Moon's Labyrinths

After the receptionist sent Sungyoon on his way, she called the next number and then continued to do her work . She didn’t know how much time had passed, when she found that there was no one waiting in the queue . The receptionist glanced at her watch . As expected, this part of the day was always slow . The receptionist stretched .

“Over there! Look over there!”

Her colleague spoke out next to her . She turned to look . She saw her colleague with a slight interest on her face .

“You remember that gloomy guy that was really handsome?”

“Ah! Yeah . ”

The man had looked gloomy yet really handsome . She immediately recognized whom her colleague was referring to .

“You became surprised when you looked up his file . What did you see? From what I overheard, he is just a 1st Gen Connector . ”

Not all Connectors were the same . Normal people might not now know this, but it was not much for her, who worked at the Office of Business and Administration for the Moon’s Labyrinth . She dealt with Connectors every day in her work, so she wasn’t surprised by a mere 1st Gen Connector .

“I wasn’t surprised because of him . I was surprised when I saw who he was scheduled to meet . ”

“Who?”

“Head of the Support Division . ”

“What!”

The colleague was so surprised that she let out a shout as she stood up . It was almost a scream . The receptionist turned back to her desk, acting as if she was busy doing her work . Her co-worker had made such a loud noise that everyone had turned towards them . She glanced at her co-worker . Her face had turned red, and her head was lowered .

When everyone’s gazes left them, her co-worker finally sat back into her seat .

“Girl! How can you let me drown like that by myself!”

She had acted as if she had nothing to do with her co-worker . Her co-worker looked at her with sharp eyes . Of course, she had some words to say in her own defense .

“Why did you have to yell so loud? You made me embarrassed too . ”

The two of them lowered their voices as they whispered and bickered with each other .

“Whatever . It’s fine . ”

In the end, her co-worker backed off first .

“So why would the head of the Support Division want to meet a 1st Gen Connector?”

Her co-worker asked the obvious question .

Within the department, power wasn’t divided equally among each division . The power and clout depended on how important one’s work was to the department . In some ways, the ‘Support Division’ did the most important work in the Office of Business and Administration for the Moon’s Labyrinth . They managed and supported the Connectors . If the power structure was like a pyramid, the Support Division would be at the top .

There was no reason why the head of the Support Division would meet with a newly awakened 1st Gen Connector .

“Is he trying to supervise that Connector? That is one of the original duties tasked to the ‘Support Division’ . Each ‘Division’ has their unique contribution to the department . That is why the chief directly manages several Connectors . ”

“However, those people are the best Connectors our country has to offer . They are on a different level . But this man is just a 1st Gen Connector . ”

“Maybe he possesses a unique characteristic, or there is a special circumstance . ”

The reception ended the conversation there .

“It is none of our business . ”

“I guess so . You are right . ”

Her co-worker just let go of the subject . In the first place, she had started the conversation, because it was a minor curiosity . It didn’t matter why the head of the Support Division was meeting with that man . It was none of their business .

The two of them switched topics . They talked about miscellaneous topics until the next customer came .

* * *

When his name was called, Sungyoon stood up . A man walked into the waiting room .

“Are you Mr Woo Sungyoon?”

“Yes . I am Woo Sungyoon . ”

“It is nice to meet you . My name is Jun Insoo . ”

Sungyoon shook the offered hand and observed the man named Jun Insoo .

The very first thing he noticed was the bald patch on top of his head . He looked to be in his 60s, but in many cases, balding men looked older than they actually were . He might be much younger . Aside from his balding head, there were no distinguishing features . He wore a nicely ironed suit . One could only guess from his appearance that he had a clean and meticulous personality .

“I’m sorry for making you wait . I have to give you some basic information, and we have to register you . Please follow me . ”

Insoo gave a slight bow .

“I understand . ”

“Thank you . ”

Insoo took the lead, and Sungyoon followed behind him .

The two arrived at a room that wasn’t too far away from the waiting room . The room was quite large, but it had been divided into many small cubicles . There were people in these cubicles already, and Sungyoon could hear muted conversations coming from the cubicles .

“Please come this way . ”

Insoo led Sungyoon to his cubicle . There was a round glass table, a computer and two chairs .

Insoo offered a chair to Sungyoon, and then he sat on the other side of Sungyoon .

“I’ll introduce myself once again . My name is Jun Insoo . I am the chief of the Support Division within the Office of Business and Administration for the Moon’s Labyrinth . ”

As he spoke, he pushed his name card towards Sungyoon . Sungyoon was surprised . He never expected a head of a division to talk to him . He had many questions he wanted to ask . Why had the head of a department come out to greet him? Did he meet with all the Connectors like this? However, Sungyoon didn’t give voice to any of those questions .

It wasn’t important at all .

The two of them talked in a brisk manner for a short amount of time . Insoo would ask a question, and Sungyoon would give an answer . Insoo recorded the information into his computer .

It didn’t take long, and was over in 10 minutes .

“Thank you . ”

After entering the last piece of information, Insoo spoke to Sungyoon .

“Are we done?”

“Yes, it is done . In truth, the registration process doesn’t take a long time . However, the explanation that comes afterward is time consuming . ”

Insoo logged out of his computer .

“The government supervises the Connectors, but businesses are the ones that actually hire the Connectors . We just help a little bit in the process as the middleman . ”

Insoo took out a piece of paper from his briefcase .

“Currently, this is the list of businesses looking for Connectors . To be precise, they are looking for 1st Gen Connectors . I’m sorry, but you’ve probably never heard of these companies . All the big companies are hiring 2nd Gen and 3rd Gen Connectors . Moreover, 4th Gen Connectors are slowly starting to appear now . In the eyes of the big businesses, a 1st Gen Connector won’t bring them much profit . I would like to recommend these companies to you . . . ”

“Wait a moment . ”

Insoo was about to take several more papers out of his briefcase, but Sungyoon stopped him .

“Are you recommending companies that are gathering ‘Moonstones’?”

“Yes, I am . ”

“ . . . I never said I’ll be going to the moon . Do all Connectors have to go into the labyrinths?”

Insoo blinked his eyes several times . Then he clapped his hands as if he understood what was going on .

“I see . I haven’t given you the explanation yet . It has been awhile since I’ve dealt with a new Connector...”

Insoo was quick to address Sungyoon’s dissatisfaction .

“From what I just heard from you, you are hesitant to go into the Moon’s Labyrinth . Is it because it is dangerous?”

Sungyoon nodded .

When he first heard that he was a Connector, he first thought about being able to pay off his debts . However, he also knew that it was very dangerous to go into the Moon’s Labyrinth . From what he knew, there was a constant stream of casualties that occurred within the Moon’s Labyrinth . Sungyoon had promised that he would dedicate his life to his daughter, but that didn’t mean he wanted to die . He just had a near death experience or what he thought was a near death experience . . . . With that in mind, he didn’t want to carelessly talk about death right now .

‘If my death is needed for Shinhae, I’ll do it . It can’t be helped . ’

However, he wanted to avoid dying for any other reason .

“I understand . Life is important to everyone . ”

Insoo took out his cellphone from his pocket then he looked at the time .

“Mmm . I still have a lot of time before I get off work . ”

Insoo mumbled to himself with a troubled voice . He looked at Sungyoon .

“Do you have any other plans tomorrow?”

“...not really . ”

Sungyoon was a laborer . He lived a hand to mouth existence . If needed, he could make himself available for one or two days . Since this was about his body, he was willing to make himself available for an extended amount of time . Of course, the side effect was that he would lose out on money that would go towards his living expenses and debt .

“Then can you make some time for me today at night?”

“I don’t mind at all . ”

He had come far to visit Sejong city . He had planned on immediately leaving for Seoul after he finished his registration . He was going to continue his job as a laborer . However, Insoo was someone that was in charge of this division . Sungyoon would make himself available for a day as his future was involved in this matter .

“I’ll contact you after I get off work . If you have nowhere else to go, you can use the waiting room . ”

“Understood . ”

After their conversation ended, the two of them got up .

* * *

After parting with Sungyoon, Insoo walked down the corridor . He continued to think about Sungyoon . Sungyoon was a newly awakened fledgling connector . Normally, he wouldn’t even pay attention to such a man . However, Insoo needed Sungyoon more than anyone else .

‘His debts are in the millions . ’

He was a high ranking civil servant . It was a thankless job, but he had a pretty high salary . Still, it made Insoo blanch when he saw how much Sungyoon owed . Sungyoon had failed in his business, and he was doing hard labor to make money little by little . He lived day to day, and there was no way Sungyoon could pay off his debt with such work .

‘Should I consider myself to be fortunate or unfortunate?’

Insoo tapped his fingers on his forehead . Sungyoon was someone that she might want . He couldn’t believe the timing . He didn’t know if his luck was good or bad . The only sure thing in all of this was the fact that he had more work to do now .

Beep!

Insoo dialed a number on his phone . The phone started ringing, and someone picked up on the other side .

[Yes . ]

It was the voice of a beautiful woman . However, her voice was brusque and cold .

“It is Insoo ahjussi . ”

[Yes, ahjussi . What is it?]

Her robotic voice showed traces of emotion . It was the affection for a close friend .

As expected, he couldn’t turn down a request from this child . Insoo had this thought as he revealed the reason behind the call .

"I found one . He fits your specifications . "