Chapter 43
Most of those who volunteered to be a Space Marine did so for the money.
But that didn't mean everyone needed money so desperately.
In fact, quite a few people volunteered to be a Space Marine for absurd reasons.
Private First Class Park Boseop was one of them.
The reason he became a Space Marine was to go racing, and most people who heard that story looked dumbfounded.
Private First Class Park Boseop himself felt the same. He had some resolve during his time as a trainee soldier, but on the day he was deployed to the battlefield and saw a Mog for the first time, the day he soiled himself, Private First Class Park Boseop was overwhelmed with regret.
Even so, the reason he remained a Space Marine without begging to be saved, asking to be reassigned, or pleading to be sent back to Earth even if it meant serving twice as long in the military, was simple.
He was a military driver.
In reality, a military driver had a higher survival rate than the Space Marines running around the battlefield with guns.
Furthermore, if they wanted to be reassigned to another planet, the process went smoothly.
A skilled military driver was a valuable asset on any planet.
However, things in the world never go exactly as planned.
\[To think I'd experience all sorts of things in life.\]
Private First Class Park Boseop was currently experiencing these terrifying events, near-death experiences occurring, the headquarters being annihilated, the Gate stopping, China making a declaration of war… any one of which would be enough to make someone freak out, day after day.
\[To think I'm a Psycher.\]
Private First Class Park Boseop had even become a Psycher.
And naturally, Private First Class Park Boseop wasn't thrilled or anything about that fact.
\[What's going to happen from now on…\]
On the contrary, he was utterly terrified of his unpredictable life and the days he would face in the future.
Honestly, in normal circumstances, it was a situation where he would have lost his mind a long time ago.
Or, unable to endure it like other Space Marines, he would have shot up stimpacks like crazy and died of drug addiction.
\[Phew, let's not complain for nothing. What kind of hardship have I even gone through?\]
Even so, there was only one reason he endured.
\[Staff Sergeant Kim suffered much more.\]
His own agony couldn't even be called agony compared to the agony Kim Seojun was going through right now.
It is the same now.
Private First Class Park Boseop looked at Kim Seojun, who was sitting blankly in his seat, and could clearly feel it.
\[Not hearing a single sound for over 10 minutes…\]
Not a single sound, not even the slightest, is coming from Kim Seojun right now, to the point where one might have such a thought.
He sat there like a statue, like Rodin's The Thinker.
\[He must be deep in thought, the kind of thought I wouldn't even dare to fathom.\]
Private First Class Park Boseop's thought wasn't wrong.
Kim Seojun's thought process was temporarily halted due to a massive shock.
It couldn't be helped.
\[Kim Seojun\]
- Strength: 62
- Stamina: 45
- Magic Power: 72
- Owned Skills: Clairvoyance (D), Inventory (A), Stealth (D), Teleport (A), Psychokinesis (C)
- Owned Talents: Dynamic Visual Acuity (B), Hawk Eye (C)
- Owned Points: 1,323
- Owned Tickets: None
His newly updated status window was on a level that couldn't even be compared with before.
First of all, his stats had increased significantly.
In particular, the massive increase in Magic Power, which he had felt was the most lacking, was a tremendous gain in many ways.
That wasn't all.
Even his two talents, Dynamic Visual Acuity and Hawk Eye, had ranked up, and thanks to that, Kim Seojun could now see a world on an entirely different level.
But the truly surprising thing wasn't what appeared on this status window.
The A4 paper-sized Holographic Map right in front of Kim Seojun's eyes was currently making him freak out.
\[A minimap.\]
Its identity was the minimap, the newly acquired effect of Atlas's Blessing.
Its purpose was simple.
This A4 paper-sized Holographic Map showed the topographical features within a 3-kilometer radius.
This was absurd.
First of all, just being able to grasp the topographical features within a 3-kilometer radius wherever he went was absurd in itself.
On Earth, which was overflowing with artificial satellites, it was something even ordinary citizens could enjoy, but space was different.
In the case of Planet Amotia, the satellites launched by the Korean headquarters were extremely limited, and even those were currently unusable because the headquarters had disappeared.
The Poland headquarters was the same.
Even the few satellites they had were limited in their use depending on the rotation speed, and when shielded radio waves were severe, there were many cases where the satellites themselves simply became useless.
But Kim Seojun could now simply know all the information within a 3-kilometer radius in real time.
Here, Kim Seojun thought.
\[Usually, a minimap also displays enemies…\]
Perhaps what was displayed on the minimap wasn't just topographical features, but also the presence of enemies.
\[…I'm having idiotic thoughts.\]
Of course, Kim Seojun immediately denied that thought.
The status window had given him absurd abilities so far, but that was on a level that far exceeded them.
\[There's no way something like that is possible.\]
It was a thought that couldn't even be considered a delusion.
It was then.
\[Huh?\]
Suddenly, red dots appeared on the minimap Kim Seojun was looking at.
There were about twenty of them, and they were moving quickly.
Kim Seojun naturally turned his head.
Because night was slowly approaching, the visible world was incredibly dim compared to usual.
Furthermore, the place where Kim Seojun's group was currently located was filled everywhere with large rocks.
It was overflowing with good places to use as cover, which was why they had intentionally settled down here.
This meant it was a place where it was difficult to see anything with the naked eye right away.
That was why.
"Excuse me, Staff Sergeant Kim."
Private First Class Park Boseop, who had sharper ears than anyone else, grasped it first and spoke.
"Something is passing by. It sounds like Mogdogs, but there don't seem to be many of them. I'm not certain, but it doesn't seem like they're coming our way."
At the words of Private First Class Park Boseop, who had grasped the movements of the Mogdogs using his Psycher abilities, Kim Seojun spoke.
"Is it to the east, by any chance?"
"Pardon? Ah, yes. That's right. It's that way."
Private First Class Park Boseop then pointed to the east with his finger, and at that moment, he felt something strange.
"Huh? How did you know that?"
It was a direction that couldn't be grasped from their current field of vision.
Kim Seojun didn't answer Private First Class Park Boseop's surprise.
More accurately, he couldn't.
\[Oh my god.\]
Because he was currently incomparably more surprised than Private First Class Park Boseop.
Just then, Major Lee Hyena came out of the air tent and spoke.
"I've finished setting up the medical suit. The time it will take for treatment is 28 hours and 33 minutes."
The moment he heard those words, Kim Seojun raised his head.
His mind was complicated with various thoughts, but Kim Seojun clearly knew two things.
\[There's no reason to refuse it.\]
The minimap would be a tremendous help to his survival.
\[In a situation where there's still a lot of work to be done.\]
And that there were truly very many hurdles he had to overcome in order to survive.
So Kim Seojun spoke.
"Please load Hawk Eye into the cargo bed. After that, we will move straight to Poland Headquarters."
The moment Kim Seojun's Group returned, the Polish headquarters gave them a fierce welcome.
"How did the rescue go?"
And Major Jan Zabłocki immediately started with a question, and Kim Seojun answered that question.
"The rescue failed. We couldn't confirm the fact of Hawk Eye's survival anywhere."
At those words, Major Jan Zabłocki's expression stiffened.
Of course, it was something he had expected.
It was a situation where, no matter who looked at it, the possibility of failure was higher than the possibility of rescue.
However, because it was Kim Seojun's Group, he had held onto a sliver of hope, and therefore, the moment he heard this news, he couldn't help but feel despair.
At that point, Kim Seojun spoke.
"Apart from that, we rescued one survivor."
"A survivor?"
"Yes. A survivor from America. A non-combat staff member. They are currently receiving treatment in the medical suite."
The moment Major Jan Zabłocki heard that explanation, his and Kim Seojun's eyes met, and soon Zabłocki could understand.
\[I see!\]
Kim Seojun was currently trying to hide Hawk Eye's survival.
And that wasn't a bad choice.
First of all, the message Hawk Eye left spread everywhere.
Although it was encrypted, that encryption was by no means omnipotent.
In such a situation, what if China found out about Hawk Eye's survival?
Even if that wasn't the case, the possibility of there being a Chinese spy or someone who had been bought off within the Polish Headquarters was by no means small right now.
In many ways, there was no reason to blab anywhere about Hawk Eye's rescue.
"To be rescued by you in times like these."
So Major Jan Zabłocki also played along willingly.
"They're lucky."
"Yes, they were lucky."
"If you need anything, tell me whatever it is."
After that, Major Jan Zabłocki didn't ask any more questions about the survivor.
Kim Seojun didn't bother bringing it up either.
"More importantly, did you see the Queen?"
There were still a lot more stories far more important than this left to tell.
"I didn't see the Queen. But I did confirm the queen's nest."
"How big was it?"
"The number of gathered Mogs alone exceeds hundreds of thousands. Above all, they have settled in the Rocky Mountains."
"The Rocky Mountains?"
Major Jan Zabłocki's expression stiffened seriously as he spoke.
He asked in return, but Major Jan Zabłocki also knew.
"They've secured cover. They've definitely dug caves inside the Rocky Mountains like ants. The method of reducing their numbers with bombardment won't work easily."
The fact that the nest was in the Rocky Mountains was like adding despair upon despair from the perspective of Humanity, which had to hunt the Queen.
"Also, it's certain that the Queen is a Special Individual."
And Kim Seojun piled an unimaginable despair on top of those despairs.
At that point, Major Jan Zabłocki also gave up thinking.
It was already not at a level he could fathom.
"I'm sorry to say this, but I have absolutely no idea what to do from now on. So, Staff Sergeant Kim Seojun, give me the answer."
So he delegated everything to Kim Seojun.
"What should we do?"
Kim Seojun answered that question without hesitation.
"We have to catch the Queen."
In a situation where they couldn't receive a rescue via ships from space at that time, doing anything on Planet Amotia without catching the Queen was a meaningless act.
"Is there a way?"
Of course, a way to catch the Queen hasn't popped into Kim Seojun's head right now either.
"There is only one way."
More accurately, the answer was already decided.
"Reducing the Mog numbers as much as possible, then breaking through and catching the Queen is the only way."
It was just that the method was an absurd one.
Major Jan Zabłocki also knew that, so he couldn't argue back here.
"I will gather as much firepower as possible."
"Please do."
"Get some good rest for now. If Staff Sergeant Kim collapses, all methods lose their meaning."
"Thank you."
After finishing his conversation with Major Jan Zabłocki like that, Kim Seojun immediately called his group.
He called Private First Class Park Boseop and Major Lee Hyena, and at the same time, he also called Jo I-Hyeon.
"H-How did it go?"
Kim Seojun briefly explained the circumstances to Jo I-Hyeon, who hadn't received a report on the situation yet.
Hearing that, Jo I-Hyeon freaked out.
To think he actually pulled off the rescue?
"Please do not mention that name for the time being."
"Pardon? Ah, yes!"
And at Kim Seojun's following words, Jo I-Hyeon willingly nodded.
Jo I-Hyeon's face brightened more than ever.
When Kim Seojun saw that, his mind also brightened a little.
\[I rescued Hawk Eye, and there's no problem with her combat power.\]
The current situation was incomparably better than before they went to rescue Hawk Eye.
In particular, the penetration ability Hawk Eye possessed was one that even Kim Seojun couldn't dare to imitate.
\[Tank Beetle killer.\]
Especially when Hawk Eye was dealing with the highly troublesome tank beetles, his ability was better than Kim Seojun's.
\[Tank killer…\]
It was around then.
The moment Kim Seojun remembered something, a soldier from Poland headquarters came running suddenly and spoke.
"It's an emergency!"
"What's going on?"
"The main Chinese headquarters has issued a new warning!"
"A warning?"
At that question, everyone gathered had an intuition.
Something unimaginable was going to happen.
Kim Seojun was the same.
\[Did I provoke them too much?\]
Kim Seojun knew very well how painful it was to be under mental pressure in a space like the battlefield.
Furthermore, mental damage had nothing to do with weight class.
In fact, there were many cases where the larger the weight class, the weaker the mental fortitude, and China was like that.
\[Even just looking at the Chinese Space Marines, one could clearly see that they were full of drug users.\]
Anyway, from Kim Seojun's perspective, he had seen countless cases where the Chinese guys flew off the handle just from being provoked a little.
And what Kim Seojun has done right now against the Chinese headquarters isn't just provoking them a little.
It wouldn't be strange no matter what absurd thing China did.
Above all, China was already doing absurd things on Planet Amotia.
For China, which had already crossed the line, crossing it once more was nothing, and Kim Seojun thought there.
Just what crossing the line here would be.
"C-China said that if we d-don't make a d-declaration of surrender…"
The answer to that question soon came out.
"T-They said they would launch a n-nuclear attack!"