A Space Marine Got a Status Window

In the year 2070, space was still a fairly distant world for humanity.

The person who brought that distant world practically within arm’s reach was none other than Doctor Space, Dr. Jo Woojeong.

Nobel Prize in Physics, Nobel Prize in Chemistry, Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine, and even the Nobel Peace Prize.

That genius had won a total of fourteen Nobel Prizes, and after discovering portal technology that practically rendered the concept of distance irrelevant, humanity finally entered the space age.

“Space is infinite!”

And the universe humanity encountered was overflowing with resources far more abundant than it had ever imagined.

There was only one drawback.

“The Mog, those fucking monster bastards, are infinite too!”

There were countless terrifying creatures called Mog.

A fucking enormous number of them.

For that reason, the exploitation of space resources inevitably had to be accompanied by battles against the Mog.

Because of this, every planet was assigned a danger level.

From Red level, the lowest, to Purple level, the highest.

In the case of Red-level planets, even soldiers who had just become Space Marines could be sent there.

“If you send ten rookie Space Marines to a Red-level planet, about nine survive.”

Red-level planets were not extremely difficult places.

“Then what about Orange-level ones? Do about seven out of ten survive?”

“Huh? What the fuck are you talking about? Why would you send rookies to an Orange-level planet? What kind of lunatic would send rookies there?”

“Sir?”

“Don’t fucking ‘sir’ me! If you send ten rookies to an Orange-level planet, all ten come back dead!”

However, starting from Orange level, survival began to become a serious problem.

Put another way, if you wanted to make a good amount of money, you had to be sent to an Orange-level planet.

Because the bonuses there were considerable.

That was the case with planet Amotia.

Located 3.14 light-years from Earth, it was currently an Orange-level planet and, at the same time, a planet in the midst of colonization.

The fact that it was still being colonized meant that there were still many Mog left to eliminate.

At the same time, numerous countries were carrying out colonization operations to secure resource-rich territories.

In other words, while you were already on the verge of death fighting the Mog, you could suddenly lose contact with an outpost and, when you went to check what had happened, find soldiers from an enemy nation waving at you from there.

Situations like that occurred frequently.

Furthermore, now that humanity had entered the space age, securing resource-rich territories was of vital importance.

It was the age of space competition.

And in that era, the moment a nation became incapable of securing resources was practically equivalent to falling behind.

Korea was no exception.

Korea diligently dispatched Space Marines throughout the universe while engaging in resource exploitation.

And in the space age, ‘working diligently’ meant that a proportional number of people died in the process.

The Korean division established on planet Amotia was no exception.

Four years, six months, and eleven days had passed since they began exploiting its resources, and every time it seemed like they could finally catch their breath, bad news arrived.

This time was no different.

“We’ve received a communication from Base E1323!”

The moment he heard the report, the gaze of Major Lee Sunhyeok, commander of the Korean division on Amotia, turned cold.

“What does it say?”

Although he asked the question, Major Lee Sunhyeok already knew what kind of answer he would receive.

Bad news.

“333 Mogdogs have appeared!”

Just as he expected, the report brought bad news.

Base E1323 was a kind of observation post located on the front line, whose function was to detect approaching Mog monsters.

Only a single squad had been deployed there.

In other words, just ten Space Marines.

They had no chance of winning.

At most, they could hold out for a while.

That was why the next question inevitably came.

“They’ve requested reinforcements!”

“When did they make the request?”

“Three minutes and forty-four seconds ago. Amotia’s sandstorms cause a lot of communication interference, so there’s a considerable delay.”

At those words, Major Lee Sunhyeok did not respond.

It wasn’t because he was hesitating.

The answer was obvious.

A single squad of eleven Space Marines had no chance of holding out against 333 Mogdogs.

Sending reinforcements in an attempt to save them would only waste time, squander resources, and cause even greater losses.

He didn’t even need to make any calculations.

Major Lee Sunhyeok had been through that exact same situation hundreds of times and knew it better than anyone.

But even so, giving that obvious answer was still difficult.

“……We won’t send reinforcements.”

He finally managed to give the order.

His subordinates’ expressions hardened when they heard it.

They all felt the same way.

And there was only one thing Major Lee Sunhyeok could say to them.

“It’s impossible to save them unless we have a Psyker Agent.”

It was nothing more than a justification to remind them that they had no other choice.

“Who’s in command over there?”

“Sergeant Kim Seojun.”

“The sergeant who was just assigned here?”

“Yes, sir.”

Realizing that the place had simultaneously become a newcomer’s debut and grave, Major Lee Sunhyeok let out a sigh.

“What terrible luck.”

Bang!

With that final shot, the battlefield, relentlessly battered by sandstorms, fell silent.

No one said a word.

Huff, huff, huff……

The only sounds that could be heard were the soldiers’ ragged breaths inside their suits.

There was only one exception.

Sergeant Kim Seojun.

A voice that none of the others could hear echoed in his ears.

[Combat has ended. Beginning calculation of results.]

[You have eliminated 245 Mogdogs. You have obtained 245 points.]

[You have eliminated 193 Mogdogs with a single shot. You have obtained 386 points as a One Shot, One Kill bonus.]

[You have achieved more than 300 kills in this combat. You will be awarded 300 points as a kill streak bonus.]

[Congratulations on your victory in your first combat. You have received a Silver Ticket as a reward.]

One notification after another echoed in his ears.

‘Ah.’

Those notifications brought Kim Seojun back to his senses.

‘This is insane.’

And the moment his mind became clear again, all the information and confusion he had deliberately ignored during the battle began flooding into his head.

‘Something has definitely happened to me. Whether I’ve gained an ability or a mental illness.’

It was then.

“T-That’s incredible!”

One of his subordinates, Corporal Lee Jihoon, shouted as he stared at Kim Seojun in utter astonishment.

“H-How the hell did you do that, sir?”

At those words, the other members of the unit also began showing expressions of amazement.

It was a completely natural reaction.

The moment 333 Mogdogs charged at them, practically every member of the unit had lost their minds.

The only thing that had kept them from fleeing the battle was that the effects of the Stimpak had numbed their fear.

Thanks to that, all that happened was that they pissed themselves in their diapers.

In any case, it had been an absurd situation from any point of view.

And in the midst of that desperate situation, Sergeant Kim Seojun had demonstrated equally absurd marksmanship while eliminating the Mogdogs.

“A-Are you perhaps a Psyker?”

To the point that they began wondering whether Sergeant Kim Seojun was a Psyker, a superhuman who transcended the limits of an ordinary person.

And that question was perfectly reasonable.

That was why.

“Corporal Lee Jihoon.”

“Yes?”

“Yes?”

“Ah! C-Corporal Lee Jihoon!”

Kim Seojun said to Corporal Lee Jihoon, who had just responded.

“Seeing how everyone’s surprised enough to start stuttering, it looks like you’ve all come back to your senses.”

“Sir?”

“I’m saying the drug has worn off.”

Just as he had said, the fact that they were able to react so normally meant that the effects of the Stimpak had worn off.

And that meant the side effects were about to hit them.

Unbearable exhaustion.

And, depending on the individual, side effects so severe that they might not even be able to move their hands or feet.

“Everyone, gather your things.”

That was why Kim Seojun ordered a retreat without hesitating for even an instant.

“Our things, sir?”

“Yes. We’re retreating to the main base.”

Corporal Lee Jihoon turned pale when he heard that.

“B-But we still haven’t received any orders to retreat, sir.”

Naturally, retreating on their own without receiving an order from their superiors was considered desertion in the military.

And it was an extremely serious offense.

Kim Seojun knew that too.

He had far more experience and knowledge than the relatively seasoned Space Marines there.

He knew perfectly well that retreating before receiving an order from above was illegal.

“Triple.”

“Sir?”

“First there were a hundred. Then there were three hundred. When the Mog triple their numbers like that, it means they’re determined to destroy a position. We just stopped three hundred. So how many do you think will come next?”

And there was a possibility that nearly a thousand Mogdogs would arrive soon.

In fact, they could consider themselves lucky if only a thousand Mogdogs showed up.

“If Thorn Snakes show up too, then we’re finished.”

If Thorn Snakes appeared among those Mogdogs, those damned monsters capable of endlessly firing thorns like terrifying arrows, then not even Kim Seojun would have any way to deal with the situation.

“But we still haven’t received an order to retreat, sir.”

Of course, as soldiers, their military instincts resisted the idea of retreating without receiving an order.

“We can receive the retreat order while we’re retreating. Besides, because of the communication interference, we still haven’t even received a response to our request for reinforcements. If we ask for authorization to retreat, it’ll take more than five minutes to get a response. In a situation where every minute and every second counts, we need to move while we can still hold a steering wheel.”

“And what do we do if we retreat and they deny authorization afterward?”

Kim Seojun calmly answered the question.

“Then we’ll go to a court-martial for disobeying orders.”

“Sir?”

“There are mitigating circumstances, so we’ll probably get about six months in prison.”

At those words, spoken with absolute calm, both Corporal Lee Jihoon, who had asked the question, and the others were dumbfounded.

Who would have imagined that he would talk about violating military law and ending up in prison with the same calmness as someone talking about going to the neighborhood supermarket?

Of course, Kim Seojun hadn’t been like that from the beginning either.

But after experiencing all kinds of hell during his previous active service, he had learned something.

“We’ll spend six months in a safe space prison, eating three meals a day, showering with cold water, and reading books. All for free.”

In that hell, prison was an extremely comfortable place.

“So choose. You can stay here and have a date with a thousand Mogdogs, or come with me and spend six months playing word-chain games in prison.”

When Sergeant Kim Seojun said that, his subordinates’ heads were still a mess.

Had their superior really just told them to ignore military law?

But there was one thing they were completely certain of.

‘……If we want to survive, we have to listen to the Sergeant.’

The man named Kim Seojun standing before them was a veteran none of them could compare to.

Once they understood that reality, their gazes changed.

Seeing that, Sergeant Kim Seojun said.

“Then we’re retreating. Everyone, get in the vehicle.”

No one hesitated.

They immediately headed toward the vehicle and climbed into the military truck with their heavy suits still on.

Sergeant Kim Seojun took the wheel.

“Sergeant Kim, I’ll drive.”

At the words of Private First Class Park Boseop, the driver who had sat down in the passenger seat, Kim Seojun asked.

“Why? Are you worried about me driving?”

Park Boseop didn’t answer.

The truth was, he was worried.

And it was perfectly natural.

This wasn’t some remote rural road in Gangwon.

This was planet Amotia.

Driving there was completely different from driving a truck down a simple unpaved road.

That was why qualifying as a military driver required far more skill than most people imagined.

Kim Seojun understood his concern perfectly.

“Don’t worry. I drove quite a bit during my active service. I even transported stars for a while.”

That was why he tried to reassure him.

But when Park Boseop heard that, he was horrified.

“Huh? Did you say stars, sir?”

Vroooom!

Before he could even answer the question, Kim Seojun shifted gears and stepped on the accelerator.

At the same time, everyone inside the vehicle heard something.

Rumble, rumble, rumble!

The ground rumbled as if an earthquake had struck.

[1,032 Mogdogs have appeared ahead.]

Then came the warning from the surveillance systems of the base they had just abandoned.

Leaving that warning behind, Sergeant Kim Seojun continued pressing hard on the truck’s accelerator.

One minute later, they all heard another notification.

[Base E1323 has been destroyed.]

After the beginning of the space age, humanity’s technology advanced even further.

However, that did not solve all of its problems.

One of the most representative examples was communication.

On Earth, even a beggar in the middle of the street could easily communicate with someone on the other side of the planet.

Space was different.

In those extreme environments, completely different from those on Earth, both wireless and satellite communications suffered from numerous problems.

Planet Amotia was no exception.

The sandstorms that blew incessantly there made radio communications practically impossible.

Of course, they could use physical communication lines without too many problems.

But planet Amotia was infested with those damned monsters called Mog, creatures that went berserk the moment they encountered humans, so the communication lines were constantly being severed.

Furthermore, it was common for soldiers from hostile countries to cut them whenever they had the opportunity simply to hinder enemy operations.

And the Mog weren’t simple monsters.

They were intelligent.

To be precise, intelligent individuals existed among them.

And to those individuals, human communication lines were one of their priority targets.

Of course, powerful countries, those with forces and resources to spare, could simply say.

‘Then we’ll just reinstall them every time they cut them!’

But the situation of the Korean division stationed on planet Amotia was different.

Although it was somewhat embarrassing to admit, the Korean division had practically given up on resource exploitation on Amotia.

In fact, they had given up quite some time ago.

Despite that, the Korean division remained there and troops continued to be sent there for one very simple reason.

The moment they officially abandoned resource exploitation, some big shot would have to take responsibility for all the expenses invested up to that point.

Naturally, no one was willing to declare that they were abandoning it.

But there was also no chance that they would continue investing large amounts of resources in a place that produced no results.

In many ways, their conditions were terrible.

Whenever the sandstorms blew, it was completely normal for a communication from a distant area to take five or ten minutes to arrive.

That meant that by the time a message reached headquarters, the situation on the ground had often already ended.

This time, exactly the same thing had happened.

When they received the request for reinforcements from Base E1323, headquarters assumed that its occupants had already been wiped out.

That was why they didn’t send reinforcements.

“A request has arrived from Base E1323.”

For that reason, when a new request arrived approximately thirty minutes after that request for reinforcements, Major Lee Sunhyeok was surprised.

“They’re requesting authorization to retreat.”

But the moment he heard those words, Major Lee Sunhyeok’s expression hardened.

Naturally, no one said, ‘We request authorization to retreat!’ when things were going well.

And most importantly, wireless communications weren’t functioning properly.

It was highly likely that the request to retreat had been sent several minutes earlier.

Then what would the situation be like at that very moment?

It was obvious.

They must have already been wiped out or suffered losses practically equivalent to annihilation.

“And they say they’re already retreating.”

“What?”

However, the moment he heard that, Major Lee Sunhyeok’s expression changed.

“What do you mean?”

They were requesting permission to retreat when they were already in the middle of retreating?

Of course, understanding the meaning of those words wasn’t difficult.

The problem was understanding how soldiers could decide to retreat on their own.

It was then that Major Lee Sunhyeok remembered something.

‘He was a newly appointed Sergeant.’

The commander of the unit sent to Base E1323 was a rookie who had just become a Sergeant.

Truthfully, Major Lee Sunhyeok hadn’t paid much attention to the new Sergeant.

For starters, normal, sensible people didn’t usually end up stationed on Orange-level planets.

As a general rule, assignments to Orange-level planets were filled primarily by volunteers.

So there were only two possibilities.

Either you had committed some offense and been forcibly assigned there.

Or you had volunteered.

And out of every ten volunteers, nine did it simply because they were blinded by money.

The remaining one did it to advance their military career.

Furthermore, planet Amotia was already a problematic place that had fallen out of favor with the higher-ups, so it wasn’t exactly a good assignment for someone competent and ambitious who wanted to advance their career.

At the same time, every country was currently suffering from a severe shortage of soldiers.

Because of that, aptitude examinations had become far more lenient.

‘Do you regularly feel homicidal urges, and does holding a weapon make you want to kill someone? We’ve been waiting for talent like you! Take a weapon right now and unleash all those homicidal urges on the Mog!’

Things like that really happened.

And naturally, people whom anyone would consider strange ended up assigned to places like planet Amotia.

In any case, for all those reasons, Major Lee Sunhyeok hadn’t shown any particular interest in the new Sergeant’s service record.

His subordinates hadn’t bothered to report on it either.

When there was a nine-in-ten chance that he would die or flee back to Earth before the month was over, there was no reason to take much interest in him.

From that perspective, it wasn’t particularly strange for a newly appointed Sergeant to retreat without authorization either.

Running away because he wanted to survive?

In reality, it was a fairly normal reaction.

But sometimes, you simply had a hunch.

“What was his name?”

“Sergeant Kim Seojun.”

“Give me his profile.”

“What?”

Major Lee Sunhyeok directed a cold gaze at the subordinate who had reacted with surprise.

The subordinate immediately sent him the profile.

The information appeared before Major Lee Sunhyeok’s eyes.

And the moment he saw it, his gaze changed.

“……He served four months on planet Icrus? On active duty?”

Planet Icrus!

There was no way he wouldn’t know it.

“The Yellow-level one?”

After all, a Yellow-level planet made an Orange-level one look like little more than a neighborhood cat café.

“And his next assignment was planet Palabo?”

His next assignment had been planet Palabo.

It was currently classified as Orange level, but it was far more famous for something else.

A Behemoth had appeared there.

And after checking the dates of service, it turned out that Kim Seojun had been stationed there precisely when the Behemoth appeared.

Besides those two places, every assignment where Sergeant Kim Seojun had served during his period of active service ranked among the worst hells imaginable.

But the most surprising thing was something else.

“And even after all that, he reenlisted?”

After going through all of that, he had decided to join the military again.

“Major, then how should we respond to the request to retreat?”

At his subordinate’s question, Major Lee Sunhyeok didn’t have to think about it.

Because there was one thing he was completely certain of.

“We can’t send a soldier to prison after he managed to come back alive when we couldn’t even help him. Authorize the retreat.”

They couldn’t afford to lose a Space Marine like that.

“Retreat authorized! Return safely to the main base!”

Thus, the headquarters of the Korean division on planet Amotia sent out that order.

And it was the last order to leave that place.

BOOM!

An explosion shook the headquarters of the Korean division on planet Amotia.