Moon's Labyrinths

As soon as Sungyoon and Tim got in and closed the door to the Moon Surface Vehicle, Emily floored the gas pedal . The wheels of the Moon Surface Vehicle started to vigorously spun .

Kwahng!

At the same time, the stalagmites created by Sungyoon’s magic spell exploded outward, and monsters started pouring out of the entrance of the labyrinth .

The Connectors watching from the sideline became frightened out of their minds . If they weren’t on the Moon, they would be screaming their heads off .

However, the Moon wouldn’t allow those humans to scream .

The Connectors started to scatter like ants, and the monsters chased after them . In a flash, the surface of the Moon became dyed with blood .

Some ran away toward their Moon Surface Vehicles . But the monsters ripped into those vehicles and attacked the Connectors hiding within .

The Moon Surface Vehicles weren’t designed with battles in mind in the first place .

‘Should I consider ourselves fortunate?’

The other Connectors had become bait, and Sungyoon’s party was escaping without problems . Sungyoon furrowed his brows as he watched the slaughter occurring in front of him . Aside from Emily, who was driving, the other people in the vehicle were also watching the slaughter from beside Sungyoon . Of course, they looked upset by the sight .

Sungyoon decided to heal Tim and his own wounds for now . He could heal only a couple of deep wounds, but it was enough to ease their pain by a significant amount .

However, it would be best if they could receive thorough healing from Emily, who specialized in support magic . So Sungyoon moved toward her to take over the wheel .

But at that moment, it happened .

Something shot out of the entrance of the labyrinth . It moved at a high speed, and in a flash, tore into the nearest monster .

Suh-guhk!

Of course, they couldn’t hear the sound . However, the cut on the monster was so clean that they could imagine the sound . It felt as if the sound were ringing in their ears .

It was a human who had cut down the monster . He started moving in various directions as he slaughtered the nearby monsters in an instant . From the look of his movements, it was clear that he was a high rank Connector .

Tap! Tap!

Someone desperately tapped at Sungyoon’s shoulder . When he turned his head to look, he saw a surprised Grace, who kept pointing at the man near the labyrinth .

‘Does she know that person?’

The man had completely handled the situation in front of the labyrinth in short order .

The Moon Surface Vehicle containing Sungyoon’s party came to a stop .

It seemed Tim had notified Emily, who had been in the driver’s seat . She appeared next to Sungyoon and looked at the incredible sight in front of her with a dumbfounded expression .

They looked at each other .

It seemed they no longer needed to run away . Moreover, it seemed Grace was acquainted with the high rank Connector who had picked up the pieces of this messy situation .

‘We can’t communicate with each other . ’

It was quite frustrating being unable to talk to each other, so he had almost put on his helmet . However, he gave up on that idea since he decided to drive back to the labyrinth first .

When they arrived in front of the labyrinth, they saw a horrible sight . Human limbs were strewn all over the place, and blood had dyed the Moon’s surface red .

They could see some corpses and many Connectors clutching at their wounds .

As soon as the high rank Connector finished killing all the monsters, he started moving through the injured to heal them .

Sungyoon and Emily also possessed healing magic, so they decided to take care of the injured too . Tim and Grace approached the high rank Connector .

After the injured were healed to the best of their abilities, Tim and Grace led Sungyoon and Emily into the labyrinth .

The person who had slaughtered all the monsters was waiting for them .

He had taken his helmet off, so they could clearly see his face .

The man had short black hair, and he wasn’t that tall .

He possessed the youthful face of a Connector, but a long mustache hanged above his lips . It gave him an air of dignity, and a definite strength was behind his black eyes .

“You are the ones that rescued Grace?”

The man spoke as he approached Sungyoon’s party . He then extended his hand toward Sungyoon .

“Nice to meet you . My name is Charlie Russell . ”

Sungyoon already knew who he was . Most Connectors knew who this man was . In fact, it was actually rare to meet a Connector who didn’t know this person .

“It is nice to meet you . My name is Woo Sungyoon . ”

He added another word at the end .

“Sir Russell . ”

This man was one of England’s strongest Connectors, and he was treated as a peer of Hyunwoo . Moreover, he had been knighted, and he was a friend of the current Queen .

Looking at him, they could see he embodied everything it meant to be a knight .

***

Sungyoon opened his eyes . He felt the softness underneath, so it seemed he wasn’t in the labyrinth .

After folding his blanket, he opened the curtains to his window . The artificial light of Armstrong was already bright, and it lit up his room .

The clock indicated that it was ten in the morning . Sungyoon let out a large yawn before leaving his room .

He had heard the sound of the TV in the living room . It seemed others had awakened before him .

“Did you sleep well?”

Tim greeted him . He was sitting on the sofa, watching TV .

“Emily is making breakfast . We should wait and eat together . ”

It seemed they had also woken up not too long ago .

‘I forgot . It’s Ms . Emily’s turn to cook . ’

The three of them rotated on cooking duty . Sungyoon realized he could smell the fragrant scent of food being cooked .

They didn’t need to eat, but they chose to eat when they were in their lodging . Their income had stabilized, and they could afford it .

Sungyoon sat next to Tim . They spent the time conversing and watching the TV .

“Come eat!”

After a short while, Emily came out of the kitchen and spoke in a disgruntled manner . However, her eyes turned round when she saw Sungyoon sitting next to Tim .

“Ah! Mr . Sungyoon was there too?”

It seemed she had no idea Sungyoon had woken up . She looked abashed .

Tim mocked her from behind Sungyoon as if to say ’serves you right’ . She glared at Tim, and then let out an awkward laugh toward Sungyoon .

“I . . . I made a lot, so Mr . Sungyoon should have some too . ”

She had planned on waking Sungyoon when the breakfast was done, so she had made more than enough food . It was just that she felt aggrieved because she thought she had shown a weird side of her to Sungyoon .

The two men became surprised when they arrived in front of the dining table . They could see steak and all kinds of meat dishes on top of it .

Sungyoon wondered if Western breakfast was usually like this, but he saw that Tim was also surprised by the spread . So it seemed that wasn’t the case .

“What the hell is this?”

Tim asked, still standing in front of his seat .

“What do you mean? It’s food . ”

“I’m not asking that . ”

The table also had simple foods like bread, but they were strictly there as garnish .

“Don’t complain! Just eat!”

Tim shut his mouth at Emily’s fiery words .

“Both of you were injured heavily in the labyrinth . You have to replenish your stamina with some meat . ”

When she spoke those words, Tim and Sungyoon realized why Emily had made such rich dishes in the morning .

‘It seems Ms . Emily feels very guilty . ’

Sungyoon had known it was the right call for him to task Emily with prepping the Moon Surface Vehicle . However, this meant Emily had received the easy assignment . And her absence probably was a contributing factor as to why Sungyoon and Tim had been hurt so badly .

Tim no longer complained after hearing Emily’s words and silently stuffed a piece of meat into his mouth . Sungyoon followed suit .

After the breakfast came to an end, the three of them sat on the sofa and drank coffee .

The fragrant smell of the coffee hit Sungyoon’s nose . He took a sip .

It wasn’t as good as the coffee on Earth, but he could taste the unique bitterness on his tongue .

‘It’s amazing how much things have changed . ’

In the past, he had been very anxious about the prices of goods on the Moon . So he had lived the life of a beggar up here . But the remnants of those days were nowhere to be seen . It was as if they had never happened .

The coffee and the breakfast they just ate were eye-poppingly expensive . However, Sungyoon could afford to spend that much with the profit he brought in .

“When should we go?”

Emily spoke as she placed her coffee cup on the table . They were scheduled to receive their rewards for saving Princess Grace today, so they had to visit the British consulate .

“I’m not sure . They didn’t give us an exact time, just a date . Why don’t we head out after we finish our coffee?”

“Let’s do that . ”

Tim agreed with Sungyoon’s suggestion . It wasn’t something they had to mull over in a serious manner anyway . So they moved to other topics .

After a short amount of time had passed, Sungyoon’s party left for their destination .

The British consulate was situated in the same region as the other embassies .

But Sungyoon’s company building was placed near the outer edges of the city, so they had to walk a good amount .

The party arrived at two in the afternoon .

They caught sight of the building with the Union Flag hanging overhead .

However, they couldn’t immediately enter the British Consulate . A scuffle was occurring at the front gate .

Two security guards were blocking an irate man, who was yelling out loud .

“Bring out the person in charge, you sons of bitches!”

The man looked like he could turn violent, and the security guards had their hands full .

It seemed this irate man was a Connector, and the two security guards were normal humans . It was the reason why the security guards were having so much trouble .

Sungyoon’s party watched the scene from a short distance away .

“Ah!”

Emily let out an exclamation .

“Isn’t he that person? The one that cussed Ms . Taylor when she suggested we all fight together . He was the first one to leave the labyrinth . ”

“... You are right . ”

Tim took a careful look at the Connector and recognized him . Sungyoon also finally remembered who this person was .

It seemed the man became aware of their presence too . He had subconsciously glanced at Sungyoon’s party when he had run past them in the labyrinth, so it seemed he remembered their faces . Soon, his face turned red from anger .

“You sons of bitches! Well met!”

He quickly moved toward Sungyoon’s party . It seemed the target of his anger also included them .

When the man acted in a threatening manner, Emily hid behind Sungyoon . On the other hand, Tim’s face turned rigid as he took a step forward .

“What’s wrong?”

Emily became frightened, and Tim was ready to tussle irrespective of the situation .

That was why Sungyoon stepped forward as the representative of his party .

Tim, who was about to take a swing at the man, backed off .

“What’s wrong? You’re really asking me what’s up, you bitch!”

Duhp-suhk!

The man grabbed Sungyoon’s collar . Tim wanted to rush forward, but Sungyoon stopped him by raising a hand .

“Yes . Why are you so angry at us?”

Sungyoon spoke with an emotionless voice and a blank expression .

This made the man angrier, and his face crumpled further .

“You dipped out while everyone was being attacked by the monsters! Did you already forget that!”

‘I was wondering what this was all about . ’

Sungyoon had never expected this man to place the blame at their feet .

He didn’t need to look back to see the expressions on Tim and Emily’s face . He could see it clearly in his mind . They probably felt the same way as him .

Sungyoon chose to explain everything in a calm manner .

“First, your group brought the monsters toward us . Do you remember that? Then, we told you that the monsters were capable of exiting the labyrinth . But you cussed us out and were the first one to run away . This created an excuse for everyone else to run out of the labyrinth . ”

Sungyoon folded his arms .

“What more could we have done in that situation?”

“You should have gathered the other people by any means possible!”

As expected, it was like talking to a brick wall .

“I lost consciousness after I lost my arm there!”

He wondered why this man had not caused a ruckus at the time . It seemed he had fainted . But judging by the tone of his voice, Sungyoon discerned he wasn’t going to back off easily .

“What do you want?”

“What do you think he wants? He just wants to extort as much money as he can . ”

Sungyoon hadn’t spoken those words, and it wasn’t the disgruntled man either . They all turned their faces toward the speaker .

A man was standing next to the security guards in front of the closed steel gates of the British consulate . He bowed with a flourish .

“Welcome . ”

The man was Charlie Russell .