America

The land of immigrants, the land of opportunity, the land of freedom.

And here I am today, getting beaten up by thugs again.

A country where immigrants—Irish, German, British, Italian, Asian, and more—have gathered.

All those countless immigrants came here chasing their own interests.

I was one of them.

But I failed to adapt to this place.

The dreams of wealth and a stable life, which I thought could be achieved through hard work alone.

The dreams I tried to build relying solely on my strong self-reliance are being shattered and scattered into pieces.

I want to take root here, but I haven't been able to.

The Tree

So, I gathered them—the rootless people.

To take root here together.

To fight for a warm home.

To take root by using others as nutrients.

It started with simple robberies.

I have no ill will toward them.

It's just for the sake of taking root.

I was beaten and hovered between life and death, but I was happy.

Because I was with people who were rootless like me.

I feel alive when I'm with the rootless.

The sensation of gradually taking root was a source of great happiness and fulfillment for me.

What started as pickpocketing and robbery began to grow larger.

We stole money from banks and extorted protection money from small shops.

We built casinos, engaged in smuggling, and opened entertainment venues.

That's how we took deeper and deeper roots in this country.

The small organization grew so large that even the police couldn't easily touch us.

Yes, we have taken root completely.

Envy

I have certainly taken deep root.

Then why do I still envy them?

I have clearly grown a tree with deeper roots and more fruit.

I wear a suit like them, do business, and walk the streets.

Then why do I still want to chase those shabby old days, those shattered dreams?

Why do I want to wear a suit and tap away at a keyboard inside a company?

But I cannot leave the many people under me behind.

I can't just pull up a tree that has already taken such deep root.

I just have to swallow expensive alcohol that burns like pure spirits.

I have to go to church to quiet this jealousy.