I opened my eyes. What greeted me was a crowd of people. They stood below the platform, staring up at me, their mouths moving as if they were shouting something. Their faces were filled with rage yet some with sorrowness. Among them were not only adults, but children as well. They looked at me the way one looks at a notorious pirate.
No—because I am one.
My entire life was truly been a tragedy.
After finishing that thought, I realized my hands were bound to a wooden board, my head tightly locked in the center of a guillotine. Even so, I had no intention of struggling. It felt as if, in this world, dreams had never existed at all.
A naval officer stepped onto the platform and began to declare my crimes. His voice was firm and righteous as he read them aloud. Every raid, every slaughter—each record was spoken clearly, one after another.
I listened to every word, each one striking my soul like a fatal blow. He was right. I was guilty. But through out my life, since when i am able get to choose my path?
Are those who possess dreams destined to never see them fulfilled? Can't a bird that's caged fly out from their seals? The fairest thing in this world is that it is unfair to everyone.
"Criminal Derrick Choi, you may state your last words."
His eyes—eyes that had witnessed countless hardships— recalling everything happened in the past He remembered the girl who gave him a place to live,
He hold a deep breath, slowly closed his eyes.
In that instant, he imagined himself falling into a dream.
In the dream, he had chosen a different path. He did not stand here as a condemned man. Instead, he joined the navy, entered its rigid system, and pledged his life to its banners. He grew stronger step by step, rising through ranks, witnessing grander battles and more thrilling events than he had ever known. Along the way, he met countless people—comrades, rivals, and friends from every corner of the seas—and with them forged bonds that felt unbreakable.
As time passed, he began to see the rot beneath the order he once believed in. Corruption spread through the system he served. Unable to endure it, he left the Navy and became a free pirate, sailing under his own flag. He stood alongside the legendary Pirate King and challenged the authority of the world itself. Together, they ignited a revolution, shattered the old regime, and built a new nation from its ashes. He became its king, standing at the pinnacle of history.
Many years later, he saw an old man walk into the royal palace.
The man spoke with trembling rage, cursing the system, shouting that it had long since decayed. He drew a blade and charged forward, only to be cut down instantly by the guards. As he lay dying, blood soaking the floor, he screamed with his last breath:"I'm not reconciled... I'm not reconciled at all! I gave everything for so many years, only to fall here, just before the end!!!"
The man died.
But as he listened to those words, he realized something chilling. The one who truly died was not that old man—it was himself. It was the version of him who had once longed to achieve greatness, who believed power and victory would fulfill his dream.
In that moment, the dream shattered.
He opened his eyes. The whispering between crowds had not yet finished, but the weight in his heart was gone. The desire for death no longer existed. Even if his hands, legs head was bounded, even if he know he will be execute, straight towards his head by the blade, it no longer mattered to him.
Hope ignited within him, fierce and sudden, like bamboo breaking through the earth after a storm.
He lifted his head and shouted to the crowd with everything he had left:"People! I will not die and begone! Every person in this world lives a life they are forced into. Children are forced to study, adults are forced to work, and even the elderly are forced to rot away alone in their homes. However, I exists— I am the will that will rebels against this world! As long as this will still exists, I shall not die!"
His words echoed through silence crowds.
Then, the razor blade fell down.
His head was severed from his body. He could no longer hear whether the crowd erupted in chaos or fell into silence. But it no longer mattered. He did not need to hear it.
Just like that, he died.