Moon's Labyrinth

His comrades blinked their eyes before they laughed a little bit .

Sungyoon put down his sword and shield . He flopped down to the ground .

“Uh, Mr . Sungyoon? Grenoid should be awakening soon . ”

Tim sounded surprised, but Sungyoon was very nonchalant in his actions .

“Why does that matter? It isn’t as if he is right in front of us . We’ll keep our guard up, but even if we miss the revival, others will alert us . There are a lot of people monitoring the situation right now . ”

Other Connectors were stationed at various locations . There were even cameras installed, and the satellite in orbit continued to monitor this location .

His party members looked at each other before they followed Sungyoon . They hesitated as they sat down . However, none of them spoke . Their eyes kept moving to monitor their surroundings .

“I plan on going on a trip with my family . ”

Sungyoon was the first one to speak .

His comrades were still on edge as they kept their guard up, but they started to focus more and more on Sungyoon’s story .

“Since it has been very eventful these days, I haven’t done many activities with my family . I cannot recall the last time when I went out to play with Shinhae . ”

This topic was of great concern to Sungyoon .

“If I think about it, I never went on a proper trip with my wife after my remarriage . This time I’m going to go all out on that trip . Moreover, Shinhae will be entering elementary school soon, so it’ll double as a celebration for that event . ”

Sungyoon imagined an excited Shinhae going to elementary school with the backpack that he had bought for her . A smile formed on his lips without realizing it .

“Mr . Sungyoon really loves Shinhae . ”

As always, it was apparent to everyone that Sungyoon was a very loving parent towards his daughter .

Grace let out a bitter laughter .

“You are right . I’m thinking about staying with my family . It has been a while since I spent an extended amount of time with them . ”

Grace was wise . She realized what Sungyoon was trying to do, so she spoke up after him .

“I’m a bad daughter, who always makes my parents worry about me . At the very least, I should spend several days with my parents . Also, my grandmother really wants to spoil me when I get back . ”

“Won’t you have to participate in a lot of parties, Ms . Grace?”

Grace crinkled her face a bit .

“I usually turn down most of the invites, but I’ll have to go to several when all of this is done . ”

It was as if Grace had a great idea . She laughed as she looked towards Sungyoon .

“How about it, Mr . Sungyoon? Would you like to go to a party as my partner? Everyone will really like that . ”

He was taken aback by her counter-question . Sungyoon could only blink his eyes .

“I don’t think it is a place for someone like me . ”

It was a party in a foreign land, and Sungyoon couldn’t escape the mentality of being a normal Korean man .

Moreover, Grace would be participating in parties where only London’s high society participated in .

Even if he had Grace’s invite, he felt a bit uncomfortable going to such parties .

“Currently, there is no one on Earth that thinks Mr . Sungyoon is unqualified to attend such parties . In fact, they’ll probably trip over each other to invite you to their party . ”

Still, he was showing reluctance to going to such parties . This was why Grace used the magic word .

“You should meet a lot of people at these parties to broaden your horizon . You should start establishing connections . Also, wouldn’t it be a great experience for Shinhae?”

“…I’ll ask Shinhae if she wants to go . ”

As always, the magic word worked all the time . Grace sounded satisfied as she laughed .

Before Sungyoon could change his mind, Grace quickly turned her attention to Tim and Emily .

“I’ll invite the two of you too . You should definitely come with Mr . Sungyoon . Now that’s out of the way, what would the two of you like to do when all of this is done?”

The first one to answer was Tim .

“I would like to get married . ”

“Now that I think about it, you are dating several women . ”

“Yes . They are good people . However, I’ll postpone it until a much later date . When everything ends, I would like to rest . I want to eat and sleep . ”

Everyone agreed with Tim’s sentiment .

In truth, Sungyoon’s party had been working excessively in recent days .

It was as if Grenoid and the monsters would pull back, because the Connectors were getting worn down .

Even if they discounted the physical hardship that they went through, a lot of stress had accumulated for the Connectors .

“I see . I probably won’t leave home for a while when this ends . ”

“Me too . ”

Sungyoon and Grace spoke up .

When Tim’s turn came to an end, everyone naturally turned to look at Emily .

She became lost in thought for a brief moment before she spoke up .

“I have nothing in mind right now . If I do have a wish, I would like to spend time like this with all of you . ”

There was a small twinkle in her eyes .

“Even after all of this done, I hope we can continue to spent time together like this . I hope we can continue to hunt monsters as a party . After the hunt is done, we would laugh and cry as always . I want to go on trips with all of you sometimes . ”

“You want a peaceful daily routine again . Yes . I would be happy with that . ”

It would be boring everyday life stuff for them, but it would be a return to the happiest parts of their lives .

As someone who lived a roller coaster of a life, Emily’s words touched Sungyoon’s heart more than ever .

Afterward, they started several more conversations, and at times, they even laughed .

Thankfully, everything occurred as Sungyoon had intended .

“It seems we are less nervous now . ”

“Yes . When I look back on it, we were too stiff . How could we have fought properly in such a state?”

Tim made exaggerated movements to show that he was feeling better .

“Since we are fighting the mother of all battles soon, it can’t be helped . Still, I am thankful that we are looser now . We are slowly getting close to the promised time . ”

Sungyoon looked down . He focused his attention on the center of the crater where there was a flat surface .

The nearby magical energy was buzzing . It sounded like the chant of slaves praising the descent of their owner . At the same time, it sounded like prey nervously crying when a natural enemy shows up .

“Is he coming?”

Grace gripped her staff as she stood up .

Tim and Emily quickly stood up too . Sungyoon observed their faces .

‘Thankfully, they aren’t behaving like before . ’

They were nervous, but they weren’t paralyzed from being nervous unlike before .

There was an appropriate amount of nervousness that would help them in their future battle .

He no longer needed to work so hard to keep them loose .

‘Let’s focus on the battle now . ’

Sungyoon picked up his sword and shield once again, then his sharp eyes looked towards the plain below .

The magical energy started to move in a raucous manner . Each movement amplified the magical energy, and in a flash, the quantity of magical energy in the surrounding became amplified .

It was an oppressive feeling where a massive amount of energy was moving all at once . Connectors, who were able to feel the magical energy, became on edge to the extreme .

The magical energy gathered inside the crater . It was the location where Hyunwoo said Grenoid would revive .

At first, there was no order to the magical energy .

They moved in concert with each other, then they diverged . They clashed against each other then separated .

The only consistent part was the fact that the magical energy was swirling in a clockwise manner . It was like an enormous tornado, which wasn’t visible to the eyes, had formed in front of them .

“It is starting, mayor . ”

- Yes . I received the report already .

“How’s the cameras and communication devices?”

- The communication devices haven’t gone down, and all the cameras are streaming the footage with no problem .

The circulation of magical energy hadn’t bricked the electrical machines . However, the future was uncertain .

- I have no idea if they’ll function in the future . All electronics bricked inside the labyrinths . Please keep in mind that this transmission might cut out at any moment .

“Understood . ”

It happened when Sungyoon ended his call with the mayor .

Kwah-jeeek!

Something splitting open could be heard .

It was a very odd sound . It didn’t sound as if something physical was breaking open . It sounded like the scream of a soul that was caught in limbo .

No, it was unclear as to whether it was sound or not .

“Mr . Sungyoon . ”

“I’m seeing it . ”

As he answered Grace, he fixed his gaze on a certain location .

It was where the tornado of magical energy was the fiercest . It was letting its presence known .

At the center of the tornado, magical energy was absent . It was the eye of the tornado where magical energy danced around in a dizzying fashion .

A crack formed .

“Is that… Is he tearing the fabric of space?”

Tim’s eyes narrowed . It wasn’t as if his vision was obstructed . He narrowed his eyes because he was having a hard time believing what he was seeing .

It was as Tim had said . A crack formed in the air . It was unknown as to how this us possible . However, the tear in the fabric of space existed .

Sssk!

It was like watching the door to hell open, and something suddenly appeared from within the crack .

It was a hand .

The hand was incredibly large, and the fingers were very long . It had smooth white skin, and its skin was filled with black letters .

Tuhp!

The hand grabbed the edge of the crack .

Soon, another hand appeared to grab the other side .

Zzuh-zuh-zuh-zuhk!

In a flash, the crack expanded .

It was clear that the hands were forcefully ripping open the tear in space .

The tear kept expanding until it was as large as a building .

Then an enormous foot appeared from the dark space .

Koo-ooh-ooh-oong!

After exiting the crack, the foot landed on the surface of the Moon .

A large cloud of dust rose into the air . The foot was like the hands . It had white skins, but its skin was covered with dark letters that looked like tattoos .

Ooh-doo-doohk!

Weight was transferred through the white foot, and the ground screamed in protest .

Then a knee followed out afterward as the entire right leg was revealed .

Then the face was finally revealed .

Overall, the face was pretty plain and uninspiring . He had a sharp chin and no mouth .

His red eyes were so large that they covered ⅓ of his face . However, his large eyes weren’t disgusting at all .

They looked like glass beads . Some might consider them to be beautiful .

On either side of his head, he had horns that look like tree branches .

Tuh-uhk!

The left hand was placed on the ground .

His arms were so long that he just had to stoop a little for his palms to touch the ground .

He squirmed as he pulled his entire body out .

Ssssssssk!

After spitting out the being, the tear in the fabric of space started to close as if it knew its job was done . It quickly disappeared as it left behind no trace in the air .

Soon, the Moon regained its normal scenery .

The only thing out of place was the large white giant standing on the surface of the Moon .

“…is that Grenoid? He looks a bit different from what I imagined . ”

Tim sounded suspicious as he mumbled to himself .

When everyone imagined Grenoid, he had looked like a very ugly monster in their head .

It was to be expected since most of the monsters had looked ugly . As the leader of the monsters, they imagined Grenoid to look monstrous .

However, the giant in front of them looked only a little bit odd . In fact, he looked mysterious rather than monstrous .

Ssssk!

Grenoid straightened himself .

He looked similar in shape to a human . His long arms, which reached his ankles, swayed a bit as he looked at his surroundings .

He looked like a child looking for his mother in an unfamiliar place .

“Isn’t he acting a bit too calm to be the leader of the monsters?”

Emily sounded taken aback .

Sungyoon tapped his communication device .

“Can you hear me, mayor? The being, which we assume to be Grenoid, has appeared . ”

- Yes . We confirmed its presence .

Thankfully, their communication devices were fully functional .

- Are you sure that is Grenoid, Mr . Sungyoon?

It seemed none in the command center could make that call .

“It has to be, right? The only being to appear is that white being . If Mr . Hyunwoo was right, that is Grenoid . What should we do, mayor? Should we do as planned and attack it?”

As soon as Sungyoon asked if the plan was a go, Grenoid started moving .