Why Hawk Eye Fights Alone
No one doubted Hawk Eye's abilities.
Instead, there was one lingering question about her.
"Why does Hawk Eye operate solo? Isn't that too dangerous?"
Those who knew Hawk Eye acted alone couldn't help but wonder about it.
It was a perfectly reasonable doubt.
Hawk Eye was a sniper, and a sniper's greatest weakness was the lack of mobility and firepower—weaknesses usually covered by teammates.
Yet Hawk Eye only formed a team when absolutely necessary, otherwise moving solo.
The reason was simple.
"It doesn't matter for Hawk Eye, so that's why she goes alone."
For starters, mobility was no issue for her.
With her penetration ability that let her slip through anything, solo action posed no problems.
Psyker agents or Space Marines who couldn't mimic her style found it nothing but a hindrance.
But the biggest reason she could go solo was firepower.
Hawk Eye never lacked firepower, and she was proving it right now.
Full-auto barrage!
Hawk Eye, sprawled prone on the military truck, unleashed a relentless stream of fire from her muzzle.
Kieee!
Kiii!
Kieek!
The bullets flew without a single miss, piercing the heads of the charging Mogs precisely.
This wasn't just good aim.
Incredible accuracy even on full auto!
Hawk Eye maintained astonishing accuracy even in full-auto mode.
And her condition right now was so poor it could be called the worst imaginable.
That was why Hawk Eye could operate solo.
She could output firepower equivalent to an entire Space Marine squad alone, and that confidence defined her.
There were monstrous Psyker agents stronger than her, but among the galaxy's gunfighters, none shot better.
No one could refute her confidence.
Kim Seo-jun was no exception.
The ability Hawk Eye displayed now was no different from what he could do.
In other words, surpassing this here was impossible, so Kim Seo-jun thought.
"Hey, play fair! Four guns is cheating!"
Increase the gun count.
Of course, normally that was absurd.
Guns required hands to fire, limiting you to two at most.
But with telekinesis, it changed.
If you could aim the muzzles, you could pull triggers endlessly.
And Kim Seo-jun's Blessing of Apollo worked with telekinetic shooting too.
From there, he'd trained at the range to find the optimal number: four guns.
Four guns blazing non-stop!
The four guns Kim Seo-jun set up spat fire relentlessly.
The recoil was fierce, but with his strength stat, it was no burden.
Plus, he wasn't aiming for one-shots now.
Hitting the body was enough damage for Mogdogs.
Tripping them up is enough!
Especially against over 100,000 charging Mogdogs, knocking them down sufficed.
Kieeeee!
The moment one fell, others trampled it mercilessly.
You have defeated a Mogdog!
You have defeated a Mogdog!
Notifications of Mogdog kills flooded Kim Seo-jun's ears nonstop.
Mogdog kill rate is too high.
Notifications disabled from now on.
Eventually, even the Status Window silenced its alerts.
Kieeeee!
Just gunfire and Mogdog screams now.
From then on, only gunfire and Mogdog shrieks filled Kim Seo-jun's ears.
An overwhelming massacre.
"Damn, that's impressive."
Hawk Eye let out a sigh of admiration.
"But you okay?"
Then she posed the crucial question.
"Spraying like that, you'll run out of ammo, right?"
This method had clear limits.
That was why Hawk Eye targeted heads for maximum lethality.
One bullet per Mog versus three—the difference was fatal.
Kim Seo-jun knew this better than anyone.
He'd faced Mogs without resupply, mags empty, dozens of times—the terror ingrained.
"We're good."
So he'd planned accordingly.
"Plenty of ammo."
"Really? How much?"
With total confidence.
"More than the number of Mogdogs you see."
Hawk Eye asked no more upon hearing that.
Instead.
"...Damn, gotta find a new nickname for you."
Gunfire echoes from Private Park Bo-seop's truck!
Gunfire rang nonstop from the military truck driven by Private Park Bo-seop.
Three hours later, Kim Seo-jun said.
"Retreat."
Hawk Eye didn't question the retreat order.
"Out of ammo?"
After nonstop consumption, it had to be empty now.
"No."
"Huh?"
Kim Seo-jun's inventory brimmed with ammo.
No chance of running out.
"Stamina's low."
Stamina was the issue.
And critical for him.
No matter the ammo, low stamina meant errors in judgment—and death.
In other words, no mission calcs in his head now.
He hadn't tracked kills or points.
Didn't know.
Combat ended. Beginning settlement.
Mission triggered: All points tripled.
'Oh, right, that mission.'
Only then did Kim Seo-jun recall the 100,000-point mission.
'Won't be easy.'
No expectation it'd complete.
He'd thought it impossible from the start, so he'd erased it from his mind.
That was why.
You defeated 15,332 Mogdogs. Gained 45,996 points.
5,531 one-shot kills. One-shot bonus: 33,186 points.
Over 10,000 kills this battle. Chain-kill bonus: 30,000 points.
Mission complete. Diamond Ticket awarded.
'Huh?'
Kim Seo-jun's shock at the alerts.
'It worked?'
8.
Military truck roars on!
Kim Seo-jun and Hawk Eye lay in the truck bed like corpses.
Dead asleep.
Deeply so—only waking if shaken.
"Sleeping soundly in this mess."
Private Park Bo-seop clicked his tongue.
"Proof of battle-hardened vets."
Major Lee Hye-na knew it proved they'd survived impossible ordeals in this space age.
"They know this is just the start."
Exactly.
They knew they had to recover during this break.
They'd taken down about 20,000 Mogdogs.
Unimaginable for two gunfighters in three hours.
But the Queen's nest still held nearly ten times that in Mogdogs alone.
Meaning ten more such battles ahead!
And future fights wouldn't be this "easy" with just Mogdogs.
Knowing that, they'd slept—and Park Bo-seop drove carefully to minimize bumps.
"Status?"
"Sergeant Kim, you're up?"
"Yeah, me too."
"Lady Hawk Eye too?"
After eight hours, Kim Seo-jun and Hawk Eye woke simultaneously, as if synced.
Confirming, Kim Seo-jun said.
"Private Park Bo-seop, hear anything around?"
"No, nothing."
"Stop. Set up the air tent."
Then to Hawk Eye.
"Gonna do medical suit treatment now. You good?"
A question he wouldn't normally ask.
Her state was so bad post-rescue, she should've entered the suit immediately—not fought!
But the reason was simple.
"Normally, I don't strip in front of strangers."
Her identity was more secret than state intel.
"But I'm not that paranoid to bail here."
At this point, Hawk Eye knew exposing her face and identity didn't matter.
"And you've shown plenty, so minimum manners from me."
Action followed words.
Air tent up, everyone inside.
Kim Seo-jun asked again.
"If security's a concern, no need to show your face."
"Nah. We'll be together awhile—turning away every time's funnier. Don't worry about me; worry about you guys freaking out at my face."
Everyone thought.
Her words hinted she was a woman.
And right—they were.
"Huh?"
All, even Kim Seo-jun, were stunned when she removed her helmet.
Noah Winston emerged—a stunning beauty.
Bobbed blonde hair, porcelain skin.
But the shock wasn't her looks.
"Noah Winston?"
Her face was unforgettable.
"H-Hollywood A-lister, that Noah Winston? N-No way, the real Noah Wi-Winston?"
"Yup. Not a face you see every day."
Hollywood's top actress, the Queen of Romance—Noah Winston.
"H-How?"
Shocking on every level.
"What's hard? Actresses film two movies a decade, tons of downtime. I roam space as Hawk Eye. Die? Hollywood star dropping dead ain't news."
Noah Winston brushed it off casually.
"Anyway, let's talk."
She said.
"What's your wish?"
Park Bo-seop and Major Lee Hye-na gawked at Kim Seo-jun, realizing.
What wish would he ask this genie-like figure?
Kim Seo-jun didn't hesitate.
"Money."
"Huh?"
He demanded cash; the three stared in disbelief.
But for him, it was simple.
He was here for money.
With money, no need to be here.
Money sufficed.
No other demands from Noah Winston.
"Pay me when we hit Earth. That's my wish."
Especially since "Get me to Earth!" was beyond even her.
Grasping his intent, Noah Winston flashed a seductive smile.
"Man, you're a riot. Thought I'd seen every freak, but you're top-tier."
"Thanks."
Kim Seo-jun sat and said.
"I'll prep the medical suit."
Pulling it from inventory, he told Major Lee Hye-na.
"Major, assist her."
"Got it."
The suit required nudity, so he asked her help and exited with Park Bo-seop.
Outside, Kim Seo-jun said.
"Report anything you hear immediately."
"Yes, sir!"
"Taking a quick break."
He sat by the tent, switched radio off, and sighed deeply.
'Noah Winston, of all people.'
He'd known Hawk Eye was female, but not her.
'Her fan, even.'
He'd seen all seven of her movies twice over.
His sister knew, promising if she won a Grammy, a meal with Noah.
He'd snapped, "Hot and annoyed—shut up and scram."
Absurd dream.
Yet here, on this distant planet?
'Ever since this planet, everything's gone nuts.'
But no time for sentiment.
Reflections after Earth.
Now, one focus: return to Earth.
For that, one action.
'Buy tickets.'
Spend all points and tickets!
And the haul was huge.
'109,000 points banked—insane.'
Enough for 36 Silver Tickets!
Plus Diamond Ticket from event mission.
No hesitation.
"Use Diamond Ticket."
Most valuable first—and alert.
Mana extracted. Current mana under 80 points. Stat bonus applied. Mana +30 points.
Kim Seo-jun froze briefly.
Unexpected.
Expected skill, talent, or upgrade ticket.
But statistically, stats were likelier here.
He accepted it.
'Not bad.'
Honestly, +30 mana beat most skills or talents.
His mana at 35—nearly doubled.
Skills overflowing, mana strained—perfect.
And not done.
"Buy 36 Silver Tickets."
All points into Silvers—and alerts.
Stamina +6 points.
Mana +7 points.
Strength +20 points.
Congratulations! Platinum reward! Talent Upgrade Ticket (B) obtained!
Congratulations! Gold reward! Talent Upgrade Ticket (C) obtained!
His eyes widened.
'Jackpot!'
Heart pounding!
But shock didn't last.
Blessing of Atlas (55 days) obtained!
Mini-map now available.
Alert of new ability acquired.