Chapter 64
Chapter 64
Sungyoon kept killing the monsters as he advanced . He didn’t know how long it had been . However, he was starting to encounter fewer monsters . But he didn’t notice it and just kept advancing forward .
After a while, Sungyoon was barely able to escape the sealed off tunnel .
“Hey! Hey, you there! Why are you coming out from there!”
When he exited the tunnel, the sentry on guard was surprised and taken aback . Then, the sentry started questioning .
“How the h.e.l.l did you get in there?! We’ve been sealing that place off at all times!”
‘As expected, this place was supposed to be sealed-off . ’
By the look of his equipment, this was another sentry, not the one he had seen earlier .
“I’m curious about that too . ”
Sungyoon answered with a tired voice . He just had a flashback of entering into the sealed region, and running around like a mouse from monsters . It created an adverse reaction . He had been so nervous and tense that he had forgotten about his fatigue . Exhaustion washed over him all at once .
Sungyoon gave a complete account of his story to the sentry . This sentry had a helmet without a face mask, and it allowed Sungyoon the chance to get a good view of his face . As Sungyoon’s story progressed, the sentry’s face hardened .
“Nicholas! That son of a b.i.t.c.h! I knew he is normally an irresponsible and an ill-tempered b.a.s.t.a.r.d, but I never knew he was capable of doing this!”
The sentry sounded very angry as he shouted .
‘Nicholas . Is that the sentry’s name?’
He didn’t know if it had been a mistake or a prank . However, Sungyoon knew that this person had manufactured a scenario where he could have lost his life . He made sure to remember that name .
“I’ll report this to the upper management of Armstrong . You should report this to your country’s Support Center . ”
“Understood . ”
It seemed this sentry was different from the man called Nicholas .
“I’m sorry . I am still on duty, so I can’t leave this spot . Will you be able to reach the entrance of the labyrinth by yourself? If not, you can wait with me here for a while . You can choose to go out with me . ”
Sungyoon did an a.s.sessment of his body . He was fine . No, the Gold Gem was still active, so he was overflowing with energy compared to his normal self . He was very fatigued, but it wouldn’t deter him from fighting . Above all else, he would be encountering only the low ranked monsters from this point on .
“I’m fine . ”
The sentry looked over Sungyoon’s body . Soon, he noticed the golden l.u.s.ter around Sungyoon’s weapon . His eyes went towards the wrist where the Device held a Gold Gem in one of its slots . At first, the sentry had a surprised expression on his face, but soon, a sympathetic look appeared on his face . It was a knowing expression . He knew what kind of situation Sungyoon had been in, and he could deduce how the connector had been able to come back out alive .
“Please take care of yourself . ”
At the sentry’s words, Sungyoon nodded . He once again moved to exit the labyrinth .
Every monster he met afterwards were all small fry . They were unbelievably weak compared to the monsters within the sealed region . Now, he was wearing good gear and was imbued with the power of the Gold Gem . He didn’t even break a sweat killing them .
He could see a light in the distance . It was the light from Armstrong city . It looked like light s.h.i.+ning down from heaven to Sungyoon .
‘How long has it been since I’ve entered the labyrinth?’
He had entered the sealed region, and then, he had been chased around by monsters . It felt as if several hours had pa.s.sed . Sungyoon looked down at his watch .
‘I was there for a whole day . ’
Normally, this would be around the time he would wake up . He would be making preparations to enter into the labyrinth . He shook his head from side to side as he exited .
Since the Mana Stream was imminent, there weren’t that many people in front of the labyrinth . Sungyoon took a deep breath . He was out of the labyrinth, and it made him feel very relieved .
Sungyoon turned off his Gems . He was finally at a location that was completely safe, so he no longer needed to keep his Gems activated . Sungyoon unsummoned his equipment . The light from the Gems started to fade away as they went to sleep .
Pah-jeek!
He heard the sound of something breaking . Sungyoon bit his lips . He didn’t even have to look down . He knew the source of that sound .
‘I don’t know how I’ll be able to look the president straight in the eye . ’
She had given it to him, so he could use it to save his life once . However, he couldn’t help but feel bad when he thought about how much that Gem was worth .
Ting!
At that moment, he heard a sound that woke him up from his reverie . Naturally, his gaze headed towards where he had heard the sound .
‘This is…!’
Sungyoon’s eyes widened . Something gold rolled across the ground .
‘Gold Gem!’
It wasn’t broken or crushed . The Gold Gem had clearly maintained its star shape . Sungyoon looked bewitched as he picked up the Gem .
It was as if he had seen an alien descending from a UFO . He kept turning the Gold Gem as he looked at it . Then his gaze went towards the Device where the Gold Gem had been slotted . The slot had been burnt black, and it was completely broken .
He had placed the Gold Gem in a lower rank slot and had forcefully activated it . However, the Gold Gem was fine . Only the slot had been damaged .
This meant only one thing .
Sungyoon currently had the capacity to be able to activate a Gold Gem .
‘Is this for real?’
He was dumbstruck at the unexpected good news . He stood there looking at the Gem for a brief moment .
* * *
“… what did you say?”
Her pretty face scrunched up, and she suddenly looked fierce . The receptionist, who was also pretty, looked like a beast closing in on its prey . Sungyoon thought it was weird that the women around him didn’t lose their beauty when they frowned . He once again explained his story .
“The one tasked to clean up the Beginner’s labyrinth made a mistake, and you went into the sealed region . You were barely able to get out alive . Am i correct?”
“To sum it up, yes . ”
The receptionist"s frown deepened . She was one of the receptionists that he had only interacted with when he picked up his ration of water and vitamins . This was the first time seeing her so angry .
“Understood . We’ll be sure to do our job . We’ll investigate it thoroughly . ”
She sounded resolute as if she was about to immediately get to the bottom of this .
“What was his name?”
“According to the other sentry, his name is Nicholas . ”
“Nicholas… . ”
The receptionist pulled out a paper and she wrote down the name .
“You probably went through a lot today . Please go rest . ”
The receptionist always had dead eyes when she interacted with the beginner Connectors . Sungyoon got gooseb.u.mps when she let out a kind smile as she told him to go rest . It once again confirmed the fact that the man named Nicholas had done an act of monumental folly .
* * *
Unlike the day before, Nicholas was in a very good mood . He had thrown the idiot beginner Connector into h.e.l.l, and he couldn’t stop himself from humming .
“Oh my . Did something good happen?”
A half-naked woman leaned in next to him . She tapped his st.u.r.dy shoulder as she asked the question .
“Something good? Yes, something good did happen . ”
Nicholas laughed as he raised his gla.s.s . He downed the alcohol .
“What happened?”
There was another woman on the other side . Nicholas was sandwiched between the two women . She refilled his gla.s.s as she asked the question . This woman also wore a skimpy outfit .
“There was something that caused me a lot of frustration in recent days . Just know that I was able to solve that problem, and it feels awesome . ”
Nicholas had a woman on each arm . After he gave a vague answer, he downed another gla.s.s of alcohol . The two women looked a bit miffed at his answer, but they no longer questioned in regards to that topic . It was against professional etiquette to ask questions that a customer refused to answer .
‘Is he still on the run? No, he probably got eaten by now . ’
He thought about the maggot, who was seeing the real labyrinth within the sealed region . Nicholas smiled . The more he thought about it, the more it felt satisfying . He never expected to come across a once in a lifetime opportunity to get rid of that maggot .
‘This is why it pays to do good things in life . ’
Even as he had that thought, he knew that line was dumb as h.e.l.l . Nicholas started to laugh by himself .
‘I hope there comes a time when I’ll be able to get rid of that impertinent b.i.t.c.h . ’
Nicholas’ thoughts moved on to Chelsea . In some ways, everything started when she turned him down . Sungyoon and Chelsea would be dismayed if they heard what he was thinking . However, Nicholas truly felt the blame lay with Chelsea .
‘It’s too bad when you consider her face . ’
His gaze cooled as he looked at the two women who were acting coquettish in his arms . They were prost.i.tutes working on the moon . Moreover, they were pretty high-quality prost.i.tutes, but they didn’t look as pretty as that b.i.t.c.h . She had been very pretty even without makeup . If she dolled herself up, she would be very beautiful . He couldn’t imagine how much more beautiful she would be .
‘Then there’s the princess . . . ’
It had been his first time seeing the famous princess Grace . He had known that she was extremely beautiful through the screen, but in real life, she was much more beautiful .
Nicholas smacked his lips as he thought about the two women .
‘It can’t be helped . ’
If he got another shot, he would make sure not to miss that opportunity . He decided to play with these two pretty women all night . Nicholas was about to pull the women closer by placing his hands around their slim waists . It happened at that moment .
He heard a commotion outside .
“What’s going on?”
One of the women got up to check what was going on outside .
Slam!
The door to the private room was slammed open as two people entered into the room . The two women were surprised, so they moved closer towards Nicholas .
The two people, who had entered the room, were armed to the teeth . Nicholas gulped . By the look of their equipment, he knew . These two Connectors were stronger than him .
He pressed down on his urge to cuss . Nicholas quietly stood up .
“What’s going on?”
Nicholas was polite as he asked the question . If anyone that knew him saw this, they would be shocked by his respectfulness . However, it wasn’t that surprising . He was a petty man that acted strong against the weak, and he acted weak in front of the strong .
“Nicholas Laughton?”
“That’s me . ”
“Please come with us for a moment . ”
One of the Connectors, who had entered the room, raised something in his hand . Nicholas felt his heart freeze when he saw it .
He had brought up a card, but it wasn’t a normal card . It was a special card distributed by the upper management of Armstrong City . It basically signified that this person was their proxy . Most of the people with this card were given the power of attorney, and they had the right to arrest criminal suspects in Armstrong city .
The prost.i.tutes, who were next to Nicholas, quickly moved away from him . Nicholas couldn’t stop himself . He had threatened the police of Armstrong several times, so he had spent some time in a jail cell . However, he had never seen someone with the card arrest a high ranked Connector .
“T . . . there must be some kind of a mistake . . . ”
Nicholas’ eyes roamed the room as he tried to think of a way to get out of this predicament . If he had done no wrong, he would have yelled at the top of his lungs . He would have professed his innocence . However, there was one particular incident that made him feel guilty .
‘f.u.c.k! Did they catch me doing it?’
He had pushed the maggot into h.e.l.l . He was sure he got caught doing it .
‘How?’
Did that maggot somehow come back alive?
‘No . There is no way . ’
By the time he got off his s.h.i.+ft, the maggot still hadn’t come out . He had been in the sealed region for a very long time . Of course, the maggot would have been eaten by the monsters . His bones were probably consumed too .
‘So, how!’
He thought hard about it, yet he couldn’t understand how they found out .
The Beginner’s labyrinth was a place to grow beginner Connectors who would allow the world to gain much in the future . It was the reason why the Armstrong City considered the Beginner’s labyrinth to be as important as the Great Labyrinth . If someone was found to have done something wrong within the Beginner’s labyrinth, the penalty wouldn’t be small . If it was revealed that Nicholas’ action was intentional instead of a mistake . . .
Nicholas’ body shook .