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[Alexandr Korol]

people on social media, try to answer everyone. When I finished a book, I immediately made some kind of analysis, a presentation, organized various intellectual clubs. I did all of it so modestly, purely through the books, and my conscience wouldn’t let me call myself a psychic-freemason, or an elite astrologer of Moscow. Well, it’s just insane. I remember the words of Big Alexander, how he said they would put all those upstarts in their place, that this is obscurantism. But I look around and see that they get away with everything, everyone loves them, while no one reads me. Or readers tell me:

– Alexandr, you’re doing some presentation for a thousand rubles, but I decided to sign up with this guy because he’s number one in everything.
– Why did you decide that?
– Because he said it loudly.
– My conscience doesn’t allow me to say something like that. I’m afraid. It’s like I feel I would die if I said something like that.

Seriously, I’m that afraid to say something like that. And then they bring up all these people as examples to me. And everyone acts so boldly: they lie about themselves however they want, take photos in some kind of image, as if they have everything. And the most interesting thing is, even my friends start tempting me and say:

– Alex, you just went to that country — at least post some photos. People would be amazed. Everyone dreams of going there, and you’ve been.
– Well, it just... doesn’t feel right.
– What do you mean, doesn’t feel right?
– Well, it feels like boasting.
– Come on, boasting is when you pose with fancy cars and all that — although if we were in your place, we’d definitely be posting photos with your cars.

So even my friends were tempting me like that. And it felt like the hardest period of these temptations — for the whole world, really — began around 2017, maybe 2018, 2019, 2020. Actually no, back then it was still kind of honest, there weren’t that many of them yet. But when people really lost their minds —