Moon's Labyrinths

Tim searched Mrs . Ross’ pocket .

“It should be around here somewhere . ”

“What are you looking for”

“I’m looking for mother’s diary entries . You know she normally used to write short notes in the labyrinth and add texture to the story later after returning to earth . She had probably written notes about her time up here . It might give us a clue about her death . ”

He found nothing in the left pocket . So, he checked the right pocket this time, but this was his dead mother’s corpse, so he remained careful and respectful in his search .

“... I found it . ”

Tim brought out a piece of paper . It had been folded several times, and it had become a bit crumpled . He carefully opened it up . Sungyoon and Emily also looked at the paper .

The words were written in elegant cursive writing .

There were actually several pages of paper . Tim’s eyes quickly moved through them as he read the content .

“Most of the information is unimportant . ”

He flipped through several pages as he spoke in an off-handed manner . However, an extreme longing was evident in his voice . The papers contained accounts of the mundane events that daily occurred in his mother’s life, including how much she missed her family . He felt himself choke up . He was close to crying once again . Emily, who was reading along next to him, was also on the verge of shedding tears . However, Tim pressed down on the urge and continued reading .

His eyes moved busily, but they came to a stop at a certain passage . He started to read the entry out loud from that point on .

[I finally descended onto the 8th floor . It was a boring place . Even the strongest monsters were just Orcs . However, I returned to the place where I stumbled upon an open space behind a large boulder . It was very interesting . A doorway was buried within the labyrinth wall . Who could’ve imagined such a thing existed?]

“Eighth floor? Didn’t we fall from the 7th floor?”

“It seems there is another point of entry . ”

Emily and Sungyoon conversed with each other . Tim continued to read the entries .

[When I found it, I told no one . I plan on telling others at a later date . I have found something new and exciting . I want to monopolize the happiness that comes with finding something new . Ah! I wonder what kind of a world is behind this door? I feel the same excitement I felt when I entered a labyrinth for the very first time . It feels as if my unbeating heart is racing . ]

Tim folded the papers .

“Her notes end there . ”

“It seems your mother was very adventurous . ”

Tim let out a bitter laugh at Sungyoon’s words .

“She was unbelievably adventurous . ”

However, her adventurous spirit had led her to make a bad decision .

Tim slowly put the papers away .

“Fortunately, there is another exit . Unfortunately, it doesn’t say why our mother died . I guess she didn’t have the time to write another entry . ”

This was the last entry in his mother’s notes, so he felt very sad . However, his sadness was premature .

“... what is this?”

Emily found something in the left hand of Mrs . Ross, who was holding tightly to it . Tim immediately crouched on the left side of his mother and carefully pried open her finger . A page fell out .

“... it is the next entry . ”

Tim’s eyes shone . This crumpled piece of paper didn’t have words written in elegant cursive . One could tell that the words were written in desperation, and his mother had crammed as many words on the page as she could . Blood had dripped onto the paper, telling as to what kind of situation she was in when writing this entry .

Tim immediately started reading .

[I was wrong . I forgot that a labyrinth isn’t a place that you explore because you feel adventurous . I’m going to die soon . I took too many fatal wounds . My healing magic is all used up, and I can’t do anything about these wounds . ]

A melancholy scent of death emanated from her words . Tim’s voice shook a bit as he read the letter . However, he firmed his resolve and continued .

[I had opened the door and entered this new space . The magical energy was thin, but I did not think it was some secret space . It looked like a naturally occurring cave underneath the moon . My sight had worsened due to the thinned out magical energy, and I met no monsters . I explored the region around the door, but what I saw disappointed me . However, it appeared at that moment . ]

The three of them instinctively knew what ‘it’ was referring to .

[A Mana Stream suddenly erupted, and something looking like a large robot appeared . While I was taken aback, it started to block the only exit by forming rock and earth over the door . The only entrance was being sealed up, so I attacked it . But its battle capability was beyond my imagination . ]

The sight of the Golem slaughtering the Goblins with overwhelming force flashed through their heads .

[I was having a hard time hitting it, and when I did hit it, all my attacks were rebuffed . On the other hand, each of its attacks was terrifyingly powerful . In the end, I had to run away . But it chased after me . I thought it was going to catch up and kill me in an instant . However, as time passed, it started to weaken for some reason . ]

‘It weakened?’

Sungyoon’s eyes shone . He became interested when he realized he might be able to find out the Golem’s weakness .

[Its speed, defense, and offense noticeably suffered as it chased me . I came to a decision that I couldn’t run forever . When I thought it became sufficiently weakened, I risked it all and faced it head-on . I barely defeated it . ]

‘As expected, Mrs . Ross was the one that defeated the Golem . ’

They were able to confirm that the signs of battle left behind in this region came from the fight between the Golem and Mrs . Ross . Sungyoon let out a sigh of relief when he realized there was nothing left behind here that would ambush them .

[Still, I have received too many large wounds . I can feel my life bleeding out of me . I tried to get back to the door, but this is as far as I can go . ]

Tim stopped reading for a brief moment . His eyes shook . But he took a deep breath and started to read the rest .

[If someone is reading this, I’ll give you all the rights to my Gems, Devices, and moonstones . So please grant me this one request . My children will be shocked when they hear the news of my death . Please deliver these words to them . Mom . . . really . . . loved . . both . . of . . you . ]

In the end, Tim sobbed as he read out loud his mother’s final words . Emily stood next to him, and she wiped away the tears that showed no signs of stopping .

Sungyoon waited for them to pick up the pieces of their heart .

Soon, Tim’s tears stopped . He moved deliberately as he folded the page in his hands and put it away .

“Fortunately, there’s nothing here that’ll threaten us . ”

Tim rubbed at his red eyes as he stood up . He looked down at his mother’s corpse before turning towards Sungyoon .

“I’m sorry to ask this of you, Mr . Sungyoon . May you store away my mother’s body?”

He was asking him to put the body into the storage Gem . It was theorized that the items inside the storage Gem did not interact with each other, yet some might feel reticent about storing a corpse inside the Gem . This was why Tim was careful with his request .

However, Sungyoon willingly consented to it .

“Of course . It’s the least I can do for both of you . ”

“Thank you very much . ”

Tim started to take his mother’s Devices and Gems . As expected of an outstanding Connector, she possessed very high-rank Gems . It seemed her reputation was well-founded . Most of her Gems were high-rank Rainbow rank Gems, and Sungyoon could occasionally see B&W Gems too .

“We don’t know what might happen . We have to increase our battle capability now . ”

As he mumbled those words, Tim looked towards Sungyoon .

“Do you have any preference on which Gem you want, Mr . Sungyoon?”

It seemed Tim planned on giving Sungyoon a high-rank Gem or a Device . But Sungyoon shook his head from side to side .

“I’m fine . These are the keepsakes from your mother . It is right for both of you to have it all . ”

“No . Even if she’s our mother, it is a case where we found a neglected corpse in a labyrinth . There is a reward given to those that bring the body, Devices, and Gems to the family of the deceased or the company . Of course, we are the bereaved family, but you were also one of the people who found the body . We have to give compensation to you . ”

That really was the case . Sungyoon had found a corpse in the Beginner’s Labyrinth before, and he had returned the Connector’s Devices and Gems, receiving compensation after . But he once again shook his head from side to side .

“Even if that is true, I’m fine . We aren’t talking about a stranger . These are the keepsakes of your mother, and I don’t feel right taking them . ”

He really felt that way . Moreover, this would allow the two siblings to acquire high-rank Gems and Devices . It would speed up their timetable to enter into the Great Labyrinth . That was in his calculation too . If he thought about the Great Labyrinth’s level of difficulty, he wouldn’t be the only one that needed to get powerful . The siblings had to get stronger too . Moreover, he had a Gem that could evolve other Gems to White rank . So he wasn’t too desperate to acquire Gems below White rank . All of these factors had an influence on his decision .

“Still, we will feel bad if you refuse . ”

However, Tim continued to insist .

“If you are adamant about this, just give me a couple low-rank Gems you don’t need . That is enough for me . ”

Sungyoon gave ground a little bit . If he could evolve a couple of the low-rank Gems, they might be usable in the future . However, the Ross siblings didn’t sound too satisfied with that suggestion either .

‘What should we do?’

Tim eyed Emily . In truth, he was really thankful that Sungyoon had given such a proposal . It was as Sungyoon had said . These Devices and Gems were the keepsakes of their mother . If he had his way, he wanted to keep them all . However, he couldn’t do that as he would feel bad towards Sungyoon .

Emily’s head worked furiously, and soon, she came up with an idea .

“So, you are saying you won’t take the Devices and Gems because they are keepsakes of our mother?”

“Yes . ”

“Alright . We’ll take all the Devices and Gems . Thank you very much for conceding your rights to them . ”

“Emily?”

He never expected her to accept the rights to all the Devices and Gems so easily . Tim was taken aback . But, his sister wasn’t done yet .

“However, we have to give up rights to something that is of equal value to what we got . ”

“As I’ve said before, you just have to give me a couple of low-rank Gems . ”

“No . That would create an imbalance . ”

Emily looked at Tim .

“That is why we’ll give up all our rights to the Golem we found earlier . We’ll let him have it . Do you have any complaints, Tim?”

“... Golem?”

In the beginning, he didn’t understand what she was talking about, so he asked back . However, it didn’t take him too long to get her meaning .

Sungyoon’s storage Gem held the Golem, and since the three of them had found it, all three of them held shared rights to it . But Emily was talking about handing full rights to Sungyoon right now .

“Ah . I see! I have no problem with that! Mmm! Of course!”

He nodded so vigorously that it could make one wonder if he’d dislocate his neck . Since the other right holder had given the go-ahead, there would be no problem in doing this . Emily spoke .

“It is as you’ve heard, Mr . Sungyoon . We’ll hand over the Golem to you . ”

Sungyoon looked at her .

It was obvious to everyone that the Golem was very precious . The reward for bringing it back would be significant . It might be worth more than most Gems and Devices, yet there wasn’t an ounce of hesitation within Emily .

“For your information, we won’t budge from this offer . ”

Her usual introverted and reserved personality was nowhere to be seen . She looked straight into his eyes .

Sungyoon let out a small sigh .

“It seems you won’t budge no matter what I say . Understood . I’ll take possession of the Golem . ”

‘Will Ms . Chelsea like it if I give this to her?’

The only researcher he knew was Chelsea . Sungyoon thought about the various scenarios that’d allow him to take full advantage of owning a Golem .

“Thank you very much . ”

Emily laughed when the negotiation came to an end in a satisfied manner . Sungyoon could only laugh with her .

The little fight had been started because they were looking out for each other . When that fight came to an end, Tim and Emily started to divide Mrs . Ross’ Devices and Gems . Fortunately, they were capable of activating all the Gems they acquired .

Tim swung his new single-edged ax . It was a White rank weapon . This weapon was probably the one that had created the wounds on the Golem, which had deflected Sungyoon’s halberd with impunity . One needed at least a B&W weapon to pierce through the Golem’s defense .

When he took a careful look, it seemed Mrs . Ross’s Gems were heavily geared towards close-ranged fighting and healing .

‘This is why Mr . Tim and Ms . Emily’s Gems are specialized in those directions too . ’

He guessed it was their mother’s battle style to fight in the frontline . She fought up close while she healed herself .

The three of them looked at the body of Mrs . Ross . Then, Sungyoon bent down on one knee and placed his hand on the corpse . Slightly lowering his head, he then activated his Gem .

Ssssk!

The corpse disappeared .

“Shall we go now?”

Complicated emotions appeared in Tim’s eyes as he stared at the storage Gem . However, they only lasted for a brief moment .

They had made many discoveries and gained much in this strange place . The party once again moved to escape this place .