CHAPTER 1019: CHAPTER 1015: DEATH OF BUTTERFLY

Su Ming’an slowly raised the sword in his hand.

——He originally thought the bloodletting in "Louyue Nation" was the beginning of everything.

Antique decorations, the young man smoking a pipe, the Fairy descending from the sky.

Beneath the full moon, the street stretched ten miles, gold bricks and glazed tiles.

A blonde woman in a flowing fairy skirt stood by the window edge, reaching out to Su Ming’an.

["The organizers did not make things difficult for me." The golden-haired beauty Noel smiled slightly: "Come on, the thrilling adventure begins."]

...

——That was not Noel.

Noel was supposed to have never appeared in "Louyue Nation." That cross-dressing Noel should have been crafted by a Deity. If that was really Noel, Noel’s actions were too fast; the instance had just started, and he had already discovered the Instant Death Rule and dressed as a woman, even precisely knowing Su Ming’an was on the High Tower.

He initially wanted to attribute this to Noel’s high Wisdom, but upon further thought, it still felt discordant.

Now he must correct his mindset——this is not the beginning.

Everything past happened before his perceived "beginning." Perhaps he once fought side by side with Chao Yan, perhaps he once fought a life-and-death battle with Xiao Jingsan, perhaps he once parted ways with Li Mingyue, perhaps he once rescued grandma Lin, perhaps he once lost Su Luoluo...

——But they have all been buried before the "beginning."

"Replica Activation first day"——

It’s not the "Replica Activation first day."

When he first opened his eyes and saw Xiao Jingsan smoking a pipe at the bedside, he had already forgotten everything, defeated once by the Deity.

Why did the live broadcast room disappear behind him, why did the bullet screen disappear behind him?

Su Ming’an’s pupils trembled slightly.

——Initially, they were illusions crafted by the Deity, every bullet screen, every word, was typed out by the Deity himself.

He meticulously set everything up to guide Su Ming’an’s actions. As Su Ming’an approached the Prophecy Stone Wall, as he perceived more and more information, as he encountered these hints [It is not true.], as he began to feel puzzled, alert, doubtful... these illusions crafted by the Deity also began to disappear.

As soon as he noticed all of this——

He vaguely saw the live broadcast room in the upper right corner.

Like a haze, not clear, the writing was blurred like a shadow.

Distant past——who did he lock eyes with, who did he pass by?

——Who did he once make promises with, who did he once embrace each other with?

These have all been forgotten by him.

He did not change the established Destiny. He still walked here.

The Deity reached out, loosely touching his forehead: "Next time, I will tell you [I really like you.] with a gentler approach."

Su Ming’an raised his hand, his wrist instantly grasped by the Deity.

——Suicide forbidden.

He slowly said: "Resetting the world line isn’t easy for you, it must require a specific mechanism, like me reaching the Prophecy Stone Wall, then you can cooperate with it to start resetting the world line. Which means, if I stay away from the Prophecy Stone Wall..."

He doesn’t know where this Prophecy Stone Wall came from, it might be the most mystical thing in this World. If the Deity could reset the world line anytime, anywhere, it wouldn’t need to wait until the eighth day.

"So what?" the Deity said.

The Prophecy Stone Wall had started to shine, everything Su Ming’an saw began to gradually recede, reverse...

"So I will remember it." Su Ming’an said.

The Deity looked at him in confusion.

"Drip, drip drip drip——" Su Ming’an heard sounds from inside his body.

...

[In the second round, Su Ming’an negotiated with the Deity, demanding to break the Prophecy Stone Wall. The Deity said he agreed, but took the opportunity to lock him up, fortunately the bomb planted in his body exploded early, successfully returning.]

...

This bomb hadn’t exploded this round yet, it’s still inside him——he had planted this bomb in Dao Ya City in advance to be able to timely revert.

The Deity saw this, listening to the increasingly urgent "drip drip drip" sound inside Su Ming’an’s body, he said lightly: "I will wait for you at sea."

——When you return, I will wait at the first instance of your previous return point, you can’t escape.

Su Ming’an laughed instead, he pressed his fingers against his abdomen, where there was a hard touch, becoming increasingly hot, increasingly burning——it would take him back to a previous river.

"Alright, I’ll wait for you." He said smilingly.

——Then wish that I trigger my own return, wish to return to the sea, not seeing you.

"Drip drip, drip drip, drip drip——"

The sound became more intense.

At this time, Su Ming’an heard footsteps, he tilted his head and saw a girl with fluttering black hair.

——Chao Yan.

She looked at him with a complex expression, the cross pendant on her chest swayed with the hot wind. At the end of the timeline, she appeared.

"Chao Yan, we’ve met before, right? Before the reset." Su Ming’an said.

"...Met." Chao Yan finally no longer denied.

The Deity’s world resets everything to the first day, including all npc states returning to the first day. Even Xiao Jingsan and Su Wensheng, who remembered Little Su’s return, would think it’s the first day. Except for the Deity, no one would remember the pre-reset world.

"But why do you remember?" Su Ming’an said.

Chao Yan just smiled.

——Until now, Su Ming’an still can’t understand her.

"Why do you look like you’re about to cry?" Su Ming’an said.

Chao Yan reached out, wiping away faint tears on her face. Then, her smile bloomed, like a flower withering in the fire.

"Be...cause... I..." Her voice halted, she shook her head, just started smiling again.

"Drip drip drip——drip drip drip——boom——!"

The bomb exploded from within, flesh turning, bursting into crimson fireworks.

Su Ming’an shattered on the ground, his broken half-head attached to the holy white ground, withered flowers by the Prophecy Stone Wall falling on his detached eyes.

The faint dusk filtered through the gaps of flames onto his half body, like vanishing seaside waves.

The butterflies dreaming dies at the end of the dream, withered flowers send them off.

Flames spread all over the sky, flowers burned out.

...

——The girl felt like everything was a nightmare.

During the first journey, the Deity did not know Su Ming’an, he wanted to lure Su Ming’an to agree to become his Archangel by offering benefits. At that time, the tower could open on the first day, no need to wait for the fifth day.

Thus, Su Ming’an opened the First Tower on the first day of the instance, quickly contacting the City Guardian Department and Old Day Church, walked to the Prophecy Stone Wall on the second day.

World reset, everything returns to the beginning, February 3, 827.

During the second journey, the girl vaguely felt the world begin to show disparities. Though unaware of the reason, she had been able to see the world’s Causal Line since childhood, she could perceive the world underwent a reset. This reset caused instability in the world. As someone who can see the causal lines, she felt responsible for preventing this reset.

Through investigation, she thought that perhaps some actions of this "Su Ming’an" caused the reset. She began to approach him.

Through deliberate proximity, they became friends on the first day; she and he went to school together, visited sleepers at the Human Self-Rescue Alliance, registered at Li Yuxuan’s City Guardian Department, attended Tao Meng’s funeral, went to the psychological consulting center to buy dolls for Chi.

"What’s your name?" Su Ming’an asked.

"I am an orphan, no name, people call me bookworm." The girl replied.

"Then I..." Su Ming’an thought: "Can I call you by the name of the flower on your skirt?"

He pointed to the cloth skirt she was wearing, which had a few embroidered flowers on it.

"Hmm." The girl thought for a moment, feeling there was no problem.

"Chao Yan?" Su Ming’an said.

"...Hmm." The girl accepted this name.

"Chao Yan, why do you specifically want to become friends with me?" Su Ming’an asked her.

—Because you will lead to the world’s reset, causing instability.

Chao Yan thought this in her heart, but said on the surface, "Because I want to protect you."

Later, they together stopped the Demon Hunt Order. Su Ming’an took the college entrance exam, exposed his exotic species identity, joined the Old Day Church, and uncovered the Ark Project. She always followed him, no matter what difficulties he faced, she would burn life to help him.

—As long as he can live peacefully and not approach the Prophecy Stone Wall, the world won’t reset. Chao Yan thought like this.

Her protection was very thorough, Su Ming’an always had smooth sailing, he never encountered Su Wensheng who tried to assassinate him, nor was he injured due to the exotic royals. He wouldn’t be forced to agree to Deity’s offer to become an Archangel, everything remained peaceful.

On the fourth day, after breaking through Louyue Nation, he took her to see the starry sky.

One star, two stars, three stars.

The stars dragged their silver tails, falling into the pure black sky. They looked so beautiful and vast.

"I once heard of a festival, called the Fuyuan Festival." Su Ming’an said.

They sat on the rooftop, gazing at the starry sky.

"They say that the deceased become stars in the sky, watching over us." Su Ming’an said. "Those star trails, constellations, Morning Star Palace... they’re countless departed loved ones’ eyes, guiding beacons for people on the ground."

"Stars... eyes..." Chao Yan rested her chin.

She wasn’t someone who embraced romance; she only knew about observing the world’s causal lines since childhood and didn’t have time to listen to such romantic legends.

"But what if we don’t become stars?" Chao Yan thought about the difficult situation: "What if in the end we fail, and don’t defeat the Deity..."

Su Ming’an shook his head, gazing into her eyes: "Then, I will remember you, too."

Her eyes were like deep green gemstones, making people feel at peace. Su Ming’an said these words perhaps to raise her favorability, but the emotion in his eyes was very real.

"But I’ve turned into a star." Chao Yan said.

"Even if you turn into a star, I will remember." Su Ming’an said softly.

Chao Yan gazed deeply at him.

The universe was so vast, as if all the stars reflected in their eyes.

She knew that if this journey failed, he wouldn’t remember her as a friend, nor remember any of this. They would return to being mere acquaintances, and he might even think she was a self-acquainted, strange person.

—But.

Only this once... even though only this once...

Let her remember first.

"For you, this is something my teammate gave me, said to be candy from Italy." Su Ming’an handed her a few pieces of purple candy: "In case of depression, eating candy can improve mood, so give it a try."

Chao Yan peeled the candy wrapper and swallowed it whole.

"—Candy isn’t for swallowing! It’s for sucking!" Su Ming’an feared she might choke, and quickly shouted.

"...Isn’t it?" She blinked blankly, with the candy stuck in her throat, causing her a fit of coughing, tears almost shed. She had never eaten such a thing, living alone since memory, looking at the causal lines in the sky, watching for an entire day, everyone called her a fool. But she knew, these causal lines seemed visible only to her, and if she didn’t watch them, the world might be in trouble.

What is this sweet feeling?

...She had never eaten such a thing.

He patted her back and gave her another piece.

This time, she could finally savor it, a taste she had never experienced—like an untouchable starry sky.

The taste of stars should be similar to candy.

She wrapped the remaining half piece in candy paper and tucked it in her bosom.

At the journey’s end, driven by the Main Quest, Su Ming’an still walked towards the Prophecy Stone Wall. No matter how she persuaded, he insisted on trying, as if he had some reliance.

Thus she stood on a high roof, watching the flames engulf everything.

The world reset, returning to February 3, 827.

...

As if an endless nightmare began.

She approached him once again. This time, the Deity had grown wiser, pushing the activation of The First Tower to the fifth day, giving Su Ming’an ample time to develop in the small town, making him aware of the Deity’s strength, leading him to consider becoming an Archangel.

She timely reached his side, preventing him.

"Who are you?" The young man’s voice was indifferent.

He had forgotten that vast and beautiful starry sky and the unforgettable promise with her.

"I am..." Chao Yan clenched her hands, looking at his black eyes, slowly smiled.

She smiled as though she was crying.

"I’m just... an ordinary orphan."

This time, they walked hand in hand until the fifth day. She became his companion again, but he was almost controlled by the Deity, so she burned her life on the world’s edge to defeat the tentacled monster, and her life came to an end.

When he held her, she slowly placed a piece of nearly melting candy in his palm. It was lemon candy she bought herself, initially meant for him.

"Do... not... forget..." The light was gradually fading from her eyes, her breath weakening.

"Forget what?" The young man’s expression rendered her speechless. His expression was perplexed. She knew she couldn’t speak about the world reset, saying it would mean the Deity wouldn’t allow her existence, perhaps she was just a variable in the Deity’s control.

Her heart suddenly ached.

Clearly, we tried with all our might.

Clearly, I kept risking my life to get close to you.

Clearly, we explored multiple possibilities.

"Do... not... forget..." She shed tears, her skin hotter than flames, his palms "sizzled," flesh scorched and curling, but he steadfastly held her:

"...Me."

Don’t forget me.

Don’t forget how hard we fought against the world.

Don’t forget how I risked my life again and again to rescue you.

In the tear-blurred vision, his lips seemed to move slightly.

His lips silently, slowly, appeared to respond to her.

—Until all became silent.

The world reset again—

...

February 3, 827.

...

The young man opened his eyes lying on the bed.

He had forgotten the girl.

Like forgetting... a butterfly passing by in a dream.

...

He thought, this is day one of Replica Activation.

It seemed the start was excellent.