Moon’s Labyrinths (Web Novel)

Sungyoon also sat down in front of his companions.

“Ah. Somehow we are alive!”

Tim fully extended his legs.

-Koo-roo-roohk!

However, a fiendish cry interrupted their sweet resting time. He saw three Goblins walking toward them.

“These bastards won’t even let us rest!”

They were tired, but they couldn’t remain sitting when faced with the monsters. Tim frowned as he tried to get up, but Sungyoon stopped him.

“It’s fine. You can just sit there.”

After he said those words, Sungyoon opened his hand and pointed it towards the Goblins. His magical energy flowed into his Gem, and a spell activated.

Kwah-jee-jee-jeek!

Sharp stalagmites appeared all around the Goblins. They shot up with great force and skewered the Goblins.

“Hweeeeeek~!”

Tim whistled when he saw this. As always, Sungyoon had the crazy ability of instantly activating a Gem. And when that ability was paired up with a magic Gem, he could display terrifying firepower.

“Mr. Sungyoon’s spells are amazing. Can't you clear most labyrinths with these spells?”

Sungyoon shook his head at Tim’s admiration.

“It isn’t that great. Above all else, a magic Gem can only be used for a finite number of times before requiring a cooldown. That was the last spell that I can cast with this Gem.”

If he wasn’t so mentally exhausted, he wouldn’t have used his last spell like this. He would have saved it.

“I don’t care. We get to rest thanks to you. I like it.”

Sungyoon followed Tim’s example and stretched out his legs.

However, they couldn’t rest for long. Although this was a low-level labyrinth with Goblins and animal type monsters, it was still a labyrinth. It couldn’t be taken lightly.

When they determined that they had gotten the minimum amount of rest, the party immediately started to climb up the labyrinth. They didn’t need any directions. They just needed to follow the signs pointing towards the entrance. The only thing they had to was to slaughter the monsters that got in their way and pick up the moonstones.

Finally, they had ascended to the labyrinth’s entrance.

The three of them were very happy to see the desolate surface of the moon spread out in front of them.

They spent the night in their respective Moon Surface Vehicles, and headed toward Armstrong on the next day.

After all sorts of events, this labyrinth exploration run had come to an end.

* * *

When they arrived at Armstrong, they were extremely tired. Connectors faced danger every day in their adventures, but this labyrinth run had been too spectacular.

“What should we do now?”

Sungyoon asked.

Normally, they would go have a drink before going their own ways. However, that was impossible right now. Above all else, Sungyoon still possessed the corpse of Mrs. Ross.

“I know you must be tired, but can you accompany us to our company?”

Tim spoke.

These were the streets of Armstrong. Of course, if Sungyoon handed over a corpse to the Ross siblings here, they would become the center of everyone’s attention. If people got the wrong idea, they might call the police. No, he was sure they would get arrested. It would be best to tell the complete account of their adventure to their company before handing over the corpse.

“Understood.”

The three of them headed towards the sibling’s company.

The Ross siblings took the lead. Sungyoon followed from behind, observing the two of them.

He noticed that they were walking tall, and could understand their feelings.

‘They are happy because they can now restore their mother’s honor and reputation.’

The people from the siblings' company thought Mrs. Ross had died at the hands of weak monsters. In reality, she had fallen to a powerful existence, the Golem. Even if it was weakened, their mother was able to defeat such a being. Once this became known, no one would be able to look down on her. Sungyoon wished their mother’s honor and reputation would be restored after this. However, he didn’t think things would go as smoothly unlike what the two siblings expected. It would be a toss-up in his opinion.

‘Life doesn’t work out the way you want it to.’

He had tasted the highs and lows of what people called life.

Soon, they arrived at a familiar building. It was the Ross sibling’s company building. He hadn’t come here often, yet he felt familiar with this place. Sungyoon inwardly let out a bitter laugh.

“Hey. I’m here!”

Tim yelled out loud as he pressed the doorbell. His confident and proud voice rang out.

Click!

It didn’t take too long for the door to open.

He wanted to tell everyone that they had found their mother. He wanted to tell them about the adventure undertaken by her, and the foe she had defeated in the process. He had been ready to talk. However, his face crumpled when he saw who had answered the door. Emily stood behind him. This time she wouldn’t stop her brother if he went on a rampage. Even Sungyoon frowned a bit when he saw the person.

‘His name was... Louis?’

The man that the Ross siblings hated the most stood in front of them.

“Oh hey. Look who it is! “

As much as the Ross siblings frowned, Louis’ face was filled with a mocking smile.

“You are early. What’s wrong? Your vacation hasn’t ended yet. It isn’t as if it's time for the Mana Stream to erupt in your precious labyrinth. When you left, you acted as if you would live there for two months.”

“Get out of the way. It is none of your business.”

At the very least, he didn’t want to tell Louis what they had gone through. So, Tim spoke in a cold manner.

However, Louis didn’t plan on listening. Instead of moving out of the way, he looked over the three of them. The mocking smile on his face deepened.

The labyrinth floor had collapsed on them, and they had fallen from a height equivalent to a third-floor building. Then they had to run away from the Golem. This was why all three of them were in a rough state. Their clothes, which weren’t covered by their defensive gears, had been ripped apart. Moreover, dust and dirt covered their body.

“What? Did you perhaps run away from that place?”

He had asked the question, but he spoke as if he already had the answer. He had asked the questions rhetorically in order to mock them.

“I said get out of our way!”

Tim was forceful with his words. However, Louis seemed to enjoy seeing Tim riled up. He didn't show any signs of getting out of the way.

Emily, who was behind Tim, was about to say some sharp words.

“What’s going on?”

A man appeared from behind Louis. It was the man who had argued with the Ross siblings when they had said that they wanted to go to their labyrinth.

He looked between the Ross siblings and Louis. Then he pinched the bridge of his nose as if he had a headache.

“You guys again? What happened this time?”

“These guys ran away from that lousy labyrinth, Mr. Cohen.”

“We didn’t run away!”

Tim was very forceful in his retort. However, Louis refused to let it go and spoke in a sarcastic manner.

“So what happened? You came back early in that state. Are you trying to say you were able to successfully clear the labyrinth and returned early? Both of you were so adamant about spending all your time in that labyrinth.”

Laughter could be heard.

Sungyoon looked behind the man called Cohen. Several people had started to gather behind Cohen. It seemed they were other Connectors contracted under this company. They had come because of the commotion.

‘It is hard to call them comrades.’

Even if they weren’t hostile towards the Ross siblings, it was clear that they held no love toward them. Sungyoon was able to discern this truth.

“You bastard!”

Tim was greatly angered, but Cohen tried to soothe him.

“Come in for now. Let’s talk after that.”

The Connectors behind Cohen weren’t the only lookers. People walking on the streets had also stopped to look with deep interest upon hearing the shouts.

“You can leave now.”

Cohen looked annoyed as he gazed at Sungyoon. It was a look one gave towards an irritant.

“Wait a moment! I asked for a favor from him! Don’t do as you please by sending him away!”

Tim pushed back. Cohen frowned. For some reason, he glared at Sungyoon. However, it was as if he had some kind of idea, so he nodded.

“If that’s true, please come in.”

What was he plotting? Sungyoon knew Cohen would never welcome him, so he looked at him with mistrust. However, Cohen had already turned his back on them, walking back into the building.

Louis and the other Connectors of the company followed suit. Tim entered as he fumed with anger.

“Let us go too.”

Emily lightly pulled at Sungyoon’s arm. Normally, the introverted Emily wouldn't have dared to make such a gesture, but she was beyond the point of caring now. She was feeling a great deal of anger and had become charged up.

Sungyoon didn’t turn her down.

They arrived at a large common room. Cohen, Louis, and the other Connectors sat down in various chairs. Tim didn’t sit. He folded his arms, looking down on them with a disgruntled attitude.

“In the end, you brought him in here?”

Louis glanced at Sungyoon, and he smirked.

“They really don’t know their place...”

“Shut the hell up, Louis!”

Tim growled.

“Both of you should stop now!”

Tim and Louis looked like they were about to fight, so Cohen tried to put out the fire. Tim huffed in anger, and Louis just shrugged.

“Ok. So, why did you bring him here?”

When one looked at his attitude and tone of voice, it was clear Cohen didn’t like Sungyoon. However, Cohen had the courtesy of treating him with some respect.

“You should hear this, Cohen! We found something amazing!”

He would finally be able to restore his mother’s honor and reputation. Tim’s voice subconsciously became louder.

However, the people around him didn’t give his words much merit.

‘Even if they found something amazing, it is from a low rank labyrinth...’

Everyone had the same thought.

“What? Did you find your mother’s corpse?”

Louis once again antagonized the two siblings. Tim, who had been about to speak, shut his mouth. He glared at Louis with blood in his eyes. It was said that even a blind squirrel could find a nut. Louis had guessed the right answer, but everyone knew he hadn’t spoken for the benefit of the Ross siblings. He was using their dead mother to insult them.

“Louis!”

Cohen yelled out once again. This time the complexion on the faces of the other Connectors changed. However, Louis remained nonchalant.

“I know. I know. You want me to watch what I say, but I can’t help it.”

He looked annoyed.

“How long are we going to accept their tantrums? I spoke out because I’m frustrated.”

It seemed Louis really thought he was in the right. The Ross siblings found his assertions to be ridiculous.

“When did we throw a tantrum?”

Tim gritted his teeth as he asked.

“We did as the company asked. We entered all the labyrinths according to schedule. After we graduated the Beginner’s Labyrinth, we faithfully followed the company’s schedule.”

“You asked for that trash labyrinth.”

“As a Connector, we have the freedom to ask for any available labyrinth. In the first place, our contract doesn’t stipulate that we have to take on a labyrinth chosen by the company.”

“The company told you to not go on a raid this time.”

“It is something we decided to do on our time off. As Connectors, we are free to do whatever we want during our time off. If it interferes with our future labyrinth raids, it might be a different story. But at the very least, that’s not an issue now. You would only have a valid argument once our performance starts to suffer under a labyrinth raid under the command of the company.”

Did Louis think he was losing the argument? His expression worsened. So he suddenly switched his attention over Sungyoon. A cruel expression appeared on his face.

“What about you guys traveling with that trash over there?”

Louis insulted Sungyoon by calling him trash. Everyone knew it. Of course, Tim became angry.

“Shut up, Louis!”