Is it Wrong to Copy Abilities in Apocalypse?

A game of catch.

If you sneak in and are caught more than once, then you are dead.

There was another safer option, but for that, you needed to have a lot of coins, which many didn't. So, after a while, as people saw the ones entering the area coming out empty-handed, they started to slowly use their abilities.

Their goal was to shatter the egg, and from what they knew, the egg was within this area, so all they had to do was turn the whole area around.

If they just destroyed everything in the area, then they would probably be able to shatter the egg without even having to find it.

The egg was hidden somewhere in the area, after all.

*Boom*

*Baam*

*Shatter*

*Crash*

They went on and on, sending attacks one after another, destroying the whole area, hoping that they would be the ones to get the egg, but slowly, as the area was getting upturned completely, they started losing hope.

Will they even find the egg?

Was it even in the area as they had all guessed? Or was it simply Alex's trick for amassing more coins?

Such doubts started appearing in the people's heads. Those thoughts were not uncalled for, though; anyone who had tried their best to get something with all they had would of course get frustrated.

So people started to leave, not wanting to waste any coins after seeing so many people do the same.

Alex, however, didn't even bother with them anymore. All he would do was run around the area once in a while, at random intervals, to search for the ones who had sneaked in.

It was not that he was scared of them finding the egg—the egg was always in his line of sight. He just didn't want to make people think that the egg wasn't hidden in the area.

Yeah, many people were already thinking that, but there were some who still believed that the egg was within the area, and they were sneaking into the area every now and then.

Alex himself lets them go sometimes. He had sensed the presence of the same person more than two or three times, and there were many instances like that, but he let them be.

This would serve two of his objectives.

The first one was that the people wouldn't lose hope and would continue trying, and since it was free, they would try as many times as they could. They would tell more people about it, and more of them would try it, letting him have more coins.

The second one was the fact that if people knew that he had a weak perception, then he would seem less like a beast and more like a human to them. That would make him seem like a hurdle they could overcome if they tried harder.

Right now, Alex was like an insurmountable wall, and if humans were to see a wall like that, they would unite—they would all get together to somehow overcome it.

Alex didn't want the humans to unite only to fight against him.

He was strong, and he knew it, but that didn't mean he would be willing to take on every single human in the area.

So he had to appear a bit weak, or at least show some kind of weakness, which he was doing very well right now.

Right now, he was focused on something else, though.

[Stats:

→ Strength: Level 40 (C) (Tier 1)

→ Defense: Level 40 (C) (Tier 1)

→ Agility: Level 40 (C) (Tier 1)

→ Stamina: Level 40 (C) (Tier 1)

→ Mana: Level 40 (C) (Tier 1)

]

This is what his stats looked like for a while now. It had been like that since he last checked them after he woke up with the ancient wyrm's flesh and bones attached to his body.

He had been trying to look for any information related to this 'C' that was written next to his stats to no avail. No matter where he looked for it, he couldn't find any information about it.

<It is probably related to the power boost you got after having the ancient wyrm's flesh and bones fused with your body.>

The AI, knowing exactly what Alex was thinking about, commented.

Just like Alex, it had been trying to look into the rules and information of the system, but even it failed to find anything related to it.

It was as if this was something they weren't even supposed to know about.

["Phew... I'm finally back! So, did you miss me~?"]

It was then that a silver notification flashed in front of Alex, causing his gaze to momentarily freeze before he nodded his head.

That action, however, caused the certain god, who had been gone for a while after she gave Alex the reward he was supposed to receive, to go silent for a while.

["Huh... looks like you really did change in just a while."]

She spoke, causing Alex to raise a brow, but he didn't say anything else. He did know that he was changing, but he wasn't actually becoming something or someone else; he was just getting back to how he used to be in his prime.

The certain god, on the other hand, wasn't done yet; just a single nod from Alex was a lot more than any other reaction he had given to her constant ranting all of the time.

["So, you missed me~?"]

Her voice turned back to her flirty tone as she asked that question.

To Alex, who could hear her voice, it was as if she was standing in front of him with her head tilted and her body swaying from one side to another, making him wonder if he should've even nodded his head or not.

He wanted to interact with gods now. He wanted to use them.

Enough of avoiding them because they were dangerous. He would make it so that he would have at least two or three strong gods ready to protect him.

But looking at the reaction from just one of the gods, he didn't know if he should really do what he was thinking.

In the end, he shook his head inwardly.

He wasn't going to change his mind. The thing he had thought would be better for the bigger picture. He needed to adjust to the way the world was now.

He was also curious as to why the gods, who are powerful enough to cause state-level or maybe even country-wide destruction, would seem so happy when just a simple mortal like them were to show them a reaction.

What could they possibly gain by having him work under them?

What could he possibly give them other than increasing the number of followers they had by a single digit?

He wanted to know the answers to those questions, and those questions were some things that only the gods could answer.

<Why not ask her about the irregularity of your stats?>

It was then that the AI's words echoed in his head, causing his eyes to brighten.

It was she who gave him the leg made of ancient wyrm's flesh and bones; wouldn't that mean she knew what was happening to him?

He didn't think about it until now, as he was busy musing about where she went for a while, but now that the AI reminded him of it, he would do just that.

"It's my turn already?"

But before he could even ask the question, a voice was heard from his side, causing him to frown as he turned to look at the girl who was standing right beside him, staring straight into his eyes.

It seemed like it was her turn to enter the area.

Alex looked at the line behind her, and he noticed the number of people after her was no more than 4, showing that most of them had left, hoping to try their luck by sneaking into the forest.

These five people were probably the last ones left—the ones who thought that they still had a chance and that they could complete the sub-scenario.

"5000 coins and you are free to go."

After staring at them for a while, Alex spoke, his eyes turning back to look at his status window.

Alex had already looked through their status window, and he knew that none of them had enough coins to enter the area, at least not in this way. They could still try the game of catch.

But something strange happened at that point.

"Remember your promise."

A guy from the line stepped forward and pushed his finger at the girl's finger, who happily accepted it with a smile.

"Don't worry. I won't."

But that was not the end, as the other four did the same, stepping forward and pointing their fingers at the girl who touched their finger with hers.

This series of actions, however, caused Alex to frown. He could see perfectly well what was happening.

They were all sharing their coins with the girl, and when it was done, the girl turned toward Alex with a bright smile and spoke.

"Here."

She smiled, pointing her index finger at Alex, causing him to stare at her for a while before he touched her finger, accepting the 5000 coins.

She wasn't going to be any different from the ones before, so what does it matter how she gathered the coins?

He would soon realize how wrong he was.