Aladdin: Book 3 Chapter 2

## Verse 1

"**WHAT'S** SO FUNNY?!"

It was his **father's**voice — a shriek fueled by **anger**.

But it didn't bother him in the slightest.

He sweetly cocked his head, questioning what his father was so **up tight** about.

But the boy's father didn't stand for it, and struck his across the cheek.

"...It was just a **dream**."

In the middle of his monitors, the man awoke from his nap. From the table, he downed another energy drink, hoping it would bury again his distant memories of the past.

And so he turned his attention back to the stock market — his only reason for living."

 ...Dammit, I'm starved.

 I still can't get anyone to deliver...

 Do I really have to get it myself again?

 Urgh, what a pain...

## Verse 2

...What a shitty dream. If only I could forget about

the past.

## Verse 3

My emotions have this way of swinging differently

from others. When everyone was crying, I'd burst

into laughter. Other times when people were

moved to tears, I only felt disgust.

## Verse 4

I couldn't fit in anywhere. So naturally, I just went

off on my own. I wasn't sad about it. I didn't see any

reason to be.

## Verse 5

What do you think would happen to someone like

me when I entered the workforce after graduating?

The answer to that is easier than 1+1.

## Verse 6

I was excluded from society, what else? Yeah, yeah,

I know. It's scary to have to be around monsters

who don't get the gist of emotions. But guess what?

The same goes for me.

## Verse 7

What kept me connected to society isn't my parents,

friends, or a lover.

It's money.

## Verse 8

As long as I have money, people act nice to me.

They accept me as I am without any disdain.

## Verse 10

*Before*

Leaving his room for groceries only hours later, the city had somehow turned into chaos.

Shop windows were smashed, possibly related to **theft**, and strewn across the street lay people **injured**.

The man took one look at them, but paid them no mind. He continued into an unaffected store to buy his necessities.

"Aren't you gonna run?"

The man approached a trembling staff member bravely guarding the cash register.

The cashier shook their head.

"I-I can't. It'll be my fault if something..."

"So your job is more important than your life?"

He snickered at the cashier's tragic expression and added, "Well, **money** does surpass the cost of one's life."

 If the cashier gets blamed for running away

 and the store ends up getting robbed...

 It shouldn't matter as long as they've got money.

 But that cashier doesn't have money like me.

 Even if he does survive this ordeal...

 He'll still suffer to live a poor life.

 In that case, I can't blame them for putting their life on the line.

*After*

He was a man isolated from society, making a living out of day trading. However, while the abundance of wealth he made from it granted him happiness, his emotions became twisted.

――You can have just about anything with money.

**Sleep**, **hunger**, **sex**...

Money can take care of all your needs.

The **only thing** it can't buy you is...

"...That's bullshit. With money you can have anything."

He closed his eyes and envisioned the fear he saw in his father's pupils.

"I'll prove it..."

He silently mouthed out the rest of his words.

...That even **familial** love can be bought with money.

## Discordant Poem

Because the man struggled with his own emotions,

he found it difficult to connect with others and

isolated himself from the rest of society. For a man

like him, earning money on his own as a day trader

seemed to be his calling.

For the man, even life could be bought with money.

In other words, there was no point in living if you

were poor. And that's exactly how he grew up.

There was a time when the man had a family, but

before he realized it, they were gone. But though he

was able to acquire all his greed through spending,

it was familial love that he could not obtain. Or

rather, he let it slip from his fingers himself.