A Space Marine Got a Status Window

The moment Kim Seojun heard Bae Dongho’s story about Magmat, he realized the situation was even more serious than he had imagined.

“Humans and Mog joining forces?”

Naturally, when Kim Seojun’s companions heard his opinion, they thought it sounded absurd.

“No matter how much the Mog have changed to resemble humans, would they really have any reason to do something like that?”

Everyone knew that the members of the Space Peace Committee were completely insane and viewed the Mog favorably.

However, that was only from the human perspective.

From the Mog’s perspective, there was no reason to ally themselves with the Space Peace Committee.

Kim Seojun knew that too.

“Yes. Under normal circumstances, they would never join forces.”

It was impossible.

“But they don’t need to. From the Mog’s perspective, if they have a Queen, they can simply infect them.”

“Ah!”

After all, the Mog possessed a method capable of turning humans into absolutely obedient servants.

“And if we’re talking about those lunatics, they’d probably willingly become their servants.”

At that point, Kim Seojun had only one concern.

“How many weapons do you think those bastards…… no, the members of the Space Peace Committee have stockpiled there?”

There was no way the Space Peace Committee had remained quietly hidden on Magmat without doing anything at all.

Especially because one of the most terrifying aspects of the Space Peace Committee was that, outwardly, its members appeared to be perfectly respectable and valuable citizens of their respective countries.

They spent their entire lives concealing their true identities until, at a crucial moment, they carried out terrorist attacks while risking their own lives.

“How many weapons do you think they’ve diverted?”

In other words, there was a much higher probability than expected that the Space Peace Committee had diverted weaponry produced on Paramant.

It wouldn’t have been particularly difficult either.

Absurdly enormous quantities of weaponry were produced on Paramant, and it was impossible to perfectly keep track of every single weapon.

Furthermore, as already mentioned, as long as someone was willing to risk their life, stealing weaponry was extremely simple.

All they had to do was accept that they would be fugitives for the rest of their lives, board a space transport loaded with weapons, and escape directly into space.

“They must have quite a lot. No, they probably have an enormous amount. As you know, the big shots don’t obediently report to Earth every time there’s some problem with a weapons shipment under their responsibility.”

Furthermore, there was a high probability that Paramant’s powerful figures had concealed those weapon losses by manipulating records or attributing them to accidents.

They had lost weapons during a shipment, and it turned out the Space Peace Committee was behind it?

What would happen the instant they reported something like that to their superiors?

They would hide it.

They would hide it again.

And they would keep hiding it.

After decades of such maneuvering, the amount of weaponry accumulated would be more than enough to wage a war.

At that point, Kim Seojun stopped calculating.

“We need to get to Magmat as quickly as possible.”

If they arrived too late, they might find that the Xeno advance force had already been completely wiped out.

And that would be one of the worst possible scenarios for humanity.

“If something goes wrong, all the blame will fall on humanity.”

Failing to destroy the cocoon would only be part of the problem.

If the Xeno witnessed Mog and humans cooperating with each other, there would no longer be any possibility of them showing consideration toward humanity.

“And honestly, they’d be right.”

It was an undeniable fact that humanity represented a mortal threat to the balance of the universe.

“Besides, I’m not confident I can convince those lunatics either.”

And above all, with the Space Peace Committee involved, they couldn’t put on a demonstration like they had with the Empire of Humanity, showing that humanity was capable of correcting its own mistakes.

The Space Peace Committee wasn’t something that could be corrected.

In any case, once they reached that conclusion, Kim Seojun finished all preparations and immediately used Warp.

As they traveled, Kim Seojun imagined every kind of scenario.

As always.

He considered absolutely every possibility he could imagine.

And naturally, those possibilities went far beyond any scenario a normal person might consider.

‘Huh?’

However, not even Kim Seojun had been able to imagine the situation he would encounter upon completing Warp.

They had appeared directly in the middle of a war.

And not just any war.

They had used Warp to appear right in the center of a situation where both sides were killing each other!

Even Kim Seojun couldn’t help being bewildered.

Fortunately, Kim Seojun was the Space Marine who had experienced more hells than any other human being.

Surprisingly, his mind and reason quickly began to comprehend that absurd situation.

After analyzing it, Kim Seojun spoke.

“……What rotten luck.”

It was then.

One of the Xeno warriors lunged at Kim Seojun.

At that instant, Kim Seojun summoned the Inventory.

Immediately, a Xeno warrior appeared in midair.

Kasaknat.

[Brothers!]

Kasaknat, who had already received an explanation of the situation, conveyed his will to all the surviving Xeno the moment he appeared.

[We’ve come to help you!]

The Xeno didn’t respond.

It was already terrifying enough that a human had suddenly appeared in front of them.

And now, behind that human, one of their own had suddenly appeared?

And on top of that, that Xeno had started speaking to them?

Faced with such a situation, the Xeno warriors could do only one thing.

[Jumara!]

Invoke Jumara.

And Kasaknat understood that reaction perfectly.

[I know. I know none of this makes any sense to you.]

If he had been in his companions’ position, he probably wouldn’t even have been capable of conveying his will.

Even so, under those circumstances, they needed to communicate somehow.

In such an urgent situation, if they wanted to save even one more companion and destroy the cocoon, everyone had to join forces.

‘How?’

However, while blocking one of his companions and struggling against him, Kasaknat couldn’t imagine how he could stop them.

Amid that chaos.

Surrounded by the Mog.

Under bombardment and gunfire from the infected humans who had become servants of the Mog.

What kind of explanation could he possibly offer under those circumstances?

The same was true for the surviving Xeno warriors.

Except for the one who had lunged at them, the others could barely focus on fighting the enemies in front of them.

They couldn’t even pay attention to Kim Seojun and Kasaknat.

Faced with a completely incomprehensible situation, their minds had practically given up trying to understand it.

“Kasaknat.”

Amid that desperate situation, the one who found an answer was Kim Seojun.

“We don’t need to talk. No matter what we try to convey to them, it’ll be impossible to communicate properly right now.”

As he spoke, Kim Seojun looked around.

He gazed at the countless Mog.

And at the infected humans.

“In this situation, nothing we say will make sense.”

Until they dealt with all of that, any attempt at dialogue would be useless.

In other words, if they wanted to talk, they first had to clear the battlefield.

That was the highest priority.

“Everyone.”

And Kim Seojun knew perfectly well the safest method for accomplishing that.

“Prepare the nuclear missiles.”

***

On one occasion, Noah Winston had said something.

“It seems like Seojun really likes nuclear missiles.”

She had more than enough reason to think so.

Whenever Kim Seojun had the opportunity to acquire weapons, the first thing he looked for was nuclear missiles.

At the same time, whenever he had them available, Kim Seojun didn’t hesitate too much to use them.

Naturally, that didn’t mean he liked nuclear missiles.

It was impossible for him to like them.

From Kim Seojun’s perspective, such a terrifying weapon should never have to be used.

After all, having to resort to it meant he had encountered an enemy against whom conventional weapons could do absolutely nothing.

That was precisely why, if he found himself in a situation that could only be resolved with nuclear weapons, Kim Seojun used them without hesitation.

And this time was no different.

“Prepare the nuclear missiles.”

From Kim Seojun’s perspective, there was only one way to immediately and absolutely eliminate all those Mog and the battle tanks that continued bombarding them from a distance.

Nuclear missiles.

[Seojun! What the hell is going on?]

Naturally, his companions, who still hadn’t received a proper explanation of the situation, were unable to understand those words.

Kim Seojun knew that too.

“I’ll explain the situation afterward. Right now, it’s urgent.”

However, they didn’t have time to explain everything in detail.

[……Okay.]

His companions accepted that answer.

It wasn’t only because of the trust they placed in Kim Seojun.

What mattered was that Kim Seojun was their superior.

And a soldier shouldn’t respond with “Why?” to a superior’s orders.

They should respond with “Yes, sir!”

Everyone began preparing.

It wasn’t complicated either.

The nuclear missiles were already prepared.

The only important thing was deciding where to fire them.

[What coordinates should we use?]

At Jo Yihyeon’s question, as she prepared to carry out the task, Kim Seojun replied,

“About one kilometer above my head. That position will be fine.”

[What? Above your head?]

“Yes. Directly above me.”

Jo Yihyeon couldn’t respond.

Detonating a nuclear bomb directly over his head was practically the same as deciding to die along with everyone else.

And it wasn’t simply a matter of dying.

As a general rule, a nuclear bomb was more devastating when it exploded in the air than when it detonated after striking the ground.

In other words, this was equivalent to choosing an even more certain and terrifying way to die.

Above all, if they really did something like that, not even Kim Seojun would have any way to escape.

Kim Seojun knew that too.

Even so, he had a very simple reason for suggesting it.

“I’ll use the Aegis Shield Generator.”

As he spoke those words, Kim Seojun brought one hand toward the left side of his chest.

To be precise, on the left side of his chest was something resembling a book about the size of an adult man’s palm.

It activated when Kim Seojun struck that area of his chest forcefully.

It was precisely the item he had just obtained.

The Mythic-grade item, Aegis Shield Generator!

The moment Kim Seojun brought his hand toward the Aegis Shield Generator, an information window appeared before his eyes.

[Aegis Shield Generator]

— Generates an Aegis Shield within a 100-meter radius. Withstands any attack for 60 seconds.

The effect displayed by the Aegis Shield Generator was more than enough to justify its classification as a Mythic-grade item.

Without any additional conditions, it could block any attack for sixty seconds within a radius of no less than one hundred meters.

It was absurd.

Naturally, that didn’t mean it could be used without limit.

— Requires 10,000,000 points or one usage ticket to activate.

Each activation cost no fewer than ten million points!

Even Kim Seojun would never have dared to use it under those circumstances if he hadn’t obtained a one-time-use ticket.

In other words, he could use it now.

And Kim Seojun believed this was precisely the right moment.

It was a shame to waste something so valuable, but he didn’t hesitate.

If they failed to properly resolve the situation there, humanity would later have to face both the Mog and the Xeno.

And to be honest, from Kim Seojun’s perspective, the Xeno weren’t even the biggest problem.

If the cocoon managed to hatch, it would all be over.

Using the Aegis Shield Generator then would be pointless.

It would merely prolong their lives by sixty seconds.

In other words, this moment was more important than any other.

And Kim Seojun’s companions understood that perfectly as well.

[Everything’s ready!]

The moment the preparations were complete, a launcher loaded with a nuclear missile appeared from the Inventory.

“Sergeant Kim!”

The moment Private First Class Park Boseop, who had brought out the launcher, called to Kim Seojun, he used Teleport and appeared beside the nuclear missile.

He immediately entered the password and inserted the key.

Rooooar!

At that instant, the nuclear missile’s propulsion system roared violently, and the projectile shot toward the sky.

The time it took to reach an altitude of one kilometer was barely an instant.

So brief that it was impossible to react!

Naturally, only Kim Seojun, who experienced the passage of time completely differently from everyone else, could react within that instant.

He didn’t immediately activate the Aegis Shield Generator.

He continued watching the nuclear missile until the very end.

And just as it reached exactly the position he wanted, at the instant the nuclear missile stopped……

Kim Seojun struck the left side of his chest forcefully.

[Activating Aegis Shield Generator.]

Along with that Status Window notification, a semitransparent membrane emerged from Kim Seojun’s body.

The membrane took on a spherical shape and began expanding at extraordinary speed.

A radius of one hundred meters!

Everything within that distance was enclosed by the semitransparent membrane.

Naturally, it was impossible to react to its appearance.

Everything had happened in barely an instant.

The Xeno warriors only managed to react after the nuclear missile exploded.

Flash!

First came a flash.

It was extremely brief.

As though someone had fired a camera flash directly in front of their eyes.

When the Xeno warriors raised their heads at that burst of light, what they saw was an enormous mass of heat.

And that heat quickly transformed into a storm.

The violent shockwave immediately reached a radius of ten kilometers and devoured everything within it.

All of that occurred within the first ten seconds.

Then an enormous cloud began to rise.

A mushroom-shaped cloud.

A completely white mushroom cloud, mixed with Magmat’s ice, began rising toward the sky.

Its power surpassed the level necessary to inspire fear.

It was so extraordinary that it even inspired awe.

But even more astonishing was the fact that Kim Seojun, his companions, and the Xeno warriors were watching all of it from the closest possible location.

Barely one kilometer beneath the explosion.

From there, they watched the entire scene.

Beyond the semitransparent membrane, they witnessed the terrifying nuclear explosion.

Faced with such a spectacle, the Xeno warriors could no longer show any hostility toward Kim Seojun and his companions.

Naturally, there were creatures that reacted differently.

Kieeeee!

The Mog trapped inside the Aegis Shield didn’t react to the explosion.

They continued showing hostility toward the enemies in front of them.

Flash!

And in response to that hostility, Kim Seojun pulled the trigger of the Philaster Gun.

While the Mog and infected humans outside the Aegis Shield were being swept away, Kim Seojun dealt with the Mog trapped inside.

He didn’t even need a full minute to eliminate them all.

Once he was finished, Kim Seojun spoke.

“Kasaknat, convey my will to them.”

[Understood.]

Kim Seojun raised his gaze toward the sky.

“In twenty seconds, the shield will disappear, and the radiation and heat from the nuclear explosion will enter this area. Even the resilient bodies of the Xeno will have difficulty enduring it.”

Then he lowered his gaze toward the Xeno warriors and continued.

“Would you like to talk somewhere safe?”

Author’s Note

A pacifist (who detonates a nuclear bomb when things don’t go his way).