The Idle System Box Set

by Pegaz

  This method in question was to go into a much larger planet that isn’t inhabited by humans. He had to get as close to the centre of the planet as he could. It was there that Life Power originated from—the closer to the centre he could get, the more Life Power he could absorb.

  This was very risky for ordinary people, but John was immune to atmospheric pressure. He was sure that being underground would not cause him too much duress. The only danger John could think of was the lack of oxygen, but upon his master’s council, they came up with a solution.

  “The assassin mask that you’re using takes the carbon dioxide that you exhale and converts it into oxygen.” Jamie rubbed his chin, deep in thought. “Of course, this is all in theory. Immortals typically don’t go to a place that has no oxygen, so it’s never been tested.”

  “Thank you, master.” Slight concern spread over John’s face. “But if there are no humans on the planet, then how am I going to get there? Surely, we don’t have a teleport rune in place on such a planet?”

  Jamie started laughing. “I own the planet, and there is a rune. I bought it from the universal office thousands of years ago as a solitary training place.”

  John’s mouth gaped. An entire planet as a place to train? Just how wealthy was his master?

  “When training, it is crucial to be uninterrupted,” the Head continued as if he could read John’s thoughts.

  “If you are distracted at any point, it could be fatal. At the very least, it could cause damage to your blood system. People use lots of different ways to get a peaceful place to train.

  “They can buy islands, they can train inside their sects, and the richest ones use planets as I do. Of course, there aren’t that many privately owned planets, and most of them are quite small. My planet is one of the only ten large private planets, so you have a major advantage while using it. In fact, I shouldn’t even be letting you use it. This is another form of my thanks for helping me with my breakthrough.”

  With that, John prepared to leave.

  “The teleport rune is to my left,” Jamie directed. “You need a key to unlock the door. It’s impossible to break through. Once you’re there, be careful of the creatures on the planet. While they don’t bother me because of my strength, you’re a different story. The weakest on that planet is Rank 4.”

  John took the key and nodded. He bid his farewell, then left.

  Chapter 13

  Surprise

  At an unknown location, a familiar anti-assassin flipped through the pages of a report. The file in her hands contained all the information she could find on Matthew Mu, the man she failed to protect on her last mission.

  That man was telling the truth. Matthew Mu was absolute garbage, but… did he really deserve to die?

  Since her fight with the masked assassin, she had subjected herself to nothing but intensive training. No more sitting around collecting Life Power. She needed combat experience so that she could face that man once more. What she would do once she met him again, her consciousness battled over it every day and night.

  Knock, knock.

  The woman looked over her shoulder and eyed the door. “Come in.”

  An old man entered the room. He was on the shorter end of the spectrum, standing about five and a half feet tall. He was bald, with a black beard that reached his chest. Hard, green eyes completed the look.

  The woman did a bow. “Master.”

  “I heard you encountered someone whom you believe to be an important member of the assassin’s sect,” his words were precise and curt.

  “Yes, master,” the woman said. “He had Rank 6 armour and mask, although he himself was at most a Rank 2 Level 3.”

  The man nodded his head. “We had a master at divination try to figure out who he was, and the results were frightening. We’ve concluded that he must be a new disciple of the Sect Master and a very powerful one at that.”

  Just like me. Her stomach dropped as she recalled the difference in their skills. She, too, was a recent disciple of her own master, who was the leader of the Anti-Assassin Sect. And yet… I need to get stronger, like him.

  “If he’s allowed to grow in strength, billions of people will die,” the woman’s master continued on. “In fact, the number is so large that the divination was unable to count it before finishing.”

  The woman was completely frozen, a panic rising in her chest. When she could finally speak, her voice shook with fear.

  “But master,” she said softly, “he said he only kills those who deserve death. What does that mean, master? Is the world really such an awful place? Why must… why must it boil down to each of us killing each other?”

  There was a pause, during which her master’s gaze softened.

  “Most likely, the man was telling the truth,” he said as comforting as he could. “But no one knows what the future may bring. We only know of the set events that will come to pass, and we must do what we can to prevent them.”

  “Then,” the woman’s voice shook, “are we to track him down and put an end to his life too? Are we to fight murder with murder?”

  The man shook his head.

  “It seems it is not for us to decide his fate. We are lacking in resources to track him down. The only reason the diviner was able to obtain that clear information was because we were allowed to.”

  The woman was confused. “You mean, they just let us? Why would they do that?”

  “It must have been his master’s decision. He wanted us to know about him as a form of his training method.” The older man’s eyes gleamed. “Should he face off against any of our operatives and survive, he’ll become much stronger and smarter about doing things too. The only way we can spoil his plans is if we cross the line and send in a Rank 5 anti-assassin or stronger to handle him. However, I fear that fight will not be one that both opponents will survive.”

  The woman put her head down. She had no words to argue.

  “We have to kill him.”

  The silence was deafening.

  “Master,” she said quietly. “Help train me to be a better fighter. One day, I will avenge myself and in doing so, I will stop him from committing so many murders. He’s my rival now. I MUST defeat him.”

  “No,” the master said flatly. “I’m going to send in a much stronger person who can guarantee success. You’ve already failed. That man will only continue to grow stronger.”

  “I’m willing to go through the worst training you can give me,” the woman pleaded with her master, unable to accept his answer. She bowed her head down, trying to show as much respect as possible. “I must be the one who puts that man down. Please.”

  The air in the room was heavy with suspense.

  The man ran his hand through his beard, thinking. He eventually stopped and looked the woman in the eye.

  “Are you sure?” he said with an absolute stillness in his voice. “The training will be a living hell.”

  The woman nodded. “I believe that this quest is the reason I am here.”

  The man smiled. “Very well, I’ll set it up. But first, you need to show me that you have what it takes to do the unspeakable. You must be able to go against our code and take his life.”

  “How can I prove myself to you?”

  The man smiled and handed a file to the woman. She opened it up and found a picture along with a written description of a man. He was a death row inmate.

  “I can do this.”

  Not knowing that he had his future planned out for him, or that he suddenly acquired a few thousand, if not millions, of enemies, John tested the ground. He was on the planet his master had let him come to, and as soon as he arrived, he could feel the difference.

  Life Power was abundant here. The grass was overgrowing, there was a jungle right outside the house, and John thought he could even see a green lining in the clouds. He turned Life Vision on. There were millions of creatures in the distance, but none of them came within ten miles of the house. His master probably did something to stop
them, or instilled fear into them somehow.

  John took a deep breath. It’s the first time he’d gotten such rich nourishment just from breathing the air, even in his past life. Choosing a direction at random, John started walking, counting his steps. He counted up to 561 before he stopped. Maybe the number would bring him luck.

  John made the earring transform into his mask. He couldn’t feel the masks breathing function on the surface—maybe once he was further underground, it would become more apparent? He put a single Life Power unit into his foot and lifted his leg up. With a flurry of motion, he stomped down. Hard.

  BOOM!

  There was a small earthquake, toppling a few nearby trees. John kept stomping down, then bent over and started digging with his hands. He used his full strength and punched the dirt and stones. He was digging quite fast.

  When he came across stones, he dug them up and threw them aside. Boulders, he punched apart then threw them out. When he got further down, he put all the dirt and stone inside his storage space.

  10 feet deep, 20 feet, 40, 100, 300, 500... He kept going.

  By the time he reached a mile deep, he was wondering how far he should go. It was about time to take a break, so he could absorb more life energy. The Life Power he could absorb increased by 0.1.

  How deep does this planet go? I’m going to need much, much more. He started to dig further down again.

  2 miles, 4 miles, 7, 10, 20, 50, 100 miles deep took him just under a day to reach. He sat down to try again. Manually, he was able to absorb 5 units per minute.

  Shouldn’t I have reached more than 10 units per minute with 0.1 per mile increase? Is 5 the maximum I can earn per minute?

  He was about to start complaining when he heard the system.

  ‘Ding!’

  Found a signal from another System, would you like the direction on the map?

  Chapter 14

  Undead

  Wait, what? System, you can detect other Siders? What will happen if I meet another Sider?

  ‘Ding!’

  ToolTip - When two people with systems meet, they cannot recognise each other. If a system’s user has been dead for more than ten thousand years, the system will start dying and other people can steal the system from them.

  Then, why didn’t you notify me about Tim McNeil’s system?

  ‘Ding!’

  ToolTip - Tim McNeil’s system was not intact at time of the encounter.

  Oh, that explains it then, so you’ve got to get lucky in finding one or kill another Sider and keep his body safe for ten thousand years or more. Okay, System, put the icon of the other Sider on the map.

  John saw the S icon pop up on the map. It was only 5 feet away from him, but underneath it said:

  -143 miles

  Does that mean it’s 143 miles further underground? Fine, I’ll start digging again after a short break.

  A few minutes later, he started digging again.

  It took John an entire twenty-eight hours to dig the amount, includes rest periods.

  BANG!

  John broke through a wall, and it unexpectedly opened up into an underground cave. The smell that assaulted him was horrendous as even his mask couldn’t help with that. With his night vision, John could see everything. The inside of the cave seemed to be the remains of a small battlefield as there were corpses everywhere.

  They were all wearing the same armour, akin to the European medieval armours back on Earth. In mint condition, they would have been shiny and sturdy, but right now, they were all rusted and falling apart. John crouched down and touched one of the pieces of armour—it practically disintegrated with a light touch.

  On the other side of the cave were a few people wearing what looked like remains of grey Daoist Robes. Some had blood stains where the wearers got stabbed before they died.

  This looks like a battleground, but it’s more like a tomb. Someone put all these bodies here after killing them. I wonder who they were and what kind of strength they had.

  He looked on his map and saw the icon was only a few feet away from him. Eager to find the other system, John made his way toward the icon.

  After some trial-and-error, he eventually came to a body. It was in a much better state than the other corpses. Even the clothes and what little armour he had on weren’t disintegrating.

  This body is in much better condition than the rest, but I still don’t know how long ago he died. It has to be over 10,000 years though! System, can you tell?

  No answer. John knelt down to get a closer look at the body when he heard a noise.

  BANG!

  Reflexes acting before his brain could process, John had pushed himself backwards just in time. The dead body of the other Sider had attacked John! It clamoured to its feet, tattered bits of rotted flesh creaking as it moved. John watched in horror as it fully stood up, just over six feet tall. What skin remained was a step away from leather. It had the appearance of an unwrapped mummy, eye-sockets emitting a red glow.

  Its body moved very slowly at first, but John immediately figured it would speed up once it accustomed itself to moving around. This was going to be trouble. He decided to use his Immortal Eye skill.

  Undead

  Rank: 0

  Level: 0

  Mortal? Regardless, I need to finish this as quickly as possible.

  John changed his clothes into armour and put in 2 Life Power units into each foot. He kept supplying them with power—as soon as a one ran out, another unit went in. In a surge of motion, he dashed forward. He landed on his left foot and did a Brazilian kick to the head of the undead.

  Just before his foot landed, he added as much Life Power as his foot could handle.

  BOOM!

  Dust inside the cave flew up into the air. The ground underneath started caving in with spider cracks all over the floor. As soon as his foot landed, John dashed back. Not even a second after he moved, the undead’s right arm swept by where John was. It shifted all the dust around them so John could see his opponent clearly.

  The undead’s left arm was used to block his attack, but that arm was now gone from the shoulder down. The force of the kick popped it right out of its socket. John saw it on the floor, almost intact but with cracks running all throughout the arm.

  The corpse let loose a chilling scream and charged at him. John dashed out of the way, only using up to 2 Life Power units for his movements. It was getting easier to control the number of units he needed to do the action he wanted.

  When the undead swiped with its right arm again, John moved aside and got behind the undead. He used Crush Grip on its neck.

  John thought the fight was over as the head dangled down with a crushed neck. However, with no warning, the corpse moved again! It kicked John right in the stomach, launching him into the air.

  I let my guard down!

  BOOM!

  John landed against the wall of the cave, which crumbled upon impact. He was pushed into the dirt and kept going further and further away due to the force of the impact. When he finally stopped, he was on the verge of losing consciousness.

  ‘Ding!’

  Blackout removed.

  John’s eyes widened. That surprised him. He looked down at his stomach and saw the clothes were intact. In pain, but not seriously injured, he stood up to face his foe once more.

  Why is there an undead here?! And why did I make such a stupid mistake by letting my guard down?!

  If the system didn’t keep me awake then the undead creature could come and kill me in my sleep!

  It would have been game over!

  I’m so stupid!

  ‘Ding!’

  Emotional state back to normal.

  ‘Ding!’

  Emotional state back to normal.

  This message repeated itself over ten times before he finally calmed down a little. John activated Life Vision, which surprisingly worked on the undead. The moving corpse was in front of the hole and walking towards him.

  Wanting to end
it as soon as possible, he loaded each of his feet with the maximum capacity of Life Power they could handle without getting torn apart. Letting loose a vicious battle cry, he used all his strength to run through the hole and toward his enemy.

  BOOM!

  With all the speed he generated, John broke the sound barrier, creating a sonic boom. Achieving his desired speed, he travelled through the rest of the tunnel, feet first. When he got close enough to his target, he aimed all of his strength right at the undead’s chest.

  BOOM!

  The corpse went flying along with John, plummeting into the wall at the other end of the clearing. They travelled roughly 400 feet with John’s feet still on its chest. Its back crashed into rocks and destroyed whatever obstacles lay in its path.

  When they finally stopped travelling, John put his hands out and held himself up by pushing against both sides of the wall. He repeatedly lifted one leg at a time, stomping into the undead’s rotting body with everything he could muster. He pounded the chest, stomach, and the dangling head into dust.

  Eventually, John started to tire. He let go of the walls, landed on his feet, and then jumped backwards. He was ready for a fight.

  ‘Ding!’

  7 Life Pool units have been added.

  I did all that for a measly seven units? Wait, how did I get Life Power from a mortal creature? I better get some other type of reward. Maybe, coming here was bad luck. That fight even distracted me from absorbing Life Power, which is the reason I came here in the first place!

  ‘Ding!’

  Brain of the system encountered. Do you wish to absorb the memories of the user, along with the remains of the system?

  John was shocked. He could absorb someone else’s memories? What happened if something went wrong? Wouldn’t he believe he was the other person or something along those lines?

  It could be beneficial, despite the risk. This could be a once in a lifetime opportunity. If I don’t take it, I’ll always wonder what could have been. I don’t want that kind of regret. I can’t live like that, so... YES!