Moon's Labyrinths

Sungyoon’s party exited Armstrong city to test their newly-acquired Diamond rank Gems. They looked like little children who had received surprise presents from Santa Claus. Excitement and anticipation were written all over the faces of Tim, Emily, and Grace.

‘They are...’

After exiting the city, Sungyoon discovered a group of people outside. Dressed in white gowns, these people stood on top of a little hill as they looked toward the heavens. One person in the group turned to look at Sungyoon. Even though it was unkempt, her golden blonde hair looked beautiful as it moved in the air.

“Huh, Mr. Sungyoon?”

Chelsea met eyes with Sungyoon.

***

“You wanted to see space?”

“Of course!”

Chelsea waved her arms as she answered, and Sungyoon saw her eyes shine behind her thick glasses.

“Unlike before, we can directly see space! We don't have to put on our visors! We can see it with our own two eyes!”

‘Her glasses are so thick that it probably doesn’t make much of a difference.’

Even though he thought that way, Sungyoon wasn’t dumb enough to say those words out loud. Instead, he looked up.

‘Now that I think about it, Jimin wanted to do the same thing. She wanted to see space for herself.’

He looked at the black space and the stars brightly shining within it.

“Since air is spreading across the Moon, I thought it would be like Earth where we’ll have blue skies. However, we can still see space.”

“It’s because the atmosphere is still thin. However, the air's density near the surface is very high. It's enough to allow regular humans to walk on the Moon's surface. Logically speaking, this shouldn’t be possible.”

Making the impossible possible was a regular occurrence for magical energy.

“Is it possible to explain magical energy or the phenomena it creates, with science?”

Sungyoon asked the question that had suddenly popped up in his head.

“Hmmm.”

Chelsea crossed her arms and closed her eyes. She kept humming as if she were pondering the answer.

“At the very least, it won’t be an easy task.

“There has to be a law. However, magical energy shows no signs of following a uniform law. One of my colleagues left our team because he was sick and tired of seeing something that defied logic. From the rumors I heard, he went to school to become a preacher.

“I hope things work out for him.”

“Will you be ok, Ms. Chelsea?”

“I do get stressed out about it.”

She had already been stressed because of the flow of magical energy and the existence of magic, and this stress was compounded by the fact that Grenoid and his monsters were causing trouble.

At this point, common sense had jumped out of the window.

“However, I joined this field despite knowing all that. Most scientists like me came in this field knowing that things might not make sense. A professor from my college always told me that this world was the height of absurdity. As a scientist, he said this field could be hell.”

Normal people were capable of rationalizing and moving past phenomena they couldn’t comprehend, but scientists were a breed of people who couldn’t do that.

After all, the more research they did on magical energy, the more mysteries they discovered.

“Still, I’m fine. Not all scientists live logical and calculating lives.”

Chelsea looked up. She could see the blue Earth floating in the sky.

“Even though it's irrational and illogical, this is what I dreamed about doing since I was little. It was an idea tempered with romanticism. Of course, I found out that this field had no romanticism when I grew up.”

She had been very naive in her perception of Armstrong city, and her romanticism of the city had been shattered in one go.

“Despite knowing all this...”

Chelsea laughed as she looked at Sungyoon.

“Magic is such a romantic idea.”

“It seems you're a fool, Ms. Chelsea.”

“Ah! Jimin said the same thing about me in the past! She made fun of me saying I’m a smart idiot!”

Chelsea stamped her feet as she aired her grievance toward Jimin. Sungyoon got a glimpse into why Jimin considered Chelsea her best friend.

‘Romanticism.’

He had never thought of it that way. In his view, his occupation was a means to an end. It was a job that would allow him to feed and raise Shinhae. At the time, he never regretted his choice to hold such a view. In fact, he held the same view to this day. Sungyoon was sorry to say this to Chelsea, but he hadn’t felt an ounce of romanticism when he entered this business.

‘In some ways, I envy her.’

He had experienced many nightmarish experiences, and it felt as if his emotions had been sucked dry. That was why Chelsea's innocence was a bit blinding to his eyes.

Puh-uhhhhhng!

Suddenly, they heard a loud sound. Sungyoon and Chelsea turned to look at the source of the sound.

“… What's that?”

Chelsea’s mouth fell open in surprise.

The two other researchers, who stood a bit away from Sungyoon and Chelsea, expressed their surprise by saying words like ‘Jesus!’ and ‘Unbelievable!’. They were words that Sungyoon had an easy time understanding.

“It seems Ms. Grace used her spell.”

“Now that I think about it, you guys came here to test out your new Gems, right?”

Tim, Emily, and Grace, who stood at a distance from Sungyoon and Chelsea, had started to test out their new Gems.

The other researchers looked like penguins huddling in the cold as they gathered around to watch Grace.

“We thought about going into a labyrinth, but no one really wanted to go inside one. The Mayor didn’t like the idea either. In some ways, labyrinths are our enemy’s home ground.”

Since humanity needed Mana Knight and moonstones, Connectors still entered the labyrinths. However, they were reluctant to enter the labyrinths for any other reason. Moreover, Armstrong's higher-ups had also advised Connectors to refrain from going into labyrinths if possible.

‘Now that I think about it, it has been a while since I’ve entered my own labyrinth.’

“It... it sounded like a very powerful spell? What kind of a spell was it?”

Grace continued to look at the aftermath of her spell.

‘Is it really that surprising?’

The power of the spell was incredible. Moreover, it was much flashier and impactful than a shield or a support spell.

“It’s the Diamond rank Gem she acquired.”

“Diamond? Isn’t that the highest-ranked Gem?”

“Yes. We have a high chance of encountering another officer or Grenoid itself. Therefore, the Mayor gave us the best spoils of war.”

“The power of the spell makes sense now since it's a Diamond rank Gem.”

That wasn’t all. Grace possessed many support Gems that increased the power of her attack spells, and on top of that, some of her support Gems decreased the delay between her spells. That was why her spell felt much more powerful.

“As expected, Mr. Sungyoon, your party will fight on the front line. You’ll be at the tip of the spear.”

“It's to be expected since my party has all the special Gems.”

It was already a very dangerous war, but Sungyoon and his party members had to fight the most dangerous enemies. The danger they would be exposed to was on a different level than what others would.

Worry appeared in Chelsea’s eyes.

Sungyoon could even see tears well-up behind her thick glasses.

“It seems we have to do our part too.”

Chelsea, who had been sitting on the ground, stood up.

“Are you here to do something?”

“Of course. We have no reason to be on the Moon otherwise.”

Armstrong city was at war, so it was odd to see Chelsea and the other researchers here. They were civilians after all.

“The battles are the field of Connectors like you, but that doesn’t mean we should stand by and do nothing. All hands need to be on the deck. Everyone is trying to contribute in their own way. As for us, we are carrying out a project that might help you.”

“What's it?”

“Hooht! You’ll find out soon.”

Chelsea laughed as she hyped up her next meeting with Sungyoon.

“It seems my break is at an end.”

Chelsea looked at her colleagues. They had finished watching Grace's performance, so they were walking back toward Chelsea. They couldn’t hide their excitement as they still talked about Grace’s spell.

“Please be safe in the upcoming battle. I’ll be doing my best, so please remember that a lot of people are working to support you.”

Chelsea waved her hand as she re-joined her colleagues. Soon, the researchers disappeared in Armstrong city.

‘Support.’

Sungyoon had no idea how much support they could provide. However, he felt a bit better when he heard those words, but then, a smirk made its way to his lips.

‘I guess I was nervous.’

It was a fight with the fate of the world on the line. The battle was a week away, and if they couldn’t find a way to stop the Moon from falling toward Earth, the world would come to an end. Hence, it was natural to feel nervous about it.

‘How did I reach this position so quickly?’

If he thought about it, his status in life had undergone a drastic change in the past couple of years. A few years ago, he had been a president of a medium-sized company that worked with a large conglomerate. In the course of his hard work, massive debts crushed him. This led to him becoming a Connector to clear his debts. He did so by gathering moonstones from the monsters he killed.

Now, he was a warrior fighting for the fate of the world.

‘If I could tell about my current life to myself from several years ago, he would think I’m crazy.’

Back then, Sungyoon had a precious friend, a cute daughter, and a loving wife. He had been financially stable. He had been at the height of his happiness, but that happiness was a lie.

‘It’s fine. I’m happy now.’

He now had a kind, beautiful new wife and comrades he could trust. Moreover, his daughter was still cute.

‘I have to protect this happiness.’

Someone was trying to interfere with his happiness. It was Grenoid. Sungyoon didn’t care what had happened in the past. He knew what to do right now. He couldn’t let go of the happiness that he had barely recaptured.

After checking his Gems, he went forward to greet his party members, who had just finished their tests.

***

One week passed by in a flash, and nothing major happened in this time frame. The preparations for the counter-attack progressed at a steady pace, and monsters showed no signs of attacking Armstrong city.

Some monsters did attack from time to time, but these were monsters that had wandered out of the labyrinths. Their attacks were spontaneous attacks, and not those organized by a large group of monsters.

The D-day was one day away. Everyone went to sleep after making their resolutions.

Sungyoon chose to talk to his precious daughter before going to sleep.

“How was your day? Was it good?”

- Yes! I played with Haena!

Shinhae had a weak vocabulary and a poor grasp of grammar. However, she continued with her story. In Sungyoon’s perspective, her words sounded like an epic poem penned by an accomplished poet. He listened to her with a smile on his face.

- When are you coming back, Dad?

After speaking to her heart’s content, Shinhae asked the question. Sungyoon’s complexion worsened a little bit.

“I’m not sure. However, I’ll be there as soon as possible.”

Sungyoon could see the disappointment on Shinhae’s face.

“I’ll come back with a big present. What do you want?”

He tried to appease her with a present, but the present was meaningless in front of Shinhae's desire to see her father.

- Mmm. I have nothing I want right now.

“You should think about it until it’s time for Dad to come back home. I’ll be sure to buy it.”

- Ok.

At that moment, Jimin approached Shinhae from the back.

- It's late, Shinhae. Time for you to sleep.

After placing a hand on Shinhae’s shoulder, Jimin looked at Sungyoon through the screen.

- You should sleep too. Tomorrow is the day of the important mission.

“Yes. Dad should sleep now.”

- Ok! Good night, Dad!

Shinhae said goodnight through the screen, then ran into her room.

Sungyoon looked at her retreating back with a satisfied look. He then met eyes with Jimin.

- I won’t give a long speech.

Jimin had already told Sungyoon to be careful countless times, and she didn't repeat it. With a small smile on her lips, she spoke.

- We have to watch Shinhae’s elementary school entrance ceremony next year.

Her words cut close to his heart more so than any normal words of worry.

“Yeah. Let’s go together.”

After saying those words, Sungyoon ended the call.

On the next day...

“Let’s begin.”

The Mayor said the words that were the starting point to the counter-attack that would decide Earth's fate.