Moon's Labyrinths

It had been awhile since Chelsea Strobe had left her research center . Normally, she would be cooped up in her dorm or her lab . It was atypical for her to go outside .

She carried a large paper bag in her arms as she lightly walked through the city . She looked around her surroundings . As expected, Armstrong city was crowded . If one showed this sight to someone ignorant of this place, the person wouldn’t think this was a city on the moon .

Wonderful clothes were on display in the shops, and the smell of delicious food captured Chelsea’s attention .

‘This is why I really hate leaving the research facility . ’

Chelsea grumbled to herself inside .

First, she was a talented woman chosen at a young age to work at an international research center managed directly under the UN . Her salary was high enough that she was envied by the other office workers .

The problem was the fact that Armstrong city boasted crazy prices on goods . Chelsea liked shopping, so she was having a hard time living in this environment . She had to stick to her rich friend, who came occasionally to the moon, to enjoy eating a single steak .

A Connector laughed with a prostitute in each arm, and they walked past her . Chelsea looked a bit envious of the prostitutes . She wasn’t jealous of the fact that they were able to sell their body like that . She was jealous of their clothing and lifestyle .

Chelsea didn’t like to wear only shabby clothes . She didn’t like her old fashioned glasses and unkempt hair . When she was on earth, she liked to wear make up and stylish clothes . However, on the moon, it was impossible for her to do that . Good clothes and cosmetics were too expensive up here . She also couldn’t bring them with her from earth . The price of the ticket rose by the weight of the luggage brought on board . There was a weight limit that had to be kept by the researchers . This was why transporting luxury goods on board was out of reach for her . As a result of not being able to doll herself up, she completely shut out the outside world and delved deep into her research .

The prostitutes were a different story . Basically, their appearance was their weapon, so even if it was expensive, they had to pay attention to their looks . That wasn’t all . They had to spend a great deal of money to maintain their skin and figure . Of course, this meant it was very pricey to book their services . However, the Lunar city of Armstrong was the only hub that gathered moonstones . The city was overflowing with people that could afford their expensive services . In fact, the stress of putting one’s life on the line to gather moonstones drove men to seek out these women more frequently . This was why the schedule of all the prostitutes were booked . The man, who had just passed by Chelsea, had held two very expensive prostitutes in his arms .

Chelsea inwardly let out a sigh .

There was another reason why she didn’t like going out . To make matters worse, the other reason was blocking her path .

“Oh? What the hell, miss? You are really beautiful . ”

She heard a sticky voice . It made the skin on her neck crawl . Chelsea let out a sigh as she looked at the person in front of her .

A man with a smarmy smile was blocking her path .

He was quite young . No, it was more proper to say that he looked quite young . He could be really young, middle-aged, or really old . All the Connectors looked like they were in their 20s . One had to be careful when guessing the age of Connectors .

He cut quite the figure . He had worn regular clothes, but he was wearing a lot of rings, earrings, and bracelets . However, not all his accessories were for show .

She saw Devices . From what she could see, he wore four Devices, and there were a total of 10 Gems . Moreover, one of the Gem was letting out a white light .

It seemed he was pretty high up in rank even among those that raided the Private labyrinths .

However, his presence was an annoyance to Chelsea .

“You aren’t a Connector . Are you a researcher? Ha ha . Awesome! Would you like to come have a drink with me? I’ll buy you something delicious . You probably don’t get to eat well on a researcher’s salary . ”

In his eyes, she looked like a prostitute that would sell her body for food . Chelsea’s insides boiled when she heard his words . She ignored him . She moved to the side, and she started walking again .

“Hey, hey . Are you trying to play hard to get? That’s cute . ”

The rude man followed after her . He discreetly tried to put a hand on her shoulder . Chelsea tried to slap away the hand . She used a lot of strength, yet the man’s hand barely budged . In fact, it made her hand hurt .

‘The damned body of Connectors!’

In the end, she dipped her shoulder to dodge him .

She had openly shown her dislike for him, yet the man seemed undaunted . Chelsea was taken aback . She had never seen someone so persistent .

“Huh? What is that?”

The man looked inside the paper bag being held by Chelsea .

“What the hell is this? Is this baked potatoes?”

The man began to laugh like crazy .

“Ha ha ha! What is this? Is this what you eat for a meal? I heard researchers live a pretty poor life on the moon . I guess it wasn’t an exaggeration!”

Chelsea’s eyes became cold . She didn’t show any signs of embarrassment at the man’s words . This idiot made fun of what they ate, but her fellow researchers were working hard to find new information regarding the moon and the labyrinths . Chelsea was proud of her work . His assessment of her occupation was shallow . The life of a researcher wasn’t that bad . The researchers worked at a prestigious international research center . They wouldn’t allow their researchers to live like bums . The baked potatoes were merely a part of her diet . She had chosen to eat it .

“Are you done laughing at my expense? Please get out of the way . ”

Chelsea held her chin up high as she spoke towards the man . She refused to be looked down by such a man .

“I’ll buy you good food . Come with me . ”

“I’m turning down your offer . If you have so much money, you should go buy a prostitute . I’m busy . I have work to do . ”

Chelsea once again moved past him .

Grab!

The man grabbed Chelsea’s wrist . The corners of her eyes rose in anger .

“What are you doing?”

Chelsea’s words were sharp . The man’s expression wasn’t good either . His face was distorted in anger .

“You think you can treat me like an idiot, because I was being nice to you!”

The man yelled out loud, and he was agitated . It seemed he planned on having his way with Chelsea through coercion .

‘Ah ah . Really . . . ’

Unlike the man’s intention, Chelsea didn’t become scared . She just felt her annoyance grow . She took out something from her coat . It was a crime prevention buzzer .

“If you don’t let go of me right now, I’ll call the police . Get the fuck away from me . ”

There were police on the moon . However, the man just snorted at the mention of the police .

“Police? Do you think I’m afraid of men armed with guns?”

‘Shit . This is why I hate Connectors, who are drunk on their own power . ’

Connectors were able to wield massive power on the moon . A gun might be as harmless as a firecracker to some of them . Still, guns weren’t the only tools that were available to the police . If they didn’t have other means of catching criminals, the Armstrong city would have devolved into a lawless city .

“Are you looking down on the police? If you plan on staying on the moon, you could do that . However, do you plan on never returning to earth?”

Finally, the man flinched at her words . He was able to wield his power in a ruthless manner, because he was being provided with a lot of magical energy from the labyrinths he entered . Moreover, his supply of magical energy was large, because he was on the moon . If he returned to earth, he would merely be slightly stronger than a regular human .

“If you have the guts to live on the moon for your whole life, you can ignore the police . You can continue to cause accidents . You can continue to do as you please, while being drunk on your own power . However, your company and the Lunar city will put a bounty out on you . Do you really want that?”

The man’s rough hand had been grabbing Chelsea’s wrist . Some strength left his hand .

He didn’t want to live full time on the moon . Moreover, a bounty on his head meant a certain death sentence . The Lunar city maintained peace by giving many incentives to companies and countries . To be precise, many incentives were given out by the countries invested in the Lunar city . One could gain much by capturing and turning in a criminal whether it be money or something other benefit .

Moreover, Connectors cherished the Lunar city . It was the only place where they could be at ease . This was why they didn’t like to see people squabble on the streets of the city . This was especially true for high ranking Connectors . They were able to live a comfortable life in Lunar city .

“They might kill you . However, if you are captured, you won’t be able to come up to the moon for a while . ”

It was the critical blow . As a Connector, one had to spend a certain amount of time on the moon to get rid of the tug one felt towards the moon . If he was deported to earth as a criminal, he would serve some time in jail . What would happen to him if he couldn’t come to the moon for a protracted period of time? He didn’t even want to think about such a possibility .

“Do you still want to continue this?”

Chelsea waved the crime prevention buzzer in front of him . Anger surged once again within him, yet he remembered Chelsea’s earlier words . He pressed down on his anger . He didn’t really need the reminder . People around him were starting to glare at him . This was especially true for the Connectors . It influenced his decision .

‘Shit!’

The man let go of Chelsea’s wrist in anger .

“Shit! Fuck off! I stepped in shit!”

Still, it seemed he wanted to leave with a scrap of pride left . He spat near Chelsea’s feet then he turned away .

“Stepped in shit? I should be the one saying that . ”

Chelsea was a woman known for her temper . She spoke in a sarcastic manner towards the man’s back . It seemed the man had heard Chelsea’s words . He turned his head around to glare at her . However, Chelsea didn’t even blink an eye . She just turned her back on him, and she went on her way . The man glared at Chelsea’s back for a while . However, he gained nothing from doing it . In fact, it just made him look like a sore loser . He once again let out a string of curses and started walking in the opposite direction of Chelsea .

“What an asshole!”

It had been awhile since she had come out, and she had the worst experience possible . She once again made complaints as she walked forward . She could have just slept in and taken it easy in her lab today . It was unfair, but her discontentment was mounting towards Sungyoon . He was the reason why she had come out to the city . However, she did her best to calm herself . Nothing good would come from venting her frustration out on him .

Her steps didn’t slow as she huffed in anger . Soon, she arrived in front of a building . The Korean flag was raised high on a flagpole . This was the support center for Korean Connectors . The people, who entered and exited this building, looked at Chelsea with odd eyes . She had foreign features, so it was clear that she wasn’t Korean . Her outer appearance was shabby, but her beauty shone through her shabbiness . This was why everyone was staring at her .

When she entered the support center, she walked straight towards the receptionist .

“Uh . What brings you here?”

She had shown up from nowhere, and she was clearly a foreigner . The receptionist was taken aback, and he asked the question in english . Fortunately, only the elites were sent to the support center on the moon . All staff were fluent in english, so communication wasn’t a problem .

She was able to speak a little bit of Korean thanks to Jimin . However, she preferred speaking in her native language . When the receptionist asked the question in English, she didn’t hesitate to answer in the same language .

“Is Mr . Woo Sungyoon here?”

“Mr . Woo Sungyoon?”

“Yes . If he is in, I would like to see him . ”

“Please wait a moment . ”

The receptionist typed into the computer in front of him .

“He is currently in his room . ”

‘Can that really be called a room?’

Chelsea had seen her own country’s dorm provided by the support center . She knew what those rooms were like, so she unconsciously let out a laugh . All support centers operated in the same manner . The rooms were like hibernation pods in spaceships . It was something seen in Space Opera tv shows . In her mind, she couldn’t call it a room .

However, that wasn’t important .

“That’s great . May I meet him?”

“I’ll try contacting him . Who should I say is looking for him?”

“Please tell him I’m a friend of Hahn Jimin . Tell him Chelsea Strobe is here to see him . ”

The receptionist nodded his head in acknowledgement, then he picked up the phone that was next to the computer .