Moon's Labyrinths

Chapter 327

Chapter 327


Chapter 327


Kevil was one of the three officers Grenoid had personally created, so its death was a shocking piece of news .


The three officers, including Udocus, were very proud that their great master had a direct hand in their creation . Therefore, Udocus"s actions made a bit sense .


He wasn’t sad about his comrade"s death; he was sad that one of his master’s creations had perished .


However, only Udocus and Grenoid"s other creations held this view .


“Is that so? That’s too bad . ”


Since Jinsoo was a human, he didn’t have much of a reaction . It fueled Udocus’s anger .


“Aren’t you angry that one of the beings our great master created is no more!”


“What do you want me to do about it?”


Jinsoo picked his ear .


“It isn’t as if I had a lot of interaction with Kevil . Whenever I saw him, he acted arrogantly . I couldn’t even greet him properly . Would I cry and throw a tantrum for someone like that? If I did that, it"d be the abnormal thing . ”


Jinsoo took his finger out of his ear and blew away the earwax on his fingertip .


“Will you shout in tears if Mr . Hyunwoo or I pa.s.s away? Or will you be like us and treat it as a nonstory?”


Jinsoo was making an invidious remark, but he had also addressed the heart of the problem .


Udocus ground his teeth, but he had no answer for Jinsoo, and this made Jinsoo crow over Udocus .


“Stop it, Kim Jinsoo . He was still our comrade . Even if you can’t be sad for the loss, you should stay quiet . ”


“Comrade?”


Jinsoo looked at Hyunwoo . He thought Hyunwoo was making a joke, but Hyunwoo solemnly nodded .


“Yes . Comrade . ”


“If you say so . … I go with whatever you say, Mr . Hyunwoo . ”


Jinsoo raised a hand toward Udocus .


“I’m sorry!”


Earth had something called a non-apology apology . Jinsoo was doing that .


Udocus’s patience had reached a limit .


“Ah! I have some work to do . I have to go now!”


Jinsoo realized this, so he quickly went out toward the labyrinth .


Udocus continued to glare at Jinsoo’s back, but in the end, the thick dark energy around his hands dissipated .


“I’m sorry about him . ”


Hyunwoo apologized, but Udocus coldly turned his back on him .


An awkward atmosphere formed around them .


Hyunwoo wasn’t as dispa.s.sionate as Jinsoo, but he wasn’t the type to be swayed by the mood around him .


He immediately asked a question .


“Our biggest fighting power left behind on Earth is dead . What will we do now?”


Udocus didn’t want to deal with any humans, whether it was Jinsoo or Hyunwoo . However, he couldn’t act like that as one of Grenoid"s officers .


Moreover, Hyunwoo wasn’t asking any personal questions . His question was a tactical one .


“… Even if he died, he died after doing what was needed . ”


Udocus slowly walked, and Hyunwoo followed him .


“I told you before . I sent Kevil to Earth with a couple of contingency plans . ”


“You did say that . ”


“He carried out the final yet worst plan . ”


“Final yet worst plan? Are we in that desperate of a situation right now?”


Hyunwoo earnestly spoke .


“No . An incredible opportunity has presented itself . We are at a slight disadvantage right now, yet we’ll soon flip the table on our enemies . ”


“Then, why did you call it the worst of plans?”


“Kevil’s death!”


Udocus stamped his staff on the ground, and the loud sound reverberated through the labyrinth .


“It’s a plan that can only be exercised when Kevil loses his life!”


Udocus was truly grief-stricken over Kevil’s death . Of course, Hyunwoo didn’t feel an ounce of sympathy for him .


“Does that mean our side will regain the advantage?”


“Yes . However, it won’t happen immediately . We have to make preparations . ”


“Preparations?”


“Power! Blood! Souls! Sacrifices!”


Udocus whipped around his body . His red eyes intently stared at Hyunwoo .


“Tell Glaia to bring all the monsters she can control!”


“Are you sure about that? We still haven’t recovered from our losses . ”


Grenoid"s officers couldn’t control all the monsters within the labyrinths . They weren’t Grenoid after all .


If they had such power, they could"ve made the world cry . They would"ve pulled off a strategy that would"ve shocked the world . Humanity wouldn’t have been able to take back Armstrong city .


Currently, Glaia was trying to refill the ranks of monsters lost during the fight for Armstrong city . She was going around spreading her influence over the monsters not under their control .


“It’s fine! If this plan is successful, we don’t have to waste time on the other trivial plans!”


“Understood . I’ll tell Glaia . ”


Hyunwoo nodded .


“What do you plan on doing with the monsters?”


“We"re stuck on the Moon right now, and we can attack only one place . ”


“You"re referring to Armstrong city . ”


“That’s right!”


Udocus’s red eyes shone brighter .


Hyunwoo became lost in his thoughts for a brief moment .


‘The safety zone can only be created when the four cities are completely awakened . Moreover, the magic city started awakening after its seed was activated . ’


It hadn’t been long since the seed had been activated .


‘At the very least, they can"t create the safety zone in the near future . ’


It seemed Udocus was confident in his plan . If things went along the plan, Armstrong city would be overrun by monsters, and humanity would be expelled from the Moon once again .


‘I guess it doesn’t matter . ’


Hyunwoo didn’t care if Armstrong city fell or not . It was none of his business . In fact, the fall of Armstrong city might accelerate his own plan .


‘How strong is Woo Sungyoon now? Should I visit him for a short time? Should I got tell him about this plan’


Despite the thought, Hyunwoo inwardly shook his head from side to side .


‘No . I don’t need to help him anymore . In fact, it’ll be detrimental to his growth to help him too much . ’


Hyunwoo had already pointed out the path that would lead humanity to victory .


‘If he dies now, he isn’t the person I’m looking for . ’


That person wouldn’t be able to become strong enough to reach Hyunwoo’s standard .


“We’ll hit Armstrong city and finish the ritual Kevil started . The humans are probably in a joyous mood because they killed Kevil . We’ll teach them a lesson . ”


Udocus’s words were filled with murderous intent, and they broke Hyunwoo out of his reveries .


***


It was said that time flies . In the past, Sungyoon had felt this saying to be true when he had reached his late twenties, the period when he had started showing signs of aging .


Afterward, he had felt time flying faster and faster .


It especially felt true in recent days .


In the micro, Sungyoon was fighting for s.h.i.+nhae’s future . In the macros, he was fighting to bring peace to humanity . That was why he felt the time was flying .


When he came to his senses, Sungyoon was farther out into the future .


“Dad! Look here!”


It was s.h.i.+nhae’s growth period . She had grown a lot . Her voice oozed excitement as she put on her backpack . s.h.i.+nhae was about to greet her eighth birthday .


The current year was almost coming to an end .


s.h.i.+nhae was choosing a new backpack since she would be entering elementary school next year .


“Do you like it?”


Sungyoon smiled as he spoke . He didn’t look at the price tag in the first place as he had decided to buy the one s.h.i.+nhae liked . However, s.h.i.+nhae looked a bit iffy regarding the current backpack .


“Mmm!”


She took it off, held it in front of her with both hands, and stared at it . Then, she turned to look at Sungyoon .


“I want to see the other ones!”


“Yes . Take your time . ”


s.h.i.+nhae hummed as she ran toward the racks with all the backpacks . A conflicted expression appeared on her face as she looked at the choices .


Sungyoon stood in the back and looked on with a satisfied expression on his face .


‘These are the style of backpacks elementary students wear now?’


Sungyoon’s gaze moved on from s.h.i.+nhae and fell at the large selection of backpacks . More than thirty years had pa.s.sed since Sungyoon attended elementary school . Of course, the design of backpacks had changed a lot in this time .


At that moment, he thought he would be as happy as he could be if s.h.i.+nhae liked the backpack he had picked out .


Sungyoon started to look through the rack to pick out the backpacks that caught his eyes .


Flas.h.!.+


“Huh?”


Sungyoon turned his head when a camera let out a flash .


Middle-school girls had pointed their phones toward him and were squealing . When he turned his gaze further, he realized a lot of people had gathered a distance away . They were all whispering to each other .


Many of these people had pointed their phones toward him .


‘I’ll never get used to this . ’


First, he had received an embarra.s.sing nickname called the Knight . Now, they were starting to call him the Guardian of Earth .


It was to be expected since the ma.s.ses had started showing more interest in Connectors after they had started the fight with Grenoid .


And since Sungyoon was the most famous Connector, the public’s interest in him had skyrocketed .


‘The Mayor is also fanning the flames . ’


[Please listen to me carefully, Mr . Sungyoon . ]


He remembered what the Mayor had said to him .


[We"re at war . I know you"re all tired, and I feel an immense amount of guilt for pus.h.i.+ng you all into the battlefield . However, the civilians on Earth are also suffering a lot . ]


War was painful for everyone .


[Moreover, this war is unprecedented in the history of Earth . We"re fighting a war against non-humans . This means that the public is more afraid than usual . In a war, it"s very important to sure up the home front . The people produce the supplies needed in the war and make up the reserve troops . Connectors hold an important role, but regular people excavate and process Mana Knight . So, it"s very important to secure the home front . ]


The war was happening to protect the homefront . Basically, everyone was fighting to protect their country and their people .


[We have to stabilize the homefront . To do so, we have to rea.s.sure the civilians . That"s why . . . ]


Sungyoon remembered the Mayor"s apologetic expression .


[I’m really sorry to say this, but we have to make some Connectors, including you, heroes . ]


It wasn’t a surprising development . When one looked through history, wars always had heroes . It was a surefire way to boost morale .


Moreover, Sungyoon had defeated Kevil, and this had put him back into the spotlight . He was like a black hole that sucked the attention of not just of the Koreans, but the whole world .


It wasn’t funny, but this was why he had become the poster boy for their cause . Therefore, he couldn’t express his annoyance when people interrupted his precious time with s.h.i.+nhae .


‘I can’t believe I have to manage my image at this age . ’


The best course of action Sungyoon could take was ignoring the people around him .


He really didn’t like coming outside, and he avoided it if he could help it . However, he had to come out this time since it was a special event where s.h.i.+nhae needed a new backpack for elementary school . He couldn’t miss such an event .


‘I should go back to picking out a bag . ’


Suddenly, Sungyoon realized that he had a really poor taste, so he looked for an employee .


“Excuse me… . ”


“Yes!”


Was it a coincidence? It probably wasn’t .


The employee had been hovering around Sungyoon as if he were Sungyoon’s personal a.s.sistant . He quickly moved to Sungyoon when he was called .


He looked to be a man in his late twenties or early thirties .


However, the man looked like a kid who had just met his favorite comic-book hero . His eyes twinkled .


“Harumph!”


Sungyoon almost said something he might have regretted . He couldn’t get used to such a gaze, but he knew he had to endure it .


“Which one is the most popular item—”


Sungyoon couldn’t end his sentence . His phone started ringing in his pocket, and his face stiffened .


“Huh? Aren’t you going to answer the phone, Dad?”


s.h.i.+nhae, who had been shopping for a backpack, approached him .


Sungyoon forced a smile, nodded, and took out his phone .


“Ah! That phone is different from the one you usually use!”


s.h.i.+nhae laughed, but Sungyoon couldn’t laugh .


This phone wasn’t for personal use . It was a phone that would be used in emergencies .


Since it was ringing, it meant that an emergency had occurred somewhere .


“Yes . This is Woo Sungyoon . ”


Sungyoon’s voice sounded heavy .

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