Chapter 31: This is not an Awakening lesson.
It's about peeling off your human skin and tearing apart your self-righteous "existence".
See how many bones of yours can hold up the truth.
If you can hold on - you probably deserve to live your own life.Are You Alive?
Section Four · If Not You, Then Who?
Jason fell silent for a moment, then suddenly roared:
"Who do you expect to do it?!"
"You don't act, they don't act — you're all waiting. Waiting for what?!"
His angry shout tore through the crowd like thunder.
Someone flinched and stood involuntarily, yet dared not respond; others clenched their jaws; some opened their mouths but could say nothing.
Jason denounced:
"Are you waiting for 'someone else to step up first'? Then who is that 'someone'?"
"Do you say 'wait for a better opportunity' — who gives you that 'opportunity'?"
"Do you claim your strength is small? Then at least start building it. Do you say you don't know what to do? Then what was all that shouting about 'I want to live' worth?"
—
He stepped down from the stage into the most distant zone — where people were the last to submit, and the easiest to waver.
He pointed at a young man and shouted:
"You!"
"Are you thinking every day, 'I'll just watch them play for now, and decide whether to join later'?"
Without waiting for a reply, he turned to everyone and bellowed:
"Are you all thinking every day, 'Let me see if Jason messes things up, so I can run away in time'?"
"Do you think you're clever?"
"You're not clever — you're complicit."
—
A murmur stirred below the stage.
An older man stood up angrily: "It's not that we're afraid! We're just being realistic! If we really take action, can you protect us?"
Jason's eyes turned cold:
"Do you think doing nothing will save you?"
"Reality has already excluded you — you're not an outsider. You're the kind of person who gets sacrificed first!"
"You wait, I wait, we all wait — and soon the pot boils us all alive, no one even has to move!"
—
The ARGUS system displayed a message:
[Significant decline in "Expectation of External Salvation" × Rise in Subjective Action Logic Index]
[Fuxi Semantic Module Synced: "'Every person bears responsibility for the rise or fall of the nation'" → "'If the awakened do not act, all others are doomed to die'"]
Jason waved his hand and summoned a screen. Projected on it was a "Core Responsibility Transfer Diagram" of a collapsed organization:
Everyone said, "I'm waiting for him to go first,"
And every "him" said, "This task is too big,"
Everyone said, "I support it, but I won't lead,"
In the end — the organization disintegrated in silence. The system smoothly took over, without firing a single shot.
—
Jason muttered one word:
"Weak."
He stared into the eyes of each person present:
"Weakness isn't fear of death — it's fear of choice."
"You'd rather let others decide your future — fine. Then your entire future will only be something assigned to you."
—
Lisa murmured softly: "Won't yelling at them like this make them retreat further?"
Jason's gaze was sharp as a blade:
"If they shrink back just because I raise my voice — then they don't deserve to have their own lives."
"We're not raising rabbits. We're lighting sparks."
"Fire must burn those who are willing to burn."
—
He looked at everyone still sitting motionless:
"Today, I'll say this once — anyone still clinging to 'waiting', leave now while you still can."
"Gray Wing doesn't keep spectators. Fire doesn't cater to cowards."
—
The Fuxi system announced:
[Critical Awakening Threshold Collapsed × Real Belonging Selection Activated]
[Consensus Locked Population Index: From 82% → 91%]
[First Recorded Instance of 'Voluntary Entry Into the Flames']
—
In a corner of the courtyard, someone slowly rose and silently walked into the ranks.
Then the second, third…
An emotional man shouted out:
"I've waited enough!"
"I've waited ten years — seen enough deaths, lived long enough like a dog."
"If I don't act now, I won't dare look my own children in the eye ever again!"
Suddenly, the whole stadium erupted into applause.
—
Jason nodded slightly, muttering to himself:
"Not everyone needs to be a hero, but everyone must do something."
Section Four · If Not You, Then Who?
The courtyard was quiet for a moment, when suddenly a hand shot up —
A middle-aged man with thick glasses, hesitant eyes: "It's not that I don't want to act — I'm just… scared. Scared I'll get betrayed."
His voice trembled: "There was an organization before — halfway through their mission, they were sold out by an insider. Everyone was captured. Can you promise us we won't be betrayed?"
Jason stared at him, his eyes like knives:
"You fear betrayal? Do you think doing nothing protects you from betrayal?"
"You've already been betrayed — you just haven't dared to admit the word 'betrayal' yet."
"Your current 'safety' is simply because it hasn't been your turn yet."
"The more carefully you live, the more justified your death becomes."
—
Low murmurs spread through the crowd.
Another girl shouted: "It's not that I have no faith — it's just feels too hard. What difference can we possibly make?"
Jason fired back:
"Can you conserve a little water every day? Can you choose not to report someone who speaks a few words too many? When someone gets beaten, can you stand with the victim?"
He raised his voice sharply:
"It's not that you cannot change the world — it's that you refuse to change even an inch of air around you!"
"You aren't powerless — you're afraid. And when you're afraid, you hand the right to act over to the evil ones."
—
At this point, another challenged him:
"You're too idealistic! Are you speaking from above, shielded by systems and power? We ordinary people can't make decisions!"
Jason roared:
"You're not ordinary! You're lazy! Cowardly! You pretend to be ordinary just to escape making choices — you're a big pile of human garbage hiding behind excuses!"
"The real 'ordinary people' are those who have nothing, yet still light a match!"
"You have legs, hands, a mouth — yet you use 'I'm just normal' to dodge responsibility. You're handing weapons to evil itself!"
—
ARGUS system flashed:
[Emotional Resonance Level: Extremely High × Chain of Self-Reflection Triggered]
[Faith Embedding Keyword Shift: From 'I Can't' to 'I Won't' → Reversed to: 'If I Don't Act, Who Will?']
—
Jason lowered his voice for the final blow:
"You think you're smart. You leave all the justice to others to carry, and all the failure for others to bear."
"You forward a post saying 'hope', say a couple of pitying words, click a Like button — and feel like you've fulfilled your duty."
"You're not neutral — you're cowardice built into a wall supporting evil."
"What's most terrifying today isn't how strong our enemies are — it's how soft our allies are."
—
At that moment, a thin boy stood up, trembling yet determined:
"I've never done anything before. But you're right. If I do nothing now, my child will only learn to hide."
"I'll try — just once."
As he finished, a line of people stood.
Then another row.
—
Jason lifted his head, watching the gradually unified crowd, and whispered:
"I'm not your hero — I 'm the noose tightened your laziness."
"Today I didn't come to lead you out — I came to tell you — if you don't set out now, you're not even worthy to be called human."
—
The Fuxi system slowly displayed:
[Key Meme Chain Complete × First Active Action Structure Established]
[Gray Wing Internal Awakening Rate: 93.1%]
[Fire Seed Dissemination Command Available: YES]
—
Jason gazed toward the ruins beyond, the city's shadow, the silent buildings:
"If you don't act, I don't act — who will?"
"If you don't fight, I don't fight — who will?"
"If you keep waiting, it won't be waiting for opportunity — it'll be waiting for extinction."
Section Five · Fire Isn't Just Burning — It's Lighting Up the Part Inside You That Isn't Dead Yet
Night fell, and the only lights on the field were pale whites casting long shadows, stretching like countless overlapping ghosts struggling to break free from their shells.
Jason stood still — like a mountain, like an unmoving anchor.
He didn't smile, didn't roar or applaud. He merely said softly:
"Have you awakened?"
No one dared answer.
He glanced upward gently:
"Don't rush to say you've awakened. Right now, you've simply... heard the sound of fire."
—
He slowly descended from the stage, walking through the crowd step by step.
"Fire isn't just burning — it's illumination. Illumination of the part inside you that hasn't died."
He looked at a silent middle-aged man: "Didn't you once say as a child — one day I'll protect Mom?"
He turned to a crying woman bowing her head: "Didn't you secretly dream — when I grow strong, I'll teach those bastards a lesson?"
To an old soldier with dimmed eyes: "Didn't you write in your diary once — someday, I'll leave this hellhole?"
"That voice hasn't died."
"It's just buried under daily survival, compromise, silence, anxiety, bills, and illusions — so deeply that it can't speak anymore."
—
He stopped and scanned the crowd:
"I'm not a savior. I haven't even saved myself."
"I'm standing here because I know — the fire inside me is almost gone. I need to ignite once… or I'll truly become what they wanted me to become."
"You've awakened today?"
He paused, then scoffed:
"No — you haven't awakened. You've merely heard fire asking you: 'Do you still want to live like a real person?'"
—
The ARGUS system quietly surfaced:
[Awakening Layer Activated × Meme Echo Wave Synchronized]
[Fuxi Prompt: This is not the moment of belonging × it is the moment of solitary departure]
Jason spoke softly:
"Awakening isn't when someone shouts and everyone nods."
"Awakening is when you walk home alone, and suddenly realize — all the life you've lived until now wasn't truly living."
—
He stood at the edge of the field, with his back to everyone, suddenly barked out:
"Now — everyone, get out."
The crowd shuddered.
He did not turn, but his voice was iron:
"Return to where you came from."
"If you crawled out of underground pipes, return there. If you came from food lines and tents, return there."
"Don't stay. Don't approach me."
"Don't call yourself a spark — you haven't earned it yet."
—
The Fuxi system appeared:
[Awakening Behavior Completed × Core Faith Independent Stage Initiated × 'Heartfire Self-Forging Phase' Achieved]
[All individuals entering the three-stage selection process: Shell-breaking → Enlightenment → Immersion in Flame]
—
Silence blanketed the field.
No one moved. No one dared to argue.
Jason continued:
"You either die out — or burn."
"I won't pull you, won't care for you, won't remind you."
"If you leave, leave — and see if you finally find the real you."
Section Five· Fire Isn't Just Burning — It's Lighting Up the Part Inside You That Isn't Dead Yet
Jason turned around, staring at those still standing,
those who thought they had already awakened.
He walked back step by step, standing in the center of the field,
his voice low, yet slicing across every face like a blade.
"You thought I told you to leave — so you'd be free?"
He sneered coldly:
"I'm telling you — you haven't earned the right to stay."
—
His tone turned cruel:
"You cried, applauded, shouted — that's not awakening. That's just emotion stirred for a moment."
"You say you've stood up, but really, you were only afraid of looking cowardly if you stayed seated."
"You say you were ignited — but really, you're just afraid of missing out, afraid of loneliness, afraid of not fitting in."
—
He suddenly roared:
"You haven't awakened — you've just been carried away by group heat covering up your own apathy!"
"You haven't ignited — you've only experienced a fleeting theatrical illusion, masking the fact that you have no flame at all!"
—
The audience froze instantly.
Jason spoke slowly, clearly:
"I've seen true awakenings. They don't happen when everyone cheers and gasps below the stage."
"They happen when everyone is silent — and a person sits alone, with only two kinds of light in their eyes: Either 'I can't live like this anymore,' or 'I may no longer move, but I'm still alive.'"
—
He swept his gaze across the crowd:
"You are not awakened beings. You are just intermediate-state cowards — unable to leave, yet too afraid to stay."
"Your passion will be smothered by self-doubt when you wake tomorrow morning."
"Your fire will vanish after the first sigh of 'today was exhausting' when you get home."
—
He lightly tapped the ARGUS device in his ear. The Fuxi system calmly displayed:
[Faith Resonance Peaks Then Falls × Emotional Synchronization Complete × Ready to Begin 'Shell-Shedding Trial Phase']
Jason whispered:
"Now — get out."
"I don't want to see your faces again, hear you say you were 'inspired,' 'moved,' or see you return to being who you were yesterday."
—
He gave the crowd one final stare:
"Either go back and burn away your hypocrisy and fear."
"Or don't come back at all — because you were never touched by the fire to begin with."
—
At that moment, the field fell utterly silent.
No applause, no sentimentality.
Only shame. Only silence. Only gazes emerging from ashes — empty yet burning.
—
The Fuxi system slowly concluded:
[Phase Transitioned: Entering 'Self-Crack × Faith Grows Alone' Mode]
[Current State: Fire Extinguished → Smoke Drifting → Faith Self-Forging]
[Next Node Prompt: Beginning Return Path × Inner Judgment Period]
—
Jason said nothing more.
He simply left the field slowly, his back rigid and cold as an unsheathed blade unwilling to strike.
Behind him, stood three thousand bodies,
Three thousand silent shadows,
Three thousand souls whose outer shells had just been torn open by flames —
But whose rebirth had yet to begin.