The Silent Approach to the Queen's Nest
“We’re heading to the location of Hawk Eye’s last message.”
When Kim Seo-jun said that, there were no questions.
He’d already clearly explained the justification and necessity of rescuing Hawk Eye.
All that was needed now was resolve—and with that resolve burning in their hearts, Kim Seo-jun and his team left the Polish Base and started running.
There were no major issues on the way.
In other words, they didn’t encounter a single battle with the Mogs.
To Kim Seo-jun’s group, this wasn’t particularly strange.
Up until now, they’d avoided Mog encounters thanks to Kim Seo-jun’s eyesight and Private Park Bo-seop’s hearing.
But this silence was different from before.
“It’s too quiet, sir.”
Private Park Bo-seop’s words sent chills down Kim Seo-jun’s and Major Lee Hye-na’s spines.
“It’s really quiet. No matter how hard I strain my ears, I can’t hear any Mogs.”
I know.
“Sergeant Kim, this can’t be a good sign, right, sir?”
“It’s proof the Queen’s influence is growing.”
Hearing that, even Private Park Bo-seop felt a chill run down his spine.
It meant the Mogs were gathering at the Queen’s nest right now.
“It’s also proof we’re getting closer to the Queen’s nest.”
After that, Private Park Bo-seop said nothing more.
In that silence, Kim Seo-jun’s team reached their destination.
“This is the last trace.”
There sat a small box—nothing more than a simple radio transmitter.
“Definitely left by Hawk Eye.”
And atop the box was an empty cola can.
“Now we find the nest.”
With that confirmed, their next goal was obvious: locate the Queen’s nest. It didn’t take long.
“Sergeant Kim.”
Private Park Bo-seop turned his head and spoke.
“Over there, that way...”
That was as far as he got.
He couldn’t put into words what he’d heard.
Kim Seo-jun didn’t ask what was wrong.
He knew instantly.
Private Park Bo-seop’s ears were now picking up the sounds of an unimaginable number of Mogs.
And anyone hearing that would lose their mind.
Kim Seo-jun had experienced it several times himself.
That was why he didn’t stop walking, even in the face of that overwhelming reality.
But he didn’t rush either.
Kim Seo-jun’s team slowly advanced toward the sound, and soon, all three of them saw it.
“That mountain over there.”
An enormous rock mountain.
“That mountain is the nest.”
Crawling with countless Mogs.
Faced with that staggering horde, Private Park Bo-seop was speechless.
Major Lee Hye-na was the same. Even she, who had charged fearlessly at any Mog before, couldn’t help but tremble before this impossible number—over a hundred thousand, nearing a million.
Kim Seo-jun wasn’t unaffected either.
He froze too.
But his reason was different from theirs.
He wasn’t intimidated by the sheer scale.
This sight wasn’t new to him.
That was the reason.
I swore I’d never enter a Queen’s nest again... but here I am.
Seeing this scene once more.
But Kim Seo-jun didn’t dwell on the past here.
“No time.”
If they wasted even a minute thinking, Hawk Eye could die.
That was why Kim Seo-jun immediately opened his inventory and pulled one out.
“Then let’s start the recon.”
Weeeeng!
The recon drone whirred to life.
In the space age, drones were useful in many ways.
But against Mogs, recon drones weren’t all that effective.
The reason was simple.
“Operating a recon drone against Mogs is like trying to game on a piece-of-shit computer. Even a pro gamer can’t do jack if it lags once.”
Remote control could cut out at any moment.
Kim Seo-jun knew this well.
He’d experienced it multiple times.
The drone operators who’d bragged about winning medals in Earth drone competitions—“No need for recon, trust me”—would turn pale-faced in under ten minutes and beg, “Sir, can you recover that drone for me?”
Kim Seo-jun could pilot drones himself, but he wasn’t exceptional at it.
Still, the reason he’d brought recon drones to the Queen’s nest was straightforward.
I can extend recon time using psychokinesis.
He had psychokinetic powers, and with them, he could make the drone ignore physical laws.
He’d already tested it.
All that remained was real-world verification!
And now, Kim Seo-jun put it to the test.
Weeeeng!
The recon drone shot forward at high speed toward the rock mountain that seemed to be the Queen’s nest.
Kieeeek!
The Mogs clustered on the mountain reacted instantly to the drone’s noise.
Kieeeek!
This reaction was on another level from any Mogs Kim Seo-jun’s team had faced before.
It was the chilling, unmatched aggression of creatures defending their queen.
The assault on the recon drone began immediately.
Pfsh!
Thorn Snakes slammed their tails into the ground and unleashed thorns at the drone.
The barrage looked less like thorns and more like a downpour.
That was the moment.
The recon drone halted abruptly in place, then dove sharply.
It was a maneuver no standard drone could pull off.
Drones could dive, sure, but they usually lost balance doing so.
Not this one.
It dove, then reversed suddenly, zigzagging wildly up and down.
The impossible acrobatics made the Thorn Snakes pause their relentless fire.
Kie?
No matter how mindless their assault, hitting a drone pulling stunts like that was impossible.
As the Thorn Snakes hesitated, the recon drone resumed its swift recon.
Incredible maneuvers.
That was why Kim Seo-jun was confident.
And behind that confidence was one more thing.
Find it. Anything. A clue.
Kim Seo-jun was intently watching the drone’s feed—an image that would make most people’s eyes glaze over.
And not just watching.
He analyzed every split-second perfectly.
Private Park Bo-seop and Major Lee Hye-na watched him in tense silence.
Even Sergeant Kim can’t handle this.
Of course, neither expected any good results.
The situation was too dire.
And circus acts always have an ending.
Chijijijik!
No matter how masterfully Kim Seo-jun used psychokinesis for aerial acrobatics, the drone was bound to pop eventually.
“Sending the second drone.”
Weeeeng!
Kim Seo-jun pulled another recon drone from his inventory and resumed.
His inventory still overflowed with drones, but that brought no comfort to Private Park Bo-seop or Major Lee Hye-na.
And their fears were proving true.
Chijijik!
Kim Seo-jun’s recon drones started failing one after another, the crashed count easily surpassing ten.
By then, even Kim Seo-jun was catching his breath.
Mana’s running low.
He paused recon for a break.
No one told him to stop now.
He was the most desperate here.
He’d made the biggest resolve to come this far.
Besides, losing more drones was a massive loss when supplies were scarcer than ever.
So Kim Seo-jun drew a line.
“If we deploy up to 30 recon drones and find no trace of Hawk Eye, we halt the rescue search.”
The moment that line was crossed, they’d leave without regret.
Weeeeng!
After the break, Kim Seo-jun sent out another drone.
And on the 17th recon drone—that moment.
“...Found it.”
“Huh?”
The unexpected words from Kim Seo-jun’s mouth shocked Private Park Bo-seop and Major Lee Hye-na.
He wasted no time explaining.
He urgently extracted the drone, captured the image, and showed them.
“Huh? Isn’t this...?”
“Exactly.”
There it was.
“A cola can.”
A bright red cola can nestled in the rocks at the base of the mountain.
“Unopened.”
The lid untouched.
Buried in one of the rocks at the mountain’s foot.
Seeing it, Kim Seo-jun was certain.
“Hawk Eye’s still alive.”
What was the greatest virtue of a sniper?
The answer was always one: concealment—hiding oneself completely.
That was why Noah Winston, Hawk Eye, had become one of humanity’s top snipers.
She hid better than anyone.
Even now.
The rock mountain the Queen had made her nest was riddled with countless boulders, forming a natural maze—and Hawk Eye had vanished into it.
Of course, simply hiding behind a rock wouldn’t fool hundreds of thousands of Mogs.
Impossible.
That was why Hawk Eye was inside the rock.
She’d used her penetration ability to slip right into it.
I never thought I’d resort to this.
Of course, this wasn’t a technique she could use lightly.
It came with heavy restrictions.
Once activated, Hawk Eye couldn’t use her powers for at least ten days.
She was trapped inside the rock like a fossil, helpless until someone helped her out.
Even if she escaped on her own, her condition wouldn’t be normal.
Her Agent Suit provided oxygen and some nutrients, but ten days immobile would wreck the body beyond imagination.
And crucially, hundreds of thousands of Mogs surrounded her outside.
Stepping out was a death sentence!
Obviously, this wasn’t a situation Hawk Eye had chosen.
Of all things, the Queen...
The moment she encountered the Queen, Hawk Eye had known.
It has a fear aura.
The Queen was special, with a fear ability.
A huge problem.
Humans felt fear before Mogs anyway, but this was different.
Like the difference between fearing a distant lion and trembling at its roar.
The Queen’s fear wasn’t just pants-wetting terror.
It was potent enough to burst brains and hearts—a weapon in itself.
Few countermeasures worked against it.
Hawk Eye was proof.
A mere brush with the Queen’s fear had her shaking like a leaf; she’d fled with all her might, ending up here.
Hiding in the rock.
Day 11 inside.
Honestly, Hawk Eye knew.
She wasn’t long for this world.
Death’s coming after all.
She didn’t fear death itself.
If she did, she couldn’t have wandered space alone, hunting Mogs.
At least I set up my gravestone.
If anything, she felt proud of the “tombstone” she’d made before entering the rock with her penetration power.
The cola can embedded in this rock wasn’t a rescue signal.
Hawk Eye hadn’t expected anyone to save her.
Impossible.
Find her specific rock in this mountain—the Queen’s nest, swarming with hundreds of thousands of Mogs—slip through silently, extract her, and escape?
No one had that ability.
No sane bastard would come here anyway.
And even if someone did, no non-crazy person would.
That was when it happened.
Thud!
‘Huh?’
The rock containing Hawk Eye suddenly rumbled.
She tensed.
Did the Mogs find me?
A reasonable assumption.
Thud!
The thuds continued, and Hawk Eye prepared herself.
Fine. Becoming a fossil in a rock sucks. I’ll go out with a bang!
She readied for a final stand outside.
That was when.
Thud! Tap-tap! Thud!
‘This...?’
The tapping on the rock showed a pattern, and Hawk Eye caught it instantly.
Space Morse code.
She listened closely and deciphered it.
End