Dawn of Symbiosis #103 Chapter 21 Section 2: The Voice of Sprouting Serial Novel

It was at the end of a certain winter.
The wind was still cold, and the town's air was filled with white breaths.

However, there were certainly signs of small changes on the street corners.

The demonstration experiment of the "Town Circle" that began in City A was quietly defying the residents' expectations.

It was a circulation of "thank yous," not points or money.

A word received at the register, a feeling sent to someone who helped in the field, an app that records someone's goodwill.

Though they were confused at first, people eventually began to say in unison:

"I felt happy, somehow."
"Maybe this is what it means for feelings to reach someone."

A small article in the local section of the newspaper, a short video shared on social media, and casual word-of-mouth from acquaintances.

In this way, the story of the "currency of gratitude" spread quietly, but surely.

In City B, Aya/Yura was incorporated into volunteer activities started by high school students.

After school, students who helped organize the library or assisted with smartphone classes for the elderly looked at the records of the "thank yous" they had received and smiled blankly.

"It's like, I felt rewarded... I thought that someone was really watching."

Such modest realizations created a small chain reaction among them.

Gradually involving teachers and local residents, the entire town became wrapped in an atmosphere of "noticing each other."

Meanwhile, in a mountain village in Town G, which had its heaviest snowfall in over a decade, an elderly woman said to a young person who had come to help with snow shoveling:

"...It really is a happy thing to properly convey a thank you."

Words were exchanged, recorded, and connected to the next encounter.

It was more like a "circulating heart" than a currency.

Before long, voices began to rise in distant towns across Japan, asking, "Can we introduce this here, too?"

Petitions brought to city halls. Small study groups.
Requests for site visits by citizen groups.

The seeds of change were not ordered by anyone, nor were they advertised by anyone.

They were the voices of sprouting.
Just like seeds sleeping in the soil, feeling the light and reaching upward.

⬇️Continued