After throwing the flagpole into the ichthyosaur infested Han river. Ken slowly goes back to Geumho station while humming.
Geumho station was originally not a place where the third scenario had taken place. Which meant not only do these guys have no idea about the third scenario, but it should also mean they don't have any leader.
Most of the people here were confused and cautious to see Ken here. Which was obvious as not only is he new, but also dressed weirdly.
Ken calmly heads towards the flagpole as he takes out the flag that he had hid literally inside his upper garment.
[Geumho station is currently unoccupied. Will you take over it?]
Just as Ken plants the flag on the flagpole, multiple notifications come in.
[You have taken over Geumho station.]
[A station you have taken over can't be lost until you lose your flag or HQ.]
[Currently occupied stations: Jongno (HQ), Geumho.]
[The contribution of your White flag has increased.]
[Your White flag has evolved into a Red flag.]
[You have expanded your territory by taking over another station.]
[You have taken over your target station.]
[You have been given 2,000 coins.]
[A new hidden scenario has arrived.]
[Hidden scenario: The king's path.]
[Difficulty: A.]
[Description: Take over ten or more stations in the given time.]
[Time limit: 10 days.]
[Reward: The king attribute.]
[Penalty for failure: You and everyone in your group will die if you fail to take over at least one station per day.]
"... Whoo. That was a hell ton of notification."
But it seemed like the station being taken over was not informed only to him, as multiple people from the station gathered around him. As they start to question him, he simply answers just like he had before.
"Right now, I have taken over the station. You guys don't have to worry, I will do the scenario while you guys defend the station."
Saying this, he simply ran away from there. Ken knew that it was a stretch that he could do everything on his own. But he did know one thing, and that is that only the King's can defeat him right now.
But there was another reason he was confident. Which was that, he was sure that even they can't dodge a bullet that moves around the speed of sound.
He had seen another station not long ago. It was a bit too far away, but Ken didn't mind. His next destination was Naksapyeong station.
—***—
"Huff… huff… huff…" Ken was breathing frantically. The station was multiple kilometres far away and Ken had gone to the ground level as it should be easier to reach it through here.
'But this path is harder.' He had forgotten that there are a lot of detours as well as the fact that the entire Seoul is now in rubble.
He had been running without rest for a while. The detours, the rubbled state, and the extra weight made it harder. But Ken didn't mind, it also meant he was getting stronger just through running.
He took a bit of rest for a while as he started to walk again. Just being exhausted was not the problem, in fact, he was not that exhausted actually, he actually has a lot of stamina.
It was a bit ironic how his biggest problem, stamina was the highest stat he had. The stat he actually had was constitution which was the highest, but it affected endurance, stamina and something like that. So, technically comes back to stamina.
But the problem was the pain from running. If it was any other time, the pain would have been nearly non-existent, but the curse from Asmodeus made every type of pain ten times worse. Which is why even a single paper cut might feel as bad as being slashed. But again, that is just a theory of his.
Even simply being outside felt refreshing, considering he was always stuck in the corner of his bed all day long. Though, before his phone got destroyed by his dad, just because he was angry and saw Ken using his phone.
It was absolutely shitty to have something like that happen, and endure the pain of losing his phone for nearly a year. Even worse for a phone addict like him.
It's not that he is so addicted that he can't control himself. He can, as long as he knows the amount of time he can't use it for. If he can't even at a time he should be able to, he goes crazy just like any other phone addict.
"It feels empty…" Ken mumbled to himself. He knows he is just a character in a fanfic his real self wrote. He knew he is a character made to be just like his real self except for a few changes.
But, it just felt empty… he didn't know the feeling. He couldn't comprehend it himself. But all he felt was emptiness.
'This feeling… is shit.' It was almost a calming and fulfilling feeling, but at the same time. It was empty.
Ken could still remember his family. He didn't particularly like his other family members from his paternal side a lot. But they were not so bad. At least not as bad as the paternal side of one of his cousins.
'... I-I…' Ken slapped his face before composing himself. "Yeah, this isn't the time to think about all these. I have to take over ten stations right now."
Saying this, Ken starts to run towards the direction to Naksapyeong again before finally reaching it in another few minutes.
He entered the underground station with the gun in his hand, just in case the leader acts up and the gun can do its job.
After entering, Ken quite literally declares that he was about to take over this place. And just as he expected, the leader and some other people tried to attack him.
So the gun unfortunately had to do its job.
[You have acquired 3,680 coins.]
[You have taken the contribution of the Red flag.]
And just like the last two stations. He also declares the same thing. "All of you just have to be here and protect this place, I will do the rest of the job."
After that, he also plants the flag in the flagpole of the station and takes over it.
[You have taken over Naksapyeong station.]
[Your flag's contribution has increased.]
"And with that, I have seven more to go."
After that, Ken suddenly remembered something. 'Ah fuck… I have to go to Geumho again.'
Ken has quite literally forgotten the other chest Dokja and his group had taken items from. The original room where the fight with the dark keeper happened and Dokja got unbreakable faith from.
Even if he can't use the readjustment mechanics anymore, he can at least get a random item. Though, he still hopes that he doesn't get another mana recovery bracelet.
—***—
Ken finally came across the tunnel he was looking for. It was close to Geumho just as he had expected. Ken takes out Jeung and heads towards the tunnel.
He had thought of one thing, and that is that. He has to use the sword more and more, because he can't always rely on guns, nor does he want to.
After walking for a while, he finally comes to the room he was looking for. Just like what it was portrayed in the manhwa, the dark keeper must have died about two to three days. Meaning, it has already started to rot.
After that, he looks towards the chest as he goes towards it and opens it. And lucky for him, another one came out instead of a mana recovery bracelet.
[Echoing ether affix.]
[Grade: A.]
[Description: A simply looking silver ring. The only reason it was given A grade is because it can let the user use the last ether affix they had used, no matter what the affix was. If another affix is used, the affix that can be used by this will change.]