Minimap Miracle and Nuclear Ultimatum
Most of those who enlisted to become Space Marines did so for the money.
But that didn't mean everyone was desperate for cash.
In fact, there were no small number of people who joined the Space Marines for utterly ridiculous reasons.
Private Park Bo-seop was one of them.
The reason he'd become a Space Marine? To race. And whenever people heard that story, they stared at him in disbelief.
Even Park Bo-seop himself felt the same way. Back during training, he'd had some resolve, but the day he was deployed to the front lines and saw his first Mog—when he'd shit and pissed himself in terror—that was the day regret flooded him.
And yet, the reason he hadn't begged to be spared, hadn't pleaded for reassignment somewhere else, hadn't offered to double his service time just to be sent back to Earth... the reason he stayed on as a Space Marine was simple.
He was a driver.
In truth, drivers had higher survival rates than Space Marines charging into battle with rifles in hand.
And if you wanted a transfer to another planet, it went smoothly too.
A skilled driver was valuable manpower anywhere.
But the world never flows the way you want it to.
Life sure throws everything at you.
Facing death, the base wiped out, the gate shut down, China declaring war... Any one of those would make you freak out, but Private Park Bo-seop was living through them all, day by day.
Me, a psyker? No way.
And to top it off, he'd awakened as a psyker.
Of course, Park Bo-seop wasn't thrilled or anything about it.
What the hell's gonna happen next...
If anything, he was terrified of his unpredictable life and the days ahead.
Honestly, in normal circumstances, he'd have lost his mind by now.
Or like other Space Marines, he'd have OD'd on Steam Packs trying to cope and died from addiction.
Sigh, quit whining. What hardships have I even been through?
But the reason he endured was one.
Sergeant Kim's been through worse.
His own anguish didn't even qualify as anguish compared to what Kim Seo-jun was going through.
And right now was no different.
Park Bo-seop stared at Kim Seo-jun, who sat blankly in place, and he could clearly sense it.
No sound for over ten minutes...
He was as still as Rodin's Thinker, frozen like a statue.
He's deep in some massive dilemma. Something I couldn't even fathom.
Park Bo-seop wasn't wrong.
Kim Seo-jun was in such profound shock that his mind had ground to a halt.
It was inevitable.
His newly updated status window was on a whole other level compared to before.
For starters, his stats had skyrocketed.
Especially his mana, the one he'd felt most lacking in—it had surged, a massive boon in every way.
That wasn't all.
His Dynamic Vision and Hawk Eye talents had ranked up too, letting Kim Seo-jun see the world on an entirely new plane.
But the real shocker wasn't on the status window.
It was the A4-sized holographic map floating right in front of him, the one making him freak out.
A minimap?
It was the new effect from the Blessing of Atlas: the minimap.
Simple function.
This A4 hologram displayed the terrain within a 3-kilometer radius.
Impossible.
Just being able to map out a 3-km radius anywhere was insane.
On Earth, with satellites everywhere, even civilians had access to that.
But space was different.
On Amotia, Korean HQ's satellites were limited, and now with the base gone, they were useless.
Polish base was the same.
The few they had were hampered by orbital speed and shield interference, often rendering them pointless.
Yet here Kim Seo-jun was, getting real-time intel on everything in a 3-km radius.
That's when he thought:
Normal minimaps show enemies too, right?
Maybe it displayed more than terrain—enemies too.
What a stupid thought.
He dismissed it immediately.
The status window had given insane powers before, but nothing that overpowered.
No way that's possible.
Not even a delusion worth entertaining.
Then—
Huh?
Suddenly, red dots appeared on his minimap.
About twenty of them, moving fast.
Kim Seo-jun naturally turned his head.
Night was falling, making the world dimmer than usual.
Plus, they were in a rocky area full of massive boulders—perfect cover, which was why they'd chosen it.
Hard to spot anything visually.
That's why—
"Sergeant Kim, over there."
Park Bo-seop, with the sharpest ears, spotted it first.
"Something's passing by. Mogdogs, maybe, but not a huge number. Not sure, but doesn't seem headed our way."
Using his psyker senses to track the Mogdogs, Park Bo-seop reported. Kim Seo-jun replied:
"East side?"
"Pardon? Oh, yeah. That's right. Over there."
Park Bo-seop pointed east, then felt something off.
"Wait, how'd you know?"
It was outside their line of sight.
Kim Seo-jun didn't answer Park Bo-seop's surprise.
Couldn't, really.
My god.
He was far more shocked than Park Bo-seop.
Minimap
(Terrain and enemy detection within 3km radius)
That's when Major Lee Hye-na emerged from the air tent.
"Medical suit setup complete. Treatment time: 28 hours, 33 minutes."
Hearing that, Kim Seo-jun looked up.
His mind was a whirlwind, but two things were crystal clear.
No reason to turn back.
The minimap would be a huge boon to his survival.
With so much left to do.
And there were tons of hurdles to survival ahead—way too many.
So Kim Seo-jun said:
"Load Hawk Eye into the cargo hold. Then we head straight to Polish base."
The moment Kim Seo-jun's group returned, Polish base welcomed them with open arms.
"How'd the rescue go?"
Major Yan Zabwotski asked immediately, and Kim Seo-jun answered:
"Rescue failed. No sign of Hawk Eye anywhere."
Major Yan's face hardened.
Expected, of course.
Anyone could see failure was more likely than success.
But because it was Kim Seo-jun's team, he'd held a sliver of hope—and now, despair hit hard.
That's when Kim Seo-jun added:
"Separately, we rescued one survivor."
"Survivor?"
"Yes. American non-combatant. Currently in medical suit treatment."
Their eyes met, and Yan instantly got it.
I see.
Kim Seo-jun was hiding Hawk Eye's survival.
Smart move.
Hawk Eye's message had spread everywhere.
Encrypted, sure, but encryption wasn't foolproof.
If China learned she was alive?
Or if there were Chinese spies or turncoats in Polish base—which wasn't unlikely?
No reason to broadcast the rescue.
"Lucky to save anyone in this mess."
Yan played along willingly.
"Fortunate, yes."
"Anything you need, just say."
Yan asked no more about the survivor.
Kim Seo-jun didn't bring it up either.
"More importantly, did you see the Queen?"
Far more critical matters remained.
"No Queen sighting. But we confirmed her nest."
"How bad?"
"Tens of thousands of Mogs gathered. And it's in a rocky mountain."
"Rocky mountain?"
Yan’s face turned grave.
He knew what that meant, even as he questioned it.
"They've secured cover. Probably tunneled inside like ants. Artillery thinning numbers won't work easily."
A nest in a rocky mountain piled despair on despair for humanity's Queen hunt.
"And the Queen's definitely special."
Kim Seo-jun heaped on unimaginable dread.
Yan gave up thinking.
Beyond his paygrade.
"Sorry to say this, but I have no idea what to do next. Sergeant Kim Seo-jun, you're the answer."
He delegated everything.
"What now?"
Kim Seo-jun answered without hesitation:
"We take the Queen."
No rescue ships from space possible now. Without killing the Queen, nothing on Amotia mattered.
"Got a plan?"
Truth was, nothing concrete in Kim Seo-jun's head either.
"Only one way."
The answer was already set.
"Thin the Mog numbers as much as possible, then breach and kill the Queen. That's it."
Just an insane method.
Yan knew, so no rebuttal.
"I'll gather max firepower."
"Appreciate it."
"Rest up first. If you collapse, Sergeant Kim, it's all over."
"Thank you."
Conversation with Major Yan done, Kim Seo-jun called his team.
Private Park Bo-seop, Major Lee Hye-na, and Jennifer Cho.
"What happened?"
Kim Seo-jun briefed Jennifer, who hadn't heard yet.
She was floored.
They actually pulled it off?
"Don't mention that name for a while."
"Huh? Oh, got it!"
She nodded eagerly.
Her face brighter than ever.
Seeing that lightened Kim Seo-jun's mind a bit.
Rescued Hawk Eye, and she's combat-ready.
Situation worlds better than before the rescue.
Especially her penetration ability—something even he couldn't match.
Tank Worm killer.
Perfect for the headache-inducing Tank Worms, even better than him.
Tank killer...
That's when it hit.
As Kim Seo-jun recalled something, a Polish soldier rushed up.
"Emergency!"
"What is it?"
"Main Chinese base issued a new warning!"
"Warning?"
Everyone sensed it.
Something unimaginable coming.
Kim Seo-jun too.
Did we push too hard?
He knew how mental pressure on the battlefield crushed you.
Mental damage ignored rank.
Bigger ranks often had weaker minds—China especially.
Just look at their Space Marines—junkies galore.
He'd seen Chinese troops flip out over minor prods countless times.
And what he'd done to their base? Way beyond minor.
No surprise if they did something nuts.
They were already doing insane shit on Amotia.
Crossing lines again? Par for the course.
He wondered: what would count as crossing the line here?
"M-Main China d-declares, if we d-don't s-surrender..."
The answer came quick.
"Th-they'll l-launch a n-nuclear strike!"