A Space Marine Got a Status Window

Kim Seojun didn’t like reckless plans.

For starters, there wasn’t a single soldier in the entire universe who liked reckless plans.

Kim Seojun had simply experienced many of them.

Not because he wanted to, but because circumstances had forced him to.

In any case, Kim Seojun knew perfectly well what a reckless plan was.

‘It’s more feasible than I expected.’

And, from Kim Seojun’s perspective, the current operation wasn’t reckless at all.

The reason was simple.

‘Because I have the Minimap.’

In front of Kim Seojun’s eyes, as he stood at the top of the rocky mountain, was the Minimap, and on it, the presence of the Mog was represented by red dots.

Thanks to that, Kim Seojun could tell.

How many Mog remained inside the Queen’s nest.

And where they were.

That was precisely what Kim Seojun intended to take advantage of.

‘All the guards will come out to protect the Queen.’

The Mog that still remained there were individuals under a greater degree of the Queen’s influence, which meant their loyalty toward her was also extremely high!

That was why, when the Queen was threatened, their sense of danger and ability to react would inevitably be far greater.

‘After they all come out, the only thing left……’

There was only one presence that wasn’t moving.

‘Is the Queen.’

Kim Seojun intended to act as soon as that single presence emerged.

‘This?’

And that moment arrived much sooner than he expected.

As soon as Major Lee Hyena began provoking them, a large number of guards immediately came rushing out.

On the Minimap, the red dots began rapidly leaving the rocky mountain.

‘To this extent?’

Even Kim Seojun hadn’t expected such a fast reaction.

‘Ah.’

At that moment, Kim Seojun understood.

‘……The Queen is confused.’

The Queen had also encountered a completely unexpected situation.

‘Well.’

Thinking about it, it was only natural.

‘It would be strange if she didn’t feel threatened after her own subordinates suddenly ignored her orders and left.’

Kim Seojun didn’t know exactly what the Chinese headquarters had done, but they had managed to move most of the Mog under the Queen’s control toward the Polish headquarters.

From the Queen’s perspective, wasn’t that a situation she couldn’t possibly have imagined?

Under such circumstances, she would inevitably react sensitively and excessively to any external attack.

‘We’re lucky.’

From Kim Seojun’s perspective, the Chinese headquarters had practically handed them the opportunity of a lifetime.

And he couldn’t let it slip away.

Kim Seojun immediately entered the rocky mountain.

Into the Queen’s nest.

At the same time, he increased his concentration even further.

‘This starts now.’

Because the Queen’s nest was literally a labyrinth.

Above all, Kim Seojun didn’t have much time.

Taking into account not only the time needed to enter, but also the time he would need to escape, he had less than fifteen minutes to reach the Queen.

‘I’ll make it somehow.’

As determination and resolve shone in his eyes, Kim Seojun heard a notification.

[You have entered a cave.]

‘Huh?’

Along with the Status Window notification, the world Kim Seojun saw before his eyes changed.

[The Minimap is changing.]

‘Oh!’

A map of the cave was generated.

In other words, a map of the Queen’s cave.

A map of that labyrinth had been generated.

As soon as he saw it, Kim Seojun stopped wasting time thinking.

Kim Seojun ran.

When humanity first encountered the Mog, the first question that arose was the following.

“Are the Mog really intelligent beings?”

All the academics gathered to debate that topic.

“The Mog are intelligent beings! We must communicate with them!”

There were quite a few who argued that the Mog should be treated as intelligent beings similar to humans rather than monsters, and that violence should not be used against them.

There were even many people who, like during the old hippie movement that opposed war, went out shouting, ‘Peace with the Mog! Love and peace!’, organizing protests to condemn the Space Marines who fired upon the Mog.

Naturally, that stupidity didn’t last long.

The Mog threatened humanity with ruthless violence.

As a result, the debate over whether the Mog were intelligent beings also disappeared.

Furthermore, the behavioral patterns of the Mog were more similar to those of ants or bees.

It was difficult to include them within the category of intelligent beings.

There was only one exception.

“It seems that Queens possess intelligence.”

That had not been scientifically proven.

Nor was it possible to prove it.

Fortunately, Queens were extremely difficult to find even among the Mog.

Furthermore, after the incident caused by China while researching a Queen in the past, humanity stopped tolerating any unauthorized research on Queens.

And officially, not a single authorization had ever been granted.

Even so, that claim continued to be heard from the mouths of Space Marines fighting on the battlefield.

They said.

“The Mog controlled by a Queen are different. It’s not simply that they’re stronger or move in a more organized manner. You can sense something emotional in them. Something similar to a desire for revenge or to punish someone.”

Queens possessed intelligence.

And the Queen on planet Amotia was the same.

Her appearance was no different from that of other Queens.

She had the form of a ten-meter-long larva.

If one judged solely by her outward appearance, there was nothing about her that seemed threatening.

In fact, it wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say that, in purely physical terms, the Queen was one of the weakest Mog.

The problem was the abilities she possessed.

A Queen’s body released extremely powerful pheromones, and the Mog exposed to them became her guards.

Furthermore, a Queen’s bodily fluids were a mass of extremely powerful viruses capable of turning even creatures that weren’t Mog into beings similar to them.

And, as already mentioned, the Queen possessed intelligence.

The terrifying thing about that intelligence wasn’t that the Queen could devise some extraordinary strategy or anything like that.

An intelligent being could feel anger.

It could identify whom that anger was directed toward.

And it could devise a way to vent it.

The Queen of planet Amotia was exactly like that.

Brrrbrrrbrrr!

She was furious.

She felt anger toward that existence that had dared to take a large number of her guards away from her.

At the same time, she felt an extremely intense threat to her survival.

She felt fear.

Brrrbrrrbrr!

And that, the fact that she herself had felt fear, enraged her even more.

Under those circumstances, when a human suddenly entered her nest, naturally, she reacted violently.

Brrrbrrrbrrr!

My children, crush them miserably!

Brrrbrrrbrrrbrr!

Devastate all the humans on this planet!

Brrrbrrrbrrrbrrrbrr!

And beyond that, devastate everything that exists in this universe!

She issued the most violent orders she could give.

Thus, all her guards went outside.

It was then.

Brrr?

The Queen sensed that something had entered her nest.

That was due to another of the abilities she possessed.

Detection.

The Queen could sense everything that entered her nest.

At that moment, the Queen made a decision.

Brrr!

She would let that existence approach her.

The Queen wanted to have fun.

She wanted to personally tear that human apart, rip off his flesh, and devour him.

She felt that only then could she relieve, even slightly, all the anger filling her.

Brrrbrrr!

That was why the Queen didn’t send any signal ordering her guards to return.

She simply waited.

She waited for that human to reach her.

As if responding to her wishes, the human who knew nothing quickly advanced toward the place where she was.

Brrrbrrr!

The more the distance shrank, the more the sounds emitted by the Queen changed.

She began producing sounds resembling a pleasant melody.

It was then.

Suddenly, the Queen sensed that it had stopped a short distance away from her.

For a moment, she felt somewhat confused.

But that doubt didn’t last long.

Because something once again began moving toward the place where she was.

Brrrbrrrbrrr!

Finally, it appeared.

And at that instant, the Queen emitted a sound filled with more joy than ever.

At the same time, she released with all her strength what resided within her body.

What she released was none other than fear.

Fear!

She released that terror capable of paralyzing the mind of any living being that faced her.

And the Queen had no doubt whatsoever.

The only thing capable of resisting that Fear would be something that wasn’t alive.

That was precisely why what had appeared was able to resist it.

Thud!

Because what had appeared was none other than a nuclear weapon.

Yuguang.

Brrr?

As soon as the Queen was startled by the appearance of that object she had never seen before, she suddenly sensed something rapidly moving away from the range of her senses.

At that instant, the Queen realized it.

Something strange was happening.

And, as befitted an intelligent being, the Queen immediately made a decision.

She tried to leave that place and began moving quickly.

She tried to flee from that ominous object.

However, her efforts were immediately thwarted.

Brrr?

As she moved forward, the Queen saw it.

Brrr!

An enormous and extremely heavy battle tank was blocking the path through which she had to escape.

One minute later, the Queen faced it.

Boom!

When the Yuguang exploded, the roar wasn’t as loud as one might have expected.

That was because it had detonated inside the Queen’s nest, preventing the powerful sound of the explosion from escaping outside.

However, as soon as Kim Seojun heard that sound, he shouted.

“Private First Class Park Boseop! Floor it!”

“Yes, sir!”

At those words, Private First Class Park Boseop pressed the accelerator down even harder.

Vroooom!

The military truck, which had already reached its maximum speed, surprisingly began making its wheels roar even harder.

It was thanks to Jo Yihyeon’s tuning.

Thanks to that, the military truck moved even faster, and as it did, the ground they had just passed over suddenly began to tremble.

It wasn’t a simple tremor.

As if that area had suddenly entered zero gravity, the rocks, the Mog, and all those enormous masses began rising into the air.

And the instant they fell back to the ground.

Rrrrrumble!

A brutal earthquake occurred.

Crack! Crack! Crack! Crack! Crack!

The ground, which until then had remained firm, began collapsing while producing terribly strange sounds.

Screeeeeech!

The Mog standing on it also began screaming as they sank underground.

Vroooooom!

Only the military truck carrying Kim Seojun’s group continued moving without stopping.

Naturally, Kim Seojun’s group was equally bewildered.

After all, experiencing the detonation of a nuclear weapon from such a close distance was extremely rare.

“Sergeant Kim, have you ever seen a nuclear weapon explode?”

“No.”

Even for Kim Seojun, it was his first time.

“I mean this close. I’ve seen three explode from a distance.”

Naturally, that ‘first time’ was quite different from the first time the others were experiencing, and his companions let out dry laughs upon hearing it.

The use of a nuclear weapon meant that a devastating situation had occurred on that planet.

In other words, Kim Seojun had experienced such situations at least three times.

“Oh, really? Then you’ve seen fewer than me. I’ve seen them about twelve times.”

And in situations like those, the ones normally responsible for bringing them to an end were precisely Psyker Agents like Hawk Eye.

That was why.

“But did you detonate it properly?”

Noah Winston asked that question.

Because she knew.

“If it explodes in the wrong place, she might not die. A Queen’s vitality is no joke.”

Although Queens lacked offensive power, their defensive capabilities were far superior even to those of Tank Bugs.

“You used a timer, right? If the Queen realized what was happening and fled somewhere else……”

Especially inside a cave formed by tunnels like that one, simply hiding in another tunnel would be enough to considerably reduce the power of the explosion.

Kim Seojun knew that too.

“I blocked the exit.”

“You blocked it? With what? She’d simply force her way through anything normal.”

“I thought the same thing, so I blocked it with a battle tank.”

“Uh…… good job.”

At Kim Seojun’s response, Noah Winston stopped looking worried.

The others did the same.

If he had taken precautions to that extent, they could practically consider the Queen dead.

“Seriously, that ability of yours is incredible. How the hell do you make a battle tank appear and disappear? Hm? Can’t people go inside there? I’d like to go in once and see what it’s like. If it’s possible, couldn’t you rent me about ten square meters? I’ll pay the proper rent.”

Knowing that, Noah Winston finally relaxed and even began joking.

Everyone let out a small laugh at her joke.

However, Kim Seojun’s expression was different.

He still hadn’t relaxed.

‘There’s no notification.’

Because even after that tremendous explosion, he hadn’t heard any notification.

To be honest, that was unexpected.

If the Queen had died from the nuclear explosion, she should have died long ago, and the notification should already have appeared.

However, even though quite some time had passed since the explosion, there wasn’t a trace of a notification.

Gulp!

At that moment, Kim Seojun swallowed.

‘What if……’

Because a possibility appeared in his mind.

‘What if she has another ability?’

The possibility that the Queen possessed an ability capable of strengthening her body or some extraordinary ability like Teleport.

It wasn’t an absurd idea.

After all, Kim Seojun himself possessed an ability as absurd as the Status Window.

Vroooooom!

And after a little more time had passed, when they could no longer see any Mog pursuing them, that suspicion became a certainty.

‘I have to make sure I finish her off one way or another.’

Since Kim Seojun still hadn’t heard any notification, he no longer had another option.

‘I have to stop the vehicle, go back, and check with the Minimap. If she’s still alive, I’ll have to finish her off somehow.’

Kim Seojun prepared himself.

“Private First Class Park Boseop.”

He was about to order Private First Class Park Boseop to stop the vehicle.

It was then.

[Combat has ended. Reward calculation will begin.]

‘Hm?’

Suddenly, he heard a Status Window notification.

[You have eliminated 7,321 Mogdogs. You have obtained 7,321 points.]

[You have eliminated 3,123 Thorn Snakes. You have obtained 15,615 points.]

[You have recorded more than 10,000 kills during this combat. You will be awarded 10,000 points.]

Only then did Kim Seojun understand.

The reason the notifications had taken so long to appear was that, just like the previous time, the system had waited to calculate everything at once.

And then Kim Seojun heard.

[You have eliminated 1 Lightweight-class Queen. You will be awarded a Diamond Ticket.]

[You have eliminated a Queen for the first time. You will be awarded a Diamond Ticket.]

[You have fulfilled the mission conditions. You will be awarded an Upgrade Ticket (Transcendence).]

As soon as he heard those notifications, Kim Seojun let out a sigh of relief.

“Sergeant Kim.”

Then he saw Private First Class Park Boseop and his companions looking at him.

Furthermore, they all seemed more tense than ever.

Kim Seojun had suddenly called out to them with a tense expression, and normally, whenever that happened, some absurd situation ended up occurring.

“Did you call me, sir?”

Facing his companions, who were asking why he had called them, Kim Seojun spoke.

“Stop the vehicle.”

“What?”

Those words made everyone even more tense.

Then Kim Seojun told them.

“The mission is over, so let’s stop and have ramen as a special meal before we leave.”