"Let Gerry attend to you," Isabella showed a stubborn side of her personality as she let one of the youths examine my wounds.
"Don't worry Hye, I'm a medical student. Yes I'm still in the first year but I can control your bleeding at least," that guy told me that but I wasn't really worried about myself at the moment.
However I didn't speak or object again to not arouse any doubts. I knew that my wounds were severe but I also knew what would come in the next few moments.
[Congratulations! You have proven yourself worthy. The first part of the first quest is over and now a system is bound to your soul and genes]
I looked at the screen that appeared in front of me as it appeared in front of everyone. 'That damn gene binding,' I thought to myself while knowing the real apocalypse would start now.
The binding of the system was explained by lots of humans at the beginning to be like any game system. In fact this wasn't a false statement. After all, the nature of the system, its features and quests, all supported this idea.
But the problem here was that gene binding thing. It allowed any human to bypass what he acquired during these days to their upcoming offsprings. This might seem a good help to those born after the apocalypse, but it also doomed many people, like myself.
Those who failed to obtain a class or decent skills and attributes left their upcoming kids and grandkids at disadvantage. It wasn't easy to fix such adversaries later on, as this was all bound to our genes.
And from now on, it was like walking on a land full of mines to any human being.
'They should appear any moment now,' I looked at the dark sky while waiting for their appearance. I knew they should have appeared before the quest started but that was when there was only one quest, not two.
Now we have two parts of this quest, and that made me wait for their appearance now.
"Blink!"
In less than a few seconds after the appearance of this message, a strange phenomenon appeared. The dark sky suddenly shone as if a star was shining all of sudden and descending upon us.
'They are here,' I couldn't stay on the ground when I saw them. In fact this wasn't the first time for me to see them, but I had to admit… They knew how to put on a good show.
In the middle of darkness, a bright white light emanated from a giant body with wings. They were the angels, the guides who were supposed to be the most trusted human allies according to the records. And their deadliest enemies according to the old man.
"Poor humans, heavens have listened to your prayers and sympathized with your pains and sufferings," one of the three angels who descended here spoke in a tone that seemed to come from everywhere.
'The three guides,' I recognized them from the first glance. But unlike me, everyone else looked startled and wary of them.
"Who are you?" one of my remaining group members spoke in a shaky tone. It was expected after facing such deadly encounters with monsters never seen on this Earth before.
"It's the time of a great challenge human boy," the same angel spoke again before he pointed to himself and the two behind, "we came here to support and guide you in this long and arduous journey."
Whispers spread in my little group. I knew many people here didn't believe in gods or angels, but they had to change their beliefs if they wanted to survive.
After all, we were bound to deal with these two mythical beings from now on.
"What are you planning to do with us?" Isabella stepped forward before pointing around, "see for yourself how we ended up from being a civilized human race into this mess. See all the deaths around and tell me what are you going to do about that."
Good courageous girl! As expected from the one who aimed to become a president one day. Yet her argument was wrong here.
"We didn't come here to levitate anything away from you," the angel said these true words that I couldn't argue with, "we are here to help you survive these times."
"What is happening here then?" Isabella didn't like that answer but she jumped over this point.
"It's a clash between humans and monsters, a test you have been selected to pass through and prove your worth."
'Liar!' I slowly walked forward while trying to conceal my hatred and anger. This was the first lie given to us here. This wasn't a mere clash or a test, it was a merge between many worlds where strength only mattered.
"Then what shall we do now?" I asked while trying to move things on. I hated those bastards now as everything the old man told me about them was proven to be true.
The records told another story where these guides explained to humans everything related to the apocalypse. But now they lied and didn't tell a single point of truth.
"You are going to have your system activated," the angel looked at me for a brief moment. I suddenly felt weird as this gaze, despite bathed in white light like holy, carried a lot of hatred and bloodlust.
'This is your nature, bastard!' I inwardly cursed but I kept my face as calm as possible.
"Then the second part of this test will start. Succeeding will grant you a great opportunity, a chance to be blessed by one reverend being, a chance to finally acquire strength beyond your imagination."
'Liar!' I shouted in my head while watching that angel spitting out his lies. This was partially true as the reward of the next quest should be an empty slot for gaining blessing.
But it was a trap! If any human ever listened to these lies then he would be doomed to be weak for the rest of his life. Despite knowing all that, I kept it all to myself. After all, my group here seemed hopeful, but I still needed to watch their performance in the next quest.
"Now we don't have much time, you don't have much time," the angel said as if he was urging us to believe the sh*t he just blabbered, "the system will bind to you now. Try to stay alive in the next quest so we can start our real journey from there on."
The angel flicked his fingers before a screen appeared again in front of everyone.
[The system binding is about to start with your genes and soul. Please wait]
The next minute everyone was bathed in bright light that was much weaker in intensity than the light coming from the angels. It was faint white light, the weakest form of any system in this apocalypse.
But this light did the trick and healed all my wounds in one go.
[System binding is complete. Congratulations for acquiring a system]
[Now you can access the system by simply thinking about it]
[You have one hour of rest before the next quest starts]
Frequent messages appeared to all of us. The light that came healed any injuries we had just like it did to me. It was like a reset button was pressed and all of what we suffered was gone. Even fatigue was gone and I felt a gush of strength finally spreading over my body.
'My stats are unlocked at last!'
Even the consumed strength was replenished and fatigue was washed away. It was such a wonderful moment, a moment I waited for since the start of the quest.
This was the reason why I acted so daring and didn't worry about my wounds before. Even if a single human had one breath left in him, he would be totally healed by this light.
"Please have a rest. You have one hour before the start of the next quest. Good luck to you all."
The three angels didn't wait as the next moment the light wrapped around their bodies and they vanished like the way they appeared.
"Damn!" Isabella seemed to be frustrated by all this, "why the hell did they have to leave so soon? I still have tons of questions to ask."
I could relate with her perfectly well. Humans were such curious species and this situation instigated a lot of doubts and questions in each human.
But no matter how hard anyone tried, no answer would be given that would clear any doubt for now. 'They are just a bunch of liars who are trying to curse us,' I closed my eyes and couldn't help but recite the old words of the old man.
I always thought him crazy, but now? I was the crazy one to not attentively listen to every word he said.
"What should we do now?" as those who lied inside our little circle stood up in a healthy state, one of them asked in a loss.
"You are alright?" The others noticed that and for the first time since the apocalypse, good news happened.
I watched the group chatting in joy from this happening and even laughing. It was weird how we could find consolation and joy even in the middle of the darkest moments.
"What should we do?" Isabella was the only one who came and stood beside me, "I trust you. Whatever you'll do, I'll follow," she finally gave me her pledge of loyalty and trust. A thing that made me smile happily as well.