Moon's Labyrinths

She held onto the spear . The spear shaft was made out of wood, and it was smooth . It fit quite well in her hands, and she increased her grip around the spear shaft .

-Koo-raht!

In the Beginner’s labyrinth, amongst the monsters on the first floor, the Big Rat was considered to be one of the weakest . It was a threat to a normal person, but to armed Connectors, it was a mere annoyance . Moreover, the advantage would be clearly on the Connector’s side if one had other Connectors willing to give one safe conduct through the first floor .

Poo-oohk!

The spear was thrust with all her might, and it flew towards the Big Rat . The Big Rat let out an abrasive scream as it died .

“You are having no trouble against the 1st floor monsters . ”

Sungyoon mumbled as he recovered the moonstone left behind by the Big Rat . His eyes landed on Emily, who let out a small sigh . She was holding the spear loaned to her by Sungyoon, and at a glance, one could tell that she was tired . But it wasn’t physical tiredness; it was mental fatigue .

“Are you ok?”

“Yes, yes! I’m fine . ”

Her face was a bit pale, but she gave firmly shook her head .

Emily was currently experiencing direct combat, something she had never done before . From the beginning of their adventure, she had been in a party with her big brother . This was why she had always worked from the backline . In other words, she had always been protected by Tim . So of course, she had never crossed weapons with the monsters . In their battle against the Bigfoot, she had become intimidated by the mere presence of the creature . As a result, a very unsightly outcome had occurred, and it had almost become her last failure in life .

Sungyoon had witnessed this absurd situation, so he had made a suggestion . Emily would slowly start to fight against monsters under the guidance of Sungyoon and Tim .

Of course, they didn’t expect Emily to become an amazing close combat fighter . However, they hoped that she would not freeze in important moments just because a slightly stronger monster showed up . At this point, she was getting in the way rather than being helpful, and she was working hard to fix that flaw .

At the very least, she couldn’t fall to the ground in fear when a monster would glare at her . It didn’t matter if she rarely got into close combat with monsters . She would remain useless as a rear combat personnel if she didn’t fix this flaw .

“Still, she is doing much better . ”

She was starting to look pretty fierce when she stabbed her spear . At least, now she probably would not fall to the floor in front of a powerful monster .

It seemed Emily was embarrassed, and her face was red as she looked at the floor . However, a small smile had decorated her face . It meant that she didn’t feel bad at all . Tim looked proud of his sister, and he placed his hand on her shoulder .

“Shall we go down a floor?”

It was as if he was going to charge towards the lower floor with steam coming out of his nose . He swung his axe as if he was going to butcher all the monsters .

‘Will we be ok?’

Sungyoon looked at his watch . They won’t be able to go down too far, but they had enough time for a couple more battles on the 2nd floor .

“We have enough time . We can go to the 2nd floor . ”

“Awesome!”

It seemed Tim didn’t want to waste any time . He took the lead and walked like a large elephant, intimidating everything around him . Since he was 192cm tall, he was able to look imposing just by how he walked .

This was how the party started heading down towards the lower floors .

* * *

Sungyoon and his party incrementally explored the labyrinth . They practiced basic party fights, and they had to allow some time for Emily to practice fighting against monsters . This slowed down their progress, but they steadily headed lower and lower into the labyrinth .

Then... .

‘Finally, we are here . ’

Sungyoon looked a bit moved as he looked at his surroundings . This was where he experienced the strength of the Fang Boar, where he had met his limitation, and where he had to turn back from the fourth floor . However, his current situation differed now . He was equipped with more powerful weapons, and he had acquired quality party members .

However, he had to confirm something . He wanted to see if his skills were effective on this floor .

“It is a Fang Boar . ”

Tim’s eyes narrowed as he looked towards one side of the labyrinth . There was a Fang Boar staring back . Its long tusk was pointed towards them, and it growled as steam appeared from its nostrils .

“Shall we warm up by killing that bastard?”

Tim shook his axe as he raised his shield .

“Sure . ”

Sungyoon stood behind Tim at a slight angle . Emily raised her staff, so she could support the two fighters at any moment .

Boom!

They continued to use the same formation they had used up until now . Tim took on the Fang Boar’s attack . A loud sound emanated, but Tim’s large body didn’t budge . In the past, Sungyoon had to hastily dodge all the attacks, so to him, it was quite the enviable sight .

However, he didn’t forget his role in this fight .

Hoo-oohng!

He swung his powerful mace . His spear couldn’t be compared to this mace . It was awe-inspiring .

Kwah-jeek!

Before, he needed to put all his strength into his spear to barely pierce the Fang Boar’s hide, yet now, the mace made a big dent . He could feel the sensation of something being broken and crushed .

-Gwehhhhk!

Blood and spittle flew out of the creature’s mouth, and it started rolling on the ground . It squealed as it flailed its legs in extreme pain .

Kwah-jeek!

Tim’s axe was immediately embedded in the Fang Boar’s skull .

“That’s all there is to it . ”

Tim mumbled as he extracted his axe . The Fang Boar was a familiar monster to him . It was a monster they were used to killing .

However, it was different for Sungyoon . He looked down at the Fang Boar . It was lying on the floor with its eyes closed, and blood was pouring out of its wound . There was a big dent near its side . Sungyoon looked at the mace that he was holding . He confirmed that he had afflicted a critical wound to the Fang Boar .

‘I had a hard time piercing its hide last time . ’

He had put a lot of strength behind his swing, but he hadn’t put all his strength into the attack like what he had done with the Purple Rank spear . However, his attack had been effective against the Fang Boar .

“Tim, I would like to defend against the Fang Boar . ”

“You want to defend its attack?”

Tim sounded puzzled as he repeated the question .

“Yes . I struggled against its attack in the past . At the very least, I would like to make sure I can defend against it by myself . ”

He would have Tim as support, and Emily would be the healer . It was the ideal opportunity to conduct a test against the Fang Boar .

“Ah . Is that so? Go ahead . ”

Tim sounded willing to go along with it . Tim started moving as if he wanted to find a Fang Boar as soon as possible for Sungyoon . It didn’t take too long for them to find a Fang Boar lurking in the labyrinth .

When it showed signs of noticing their presence, Sungyoon took a step forward . As with all the monsters within the labyrinth, the Fang Boar charged forward as if it had lost its mind . Sungyoon stepped forward to block the Fang Boar’s attack . This was completely different from what he had done before .

Boom!

A loud sound rang out, and Sungyoon’s feet were pushed backwards . He felt a numbness in his left arm . However, that was it . The Fang Boar’s sharp tusks couldn’t damage Sungyoon’s shield .

Kwah-jeek!

Tim came in from the side with his axe . Enormous force was behind the blade of the axe, and it cut half way into the Fangboar’s neck . Tim’s strength was frightening . He was able to ignore the thick hide of the Fan Boar to ruthlessly cut into its neck .

“How was it?”

At Tim’s question, Sungyoon closely examined his shield . A sturdy layer of steel reinforced his shield, and the Fang Boar hadn’t been able to scratch the steel plate . The numbness in his left arm was already gone .

“I can take it . ”

At this point, it was clear that he could continue to explore the labyrinth . At the thought, Sungyoon sounded pleased as he answered Tim’s question .

“That’s great . Shall we continue to explore the labyrinth?”

At Tim’s insistence, Sungyoon’s party continued to explore the labyrinth . On that day, Sungyoon was able to step into the 5th floor of the labyrinth .

* * *

“Thank you for your hard work today . ”

After divvying up the moonstones, Sungyoon gave a short farewell, and he headed towards his lodging . Tim and Emily quietly looked at his retreating back .

“Mmm . He is still an unsociable man . ”

Tim let out a sigh . He wasn’t disparaging Sungyoon behind his back . He just sounded depressed that he couldn’t get closer to Sungyoon .

“You should talk to him more . You barely said anything to Sungyoon today . ”

“... shut up . ”

Her brother was extremely blunt as he said what was in his mind . Emily pouted at his words . She still had on the hood of her priestess robe, and she pulled it further down to hide her face .

“I can barely look at his face . ”

It seemed her introverted personality had become worse .

“Still, how can you not say a single word? Try approaching him . Your subtle attitude won’t work on a guy like that . ”

In the first place, Sungyoon had zero amorous feelings towards Emily . He would bet on his life that this was true . Sungyoon wasn’t enamored with Emily . It was the other way around, so Emily had to attract his attention . However, she sucked at attracting men’s attention .

‘Well, she’s the one that usually receives confession from men . ’

Tim observed his younger sister .

Emily looked depressed as she looked at the ground . From a subjective point of view, she was someone that had bickered with him in regards to most things in life as they grew up . She was his annoying sister that had caused him great frustration . If he was to be objective, his sister was very beautiful . From what he knew, a truck full of men had confessed to Emily over the years . However, there had never been an instance where she had liked someone . She had an introvert personality, and the pressure of wanting to reach the Great Labyrinth meant she had never dated before .

‘Why him of all people?’

Of course, he had a good opinion of Sungyoon . He had saved their lives . Moreover, Tim admired Sungyoon’s unwavering desire to reach his goal of entering the Great Labyrinth . As a 1st Gen, he would reach his limit quicker, but that wasn’t a reason not to like him . If he and Emily decide to date, he would cheer them on from the sideline .

‘However, he seems completely uninterested in Emily . That’s a problem . ’

Tim had never seen a man like him . Whenever he met his friends, his friends always asked him to introduce them to Emily . All men were interested in Emily, yet Sungyoon didn’t see Emily as a woman . He was like a brick wall . He wondered if Sungyoon already had a family, but even married men wouldn’t show zero interest in Emily like Sungyoon . Let alone the fact that Connectors openly practiced polygamy .

‘The more he is disinterested, the harder she has to work in order to get his attention . ’

However, Emily hadn’t been able to have a single decent conversation with Sungyoon yet . He let out a light sigh as he looked at his sister .

* * *

After Sungyoon went to space, Jimin once again started taking care of Shinhae . She was practically living in Sungyoon’s house . Others might mistake them for being mother and daughter .

Jimin brought Shinhae to the department store today . It was to buy clothes for the child .

“Is it tasty?”

They were in the food court . Jimin laughed as she watched Shinhae eat spaghetti . She always had a cold expression on her face, so her smile was worth that much more . Of course, Shinhae always made her smile, so Shinhae didn’t know the worth of her smile .

“Yes!”

Sauce was all over her lips . Shinhae gave big nods to her head . She once again stabbed the spaghetti with her fork, and she forked a big portion of noodles into her mouth . Jimin continued to eat her own dish, and she would periodically wipe Shinhae’s lips with a napkin .

She was spending a peaceful and harmonious time with Shinhae when she suddenly heard a voice .

“Oh my! Isn’t that Jimin?”

It was a familiar voice . Jimin looked a bit surprised as she looked backwards .

“Mom?”

She caught sight of a familiar face .

The lady looked a bit older, and she had a mature appearance . The beauty from her youth hadn’t faded away, so she still looked quite elegant . In many ways, she looked more beautiful than most 20 year olds . She had a short bob hair, and an energetic personality oozed off her . The combination of these two made her seem very bubbly .

“It really is Jimin!”

She hugged Jimin, who was flustered and could not respond properly .

“Hey! Look over here! Jimin is here!”

She called out to someone behind her . The sound of heels clacking across the floor could be heard, and another woman appeared .

“Oh my . It really is Jimin . ”

This lady had wavy long hair, and there was a calmness to her that contrasted with the other vivacious woman . She was as beautiful as the previous woman . Her eyes slightly curved as she let out a kind laughter .

They were her father’s wives . These women were different from Jimin’s birth mother . They were her step mothers .