Prologue

???: (That day, I witnessed an “idol” for the first time in my life.)

(My first impression was that they were light.)

(They shone brightly, as if something had exploded.)

(I thought they were blinding; I ended up screaming like an idiot and bracing myself for a battle.)

(That was when—one of the idols singing atop the stage looked my way.)

(I might have hallucinated it, but we made eye contact.)

(I was not in the audience, where countless penlights were lighting up the auditorium; no, I was in a dark passageway, into which not a single beam of light penetrated.)

(He shouldn’t have been able to see me from the stage, where he was surrounded by brilliance.)

(But that idol saw me and smiled.)

(And while he was singing, he reached out his hand toward me.)

(But at that time, I had become tired of everything in life; I had no more hopes or dreams—)

(I loathed and envied that those idols were standing in the light while I was surrounded by darkness...)

(For just a moment, I ignored the beckoning hand of the idol.)

(But after just a moment, I couldn’t endure it any longer, and without thinking I reached back toward him—)