Moon's Labyrinths

Sungyoon pushed the last piece of potato into his mouth, but it seemed that he still wanted more . He cleaned the crumbs around his lips and licked his fingers . He looked like a starved refugee at the end of the Korean War . He hadn’t been able to properly wash himself, and his clothes were unwashed too . He was filthy, and there was a considerable amount of stench coming off him . It reinforced the image of him looking like a refugee .

It seemed Sungyoon was thirsty . Sungyoon took out a little water bottle hanging at his waist, and he took a sip .

“Thank you for the food . ”

“You’re welcome . ”

Chelsea was a bit embarrassed . The potato was expensive on the moon . However, she had only brought it, because she was sick of it . But when she saw Sungyoon enjoy it so much, it poked at her conscience .

Sungyoon folded the paper bag, and he tried to put it in his pocket .

“Ah . It’s fine . I’ll throw it away for you . ”

Chelsea reached out, and she lightly held Sungyoon’s arm .

“Oohk!”

Sungyoon let out a single cry .

“Ah . I’m sorry!”

Chelsea quickly let go . However, she soon tilted her head in puzzlement .

‘It shouldn’t have hurt . ’

She had lightly grabbed Sungyoon’s arm . However, Sungyoon reacted in an exaggerated manner . He acted as if he was injured . A close friend might pull an injury prank like this . However, she didn’t have that kind of relationship with Sungyoon . Moreover, Sungyoon wasn’t someone that would joke around like that . It wasn’t in his personality .

That meant he was really in pain . Sungyoon’s expression indicated that he was in severe pain .

‘Is he injured?’

“Please stay still . ”

Chelsea grabbed Sungyoon’s sleeve, and she rolled it up . She caught sight of the poorly wrapped bandage around his elbow and arm . It was the bandage from Sungyoon’s first aid kit, which he had brought from earth .

“Are you hurt?”

“It’s nothing . The wound is already closing . It’ll probably get better by tomorrow . ”

Sungyoon downplayed his injury as he tried to roll down his sleeve . However, he failed, because Chelsea was holding tightly to his sleeve .

“How did you get hurt?”

Chelsea’s eyes busily moved between the bandage and Sungyoon’s face . There was clear worry on her face . She was suspicious of Sungyoon, but it didn’t mean she wouldn’t be affected when seeing someone else in pain . She wasn’t scummy like that .

“I took two needles from a Needle Hedgehog to my arm . ”

Sungyoon unexpectedly answered her without much fuss . He gave up the information, since he knew Chelsea would report his injury to Jimin . He was basically making a report to his boss . That was the intention behind answering Chelsea’s question .

“So... Will you be ok?”

Chelsea had lived a good amount of time on the moon, so she had picked up on some knowledge about the monsters . A Needle Hedgehog’s needle wasn’t fatal unless it pierced through a vital point . Since the needle had hit his arm, he would recover in a day .

“Are you hurt anywhere else?”

“No . ”

Chelsea looked on with a bit of suspicion in her eyes . Her attitude said that she wouldn’t tolerate any lies . However, Sungyoon didn’t turn away from her gaze . He received her scrutiny with a blank face .

“Well, that’s a relief . ”

Chelsea retracted her accusatory eyes . She still sounded a bit skeptical, but no other information would come out of Sungyoon’s mouth . At that point, she could do nothing more . She couldn’t strip Sungyoon to check for other wounds .

“Still, you should be careful . Danger comes at the most inopportune times in labyrinth exploration . ”

“I understand . ”

“If you sustain a critical wound, you shouldn’t hesitate to use the hospital . The hospital fee will be paid by Jimin . This is one of the reasons why Connectors contract themselves to companies . This type of support is included in the contract . ”

Sungyoon nodded once again .

When Sungyoon didn’t naysay anything she said, Chelsea looked satisfied .

“Well, I’ll be heading back now . ”

Chelsea stood up from the bench . He had no idea when she had taken the paper bag away from him, but it was fluttering in her hand .

“Thank you for the potatoes . ”

“It was nothing . ”

Chelsea waved her hand as if it was no big deal .

“I’ll see you next time, Mr . Woo Sungyoon . ”

“Yes . I’ll see you next time, Ms . Strobe . ”

The two went their own way after shaking hands .

Chelsea walked slowly towards the research facility . The streets were still busy . She had her arms crossed, and she kept tilting her head in puzzlement . It was as if she was trying to solve a puzzle .

‘Mmm . It feels like I forgot to do something . ’

The answer was on the tip of her tongue . It was an unpleasant feeling . It felt as if she had prevented a sneeze from coming out . She adeptly dodged the crowd as she moved forward . Suddenly, her body became rigid .

‘Ah . I was supposed to check up on his character as a person!’

She finally remembered the real reason why she had left her lab .

‘I totally forgot to check him out!’

She had been so surprised by Sungyoon’s injury that the thought of assessing Sungyoon’s temperament completely slipped her mind .

“Ah! Shit!”

She spat out a curse, and her body slumped . Even if she had brought food that she was sick of eating, the potatoes were precious . She had gone out of her way to come out here, and she had been hit on by an annoying Connector . After everything she had gone through, she had gained nothing .

However, she once again put strength into her body .

‘Hmmph . As if I’ll give up!’

One couldn’t become a researcher without patience . A scientist didn’t know if one’s research would give any meaningful data, yet one silently carried out the experiments . This was what a researcher did for a living .

‘I planned on coming here more than once in the first place!’

How could one discern a person’s nature through one meeting? One had to meet, converse, and hang out with the person to get an accurate gauge of the person’s nature . Of course, if someone was actively hiding one’s nature, it would get several dozen times harder to get an accurate gauge of their disposition . She caught sight of what was beneath Sungyoon’s mask from time to time . She had to find out if an angel or a devil was hiding beneath that mask . If Sungyoon really had plans to cause harm to Jimin, he was hiding his true nature . Chelsea knew there was a high probability that she wouldn’t be able to discern his true nature . She would be doing this with that in mind .

It didn’t phase Chelsea . Her ill temper was reflected in her steps . She thought about Sungyoon’s face .

‘From what I experienced today, he didn’t seem like a bad person . ’

She met him only once . It was too short a time to discern the depths of a person .

‘I’ll have to drop by periodically . . ’

She would be doing this for her best friend . Chelsea made a firm resolve .

* * *

Fortunately, Sungyoon’s wounds had mostly closed after a day passed . Scabs formed around his wounds, but it didn’t cause him any inconvenience . Sungyoon once again realized the greatness of being a Connector .

No major crisis arose afterwards . It was a boon for Sungyoon . Sungyoon would wake up and go to the labyrinth . When he came out of the labyrinth, he came back to sleep . He repeated this daily schedule . Chelsea would visit from time to time, and he would give her an update . This went on for the whole duration of his stay on the moon .

He lived his life like a robot . In no time, it became two weeks since he came to the moon . It was the date chosen by Jimin . He would be returning to earth .

‘Today is the last day . ’

He’ll be riding the spaceship back to earth tomorrow . Chelsea, who had visited him a couple days ago, had looked jealous . Her expression had been memorable .

‘I’ll finally be able to see Shinhae . ’

It was unbecoming of him, but his heart was fluttering . Maybe, it was the long distance between earth and the moon . It also might be his incredibly arduous experiences in the past two week . It felt like forever since he had met Shinhae . However, that would end tomorrow .

His body was full of energy . He thought of each moonstone becoming blood and flesh for Shinhae . This was why he hunted much harder than usual . He swung his spear, yet it wasn’t tiring . His mood and condition was at tip top shape since coming to the moon .

However, that feeling didn’t last too long .

“...... . ”

Sungyoon was within the labyrinth, and he was wordlessly looking down at one spot . He had just killed a Mad Dog, and its corpse lay at his feet . However, it wasn’t the only corpse there .

It was a corpse, but it wasn’t the corpse of a monster, which he had seen plenty . It was the corpse of a human being .

It was a gruesome sight . He saw several wounds created by claws and teeth . There were several needles from the Needle Hedgehog lodged in the corpse . It seemed the death blow had been from the Mad Dog that Sungyoon had killed right now . A big chunk of the dead Connector’s neck had been ripped out by the Mad Dog’s teeth .

Sungyoon had almost suffered the same fate not too long ago . In the labyrinth, one could lose one’s life at any moment . This was the worst end that could be suffered by a Connector .

Death .

The corpse of the Mad Dog was surrounded by light, and it illuminated the human corpse . However, it didn’t illuminate the entire body . It only illuminated the side of the body, which was closest to the Mad Dog . It cast a deep shadow over the human corpse . It was as if the light was making fun of the tragic death of the Connector .

Sungyoon’s gaze left the corpse as his gaze went deeper into the labyrinth . The dead Connector had run away towards this direction, and there was a trail of blood leading deeper into the labyrinth . It seemed he had been injured, and it had been a struggle to run away . However, he had been unlucky as he encountered a Mad Dog on his way out . He had met his end .

Sungyoon went down on one knee to check the corpse . When the man died, all his Gems were deactivated . This was why he was only wearing a regular tracksuit . Sungyoon saw a Device sparkle on the corpse’s right wrist . It was a bracelet type Device like his own, but it was higher in rank than his Device . It had a total of 6 slots, and each slot was occupied by Gems . Most of the Gems were Purple Gems . However, two Gems were blue in color . Basically, these Gems were one rank above the Purple Gems . They were Indigo Gems .

There was a deep wound near the heart . It was said that the monsters considered a Connector’s heart to be a delicacy . The heart emitted magical energy, and it whetted the appetite of the monsters . He was told that there had been research proving this theory . Now that he thought about it the Mad Dog had been chewing through the chest of the Connector when he pierced it with his spear . The muscles and bones inside the corpse’s chest were revealed . Sungyoon turned his gaze towards the face .

The corpse’s eyes were open . The eyes were glaring up at the ceiling of the labyrinth in resentment . He probably cussed out the labyrinth as he died . However, that was all in the past . This person would have no thoughts . He would never get angry, and he wouldn’t be able to do anything in the future . Sungyoon silently closed the eyes of the corpse . Unlike his resentful eyes, his eyelids closed too easily .

Sungyoon observed the corpse for a moment .

He wasn’t feeling sympathy . Of course, the death of a human weighed heavy on his heart . It was a shock to his heart, and the horrible state of the corpse had played a big part in eliciting this emotion . However, he no longer cared what happened to others except Shinhae . There was no reason for him to mourn this person’s death .

This didn’t mean Sungyoon felt nothing . According to the Device and the Gems worn by this person, he was a much higher ranked Connector compared to Sungyoon . A person capable of equipping a Blue Gem was powerful enough to be assigned a Personal labyrinth . This person might have lacked skill or maybe, he had been careless . However, the only certain thing right now was the fact that his life had ended in this dark and dreary place .

This might be Sungyoon’s future .

He thought he had already hardened his heart . However, death had shown up in front of his eyes, and it disquieted his mind .

‘Let’s head back for now . ’

He couldn’t take back the corpse . If he tried to haul back the corpse, he might be ambushed by monsters with his defense down . He couldn’t let that happen . Sungyoon searched the corpse .

‘Here it is . ’

He found a small card within the corpse’s pocket . It was the Connector Registration ID . Sungyoon took the card alongside the Device and Gems .

‘They said this is all I have to take back . ’

It was like taking the dog tags off dead soldiers on the battlefield . It was difficult to take the corpse back out of the labyrinth, so one only needed the dead person’s ID to prove his death . Also, the Support center wanted the precious Device and Gems too .

As he put away the Device and Gems, Sungyoon felt a bit conflicted inside . If he secretly took these items for himself, his abilities would become much stronger . Sungyoon felt his greed rise, but he firmly pressed it down . He put the Device and Gems away with the corpse’s ID .

‘I’ll be like that bastard if I steal from other people . ’

Sungyoon muttered to himself as he thought about the traitorous face of Jaeho .

He unbent his knee as he stood up . He looked down at the corpse for the last time before he left .

‘Today, I’ll......’

He had a thought as he glared down at the corpse .

‘I’ll have to visit the Great Labyrinth . ’

He would have to remind himself of his goal . He needed to go there to whip his fearful heart back into shape .