The Moment of Awakening

Ma Guohao sat in the car, gazing at the scenery outside the window.

The school bombing was over, and the road was crowded with traffic, causing Ma Guohao’s return home to be later than expected.

He didn’t respond to Zhang the maid’s worries or the driver’s nervousness.

His mind was blank, filled only with a buzzing noise.

He had failed!

Witnessing the power of the bomb, his feet had faltered, and if Red hadn’t appeared, he might have died.

He had still failed!

He walked with heavy steps, each one feeling like a thousand pounds, exhausting him with every lift, yet stepping on the corridor felt like walking on cotton, lacking substance.

If only his legs were stronger, if only he hadn’t slacked off during training, if only he hadn’t thought so much back then, if only…

Numerous regrets and resentments echoed in his mind, clanging and clattering.

Self-blame and distress pierced his body like sharp swords with every heartbeat.

Unconsciously, his memory led him back to his room.

Lying on the soft bed, his body sank into it, and Ma Guohao finally felt a moment of peace.

Weariness crept into the corners of his eyes, pulling down his eyelids, ready to drift him into a dream.

But Ma Guohao opened his eyes again.

He was back here, at the school, with the bomb, and the bomber.

The bomb slowly flew towards him, everything slowing down, the surrounding classmates, the song on the radio, the bomber’s movements.

He was still afraid, but he wouldn’t allow it.

He had once hoped to become a hero, to stand up.

Was it anger or resentment?

But it didn’t matter.

Ma Guohao moved forward again, reaching out his hand towards the bomb.

The heavy bomb rested in his palm, icy cold, completely different from his face.

Ma Guohao happily turned his head to look at Red.

“Look, I succeeded this time,” he wanted to say those words.

But instead, he saw Red looking at him with unfamiliar and hostile eyes.

No, this is a bomb!

Throw it away quickly.

When he realized this, he broke out in a cold sweat, wanting to throw it away immediately, but the bomb in his hand began to separate into numerous cubes like a Rubik’s Cube, adhering to his hand.

At this moment, he could see his hand also separating and changing into mechanical cubes.

What exactly is this?

He desperately tried to throw it away, but the flesh and skin of his hand kept adhering to the “bomb.”

During the tearing and adhesion process, he could even see his hand turning into the same structure as those mechanical cubes, while the bomb transformed into a slime composed of countless tiny cubes, beginning to drill into his body.

Finally, his hands turned into metal claws.

Ma Guohao looked at Red, but he was met with a merciless attack.

Seeing the sky again, the blue sky, the white clouds, and the splashing blood and metal cubes.

Falling to the ground, he saw the school pants of Suzuran Junior High.

“Hey, aren’t you the young master?

Why do you only have this little money on you?

It’s not enough at all.”

A shoe stepped on his face, it was the latest Nike running shoes from that year, the shoes he bought with his own money, the friends he made, stepping on his face.

This was back when he had nothing but money, he really wanted to make a friend.

He was generous and extravagant, giving his friends whatever they wanted, so he met a group of thugs who heard about a fool who spent money to make friends.

“No, you have to go home and get some more money.”

A palm slapped his face, with a strong sense of humiliation.

He propped himself up on the ground, “Enough, it’s my money, I can use it however I want, it’s none of your business.”

Getting up from the ground, his claws reached out towards the thug who was stepping on his face, piercing him through.

“You give…” The words he wanted to say slipped from his lips, he wasn’t used to these new arms yet.

“What’s going on, run, run!”

“Monster, you’re f*cking dead!”

The other two saw their companion being stabbed and covered in blood, and decisively ran away.

He had never seen anyone run so fast, except for that magical girl, of course.

No, he had to call 120 (emergency services) quickly, he almost subconsciously wanted to find his phone, even though he had already given his phone to the thugs back then.

“Hero, what a joke.”

A mocking woman’s voice rang out from all around.

At the same time, flames raced along the corners of the alley walls towards the two thugs, instantly turning them into burning men, their screams covering the world.

“Don’t even look at what you are now?

A monster!”

He turned his head towards the voice, it was a sexy woman wearing black leather armor, she looked at him and the thug bleeding under his feet with great interest, hands in her pockets, he was trying to crawl away.

“Who are you, why did you kill them?”

The woman looked at Ma Guohao with some doubt, as if the question was ridiculous.

Flames spread and burned from her teaching, gradually climbing up the walls on both sides, raging, the scorching flames making Ma Guohao’s mouth dry.

“What are you saying?

Hahahaha, what a strange question to ask,” the woman couldn’t help but laugh, laughing so happily, so innocently, so contagiously.

If he heard such laughter normally, he would also be unable to help but laugh, but now he only felt a chill down his spine.

“Then why did you kill that thug just now?

Don’t even look at what’s going on under your feet, that guy is about to die, you know?”

Ma Guohao couldn’t refute this.

“Have you ever eaten chicken drumsticks?”

Ma Guohao didn’t say a word in response.

“Then do you know how many chickens will be trapped in farms for their entire lives because of humans’ momentary cravings, never seeing the sunlight, trapped in cages, eating, excreting, and then being slaughtered and sent to the dining table?”

“I know.”

“This is life, life feeds on other life.

No matter how much people want to deny it, the fact is that people are stronger than chickens, so they can arbitrarily slaughter, raise, and play with chickens.

And I am stronger than those thugs just now, so I can do whatever I want to those thugs.

And didn’t you also conveniently kill one just now?”

“But this isn’t reality, this is my dream.

In reality, that guy is still alive and well.”

Ma Guohao didn’t directly respond to the woman’s answer, and at this moment he clearly felt that he was in a dream.

“Now, because there’s another you in my consciousness, my brain feels quite chaotic, and I can’t even control my own dreams.

So now, get out of my brain.”

As soon as he finished speaking, he had already stretched his claws out in front of the woman, vowing to end this murderous demon here.

But a spark of fire burned down the screen, and he saw himself before his eyes.

Half of his body was covered in mechanical parts and armor, his body was almost the incarnation of a machine, as wild as a beast.

Yang Jia’s short knife slashed at his claws, sparking some sparks, so Ma Guohao’s claw movements deviated a bit, landing next to a maid, while Yang Jia fell like a leaf to the other corner of the room.

“Hurry up and leave, are you staying here to get in the way?”

Ma Guohao couldn’t see the maid’s face clearly, he could only see her nod, and then quickly get up and leave.

Yang Jia then got up and confronted Ma Guohao again.

Ma Guohao was still in the room, watching his half-human, half-beast self being kicked into a secret passage, feeling an unspeakable sense of detachment.

The surrounding destruction was unimaginable, and what made it even more unacceptable was that the crazy, out-of-control being was himself.

Flames spewed out from the claw marks all over the room, and in the blink of an eye, the room turned into a sea of fire.

“But what happened just now wasn’t a dream, it was something you did,” the woman walked out from behind Ma Guohao and sat on the burning bed.

“In any case, you have already become that kind of monster.

From now on, your days will be about killing and being killed.

A hero?

You?

Don’t be so funny.”

“That’s not true.”

“What’s not true?

You’re not a monster?” the woman’s words were cold and cruel.

“I’m not a monster.”

“Do you want to look in the mirror and see what you look like?” the woman waved her hand, feeling inexplicable about Ma Guohao’s statement.

“My heart is not a monster.

I won’t kill people for pleasure.

I won’t be smug after killing people.

I won’t become a demon like you.”

The woman’s face turned gloomy, and the flames became even more sinister.

Ma Guohao felt his metal hands melting.

“I’ll say it again, get out of my brain,” Ma Guohao clenched his fists, and molten iron dripped from his fingertips onto the floor.

He rushed towards the demon.

“I’ve had enough of you.

Since you don’t want to become me, then I have to destroy you and replace you,” the woman got up, and the surrounding flames formed a fireball in her hand.

Just as she raised her hand, red butterflies appeared all around.

That is!

Ma Guohao realized something, but he didn’t stop because of it, but the woman’s face was obviously not good.

In the blink of an eye, those butterflies turned into red ribbons, firmly trapping the woman and making her unable to move.

Now she was like a wrapped cocoon.

On the other side, Ma Guohao was already close, and with a backhand, he punched the cocoon, and like in a cartoon, she instantly broke through the sky and disappeared.

The surrounding flames disappeared with a bang, and a cool breeze brushed past his ears, making his drowsy brain feel a lot better.

“Good morning, young master, how did you sleep?”

He opened his eyes and saw a flame being grabbed by Red in her hand, pulled out from his body, with wisps of fire still connecting it, like an umbilical cord.

In her other hand, she held a war hammer, while he was flying in mid-air, or rather, retreating away from Red.

He could still see a few screws stained with blood in his vision.

This is really a nightmare, he thought.