A Space Marine Got a Status Window

“T-The headquarters?”

The Space Marines, who had rested for eight hours, thought the moment their superior, Sergeant Kim Seojun, said those words.

‘Is he joking?’

They thought Sergeant Kim Seojun was making a very bad joke to ease their tension.

Of course, that wasn’t the case.

For starters, Kim Seojun wasn’t the type of person who liked joking around like that on the battlefield, and besides, only 33 hours had passed since they met.

Until three days ago, Kim Seojun and the Space Marines gathered there hadn’t even known of each other’s existence in that vast universe.

They absolutely did not have the kind of relationship where they could exchange jokes at a moment like that.

“I don’t think I’m close enough with you guys to be joking around here.”

Indeed, Kim Seojun wasn’t joking, and he made that clear to them.

“And I’m not crazy enough to make jokes when our headquarters has just disappeared.”

Only then, after understanding the reality of the situation, did the soldiers’ expressions harden.

“I know you don’t understand.”

Kim Seojun began to explain.

“But right now, we’re not on Earth. We’re on a planet in space, and the only wall capable of protecting us is the headquarters base. And now that headquarters has fallen.”

“Uh, Sergeant Kim, isn’t it too dangerous to go there right now?”

“It is. But at the very least, we need to find out how our headquarters fell. Whether it was an accident, the Mog, or a hostile nation like China.”

“Ah.”

And the moment the word China left Kim Seojun’s mouth, all the soldiers understood.

They understood why they had to go to headquarters.

It was that important.

That wasn’t an exaggeration.

The reason Kim Seojun had been able to finish his active service and return home with all four limbs and his mind intact, avoiding serious injuries to the point that, as soon as he got back, he could sit down to eat homemade food, shout at his younger sister, “Hey, water!”, hear her answer “What?”, and end up getting into a full-blown fight with her, was precisely his ability to understand the situation.

“Whether it was the Mog or humans.”

In particular, depending on who the enemy was, the way they would have to act from that moment onward would be completely different.

Furthermore, the possibility that humans had been responsible wasn’t exactly low.

On Earth, various international conventions had created an environment where wars were practically avoided.

But space was different.

Space wasn’t covered by those international conventions.

Above all, space development was practically a lifeline for every nation, and most importantly, space offered the perfect excuse.

‘Wasn’t it the Mog who did that?’

A truly convenient excuse.

“Or it could’ve been those motherfucking Space Peace Activists. We need to find out exactly what happened.”

“Yes?”

Furthermore, there was also an interplanetary organization of lunatics that proclaimed peace in space while committing all kinds of terrorist attacks.

In any case, he had finished convincing them.

No one questioned Kim Seojun’s decision to investigate headquarters again.

They hadn’t known him for long, but at least every soldier gathered there knew one thing.

‘Sergeant Kim is our only lifeline.’

They knew perfectly well how they were supposed to act when a rope descended from the sky to save them.

Of course, regardless of that, everyone was tense.

‘Fuck, why the hell is everything getting this complicated?’

All the soldiers gathered there had volunteered for that assignment, but none of them had volunteered to join the military.

Their mindset had simply been.

‘If I can’t avoid going into the military anyway, then I might as well use it to make a good amount of money!’

None of them had come there intending to die.

And above all, they weren’t old enough to take death lightly.

Everyone’s faces were drenched in despair.

Then Kim Seojun told them.

“Only two of us will go on this reconnaissance mission, Private First Class Park Boseop and me.”

Vroooooom!

After finishing charging its battery, the military truck started moving again.

There were only two Space Marines inside the truck.

Nothing more.

Of the eight soldiers, the other seven, everyone except Private First Class Park Boseop, had remained in the bunker.

“Sergeant Kim, isn’t it too dangerous for just the two of us to go, sir?”

The reason was simple.

“We’re only going to conduct reconnaissance. If we all go together, the only thing we’ll accomplish is making more noise and drawing more attention.”

They weren’t going there to fight a huge battle.

Of course, Kim Seojun didn’t bother saying out loud what he was really thinking.

‘These guys are useless. No, they’d only get in the way.’

He didn’t tell them.

‘You seven are a burden to me.’

And that was understandable.

Kim Seojun had much more active-service experience than they did.

That was why he knew perfectly well.

‘If they were useful enough, they never would’ve been assigned here.’

The truly good ones weren’t sent to places like planet Amotia.

In other words, they didn’t waste their best pieces on a hand they had already given up on.

For starters, those who volunteered to become Space Marines usually did so with a very clear objective.

And in most cases, that objective was money.

Among those pursuing that money, anyone who demonstrated good ability was immediately assigned to a decent unit after participating in a few battles.

In an era of space warfare where competent personnel were always in short supply, the value of a good soldier was incalculable.

And naturally, planet Amotia wasn’t exactly an assignment for a good unit.

Furthermore, Kim Seojun had confirmed it during the previous battle as well.

Those soldiers were completely ordinary Space Marines.

In any case, from Kim Seojun’s perspective, in a situation like that, he had no room to look after such ordinary people.

However, Private First Class Park Boseop was different.

As a driver, Park Boseop was necessary to Kim Seojun for many reasons.

For starters, if there came a moment when Kim Seojun could no longer drive, the only person capable of saving his life would be a driver.

And there were many other reasons why he needed him.

“Um, Sergeant Kim Seojun.”

“Speak.”

“W-What am I supposed to do, sir?”

Of course, Park Boseop had no way of knowing Kim Seojun’s true intentions.

After all, wasn’t Kim Seojun himself the one driving at that very moment?

“Park Boseop.”

“Private First Class Park Boseop, sir!”

“How much money do you need?”

“Yes?”

Park Boseop reacted in surprise at Kim Seojun’s sudden question.

Kim Seojun continued.

“You came here after volunteering as a Space Marine because you need money, right? And I’m not talking about a small amount, but a lot of money.”

At Kim Seojun’s question, Park Boseop hesitated.

“Do you need money for an operation or something like that?”

“N-No, sir.”

At Kim Seojun’s follow-up question, Private First Class Park Boseop immediately shook his head inside the helmet of his battle suit and answered.

“I-I want to get into motorsports.”

“Motorsports? Car racing?”

“Yes, sir. It’s always been my dream. But I need quite a lot of money for that……”

Park Boseop’s voice gradually faded as he spoke.

‘I’m crazy. Fuck, how could I have been such a fucking idiot that I volunteered to become a Space Marine just because I want to race cars?’

It was inevitable that he would think that way, because even from Park Boseop’s own perspective, that decision had been insane.

He had said that he was willing to risk his life for racing, but now his life was literally at stake!

Naturally, Park Boseop thought Kim Seojun would make fun of him after hearing that.

He thought that, in the eyes of a hardened veteran like him, his goal must seem ridiculous.

“That’s admirable.”

“Yes?”

“Risking your life for a dream isn’t something easy to do.”

However, from Kim Seojun’s perspective, Park Boseop was actually quite impressive.

“R-Really, sir? D-Don’t you think it’s too stupid?”

“Stupid is coming here because you went into debt gambling, or because you bought a sports car, didn’t get insurance, and ended up killing someone.”

As he spoke, several cases of people who had become Space Marines for truly stupid reasons passed through Kim Seojun’s mind.

And most of those who had become Space Marines for reasons like that hadn’t lasted long before dying.

“It might seem funny to suddenly talk about this in a situation like this, but I’m glad it’s you, Soldier Park.”

“Yes?”

“People like you tend to live quite a long time.”

On the other hand, those who risked their lives for a dream didn’t die easily.

From Kim Seojun’s perspective, that was a good thing in many ways.

In a situation where it wouldn’t be strange to die at any moment, encountering a real driver like Park Boseop could only be considered good luck.

Of course, even during that conversation, Park Boseop still had absolutely no idea why Kim Seojun had brought him along.

It was then.

Whoosh!

Suddenly, Kim Seojun sharply turned the steering wheel, and the truck speeding forward also violently changed direction.

“W-What?!”

Park Boseop let out a startled cry.

Kim Seojun didn’t respond.

He couldn’t.

Because he had seen it.

Dozens of red lines were flying toward the vehicle he was driving.

‘So being able to see projectiles doesn’t mean I can only see my own.’

And he also understood what that meant.

His assumption soon became reality.

Whoooooosh!

With a sharp sound, a completely black thorn resembling a one-meter-long spear embedded itself exactly where the military truck had been only an instant earlier.

Park Boseop, who saw it from the passenger seat, screamed in horror.

“T-They’re Thorn Snakes!”

Thorn Snakes!

They were one of the Mog species, snakes approximately five meters long.

Of course, they weren’t snakes like the anacondas that could be found on Earth.

Rather than snakes, they gave the impression of self-propelled artillery that had developed the ability to walk.

Even someone who knew absolutely nothing about them would automatically think upon seeing them.

‘We’re fucked!’

And that really was the case.

Normally, they crawled along the ground, but the moment they found a target, the Thorn Snakes raised their bodies in place and fired the thorns stored inside them.

Like artillery!

And the thorns fired by a Thorn Snake had enough power to penetrate even a tank’s armor.

That was why Thorn Snakes were a genuine nightmare for Space Marines.

The fact that they could penetrate a tank meant that they could destroy not only the Space Marines’ battle suits, but even the bases and bunkers where they stayed.

Whoooooosh!

And now those Thorn Snakes were firing their thorns at Kim Seojun’s group.

Despair was heading straight toward them.

Park Boseop was about to panic at that reality when, at that moment, Kim Seojun spoke.

“Soldier Park, it’s time to work.”

“Yes?”

“You asked me earlier what you had to do, right? Drive.”

As he spoke, Kim Seojun let go of the steering wheel.

“Meanwhile, I’ll take care of them.”

That was the reason he had brought Private First Class Park Boseop with him.

Kim Seojun knew perfectly well what kind of existence a Space Marine was on the battlefields of space.

“The most important thing for a Space Marine is to come back. Don’t think about earning military merits or anything like that. Just come back alive. Anyway, if you manage to return alive from the battlefields they send you to, the military merits will come on their own.”

Furthermore, Kim Seojun had put that fundamental principle of the Space Marines into practice better than anyone.

In other words, Kim Seojun never fought reckless battles.

Quite the opposite.

He was more careful with his own life than anyone else.

That was the reason he had managed to make it safely to the end of his service and return home with his body intact.

In other words, the fact that he had now left the steering wheel in Park Boseop’s hands and moved into the spacious cargo bed of the military truck didn’t mean that he was mustering some extraordinary determination.

Kim Seojun was certain.

‘This is an opportunity.’

He could kill those Thorn Snakes.

‘Right now, the group of Thorn Snakes is moving on its own.’

For starters, in the distance, Kim Seojun could only see Thorn Snakes.

The radar installed in the vehicle, although not particularly good, wasn’t detecting the presence of monsters like Mogdogs in the surrounding area either.

‘They fell behind the horde while returning after a battle.’

Furthermore, among the Mog monsters, those with relatively slow movement speeds, such as Thorn Snakes, occasionally ended up becoming separated from the horde.

‘And the fact that they attacked us when they saw us also works in our favor.’

Furthermore, the Thorn Snakes had attacked Kim Seojun’s group.

That wasn’t easy for them either.

Thorn Snakes possessed a powerful ranged attack, but in order to use it, they had to drive more than half of their tails into the ground.

They weren’t absurdly unbalanced monsters capable of moving and attacking perfectly at the same time, as though they completely ignored any concept of balance.

That meant they became stationary targets.

‘And there’s no sandstorm either.’

Furthermore, the sandstorm had stopped, so they now had a clear line of sight.

Of course, there was something he trusted even more.

‘I have this ability.’

The moment he raised his weapon, a red line shot out from Kim Seojun’s barrel.

It extended an incredible distance.

Hundreds of meters.

Even beyond a kilometer.

Vroooooom!

At that moment, Park Boseop was driving violently while gripping the steering wheel, but that posed no problem for Kim Seojun.

He didn’t even need to inject himself with a Stimpak.

He moved the barrel of his weapon.

And the moment the red line touched the body of a Thorn Snake, he immediately pulled the trigger.

Rat-tat-tat-tat!

He held down the trigger, intending to empty an entire magazine, and the hail of bullets struck the Thorn Snake’s body directly.

Because of the enormous distance, he couldn’t hear what had happened to the Thorn Snake or the sounds it made.

Instead, he heard a notification.

[You have eliminated a Thorn Snake.]

[You have obtained 10 points.]

A notification confirming that he had successfully hunted a Thorn Snake.

‘Good.’

Kim Seojun shouted with joy inwardly.

It was then.

[You have eliminated a Thorn Snake for the first time. You have received a Silver Ticket as a reward.]

‘Huh?’

He heard another notification.

[You have hunted a target located more than 1 kilometer away for the first time. You have received a Gold Ticket as a reward.]

One immediately after the other.

The moment he heard them, Kim Seojun showed an expression more bewildered than pleased.

He hadn’t expected something like that to happen.

However, his surprise didn’t last long.

There were still dozens of Thorn Snakes before his eyes.

He didn’t have time to remain bewildered.

There was nothing to think about either.

“Use both tickets.”

Kim Seojun immediately used both tickets.

Then he heard.

[You have obtained Endurance from a Silver Ticket. Your current Endurance is below 30 points. A stat bonus will be applied. Your Endurance has increased by 3 points.]

A notification.

[Congratulations! You have obtained a Platinum-grade reward from a Gold Ticket!]

[You have acquired the skill X-Ray Vision (F)!]

And then came a second notification.

It was then.

Suddenly, Kim Seojun’s field of vision began to turn brown.

At the same time, Private First Class Park Boseop’s voice came through the earphones integrated into the helmet of his battle suit.

— Sergeant Kim Seojun, sir! It’s a sandstorm! I can’t see anything!

Upon hearing that, Kim Seojun turned his head to look.

At the same time, he murmured quietly.

“X-Ray Vision.”