Chapter 41
5.
"A cola can?"
When they heard Kim Seojun say he had found a cola can, Private First Class Park Boseop and Major Lee Hyena were surprised.
That was all.
The two of them simply thought that Hawk Eye had come here, and that Kim Seojun was truly amazing for finding it with a drone.
"Hawk Eye is still alive."
"Pardon?"
In that situation, the moment Kim Seojun confirmed Hawk Eye's survival, the two couldn't help but be flustered.
"Um, Staff Sergeant Kim..."
The two of them simply couldn't understand how he could be so sure of Hawk Eye's survival just by looking at a single cola can.
"I know it's hard to accept. So I'll explain."
Kim Seojun said to the two of them.
"The cola can is currently buried in the rock. It's like putting a cola can in sand. But that's not sand, it's rock."
At that point, Major Lee Hyena's expression changed.
She immediately noticed.
It wasn't something that could be done with physical strength.
"It was fixed in place while in a state of penetration."
Through that, Kim Seojun was able to gauge Hawk Eye's ability, and the two were surprised by that fact.
To think that Hawk Eye's ability, which had been so full of questions, was the ability to penetrate objects!
On the other hand, they understood.
"So that's why!"
"He was able to pierce through a Tank Beetle."
The secret behind how Hawk Eye has shown such ruthless piercing ability that has ignored the destructive power of weapons and the laws of physics until now.
But Kim Seojun's thoughts didn't end there.
"And if Hawk Eye's ability is Penetration, there's a high chance that Hawk Eye is inside that rock."
"Huh?"
Kim Seojun came up with an idea that went even further, and upon hearing it, the two immediately made surprised expressions.
"Ah!"
Then their faces were soon colored with shock.
Only then did they get the picture.
The possibility that Hawk Eye could survive.
"No, even so... I mean, Staff Sergeant Kim, even so..."
‘What if he isn't?’
Of course, he might not be.
All of this was just Kim Seojun's expectation, and there was no evidence anywhere.
Furthermore, if Hawk Eye was inside the rock, proper Wireless Communication would be impossible.
Crucially, Hawk Eye disappeared 11 days ago.
It wouldn't be strange at all if Hawk Eye had become a corpse while inside the rock.
Above all, the place where Hawk Eye was right now was a rocky mountain filled with hundreds of thousands of Mogs.
To go in there believing in a mere possibility, a possibility that might just be a delusion?
"Searching that place right now is a crazy act."
Kim Seojun wasn't unaware that it was something only a crazy lunatic would do.
Even so, the reason he said this was simple.
"Except for me."
It was possible for Kim Seojun.
When his thoughts reached that point, Kim Seojun didn't hesitate.
Using Stealth right away, he carefully began to climb the Rocky Mountain using Teleport.
"Clairvoyance."
And he used the Clairvoyance Skill from a distance, and there Kim Seojun could clearly see it.
‘He's there.’
The faint sight of a being wearing an Agent Suit was visible inside the rock.
From then on, it was a battle of speed.
Kim Seojun approached the rock that Hawk Eye had entered with Penetration and tapped the rock with the hammer he had prepared.
He sent a signal using Space Morse Code.
- I came to rescue you.
He delivered the signal.
- Please come out in 30 seconds.
‘Thirty.’
After that, he delivered the message, and there Kim Seojun started a countdown in his mind.
While doing so, he thought.
If Hawk Eye didn't move, he would just leave this place.
He wouldn't leave any lingering attachments.
It wasn't just this time.
Kim Seojun had sent off many Comrades in Space so far, and though he mourned their deaths, he didn't attach meaning to their corpses.
He knew it was meaningless to risk the lives of the living to secure a corpse for a funeral.
‘Zero.’
In that resolve, that was the moment the number reached 0.
Srrrk!
Hawk Eye, who had been inside the rock, started to move and revealed himself from within the rock just like that.
The moment he came out, Hawk Eye stumbled.
It was because his muscles and nerves couldn't do their jobs properly due to his having been inside the rock for 11 days.
But his mind was different.
"Cra..."
As soon as he came out, Hawk Eye immediately grabbed his radio to talk to Kim Seojun, and the moment he did, he spewed out the emotions he was feeling at Kim Seojun.
"You crazy lunatic bastard!"
He spat out curses instead of words of gratitude.
And the moment he heard those words, Kim Seojun wasn't surprised or offended.
Instead, he let out a sigh of relief.
"I'm glad it seems you don't have any major problems."
Because showing that kind of reaction right now was proof that Hawk Eye was surprisingly sane.
In other words, Kim Seojun had considered the possibility of Hawk Eye's condition being poor to be quite high, and that was natural.
Enduring inside a rock for 11 days without even being able to move? It was more than enough to turn a perfectly fine human into a psychopath.
Furthermore, Hawk Eye was in a situation where he couldn't hope for any rescue.
It was a situation filled only with despair.
The fact that he endured despite that was proof that the depth of Hawk Eye's mental fortitude was profound.
Of course, unlike his Mental State, his Physical Condition was bad.
He was at the point where he would collapse if Kim Seojun didn't support him right away, and Hawk Eye's helmet visor had turned black to protect his eyes, which had only seen darkness for 11 days.
‘With this much, condition recovery is possible in a day or two.’
Still, it wasn't something to worry about too much, as this level was something that could be quickly treated if he went into a Medical Suit and received treatment.
‘Coming to rescue him was the right answer.
It was a rescue with plenty of meaning.
Of course, apart from Kim Seojun's thoughts, Hawk Eye was on the verge of going crazy.
"Are you out of your mind? Where the hell do you think this is that you'd come here?"
Hawk Eye hadn't hoped for anyone to save him.
He couldn't hope for it.
That wasn't a rescue, but a Joint Suicidal Act, nothing more and nothing less.
So when he left his last message before going to hunt the Queen, he didn't bring up the word rescue even once.
His only purpose was to pass on information for those who would remain on Planet Amotia.
But he came to save him?
"Do you want to die?"
So he spat out those words, and Kim Seojun answered that.
"I have never once thought that. I absolutely do not have the slightest desire to die. I will return to Earth no matter what."
He might not know about other things, but he didn't have even a speck of a thought about dying.
"That's why I came here."
Even this situation right now was the best judgment Kim Seojun had made in order to survive.
"If we can't catch the Queen, we're all dead meat in the end. And to catch the Queen, we need you, Hawk Eye."
At those words, Hawk Eye didn't say anything more.
That wasn't what was important anymore.
In the end, Hawk Eye had come out, and what these two had to do now was to get out of this place.
At that point, Hawk Eye felt a sense of dread.
‘He must have walked all the way here.’
If he had climbed the Rocky Mountains riding something like a Hoverbike or a Military Truck, this place would already be filled with the shrieks of Mogs.
That meant that leaving this place now also had to be done quietly.
‘It means he has to get out of here carrying me, who has become Dead Weight.’
And at this point, far from being helpful, Hawk Eye was like a shackle holding him back.
It was the worst situation in many ways.
So he said.
"I'm telling you clearly, if you think it's not going to work out along the way, abandon me and go. Don't try to shoot some pointless movie full of humanism."
To those words, Kim Seojun answered.
"I am confident in running away while taking a High-ranking Official with me."
Hawk Eye laughed at that answer.
"Really? So how are you going to run away?"
Kim Seojun didn't answer that question.
Whiiing!
"Huh?"
Instead, he took it out.
"W-wait, what is this sound?"
"We will escape by riding a Hoverbike."
The Hoverbike was for their escape.
6.
The Rocky Mountains filled with hundreds of thousands of Mogs.
Whiiing!
Uryong was doing a Charge over that Rocky Mountain.
Kieeeek!
It went without saying, but the Mogs showed a more violent reaction than ever to the appearance of that Hoverbike.
Dududududu!
Mogdogs started chasing the Hoverbike like mad dogs, and thorn snakes started spewing out thorns.
The physical shock created at the moment hundreds of thousands of them moved at the same time was staggering.
Dudududu!
The ground started to rumble.
An earthquake started to happen.
It was a dizzying event.
To the point where even Veteran Space Marines would unknowingly vomit if they didn't take a stimpack.
But Hawk Eye was different.
"Wow, it's been a while since I properly felt a Mog Wave."
Hawk Eye was feeling this shaking like a pro surfer looking at a rough wave.
"Looks like you've ridden some waves too?"
And that was the same for Kim Seojun.
In the face of this dizzying trembling, Kim Seojun didn't particularly tremble.
Because he was used to it too.
"Yes, I've experienced it from time to time."
No, in a sense, Kim Seojun's experience was even stronger than Hawk Eye's.
Hawk Eye usually saw all of this from a distance, but Kim Seojun had experienced it right under his nose.
Hawk Eye knew that Kim Seojun's words weren't a bluff.
He couldn't not know.
"I have felt it since you came to rescue me, but it seems you're not ordinary either."
Right now, Hawk Eye is stuck to Kim Seojun's back like a turtle shell, and he can feel better than anyone whether Kim Seojun is really trembling or not.
At the same time, he could tell.
"Anyway, thanks to you, I lived."
The escape would be a success.
It made sense, as the Uryong Kim Seojun was riding right now was a thing that Jo I-Hyeon had finished modifying, and its speed was at a crazy level.
And Kim Seojun, who was piloting that Uryong, didn't waver in the slightest even in front of this overwhelming wave of fear.
It was hard to fail to escape.
"But how did you know that I was inside that rock?"
Hawk Eye, who had gained some leeway like that, threw a question, and Kim Seojun answered that question.
"I saw the cola can."
"What?"
"I saw the cola can stuck in the rock. , an unopened one at that. The moment I saw it, I thought you would be alive, Hawk Eye."
The moment he heard those words, Hawk Eye was dumbfounded.
To think he would actually be sure of his survival just by seeing that action of his, which was merely meant to make a tombstone?
"No, what were you going to do if I weren't there?"
So that question naturally arose, and Kim Seojun answered that question.
"Then I would just give up and go back. That would be all."
The moment he heard those words, Hawk Eye let out a hollow laugh.
"Are you a Korean Person by any chance?"
"Yes, that's right."
"Wow, that's fascinating. I saw a crazy lunatic Korean person last time too, and to think I'd see another one!"
Kim Seojun answered the words Hawk Eye spat out while saying that.
"I received the gift you gave me last time well."
"Huh?"
The moment he heard that answer, Hawk Eye finally realized.
"Huh? The one who gave me the cola back then?"
"Yes."
He could recall the voice, and at that fact, a long sigh came out of Hawk Eye's mouth.
"The cola can I stuck there was the cola can you gave me. Wow, this could really be made into a movie."
Kim Seojun didn't answer that exclamation.
Actually, from Kim Seojun's perspective, the current situation wasn't entirely good.
Behind him right now, Mogdogs in units of at least 100,000 are running at them like crazy.
They might not be as fast as Uryong, but that pressure was by no means small.
Above all, Kim Seojun knew.
‘In the end, I have to catch them all.’
In order to survive, he had to go beyond the level of facing this dizzying number, and catch them.
At that moment, Kim Seojun's eyes changed.
In that state, Kim Seojun joined up with Private First Class Park Boseop and Major Lee Hyena, who were waiting while riding in the Military Truck.
"Staff Sergeant Kim!"
The two of them rejoiced the moment they saw Kim Seojun.
"Huh? On your back?"
"It's Hawk Eye."
And the moment they saw Hawk Eye on Kim Seojun's back, they were shocked.
They had faith.
The faith that if it were Kim Seojun, he would make the impossible possible.
But the shock that came the moment that faith became reality couldn't help but be massive.
"Impressions can wait until later."
Kim Seojun said to those two.
"Private First Class Park Boseop."
"Private First Class Park Boseop!"
"Right now, Mogdogs in units of at least a hundred thousand are tracking behind me and coming."
The moment he heard those words, Private First Class Park Boseop immediately changed his eyes and spoke.
"Yes, I will step on it with full power all the way to Headquarters!"
That now was the time to snap out of it.
"No."
"Pardon?"
Kim Seojun said to Private First Class Park Boseop.
"From now on, we are going on a Mogdog Hunt."
"Pardon?"
The moment they heard those words, Private First Class Park Boseop and Major Lee Hyena made dumbfounded expressions.
So are they going to fight that ridiculous number right now?
On the other hand, Kim Seojun's thoughts were different.
"This is an opportunity."
Kim Seojun saw the current situation as a favorable factor that wouldn't come again.
"The Mogdogs are chasing us right now, not protecting the Queen."
Usually, the moment the Queen exerted her presence, the Mogs unconditionally made the Queen's protection their top priority.
Something like right now, where only the Mogdogs came out separately to chase a target, rarely happened.
"Only the Mogdogs."
Furthermore, what was coming right now weren't thorn snakes or Tank Beetles, but solely Mogdogs.
Something they could sufficiently compete in speed with even in a military truck!
"This is a golden opportunity to reduce the Mogdogs here. Otherwise, if we don't catch the Mogdogs here, an opportunity like this will never come, because the Queen's vigilance will get higher."
In Kim Seojun's eyes, there was a high chance that this opportunity to properly reduce the number of Mogdogs would never come again.
Of course, even when he explained up to that point, Private First Class Park Boseop and Major Lee Hyena couldn't sympathize.
They couldn't.
They had gone through their own share of hardships, but Kim Seojun's way of thinking right now was still at a dizzying level for those two.
On the other hand, one person was different.
"Oh!"
Hawk Eye said.
"That sounds fun."
Hawk Eye, who had gone through all sorts of hardships, rather thought that Kim Seojun's choice was a rational choice.
"I'll do it too. My body is slowly starting to move now."
At the conversation between those two, the other two showed a dumbfounded reaction.
Apart from that, preparations were made quickly.
Private First Class Park Boseop grabbed the steering wheel and soon got ready.
For when the Mogdogs would come.
"They're coming!"
Eventually, Private First Class Park Boseop, who heard the footsteps of the Mogdog Group, announced that fact, and Kim Seojun and Hawk Eye prepared for shooting while lying face down in the cargo bed of the military truck.
"Since we're doing it, let's make a bet."
There, Hawk Eye said.
"A bet, you say?"
"Yeah, it's more fun if we make a bet, right?"
"Sounds good. What kind of bet is it?"
Kim Seojun didn't bother refusing Hawk Eye's words.
"The losing side grants a wish for the winning side."
"Sounds good."
Hearing that answer, Hawk Eye smiled.
"Wow, you're the second person to accept this bet against me."
There was confidence around the corners of Hawk Eye's mouth as he spoke.
The confidence that he would unconditionally be able to win.
"Huh?"
Such a Hawk Eye could soon see it.
"But why are you taking out four guns?"
Kim Seojun is setting up four guns in the cargo bed.
Kim Seojun didn't answer that.
There was no need to.
And there was no leeway to do so either.
Kieeeek!
The Mogdog Group appeared, and Kim Seojun could hear it.
[Battle Begins.]
[An Event Mission has occurred.]
[The points you acquire in this battle will be tripled.]
[If you acquire 100,000 points in this battle, a Diamond Ticket will be provided as a special reward!]
The notifications from the status window are displayed.