Moon's Labyrinths

Sungyoon frowned when he returned to his labyrinth . Even if he had spent an unexpected amount of time in Armstrong, the round-trip had taken two weeks .

‘I can see why people want labyrinths that are closer to Armstrong . ’

If he had spent these two weeks raiding the labyrinth, he would have earned more moonstones, and he would have progressed in clearing the labyrinth . He couldn’t shake the idea that he had wasted his time .

Still, it was too late to change anything, and nothing would come from complaining about it . Sungyoon immediately moved to the 2nd floor .

In front of him, four tunnels leading to the 2nd floor appeared . Sungyoon looked at the neat and well-drawn professional map and moved to the closest tunnel .

He immediately entered the 2nd floor .

The 2nd floor was like the 1st floor, filled with monsters . The first monster he encountered was the Big Horn Deer .

It was a monster commonly seen on the 6th floor of the Beginner’s Labyrinth . It looked like a deer, but its red eyes were filled with murderous intent . It was a monster in no uncertain terms . Its entire body bulged with muscles, so it didn’t have the sleek and light form of a deer . When the monster saw Sungyoon, it growled .

-Koo-roo-roo-roo-roo!

It clearly wasn’t the cry of a deer . The horns on its head looked like the roots of a bonsai tree . The monster aimed its large horns at the prey in front of him .

Sungyoon raised his shield .

-Koo-ahhhhh!

The Big Horn Deer’s tongue protruded out of its mouth, and the monster ran towards Sungyoon like a dog with rabies . It shook the labyrinth as it ran straight towards its prey .

Sungyoon focused his mind so that he didn’t get overwhelmed by the monster’s ferocity . This monster was like Bloody Rhino that used its large horns to execute a fierce attack . If one was careful of their charge, these monsters were pretty easy to handle . Of course, it was under the premise that one had enough agility to dodge or enough defensive capability to block the attack .

Sungyoon deflected the attack to the side with a practiced hand .

Boom!

Despite him turning aside the attack, his shield rang out from the heavy impact .

After deflecting the Big Horn Deer’s attack at a slight angle, Sungyoon immediately turned around and caught sight of the monster’s rear . It was trying hard to stop its forward progress, but it couldn’t overcome its own momentum . Sungyoon caught up with the monster and swung his mace .

Kwah-doo-doohk!

Its buttock sunk inwards, and the monster let out a mournful cry as it fell to the ground . Blood gushed out . Its pelvis had been completely crushed by the attack, so it couldn’t use its rear legs . The loss of mobility was like a death sentence for this monster . It couldn’t even stand up, and its future was obvious .

Kwah-jeek!

With Sungyoon’s mace landing on its head, the monster lost its life .

Wooooooooong!

“Huh?”

He was waiting for the familiar process of the corpse turning into a moonstone when it happened . Sungyoon raised his arm to look at his Devices .

It was the Device which had been equipped with the Yellow Gem . The two Purple Gems were surrounded by a yellow light, which swirled around them before being sucked into the Purple Gems .

Then, the two Gems changed colors . Purple turned into indigo .

‘It rose!’

In truth, although he had equipped the Yellow Gem, the man had no idea if it was working . He was suspicious as to whether it was capable of ranking up a Gem . However, the Yellow Gem had done its job .

He immediately tried to summon his spear .

The image of a spear appeared in his head, but the spear didn’t materialize . Sungyoon was a bit taken aback . He tried to summon it a couple more times, yet the spear refused to be summoned . In order to cover all his bases, he let his magical energy flow into the Gem . It was the same procedure he went through when he had summoned a Gem for the first time .

It took around 20 seconds .

The spear appeared in Sungyoon’s hand .

‘It treated this as my first summon . ’

Even if it was a Gem he had used before, when it advanced in rank, it was treated as a new Gem . Sungyoon unsummoned his spear and, once again, pictured the image of a spear in his mind . This time, he could summon the spear in a normal manner .

The outer appearance of the spear had changed a bit . The spear blade was attached to a polished wooden pole . That hadn’t changed . However, the spear blade had gotten a bit longer and sharper . Overall, the length of the spear was similar to before .

Hoohng! Hoo-oong!

He swung it a couple of times . Thankfully, it didn’t feel awkward . He could immediately use it in battle .

Sungyoon unsummoned his spear, and then, he activated the strength-enhancing Gem .

‘If I can raise it by one more rank, the spear will be the same rank as the mace . ’

At that point, he could use it as his main weapon . The mace wasn’t bad, but sometimes, he missed the long reach of the spear .

He didn’t know how long it would take . Still, it was better than doing nothing and waiting for a Gem to drop . Moreover, it was possible for him to evolve any Gems that fit certain criteria .

‘Awesome!’

Sungyoon was in a good mood as he once again started to roam the 2nd floor .

* * *

Jimin held her handphone as she stared at the screen . Her long slender brows were furrowed as if she had received some bad news .

“What’s wrong?”

Chelsea entered the office with two cups of coffee in her hands .

Chelsea was still in Korea, so Jimin sometimes used her as free labor . Usually, Jimin’s company didn’t generate much work, but due to Sungyoon’s exploits, her workload was starting to increase . Of course, the volume of the increase wasn’t that much . She didn’t need help from others to finish it . Jimin was just being a bit wicked in ordering Chelsea around .

“Did something bad happen?”

Chelsea placed the coffee cup in front of Jimin and asked the question as she drank her own cup of coffee .

“No . It’s nothing like that . ”

Jimin placed her handphone on her desk .

“Mr . Sungyoon isn’t spending any money . ”

“Money?”

“Yes . As you know, my company is making a good amount of money now, thanks to Mr . Sungyoon . But since he can no longer receive help from the Support Center, I opened an account for him to spend on food and lodging . However, he hasn’t used the card at all . ”

Of course, the account didn’t have enough money for Sungyoon to live in luxury . However, it was enough for him to rent a decent room for his stay in Armstrong . It was enough for the man to fill his stomach with bread and sausages . Most companies provided this level of support to their Connectors . Of course, the bigger companies provided much more to the higher-ranking Connectors . The really rich Connectors didn’t even bother with the companies . They just used their money to live the high life on the moon .

“He’s a notorious penny pincher . It probably galls him to spend that money . ”

When it came to Shinhae, Sungyoon’s wallet was wide open . He didn’t hesitate in spending when it came to her . However, Sungyoon was really strict when it came to spending on himself . Chelsea remembered he had always looked like a beggar on the moon .

‘It means it was an extremely kind gesture for him to buy me coffee in the past . ’

She thought about the coffee he had bought her during the incident with Nicholas . She, once again, felt her good feeling towards Sungyoon rise .

“I think you are right . There is also the debt that he owes me . He probably sees it as a waste to spend that money . ”

Jimin grumbled . He was needlessly being considerate towards her when it came to money .

When the next time he came back to earth, she decided to give him a piece of her mind . She would somehow make him spend that money . Jimin firmed her resolve . It happened when she was about to pick up her coffee cup .

Crack!

“Kyahhh!”

The coffee cup suddenly cracked and broke apart, and the hot coffee and the broken fragments of the cup spread all over the desk . The steaming coffee dripped off the desk to the floor . Jimin quickly got up from her seat .

“Are you ok, Jimin?”

Chelsea quickly approached her friend, who calmed herself by placing a hand over her surprised heart . Jimin nodded .

“I’m fine . ”

Fortunately, she wasn’t hurt . Chelsea let out a sigh of relief when she realized Jimin was unhurt . However, Jimin’s eyes remained tense .

This was just bad luck . She just had to wipe away the coffee and collect the broken fragments of the cup . However, her heart remained uneasy . This was a small accident . She would forget this happened in a couple of days .

But she didn’t know why, she had an ominous feeling . Her heart started beating fast in a foreboding manner . It unnerved her .

* * *

Tuh-buhk!

The dust had piled up like snow on the surface of the moon, and new footprints had appeared on top of it . Aside from the survey party that had made a quick survey of this location, Sungyoon was the only one frequenting the labyrinth called H-023 . However, another person’s shadow fell across the entrance of the labyrinth .

‘I guess this is the place . ’

His destination was Woo Sungyoon’s labyrinth . Soobin’s eyes narrowed .

His gaze headed towards the Moon Surface Vehicle parked in front of the labyrinth . He had been thrown away by his company, so he hadn’t even been assigned a Personal Labyrinth . Even if it was a used vehicle, this 1st Gen, Sungyoon, was driving around a Moon Surface Vehicle . Soobin felt jealousy sprout in his heart again .

He checked the interior of the vehicle . It was empty .

‘He must be inside the labyrinth . ’

Thankfully, they hadn’t missed each other .

Crunch!

He summoned his halberd and destroyed the wheels of the Moon Surface Vehicle .

‘Just in case . . . ’

The masked man had said that he would erase all evidence after the deed was done . However, Soobin wanted to make sure he destroyed all escape routes .

Soobin slowly entered the labyrinth . He had never been in a labyrinth other than the Beginner’s Labyrinth . However, his footsteps were confident . He wasn’t afraid at all . There was no need for him to be afraid .

The power he had acquired was that amazing .

He activated his Gems . A helmet and an armor appeared on his body, and his body overflowed with strength . He readjusted his grip on his halberd as he looked at his surroundings .

The space beyond the entrance was incredibly large . A gentle slope extended from the entrance to the inside of the labyrinth . Soobin leisurely looked at his surroundings as he moved deeper into the labyrinth .

He came to a fork in the road . Soobin rubbed his chin as he became absorbed in his thoughts .

‘We might miss each other, so I should probably wait for him here . ’

He smirked as he looked at the arrow placed on the surface of the wall . As he looked around to see if there was any place to sit, his gaze chanced upon a pair of red eyes observing him .

‘Mad Dog . ’

It was a basic monster that could be found in the Beginner’s Labyrinth . It seemed they existed in this labyrinth too .

The Mad Dog revealed its teeth as it growled . It was clearly making threatening gestures towards Soobin, but he only snorted in derision .

-Koo-ah!

The Mad Dog revealed its sharp teeth as it charged towards its prey .

In the past, even a single Mad Dog had made him nervous, as there was a chance that he could die . He had been so careful when he hunted this monster . His past self looked dumb and foolish .

However, he was different now . His body was overflowing with power, like the time when he had just awakened . It felt as if all the nerves in his body were firing .

The Mad Dog jumped towards Soobin’s neck .

Suh-guhk!

A silver light split the air . The halberd was swung parallel to the floor, and the Mad Dog was cut in half in mid-air .

Chwahhhk!

The Mad Dog fell to the floor . The two severed pieces of its body fell far from each other, and blood and innards fell to the floor like rain .

A person with a weak stomach would turn away from such a sight . However, Soobin didn’t show any emotion as he looked at the corpse of the Mad Dog .

Something odd happened at that moment .

Soo-roo!

The blood from the Mad Dog’s body flowed out and moved as if it had sentience . In the beginning, the two blobs of blood looked wary of each other, but in the end, they merged into one .

It was an extremely bizarre sight .

Chwahk!

The blood, which had been crawling across the surface of the floor, suddenly shot into the air . It was sucked into a single location .

A circular necklace, 10 cm in diameter, hung on Soobin’s chest . The Blood Gem was slotted in the middle, and it was greedily sucking in the blood .

‘It is as the name suggests . It is a Blood Gem . ’

Soobin had a broad smile on his lips as he watched the odd and frightening event . He didn’t care if this Gem was odd or not .

There was only one thing that was important to him . This Gem would bring him future success .

Also, it would bring him joy .

Soobin sat cross-legged on top of an extruding rock wall . He was going to leisurely wait for Sungyoon .

His eyes were filled with anticipation .