Future Knight

Chapter 8

“Damn it!”

When he suddenly closed his eyes and shouted, the elves, who had been curiously fiddling around, were startled and looked at him.

However, Kang Chan, as if he didn’t care about their gazes, kept his eyes closed and continued to concentrate on reading the navigation log.

The reason he had shouted was that he had discovered how the combat droid had infiltrated the Red Mars.

Forty-one years ago, the Red Mars, which was on standby for a mission, received a secret order from the higher-ups and set off for the OGLE-2006-BLG-109L system, the mission area.

It made a brief stop at the Pronica Plant on Titan, a moon of Jupiter, to replenish combat supplies.

But during the voyage, a mysterious droid suddenly emerged from the supplies received there.

It was clearly the work of a high-ranking official who had been bribed and seduced by the empire.

Damn it.

The specially designed new enemy droid was created to fit into a box about 1.5 meters in width and height when in standby mode, and it had infiltrated the Red Mars in such a small box. A month before reaching the target point, just as the exhausted crew were about to wake up the combat troops of Red Mars, the droid revealed itself to the weary crew.

From that moment, a bloody battle ensued between the droid and ten crew members. The droid, following its pre-programmed instructions, first destroyed the communication facilities to paralyze the information network, and then engaged in fierce combat with the crew, attempting to kill the Red Mars team members who posed the greatest threat to it.

After that, as he well knew, all the crew members, except himself, the sole survivor, ended up in a mutual destruction with the droid.

After all the crew had been killed, the Red Mars, moving only according to the coordinates entered into the main computer, eventually arrived at this star.

However, due to the malfunction of various equipment destroyed in the intense gunfight between the crew and the droid, the warship, which was supposed to rotate along the planet’s orbit, passed through the atmosphere and crash-landed in the elves’ forest.

That was the fleeting end of the latest advanced space warship, the pinnacle of human science, capable of traversing hyperspace.

Having learned the whole truth, Kang Chan felt extremely disgusted.

‘Damn imperial bastards… I must survive, even for Dick’s revenge.’

His eyes burned with anger filled with thoughts of revenge.

Reading his deep anger, Arteon and about ten elves couldn’t ask him anything and could only quietly stand behind him, watching.

Leaving the archives, Kang Chan headed to the Red Mars team’s quarters, leaving behind his dirty mood.

Since he had decided to live here from now on, he needed to gather necessary supplies.

Moreover, there was something there he needed more than anything else, so his steps quickened.

When he opened the small door marked with his service number, a familiar sight greeted him.

His room, which was extremely cramped to the point of being suffocating, contained only a cylindrical bed designed for space life, a small desk, a locker with an electronic lock, and a chair.

However, upon entering the narrow room, he felt an inexplicable sense of comfort.

He gently touched the dust-covered desk.

“Finally, I’m back in my room.”

As he slowly approached the locker and placed his hand on the electronic lock, the locked locker automatically opened.

Inside hung a specially designed reinforced suit tailored to his requirements.

Although it was a thin vest-like suit, it was a top-secret combat suit designed to enable a human to fight on equal terms with a combat robot.

This thin vest could neutralize beam weapons by incorporating gravity control technology and had physical defense capabilities against railgun and lower-caliber bullets, being made from aramid nano-composite fibers.

It was equipped with medical micro-machines for emergency treatment of the user and had the terrifying capability of boosting human reflexes and strength up to ten times.

Additionally, it contained countless functions such as stealth capabilities and high-frequency blades, all embedded in this thin suit.

Due to its enormous performance and equally staggering cost, it was only given to the pilot of the key weapon, Zayd, among the Red Mars members, while the rest wore armored suits called Sapiens.

Although he wanted to check on the condition of his beloved Red Rabbit in the hangar as well, he refrained himself.

However, due to the trailing followers, he had no choice but to postpone it to the next time and return for now.

Wearing the suit, Kang Chan looked at his railgun placed beside it.

His cherished weapon, the “RGM16A3,” which he had never let out of his hands since he was young, held the blood of thousands. Kang Chan merely looked at this killing machine before closing the locker.

Carrying around such a fearsome weapon now was extremely dangerous.

This was because the enemies currently believed his identity to be that of a space explorer.

He had no choice but to be content with just the combat suit.

After packing a few things into his duffle bag, he slung the bag over his shoulder and headed out the door, where Arteon and ten elf warriors were waiting for him.

“I’ve packed everything I need. Let’s go back.”

“You can look around more if you’d like, Kang Chan.”

Despite her consideration, Kang Chan forced a bitter smile and shook his head.

“It’s alright. I’ve discovered the reason for the spaceship’s crash and gathered everything I need.”

“Alright, then let’s return.”

Watching Kang Chan, who was forcing a smile, Arteon began to walk back to the village.

She had a lot of questions she wanted to ask him, but seeing that he seemed to be in a bad mood, it was difficult for her to satisfy her curiosity.

As if understanding her thoughts, Kang Chan quietly spoke to her as they walked towards the village.

“I will tell you the reason for the crash later.”

She nodded silently at his weak words.

4. Land of Rest

A year had passed since Kang Chan began living with the elves, learning their language and way of life.

A year that could be considered long or short, but during that time, many aspects of his life had changed.

Abandoned by his biological parents as a toddler who couldn’t even walk, he had been sold to a military special facility. From then on, he lived a life as a killing machine, having to kill even children without hesitation if ordered.

It goes without saying that he endured forced physical modifications and harsh training to become a killing weapon, spending a miserable childhood.

His desolate humanity had been melted by the rich forest’s aura and Jaina’s bright smile.

“Hey, what are you doing! Hurry up!”

“Don’t call me ‘mister,’ you old hag.”

“What are you saying, you old man? Come on, it’s getting away!”

“Shh! Be quiet.”

As the tension rose and the bowstring was slowly pulled back, his eyes drew a precise parabola from the crosshairs to the target.

– Distance: 39.8 meters

– Wind speed: 0.8 m/s from northwest to southeast

– Humidity: 79%

– Temperature: 29.3 degrees

Following the information provided by the computer, Kang Chan adjusted his pace, steadied his breath, and focused all his attention on the target.

Then, the arrowhead left his hand and flew without the slightest deviation from the drawn parabola, striking the target accurately.

“Wow! You caught it! As expected, you’re amazing! How can you shoot better than the elves?”

Jaina jumped up and down, clinging to Kang Chan’s neck.

The target hit by his arrow was a small hare called a “Timera.”

Elves were known not to eat meat regularly, though it wasn’t a staple.

Through hunting, they occasionally consumed meat.

However, for these two, it had long become a staple.

After spending half a year eating nothing but fruit, Kang Chan, tired of the fruit, had tasted meat for the first time at a village feast and was once again astonished.

“Holy crap! It’s so damn delicious!”

From that moment, he had been sneaking out of the village to dedicate himself solely to hunting.

The one who had encouraged him was none other than Jaina, the elf girl who looked after him.

* * *

“Seeing smoke rising over there again, it looks like those two are up to something again.”

“Tsk tsk, at this rate, the animals around the village will be wiped out.”

“I wonder how our village’s biggest troublemaker and a human get along so well.”

“Jaina is a child who is impatient and very curious, unlike an elf. In some ways, she resembles humans more than elves.”

An older elf nodded in agreement with that statement.

“I wonder why Lady Arteon allowed a human into our sacred forest… It would be wise to prevent any potential trouble in advance.”

“We’ll understand when the time comes.”

The elder elves looked at the sky, their hearts heavy with concern.

* * *

As Jaina and Kang Chan, having filled their stomachs with Timera, returned to the village and headed home, a woman approached Jaina.

Her name was Jerenis, and she was a mage serving Arteon.

Jerenis’s expression was as cold as a northern blizzard.

Seeing her, Jaina’s face quickly contorted.

“M-Mom.”

“Jaina, did you skip your magic training again to play?”

“N-No, it’s not like that.”

“How many times do I have to tell you that you no longer need to take care of Kang Chan? To become a valuable member of the village, you must never disobey the elders.”

Although her tone was emotionless, Kang Chan knew that this level of tone from an elf meant she was very angry.

“I’m sorry. I asked Jaina to go hunting with me.”

In reality, it was Jaina who had pestered Kang Chan to go hunting with her, but fearing Jaina would be scolded, Kang Chan took all the blame and asked for her mother’s forgiveness.

“I hope there won’t be any more unfortunate incidents like this in the future.”

“I’m sorry.”

Feeling guilty, Jaina hung her head and silently followed her mother to the magic training ground.

Left alone, Kang Chan spent his time wandering around the village aimlessly.

Soon, boredom set in.

Jaina’s absence was too great a void for him.

Jaina was the only elf who genuinely interacted with him.

The other elves were kind and gentle, but it was only superficial.

He knew well that they harbored no real feelings for him.

Among them, only Jaina treated him sincerely, and she was his only true friend in the elf village.

Although she looked like a child, she was actually 96 years old this year.

For a human, she would have already been in a coffin.

It had been a year since they became friends, and during that time, they had built a deep friendship that transcended space and species.

‘Sigh, this is really boring.’

After Jaina was taken to the magic training ground by her mother, Kang Chan, wandering aimlessly around the village, heard the vigorous shouts of young elves.

“Hi-yah! Ha-yah!”

“…?”

Curious, Kang Chan followed the sounds.

Soon, he arrived at a clearing where young elves were practicing swordsmanship.

Dozens of elves were diligently repeating the same movements with sabers or rapiers.

Watching them, Kang Chan’s eyes sparkled with interest.

Having trained in all methods of killing as a former killing machine, he was very interested in their weapon techniques.

Additionally, his own specialty was close combat, particularly short-range combat.

Short-range combat, derived from bayonet fighting, involved using a super-vibration blade that could easily cut through steel.

Even in the future battlefields where long-range weapons had advanced tremendously, bullets always had their limits, and attacking enemies in trenches or shelters still required close combat.

In such close combat, Kang Chan had been the most active.

He preferred close combat over shooting.

Long-range attacks between Zeids were managed by computers, so even children could do it, but the most crucial part was close combat.

In close combat, Kang Chan was ranked among the top-class pilots not only in the Allied Forces but also in the Imperial Army.

Unlike other Zeid pilots who relied on manual controls for combat operations, limiting their combat sense to manual operation, Kang Chan was the first human to receive a biochip implant, allowing him to use all his combat senses to control Zeid as if it were part of his body.

Thanks to his innate close combat sense and the biochip, he was selected as a pilot for the heavy armored weapon, Zeid, and held the rank of captain, a rank not fitting his young age.