Chapter 127
Chapter 127
“… What did you just say?”
The stupified Cohen could only utter these words .
In the past, Emily’s mother was a high-rank Connector in the company, and many people used to admire her . But when she went missing in her Personal Labyrinth, her reputation within the company did a complete 180 . She was labeled as an incompetent Connector who lost her life within a low-rank labyrinth .
Cohen also shared that opinion behind closed doors . But even if he had disparaging thoughts about her, she had been one of his closest comrades . It was why he nagged the Ross siblings and tried to lead them onto what he thought was the right path . However, the Ross siblings stubbornly fought him every step of the way .
Of course, he became surprised when he heard that they had found Mrs . Ross’ corpse .
“ . . . Where?”
He couldn’t take Emily’s words at face value . When Mrs . Ross had gone missing, a search party was immediately dispatched, and they had thoroughly searched the entire labyrinth . Cohen had been part of the search party, and he had spent days and nights looking for her . He didn’t give up, but he couldn’t even find traces of her .
Emily shook her head from side to side when she heard Cohen’s question .
“My mother has nothing to do with you now . It happened in Tim’s labyrinth, and now that we aren’t in the same company, I have no reason to tell you what happened . ”
She didn’t care about her mother’s reputation within this company anymore . She wasn’t even going to tell them what they had discovered . She was so fed up with this company .
“I just wanted to tell you the news that we found our mother . I"m telling you this because I remember you crying at my mother’s funeral . Ah . And this might become an issue in the future, so I would like to say this before that happens . ”
This was what Emily truly wanted to tell them .
She took a deep breath, and then, spoke clearly and confidently .
“My mother didn’t die by the hands of low-rank monsters . She died at the hands of an unbelievably strong foe . Moreover, she was able to defeat this enemy before dying . She didn’t die a useless death unlike what everyone suggests in this company . ”
At that moment, it felt as if she was releasing all the grievances she held up until now . She didn’t cry or scream but just spoke in a calm manner, and revealed her pent-up feelings .
“Hmmph . You guys are all talk . ”
Louis spoke in a sarcastic manner . However, his sarcastic words could no longer affect Emily . In fact, she fired back using some sarcastic words of her own .
“Oh my! Mr . Sungyoon stepped on your pride like a bug . Did your pride come back now that you are amongst a crowd? You are quite shameless . No, you are amazing in some ways . It is hard to develop such a thick skin . . . ”
Louis’ face turned red as he glared at Emily . However, Emily had already put him out of her mind, and looked toward Cohen .
Cohen was still standing absentmindedly . Emily felt a bit sorry when she saw this .
He was a close comrade of her mother, so he had been very kind to the siblings when they were young . That was why she felt very angry and sad that he had changed so much over the years .
Still, this was all in the past now . They would be walking down separate paths from now on .
“Thank you for everything up until now . ”
It was as if she was using this as a ritual to shake off any residual memories of him . This was her goodbye to him . She focused her eyes and suppressed the bitterness in them, as she left the company .
Ggeeeek!
Kwah-ahng!
The door slammed shut, like a symbolic representation of the severed relations.h.i.+p between the Ross siblings and the company .
Silence reigned within the company building . However, it didn’t take the Connectors too long to start talking once again .
“ . . . What’s going to happen?”
“They really are going to leave?”
“They can leave! But do they think it’ll be easy to form a contract with a large company like us?”
“That’s right! They basically threw away their own good fortune!”
“Still, they were promising prospects amongst the new Connectors . It is too bad to lose them . ”
They all started to talk at the same time . Some were surprised, some angry, some mourning the loss of such good prospects . Louis was the loudest of the bunch as he made disparaging remarks about Sungyoon .
In such unrest, Cohen stood still .
Suddenly, he remembered a very old memory .
It took him back to the time when they were clearing a particularly difficult labyrinth . At that time, Mrs . Ross had been the centerpiece of that party . Being a warrior, she fought as the tip of the spear of their party and defeated the monsters . Cohen was tasked with supporting her .
『You really are amazing . 』
Cohen mumbled to himself as he looked at the monsters she had defeated . She just laughed at his words, and the heartiness of her laughter rivaled any man .
The party decided to take a break during the labyrinth run . And they conversed as they ate .
One of their party members had a storage Gem, so they all were eating bread and meat brought by him . Still eating, she spoke with firm confidence .
『I’m definitely going to the Great Labyrinth . 』
『That’s dumb . Why do you want to go to such a dangerous place?』
『Ah-hahahahaha! You are the one that"s saying something dumb, Cohen . We are Connectors . Everywhere we go is dangerous . Moreover, the Great Labyrinth is a completely unknown world . When something is unknown, you explore it . There is nothing more exhilarating than exploring the unknown!』
Her sense of adventure was over the top, but she wasn’t wrong . Cohen could only let out a bitter laugh .
『Well, do as you like . I won’t go near the Great Labyrinth . 』
『The people in our company have no sense of romanticism . 』
She pouted . However, her face soon brightened as she took out a picture from her pocket .
『Anyway, you should look at this! You should see what my children did this time!』
『Ah . I don’t want to! You speak all day when you start talking about your children!』
This bright memory had been buried within his mind . When Emily mentioned that she had recovered Mrs . Ross’ corpse, it had opened up an old door inside his mind, and the memory leaked out .
However, his memories ended in tragedy . When Mrs . Ross didn’t return from her labyrinth, he really had gone crazy looking for her . When it was determined she was dead, he had gone to her funeral, which had been carried out without her body . He had cried his heart out as he honored her .
He had been that close to her .
But soon an odd sentiment had started to float around the company . The opinions about her reputation and skills started to decline as she had died in a low-rank labyrinth . Of course, he didn’t like it when he had heard it back then .
However, days, months, and years pa.s.sed by . He was faced with a monster called time, and he started agreeing with the prevailing att.i.tude .
He had admired her, but maybe, deep within his heart, he had been fostering a monster called jealousy .
‘No . It doesn’t matter anymore . ’
She had died a long time ago, and any traces left behind by her had gone with the siblings . Even if he repented with guilt, he couldn’t turn back time . Moreover, he was still skeptical about raids to the Great Labyrinth .
‘Still, I’ll wish both of you luck . ’
Cohen stood within the raucous crowd that talked about the departure of the Ross siblings . He quietly prayed for the siblings as he looked at the door from where Emily had left .
***
After she exited the building, Emily saw Tim and Sungyoon waiting for her . Tim was standing there holding his video camera, and he started grumbling at her .
“What took you so long?”
“I had something I had to do . I wanted to tell Mr . Cohen that we had found mother"s corpse . ”
“Hmmph . Why did you do something unnecessary?”
Tim snorted . Unlike his sister, he had zero favorable feelings toward his former company .
“Still, he cried for our mother . He also did his best to look out for us . ”
“Yet he was part of the group that tarnished our mother’s legacy . He also disparaged us for wanting to raid the Great Labyrinth . ”
It was clear where they agreed in their opinion of Cohen, and it was also clear that there was a difference that they wouldn’t be able to bridge .
Sungyoon wondered if they would get into an argument, so he prepared himself . However, Tim just raised his hands as if he didn’t want to talk about it .
“Ok, ok . Our opinions on this topic are different . Let’s just drop it . Also, he has nothing to do with us now, so why should we fight about him? That would be silly . ”
Tim smirked .
“Anyway, you were amazing . Normally, you hide nervously behind me . However, you spoke your mind today . My stress was blown away by it . ”
Emily blinked . It seemed she remembered what she had done, and her face became dyed-red, and she lowered her head . Tim became more surprised at her reversion to her normal self .
“What? You weren’t even conscious of what you were doing?”
He lamented .
“I should have known . You weren’t like your usual self . You spoke without tripping over your own tongue . ”
Puhk!
Emily’s foot hit squarely on her brother"s s.h.i.+n .
“ . . . You still think you can push around your big bro . That’s still the same . ”
Tim grumbled as he went to rub his s.h.i.+n . Of course, he refused to take this standing down . Before he rubbed his s.h.i.+n, he slapped his sister on the back . The slap was strong enough to cause a noise to ring out . Emily groaned as she tried to reach where she had been slapped, but her hands couldn’t reach the spot on her back .
It was a realistic display of affection between two siblings . As he watched their antics, Sungyoon asked them a question .
“Are you sure it"s ok for you to leave your company?”
“It is fine . All the lingering attachments we felt towards the company was severed with today’s event . We had planned on informing them about what happened to our mother, and we would have only maintained our contract if they gave a sincere apology for their past actions . However, I don"t even want to give them that opportunity now . I have no appet.i.te for it . ”
The siblings had been ignored before they could even talk about what they had found in the labyrinth . Of course, Louis was the one who had spoken up . But what he spoke were the opinions generally held within the company . Of course, Tim knew this .
“We should give our thanks and also apologies to Mr . Sungyoon . ”
It was as if Tim had never been angry, and a soft smile even appeared on his face .
“First, I would like to apologize for getting you involved with our company . I apologize for you getting insulted and attacked by them . ”
“It’s fine . ”
“No . It isn’t . It especially wasn’t fine when Louis attacked you . . . ”
Tim ground his teeth, but Sungyoon just shrugged .
“You don"t have to feel too bad about it . He wasn’t that strong . ”
Tim and Emily let out a bitter laugh .
“We don’t like it when that b.a.s.t.a.r.d gets praise, but he is a strong Connector . He is a well-known prospect in our company . His personality is terrible, but he holds great sway within the company . ”
Sungyoon tilted his head in puzzlement .
“Am I strong?”
“Mr . Sungyoon is very strong . ”
Tim had spoken with certainty . However, those words didn"t have an effect on Sungyoon . How many times had he almost died before? He knew Tim wasn’t lying, but he couldn’t help it . He didn’t feel that strong .
Tim continued .
“I want to thank you for intervening on our behalf about our contracts . If we think about the stunt that Louis tried to pull off, I don’t think the company will come after us for breaking the contract . However, are you sure about it?”
“What do you mean?”
“I’m talking about putting the termination of our contract as part of your compensation . I’m pretty sure you can get more concessions out of them if that isn’t included . ”
“Is there anything you want?”
Emily quickly jumped into the conversation . It seemed the siblings wanted to pay back their debt to Sungyoon no matter what .
‘Something I want… . ’
He had previously partied up with the beginner Connectors, and they had raided a labyrinth . And after that experience, Sungyoon had only one request he wanted to ask the two of them .
“Do you mind forming a contract with my company?”
Tim and Emily looked surprised, but the surprise lasted only a moment . A smile soon blossomed on both their faces .
“Actually, it was something we wanted to ask you about . ”
“We just became jobless . ”
They had to contract with another company . The two of them inwardly wanted to sign with the same company as Sungyoon, and the company"s president, Jimin, had previously invited them to join the company . This move would allow them to party up and raid the Great Labyrinth with each other . Sungyoon was also making a pitch for them to join, so the two siblings no longer hesitated .
“Let us work toward our goal of raiding the Great Labyrinth . ”
Sungyoon pushed his hand forward, and the siblings firmly gripped it .
And so, Sungyoon gained trustworthy comrades, a must in raiding the Great Labyrinth .