Chapter 2
1.
Kim Seojun hated his older brother, Kim Jinsu, even when their parents were alive.
Jinsu, ten years his senior, was more like another father than a brother.
He was always nagging, constantly saying things like, "Hey, Kim Seojun, don't do that! I told you not to! Do you want to get punished?"
And if his younger sister did something wrong and they fought, he would always side with her, saying, "Kim Seojun! You're the older brother, so yield a little!" He never took Seojun's side.
It was the same after their parents passed away.
He hated his brother.
His brother had left seven-year-old Kim Seojun and five-year-old Kim Hye-eun to join a Mercenary Corps and head into distant Space to hunt Mog.
“Seojun, Hye-eun. Your brother is going to earn money, so you two need to behave. If anything happens, call the Community Service Center Staff member I told you about, okay? Or call Jiyeong noona. You can manage without your brother, right? When your brother isn't here, Seojun, you're the oldest. Take good care of Hye-eun.”
At the time, Kim Seojun couldn't understand why his brother had to go such a long way to earn money.
So he just thought his brother had abandoned them because they were a bother, because he and his youngest sister were a nuisance.
He truly hated his brother.
However, that hatred soon dissipated.
When Kim Seojun entered elementary school, a kind teacher, who taught Kim Seojun many things and looked after him and his sister after school, told Kim Seojun:
“Seojun, your brother is braver and greater than anyone else. He didn’t abandon you. He went to that distant place to protect you and your sister. Trust my words. You’ll understand soon. Soon.”
Her words proved true.
The following year, when he was in second grade, Kim Seojun saw his brother again after a long time, and his brother said:
“Take this medicine, from now on, every day, without fail.”
He suddenly pulled out something like a safe and told him to take the medicine from inside.
“You won’t get sick if you take it.”
That medicine was none other than a Gene Therapy Drug for Lou Gehrig's Disease, a genetic illness.
So, Kim Seojun's brother had gone to distant Space to fight the terrifying Space Monsters, Mog, to cure his brother's illness and obtain that expensive treatment.
“Give some to Hye-eun too. You both need to take it.”
He even had two siblings to look after, not just one.
*At that moment, Kim Seojun, though only nine years old, realized.*
That his brother hadn't abandoned him.
Far from abandoning them, his brother had truly risked his life fighting Space Monsters for him and his sister.
After that, he no longer spoke of hating his brother.
Instead, he became very obedient.
And from then on, their home found peace.
Kim Jinsu, who had secured the future of his two younger siblings, quit his mercenary work and took a job at an ordinary security company.
Kim Seojun also worked hard at school.
“Hey, Kim Hye-eun, get a grip. What do you mean, idol?”
“Why is Oppa Jinsu okay with it, but Oppa Seojun has something to say?”
“Because I know it won’t work out, that’s why.”
“How do you know that, Oppa?”
“You’re uglier than me, aren’t you?”
“What? Are you done talking now?”
His younger sister, Kim Hye-eun, might have been a bit flighty, but she never caused any real trouble.
They might have lacked some things, but they lived without much to regret.
Happiness overflowed.
Then, a nightmare came.
“Cancer? My brother isn’t even thirty yet?”
“You said he worked as a Mercenary, right? Then he must have traveled from planet to planet without proper equipment, so he couldn’t have been free from cosmic radiation. You should be glad it was discovered before he died.”
Cancer had appeared in various organs throughout his brother's body.
“On Earth, if we just replace the organs and get the right targeted chemotherapy, he can be healthy again.”
And to save his brother, money was needed.
Kim Seojun didn't hesitate.
Just as his brother had tried to save him and his sister, Kim Seojun chose the same method.
“Don’t tell Jinsu hyung.”
“If Oppa finds out, he’ll kill you, won’t he?”
“Yeah, I wish he’d just get up from his sickbed and kill me. Anyway, don’t tell him.”
And so, Kim Seojun became a Space Marine, and after completing 8 weeks of training, he went to the Battlefield.
There, he first encountered a Mogdog directly, and after a fierce battle, when he returned to his quarters, Kim Seojun cried profusely.
He sobbed uncontrollably in the bathroom, as if in despair.
It wasn't out of fear of the Mogdog.
Kim Seojun cried because he remembered the fear, suffering, and despair his brother, Jinsu, must have felt facing such absurd Space Monsters as a Mercenary, at an even younger age than himself, and not even in the Military.
That was all.
After that, his life as a Space Marine was smoother than he expected.
Of course, it wasn't easy.
It just wasn't as impossibly difficult as the common saying goes: that out of ten Space Marines, five die, four are medically discharged, and only one remains.
What made it possible were a few talents Kim Seojun possessed.
“Hey, Kim Seojun.”
“Private E-1 Kim Seojun!”
“Are you for real, you bastard?”
“Sir?”
“You bastard, they said you didn’t wet your pants in your first battle? Did you? Or didn’t you?”
“I did not, Sir.”
“Wow! Holy shit, that’s crazy! Hey! This guy didn’t wet his pants!”
Kim Seojun thought at that moment that his seniors were just playing a common prank on a new recruit in the military.
But that wasn't it.
“Kim Seojun, from now on, you’re the ace.”
“Sergeant, I don’t quite understand, Sir.”
“Hey, listen up. Mog is fundamentally stronger than humans. So, it’s natural to piss yourself when you see them. Like a mouse pissing itself when it sees a tiger. But you didn’t? That means, fundamentally, you’re at least cat-level.”
It was a heartfelt compliment.
It was also a very important talent.
“From now on, if the Seniors get scared and lose their minds, you’ll have to take care of it. We’re counting on you.”
When gripped by fear, even the greatest abilities were useless.
Besides that, Kim Seojun had other talents applicable to the Battlefield.
First, he had Dynamic Visual Acuity.
“Kim Seojun, this guy has really good eyes.”
“Always have, Sir.”
“Really? How good?”
“If I’m in good condition while playing soccer, I can read the name written on a flying ball.”
“Seriously? No lie?”
“I wouldn’t lie about something like this, Sir.”
It was no exaggeration, and that ability was extremely useful in battles against Mog.
Indeed, in situations where a split second determined life or death, Kim Seojun saw the world more slowly than others.
The results Kim Seojun produced were enough to make even battle-hardened Seniors gasp.
“Aren’t you a Psycher?”
So Kim Seojun was even suspected of being a Psycher, someone born with special talents who could use a Prophet's Relic.
Of course, he wasn't.
“If I were a Psycher, I wouldn’t have volunteered for the Space Marines just to earn money, Sir.”
“True.”
If that were true, he wouldn't have suffered like this.
Psychers were assets to the Nation, and furthermore, to Humanity, and they received immense treatment.
“If a Psycher joins the Military, they start as a Major. Why would they be crazy enough to start as a Private E-1? especially someone who even saves the ramen rationed by the Military to save money.”
If a Psycher joined the Military, their status was Basic Major Status, and their salary was on a completely different level from ordinary soldiers.
Anyway, Kim Seojun had enough talent to be suspected of being a Psycher.
Moreover, that talent was maximized the moment he took a Stimpack.
The moment he took a Stimpack, Kim Seojun's world seemed to stop, and this was the reason his talent was maximized.
Thanks to that, Kim Seojun was able to survive impossible battlefields, seeing not only countless monsters like Mogdog and Thorn Snakes but also, twice, the giant monster Behemoth, which was rarely seen.
Ultimately, he was honorably discharged with his body intact, and with the money he earned as a Space Marine, he was able to fully heal his brother's body.
He achieved all his desires and was able to return to Earth.
The Space Marine profession, which everyone else considered a death sentence, gave Kim Seojun hope.
That's why it gave him hope.
“Damn Space Peace Activists, is it even possible for those who preach universal peace to cause terrorism? Ah, this is driving me crazy. So what are you going to do? The medical expenses will be considerable... If you need money, I can...”
“Yeongcheol, don’t worry. The money is ready.”
“What?”
“I borrowed it.”
“You borrowed it? That much money? From whom?”
“I borrowed it on credit.”
“Credit? You wouldn’t get that much money on credit, would you? Wait, you don’t mean? You don’t mean that, do you?”
“Yes, I applied to be a Non-commissioned Officer. A Space Marine.”
“You’re joining the Military again?”
When he had to return to the stage of nightmares once more, Kim Seojun felt no fear.
He thought he just needed to do as he did during his active duty.
He thought he would fight Mog, earn money, and return to his healthy brother's nagging.
It was the same when he suddenly encountered over 100 Mogdogs on his first mission after commissioning.
<F1>[Apollo's Blessing (55 days) has appeared!]</F1>
<F1>[You can now see the trajectory of all projectiles.]</F1>
However, the moment he saw what happened to him next, Kim Seojun clearly intuited.
That living a normal, uneventful life, as he had imagined, was now impossible.
Of course, he also had this thought:
*Was my mind messed up by the Stimpack Effect?*
He considered the possibility that he was seeing hallucinations.
It was a common occurrence.
Doctor Space, the greatest scientist in Earth's history, whose Stimpack earned him the Nobel Prize in Chemistry, temporarily turned humans into Superhumans but came with considerable side effects. Space Marines babbling nonsense after taking Stimpack wasn't strange; rather, it was a good sign, like, “*His brain is still alive if he”s still spouting nonsense, lucky him!*’
*Whatever.*
And one thing was clear: hallucination or not, what mattered to Kim Seojun right now was that 333 Mogdog were charging at him.
Three times the number of Mogdog he had faced before!
Kim Seojun now had to fight for survival against that enormous number in an even more dire situation.
*Better than seeing Mogdog singing and tap-dancing in front of me.*
From that perspective, the hallucination of a Red Line emitting from his gun barrel was a very welcome hallucination compared to other kinds of hallucinations.
Therefore, Kim Seojun aimed at a Mogdog.
Then, the emitted Red Line directly touched the Mogdog's head.
*Screech!*
Of course, the Mogdog moved ceaselessly during that time, immediately dodging the Red Line.
Aiming and hitting the head of a Mogdog, which could reach a top speed of 100 kilometers per hour, was not an easy task.
*I need to take out as many as possible before the Stimpack Effect wears off.*
However, for Kim Seojun, with the Stimpack Effect applied, time and scenes flowed slowly.
A slight movement was enough to re-aim, and he could immediately align the Red Line with the Mogdog's forehead.
*At that moment, he pulled the trigger.*
*Thwack!*
A short single shot rang out.
In truth, that was a shooting method never encouraged in Training Camp.
When Space Marines underwent Shooting training, instructors would say hundreds of times:
“The Mogdog’s weakness is its head! But don’t you dare imagine it’s some game where you can aim for the head! Just shoot! Shoot endlessly! Pray that one out of a hundred shots luckily hits its head! Please, if you hold Korean citizenship, don’t have such idiotic thoughts about ending it with one headshot like in a game. Do that when you immigrate to China or Japan.”
They told them to fire in bursts.
Kim Seojun knew this well.
Yet, he didn't do this, not because he thought, *Now that I have a status window, it's showtime!* On the contrary.
Kim Seojun naturally assumed this Red Line was a hallucination, and he didn't for a moment believe that this single bullet would shatter the Mogdog's head.
So, with this one shot, Kim Seojun intended to firmly impress upon himself:
*This is a hallucination.*
He didn't want to get distracted by such hallucinations.
It was a shot to bring himself back to reality.
*Splat!*
*Screech!*
But that single shot too easily followed the Red Line and directly hit the Mogdog's head.
*Huh?*
Doubt appeared on Kim Seojun's face at that fact.
*Is this real?*
*At that moment.*
Kim Seojun's expression twisted further upon hearing that notification.
Honestly, in normal circumstances, it would have been correct to consider the situation unfolding before his eyes—that he had just blown off a Mogdog's head with a single shot—a hallucination.
Everything he was seeing was a hallucination. In reality, he was being chewed alive by a Mogdog while under a Stimpack, but his mind was creating this illusion that it wasn't happening.
Kim Seojun had actually seen such cases several times.
In a horrific battlefield, overrun by Mogdogs, he'd seen a comrade being chewed by a Mogdog, smiling happily and saying, “Mom, Dad! I’m home! I’m hungry, please make some kimchi stew!” He wondered if he was experiencing the same.
But Kim Seojun didn't feel bewildered.
“Seojun.”
“Private E-1 Kim Seojun!”
“When you take Stimpack, you see all sorts of things, right? But if you see something, you can’t do anything about it. So you have to think this way: since you’re going to die anyway, it’s better to see something good than a nightmare. So, if you see something good after taking Stimpack, say this:”
A Senior who cared for Kim Seojun in that hellish situation had told him.
“*Lucky me*.”
Kim Seojun, uttering the advice his Senior had given him, pulled the trigger once more.
*Thwack!*
It was another single shot.
*Splat!*
And with that single shot, the head of a charging Mogdog was utterly shattered.
<F1>[Mogdog eliminated.]</F1>
<F1>[1 point acquired.]</F1>
<F1>[Eliminated with a single shot. 2 One-Shot-One-Kill Bonus Points awarded.]</F1>
The notification rang out without fail, and from that moment on, Kim Seojun no longer hesitated.
*Thwack, thwack, thwack, thwack!*
He began pulling the trigger like a madman.