Chapter 109
Chapter 109
Sungyoon took a closer look at the equipment of his party members . Wonho held a short sword and a round s.h.i.+eld reinforced with a steel plate . Hweeyae had a large battle ax, which looked way too big for her . Soochan had a large battle hammer and a s.h.i.+eld in which steel covered only the center and the corner of the s.h.i.+eld . Mina had the same weapon as Sungyoon, a long spear .
“This will be our formation . Mr . Soochan and I will be in the front to defend . Mr . Sungyoon and Ms . Mina can attack and cause a diversion from the rear . Ms . Hweeyae will wait for the most opportune time to strike a big blow . ”
It was an adequate formation . Everyone nodded .
“First, we have to know each other’s abilities . Does anyone perhaps have a magic Gem?”
At Wonho"s question, Hweeyae carefully raised her hand .
“I have a Flame magic Gem . ”
Wonho’s face brightened .
“I’m pleased to hear that . What is its rank?”
“It is a Purple rank Gem, so it isn’t high in level . I can shoot three b.a.l.l.s of flame, each the size of my head . I just call it a fireball . Its cooldown is 10 hours, and it takes me around 40 seconds to activate it . ”
“That’s more than enough . ”
Sungyoon raised his hand .
“I have a healing magic Gem . ”
Everyone turned to look at him . A mixture of jealousy and envy appeared on their faces . It seemed healing magic Gems were really popular .
“What’s its rank?”
Wonho’s face had already been bright . Now, it had turned radiant .
“It is also a Purple rank Gem, so its level isn’t that high . It can heal pretty severe wounds, but it works on only one person at a time . I can heal two times . Its cooldown is over 15 hours . ”
“That’s very good . At the very least, you’ll be able to save someone’s life twice . ”
Everyone nodded as if agreeing with Wonho’s sentiments .
‘As expected, my experience was out of the ordinary . ’
He had partied up with the Ross Siblings within the Beginner’s Labyrinth, where he had always enjoyed the benefits of Emily’s healing and support magic . He realized he had been very lucky .
“Ah . If you have Gems with any kind of storage ability, you should fess up right now . ”
Until now, Wonho had been very friendly . This was why it was unusual to hear him speak in such a threatening way . Gems with storage ability could store food and water . Of course, it was also a great way to store moonstones, Devices, and Gems . It was the ideal way a Connector could steal the loot dropped by the monsters . A new party like this couldn’t trust each other, so storage type Gems were usually banned from temporary parties . If this weren’t the case, Sungyoon would have brought all his other Gems and Devices within the storage Gem .
Afterward, each party member gave explanations about their Gems . They were going to fight in battles together, so it was essential to know each other’s abilities .
‘What a hodgepodge of Gems . ’
Sungyoon had this thought when he saw the Gems possessed by his party members .
Tim & Emily, his previous teammates, had Gems specifically based on their roles in a party . Tim possessed a large s.h.i.+eld, thick gloves, and other equipment specialized for defense . It allowed him to always be in the front line against the monsters . Unlike Tim, Emily solely focused on her healing and support magic . She was always in the back line supporting her brother . This was why she carried a staff that was useless as a fighting weapon . She wore a priestess robe that almost had zero defense . She did this because these items boosted her support and healing magic .
However, the equipment of his current party members added up to nothing . There was no coherent strategy for their equipment .
‘Well, I’m not in a position to criticize either . ’
His rank was a bit higher than them, but his Gems were also a hodgepodge of everything .
‘This is how all normal 1st Gens operate . ’
The 1st Gens possessed subpar abilities and lacked support from their companies . So they had to use whatever Gems that dropped . They couldn’t specialize like the Ross siblings by collecting specific Gems . Moreover, a bigger reason why the siblings were such great Connectors had to do with the Devices and Gems left behind by their mother .
“Shall we start now?”
After hearing the abilities of his comrades, Wonho opened his mouth . A small amount of nervousness and cautious excitement was clear in his voice .
Finally, the battle would start . He nodded towards his party members .
Wonho and Soochan took the lead, and the rest followed them .
“From my experience, this place isn’t too far off from the Beginner’s Labyrinth in terms of rank . ”
The party members watched their surroundings as they listened to the quiet words of Wonho .
“I’m not going to rush it . I’m not trying to clear this labyrinth . This temporary party was formed to gauge the level of this labyrinth . Let’s take this slowly . ”
It didn’t take too long for a monster to show up after Wonho stopped speaking .
“It is a Big Rat . ”
He spoke in a low voice when he saw the large rat shaped monster .
A monster had appeared, but the party wasn’t nervous at all . Soochan even snorted .
Although they had done it at a different time, everyone here had cleared the Beginner’s Labyrinth in the past . The Big Rat had been one of the weakest monsters there, so they didn’t consider it a threat .
Wonho gave out a warning when he realized his party was being careless .
“Please remember the fact that even the weakest monsters can kill us . We are practicing fighting as a group, so let’s take this seriously . ”
He immediately took the lead as he spoke those words .
Sungyoon looked at Wonho’s back .
‘He has pretty good leaders.h.i.+p . ’
At the end of the day, they were fighting with their life on the line . Sungyoon welcomed the fact that the leader seemed to possess the ability to lead . From what he saw, all his party members had an independent streak . He really wanted Wonho’s leaders.h.i.+p to have an effect on them .
-Kyahhhk!
The Big Rat caught sight of the party . It clacked its front teeth as it threatened the party, heedlessly charging towards them .
The party members got into their fighting stance . They should have been trying to fight as a team, but their opponent was too weak to do that .
Puh-uhk!
-Keeek!
Before the Big Rat could get close to the other party members, Sungyoon’s long spear pierced through the Big Rat . It immediately died .
“We can’t judge the level of the labyrinth by fighting Big Rats . Moreover, they are too weak to practice against as a party . ”
“I guess so . ”
Wonho agreed with Mina’s words . The monster really was too weak .
“We can go deeper into the labyrinth as we continue to hunt . ”
After Wonho stopped speaking, he walked deeper into the labyrinth, with everyone else behind him .
* * *
As expected of five Connectors who finished the Beginner’s labyrinth, they nearly cleared the 1st floor on the first day . The size of the moonstones was small, but the quant.i.ty was quite high . It seemed they could expect a decent payout at the end .
Since the battles were going well, the party’s mood became much better . They even started to have short conversations with each other during breaks .
On that day, the party came out confident as they dispersed into their respective Moon Surface Vehicles .
‘Is this the process that a normal party has to go through?’
Sungyoon had that thought as he laid down in his bed .
When Sungyoon had partied with Emily and Tim, their good feelings towards Sungyoon had been set to max . A great amount of trust had existed between the three of them . This was why they had entirely skipped the process where the party slowly became closer with time .
However, this wasn’t bad either . It would be great if things continued to turn out so well . Sungyoon truly felt that way .
Still, it wasn’t as if he didn’t have any worries .
‘The mood is not too bad because we are easily clearing the labyrinth . ’
Some spark might cause an internal fight . It was unknown as to how the party would respond when the labyrinth would become difficult to clear .
Most humans were like that . When things went their way, they were magnanimous . However, they became mad and irritated when things started to go against them .
‘I hope this job ends without anything going wrong . ’
However, he kept remembering what Jimin had said . He had to experience the reality of partying up with other Connectors .
‘Let’s sleep for now . ’
Nothing would change from him worrying about it . Sungyoon did his best to close his eyes and sleep .
* * *
Sungyoon’s party continued to clear the labyrinth . In a couple of days, they were able to map the entire first floor . Sungyoon’s face stiffened when he saw that Wonho was capable of drawing a decent map unlike himself . However, that wasn’t really that important .
The party went down to the 2nd floor . On the first floor, monsters from the first and second floor of the Beginner’s Labyrinth had appeared . On the second floor, monsters from the third and fourth floor of the Beginner"s Labyrinth appeared .
The party kept on rolling on . After slaughtering the monsters on the second floor, they moved deeper into the labyrinth .
For a long time, they moved without encountering many problems . An amicable atmosphere appeared amongst the party members . Sungyoon did his best to keep his personality in check and get along with his other party members . It felt as if this mood would last until the party broke up .
However, it had only been a couple of days . It was too much to expect zero strife .
In the end, they had reached their limit .
It arrived two weeks after they had started raiding this labyrinth . The party made preparations to sleep overnight in the labyrinth as they stepped onto the fifth floor .
It was as if someone had pre-arranged the monsters of labyrinth F-038 . Whenever they descended a floor, it became twice as difficult . On the first floor, monsters from the first and second floor of the Beginner’s Labyrinth appeared . On the second floor, they encountered monsters from the next two floors .
If the rule held true, the 5th floor of this labyrinth should be filled with monsters from the 9th and 10th floor of the Beginner’s Labyrinth .
As soon as they stepped onto the 5th floor, they encountered a monster . Wonho and Soochan, who had been in the front, stiffened at the sight .
“Blue Mane Lion . ”
Wonho spoke in a low voice .
Red eyes glared at them . Sungyoon looked towards the owner of the eyes .
The monster looked like a lion . It stood on four legs, yet its shoulders came up to the height of a man . Moreover, there was a characteristic unique to this monster . Even in the darkness, its mane shone with blue light .
On Earth, this monster would probably become a famous star attraction in a zoo . However, Wonho’s party had to fight it, so they didn’t care if the monster looked cool or not .
The only thing in their mind was how dangerous this monster was .
“What a rude welcome . ”
Wonho forced out a laugh . However, it was as if he was forcing his facial muscles to make a smile . It didn’t have the effect of uplifting the party’s mood . In fact, it made it worse .
Blue Mane Lion .
It resembled a lion, which was called the king of the beasts . In the Beginner’s Labyrinth, this monster was cla.s.sified as one of the endgame monsters . An overwhelming number of overconfident Connectors had disappeared into its stomach after arriving at the 10th floor of the Beginner’s Labyrinth .
Still, everyone here had cleared the Beginner’s Labyrinth before . They had the experience of fighting this monster at least once .
No one showed signs of wanting to run away . All five party members raised their weapons as they got into their battle stance .
-Koo-roong!
It growled . The monster’s peculiar red eyes took in the five Connectors .
Wonho and Soochan moved forward . They raised their s.h.i.+elds as they glared at the monster . The other members stood behind Wonho and Soochan . They prepared themselves to attack the monster at any moment .
‘I really miss it . ’
In order to face the monster, Sungyoon raised his spear . However, he found that his left hand was twitching . Whenever he fought a battle now, he yearned for the s.h.i.+eld he had lost . This was especially true when facing a fearsome opponent .
‘I’m fine with anything . But, if possible, I hope Nicholas coughs out a s.h.i.+eld for me . ’
It seemed the Blue Mane Lion wasn’t going to be understanding of Sungyoon’s inner thoughts . It slowly closed the distance . Then… .
Taht!
It started running full tilt .
The monster closed the considerable distance between it and the party in an instant .
-Koo-ahhhhhhhhng!
It let out a fierce roar . A timid person would have fallen to the floor and p.i.s.sed his pants . The roar was capable of breaking a person’s nerves .
Flinch!
Several members of the party were a bit shaken when faced with this monster . However, none of them reacted in an extreme manner .
The Blue Mane Lion jumped towards Wonho and Soochan . Its large body moved like a tsunami .
Boom!
Wonho stopped its charge .
“Koo-ook!”
He groaned . A monster with incredible weight had hit him at high speeds . The force generated was incredibly high .