Chapter 83
4.
Humans often felt dizzy and vomited when subjected to a very large mental shock.
And right now, Doctor Space’s last words were more than enough to make some people vomit.
Having learned of the annihilation of humanity, not just an individual, it would be strange to be perfectly fine.
But Kim Seojun was different.
“Uweeeck!”
The moment he vomited, he was certain it wasn’t because of Doctor Space’s last words.
It was obvious.
‘I’m vomiting?’
Because Kim Seojun had never vomited even in more desperate situations.
Kim Seojun didn’t even get motion sickness.
In the past, when flying on a space fighter led by Brigadier General Lee Yeong-jun during a ridiculous flight, when the boarded space marines and even Brigadier General Lee Yeong-jun who was piloting had vomited, Kim Seojun was eating an energy bar, thinking there wouldn’t be time for a meal later.
Seeing that, Brigadier General Lee Yeong-jun had said.
Kim Seojun, your stomach might be stronger than a behemoth’s.
Anyway, Kim Seojun was like that, and so the moment he vomited, he could tell by intuition.
‘It’s a disease.’
That this was caused by an illness.
It wasn’t like there were no suspicious areas.
He had crossed space planets, forcibly stolen the core cube, and even lived with an alien race.
His comrades were the same.
At first, they suspected a disease.
But the moment they saw that what Kim Seojun vomited wasn’t simple vomit but a black lump, the situation changed.
Everyone knew by intuition.
“Awakening!”
That some change had occurred in Kim Seojun’s body right now.
Furthermore, that this change was something transcendent that ignored physical laws and logic.
Of course, doubts arose.
‘Didn’t he already awaken?’
His comrades naturally thought Kim Seojun was a Psycher Agent.
Although it was different from regular Psychers, the very concept of a Psycher in the first place was, as mentioned before, something where the laws and logic of the universe did not apply.
It wouldn’t be strange no matter what happened.
But he was awakening again here?
A situation where everyone couldn’t help but have doubts.
Amidst those doubts, Kim Seojun first sat down.
In that state, Kim Seojun remained still.
As if listening closely to something.
His Comrades kept silent so as not to disturb Kim Seojun, and when a little more time had passed like that, Kim Seojun stood up from his seat.
“A-Are you okay?”
“I’m fine.”
Private First Class Park Boseop immediately asked about his well-being, and Kim Seojun nodded.
“More importantly, Private First Class Park Boseop.”
“Private First Class Park Boseop!”
“Will you join my legion?”
“Pardon?”
The moment he heard that question, Private First Class Park Boseop tilted his head.
It was that moment.
“Huh?”
Private First Class Park Boseop could hear it.
“W-What is this?”
“What is it?”
“Uh, well, I heard a voice. Suddenly from thin air.”
“From thin air?”
Then he soon met eyes with Kim Seojun, and at that fact, Private First Class Park Boseop immediately took a saluting posture.
Then Kim Seojun could hear it.
[Human Park Boseop has joined the legion.]
[Park Boseop]
- rank: Private E-1
- species: Human
- physical performance: F
- Psycher Performance: E
- There are no blessings currently applied.
At the same time, Park Boseop’s status window also appeared.
It was then.
“Huh?”
Private First Class Park Boseop made a surprised expression as if he had heard something, and at that, Kim Seojun raised his head.
“What is it?”
“Well, you see.”
Park Boseop, who was about to say something, soon seemed to think it would be hard to explain in words and directly showed it instead.
“Hold on a second.”
That is, Park Boseop, he went out of the inventory.
Everyone who saw that blinked their eyes.
Afterwards, he came back inside the inventory, and as he did, he spoke.
“Since I joined the legion, I can move in and out of the inventory as I please!”
At those words, everyone was surprised.
Kim Seojun was the same.
“My god.”
It made sense, because until now, entering the inventory was up to them, but leaving required Kim Seojun’s accompaniment.
But that restriction had disappeared?
As long as the inventory was open, they could come and go as they pleased at any time?
The strategic and tactical merits that held were beyond imagination.
Now, if Kim Seojun left the inventory open when needed, the Comrades atmosphere inside could come out at any time.
“I want to join the legion too!”
“I will do it too!”
Everyone who knew that merit scrambled to apply to join the legion.
There were no exceptions.
Because there was no reason anywhere to give up this merit.
There was only one exception.
Kasaknat only watched this whole situation.
Kim Seojun also didn’t offer any unnecessary words to Kasaknat.
For one, he didn’t have the luxury to do so.
“I need to grasp this properly.”
Because right now, grasping this new Legion System was the priority.
And the grasping was finished quickly.
[The maximum number of personnel who can currently join the legion is 8.]
[If the soldiers of the legion hunt Mogs, you can obtain points.]
[From now on, legion-related tickets will appear from tickets.]
That obtaining points could strengthen the soldiers of the legion as well, and provide various merits.
“This changes things.”
It was an obvious statement, but the strategic reinforcement Kim Seojun’s unit would have in the future was immense.
Of course, Kim Seojun wasn’t just blindly satisfied here.
No, he couldn’t be.
He pondered.
“Why did the status window awaken?”
This awakening couldn’t have happened simply because it was time.
Giving such a powerful function ultimately meant that the crisis Kim Seojun would face in the future was even greater.
‘The moment I heard Doctor Space’s last words.’
To be exact, Kim Seojun became aware of the crisis he would face in the future thanks to Doctor Space.
Perhaps the status window had reacted to that.
‘…So it’s real.’
In other words, it meant that the evolution of the Mogs that Doctor Space spoke of wasn’t some hypothesis, but was already underway.
That also meant that humanity, spread throughout space as well as earth, was facing an unprecedented crisis.
There was no time to rest.
“After moving to Busan, I will activate the gate.”
At Kim Seojun’s words, everyone put aside their joy over the new ability and quickly moved to Busan.
And while moving, Kim Seojun’s Group could hear it.
- This is Busan, this is Busan.
The survivor shelter located in Busan Port, from there, a radio transmission was sent to the whole world.
- We are making a support request!
6.
When Mogs began to appear on earth, the nation’s leadership hastily fled to the moon.
Naturally, the nation’s forces did not receive proper command, and that increased the damage even more.
Conversely, there were cases where a leader luckily remained and calmed the situation.
Busan was like that.
“General!”
“What is it?”
“Mogs have appeared!”
One of the four-star generals of the Korean Space Force, Gu Byeong-seop, was enjoying a vacation at his family home in Busan when the incident broke out.
“You must evacuate to space right now!”
And his aides naturally wanted to evacuate him.
Was he not a four-star general, of all people?
Furthermore, he wasn’t someone who became a four-star general just through playing politics.
Belonging to the Korean Space Force, he had roamed all over space and established countless military merits, meaning he was a veteran among veterans who had experienced true actual combat.
He was also a true soldier who did not shy away from the battlefield.
“Go to space?”
So he said.
“Fuck off!”
“Pardon?”
“Are you crazy right now? A war broke out and you’re telling a general to run away?”
That he would remain on earth.
And it wasn’t just simply remaining.
“Make calls right now and gather all the officers and soldiers to Busan!”
“To Busan?”
“Seeing those fucking higher-ups running away to space, this is no ordinary matter. It means the number of Mogs is substantial. And there’s no way those bastards who went to the moon will come back to earth, right? We have to build a castle, a castle.”
General Gu Byeong-seop predicted the future ahead and intended to create a last bastion in Busan.
“The location is absolutely Busan Port.”
In addition, he chose Busan Port, with its back to the sea, as the location.
There was no hesitation.
“Because those mog bastards don’t know the sea.”
The hardest thing to see in space was precisely the sea, and so the Mogs had very low adaptability to the sea.
Also, mog bodies were heavy, so excluding a few individuals adapted to the sea, crossing the sea was very difficult for them.
Anyway, General Gu Byeong-seop’s insight shone brightly, and the final shelter for Survivors was created in Korea’s Busan Port.
Afterwards, General Gu Byeong-seop remodeled that place even more into a castle.
He blocked the paths where Mogs were likely to come, and remodeled sturdy buildings into towers to face the Mogs.
While doing so, he frequently sent out search parties to secure weapons.
The situation couldn’t be called good, but he still maintained the minimum foundation to be able to do something.
Of course, General Gu Byeong-seop knew.
“Don’t let your guard down. Because the moment you let your guard down, those mog bastards will approach.”
That there was no way the Mogs would stop here.
While doing so, he said.
“On the contrary, you just need to stay alert. Then you can live!”
Not to give up hope.
Of course, that was something anyone could say, but the power contained in General Gu Byeong-seop’s words was different.
It couldn’t be helped.
“Even if you get taken by a behemoth, you can live if you just stay alert!”
Because he was a general who had survived even a behemoth.
Anyway, General Gu Byeong-seop did not lose his will in any situation.
However, in the face of that news, it was different.
“A tunnel Snake has been discovered in Daejeon!”
“Damn it!”
Because the worst-case scenario that could threaten the shelter located in Busan Port had unfolded.
“Please, please don’t come this way.”
There, all General Gu Byeong-seop could do was pray earnestly.
And an answer came to that prayer.
“General!”
“What is it?”
“They say the tunnel Snake was caught!”
“What are you talking about?”
“I’m not sure either.”
At first, he thought it was a joke.
“Did you perhaps take a stimpak?”
“N-No, sir.”
Or he thought the reporter had lost his mind.
“First of all, the ones who delivered the news just now are a vigilante group that was active around Sejong City. They said the tunnel Snake was hunted, and that they are bringing survivors to Busan in preparation for the risk of the ground collapsing. What should we do?”
“Tell them to come. We have to accept anyone.”
“The capacity has exceeded its limit right now.”
“I know, but still, considering the cultist bastards the vigilante group caught while staying there and the information they sent us, we have to at least share our food. If you’ve received something, you must be able to give. That’s the logic of the world. And quickly send a search party to grasp the situation in Daejeon.”
Apart from that, General Gu Byeong-seop gave the order anyway.
And a few days later, General Gu Byeong-seop could hear it.
“Mogdogs are coming!”
“Mogdogs?”
At those words, General Gu Byeong-seop was not surprised.
“Everyone prepare for battle!”
They had already faced Mogdogs to the point of being sick of them.
Also, the Mogdogs currently around Busan had their population greatly reduced.
It wouldn’t be a big threat.
“W-Well, you see.”
To such General Gu Byeong-seop, the subordinate soldier said.
“T-They are coming from the direction of Japan.”
“What do you mean by that?”
That the Mogdogs were coming from across the sea right now.
“How?”
“T-They are flying over.”
At that fact, General Gu Byeong-seop didn’t ask any more questions.
This wasn’t something that could be handled by just listening to a story, and he immediately looked directly at the video sent by the reconnaissance plane.
And in that video, just as the subordinate soldier said, winged Mogdogs were vigorously flapping their wings and crossing the sea.
The moment he saw that, General Gu Byeong-seop didn’t even spit out a sound like 'Crazy!'.
His thoughts froze just like that.
At that moment, what made General Gu Byeong-seop move was the field experience he had built up in space all this time.
The experience that said, “The worse the moment is, the more you have to move somehow!” made General Gu Byeong-seop move.
“Make a support request.”
General Gu Byeong-seop judged here that they couldn’t stop this with their own strength alone, and knew the only method was a support request.
“W-Where do we make it to?”
“Make it anywhere. Anywhere. Make a support request to the whole world.”
Of course, General Gu Byeong-seop also knew.
That there was no way anyone would respond to this support request.
Even so, he did it.
“We have to at least let them know that there was something here.”
Facing a worthy death for humanity, that was the resolve soldiers living in space had to harbor.
So General Gu Byeong-seop thought it was already over.
He thought that even if support came, it would be impossible to reverse the current situation.
To see any possibility right now, they really needed at least a regiment level, meaning support in the thousands.
And not just a ragtag bunch, but skilled individuals who had gone through countless combat experiences against Mogs in space.
And naturally, receiving such support right away was impossible.
“A response has come to the support request! They say reinforcements are coming!”
So when he heard that response, General Gu Byeong-seop didn’t have high expectations.
Rather, he thought.
That it would be better to tell them not to come.
“Who is it?”
So he intended to send them back after confirming their identity.
While doing so, he planned to directly speak to them, saying thank you.
“It’s Brigadier General Lee Yeong-jun.”
“What?”
However, the moment he heard that name, General Gu Byeong-seop couldn’t spit out the words he had prepared.
“C-Connect me right away.”
He immediately picked up the radio, and could hear it.
- This is Brigadier General Lee Yeong-jun. We are heading to support you now.
“This is General Gu Byeong-seop.”
- Huh? General, were you there? Have you been well?
“What is going on here? Were you on earth?”
- That’s a bit long to explain. More importantly, how is the situation?
“It’s still before the engagement.”
At that point, General Gu Byeong-seop quickly came to his senses.
So he spit out the words he had prepared.
“This place is dangerous. The Mogdogs have grown wings. Mutants we’ve never seen before are swarming in massive numbers. So do not come here.”
- It’s fine.
Of course, Brigadier General Lee Yeong-jun willingly refused that consideration, and General Gu Byeong-seop nodded as if he had expected it.
It made sense, because the one who would enter the most hellish places, the places where everyone was engulfed in despair, was precisely Brigadier General Lee Yeong-jun.
He was someone who would definitely come even if stopped, and so General Gu Byeong-seop asked.
“In the end, I get to see your face again.”
- There is one more familiar face.
“One more?”
- I am going with Staff Sergeant Kim Seojun. You know him, right?
“Kim Seojun? Do you mean Sergeant Kim Seojun by any chance?”
- Yes. You can talk to him directly from now on.
- This is Staff Sergeant Kim Seojun.
“My god!”
And the moment he heard the name that came out, General Gu Byeong-seop was startled.
To think he would hear the name of that benefactor who had saved him from the behemoth here of all places?
“Staff Sergeant Kim Seojun, so…”
- general, it’s nice to see you after a long time. However, the situation is urgent.
Kim Seojun said to the surprised General Gu Byeong-seop:
- We will arrive in about 10 minutes. Please prepare support so we can enter battle immediately.
At those words, General Gu Byeong-seop also nodded.
“Understood. How many are coming?”
Kim Seojun answered that question.
- It’s about a division level.
“A division level?”
- Yes.
There, Kim Seojun clearly told him the number.
- the number of reinforcements is 10,000.