Moon's Labyrinths

After resting to his heart’s content on Earth, Sungyoon was slowly getting ready to return to the Moon . This was when he received a welcoming call .

[It has been a while, Mr . Sungyoon . ]

A hearty and familiar voice came from the other side of the handphone .

When the call came, Sungyoon had been in the middle of playing a board game with Shinhae . He paused playing the game . His daughter pouted when her playtime with him had been interrupted . He stroked her head once and then pressed the handphone closer to his ear .

“It has indeed been a while, Mr . Tim . ”

The person calling was Sungyoon’s ex-party member . As of late, Tim’s stock had been rapidly rising in Sungyoon’s heart . So, Sungyoon’s voice softened a little bit .

“How have you been?”

He queried .

[Well, I’m doing pretty good . What about you, Mr . Sungyoon?]

‘Did something happen?’

Unlike his own words, Sungyoon could discern negative emotions mixed in with Tim’s words . However, he decided not to be nosy .

“I’m also doing pretty good . ”

He had experienced Soobin’s rampage . He had also gained the disastrous experience of partying with other 1st Gens . Of course, it was a lie to say everything was going well . However, Sungyoon just moved past that subject .

For a short time, they exchanged small talk . However, it didn’t last that long .

[I have a request, Mr . Sungyoon . Would you like to party with us? It’ll probably be for two months . ]

Party . He was sick and tired of that word . But when Tim spoke about it, it was an entirely different scenario . The clearing of his own labyrinth might become delayed, but the Ross siblings and Sungyoon had promised to raid the Great Labyrinth in the future . If it were for them, he could delay clearing his labyrinth for two months . In the past, he had been ambivalent when the Ross siblings suggested that they all raid the Great Labyrinth together . However, he had experienced the dysfunction that could happen within a party . So, he didn’t want to lose the Ross siblings . He wanted them as his party members . He would consider these two months as an investment opportunity . The Ross siblings were worth it . No, he must do this .

“Of course . ”

He didn’t hesitate in giving the answer .

“So, what happened? It isn’t as if your company doesn’t have Connectors that could raid with you . ”

If it took two months, it wasn’t going to be raiding the Beginner’s Labyrinth . It meant Tim planned on raiding a Personal Labyrinth . However, a company normally provided the party members unless it was a very small one like Sungyoon’s company .

[Ah . That is . . . ]

Tim trailed off at the end .

‘Is this the reason why he is in a bad mood?’

He could discern negative emotions mixed in with Tim’s voice, and it seemed Sungyoon had gotten a glimpse of the source .

Tim started to vent to Sungyoon .

[I was assigned my mother’s labyrinth . ]

“Congratulations . ”

He knew how much the Ross siblings loved and respected their mother, so he gave his congratulations .

[Thank you! That is why I want to clear my mother’s labyrinth once again . It is a lower rank labyrinth, so no one in my company wants to accompany us . Moreover, our company doesn’t want us to waste time clearing it . We are setting aside these two months to clear it by using our vacation time . ]

It seemed another conflict had occurred between the Ross siblings and their company .

“I see . If that’s the case, I’ll help out . When and where should we meet?”

[... are you sure you are ok with this?]

When Sungyoon agreed to it so easily, Tim checked if it really was ok . Even when they were in the same party, Sungyoon had kept a distance from them . Although they planned on raiding the Great Labyrinth together in the future, he called thinking there was a high chance that Sungyoon would turn him down . Moreover, Sungyoon was probably busy clearing his own labyrinth .

However, Sungyoon felt entirely different from before .

“Yes, it’s fine . ”

[Thank you very much!]

Tim sounded happy .

Afterward, Tim gave the date and location of the meeting . Then they said their goodbyes, and the call ended .

“Are you done?”

Shinhae had been rolling around the dice with a bored look in her eyes . She perked up when she saw her father end the call .

“Yes . ”

“Who was it?”

“Do you remember the bear ahjussi?”

Bear ahjussi . After meeting Tim on the moon, she had given this nickname to Tim . It seemed his large stature and height had left a deep impression on her .

“Yes . It was that ahjussi?”

“Yes . ”

“I see . ”

Shinhae nodded . However, her interest ended there . She was more interested in the board game that they had pushed aside for a brief moment .

“It’s dad’s turn . ”

Shinhae handed the pair of dice to Sugyoon, and her eyes twinkled once again . Sungyoon smiled as he did what she wanted and threw the pair of dice .

Their play time resumed .

* * *

Sungyoon returned to the Moon once again . He still had some time left before the meeting with the Ross siblings . This was why he decided to hunt in his own labyrinth . He wanted to test out his new equipment .

Many Moon Surface Vehicles were parked outside in a disorderly manner . It was Armstrong’s parking lot, yet it didn’t look like one . Sungyoon headed towards his vehicle and entered it . Usually, he would go straight to the driver’s seat and start his vehicle . However, this time, he had something else to do . He went into his living space .

The thing he had to do was to check the new Devices and Gems acquired from Nicholas .

‘Let’s check the Devices first . ’

He had acquired two new Devices .

The first one was a metallic vambrace that covered half of his forearm . The slots were engraved next to each other . Since the surface area of the vambrace was larger than the bracelet, 20 slots were available on the Device . Five could slot Red rank Gems, and the rest could slot Orange rank Gems . Just by looking at this, one could guess how high in level Nicholas was as a Connector .

‘He was a highly regarded prospect . He would have needed only two or three more years to be qualified to enter the Great Labyrinth . He messed up his entire life just to kill me . Jeez!’

Sungyoon shook his head from side to side .

He welcomed the vambrace type Device . He was starting to think the numerous bracelet type Devices were getting irritating to wear . When he equipped his vambrace, he could equip most of his Gems . So, he could put all other Devices inside the storage Gem .

He turned his eyes towards the second Device . Its shape was the same as the other numerous bracelet-type Devices he possessed, and it only had four slots . However, Sungyoon’s eyes shone when he saw it .

‘White slot . ’

A white hexagonal slot was shining . Now, he could equip his special-ability White rank Gem . The other slots on the Device were one Black rank slot and two Red rank slots .

‘I can’t believe I got this at such an opportune time . ’

In this aspect, his luck as a Connector wasn’t all bad . Of course, if he considered his life as a whole, he couldn’t say he was lucky .

Sungyoon immediately picked up a Gem . It was the White rank Gem given to him by Hyunwoo . He put it in the slot and activated it .

‘This is . . . !’

Sungyoon’s eyes turned round .

‘... there really are a lot of unusual special-ability Gems . ’

He lightly brushed his hair to the side . However, his eyes remained rooted on the White Gem .

It was another Gem capable of evolving a Gem . Of course, Sungyoon already had a similar Gem, the Yellow rank Gem . But, the White Gem worked a little bit differently .

‘It is capable of raising only one Gem to its current rank . ’

If he thought about it, it was a very useful Gem . Connectors belonging to small companies had to use whatever Gems dropped . But, this Gem would allow a connector to raise any type of Gem to White rank with its ability .

‘Which one should I raise in rank?’

Sungyoon thought about all the Gems he possessed .

He had a lot now . He had started out with four, but now he had more than 20 Gems .

First, he thought about his weapons, shield, and armors . The physical ability Gems and magic Gems would also make good candidates . However, Sungyoon gave up on them in short order .

‘Even if I raise a Gem to White rank, I have only one slot capable of equipping a special-ability White rank Gem . ’

So if one of those Gems evolved to the White Rank, it would become a Gem that he couldn’t use . This meant his choice became limited to other special ability Gems .

Sungyoon made his choice and picked a Gem .

‘It’ll take a long time, but it would be best if I can raise other Gems in rank . ’

He chose the Gem that could allow him to raise the rank of Gems equipped on the same Device as the special-ability Yellow Gem . He decided to raise the rank of his evolution Gem .

Sungyoon grasped the evolution Gem .

‘Activate . ’

As if it was always on standby, the White Gem had been letting out a subdued white light . However, the light turned bright in an instant . Sungyoon didn’t even blink an eye as he looked down at his fist within the light .

The light disappeared .

Pah-jeek!

The White Gem equipped in his bracelet broke apart as it crumbled into fragments . Soon, the fragments turned into dust and disappeared from this world .

Sungyoon slowly opened his hand .

The original Gem used to give off a yellow light, but now, it had shed its old color . It was letting out a white light . It would take him a very long time to raise the Gems to the same rank as the White evolution Gem . He would have to work hard, but at the very least, he had gained the ability to evolve any Gem to White rank over time .

‘Let’s check the other Gems this time . ’

He had acquired a total of five Gems from Nicholas . Two were Red rank Gems and three were Orange rank Gems . The Red rank Gems were weapon and shield Gems . The Orange rank Gems consisted of an armor, an attack magic, and a support magic Gem .

Sungyoon activated the weapon, shield, and armor Gems all at the same time .

Ssssk!

The equipment surrounded Sungyoon’s body .

He checked the weapon first . It was a massive double-bladed battle-ax . The sharp blades were semilunar in shape, and they looked capable of ruthlessly ripping through an enemy .

The shield was a steel kite shield with a sharp tip at the bottom . It felt sturdy and well-made .

The armor was hard steel boots . It was a type of armor that Sungyoon didn’t possess . With that, he could ruthlessly step on monsters that tried to bite his ankles .

Sungyoon really liked all three Gems .

With a satisfied expression on his face, he tried to activate the attack magic Gem . Of course, he didn’t set a target . He just needed information .

‘It is Earth magic . ’

The spell shot sharp spikes from the earth to skewer the enemies . He wondered if this spell could destabilize the floor of the labyrinth . But, he had never heard of such a thing happening in a labyrinth before .

‘It is because the labyrinths are a special existence . ’

Next, he looked at his support magic Gem . By activating this Gem, he could greatly increase his dynamic visual acuity . It would be very useful against monsters with high speed and agility .

He was finally done checking all his Devices and Gems .

Sungyoon got up and headed towards the driver’s seat . He had gained the general knowledge on his Gems . Now he just had to use them in live battle to make them completely his .

He pressed down on the accelerator, heading towards his labryinth .

* * *

Quite some time had passsed since he last entered this labyrinth . It was still gloomy . Sungyoon carefully looked at his surroundings as he walked forward .

Thanks to the vambrace type Device, he could cut back on the number of bracelets that he had to wear . Wearing so many bracelets had been annoying . Sometimes, he felt as if he was wearing manacles . So, he really like his current state where he wore one necklace, one vambrace, and three bracelets . That was it .

He thought he had been pretty thorough in clearing the 1st floor . However, he could still see a good number of monsters . Either they had migrated from the 2nd floor, or they had been hiding somehwere .

However, Sungyoon didn’t care . In fact, this was good for him as he had to evaluate his Gems .

-Koo-roo-roo-roo! Kuhng!

The Mad Dog was like the neighborhood dog . He almost felt friendly towards it . But as the Mad Dog rushed at him, Sungyoon took out Soobin’s halberd .

It had a long reach . Moreover, the head possessed an ax blade, a spear blade, and a hook . It looked like a weapon he could trust .

Hoo-oong!

He decided to just swing and see what happened . Five strength-enhancing Gems were powering him . His strength had been increased by 24 times . The Red-rank halberd cut through the air in a terrifying manner .

Suh-guhk!

The ax-blade easily cut the Mad Dog into two .