unfamiliar face.“…”“You can’t be serious?! How can you not know me? Take a look again.”The man lifted his beanie again, revealing his forehead this time. Then he lowered the beanie with the scorpion embroidered on it.“You still don’t know? Ha!”When Halo continued to stare blankly, the man seemed offended. After briefly contemplating, he spun around and pulled down his hood, also removing his beanie.His lip piercing and green hair emerged, along with a small scorpion tattoo on one cheek and neck tattoos. A large Roman letter was wrapped around his neck.SCORPION
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[2]
In English
“Scorpion.”
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[3]
In English
“Yeah!”Halo simply read the letters aloud, but the man clapped.“Yeah, it’s me. There’s no way you don’t know. Do you realize what a huge opportunity you just missed?”“I wouldn’t know.”“You wouldn’t know?”“I wouldn’t know, but there seems to be something more important.”As Halo nodded, the man turned his head to follow Halo’s gaze. And he discovered the crowd looking at him like they wanted to devour him.“!”“Scorpion?”“That’s not Scorpion, is it?”“Scorpion appeared!”The murmurs grew louder and louder, like a wave.Oh no!The man belatedly pulled up his hood, but those who wanted to see had already seen. Hastily grabbing his guitar, the man tried to flee but shouted instead,“Tomorrow! Meet me here again tomorrow!”Halo snorted and put his guitar back in its case.He had a meeting with Veil tomorrow.Even if he didn’t, he wouldn’t show up.It seemed he would never meet that scorpion again.‘By the way, how do I deal with this?’Halo picked up the glass filled with bills instead of drinks. He shrugged, thinking he would figure out a way to use it, and slung his guitar over his shoulder.Little did he know he would unexpectedly meet that scorpion again.#It was when Halo headed to Veil in the evening.“Ah! You’re… That kid?!”Why is this guy here?Halo slightly frowned.The man who should have been wandering around Trafalgar Square was loudly chatting with his friends (band members) in the Veil company lobby.While he had been dressed like a vagrant yesterday, today he wore a leather jacket and neatly brushed his green hair up.“Kid! I was looking for you desperately this afternoon! Why didn’t you show up!”“I never promised to.”“Ah—. That’s true.”The man fell silent, then looked back at his friends.“Guys, this is the one I was talking about. The genius kid! He’s more than qualified to be our new member!”One of the friends behind him glanced at Halo. After seeing Halo’s blank expression, he raised both hands.“Sorry, kid. This friend is a bit like this.”He twirled his finger beside his head.“Just please don’t report him to the police. He still hasn’t paid off his student loans. Give it another five years or so.”Whether a serious black joke or not, he apologized politely like a gentleman.“Please excuse our rudeness, Mrs. and Mr. Our leader was captivated by your son’s guitar performance yesterday and wants to bring him into our band.”“The leader, you say…?”“Ah, I’m late with introductions. We’re Scorpion. These are the members, and I’m the manager in charge.”The manager in charge explained that they were not strange people but musicians or employees at Veil.Halo’s parents did not worry too much.In the meantime, Scorpion’s leader jumped in front of Halo.“So in the end, our reunion must mean it’s fate for you to become our member, right?”“I don’t think so.”Halo chuckled.When he rejected him again, the leader cried out, “Why!” It seemed he genuinely wanted Halo to become a member, if nothing else. In a way, he was someone without prejudice, inviting Halo to join a group composed of members in their 30s.“I came here for a different purpose.”At Halo’s words, the leader tilted his head, about to express his doubt. Then a familiar voice cut in between them.“That’s right. Unfortunately, recruiting a new member seems impossible.”“President?”“He’s here to sign a contract with me today.”“!”August Veil, who had approached with Caroline to assess the situation, glanced at Halo.As if it was no surprise that he was ‘The Sun,’ he stood out and drew people’s attention no matter where he went.Though he probably didn’t expect it would be Scorpion’s leader, Rill.Anyway, after telling Halo to wait a moment, August Veil scolded Rill.“By the way, didn’t I tell you to leave? Why are you still here?”“…The company was empty today, so I thought there might be an event.”“What event? How could I make you work during the Christmas festival? You’d all go on strike.”“Well, is some important figure coming or something?”August briefly looked at Rill.This guy occasionally had insane insights. His musical talent also stemmed from his keen insights at times.Fortunately, Rill did not think any further.After all, who could imagine ‘The Sun’ would come here? Only August and Caroline knew they had contracted with ‘The Sun’ within the company.The fewer people who knew the secret, the better.Rill’s interest in the boy was solely for the purpose of recruiting a new member.“If an important figure were coming, I should welcome them warmly. Would this work?”“I suppose. And the important figure would be going that way, not this way.”The leader took one last glance at Halo.“If you ever want to develop your guitar skills, come to us. We’ll welcome you anytime.”Halo was naturally about to refuse, but suddenly had a question.“I understand that I’m good. But why do you want to recruit me so badly?”Halo was curious about why the leader wanted to recruit him so desperately.Of course, he understood his awe at Halo’s performance, but questioned why he needed to bring Halo into a band that already had a guitarist.“I have a goal.”Then, the leader suddenly said,“It’s a recent one.”Was he trying to organize the band like an orchestra?Then, the leader opened his mouth.“Recently, I met an incredible person. Their music is hard to describe with words, but it was delicate yet intense and overwhelming—a powerful yet melancholic song.Delicate yet intense? Does that even make sense?But that person’s songs were like that. Truly unbelievable songs.They even casually uploaded such songs anywhere, like they were rough drafts. Something I would never do. As if they could create them anytime.”The leader sighed and stared into the distance, as if stunned while also dazed by love like a fool.“Yeah, if it’s someone who can create songs like that. They can probably make more anytime. I thought they would release something in a similar genre. It wouldn’t be strange if they self-plagiarized.”Then, the leader suddenly kneeled. His raised finger had ‘The Sun’ tattooed on it, seemingly a new tattoo.Halo’s parents were startled, but August and the other Scorpion members looked at him familiarly. It didn’t seem to be the first or second time for such an incident.Yeah, they called them a lunatic, didn’t they?“Ha. But then. The next album… The new album released just a month later… was completely different. Beyond my expectations, and beyond what I thought that person could create. As if he had become someone else entirely. How could he make such beautiful songs? Would this be the kind of music Mendelssohn would make if he were reborn as a pop artist?”At this point, there would be no one who didn’t know who the leader was talking about.Given the situation, August Veil grinned mischievously as he looked at Halo, as if asking how it felt to meet his first fanatic.“I want to stand side by side with him. I want to create music like his, talk about music with him, and maybe even become friends. For his sake, I need to become someone who can match him, no, at least follow in his footsteps.”The leader stood up abruptly and faced Halo.“Genius kid, let’s go to the top of the world together. And let’s create incredible music.”Halo, who had been blankly staring at the leader, answered,“Nope.”
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[4]
In English
#“Hahaha, how does it feel to meet such a passionate fan?”“What difference would there be?”Halo calmly replied. August Veil burst into laughter again at his response.He seemed to have expected a fresher reaction from Halo. Unfortunately for him, Halo had already experienced many such fanatics.‘But there is one difference.’In the past, there were many fanatics who worshipped him when his appearance and everything about him were known. But now, they were worshipping him without knowing anything about him.He briefly recalled critics who said he would have become a vagrant if he weren’t handsome.Come to think of it, not much of what they said was correct.The contract where August Veil found the connection between the name ‘HALO’ and Roh Haeil’s English name interesting began.Halo signed a distribution contract with Veil. August said the music would be released on global streaming platforms around the time they left the UK.Indeed, when they arrived in France, the official digital music was released. Halo’s 1st and 2nd albums were uploaded to music streaming platforms worldwide, including Spotify.The album covers were black-and-white photographs of a location in the UK. It seemed they had used the place Halo mentioned as the background for the albums as the cover art.The album covers without his face felt fresh and not bad.After the contract, they did not immediately return home.True to the purpose of ‘traveling,’ they visited France and Italy after the UK.With it being January, there were festivals in various parts of Europe.Moreover, there were must-see attractions in Europe: soccer, musicals, operas, and of course, delicacies.Halo occasionally snuck away from his parents to enjoy his own time, truly experiencing new places, food, and friends.Regardless of age or gender, Halo became friends with them all, playing the guitar but refraining from singing separately. It seemed wise to save his voice for returning to Korea and making the third album and considering a single album.The two-week planned itinerary was extended to three weeks, and the flight schedule was pushed back. They boarded the plane to Incheon International Airport in mid-January.[Ladies and gentlemen, we have arrived at Incheon International Airport. Please fasten your seatbelts and open the window curtains.]Halo came out through the entrance with their carry-on luggage.Wearing clothes newly bought in Europe, they exuded an exotic feeling.Occasionally, someone would glance at him briefly.As Halo walked with a wider stride than before, he saw themselves in the large mirror on the wall.Roh Haeil, between a boy and a young man, was looking at him.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)!
Chapter 41 - The Boundary Between a Boy and a Youth
When the guitar stopped, Halo looked at the man, meaning ‘How was that?’ But the man couldn’t say a word.“Awesome!”
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[1]
In English
Instead, the audience applauded. They seemed to have not expected much but were delighted as if receiving a Christmas present, marveling at his performance.“What was that!”“That was the best performance of my life, kid. Way better than that shabby guy over there.”“Want a drink?”Some offered him a glass of ale.Like most countries, the UK prohibits the sale of alcohol to minors under 18, but there is little control over drinking itself. In fact, even 16-year-olds can enter pubs under parental supervision, and statistics show that one in six children aged 11 drinks alcohol at home every week.“Unfortunately, ale is not to my taste.”While the UK is famous for ale, Halo preferred stronger drinks like whisky, gin, and rum.“Right, you’re still at the age for orange juice.”That wasn’t the reason.As Halo’s expression hardened, the uncle who had joked started chuckling, then rolled up several bills and stuffed them into the empty glass. The deep red pounds were a generous tip.“I can’t enjoy such a great performance for free.”Inspired by his generosity, others also added money, along with well-wishes for him to become a superstar, promising to buy his album when he debuts and attend his concerts. Some even suggested audition programs he should try.No one thought he was an established musician. How could they? He only appeared to be a youth—looking younger than his actual age.‘How should I handle this?’Halo stared intently at the money that couldn’t fit in the glass as he gave high-fives.In the midst of this, the man behind him suddenly grabbed his shoulder.What? Halo’s eyebrows twitched.The man’s eyes seemed to sparkle like fire.“You.”At first, Halo thought it was a confrontation.“Join my band.”“!”“I’ll treat you well. Definitely join.”The man didn’t seem offended or angry.He was looking at Halo intensely enough to be unpleasant.“You’re not already in one, are you?”Halo was about to say he was but shook his head. Since he hadn’t signed with Veil yet, he wasn’t in a contractual relationship with them.“Not yet.”“Good.”The man continued, shaking off a shiver of delight.“You’re a genius, kid. You have to become a guitarist. I’m saying you shouldn’t leave it as just a hobby.”While the audience simply thought he was young and talented, the man recognized the child’s talent.‘Struggle’ was an even more complex song than he had thought, not something just anyone could play.To see him play it so effortlessly—.The man gulped down his saliva.He was tempted. Tempted by the talent, and found it difficult to be patient at the thought of how beautiful his band would be with this child.“Join my band with me. The best guitarist in our team is there, you know? He’ll teach you a lot. Don’t you want to get famous? You can have it all—money, honor, everything.”The man took Halo’s silence as a positive sign and continued, spitting as he spoke.“We’re going to form the world’s greatest band. Kid, you play guitar, and I’ll sing. How about it?”Halo grinned.The man smiled back, seeming to think Halo would definitely say yes.What teenager wouldn’t want to become famous in the world?“No.”There was one.The man, who didn’t expect a rejection, moved his lips. Then he blurted out in an excited state,“You’re saying that because you don’t know, but I’m a really big deal, you know? This isn’t an opportunity that comes around anytime.”And to show off, he slightly revealed his face beneath the beanie. It was an unfamiliar face.“…”“You can’t be serious?! How can you not know me? Take a look again.”The man lifted his beanie again, revealing his forehead this time. Then he lowered the beanie with the scorpion embroidered on it.“You still don’t know? Ha!”When Halo continued to stare blankly, the man seemed offended. After briefly contemplating, he spun around and pulled down his hood, also removing his beanie.His lip piercing and green hair emerged, along with a small scorpion tattoo on one cheek and neck tattoos. A large Roman letter was wrapped around his neck.SCORPION
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[2]
In English
“Scorpion.”
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[3]
In English
“Yeah!”Halo simply read the letters aloud, but the man clapped.“Yeah, it’s me. There’s no way you don’t know. Do you realize what a huge opportunity you just missed?”“I wouldn’t know.”“You wouldn’t know?”“I wouldn’t know, but there seems to be something more important.”As Halo nodded, the man turned his head to follow Halo’s gaze. And he discovered the crowd looking at him like they wanted to devour him.“!”“Scorpion?”“That’s not Scorpion, is it?”“Scorpion appeared!”The murmurs grew louder and louder, like a wave.Oh no!The man belatedly pulled up his hood, but those who wanted to see had already seen. Hastily grabbing his guitar, the man tried to flee but shouted instead,“Tomorrow! Meet me here again tomorrow!”Halo snorted and put his guitar back in its case.He had a meeting with Veil tomorrow.Even if he didn’t, he wouldn’t show up.It seemed he would never meet that scorpion again.‘By the way, how do I deal with this?’Halo picked up the glass filled with bills instead of drinks. He shrugged, thinking he would figure out a way to use it, and slung his guitar over his shoulder.Little did he know he would unexpectedly meet that scorpion again.#It was when Halo headed to Veil in the evening.“Ah! You’re… That kid?!”Why is this guy here?Halo slightly frowned.The man who should have been wandering around Trafalgar Square was loudly chatting with his friends (band members) in the Veil company lobby.While he had been dressed like a vagrant yesterday, today he wore a leather jacket and neatly brushed his green hair up.“Kid! I was looking for you desperately this afternoon! Why didn’t you show up!”“I never promised to.”“Ah—. That’s true.”The man fell silent, then looked back at his friends.“Guys, this is the one I was talking about. The genius kid! He’s more than qualified to be our new member!”One of the friends behind him glanced at Halo. After seeing Halo’s blank expression, he raised both hands.“Sorry, kid. This friend is a bit like this.”He twirled his finger beside his head.“Just please don’t report him to the police. He still hasn’t paid off his student loans. Give it another five years or so.”Whether a serious black joke or not, he apologized politely like a gentleman.“Please excuse our rudeness, Mrs. and Mr. Our leader was captivated by your son’s guitar performance yesterday and wants to bring him into our band.”“The leader, you say…?”“Ah, I’m late with introductions. We’re Scorpion. These are the members, and I’m the manager in charge.”The manager in charge explained that they were not strange people but musicians or employees at Veil.Halo’s parents did not worry too much.In the meantime, Scorpion’s leader jumped in front of Halo.“So in the end, our reunion must mean it’s fate for you to become our member, right?”“I don’t think so.”Halo chuckled.When he rejected him again, the leader cried out, “Why!” It seemed he genuinely wanted Halo to become a member, if nothing else. In a way, he was someone without prejudice, inviting Halo to join a group composed of members in their 30s.“I came here for a different purpose.”At Halo’s words, the leader tilted his head, about to express his doubt. Then a familiar voice cut in between them.“That’s right. Unfortunately, recruiting a new member seems impossible.”“President?”“He’s here to sign a contract with me today.”“!”August Veil, who had approached with Caroline to assess the situation, glanced at Halo.As if it was no surprise that he was ‘The Sun,’ he stood out and drew people’s attention no matter where he went.Though he probably didn’t expect it would be Scorpion’s leader, Rill.Anyway, after telling Halo to wait a moment, August Veil scolded Rill.“By the way, didn’t I tell you to leave? Why are you still here?”“…The company was empty today, so I thought there might be an event.”“What event? How could I make you work during the Christmas festival? You’d all go on strike.”“Well, is some important figure coming or something?”August briefly looked at Rill.This guy occasionally had insane insights. His musical talent also stemmed from his keen insights at times.Fortunately, Rill did not think any further.After all, who could imagine ‘The Sun’ would come here? Only August and Caroline knew they had contracted with ‘The Sun’ within the company.The fewer people who knew the secret, the better.Rill’s interest in the boy was solely for the purpose of recruiting a new member.“If an important figure were coming, I should welcome them warmly. Would this work?”“I suppose. And the important figure would be going that way, not this way.”The leader took one last glance at Halo.“If you ever want to develop your guitar skills, come to us. We’ll welcome you anytime.”Halo was naturally about to refuse, but suddenly had a question.“I understand that I’m good. But why do you want to recruit me so badly?”Halo was curious about why the leader wanted to recruit him so desperately.Of course, he understood his awe at Halo’s performance, but questioned why he needed to bring Halo into a band that already had a guitarist.“I have a goal.”Then, the leader suddenly said,“It’s a recent one.”Was he trying to organize the band like an orchestra?Then, the leader opened his mouth.“Recently, I met an incredible person. Their music is hard to describe with words, but it was delicate yet intense and overwhelming—a powerful yet melancholic song.Delicate yet intense? Does that even make sense?But that person’s songs were like that. Truly unbelievable songs.They even casually uploaded such songs anywhere, like they were rough drafts. Something I would never do. As if they could create them anytime.”The leader sighed and stared into the distance, as if stunned while also dazed by love like a fool.“Yeah, if it’s someone who can create songs like that. They can probably make more anytime. I thought they would release something in a similar genre. It wouldn’t be strange if they self-plagiarized.”Then, the leader suddenly kneeled. His raised finger had ‘The Sun’ tattooed on it, seemingly a new tattoo.Halo’s parents were startled, but August and the other Scorpion members looked at him familiarly. It didn’t seem to be the first or second time for such an incident.Yeah, they called them a lunatic, didn’t they?“Ha. But then. The next album… The new album released just a month later… was completely different. Beyond my expectations, and beyond what I thought that person could create. As if he had become someone else entirely. How could he make such beautiful songs? Would this be the kind of music Mendelssohn would make if he were reborn as a pop artist?”At this point, there would be no one who didn’t know who the leader was talking about.Given the situation, August Veil grinned mischievously as he looked at Halo, as if asking how it felt to meet his first fanatic.“I want to stand side by side with him. I want to create music like his, talk about music with him, and maybe even become friends. For his sake, I need to become someone who can match him, no, at least follow in his footsteps.”The leader stood up abruptly and faced Halo.“Genius kid, let’s go to the top of the world together. And let’s create incredible music.”Halo, who had been blankly staring at the leader, answered,“Nope.”
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[4]
In English
#“Hahaha, how does it feel to meet such a passionate fan?”“What difference would there be?”Halo calmly replied. August Veil burst into laughter again at his response.He seemed to have expected a fresher reaction from Halo. Unfortunately for him, Halo had already experienced many such fanatics.‘But there is one difference.’In the past, there were many fanatics who worshipped him when his appearance and everything about him were known. But now, they were worshipping him without knowing anything about him.He briefly recalled critics who said he would have become a vagrant if he weren’t handsome.Come to think of it, not much of what they said was correct.The contract where August Veil found the connection between the name ‘HALO’ and Roh Haeil’s English name interesting began.Halo signed a distribution contract with Veil. August said the music would be released on global streaming platforms around the time they left the UK.Indeed, when they arrived in France, the official digital music was released. Halo’s 1st and 2nd albums were uploaded to music streaming platforms worldwide, including Spotify.The album covers were black-and-white photographs of a location in the UK. It seemed they had used the place Halo mentioned as the background for the albums as the cover art.The album covers without his face felt fresh and not bad.After the contract, they did not immediately return home.True to the purpose of ‘traveling,’ they visited France and Italy after the UK.With it being January, there were festivals in various parts of Europe.Moreover, there were must-see attractions in Europe: soccer, musicals, operas, and of course, delicacies.Halo occasionally snuck away from his parents to enjoy his own time, truly experiencing new places, food, and friends.Regardless of age or gender, Halo became friends with them all, playing the guitar but refraining from singing separately. It seemed wise to save his voice for returning to Korea and making the third album and considering a single album.The two-week planned itinerary was extended to three weeks, and the flight schedule was pushed back. They boarded the plane to Incheon International Airport in mid-January.[Ladies and gentlemen, we have arrived at Incheon International Airport. Please fasten your seatbelts and open the window curtains.]Halo came out through the entrance with their carry-on luggage.Wearing clothes newly bought in Europe, they exuded an exotic feeling.Occasionally, someone would glance at him briefly.As Halo walked with a wider stride than before, he saw themselves in the large mirror on the wall.Roh Haeil, between a boy and a young man, was looking at him.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)!
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