Normally, after experiencing a catastrophe like that, even if there were survivors, it was practically impossible for them to properly carry out their duties.
Instead of doing what they were supposed to do, they would usually fall into a state of panic, causing even greater accidents and ultimately bringing about their own destruction.
There was even an official term for it.
Space panic.
It wasn’t merely a figure of speech.
That was why it was so surprising.
Once peace returned to the Polish headquarters, it quickly began restoring its functions.
Even so, the reason the Polish headquarters hadn’t fallen into a state of space panic was simple.
It would have been strange if they hadn’t panicked.
After all, no matter how much technological support they had, they were living in a world where stepping outside without protection meant they couldn’t even take a single breath freely.
What had saved them wasn’t luck.
It had been a hero.
“From now on, we have to survive and return to our homeland.”
“And to accomplish that, we have to pull ourselves together! We have to protect our headquarters somehow, and the only ones capable of protecting it are us!”
Of course, the most important factor was something else.
Major Jan Zabłocki was the hero who, at the most dangerous moment, had personally led his troops in a charge against the Tank Bugs and saved the headquarters.
“Furthermore, we have the best agents Korea sent as reinforcements with us!”
At present, the Polish headquarters had not one, but two of those extraordinary Psyker Agents!
Of course, Kim Seojun still hadn’t officially been recognized as a Psyker, but by this point, even he thought so himself.
‘My Status Window ability could practically be considered a Psyker ability.’
The only thing he couldn’t do was use the Prophet’s artifacts.
Other than that, there was practically no difference in what he could do.
After the recent battle against the infected Psyker, Kim Seojun’s abilities had once again undergone an extraordinary improvement.
[Kim Seojun]
— Strength: 33
— Endurance: 33
— Mana: 13
— Skills: X-Ray Vision (D), Inventory (C), Stealth (F)
— Talents: Dynamic Vision (C), Hawk Eye (E)
— Points: 178 pt
And that wasn’t an exaggeration.
First, using the 3,000 points he had accumulated, he bought Bronze Tickets, from which he gained 2 points of Strength and 4 points of Mana.
Furthermore, the Gold Ticket he had received as a reward gave him Strength, and because his Strength had still been below 30 points at the time, he received a bonus that increased it by another 10 points.
Now, although Kim Seojun’s strength probably still hadn’t reached Lee Hyena’s level, it had already surpassed the limits of an ordinary human.
He could feel it immediately whenever he held a weapon.
The Space Marine rifle, which had felt heavy even while he was wearing a battle suit, now felt like a pistol.
And not just any pistol, but one with an empty magazine.
Furthermore, the skills he possessed were far from ordinary.
Among them, the one that had caught Kim Seojun’s attention the most was Stealth.
‘Stealth.’
It was an extraordinary skill.
From what Kim Seojun had confirmed while using it, Stealth truly made him disappear from sight.
He couldn’t even see himself reflected in a mirror.
Naturally, it had immediately caught his attention.
‘This will work against the Mog without a doubt.’
The Mog were a species that depended far more heavily on sight than on any other sense.
There were some individuals with extraordinary hearing, such as Cyclops, but most Mog had no choice but to rely on sight.
In an environment as inhospitable as space, senses such as smell were practically useless.
The same was true of hearing.
And against that kind of enemy, Stealth was practically a deadly poison.
‘And it’ll work against humans too.’
Furthermore, its usefulness wasn’t limited solely to the Mog.
After all, humans were also a species that depended extremely heavily on sight.
Stealth could be used against them just as effectively.
If Kim Seojun himself were told that an invisible Psyker had infiltrated a base, he wouldn’t merely get chills.
He would do everything possible to escape from that base.
‘The drawback is that it only lasts ten minutes. And once I use it, I can’t use it again for six hours.’
Naturally, since it was an F-rank skill, it had its disadvantages.
But those disadvantages could be sufficiently compensated for by raising its rank.
And even in its current state, having Stealth available even once during a battle represented such an enormous advantage that its limitations could hardly be called serious.
‘Even so, thanks to Stealth, the next battle has become much more manageable.’
Put simply, Kim Seojun’s current position was similar to that of a sniper.
For a sniper, one of the most dangerous moments was when attacking revealed his position.
Once discovered, it was difficult to hide again.
Even if he tried to escape, the enemy could clearly track his movements.
But what happened if he stopped being visible?
It meant they couldn’t find him!
Moreover, that ability could practically guarantee that he would save his own life at least once.
‘If things get ugly, I’ll use it to escape.’
For many reasons, Kim Seojun could face the next battle with confidence.
Of course, he knew better than to let that confidence go to his head.
‘But I can’t get overconfident.’
Getting drunk on the idea of victory when he didn’t even know how many enemies were approaching would practically be suicide.
‘If too many come, we’ll have to escape in the end.’
While Kim Seojun was mentally preparing himself for that possibility, Major Jan Zabłocki approached.
“We’ve identified the enemy forces.”
“How many are there?”
“For the moment, we’ve identified approximately six thousand.”
“Shit, seriously!”
As soon as he heard the number, Park Boseop cursed despite being in the middle of an important meeting.
Kim Seojun had said that more enemies would come, but who could have imagined that an absurd number like six thousand would appear?
Kim Seojun, on the other hand, reacted differently.
He had expected something like this.
‘When the Mog fail an attack, they send three times as many.’
Kim Seojun’s group had already experienced stopping a massive force heading toward the Polish headquarters.
‘We already defeated a force that included three Tank Bugs before.’
In a situation like this, the Mog’s simplest solution was simply to send more troops.
It wasn’t as though they could tell the Mog army,
‘This is already too much. Have some sportsmanship!’
and expect them to answer,
‘We’re sorry.’
Above all, complaining wasn’t what mattered right now.
Something else was far more important.
“How many Tank Bugs are there?”
“Two.”
Major Jan Zabłocki replied.
As soon as he heard that, Kim Seojun’s eyes gleamed.
‘Last time they sent three Tank Bugs, and now there are only two…… That means these are their remaining forces.’
If they managed to stop them, they could enjoy some peace for a while.
They only had to win this time.
As soon as Kim Seojun reached that conclusion, he began to speak.
“This battle……”
He was about to say that the battle was perfectly manageable.
But then Major Jan Zabłocki interrupted him.
“Sergeant Kim Seojun, I know perfectly well that this battle won’t be easy.”
They could leave this place if they wanted.
“Poland feels immense gratitude toward you and the other Koreans. Precisely because of that, we don’t want you to be forced to participate in such a reckless battle. You have no obligation to take part in this fight.”
He meant it sincerely.
After already receiving such tremendous help, Major Jan Zabłocki couldn’t bring himself to demand that Kim Seojun and his companions sacrifice themselves for Poland.
However, the moment they heard those words, Kim Seojun and the others only reaffirmed their resolve.
They would protect this place one way or another.
Kim Seojun felt exactly the same.
“The problem……”
“We can do it.”
“It’ll be fine.”
“Without any problem.”
Just as Kim Seojun was about to continue, Major Jan Zabłocki spoke again.
“Before that, there’s something I want to show you.”
After saying that, Major Jan Zabłocki turned around and began walking.
Seeing that, Kim Seojun’s group followed him without protest.
Shortly afterward, they saw them.
A hover bike.
And an Agent Suit.
Kim Seojun’s eyes widened in surprise.
Yes, he had asked for them.
But were those extraordinary pieces of equipment really going to become his property?
Major Jan Zabłocki stopped in front of them and spoke.
“The adjustments are finished. They no longer have tracking devices. We’ve also configured the language pack and the other systems in Korean. If you give us a little more time, we can finish painting them as well. If there’s any color you prefer, you only have to say so.”
And that wasn’t all.
“Here.”
Major Jan Zabłocki took out a small steel box and handed it to Kim Seojun.
“These are the Prophet’s artifacts we recovered from the Psyker’s body.”
He was handing Kim Seojun something whose value couldn’t even be measured in money.
The Polish headquarters was giving him the best treatment it could possibly provide.
Faced with such generosity, Kim Seojun could only respond in one way.
“No problem.”
“As for the Agent Suit, I think we’ll need a little more time to adjust it to Sergeant Kim Seojun’s body.”
“After the battle is over, we’ll have plenty of time.”
After saying that, Kim Seojun turned his head.
“We’ll begin the operations meeting.”
When Kim Seojun began the operations meeting with only Park Boseop and Lee Hyena, neither of them questioned him.
They both knew.
‘If it’s an operation led by Sergeant Kim Seojun, I can trust him and follow him no matter how absurd it seems.’
‘If it’s Sergeant Kim Seojun, he’ll achieve some absurd result no matter what!’
Kim Seojun spoke to the two of them.
“Facing the forces heading toward the Polish headquarters directly would be too risky. So we’ll go out first as an advance party and reduce their forces as much as possible.”
It was the kind of idea that could make anyone lose their mind just by hearing it.
He called it an advance party, but normally an advance party like that was called a suicide squad.
People who went straight to their deaths!
However, neither Park Boseop nor Lee Hyena hesitated at the absurd proposal.
If they were with Kim Seojun, they could do something like that with a smile.
“Private First Class Park Boseop, you’ll have an important role in this operation.”
“Yes, trust me!”
Park Boseop replied with a brighter smile than ever, full of confidence.
“This time I’ll drive that truck like no one else!”
At that declaration, Kim Seojun said,
“I heard earlier that you also know how to drive a hover bike. Is that correct?”
Park Boseop nodded.
“Ah, yes. I have a license for that too. I have both a hover bike license and a hover bike racing license.”
As he answered, Park Boseop suddenly realized something.
“But are you planning to use a hover bike instead of the truck?”
Even as he asked, Park Boseop had his doubts.
They hadn’t been using the military truck simply because it was the only vehicle available.
A military truck offered many advantages when fighting from its rear.
A hover bike, on the other hand, had very obvious limitations, starting with how much ammunition it could carry.
Of course, Kim Seojun had Inventory.
But there was another, even more fundamental problem.
“But firing from a hover bike won’t be easy.”
Putting everything else aside, practically all hover bikes were designed for one person.
The most a passenger sitting behind the driver could do was cling to the driver’s waist to avoid being thrown off.
Firing a weapon from there was practically unthinkable.
Kim Seojun knew that too.
He knew perfectly well that trying to shoot from a hover bike was ridiculous.
“Of course not.”
Park Boseop nodded at the explanation.
“I understand. If that’s the case, a hover bike would definitely be much more useful than the military truck……”
Taking that into account, perhaps mobility was more important.
Then Park Boseop sensed something strange.
“Ah!”
Kim Seojun continued.
“What you’ll do is drop me off wherever I want, wait, and come pick me up when I send you the signal.”
Park Boseop’s eyes widened, and he shouted in horror.
“S-Sergeant Kim! A-Are you saying you plan to fight a-alone?”
“I don’t intend to charge into the entire Mog army alone. If things get complicated, I plan to avoid them.”
“That’s insane.”
Lee Hyena, who had also understood the situation, intervened.
“Sergeant Kim Seojun.”
Lee Hyena knew that Kim Seojun’s shooting ability was extraordinary.
However, until now, he had been able to demonstrate that ability with the help of the military truck.
“That’s insane too. The moment they discover your position, the entire Mog army will come after you.”
“I know.”
Even after hearing that response, Lee Hyena continued with a stiff expression.
If he acted alone, just as Lee Hyena said, he would inevitably end up being pursued by the entire Mog army.
“I have a way to avoid them.”
Lee Hyena stared at him incredulously.
“Do you happen to have an ability that lets you run as fast as a truck or turn invisible?”
“Yes.”
Kim Seojun replied.
As soon as they heard that answer, both of them froze completely.
Kim Seojun continued.
“If someone stays near me, they’ll actually just get in the way. So just observe from a distance.”
The conversation ended there.
“They already left?”
Major Jan Zabłocki wasn’t surprised when he heard that Kim Seojun’s group had departed from the headquarters.
Of course, Major Jan Zabłocki knew what they were trying to accomplish.
‘They’re extraordinarily capable people. They would never do anything reckless. For starters, they’ve probably gone out as an advance party to reduce the size of the Mog army even a little.’
Since he knew their objective, all he could do was fervently hope that nothing serious would happen to them.
“May God protect them.”
He was convinced that Kim Seojun’s group wouldn’t encounter any major problems.
In reality, the ones he needed to worry about at that moment weren’t Kim Seojun and his companions, but the Polish headquarters.
‘We’re the ones in danger.’
After all, the number of survivors at the Polish headquarters was extremely small.
Naturally, their military forces were also very limited.
To achieve anything with such limited forces, all they could do was work without rest and prepare as much as possible.
“Then we’ll begin the operation.”
Thus, making use of every minute and every second, the survivors of the Polish headquarters prepared to face the Mog army.
A day had passed since Kim Seojun’s group left the Polish headquarters.
It was then.
The communications operator, who had been trying to establish contact with the outside, hurried over to Major Jan Zabłocki.
“M-Major!”
“What happened?”
“W-We have a serious problem!”
“What?”
“I-It’s…… they’ve declared war.”
Major Jan Zabłocki frowned.
“China has just declared war on every country present on planet Amotia.”
Something enormous was happening on planet Amotia.
‘China is doing something.’
As soon as he heard the report, Major Jan Zabłocki realized it.
“What’s their justification?”
“They claim it’s legitimate retaliation for the hostile and inhumane attacks committed against the People’s Republic of China.”
The moment he heard that answer, Major Jan Zabłocki understood that it was nothing more than bullshit China was using as a superficial justification.
He also understood that, from this moment onward, China would begin attacking the headquarters of other nearby countries.
If they intended to remain still, there would have been no reason to declare war.
‘This is insane.’
‘There’s something. There’s definitely something.’
And there was no way for them to stop such an absurd use of force by China.
‘We can’t communicate properly with the outside. There’s no way to immediately stop China no matter what it decides to do.’
Furthermore, considering the strong suspicions that China was connected to the recent Mog Virus infection, Major Jan Zabłocki’s thoughts became even more complicated.
In that situation, Major Jan Zabłocki’s first decision was to order Kim Seojun’s group to return.
‘I have to tell the Koreans to come back.’
He immediately called one of his subordinates.
“What’s the status of communications with the Korean reinforcements?”
“We haven’t been able to establish proper communication.”
Upon hearing that they couldn’t contact them, Major Jan Zabłocki didn’t hesitate.
In an emergency like this, they couldn’t simply sit around waiting.
Besides, he wasn’t that kind of person.
Whenever something happened, his first instinct was to move.
That was why he called Sergeant Viktor Lewandowski.
“Sergeant, immediately take a hover bike, go to where Sergeant Kim Seojun and his companions are, and inform them of the situation. Tell them to return immediately.”
“Yes, sir!”
After receiving the order, Sergeant Viktor Lewandowski climbed onto a hover bike and sped toward the location of Kim Seojun’s group.
Approximately six hours passed.
Viktor Lewandowski hurriedly returned.
“M-Major!”
The moment Major Jan Zabłocki saw him, he had the feeling that something serious had happened to Kim Seojun’s group.
Precisely because of that, he asked in an even calmer voice.
“What happened? Where are the Koreans?”
“I-It’s over.”
Viktor Lewandowski replied.
It was something Major Jan Zabłocki had never imagined.
The moment he heard those words, he could no longer remain calm.
‘It can’t be……’
Had Kim Seojun’s group, who had displayed such extraordinary strength, died?
But at the same time, that was what space was like.
A place where anything could disappear overnight!
And it was a place where those who were still alive had to do whatever was necessary to survive.
‘Pull yourself together. I have to keep a cool head. I’m the commander of this place now.’
As Major Jan Zabłocki mentally prepared himself for the worst, Sergeant Viktor Lewandowski continued.
“T-The battle is over. T-The Mog army that was coming toward the headquarters…… was completely annihilated.”