始まり
No empire is born on flat ground. The greatest monuments in history are built upon rubble, and my journey is living proof that a man's will can rebuild what arrogance tried to destroy.
Ilha Grande do Piauí. A tiny city cursed by a lack of infrastructure.
I was always considered the little genius, and do you know what the biggest weakness of little geniuses is?
Ego.
In my adolescence, I fell in love with the Japanese language and fed the audacious dream of doing an exchange program and graduating in Japan. I studied obstinately, preparing for the future I was designing myself.
「はぁ?!
日本に交換留学で行きたいの?
数学オリンピックが勝ったわけじゃないよ!
バーハハハ!」
During a call to the consulate, my dream was shattered. The employee's laughter mocked my dream. After all, how could an ordinary guy from Piauí, from a tiny little town, who "never won a math olympiad" be capable of getting approved? It's better not even to participate.
The official notice didn't say that. The rules didn't say that.
Those laughs buried me. How could this be? In my first contact with a native and already suffering this retaliation? For years, I put away my Japanese books and walked away. I was pushed into the darkness, seeing my plans turned into a ruin of rubble.