Rewind: A Grimdark LitRPG Series (Pyresouls Apocalypse, Book 1) James Callum (best large ereader .TXT) 📖

Jacob shook his head. “I never heard of Matilda, and I failed to save Caleb’s life. He… sacrificed himself to destroy the horde at the base of the path to the bunker, killing himself as well as Sal, Daniel, and Melissa.”

Alec nodded, his expression suddenly somber. “We did lose Daniel, but Sal and Melissa are fine.”

Alice’s eyes lit up excitedly. “You are absolutely sure of this?” She lunged over the table, grabbing Jacob’s hands in a surprisingly tight grip.

“Of course,” Jacob said, offended. “I remember every one of our fallen. Tell me what happened.”

And so they told him how he and Matilda had overheard a scout talking about what he saw. Nobody knew what it was but Jacob seemed to know something nobody else did.

Together, now with Matilda, they reached Caleb before he was overrun and they were able to give the majority of the horde the slip.

With Caleb’s Sorcery, what few Vacant came upon the bunker were dealt with. Daniel still died but a single death was better than the host that was originally lost.

Alice couldn’t contain her glee. Right before her was concrete proof that something was different. Their timeline was altered by Jacob’s actions, though nobody quite understood how a new person joining the group would have happened from his actions.

They discussed more than just the recent events, with each of them trying to go as far back as they could remember to find other inconsistencies. There were a lot but most of the results ended up the same.

The Red Plague still came. The Vile Kingdom revealed itself to be the horrible monsters they truly were, and every other apocalyptic event after still transpired.

Whatever effect Jacob had, it wasn’t enough to shift the course of the world’s events.

So they ate, and they talked. When it was over, Ian came over to Jacob’s IV and took out a small syringe. At the alarmed look Ian merely smiled at him. “It’s just a mild sedative. You need your rest and I doubt you’re going to get it constantly talking about exciting events.”

Ian turned to the rest of them. “You don’t have to leave but keep your voices down. You appointed me as his guardian, and I intend to make good on that.” He looked back at Jacob with a wry smile. “Even if I have to protect him from himself.”

Injecting the sedative into his IV, Jacob didn’t feel anything right away even though Doc Ian practically forced him to lie down with his head propped up on a gel pillow.

Talk eventually turned away from the differences back to the game of Pyresouls. Kat had far more experience with the game than he recalled her ever having. And together the others discussed where Jacob was and where his next goal should be as the sedative finally kicked in and consciousness slipped through his fingers.

16

When Jacob awoke, he felt much the same as he did before. The only difference was his aches and pains seemed muted. He still felt that icy pit in the core of his being, that chill that never seemed to leave his bones.

Everybody was gone except for Kat who had taken a chair and pushed it up against the FIVR pod Jacob was using as a bed. She had fallen asleep reading a book, some worry creased her brow as Jacob looked over at her.

Was she guarding him? Or was there some emergency that called everybody else away?

Curious, Jacob sat up with a groan and nearly rolled out of the bed.

Kat’s strong callused hands were there to brace him and help him sit upright in an instant.

“Sorry,” Jacob said with a sheepish grin. “Didn’t mean to wake you.”

Kat leaned forward, the look in her tender blue eyes stunned him as she kissed his lips gently. “It’s okay, I was worried something might happen to you again so I told them I’d stay with you while they got some rest too.”

What the- Jacob’s mind ground to a halt, the shocked expression on his face only made Kat smile even more.

He didn’t have long to ponder the sudden – and very abrupt – change in Kat’s demeanor. Were they together in this timeline? He always thought she looked up to him but they had never done… anything.

If Alice and Alec hadn’t walked into the room at that moment, Alec snickering at the closeness of Kat and Jacob, he might have done something truly stupid. Like asking Katherine if they were together.

That would be classic Jacob. Insulting a woman that showed feelings for him.

Even though his head was still spinning from the kiss, Alec and Alice came over to greet him. They had a bullet point list ready for him, detailing where he should go next and what they were able to pull from various sources about Pyresouls.

There was still a rudimentary internet of sorts, but it resembled the older version of interconnected servers instead of freely browsed pages. You had to know the exact address and often the password to gain access to them. But it was one of the few ways groups like his had managed to stay in contact.

Some servers had gone silent, the databases were still accessible but nobody was home. And in the years after the Collapse, many universities had the bright idea to collect and document as much information about Pyresouls as possible and spread that information far and wide.

It was a far cry from a wiki, but it still held information about what happened. Archived forum posts hosting both first-hand accounts and those that were embellished by people who couldn’t get past the Razorpass who were only looking for fake internet points.

Over the years, the fake accounts were trimmed, leaving a database of collective knowledge about Pyresouls Online. Highly incomplete, some parts were blatantly wrong, but it was better than nothing.

After the initial few years waned, few people bothered to update or alter it. It was included automatically in any