Moon's Labyrinths

Blue jewel of the universe, Cradle of mankind, The earth had many nicknames . It was the paradise of life quietly floating within the ocean of darkness . Sungyoon had seen a lot of pictures, and technology had advanced to a point where one could see live video of earth from the International Space Station .

However, he was now standing on the moon . It was a totally different experience looking up at earth from the moon . It left a deep impression within him .

‘Shinhae is over there... . ’

His most precious treasure was over there . This fact alone made earth the most beautiful planet in the universe .

He lost track of time as he stared up at earth . If Jimin hadn’t tapped his shoulder from the back, he might have stood there all day .

“It is quite the experience, right?”

It was the same question she asked when he returned from the labyrinth . It seemed this was a fantastic experience for her too as her cheeks were flushed . She normally spoke with a cold and calm voice . However, there was clear excitement in her voice .

“Yes, it is . ”

Sungyoon looked a bit dazed as he spoke . If he closed his eyes, it felt as if he could see a blue dot above the shroud of darkness .

“Whenever I visit the moon, I never leave without looking up at the earth like this . It is worth the trouble to come out here . ”

She let out a sigh as she lowered her gaze .

“I wish the visor of the space suit wasn’t there . I want to watch earth with nothing in the way, but that is impossible . ”

She couldn’t do as she liked, because they were in vacuum . If she didn’t have the protection of the space suit, she wouldn’t be able to avoid death . The things she wanted to do could only be done by Connectors .

“Are you jealous?”

“Very jealous . ”

She pouted . It hadn’t been long since they’ve become acquainted, but he had a general grasp of her personality . She wasn’t the type of person to express her feelings like this . But at this moment, she was like any young vibrant woman, and she was acting her own age . It was as if earth’s mysterious magic had casted a spell on her . He had that thought .

‘Ms . Strobe would have loved it if she saw this . ’

He thought about the blonde beauty he met today . He remembered her personality . If she saw Jimin right now, she would have rushed Jimin, calling her cute .

However, the spell lasted only for a moment . It didn’t take long for her to return to her usual self . It seemed she was self-conscious and had realized that she was becoming overly excited . Her ears had turned slightly red, and it seemed she was embarrassed .

Sungyoon didn’t say anything . He acted as if he hadn’t seen anything . In the first place, he rarely initiated a conversation with her . She would calm down if he did nothing .

“Let’s start heading back to our lodging . ”

She coughed as she tried to speak in a nonchalant manner . However, her acting skill was a bit clumsy and awkward . Her voice sounded a little bit higher in pitch .

“Let’s do that . ”

Sungyoon forced himself not to tease her . He followed behind her without saying anything .

The two of them walked without speaking once again .

Sungyoon kept up with Jimin, who kept walking at a brisk pace . After coming to the moon, he had experienced many things that transcended common sense . He was worried he would experience something unexpected at his lodging . He tried to calm his heart by sticking close to this woman even if she was much younger than him .

In an instant, Sungyoon came to a halt . His face turned white as it stiffened .

“Can you feel that?”

Jimin turned around . However, Sungyoon wasn’t able to answer Jimin’s question . He kept opening and closing his mouth, while he made no sound .

“In truth, I wondered if I should bring you here, Mr . Sungyoon . However, since you are aiming for this place, so I thought it would be best if you experienced this now . ”

Jimin raised her arm . Her finger was pointing towards a location .

“This is one of the two things I wanted to show you last, Mr . Sungyoon . You saw the first one already . It was a beautiful and fantastic view of earth . The other thing I wanted to show you is that . ”

Sungyoon followed Jimin’s finger as he slowly turned his head .

He saw the entrance to a cave . It looked like a gigantic maw . At a glance, it looked like the entrance to the Beginner’s labyrinth, which he had entered earlier .

However, it wasn’t the entrance to the Beginner’s labyrinth .

That labyrinth had high traffic . This labyrinth barely had anyone entering it . Moreover, the people entering this labyrinth looked different from the Connectors entering the Beginner’s labyrinth . They carried themselves differently, and the equipment around their bodies were better by leaps and bounds . It couldn’t be compared .

Above all else, he had a feeling . His skin felt electric, and his non-beating heart felt like it was about to cry out . He wanted to retreat, but his feet wouldn’t move . It felt as if fear had seeped into his soul .

“That is the Great Labyrinth . ”

Her voice sounded distant in his ears . All the positive feelings he had gained from watching earth was wiped away in one go .

“I heard Connectors feel fear when they see the Great Labyrinth for the first time . ”

“...it truly is scary . ”

He had to forcibly move his tongue . As time passed, he slowly started gaining more control over his body . His body felt as if it was shocked, but he was able to move his body once again .

“...is that all you have to say?”

“Should I have said something else?”

The sensation he felt was truly frightening . If he let his head guide his actions, he would have turned his head away . However, there was no way he would turn his gaze away . He stared straight at the Great Labyrinth . This place was his goal . He deepened his resolve .

“You are very brave . Most Connectors fall to their knees when they feel the pressure coming from the Great Labyrinth . They can’t look straight at it . ”

It didn’t matter what Gen Connector one was . This place affected them the same way . There were even some 3rd Gen Connectors, who hesitated to come to this place .

“Then why did you bring me here? What would have happened if you had broken my spirit?”

“Then it can’t be helped . I’ll just have to conclude that Mr . Sungyoon isn’t capable of raiding the Great Labyrinth . ”

It didn’t matter if a Connector was low in power . If the Connector had their resolve broken from just seeing the Great Labyrinth, the prospect of that person raiding the Great Labyrinth in the future was nonexistent .

In truth, Jimin had been very nervous . Sungyoon was her last hope . There had been a good chance that her last hope would have been destroyed at the starting point . Fortunately, he didn’t show any signs of succumbing to the fear he felt .

‘At the very least, he won’t quit right now . ’

That was enough for her . If he didn’t give up, she would continue to hope . Even if her hope was hanging by a thread .

Like Jimin, Sungyoon was feeling many emotions at that moment .

He hadn’t completely overcome his fear . In truth, he wanted to walk away . He wanted to be as far away from this place . However, he was stubborn, and he kept his eyes on the Great Labyrinth . He would never be able to step into the Great Labyrinth if he ran away . He couldn’t run away just because he felt fear .

He won’t be able to fulfil his contract .

This thought kept his gaze and feet in place . It kept him from leaving the Great Labyrinth behind .

* * *

After his field trip to the Great Labyrinth, Sungyoon and Jimin went to their lodging . It seemed Sungyoon was still in shock from seeing the Great Labyrinth . His mind was elsewhere as the two of them arrived at their lodging . They didn’t say much as they went to their respective rooms to sleep .

Then he welcomed his first morning on the moon .

“Did you sleep well?”

Jimin spread jam on her toast as she asked the question . He sat across from her . He was chewing on his toast, and his eyes looked a bit bloodshot .

“No . I had a bit of a nightmare . ”

It seemed the fear evoked by the Great Labyrinth still had influence over him .

Sungyoon used the butter knife to spread butter on his toast . He tried hard not to think about the price of butter in his hand .

“The facility wasn’t too bad . The bed was comfortable . ”

It wasn’t as good as a 5-star hotel, but it was better than a business hotel . Sungyoon was starting to get a deeper understanding of the city of Armstrong . He guessed that the price of this lodging was astronomically high .

When he thought about everything in terms of money, the simple task of eating bread was done in a reverential manner .

“I’ll be heading back today . Even if I have a large inheritance, I’ll go broke if I continue to spend money like this . I’ve told you the basics . Please work hard . ”

She looked straight at Sungyoon .

“Please work hard for our goals . Yours and mine . ”

“Understood . ”

It was his and her goal . There was weight to these words . Sungyoon was solemn as he nodded his head .

“Do you want me to see you off?”

“It’s fine . Your time is literally gold in this place . Chelsea said she’ll see me off . I would like you to spend your time clearing the labyrinth . ”

“I’ll do so . ”

“It is normal for Connectors to spend several months on the moon, while they clear the labyrinth . However, this is your first time here . That is why I want you to come back down to earth after two weeks . You don’t have to overdo it on your first visit . ”

She elegantly drank her coffee .

“You also have to take care of the moonstones . There is a different procedure you have to go through to sell it, but we don’t have to sell it right now . You should store it, and you should bring them when you come back to earth . The number of moonstones that could be gathered in the Beginner’s labyrinth in two weeks isn’t that high . You’ll be able to carry it in your carry-on luggage . You’ll just have to pay the luggage fee . ”

Sungyoon fingered the moonstones in his pouch .

The moonstones were put on the backburner since Sungyoon and Jimin were interested in the Great Labyrinth . However, the goal of clearing a labyrinth was to acquire moonstones .

“We’ll be able to get the proper price when we put them up for auction . It’ll be the day when you acquire your first earnings . ”

Afterwards, he’ll be able to slowly whittle away at his debt .

Finally, it felt as if he had taken his first step to clearing his debt . His debt was like a dog collar around his neck . He almost felt cathartic at the thought of his debt slowly easing away .

“So, I should start collecting the moonstones?”

“You can do that for now . However, I already know what kind of moonstones you’ll find there . It might be enough to cover the travel cost for the round trip between the moon and the earth . ”

The travel cost probably meant the cost incurred in using the spaceship .

‘Of course, the price isn’t on the same level as riding a plane or a Korean Train Express . ’

Items were priced very high on the moon . It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say the vast majority of high price was rooted in the shipping charges . There was no way the cost of using the spaceship would be low .

“You should try to acquire a Private labyrinth as soon as possible . That should be your priority . You’ll be able to increase your income from gathering more moonstones . Moreover, you’ll be able to acquire Devices and Gems . ”

“Personal labyrinths . ”

Sungyoon searched through his memories .

“There are Devices that can fit more than seven Gems, right? Amongst the Gems, one has to be a blue Gem and two has to be indigo . ”

Sungyoon looked down at his arm . Four glittering Gems were embedded into his bracelet . The light from one Gem overwhelmed the rest . It was the gold Gem . The rest were purple Gems . Basically, it was the lowest ranked Gems .

He had to find a Device capable of equipping 7 or more Gems . If he included the gold Gem, he needed to find three more Gems . However, he decided not to include the gold Gem in his figure, because he couldn’t use it yet . .

“You said the Devices and Gems drop from monsters?”

“Yes . They appear occasionally alongside the moonstones . The probability of the Devices and Gems dropping increases as you go deeper into the labyrinth . ”

“Then it is something I’ll have to do . ”

Sungyoon picked up the rest of his remaining toast .

“I have to kill the monsters . ”

He popped the piece of bread in his mouth as he spoke .

* * *

“I look forward to working with you . ”

After saying those words, Jimin left for the space port .

She disappeared from his sight, and he was finally alone . He would have to live in this foreign and rugged city of Armstrong . He put away the money into his wallet . Jimin had given him money to be used in emergencies . Then he got back to work and headed towards the Beginner’s labyrinth . He was here on the moon to work as a Connector .

He would no longer eat delicious meals . There would be no comfortable sleeping places . He’ll either starve, or he’ll supplement his diet with cheap vitamins . He’ll sleep in a lodging place that resembled a chicken coup . It was where the poor Connectors slept . He wouldn’t even dream about wasting the resources given to him by Jimin .

After he walked for a while, he arrived at his ‘workplace’ . He found the Beginner’s labyrinth once again crowded . He deepened his resolve and then, summoned his weapons .

He gripped his spear and shield, and he entered the labyrinth for the second time .