The Idle System (A LitRPG series Book 7): Family

by Pegaz

  After taking a deep breath to calm down, John continued watching Sarah as she carried on with her life. She went and gave Luke all her maps, heard about Lexis, and started to travel with the elders and grand elders to help investigate.

  As he continued watching, John realised the older and stronger their past lives got, the less amount of help was needed from him. However, when he followed Sarah to the location of Elder Kian’s death, John had an idea.

  Turning back time, he returned to the point a few days before Elder Kian’s and Lexis’ deaths. He turned himself visible and met them both.

  After he explained that they were in danger, he told them to hide on a random planet and not to contact anyone until he said it was okay. He gave them a communication device and sent them on their way, but not before taking a hair from them both.

  Using the cloning technique, he created copies of them, turned invisible again, then watched as Scott killed the clones as he controlled them with his threads. Scott killed Elder Kian from behind before decapitating Lexis not long after.

  Since they were clones, the medical examination that Sarah said would happen to determine their identity would be a perfect match, too. No worries there, then.

  He watched as Scott buried Lexis and Elder Kian at the same location while taking Lexis’ head.

  John knew what actually happened, so when Scott left the area, he used the earth element to dig up Elder Kian’s body and carried it into the forest not far from town.

  Grabbing a cloth with the Fire Cross Mercenaries symbol on it from town, John flew back to the body and placed it underneath. He used the metal element to create a basic sword and swung it from left to right at the closest tree to form marks.

  Using the earth element, he created a pair of shoes and used them to create shoe prints all around the body. He took a few more minutes to stage the area like how Sarah had described it to him.

  Sarah thought it was Scott who staged this area to throw off the investigation. Now I know it was me who created it to get the investigation started.

  When I’ve finished helping the past and return to the present, Sarah will be over the moon when she finds out that Lexis and all the villagers are actually alive. Hopefully, that will end all her thoughts about her being cursed and being unable to have any friends.

  John then visited the general of the Fire Cross Mercenaries and found his body.

  This man helped Scott locate Lexis and Elder Kian for money. They would have died if not for me, so I see no reason to make Scott kill a clone of the general instead.

  John then watched Sarah return to the sect, investigate all the families, and then go hunt Rot Elements. When Scott tried his soul manipulation technique again, John destroyed it like he did the first time.

  He saw how Sarah almost broke down in front of Lexis’ grave but also gathered enough resolve to carry on.

  When he heard Frank and Rebecca’s conversation, he felt even more let down about Frank’s behaviour.

  Sarah killing Scott by slitting his throat caused John to smile once again.

  His past self came back and then got threatened by O’Malley. Before his past self left for the battlefield, John placed Kelly’s soul inside Sarah’s womb after she said she was pregnant.

  I’m not sure how this works, but I know it does since Kelly was born safely.

  John knew there was nothing he could do to help his past self on the battlefield, so he teleported to the planet Sarah would go to and used the time element until he saw her.

  Inside the cabin, he kept fast forwarding time until Sarah was in labour. Standing at one side of the cabin, John watched his daughter Kelly be born.

  When Sarah and Kelly were asleep, John walked over to Kelly, leaned down, and gently kissed her head.

  I was here during her birth, just not in the traditional way.

  Fast forwarding time again, John turned visible, placed his mask over his head, and stood in front of the king of the Bahan Kingdom after his past self had received the golden eagle badge and left.

  “I changed my mind about the condition,” John announced. “Don’t tell the world about the badge, only tell your knights, ministers, and anyone else important in this kingdom. Don’t let Gralux Kingdom catch wind of our little deal, otherwise you know what will happen!”

  After leaving the castle, John turned invisible again and followed his past self.

  I wondered why Carola, the princess of Bahan Kingdom, and all her knights knew about the golden eagle badge but the prince of Gralux Kingdom and all his knights didn’t.

  My future self set it up. Is that to give Kelly a lesson about human nature? Or is it just me not wanting her to marry a prince that’s not worthy of her?

  John then watched Kelly grow up once more. Even knowing about her system and how it worked, he still couldn’t find anything that would’ve given it away.

  It was time to jump back into the present, but John remembered the rule about time that O’Malley left out the first time and only found it inside the Information Spheres later.

  When in the past, it’s fine jumping through time while on the spot. However, when returning to the present, I must be in the same location I was before I went back in time.

  This is to stop the space from the location I disappeared to the location I reappeared at from being torn apart.

  John opened his universal map and teleported to the Transcendent’s castle. He used the time element in his eye to make sure he followed his past self to the location where he disappeared from and then returned to the present.

  Looking around, John made sure no space was torn apart. When he found nothing wrong, he smiled while opening the universal map and teleported back to where Sarah and Kelly were.

  He managed to get teleported directly above the nameless town, but while he was hovering in the air, he noticed something was very wrong.

  Chapter 49: Gone

  The town was much smaller than he remembered. In fact, it looked like it was the same size it was before him, Sarah, and Kelly moved out of the jungle.

  Looking at where his house was, he noticed that his house was run down, and Sarah’s medical practice which was built next to it was missing. The weeds were overgrown in that area like the building was never there in the first place.

  He flew to his house and opened the squeaky door, only to find a half-naked man in the middle of the kitchen area, looking at him in shock.

  Knitting his brows, John shouted, “Who’re you?”

  However, John ignored the man who tried to answer and turned his Scan back on in the system, hoping to find Sarah and Kelly.

  In the Scan, he saw the entire village was deserted. There were cobwebs in almost every corner of every house. Wild animals were running about and that man was the only other human besides himself inside the village.

  What the hell is going on?

  Wait, how did my teleport skill work? That sealed space around the planet I placed should’ve stopped me! Did something happen to it?

  John walked out of the house before flying inside the jungle. He came to the spot where Sarah and the puppets had built a house, but the entire area looked like it had never been touched by a human before.

  After finding that the cabin was gone, too, John flew to Bahan Kingdom and barged inside the throne room where he saw the king he made a deal with. The king started shouting for John’s arrest and acted like he didn’t know John.

  The situation didn’t seem right to John, so he used his Immortal Eye skill and found that the king was a mortal again!

  Opening up the universal map in the system, John noticed there weren’t any family icons showing on the planet.

  Did Sarah and Kelly leave?

  John flew towards outer space to check on the space sealing runes he had placed before he left to transcend, but there weren’t any signs of them.

  Instead of trying to figure out where the runes were, John used the universal map to teleport to the Nobody Sect. Maybe Luke had heard of s
omething which could help him.

  But when he arrived at the immortal area where the sect was located, he thought he was in the wrong place.

  Every building was in ruins while bricks, glass, doors, and even dried blood were spread all over the floor around the buildings. A lot of the buildings were black, indicating they were engulfed by fire at one point in time.

  Jamie’s old house was the same, so he flew towards the mission hub. When his Scan picked it up, he saw that the entire thing was just a giant crater that had collapsed.

  No matter how long he searched, he couldn’t find a single person. The entire sect was abandoned.

  John flew towards the immortal village where Amanda stayed, only to find that was in ruins, too. He carried on to the Northern Kingdom where he finally found some living people.

  Walking up to a random person on the street, John asked, “What happened to the immortals area?”

  “Are you daft?” the man asked. “Why would—”

  “Just answer me!” John shouted as he grabbed the man, causing him to whimper.

  “There was a war between immortals over forty years ago!” the man spoke quickly. “We learned about the Immortal War in history class, but it’s been a long time since I left school and can’t remember the details. If you want to get some real answers, then you should go to a library or ask the king’s advisor since he’s a well-educated man.”

  John let the man go and ventured to find the king’s advisor.

  When his Scan was in range and searched the palace, John was shocked beyond belief.

  The king’s advisor was Luke!

  Picking up speed, John landed in front of Luke and shouted, “Luke! Have you seen Sarah? Where have you been? What happened to the sect?”

  Luke stood there and stared at John, clearly confused by what he was being asked.

  “I don’t know anybody named Sarah,” Luke responded. “I’ve been here all day, and what sect are you talking about?”

  John knitted his brows. “You do know Sarah, my wife! She was the person that gave you the maps from Adventurers’ Guild!”

  But no matter how much John described what Sarah looked like or what events had happened, Luke kept saying he didn’t know her.

  When John asked about the Immortal War, Luke then described what was written in the history books. Over fifty years ago, a new sect master named Jeremy May was crowned and not long after, he changed the rules.

  The sect would then target anyone for the right price. This created outrage throughout the entire universe, and forty years ago, the Anti-assassin Sect—along with a few other powerful sects—came down to this world and started a war.

  The fighting lasted for months, and without any way to escape the planet and no sense of camaraderie between them, the assassins lost.

  Jeremy May was publicly executed and the immortals stayed on this planet for over twenty years, making sure they didn’t miss any assassin that might have been hiding.

  After listening to Luke narrate what happened to the Rogue Sect, John opened the universal map and found the Anti-assassin Sect’s planet before teleporting there.

  When he arrived, he flew to the capital city and found Jason Hendrix, Elder Han, and Chris Han all alive and well.

  John felt a hot flush going through his body while his heart beat sped up. It took only a few seconds for the need to vent his anger became too strong to hold it in.

  John shouted, “HOW MANY TIMES DO I HAVE TO KILL YOU?”

  Lifting his hand open, he used the force element in every direction on all three people. When he clenched his fist, all three people were pummelled into paste.

  “NOW STAY DEAD!”

  Realising he made a mistake in killing Jason too quickly, John went to what was left of him and grabbed Jason’s soul before it disappeared.

  Hopefully this still works without the Demon.

  Lifting the soul to his mouth, John swallowed it.

  It worked, but both of his eyes saw Jason’s past instead of just his right eye. He kept waiting for Jason’s life to reach the point where he would meet Sarah, but the visions of Jason’s life ended without any signs of her.

  John didn’t give up but instead flew towards the village where Sarah spent the first six years of her new life.

  The village was here, not back on his private planet. Everything looked the same as before he moved it. He arrived inside the village and asked everybody if they had seen Sarah.

  Sadly, everyone answered the same. They had never heard of a person called Sarah.

  At this point, John began to feel nauseated. His fingers and toes were tingling, and he started to lose any sensation in them. He could feel his legs were trembling to the point where he could hardly stand up.

  No, I don’t believe it!

  Opening the universal map once more, John teleported to the Sword Sect’s private planet. He asked all the elders and the sect master about Sarah, but they had no idea, and then welcomed him back to the sect.

  The Maddox family estate was still standing and John saw Scott Maddox practising his martial arts.

  After killing Scott, John then went to find Lexis, but even she didn’t know Sarah.

  On the universal map, he teleported to the Death Sect’s planet this time. He found that the entire sect was still thriving.

  He teleported to the Transcendent’s castle next, but he found pieces of furniture floating in the courtyard again. When he passed through the bubble barrier at the castle’s entrance, his Scan showed that nobody was inside, but the beds were all made and all the clothes had disappeared.

  John walked back to the courtyard with shaky legs before they finally buckled, forcing him on his knees. His hands slumped to his sides as his strength had left his body while his mouth kept opening and closing, but no sound would come out.

  Tears fell down John’s cheeks as his heart began to ache.

  Sarah’s gone. She doesn’t exist in this timeline and without her, Kelly was never born.

  His mind kept going through all the differences without Sarah in his life.

  Without her, I never would’ve told my past life’s history which made the system get rid of my depression and grief.

  I never went to the Anti-assassin Sect’s planet for revenge when Sarah was put into a coma, so they are all alive.

  When Jeremy May took over the Rogue Sect, I wouldn’t have been strong enough to kill him and take the sect back because I didn’t get revenge.

  With Jeremy in power and nobody to stop him, his new rules caused the Immortal War.

  Since I didn’t go back to take over the sect, Luke was never made an immortal and became the king’s advisor.

  At the Sword Sect, I didn’t arrive with Sarah, so I joined alone. Scott Maddox didn’t see Sarah’s face to fall in love, meaning I wouldn’t have destroyed the Maddox family due to his actions.

  Without destroying the Anti-assassin Sect, I couldn’t sneak into the Adventurers’ Guild’s prison disguised as Jonathan to gain more strength, so the Adventurers’ Guild and the Death Sect never went to war after Sarah shifted the blame.

  Since I didn’t get revenge, I didn’t become a Demon which would’ve caused O’Malley to lose interest in me. If that happened, I wouldn’t have been forced to join the beastman’s war, meaning the beastmen would, or possibly already have, won the war.

  The village we lived in never became prosperous because of us, instead the residents either starved to death or moved. I never made a deal with the Bahan king to make him immortal and the prince of the Gralux Kingdom never tried his plot, so he’s still alive.

  The only thing that stayed the same was me and the Transcendents who stayed dead. The past being changed doesn’t affect Transcendents, even dead ones.

  That means somebody paid the price and changed the past!

  Who? And why?!

  John didn’t move for hours, trying to think who could’ve done this. All that time, his tears, heartache, and the feeling of his world being tor
n apart never stopped.

  Clap, clap, clap.

  John heard somebody clapping behind him, so he turned his head around.

  He saw a woman who stood at about five and a half feet. She had brown hair that went down to her hips, thin eyebrows, brown eyes, and she was on the slimmer side.

  “I always like to see the effects my punishments have on people,” she crooned. “I’ve got to say, your pain is one of the better ones I’ve seen throughout my long life.”

  Chapter 50: Her

  John stared at the woman. His voice was caught in his throat, leaving him unable to speak, regardless of how much he tried.

  He knew this woman was the first Sider that O’Malley had talked about because a black seven-sided star was around the woman’s right eye, which was also black with a glowing yellow iris.

  “Ha! Cat got your tongue?” she teased. “Don’t break down just yet. The punishment has only just begun.

  “My first punishment is causing you emotional pain, and for Transcendents, this punishment is much worse. No matter what happens, your memories will be left intact because you’re a Transcendent.

  “The most effective way of doing this is to leave the person alone by killing those closest to them. So, when I found out about your lover and child, I got one of my people to erase them from existence.

  “You can do nothing to reverse another Transcendent’s actions of changing the past, but you will live forever with memories of those that you lost haunting you.

  “It’s easier than you think, actually. Just wait until after a Transcendent has returned from their past, destroy the souls of their loved ones, and you’re done.

  “Your little lover was a Saint Sider, which was highly unexpected. From what I’ve learned about the new history of this universe, her death saved a few billion lives.

  “The way Saints are, I think she would’ve been happy to die if it saved that many lives, so you can take a bit of comfort knowing that at least.”

  “HOW?” John screamed, tears still falling from his reddened eyes. “How did you find out about them? At this point in time, I’ve only just killed all the Transcendents so you wouldn’t have had the time to find them!”