Moon's Labyrinths

“Whew . Scary . That was scary!”

Tim hugged himself with both arms and shivered in an exaggerated manner .

“Jeez . You really have loose lips . ”

Emily berated Tim . If the sentry wanted to harm them, the party would have been exterminated in no uncertain terms .

“Still, it makes me mad . We almost died because those bastards didn’t do a proper job!”

“If you pissed off that guy, he might have tried to kill us . It would have been the end of us!”

It was as she said . The sentry hadn’t looked at them with kind eyes . If three beginner Connectors disappeared in the Beginner’s labyrinth, no one would care . Too many Connectors had gone missing in the Beginner’s labyrinth over the years . They would just be added to the numbers of casualties .

Tim didn’t have a retort, so he shut his mouth .

At that moment, Sungyoon joined in on the conversation .

“At the very least, he has the right to be able to complain . ”

It didn’t matter if the high ranking Connectors had been lazy or not . It didn’t matter if they had done their best or they lacked in numbers . Tim, Emily, and Sungyoon had almost died, so they weren’t in the wrong to complain about it .

Tim and Emily turned to stare at Sungyoon . It was rare for Sungyoon to initiate a conversation . It surprised them .

“Still, the world doesn’t run according to common sense . We have to be careful in all aspects . ”

He thought about all the events in his life that hadn’t turned out as he had expected, and put forth his opinion .

His voice was tainted with a lot of bitterness and anger . He was speaking from personal experience . Tim and Emily couldn’t come up with a retort .

* * *

Sungyoon’s party continued to clear the labyrinth from that point on . Their pockets had become full of moonstones from the 7th floor . However, the Gems refused to drop . Not even the lowest ranked Purple Gem made an appearance .

However, Sungyoon didn’t feel desperate . He knew that Gems were a very rare drop .

Time passed like that . Once again, the period came when the Mana Stream would sweep over the Beginner’s labyrinth .

“It really is too bad . At the very least, we wanted to explore the labyrinth until the Mana Stream manifests . ”

Tim took a long sip of his beer as he grumbled . Emily, who sat next to him, nodded in agreement .

Sungyoon, Tim, and Emily had returned to the store where they had shared alcohol for the first time . Usually, Sungyoon refused to come to this store, as the price of commodities on the moon was extraordinarily high . However, that day, Sungyoon didn’t turn down Tim’s invitation .

It was because Tim and Emily would be temporarily leaving the moon the next day .

When the Mana Stream would start, the beginner Connectors would not be able to enter the labyrinth . This was why most beginner Connectors were starting to pack up, so they could go back to earth . Some had already left .

This was the same for Tim and Emily .

If it were up to them, they wanted to hunt with Sungyoon until the end . However, they had to worry about their company . Their company had signed a contract with a transportation company to deliver all the members of their company down to earth at a specific date . Therefore, it wasn’t an exaggeration to say that the two of them didn’t have a choice . They had to leave at the appointed time .

“When are you heading down, Mr . Sungyoon?”

“I plan on staying until they start sealing the Beginner’s labyrinth . ”

“Ughh . As expected, that’s your plan . ”

“You don’t have to be too disappointed . We’ll be meeting each other once again in a month . ”

“That’s true . ”

In the end, Tim had to put away his disappointment . He took out a notebook and ripped out a page .

“If you have the chance to come to Canada, please call us . ”

Tim had written his phone number and email address on the ripped paper . Emily followed suit . She quickly handed over her contact info to Sungyoon .

“Thank you . If you have the chance to visit South Korea, please contact me . ”

Sungyoon also handed them his contact info .

They had relied on each other for the past 3 months as they explored the labyrinth . The three of them had trusted their lives to each other . Even though Sungyoon did not like associating himself with other people, he had come to trust them enough to hand over his contact info .

Tim and Emily put away Sungyoon’s contact info . This was especially true for Emily . She neatly folded the paper, carefully putting it away in her front pocket . When she went back down to earth, this would be the only way she could contact the person that she was interested in .

How long did they chat and drink together? The drinking came to an end, and it was finally time to say goodbye .

“I’ll see you next time . ”

Tim promised to meet Sungyoon at a later date and shook hands with him in an energetic manner .

“You should say goodbye too . ”

Tim lightly pushed his sister’s back, sending her towards Sungyoon . Emily was hesitant as she came forward . Then, she extended her hand towards Sungyoon .

“I . . . I’ll see you next time . ”

Sungyoon grabbed her hand . Her hand was soft and pale . She was embarrassed, but her beautiful brown eyes took in Sungyoon clearly .

He avoided associating with beautiful women . Emily was on the top list of beautiful women he knew, but all this while, they had fought together with their lives on the line . This was why he didn’t find her repelling . It was the reason why he was able to comfortably say these words to her .

“Yes . I’ll see you next time, Ms . Emily . ”

Emily’s expression brightened . She let out a bright laugh . Her smile was like a beautiful blossoming flower, beautiful enough to even shake Sungyoon for a brief moment .

* * *

After he said goodbye to the siblings, Sungyoon, once again, went back to explore the labyrinth . He still had a week before the Mana Stream would finally hit the Beginner’s labyrinth . Until that day came, he decided to gather moonstones . He planned on looking for his next Gem .

‘How long has it been since I’ve hunted by myself?’

After getting his first kill that day, he suddenly had that thought . Tim had always taken the lead as he spoke with a cheerful and boisterous voice, while Emily followed them like a chick following a mother hen . When he thought about them right now, it brought him joy . If Sungyoon’s previous personality had remained, he probably would have laughed boisterously and would have tried to grow their friendship .

However, Sungyoon shook his head from side to side .

His best friend of 10 years had betrayed him with his wife, who was supposed to be with him til death do us part . It had inevitably hardened his heart .

Kwah-jeek!

He was still using the mace . Emily had refused to take it back after lending it to him for an indefinite amount of time . The mace blew apart the monster’s head, and Sungyoon coldly looked down at the corpse of the monster .

When he was with Tim and Emily, he would sometimes converse with them . When he was with them, Sungyoon acted a bit like a normal human being . But currently, he had returned to being his old self . It was like when he first came to the moon . He had hardly interacted with anyone, hunting just monsters .

After the monster’s corpse was swept up in light, he picked up the moonstone . He checked his watch . It was quite late .

‘I should head up now . ’

Sungyoon turned back .

* * *

“That’s amazing . You get to return to earth soon . ”

Chelsea sounded a bit jealous as she spoke . Sungyoon nodded, stuffing another potato in his mouth .

“To be honest, it is amazing . ”

Everything took a backseat since he would be able to see Shinhae soon . The thought put him on cloud nine .

“I’m really jealous . ”

“When are you going back down to earth, Ms . Strobe?”

She kept saying she was jealous of him, so he asked the question . It hadn’t been too long since Sungyoon had been traveling to the moon, but in that span of time, he had never seen Chelsea return to earth .

“I still have a half a year left . People with no family have to stay for a relatively long time . I don’t get it . Just the fact that I’m not married doesn’t mean that I don’t deserve to be treated like a human being . If they want me to have a family, they have to give me the time to meet someone in the first place!”

She had started out complaining in a small voice, but her voice kept getting louder . By the end, she was almost in hysterics as her sharp voice rang out in the park . It seemed she had been suffering under a lot of stress .

“Ah ah! I want to wear pretty clothes . I want to eat delicious food . I want to roll around in a plush bed . I want to watch tv all day . ”

She grumbled as she twisted her body like a child in a tantrum . Sungyoon didn’t say anything as he kept eating the potatoes . He could only listen to her complaints . He couldn’t solve her problem, and he knew she didn’t want him to solve her problem . She just wanted him to lend her an ear and listen to her misery .

Sungyoon continued to listen to Chelsea’s rant for an extended amount of time .

“When are you heading back, Mr . Woo?”

It seemed she had finished letting out whatever she wanted to say . Her face looked refreshed, and she asked Sungyoon a question .

“The Mana Stream will surge in 3 days . I’m going to hunt until it comes . I’ll head down right after the Mana Stream hits . ”

“I see . ”

At that moment, a shadow loomed over them .

“Hey! It’s been a while, miss . ”

They hadn’t noticed, but a man with a smarmy smile had appeared in front of two .

* * *

Nicholas Laughton had been in the worst mood these days . Aside from those that possessed the right to enter into the Great Labyrinth, he was part of the strongest ranked Connectors . This was why he had held his nose up high . But recently, his pride had fallen into the sewers .

It started as soon as he accepted the job of cleaning the Beginner’s labyrinth from Armstrong city .

Everything was fine in the beginning . Among all the numerous labyrinths, the Beginner’s labyrinth was considered to be a middle to lower rank labyrinth . A Connector of Nicholas’ caliber shouldn’t have encountered any problems culling the monsters within the Beginner’s labyrinth . It wasn’t a difficult task . Also, he had not been the only Connector hired . A good number of high ranked Connectors were hired to cull the monsters that couldn’t be handled by the beginner Connectors .

Nicholas hadn’t hesitated when he accepted the commission . The work was easy, and the compensation was good . Plus, he had also done this work before . It also meant that the number of Connectors in the Armstrong city lessened during the cleanup period of the Beginner’s labyrinth . This meant the normally busy restaurants gave him priority to enter into their establishments, and he could monopolize the services of the prettiest prostitutes . It was a minor improvement in his quality of life . However, he had already amassed a lot of money, so the improvement of the little things in life mattered more than money .

After the Mana Stream had ended, he had entered the Beginner’s labyrinth along with the other contracted Connectors . Nicholas planned on finishing his work early, and he only thought about using the compensation from cleaning the Beginner’s labyrinth to play around to his heart’s content .

However, any good feeling he had was ruthlessly shattered before a single day came to an end .

‘Why are there so many monsters!’

It couldn’t be compared to the prior clean-ups of the Beginner’s labyrinth . This time the Beginner’s labyrinth was teeming with monsters . He couldn’t clear the monsters in short order . In fact, he had failed to clean the labyrinth before the deadline of a week arrived . In the end, Armstrong had to hire more Connectors, and they had to seal off a portion of the labyrinth in order to let the beginner Connectors enter into the labyrinth . Of course, there was no way all the high ranked monsters were killed in all this mess .

They received a flood of complaints from Connectors being harmed due to the high ranked monsters that they had missed . News of Connectors losing their lives to high ranked monsters started to spread .

Of course, the higher-ups cussed out the high ranked Connectors, including him . Fortunately, Armstrong city acknowledged an abnormally high amount of monsters had spawned this time around, so all the blame wasn’t placed on them .

But still, Nicholas’ pride had taken a big hit . After he had been assigned a private labyrinth, he had been on a roll in life . This failed commission was the worst failure in his life as a Connector .

He was on his way back after killing more of those damned monsters . He had spent the past couple days within the Beginner’s labyrinth, combing through the labyrinth since he couldn’t afford to miss any more high ranked monsters . It was time for the next Mana Stream, yet Armstrong city refused to suspend the commission given to the high ranked Connectors . The reason being there were still beginner Connectors entering into the Beginner’s labyrinth .

‘Damn bastards! The foot traffic is very low! The probability of those bastards encountering a high ranked monster is very low!’

Nicholas cussed out the leadership group of Armstrong, then he turned his anger towards the beginner Connectors .

‘Why are those trash still entering into the labyrinth! The Mana Stream is almost here! They are mere trash blinded by a little money! Enough is enough . Just fuck off to earth!’

He really wanted to smash something right now .

But it seemed that people around him could sense his foul mood, so everyone moved away from him . A big circle had formed with him at the center .

He was walking as he seethed in anger . At that moment, he caught sight of someone .

‘That’s...’

He saw large glasses and frizzy hair . He also saw a white lab coat . He saw a familiar face whose beauty shone through her drabness .

‘She’s the impudent bitch that ignored me last time!’

To be honest, he had forced himself on her . He had used a heavy-handed method to pick her up, but she had refused his advance . That was all she did . However, in his mind, she had turned into the impudent bitch .

He was already in a foul mood right now . A bloody smile appeared on his lips as he walked towards Chelsea .