One thousand days.
That's two years, nine months, and five days.
After finishing today's routine, Hawk stood under the hot water in the school gym's shower room, steam swirling around him. He opened the system interface that only he could see. His eyes landed on the nearly full progress bar just one more day, and he could finally activate the Microcosm Cultivation ability.
Even now, it still felt like a dream.
After all…
Throwing ten thousand punches a day, without missing a single day, for one thousand days straight it was easy to say, but nearly impossible to do.
There were moments when Hawk himself didn't understand how he'd kept going.
Maybe it was his stubborn, unyielding nature.
Or maybe… it had something to do with the fact that he now lived in the Marvel Universe.
He didn't know for sure.
But one thing was certain
"One more day."
"Just one more."
After today, he would finally unlock the power.
Microcosm Cultivation…
Could it really be what I think it is?
Hawk's mind stirred.
In his memory, there was only one concept tied to the idea of "Microcosm Cultivation" and that came from an anime he'd watched in his previous life.
If this system truly matched what he was thinking of…
Then his future would be limitless.
According to the ancient Greek philosopher Democritus, all things are made of atoms. The human body, too, contains a miniature universe a microcosm.
To cultivate the microcosm was to tap into one's life essence, awakening this hidden universe within, and by training it, refine it until it could be ignited unleashing power that transcends the laws of physics.
There was an anime in his past life that portrayed exactly this idea.
Its name was
Saint Seiya.
Bronze Saints, who mastered the five senses and touched the sixth.
Silver Saints, who controlled the sixth and reached for the seventh.
And Golden Saints, who fully awakened the Seventh Sense.
Beyond that… there were even the Eighth Sense, and the mythical Ninth Sense.
Hawk recalled fragmented scenes from that old anime, scenes long buried in memory.
Then he snapped back to the present, shaking his head with a small smile.
He was still unsure whether this "Microcosm Cultivation" was truly the same thing as in Saint Seiya.
No point overthinking it.
Besides
He had no grand ambitions of punching Odin or kicking Zeus to the curb.
More importantly
He'd been living in this world for 17 years already.
And until the system interface had appeared at age 15, he had mentally prepared himself for a life with no cheats at all, facing the bloody reality of this universe with nothing but grit.
So
"Mindset is everything," he reminded himself.
"The greater the hope, the greater the disappointment if it turns out differently."
He calmed his thoughts, wrung the water from his freshly washed T-shirt, and placed it along with his pants into a plastic bag.
Wrapping a towel around his waist and drying his hair with another, he pushed open the stall door.
Bang!
The shower room door slammed open from the outside.
A thin, slightly scrawny figure was shoved inside and stumbled forward before landing hard on the tiled floor.
Hawk looked up.
"...Peter?"
The one now sitting on the floor was none other than the OG webhead himself Peter Parker.
Peter's expression was awkward as he met Hawk's eyes though they were in the same grade, they'd never really spoken.
Just as Peter opened his mouth to greet Hawk, who had just emerged from the shower, laughter erupted from outside the door.
Moments later, a tall, broad-shouldered jock swaggered into the room holding a football, flanked by three of his cronies.
Flash Thompson nicknamed "Lightning" was also known around school as the Midtown Menace. Captain of the football team and your textbook school bully.
The laughter stopped abruptly.
Hawk, still drying his hair with one hand and holding the bag of clothes with the other, turned his gaze toward Flash and his entourage.
Flash was big.
But Hawk was no less intimidating.
After 999 consecutive days of intense physical training 10,000 punches daily Hawk's physique was forged through raw endurance and sweat, not supplements or gym fads.
His muscle lines were lean, powerful not showy, but honed for explosive force.
The towel hung low around his hips, revealing sharply cut abs eight-pack precision, like a suit of sculpted armor.
Their eyes locked.
And for a moment, the entire room seemed to freeze.
In American high schools, there's an unspoken hierarchy. A chain of bullying.
And on paper, an orphan like Hawk with no family, no background should've been at the bottom.
But reality didn't quite play out that way.
Not because he'd fought the bullies or stood up for others.
Simply put
Hawk didn't look like someone you'd mess with.
Not in face. Not in build.
And over the past three years, while the school's bullies had left him alone, Hawk hadn't gone out of his way to be anyone's hero, either.
He wasn't a savior.
And this time would be no different.
He averted his gaze, pulled out a clean shirt and pants from the bench, got dressed calmly, and packed his bag over one shoulder.
Then he walked straight toward Flash Thompson, who still stood in the doorway.
Flash frowned as Hawk approached.
He knew who Hawk was.
How could he not?
Anyone who trained solo in the gym corner every single day, punching the air like a lunatic for over two years straight you remembered a guy like that.
But to say they were familiar? Not at all.
Hawk never showed up at parties or school events. Despite being visible every day, it was as if he lived in a different reality altogether.
As Hawk stepped up, Flash opened his mouth
"Ho—"
"Excuse me," Hawk interrupted. "Could you move aside?"
Flash blinked.
Then, without fully realizing it, he shifted to the side.
His three goons hesitated, but as soon as they made eye contact with Hawk's piercing blue eyes calm, detached, and unreadable they instinctively followed their leader and stepped aside.
"Thanks," Hawk said simply.
Then, without another word, he left the shower room.
Flash stared at Hawk's back as he disappeared, frowning, clearly deep in thought.
Just then
One of the cronies shouted, "Holy shit!"
"Boss, Parker's gone!"
"What?"
Flash snapped out of it.
Sure enough, Peter Parker had taken the opportunity to slip out behind Hawk while no one was watching.
"Go after him!" Flash shouted, furious.
"Get back here, you damn nerd!"