Gale adjusted the guns holstered on his sides and then gave me a satisfied nod. “You were correct in your analysis, Sir Vain. While I have not recovered to the full extent of my abilities, I have awakened to quite a few new interesting ones.” As he said that, Gale flicked his wrist, causing a flaming knife to appear in his hands.

I glanced over at Aqua who was running around shooting fires from her hands all over the place and said, “Yeah. You and Aqua both.”

“Shut up, Vain!” Aqua glared at me while crushing a zombie with her bare hands. “I’m still annoyed at you!”

“I gave you more candy though?”

“And they keep melting now because my hands are made of fire! Damn you!”

I shrugged. “Well, keep grinding that skill and learn to control it then.” After saying that, I pulled out a phone that I had made from scraps earlier.

We were on the move now. With Aqua essentially unlocking a passive <Flame Body> skill and Gale being able to use a bit more of his knight training after getting buffed with his new class and skills, we didn’t have to worry about the setting.

Well, Freyr and I didn’t have to worry in the first place because she had literal <Plot Armor> as her class skill and I was the MC of this scenario, but it was nice to know that our friends Gale and Aqua were safe now.

And more than safe, actually considering they were our bus now getting out of this mess.

Gale and Aqua were leading the charge while Freyr and I leisurely walked behind them, hand in hand.

And speaking of Aqua…

I watched her send out a beam of searing blue flames and said, “Water and fire mix in interesting ways, huh?”

Aqua growled and said, “Still not forgiving you! Making a devout maiden of Marinus into an avatar of Flamme… Aren’t you afraid of being cursed by the gods?”

Freyr pursed her lips and looked at me. “Aqua has a point, Husband. Although this is useful, going against the will of a goddess like that…”

[A Goddess of Pure Water curses your name for stealing her pure maiden.]

[A Goddess of Cursed Flames praises you for winning one over on that uptight old hag. +1 bonus stat point.]

[The Flame Giant glares at you.]

[A Trickster God chuckles.]

[Many gods are contemplating your existence and the depths of your abilities.]

[Many gods look forward to the chaos that will ensue around you following the end of this scenario.]

I ignored the messages and said, "Don't worry, Wifey. It'll take a lot more than a few gods to take me down. After all." I looked at her and winked. "I already won against one god, right?"

Freyr blushed and then lightly poked me. "You shameless flirt."

"Yep. That's a hundred percent true."

[Many gods glare at your riajuu behavior.]

[Many goddesses swoon at your casual flirting.]

[A Goddess of the Dawn shakes her head.]

"But anyway." I shifted my attention back to my phone and the handy mini-map app that I installed on it.

Right now, we were about half an hour out from the state capitol.

From the blue dots surrounding it, a lot of other Chosen had already arrived. And from the flood of red dots racing down from the north, it looked like a giant event was going to happen soon. Probably a wipeout event since things were going too easy for everyone.

Speaking of wipeout events...

There were a lot of giant red dots headed our way. I didn't see them anywhere around though, which meant...

"Gale, Aqua. Enemies incoming from the sky."

Gale drew his guns again and nodded. "Understood."

Aqua clicked her tongue and then reached around to grab the sniper rifle holstered on her back. As usual, flames erupted from her hands to wrap around what she was holding. But unlike with her candy, the crimson flames sank into her rifle and then caused it to shine with a pure blue light. "Ugh. I want to take a nice warm bath, eat some sweets, and then sleep in a soft bed..."

I looked up from my phone the moment the red dots overlapped out position and said, "You can do that after you level up. Now, start blasting."

Aqua raised her sniper rifle and shot out a piercing blue flame into the sky. "You're a demon, I swear! No wonder Lucifer likes you!"

Gale raised his guns as well and started sending a barrage of bullets in the air. "Better the devil we know than the one we don't, Princess!"

Terrifying screeches echoed from up above. Invisible spectral beings turned into ash by Gale and Aqua's combined attacks.

[Many gods lay on the floor, listless.]

[Many gods say they suddenly understand why some people play games with cheats.]

[A Goddess of Pure Water trembles with fury.]

[A Goddess of Cursed Flames bursts out laughing.]

Great. Operation Build-A-Bus is going just as planned.

[Again, you're a cheat.]

And again, I'm enjoying it while it lasts, Alice. Now... time to prep for the inevitable drama unfolding at the capitol.

xxx

"Oho?" A haughty female voice echoed the moment we walked through into the main hall of the state capitol. "So you managed to survive after all, Mister Vain."

I stuck my right hand into my pocket while idly twirling <Wustoff> in my left, doing my best impression of a typical Korean webtoon MC. "Something like this isn't enough to get rid of me."

With Freyr on my right, Aqua on my left, and Gale rounding out the group... plus the fact that all our clothes were covered in ash from trekking through the burning city, we looked like a battle-hardened party that had marched through hell and barely made it out.

At least, that was the plan. Though, as I looked around, it seemed more like we were in the best shape.

Like before, the Chosen were split into four major groups.

The first was that pink-haired Wuxia princess, Sakura. She had a group of buff martial artists surrounding her. Well, I guess they were <Jocks> right now because of the forced class change. And from the fact that their mana levels had dimmed to almost nothing, plus all the blood-stained clothes and scratches, it seemed like they'd been forced to rely on those martial arts skills without any buffs.

Sakura was fine though. Her fancy pink dress was gone, replaced with a simple pink blouse and black sweatpants. Her spear was gone too, replaced by a simple metal pole. But her overall combat power... Was this the difference between a 'cheat MC' and a flat-out 'cheat'?

I couldn't read her status or anything, but from the light of her mana, it seemed like she didn't get nerfed at all...

And those damned gods were complaining about me being broken, sheesh.

But anyway, her group aside...

There was that Doe guy's group. John... Jon? Let's call him Jon. John reminded me of someone else who was a lot better than that scumbag, so it was better to distinguish the two.

There was Jon's group, which was really just his harem. There weren't as many demons as before, just three now. One with black skin, one with blue, and one with red. And of course, all scantily dressed and buxom beauties.

They were also standing far off to the side and away from everyone else.

...Jon did seem a bit stronger than the last time I saw him though. Did he not get his <Title> restricted much since he was from a type of Earth as well?

I didn't know, but it looked like he could be trouble... Especially since that guy seemed to be eyeing me down with pure malice.

...And eyeing Freyr and Aqua with a lustful look in his eyes.

Yeah, definitely gotta deal with him sooner rather than later

But after him, there was Akira and his harem. A group of women consisting of a blonde vampire, a blue-haired nun, a white-haired priestess, and a violet-haired gunner.

Akira waved at me, grinning. And with that, his harem looked over as well.

I ignored them though and focused on the last group.

A young man wearing a white dress shirt and blue jeans. Leather bags tied all around him, carrying various essentials. On his back, a makeshift spear was holstered, made from a steel pipe with a knife taped to its end. And in his right hand, a short spear made from a snapped broomstick and chef knife.

Seol Kim, leading a rag-tag group of survivors with ripped and bloody clothes, injuries, and overall worn-out appearances.

Like every time I saw him, Seol gave me a strange look when he saw me. And when his eyes shifted to Freyr, Aqua, and Gale, his expression shifted into a thoughtful frown as if he was running some mental calculations.

...Yeah. Definitely the Regressor in the group. Though, it seemed like he probably didn't experience these scenarios otherwise his group would be in better shape.

Unless he did that on purpose?

...This was why I hated Regressors.

But that seemed to be everyone.

Taking a look around the room, the number of survivors tallied up to about thirty including us.

Four for Jon.

Five for Akira.

Ten for Sakura.

Seven for Seol.

And finally, four for me.

Then, as if waiting for me to finish my observations, a status message appeared in front of me- No, in front of everyone, judging from the flashes of blue lights in the area.

[Mission update!]

[Goal: <Reach the State Capital> has been completed by the remaining Chosen.]

[<First Awakening> will now be distributed.]

[ERROR: Your status is incompatible with <First Awakening>. The achievement has been converted to bonus stat points. (+10 bonus stat points)]

[Secondary Objective revealed!]

[Sub-scenario <Claim the Throne> will now begin.]

[Goal: By any means necessary, find, defend, and hold the <Throne> within the State Capitol until sunrise.]

[Alternative Goal: Survive until sunrise.]

[Success: Necessary Box x1, Random Common Title]

[Bonus Success: Unique Title (Based on actions)]

...God freaking dammit. We really are going all Omniscient Reader's Viewpoint here, aren't we?