Pale moonlight shone brightly, creeping into the dark prison cell. Through the gaps, Alex William could see the moon peeking in curiously.
“Will this be the last time I look at you?” the young man whispered softly, demanding an answer from the moon.
He used to be an active college senior who loved working out and lived a peaceful, modest life. The only thing that made it a little chaotic was his good looks, which caused countless girls to chase after him.
All his hangout buddies said it was a blessing. But Alex had never entirely agreed. That handsome face people called a blessing had instead become the cause of his life's destruction.
Because of this face, one girl had fallen madly in love with him.
Clara Parker was one of those who couldn't let go of her grudge against him. Alex had once politely rejected the secret invitation to date that the girl sent through an Instagram direct message.
Now, countless regrets churned through the young man's mind as he wondered why he hadn't accepted her invitation back then. Not because Clara would've made a good partner, but accepting her could at least have saved his miserable life right now.
After he turned her down politely, the girl became furious. While she was alive, Clara had been incredibly vindictive, making things difficult for him everywhere. With her father's connections as mayor, Clara had made it nearly impossible for him to move around in that major city. His senior thesis research was forced to a halt, his father suddenly got into an accident, and his family's business collapsed overnight.
Even when he offered himself to her as an apology, Clara had casually said... it was already too late.
Alex sat lost in thought, hugging both knees. His face was deathly pale, his spine hunched and both shoulders drooping forward. Would his friends still say they envied him for his handsome face after this?
By now, he had become a murder suspect. Clara Parker was dead, and the news offered a little comfort for the wound in Alex's heart left by his father's death.
But the problem was that the girl's death was unnatural. That night, shortly after Alex finished repairing the electrical connection in Clara's apartment, the girl was found breathing her last.
Alex was innocent, but he was suddenly accused of being the sole suspect after his fingerprints were found on Clara's body.
That night, he had deliberately pushed Clara away to break free after she hugged him from behind. Just fifteen minutes later, without accepting his payment, he hurried out of the apartment. He had no idea what happened afterward. In the blink of an eye, Clara was gone.
Now, a sheet of paper and a pen before him were his last hope of defending himself. He could leave a message there for anyone who might be able to help.
But Alex was just an ordinary young man. In the end, he raised his hand and decided to write his last message.
“Mom... forgive your unfilial son. I never committed that crime. Even in death, I'll hold on to my dignity. Don't watch the live broadcast. Go back to our hometown and take my two younger siblings with you. Remarry if you find a good man. Pray for me in peace.”
Every stroke of the pen was filled with force. If there was a next life, Alex swore he would hunt down Clara and her entire mayor's family. He promised to become more successful than all of them and destroy them like ants beneath his feet. He had never been a vengeful person, but this time, his hatred was all too real—and enormous.
After reading what he had written three times and shedding tears twice, Alex carefully folded the paper and placed it in the slot provided by the prison officers. His task now was to wait for morning to arrive. To wait for someone to take him from behind the iron bars—not to execute him, but to take him somewhere.
A familiar place he had never once visited—the Sunrise Entertainment Building.
As 2026 began, this country finally adopted an advanced live-broadcast simulation from overseas. It was a 24-hour live-broadcast program aired through a special app that went viral overnight.
Live streams of celebrities' daily lives—or perhaps the lives of ordinary people—might already have become boring to watch. So the arrival of this new program instantly caused an uproar across the internet.
The live broadcast was titled “Is He the Criminal?”... It featured a criminal suspect.
The suspects came from cases that had reached a dead end, requiring outsiders to judge whether they were guilty and should be charged.
The suspect was put to sleep inside a capsule pod and fitted with advanced medical components capable of recording brain activity. For weeks, the person was deliberately kept asleep and hypnotized until a new life setting was embedded in their brain.
Those put on trial this way never knew what was happening in the real world. They believed the world in their dreams was real; everything from birth to adulthood felt real. Without knowing it, they were being judged by viewers outside.
Although Alex had loved watching it in the past, it had always raised a major question in his mind. Looking at the program's setup, which gave people a difficult life from birth, could even a kindhearted person survive the cruelty of life?
Alex thought that if even a criminal couldn't endure it, then he probably wouldn't be able to either.