Is it Wrong to Copy Abilities in Apocalypse?

21:06, 21 July, 20XY.

Muzaffarnagar, Uttar Pradesh, India.

It was almost time for the second scenario, and everyone all over the world nervously waited for the voice they were familiar with to be heard again.

This world, which was struck by the apocalypse, would've been a good place for humans to restart their lives.

The world's civilization was gone, and many people who used to rule the countries were dead.

So, if, just if, the system were not in the humans' lives or it was ejected out of this planet, this world would become better than before.

It would take years for the world to go back to normal or at least close to normal, but it would be better as the world, which had been misused by humans, would have recovered a little by then.

But none of that was possible since the luxury of a system-free world was not something they had.

They were stuck with the system until, well, they completed the game?

There was nothing about the end of this game told by the system in the information it gave, more like, there was nothing about why they were playing this game as well.

There was a word going around—a word that defined their situation and told everyone the reason behind them being forcefully pulled into this game.

Entertainment.

Yes, that is what people now think of this game.

A source of entertainment for the ones sitting above, watching them and supporting them as if placing bets on them.

No one knew who started to say this—who was the one who first came up with this theory?

But as the humans observed the situation, they slowly started to realize the truth behind those words.

The system was supposed to do just one thing—push them deeper into despair—while the gods were supposed to watch and enjoy the show and maybe help those they thought might go farther than others.

It became clearer after the second chance at the first scenario that happened a while back.

Many people wanted to get in, ride the waves, and get some more coins without much effort, as they had all upgraded their stats to a level where they could stay alive in the scenario without a problem, but was it going to be that easy?

The moment the scenario was about to start, they were all pushed out of the green zone, and thrown on the debris that was lying around before the green zone turned opaque blue, with nothing of the inside visible to the people outside.

"NOOOO—!"

"T-THIS IS WRONG!!"

"M-My wife can't survive alone in there!"

It was not just the ones who wanted some easy coins that went inside the green zone or scenario area, there were the ones who wanted to help their family members clear the scenario in there as well.

They had no impure thoughts; they didn't even want the coins if that was what pushed them out, but then a new notification flashed in front of the ones who were kicked out of the tutorials.

[No one can take part in a scenario twice.]

This was something the system was supposed to tell them at the start so that the humans would make plans accordingly, but now...

"FUCK YOU SYSTEM!!"

"This is murder! You clearly wanted to kill them!"

All the humans could do was rage about it and curse the system for it, only to meet their end by the system's hands.

[You should know your limits, and it was their fault for not taking part in the first round of the scenario.]

Those were the only words one could hear from the system's lips.

It was then that the humans turned toward the gods.

"Please! Help us!"

"I will do anything for you; just help my family!"

They pleaded, begged, and cried out for help, but they got no response from the gods.

All they got was the notification about some god staring at them, some laughing at their situation, and some looking at them with pity.

They send some coins as if entertained by the show humans provided them, and right at that moment, the gods became worse than the demons in those people's eyes.

The other humans, although they didn't hate the gods, were now sure of the hypothesis of them being entertainment for the gods.

Many people, who believed the gods to be the real ones they used to worship, stopped doing it.

Many gods who saw that grew enraged.

They were being judged by mere mortals; if that was not enough, they were being cursed by them.

At that time, one after another, new sponsor quests kept appearing.

Each of those quests had a reward for those who killed the humans named in the quests.

The humans, who were not targeted, turned their hungry eyes toward those who were being targeted by the gods.

There was no sympathy in their eyes; they didn't care about those humans.

"It was their fault that they offended the gods."

This is all they said, as if trying to make themselves seem better.

All of the humans then turned into devoted worshipers of gods as they killed the humans for them; they didn't even care about the fact that just a while ago, they too were cursing at the gods, and if their chats were to be revealed to the gods, there would be a quest for them as well.

After that, a new wave of killing went on with the ones who were still remorseful of losing their family members dying under the blade of those who covered their faces with a mask made of hypocrisy.

This was just how humans were; they were never united, even at times when they would surely thrive by being united.

If no one took the quests on, wouldn't the gods have just gritted their teeth and swallowed their anger?

They couldn't directly attack the humans after all.

Yes, there was a rule for them to be able to take action against severe disrespect, but no human was foolish enough to do it; all of the humans who cursed the gods were being indirect.

If humans were united, then the children and the women, who were now out of the scenario after completing it with a lot of effort, wouldn't be crying in despair as they realized that their fathers or husbands had died.

But this is just how it was.

This is just how humans were, and that was why Alex, our protagonist, could never bring himself to trust such beings.

They might seem friendly one moment, and the next moment, something you said might hurt their feelings, causing them to curse you on the inside.

All of this was worse in the apocalypse, as now, people carried knives behind their backs while they smiled on the front.

"Sigh…"

Alex just sighed as he rested his back on the debris he was sitting against.

But just then...

[Hmm... it seems like a lot of you are still alive...]

A lazy voice was heard, echoing through the heads of each and every person in India, causing their bodies to tense.

'It is time.'

This is what they all thought, as they knew that it was time for the next scenario to start.