Is it Wrong to Copy Abilities in Apocalypse?

It had been a while since Alex had seen the system, and if one asked him, how he felt after being able to see her, then he would probably say that he was better without getting a look at her face.

The worst thing was that knowing that the system was intentionally making things harder for him was not something he would've wanted to know right now.

His situation wasn't very good right now, with his leg still waiting to be healed, but now this...

[I've already gone over the roles, so let's skip the boring part and get to the fun stuff—what happens when you succeed... or fail.]

The system's voice, however, turned ominous, her giggle reverberating inside the humans's heads, causing Alex to break out of his thoughts.

[For the guardian of the Egg: Should you succeed...]

The system, hovering in the air, looked down at Alex, a sneer tugging on her lips, his struggle clear in her eyes, yet she ignored it.

[You'll have the honor of having a chance to form a contract with the calamity, a 10,000 coin reward, and a random rare-ranked item. Pretty reasonable for the effort you are going to put in, right?]

Her voice was still echoing through the heads of every human, but her eyes were focused on Alex, brows raised, and words directed at him as well.

[If you were to fail, though... only death awaits, and yeah, I will be the one to do it—I will do it with my own hands!]

Her voice raised, and her body trembled, excited by just imagining the scene, but she calmed down soon enough and continued.

[For the humans in the area: If the egg were to shatter—killing the calamity even before it stepped foot on earth—then every human in the area would walk out with 2000 coins added to their stock.]

The system paused for a second, letting the humans digest her words before she spoke again.

[There are exceptions—they are everywhere—the ones who are the top contributors, and they will be granted a chance to form a contract with a god of their choosing, even if they are already contracted—assuming they are ready to have their old contract nullified.]

The humans who heard those words fell into deep contemplation, and so did some gods who had formed a contract with some good players.

This sub-scenario could mean a lot for all of them.

There was a chance that one of the gods might lose his or her followers if the said follower turned out to be a top contributor, hence getting their names stained—not something a god would take lightly. see-NovelFire-for-more

So, many of them started planning things, be it humans or gods.

[There is a special reward for the first rank contributor as well; they will get a random rare-ranked item. Pretty nice for breaking things, right?]

The system, on the other hand, went on, unbothered by the upcoming turmoil.

It was never said that gods wouldn't be pulled into the game.

The gods would lose things as well; after all, they are in the game.

Even if they are more of a spectator, it changes the moment they form a contract; at that time, they become linked to a player, hence becoming a part of the game.

[But, but, but—there it is, the but that you all like to hear—if you were to fail to get your task done, then you won't be walking away Scott-free. The difficulty of your next scenario increased by a fold; the guardian is, of course, safe from this, so be aware.]

The system didn't leave a single chance to make the guardian position look easier to the humans, as protecting an egg looked easier to them.

The system, however, knew perfectly well that protecting was going to be the hardest task; did she need to tell that though? Nope.

Let the humans think that the guardian position was easier, as that would make things harder for the guardian—exactly what she wanted.

[So... the egg will be appearing right in front of the guardian in 10 seconds, so how are you going to protect the egg? Or how are you going to go past the guardian and shatter the egg? It is all up to you; the game has already begun.]

With those words, the system blinks, and the next second vanishes, leaving some words hanging in the air.

[Good luck... You'll need it.]

Those words were for Alex, who had his eyes closed and mind calmed.

He was still contemplating whether he should report the system or not.

He was sure that it was the system intentionally trying to make things harder for him, but what if it was really his name that came up randomly and the system was just trying to make it look intentional?

Alex wasn't a guy who believed that the system wasn't aware of the report button's existence; he believed that the system knew pretty well that humans could report it as well, and that was probably why it even followed the rules.

But it was only once that a human could use it, and there was no surety that they would ever be able to redeem it.

So, maybe it was a ploy of the system to make him use his report function right now so that he would never again be able to do it.

He didn't want to fall for it.

He didn't want to lose the only way that he could keep the system at bay.

He wanted to not use this until he was left with no other option, or at least until he found a way to get the report option back even if he were to use it once.

[Oh, I almost forgot to drop a hint about the guardian!]

Just then, the system's voice exclaimed in the humans' heads, causing some unprepared ones to stagger, not expecting the system to suddenly shout.

But as soon as the words settled, the humans grew focused, listening to the system's next word attentively.

[He is known as the first ranker by many; that's all, now enjoy your time!]

With those words, the system's voice faded, and the humans knew that she wasn't coming back for now.

Her work here was done, and the ones who had to get to work were the humans and the guardian of the egg.

Alex, the guardian, however, was now left with a lot to think about.

He was again drawing the shorter stick, and as his luck had it, the sponsor quest would end before he could complete the sub-quest, taking away his chance to get the reward he wanted so much.

Things weren't going as he wanted them to.

Everything was not looking bad, but just then, he received a new notification, causing him to frown, but as he read through it, his eyes widened a bit.

This is it!

This could help!

The thing in front of him was a new sponsor quest, and although it wasn't from one of the gods he had unmuted, he was very much willing to take it on.

The reward was just the thing that could help him in this situation.