The Digital Butterfly

The sun-drenched square of Ethfoolin, the City of Fools, hummed with the chatter of thousands of players. Lin Feng and Yuriel sat by the sparkling central fountain, its water rendered with uncanny realism, reflecting the artificial sky. Around them, the vibrant world of New World Online thrived, a testament to developer foresight.

They had meticulously leveraged their future knowledge, completing hidden quests, conquering obscure dungeons, and obtaining powerful, rare equipment long before anyone else even knew they existed. They were currently, undeniably, among the top players, a stark contrast to their previous lives.

Yet, despite their success, a persistent unease nagged at them.

"Lin Feng," Yuriel began, his voice low, barely audible above the fountain's gentle splash. "Do you ever think... there are other time travelers like us?"

Lin Feng leaned back with a thoughtful gaze. "If dying to Roland was indeed the trigger for our time travel, that specific, obscure hidden quest requiring an investment of at least five months of non-stop questing, and the prerequisite of clearing several high-difficulty dungeons... then I would have to say no. It seems far too niche a death to any sane person to trigger."

"I thought so too," Yuriel admitted, his brow furrowing slightly. "But... the timeline of in-game events doesn't quite match up with my memories. It's subtle, but things are happening slightly differently."

Lin Feng considered this. "Perhaps it's the butterfly effect, then? And we're the butterflies, unknowingly flapping our wings and altering the current?"

Yuriel's expression grew more serious. "That's not all. I... I can't recall future events in real life either."

Lin Feng turned sharply, a flicker of concern in his eyes. "What are you talking about? Of course you can. We discussed the market crash, the political shifts..."

"No, I mean the next major event," Yuriel insisted, his gaze locking onto his. "Try to remember. The next global incident that shook the world. The one that came right after New World Online really blew up."

Lin Feng closed his eyes, concentrating. "Of course, it's... it's the next global incident that shook the world was... The..." His voice trailed off. He squeezed his eyes tighter, a faint tremor starting in his hands. "The..."

He clutched his head, a sudden, disorienting wave of internal dread assaulting him. It was a cold, empty void where a memory should have been. His mind scrambled, desperate to grasp it, but there was nothing. Just blankness. "I... I can't remember," he whispered, his voice tinged with a raw edge of panic. "It's gone. Not only that, except for the game knowledge, I can only recall vague memories of the general trends of my life in the last timeline. I can't recall any specific names of people I was supposed to meet in the future, let alone their faces, or exact conversations."

Yuriel reached out, placing a comforting hand on his arm. "I experienced the same thing, Lin Feng. We must remain calm. Panicking won't help us."

Lin Feng took a ragged breath, nodding slowly. "Right. Right. At least I'm not alone in this situation. That's... a small comfort. Let's figure this out together."

"Yeah," Yuriel agreed, his grip tightening reassuringly.

Just then, a dim light erupted nearby the central fountain, signaling a player had entered the game, nothing unusual . However, it's a player both Lin Feng and Yuriel recognized instantly from their memories of the previous timeline.

"Isn't that Kaito?" Yuriel whispered, his eyes wide with a mix of awe and surprise. "The first ranker in New World Online?"

Lin Feng watched with intense interest. "Yeah. To think I get to witness the legend themselves, right here, right before their rise to absolute dominance."

Yuriel turned to him, a strategic glint in his eyes. "Do you think we should try to recruit him? Invite him to join our party? His skill, combined with ours..."

Lin Feng shook his head, a thoughtful expression on his face. "No. We shouldn't bother him. Look, he's already moving towards someone else, probably his early-game party. Who knows what will happen to the future in-game event timeline if we were to directly involve ourselves with him? It could unravel everything we know, perhaps for the worse." He allowed a confident smile to spread across his face. "Besides, we will be the top rankers this time, Yuriel. This time, the legends will be us."

"I like your spirit," Yuriel said, a faint smile gracing his lips, the shared challenge bringing a new resolve to his eyes.

 _____________________________________________

Kaito appeared in a flash of light by the central fountain of Ethfoolin. Durandal was nowhere in sight, probably now deep within Promere, the City of the First Light, the capital of the Arcadia continent. She had taken up the unexpected profession of a chef, running a bustling restaurant and delighting in the myriad new flavors she'd never experienced before.

In the distance, Kaito noticed a familiar avatar. A player with long, dark hair in a cute ponytail, wearing a simple adventurer's tunic. SayoLow53. It was his sister, Sayo, who waved at him.

"Big brother!" Sayo called out. "Wow, your gear looks really good! I mean, seriously, that armor is amazing. I can tell you've been playing since the very beginning to get stuff like that, huh?"

Kaito offered a slight smile. "Yeah, I spent some time getting it. It was... an investment. Definitely put in the hours."

"Oh, come on, that's an understatement." Sayo giggled. "You must have cleared some crazy dungeons. Anyway, let's go to the Adventurer's Guild then. We can pick up a quest we can do together."

They entered the guild hall, a bustling hub filled with various player and NPC adventurers. The moment Kaito stepped inside, a ripple went through the room. Every single NPC adventurer, from the grizzled veterans nursing ale to the fresh-faced recruits, immediately turned their heads, their gazes fixed on Kaito with an almost deferential awe. The receptionist, usually glued to her desk, abruptly stood up, bowing deeply.

"Esteemed Adventurer!" she exclaimed. "Thank you for gracing us with your humble presence. It is truly an honor to be able to serve you. How may we assist you today?"

Kaito forced a tight smile, his eyes darting around, a flicker of exasperation crossing his face. "I'm going to be right back, Sayo. Tamamo is bothering me with something. Just... wait here for a second"

After a minute, Kaito logged back in. "Sorry about that," Kaito said, looking slightly calmer. "Let's continue on."

The NPCs, as if a switch had been flipped, immediately went back to their normal activities, the surrounding players shrugging, assuming it was just some kind of odd bug.

Sayo approached the quest board, still a bit bewildered. "Big brother, what rank are you at? I just got to E-rank yesterday after three days of mostly just picking herbs. It was exhausting."

"D-rank," Kaito replied casually.

"D-rank already?!" Sayo gasped, her eyes practically popping out. "That's incredible! You must be super strong. How about a goblin slaying task? Big brother, can you carry me until I reach your rank? Please?" Her eyes pleaded with the characteristic puppy-dog look only a younger sister could master.

"Sure, I don't see why not," Kaito agreed, already thinking of the fastest way to power-level her.

They accepted a low-level quest for goblin eradication and headed out of the city. Sayo, now equipped with a simple wooden bow and a quiver of arrows, pointed a different direction. "Big brother, I think the goblin area is the other way. The quest marker shows it near the Forest of Beginning, just past the Broken Bridge."

"I know a better location," Kaito countered, veering sharply towards a more desolate, rocky landscape, devoid of the usual early-game monsters spots. "There's a cavern here with a much higher density of goblins. If we manage to kill about fifteen hundreds of them, you should easily reach level 10 and rank up when you turn in the request. It'll be much faster."

Sayo's exclaimed. "Fifteen hundred? That's an insane amount. I don't think we can handle that with just the two of us alone, it would take a really long time."

"Don't sweat it," Kaito said, pulling out a plain, unadorned wooden stick. "I have a... special 'goblin slayer passive' that gives me an overwhelming advantage against them. Trust me, it's fine."

"But... you only have a wooden stick as a weapon," Sayo pointed out. "Are you just trying to mess with me? Where's your real weapon?"

"It's cypress," Kaito corrected mildly, rotating the stick in his hand. "But yes. And I've enchanted it a bit. It should out-damage anything you can get this early in the game."

"If you say so," Sayo muttered, still clearly skeptical but willing to follow her seemingly mad brother into the unknown.

They entered a deep, sprawling cavern, the air immediately growing chillier and danker, the silence broken only by the drip of unseen water. Kaito conjured a torch that illuminated their immediate surroundings. They soon encountered a lone goblin, its eyes gleaming malevolently in the torchlight. With the blunt of the stick, Kaito stabbed it directly in the throat. The goblin gurgled, collapsing instantly, its virtual form dissolving into pixels.

"You killed it instantly! That's amazing, big brother!" Sayo exclaimed.

"Hmm, it's a little slow," Kaito mused, a critical frown on his face. He then casually tossed a small, round object onto the cavern floor. It emitted a surprisingly sweet, almost cloying aroma that quickly filled the air, like an unnatural floral perfume mixed with something meaty.

"What is that?" Sayo asked, wrinkling her nose. "It smells... weird."

"Just a monster-attracting item," Kaito explained. "It should speed up our task considerably. No need to hunt for them if they come to us, right?"

A low rumbling began to vibrate beneath their feet, growing steadily louder. It wasn't just coming from one direction; it seemed to resonate from the very stone of the cavern, deep within its bowels. In the deepening darkness beyond the torchlight, countless pairs of tiny, glowing red eyes began to appear, pinpricks of malevolence emerging from the shadows. As Kaito's torchlight broadened its reach, Sayo gasped, her breath catching in her throat. The eyes belonged not just to goblins, but to giant centipedes, colossal spiders, and various other monstrous denizens of the deep, their forms monstrous and distorted. They were all surging towards the sweet aroma, a tide of virtual flesh and chitin.

"Oh my gosh, Kaito! We need to run! We need to run now!" Sayo shrieked, already turning to flee.

"Hang back and assist me, Sayo!" Kaito commanded.

Without another word, he charged headlong into the surging, nightmare tide of monsters, his cypress stick a deadly blur, a single human confronting an apocalypse.

Time seemed to warp within the cavern. Sayo frantically fired arrows, an almost insignificant contribution against the endless horde that swarmed around Kaito. He was a whirlwind of motion, the cypress stick dispatching monsters with brutal efficiency. The sound of snapping bone and chitin sickeningly frequent.

After what felt like an eternity, the last monster fell. Sayo collapsed onto the ground, panting. "I can't believe it... we actually killed them all! My arms are numb, I think I'm gonna throw up!"

Kaito, surprisingly composed, merely wiped a smudge from his cheek. "That was only three hundred sixty-two goblins."

"Huh?" Sayo mumbled, her exhaustion making her slow to process.

As she looked up, she noticed three additional round pellets on the ground where Kaito had stood. They were emitting an even sweeter, more potent aroma than the first. The rumbling this time was a magnitude greater, a deep, resonant tremor that shook the entire cavern, making the very air thrum. It was as if every single inhabitant of the entire underground complex, from the smallest bug to the largest lurking beast, was now rushing towards them, drawn by the irresistible scent.

Sayo's eyes widened in horror, a fresh wave of panic washing over her.

"I'm never playing with you again, big brother!"