The Idle System Box Set

by Pegaz

  A sharp pain shot through his skull. It felt like someone was implanting objects directly into his brain while he was still awake and fully aware of what was happening. While John was no stranger to pain at this point, this feeling far outweighed anything he’d ever felt before. He felt helpless as his body impulsively lashed about from the pain. He couldn’t help but scream out loud, rolling around while clutching his head.

  In his mouth, there was nothing but the metallic taste of blood. He could feel the warm, gooey liquid spilling from his lips and onto the ground.

  It felt like the pain would never end. John prayed for unconsciousness, but the system prevented him from blacking out. And so, he could do nothing but writhe and cry out. It was only after half an hour that his torment began to fade. John just barely clung to consciousness. His eyelids were heavy, and he only wanted to fall asleep.

  ‘Ding!’

  System has absorbed the Sider’s memories and has taken the remaining system’s life.

  Chapter 15

  The Life of Danny

  Before John could react, the system shut down. For a brief moment, he experienced a feeling of emptiness, unlike anything he’d ever felt before. It was as if he was drifting through space without a tether, the darkness all around him enclosing fast. As his grasp on reality slipped, and as his world faded away, he remembered what it was like to be helpless.

  John’s eyes fluttered open. He was standing in the middle of a street. All around him were skyscrapers, television screens, flashing lights, and cars rushing to his left and right.

  What am I doing here…? He rubbed his head, mind still foggy. Wasn’t I… somewhere else? A different world? Yeah… There were assassins and—

  “Danny! Why are you spacing out? Come on, we’re late for work!”

  A shout came from behind him, breaking all trace of thought. John turned around and saw a gorgeous woman with golden locks spilling over her shoulders. From the sidewalk, John could see that her face was a mixture of soft youth and firm maturity—he guessed she was somewhere in her twenties.

  A name suddenly popped in his head.

  “Claire, relax.” The words felt natural as they slipped from his lips. “We’ll be fine.”

  Wait, why did she call me Danny? And who’s Claire?

  Without pause, his body moved on its own. He continued crossing the street to where Claire was.

  SCREECH...

  BANG!

  His world went dark.

  Where am I? Did I just get run over? Is this the hospital then? I hope Claire’s alright.

  John opened his eyes and found himself lying face down in a dark alleyway. As his vision adjusted, all that came into focus was trash and mud. In the corner of his eye, he spotted a rat scuttering into a dark crevice. Still dazed but motivated to get up, he pulled himself to his feet, slowly but surely. Taking another glance around, he spotted the end of the alleyway and approached the light.

  Stepping out of the dark, John shielded his eyes as they adjusted once more. There were loads of small houses clustered together as if trying to fit as many people as they could into the smallest area possible. John looked down, and he saw he was wearing clothes. He couldn’t help but smile.

  Wait, why am I smiling at wearing clothes? He rubbed his head, trying to chase a memory that didn’t exist.

  ‘Ding!’

  Welcome to The Sinner System.

  A display screen appeared in front of him.

  Wasn’t it Idle System? No, it wasn’t. It clearly says Sinner System… why did I think Idle? He looked in front of him and started reading.

  This system gauged how much Sin a person had. According to the text, he needed to collect those sins to become stronger. If he killed a person who had sins, then he would absorb the sins. If he murdered a person without any sins, he would get a fixed amount.

  On the screen were various checkpoints.

  Kill one more person for +1 Strength.

  Kill five more people for +2 Speed.

  Kill ten more people for +3 Defence.

  Beyond that, the system labelled the rewards as unknown. He would have to unlock them to find out.

  Still looking at the system’s screen, he lost concentration of his surroundings. At the top of the screen, there were his details.

  Name: Danny Chipart

  Age: 15

  Sin: 0

  BANG!

  While occupied by the screen, he failed to see the horse coming in his direction. With a jolt, he was knocked over. The horse brayed and snorted as if it was his victim’s fault for being in its path. Squinting up at the large creature, the fallen boy slowly pulled himself to his feet. The carriage that the horse was pulling had an ostentatious air to it. Its outside was decorated with white marble and intricate patterns of gold. The door of the carriage opened up, and a woman stepped out.

  “Claire?” Danny recognised her!

  As he took a few wavering steps in her direction, the driver of the carriage slid down and put a knife to his throat.

  “Wait!” The woman commanded. The guard held still as she walked up to Danny and looked at him in the eye.

  “I’m sorry, but I’m not the girl you call Claire,” she said with a voice that was smooth yet firm. “My name is Rose Coates. This is all a misunderstanding, isn’t it?”

  “You’re... not Claire?” Danny raised his hands to show the driver he wasn’t armed, unwavering gaze focussed on the woman’s familiar face. “You look just like her… I’m sorry for getting you mixed up. Ah, can you ask your driver to let me go now, please?”

  The driver looked at Rose, and she nodded. Danny was released, but not without a swift shove in the opposite direction. Danny stumbled onto the ground, catching himself with his hands.

  “Sorry again.” Picking himself up, Danny turned around and started walking away. He silently cursed the driver, tempted to test the new system out on him.

  “Are you lost?” The woman’s voice broke through his dark thoughts. The carriage was now in motion, only a few feet behind him. Rose was peeking out a curtain to talk to him.

  “I think I am,” Danny said carefully. “What is this place?”

  “North Kingdom’s capital city.” Rose raised an eyebrow at the man. “We’re in the slums. You seem a little out of place, so… I figured you were lost.”

  North Kingdom? Never heard of it. All these worn-down houses, the dirt road, and even the carriage… It feels like I’m in the 17th century. Where the hell am I?

  “Do you want to work for me?”

  Danny stopped walking and looked up at her.

  “Do I want to what?”

  “Do you want to work for me?” A soft smile danced across her warm face. “I could always use an extra guard. After some training, of course. You look the type.”

  I have nowhere else to go. Don’t know where I am, no money, shelter, food or water…

  “Very well,” Danny felt the words tumbling out of his mouth. “I’ll work for you.”

  Rose giggled, hiding her blushing face behind the curtain.

  “Come into the carriage and sit inside here with me,” her voice said, muffled behind the cloth. “I’m bored and we can talk along the way.”

  Danny forced a smile at the driver, then proceeded to step into the ornate carriage. Taking a seat alongside the well-dressed lady, he began to converse with this woman named Rose.

  Over the next few years, he was trained by many different people in martial arts, general knowledge, equity, war strategies, and many other subjects. He learned of Rose’s identity not long after he entered her services.

  Rose was the princess of the North Kingdom. She was doted upon by her father, the king, and by her big brother, the crown prince.

  Danny had come to terms with his reincarnation. He was now in a different world—the car accident must have killed him.

  He regretted not telling Claire how he felt about her, and with that regret in mind, he became infatuated with her look-alike. After a f
ew years of being in her close service, he decided it was time to confess to Rose.

  The princess blushed and said she needed time to think about his proposition. Since he wasn’t nobility, her father and brother would be against their relationship. Danny understood the politics and said he’d wait for her.

  Of course, it was never meant to be.

  A few days after the confession, Danny overheard the princess in conversation with her brother. In that discussion, it was as if she’d become a different person. Her once sweet voice turned venomous as she described the confession scene to her brother.

  She admitted to aspiring to use Danny for her own schemes, but she stated plainly that the thought of being in a relationship with a ‘Sider’ made her skin crawl. At this point, she was unsure that Danny even was a Sider as he was weak compared to her other men. All those years and he still had not shown any display of the power that Siders were rumoured to have. Her brother chimed in, suggesting they get rid of him. Rose agreed.

  Danny was left heartbroken.

  The cogs in his mind began to turn, dark thoughts resurfacing. All this time, he never once engaged the system. The idea of killing people and collecting their sins used to make his stomach churn, but now… now, it was time to change that.

  That night was the start of a nightmare for the entire world.

  Danny killed Rose. It was much easier to take a human life than he’d anticipated. The feel of her warm neck, the sounds of her gasping for air… It was all over in a matter of minutes. The sins he collected from the dead princess were great and many. They fuelled him and strengthened him enough to overpower the attendants, the guards, and even the crown prince. From there, it went all downhill for the kingdom.

  He went roaming from city to city, slaughtering all he encountered. Wherever he went, people died for so much as looking at him the wrong way. He absorbed their sins, soon discovering that every human being, no matter their background, was full of sin. Once he came to terms with this, he decided to bring judgment onto every living human that he crossed.

  Sinners had to be punished with death.

  From the North Kingdom, he went west. He wiped out whole towns, leaving no one alive. By the time he left West Kingdom, billions had perished by his hand. He headed towards the South Kingdom, where he spent a few years making his way through. It was only a matter of time before the East Kingdom also fell to his judgment.

  Danny even forced his way into the Immortal sect, where he started killing. He discovered that the only way to kill an immortal was to tear the being into shreds, which is what he proceeded to do. He destroyed half the sect with ease.

  In the midst of his spree, three people approached him. Among them were an old man, a younger boy, and a young woman. They were different from the rest of the immortals—Danny could sense that they were each a real threat.

  “You’re lucky I discovered immortality too late,” Danny snarled at them. “If I had become immortal at the proper age, this whole universe would have fallen under my hands.”

  He eyed the old man, sizing him up as the most powerful of the three. However, in the corner of his vision, another face caught his attention. In a split second of recognition, he felt his entire being freeze.

  Master?

  “Who are you?!” Danny spat at the younger boy. I don’t know him! Why would I even think of this child as my master?

  Jamie Cooper’s eyes widened, confused. He was only following his master for experience. He was a lowly pupil, not meriting even the slightest bit of attention from the enemy. So, why was he suddenly the focus?

  With a beast-like howl, Danny lunged at young Jamie. Before the boy could react, the old man intercepted the blow, marking the start of the battle that would last for days.

  And so, Danny’s rampage came to a harrowing end.

  He lay on his back, choking through pools of blood as he gasped for air. The woman was dead, leaving both the old man and the boy injured, though not fatally. After that bitter fight, Danny had been dealt the final blow.

  Vision hazy, the dying man looked over at the young man, who was tending to his master’s wounds in a panic. A smile blossomed onto Danny’s blood-drenched face as he finally recognised the boy.

  “Your name is... Jamie... right?”

  Only silence as the tension thickened.

  Danny took the silence as an answer. “I’m what the people called a Sider. I woke up in the North Kingdom, and I got treated like shit. I thought I was in love, but she was using me the whole time. Killing people gave me strength and a reason to live. I… don’t know why I recognise you, but I do.”

  Jamie had completely frozen.

  “You need to bury me.” Jamie coughed up more blood. “You need to buy an entire planet and bury me, along with any other enemies you fell. If you do this, your sect will be rewarded with greatness. This is… the prize you have earned for defeating me.”

  This is the best I can help you out, John. I hope your life is a lot better than mine.

  Danny closed his eyes.

  The Sider, who the higher-ups would later call the First Demon, had single-handedly wiped out over eighty percent of the world’s population.

  Chapter 16

  His Own Idle Skill

  John’s eyes peeled open. He was confused, still assuming the identity of Danny. An aura of killing intent seeped from the core of his being, taking the form of a thick, dark red ooze, covering the entirety of his body. As he came to consciousness, the ooze faded away as the killing intent completely dissolved.

  John was fully awake.

  My name is John. I absorbed Danny’s memories, but I’m not him.

  Running a sweaty hand through his hair, John took a deep breath.

  In those memories, I saw my master, and I felt hatred for him. That wasn’t me. That battle must have happened 30,000 years in the past. How did Danny know about me? How is that even possible? I wasn’t around anywhere near the time when he was alive.

  ‘Ding!’

  System as taken the Foreign Object and named it Sinner System. It’s now an add-on function.

  Immortal Eye can now see Sins.

  I might not ever be able to answer that question, so I’ll stop thinking about it… Time to see my rewards!

  Welcome to the Idle System 2.9

  Name: John

  Age: 21

  Idlers: 0/135

  Skill Points: 0

  Life Pool: 221,075

  Sin: 0

  Foreign Objects:

  Rogue’s Key.

  Sinner System.

  Immortality List:

  Absorption Speed - Idlers 135/135, Peak - 0/3, Time - 2y 20d

  Purifier - Idlers 0/135, Compact - 1/3

  Sin + Idler - Idlers 0/135, Ratio - 0/3

  Sin:

  Absorb the sins of the people you kill and store them.

  Able to transform Sin to Life Pool at a 100:1 ratio.

  Sin + Idler:

  Ratio: Takes the Sin from Sinner system and mix it with the Idler system to lower the ratio of the transfer.

  Bonus for maxing all skill levels: Ratio becomes 1:1.

  Wow, so it’s taken Danny’s system and combined it with mine. Though, it doesn’t look like I get the same rewards as Danny as I get Life Pool instead. This is great though! I can go exploring, kill all those with large sins, and level up that way! I’ve also got to learn how to control this killing intent that I inherited from Danny too. I’ve experienced killing billions of people through him, and because of this, my mind has developed a taste for death, just like him.

  I wonder what Danny meant at the end, though. Master dug this cave just like Danny instructed him to, but what’s the good thing he mentioned? Is it me? I mean I’ve already helped master breakthrough into that unknown realm already. Did Danny figure out that someone was watching him from inside his mind? We were both confused at the beginning with each other’s memories, I think.

  I only absorbed his memories, how did he know I w
as there? Wasn’t that just his past?

  John had too many questions that nobody would ever be able to answer, so he put them at the back of his mind, sat up straight, and started absorbing Life Power.

  Just as he started, he remembered a technique that Danny came across for absorbing Life Energy. It was the best absorption technique John had ever seen. If Danny hadn’t already turned 21 before discovering it, he would have become one of the strongest immortals.

  John tried to recall each detail.

  ‘Ding’, ‘Ding’, ‘Ding!’

  Congratulations on discovering a way to help the system’s skills. We have increased the level.

  Congratulations on discovering a way to help the system’s skills. We have increased the level.

  Congratulations on discovering a way to help the system’s skills. We have increased the level.

  John got the shock of his life. The system deemed the technique so strong that it completed the whole skill all at once.

  Opening the system back up, he put all Idlers into the Compact skill. The time came up as 2y 1mo 5d 12h. His Idle absorption rate is still 1 unit per minute, but with the new absorption technique, it increased his manual absorbing to 14 units per minute.

  Almost three times faster than the best technique in the sect’s library! No wonder the system completed the skill right away.

  At a total of 15 units per minute, completing Life Stage would take about thirteen and a half years. I need to train myself to use this absorption technique at all times. I can use it to take energy from the Life Stones in my Storage Space.

  The technique itself had mostly to do with breath timing and concentration. John’s brain was able to handle five larger-function tasks at once, all because of his skills in the system. Therefore, performing the technique while going about his daily training was not out of the question. It was only a matter of concentration.

  It took him six whole months to get the technique down. John spent the entire time complaining that the system could have sped up the process by creating a skill. Of course, that didn’t happen.

  In the end, he needed to use three-fifths of his brain power to complete the cycle of the technique. It was a heavy skill. One part of his brain power had to keep the Storage Space open at all times for the Life Power to be accessible. The other two parts were split between absorbing the Life Power and breathing in a certain rhythm.