Is it Wrong to Copy Abilities in Apocalypse?

"I-I didn't even do anything..."

His body shivered, seeing nothing but his own death in those cold golden eyes that kept staring at him.

*Step**Step*...

The image of a red-haired boy with piercing gold eyes could be seen getting closer in the horrified brown eyes of the man.

"You didn't do anything... yet."

The red-haired guy, Alex, on the other hand, let out those words with an emotionless look on his face, a manipulative glint passing through his frosty eyes.

"W-What do you mean...?"

The black-haired guy, however, just grew more and more terrified. He knew who Alex was after all, and not just him; almost everyone in these surrounding states knew who Alex was.

His eyes scanned the surroundings to look for a way out of this situation, only to have tears of despair form into them the moment his eyes landed on his friends' bodies.

All of them were camping together, wanting to find a bit of peace in this apocalypse, when suddenly...

*Woosh*

That was all they heard before everyone other than him had a gaping hole in their heads.

They were dead without a doubt, and this was what gave him the idea that he was going to have the same ending, but...

"What is your name?"

He grew confused the moment he heard Alex's question, his emotions getting mixed with terror and perplexion, causing the guy to not know what to say for a while.

"Vipeen!"

It was only when he saw the frown forming on Alex's forehead that he exclaimed in panic.

His life was already in the hands of the guy who had effortlessly killed all of his friends; two of them who were stronger than him were also within them, and he didn't want to join them all so soon.

"So Vipeen, send a message in the world chat saying that I am moving to the north at a very fast speed."

Alex's words were heard again as he stood right in front of Vipeen, staring down at him.

'A-Am I being used...?'

Vipeen was not a fool to not realize what was going on even now, but as he looked at the icy gaze of Alex, his body quivered again, reminding him that the last thing he should do now was try to cheat Alex.

There were many humans alive in this area; if he wasn't going to do it, then there was a chance that Alex might just kill him and move to the other group.

The guy didn't want that; he wanted to believe that he might still be left alive if he did what Alex asked.

His friends' deaths a second were still weighing heavily on his mind, but his will to survive was strong enough to get over that.

"I-I will do it!"

He nodded his head repeatedly, not wasting any more time as he quickly called out for the world chat.

"World chat."

The blue illusionary screen that only he could see appeared in front of his eyes, and with a last glance at Alex, he started to type the message Alex wanted him to do.

*Click**Click*...

His fingers were quite swift, thanks to his days as a keyboard fighter, so it didn't take more than a second or two to get it done.

"World chat."

It was then that Alex opened his chats, only to hear Vipeen's nervous yet hopeful voice.

"Done!"

The guy exclaimed.

"C-Can you l-let me go now…?"

Added Vipeen, his body fidgeting in apprehension, unsure if he would get his wish fulfilled, but he really hoped that it did.

Alex, however, stared at the world chat, which was getting barraged by messages every second, making it hard to even read a single text until you focused on it.

[Vipeen: Hey guys—the ones who are about to come face to face with the demon—tell the demon that Alex Matthew, the first bounty ranker, is headed north from Meerut!]

Only when Alex saw this message did he even look at Vipeen, his gaze lingering on the guy, who was staring back at him with fear and uncertainty in his eyes before he turned around, moving away from the guy.

"Huh?"

Vipeen, who saw this, was stunned for a second before realization dawned on him.

'I-I am alive…?'

He muttered inwardly, unable to believe that Alex really did let him go.

'He doesn't seem like a bad guy—'

Vipeen smiled inwardly, staring at the back of Alex, who was walking farther and farther away, but then he paused as his eyes landed on the dead bodies of his friends.

His stare turned into a glare as he made up his mind.

'I'll make you regret leaving me alive!'

He gritted his teeth as his eyes bore into Alex's back.

Vipeen knew his limits, he was aware of the power disparity between him and Alex, so he stayed quiet for a while.

He would wait for Alex to disappear from his sight, only then would he make a move.

'I'll make you regret leaving me alive—'

The next second, however, his words were cut short as his eyes widened to the extreme.

*Woosh*

The same voice that took away the lives of his friends was heard again, and that was the last thing he heard as the next second...

*Pierce*

An arrow came zooming in from behind him, and before he could even turn around or move a muscle, it had already passed through the center of his head, moving toward Alex.

*Grab*

The boy, on the other hand, just raised his palm, grabbing the arrow without a problem; no hint of regret or guilt was present in his eyes as he walked away without even sparing a glance at Vipeen's corpse.

The arrow, still stained with the blood of Vipeen, was directly sent to his inventory.

He never thought about it before, but after he realized how much these fantasy beasts relied on their sense of smell, he knew that he needed some diversions, and what could be a better diversion than another human?

He could just shoot an arrow covered in human blood in a direction he wasn't planning to move, causing the beasts to get attracted to the scent, rushing toward it, only to realize what it was later.

That much time, however, was enough for Alex to move away from the said area and out of the beasts' perceptions.

The AI, which had direct access to the system's map, advised Alex as it scanned the map, and Alex nodded his head, moving right from there.

All he had to do now was wait the night out; it was already around 9 pm anyway.

Maybe he was going to get a good night's sleep for the first time after the apocalypse, but just then, a new notification arrived, causing a certain glint to pass through his eyes.