Moon's Labyrinths

Chapter 255

Chapter 255


Chapter 255


“Welcome!”


The Mayor happily greeted Sungyoon’s party, but he looked worn out compared to the first time they had met . Dealing with the string of crises had given him too much suffering .


“I heard you called for us . ”


“Yes . I have a job for you . Please sit down . ”


After Sungyoon’s party sat down, the Mayor asked his underling to bring refreshments .


Sungyoon relaxed a little as he asked for the beverage of his choice .


‘It seems this business isn’t that urgent . ’


Sungyoon had been worried that a situation similar to what had happened to Gagarin·Yang city was about to break out, but the refreshements being offered suggested otherwise .


‘I should"ve known . The emergency alarm hadn’t gone off, and downtown was running like usual . ’


If a ma.s.sive monster horde, like the one in Gagarin·Yang city, had made an appearance, the higher-ups would have sent out a warning .


The beverages arrived . Sungyoon, Tim, and Emily had ordered coffee, while Grace had ordered black tea as she always did .


“For what reason did you call us here?”


Sungyoon spoke as he picked up his coffee cup .


“We received a SOS signal from near Armstrong . ”


An SOS signal wasn’t that uncommon . Sometimes, Moon Surface Vehicles flipped over . Since the Moon was full of craters of all sizes, accidents were to be expected .


That was the reason Connectors had to take long circuitous routes even if their destination was pretty close . It was common for an inexperienced driver to drive the vehicle into a ditch, and most Connectors had done it over their careers .


However, if things were so simple, Sungyoon’s party wouldn"t have been called here .


“We sometimes get requests for a rescue, but this one is problematic . It has to do with the last words before connection was cut off . ”


“What was it?”


“They had said monsters had appeared . ”


Everyone’s expression hardened at the same time .


“… The monsters came out of the labyrinth?”


“At the very least, I’m sure they didn"t contact us from within the labyrinth . Communication devices don’t work inside the labyrinth . ”


The party thought about the disastrous tragedy that had occurred at the Gagarin·Yang city .


“It sounds dangerous . ”


“It is dangerous . The fact that it has happened close to Armstrong city makes it dangerous . If things go south, monsters may attack this city . ”


It seemed that the Mayor was going out of his way to avoid talking about the incident in Gagarin·Yang city as if he had thought it might be bad luck .


When he saw that the Mayor’s eyebrows twitched and his already gaunt cheeks become more emaciated, Sungyoon felt pity for the Mayor .


“Then we should get ready to defend . ”


“Yes . We’ve already mobilized all the Connectors on standby . ”


“That means you have another reason for calling us here . ”


“That’s right . I would like your party to go investigate the Moon Surface Vehicle where the SOS signal originated . ”


“It"s a dangerous mission . ”


“I’m sorry, but it is . ”


A possibility of a monster attack didn’t mean they should stay put . It was the time when they needed all the information they could get about what was going on in their surroundings . Moreover, Sungyoon’s party had successfully carried out a couple of Armstrong"s requests before . They were the most reliable cards that the Mayor could use .


“I know you all were ambushed just a while ago, and I"m sorry for throwing you into this mess . However, you"re a veteran party . You have gone through a lot . This is especially true of Mr . Sungyoon . I believe you"re the most ideal person to deal with this problem . ”


Sungyoon let out a small forced laughter when he realized his winding road that he had taken as a Connector .


“Of course, we aren’t going to send you alone . You are all still in danger of being attacked by the ambushers . Of course, we hired another Connector . We were able to hire one of the greatest Connectors . ”


“One of the greatest Connectors?”


It happened at that moment .


Knock! Knock!


“It is I, mayor . ”


The mayor’s underling spoke from beyond the door . He quietly opened the door to deliver a message .


“Mr . Sung Hyunwoo is here . ”


Sungyoon’s eyes widened .


***


“Many . It really has been awhile since I’ve ridden a Moon Surface vehicle . ”


Hyunwoo tried bouncing his body up and down on the well-cus.h.i.+oned chair .


The mayor had lent out a very luxurious vehicle for their use . There were no cargo s.p.a.ce to store moonstones . Several amenities were installed instead . It was a Moon Surface vehicle designed with the maximum comfort of the Connectors in mind .


Hyunwoo was one of the richest men on earth, yet he was satisfied with the vehicle .


“I have no reason to ride a Moon Surface vehicle since I only raid the Great Labyrinth . It is such a refres.h.i.+ng experience every time I get in one now . ”


The vehicle contained 10 Connectors in total . This included Hyunwoo, Jinsoo and Sungyoon’s party .


Hyunwoo kept messing with his chair . He reclined the chair far enough to lie down . After he tested the chair’s function to his satisfaction, he turned to look at Sungyoon .


“I heard you did something big again . I’m having a sense of deja vu . Don’t I always say that when I meet you or am I mistaken?”


Sungyoon didn’t have anything to say, but at the same time, he was a bit surprised .


‘Did the mayor tell him about the Gem?’


The mayor said he would keep the information in strict confidence . However, there was a change that the mayor might have spoken to the highest ranked Connectors .


However, it seemed Sungyoon had pa.s.sed too early a judgement .


“You should be fighting monsters in the labyrinth, yet I heard you fought other humans . ”


‘He’s talking about the ambushers . ’


It seemed the mayor had a very tight lip .


“You say I did something big, but in reality, I did nothing . ”


“Well, it can"t be helped . Mr . Sungyoon is always so popular . ”


Hyunwoo cackled when he heard Jinsoo’s playful words .


While they talked about inconsequential topics, the Moon Surface vehicle arrived at its destination .


Since the Connectors wanted to be able to communicate with each other, they all picked up their helmets .


“I heard it was close to Armstrong, but isn’t this too close?”


Grace sounded worried as she spoke .


The Moon Surface vehicle reached its destination in a day . It was that close .


“In terms of a straight line, this place is quite far away . The path to this place was quite flat, so we just got here early . However, it is also true that this place is considered to be quite close to Armstrong . ”


“I guess it could be worse . ”


When she heard Sungyoon’s answer, she felt a bit relieved .


Everyone got off the Moon Surface vehicle .


As always, the scenery was the same .


There was the black s.p.a.ce above . It was filled with stars that looked like it would all fall down on them in a shower . Their surrounding was a desolate land filled with dust .


“Let’s find the Moon Surface vehicle! Send a signal once you find it!”


When Hyunwoo spoke out loud, the Connectors got into their own parties as they started to search their surroundings . Sungyoon joined his party as they started to move too .


Sungyoon swung arm several times through the air .


“What are you doing?”


Tim gave Sungyoon a funny look as he asked the question .


“They said monsters appeared in this place . If so, magical energy should have spread in the surrounding . ”


“Ah . I see . ”


Tim copied Sungyoon . He tried waving his hand a couple times .


“I don’t feel anything . ”


“That’s right . That means we have three possibilities . The Connectors, who sent the SOS signal, was mistaken . The second possibility is that the magical energy leaked out for a short amount of time . The last possibility is that the monsters were able to exit the labyrinth even without the presence of magical energy . ”


“The first possibility is the best situation . The third one is the worst situation . ”


Grace also followed Sungyoon’s example . She spoke as she waved her hand through the air .


The party walked a good distance before Sungyoon came to a stop .


He took a knee as he looked down at the surface .


“I guess the best case scenario is out of the picture now . ”


Sungyoon saw clear prints on the surface of the moon .


It was clear that humans hadn’t made this footprint . It was the footprint of a monster .


The party also found the track left behind by a Moon Surface vehicle nearby .


It seemed this region was frequented by many Moon Surface vehicles . There were a lot of track marks nearby . However, this was only the case on the main route .


They had found the track marks that had clearly diverged from the main route .


Sungyoon’s party followed the track marks . After a while, they arrived at a steep decline into a crater, and a Moon Surface vehicle had rolled down to the bottom .


***


“It is completely wrecked . ”


Hyunwoo clicked his tongue as he went looked at the Moon Surface vehicle . It was as he said . Half of the Moon Surface vehicle had been crushed like a crumpled paper .


“This doesn’t look like fall damage . ”


“Of course not . A slope of this magnitude cannot destroy the Moon Surface vehicle to this extent . The Moon Surface vehicles are made st.u.r.dy, because it has to run across the desolate surface of the moon . Moreover, the gravity on the moon is much weaker than the gravity on earth . ”


Hyunwoo led Sungyoon towards a particular spot on the Moon Surface Vehicle . Hyunwoo pointed towards it .


“Do you see it?”


“They are claw marks . ”


There were four straight claw marks . They were around 30 cm long .


“This confirms it . They were attacked by monsters . ”


“That’s right . The problem remains that we don’t know where the Connectors went . ”


“Weren’t they Connectors, who just graduated being beginner Connectors?”


Emily recalled the profiles of the Connectors, who had gotten into this accident .


“They were probably very excited from becoming real Connectors . Poor guys . ”


“As Connectors, they probably made peace with the fact that they could die at any moment . However, they probably never expected to die from a monster ambush outside of the labyrinth . They were really unlucky . ”


Tim shook his head from side to side as he pitied his fellow Connectors .


“We found the corpses?”


Sungyoon asked the question .


“Yes . We found five bodies around 70m away from this spot . Their bodies were torn to pieces, and all their hearts are missing . ”


“It is the prototypical corpses of Connectors, who were attacked by monsters . ”


Sungyoon remembered the corpse he had found while he hunted in the Beginner’s labyrinth .


It looked the same as the corpses he saw right now . The body hadn’t been ripped into pieces, but the heart had been missing .


After recovering the corpses, they filmed the sight of the crash . Then all the Connectors gathered in one place .


“This should bring the investigation to a close . ”


One of the Connectors spoke . However, Hyunwoo shook his head in the negative .


“What do you mean? We have no idea where the monsters had exited, and we don’t know where they went . ”


“How are we supposed to find that out?”


Hyunwoo pointed behind him where there were tracks of the monsters .


“At the very least, we should follow the tracks . ”


Since he wasn’t saying anything wrong, everyone nodded their heads .


In the end, the group was divided into two parties . One party would follow the tracks of the monsters in one direction . The other party would follow the tracks in the opposite direction .


Sungyoon joined the party that would looked for where the monsters had gone . Since the gravity was low and the Connectors possessed enormous strength, they took large leaps across the surface of the moon .


Thankfully, they didn’t have to track them too far . The monsters had moved around 5km away to enter into a nearby labyrinth .

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