Moon’s Labyrinths (Web Novel)

“What the hell is he planning?”

When he learned about it, the Mayor reacted the same way as Sungyoon did.

Plu-El had told them about the Mage Gem, which was the last missing special Gem. So, Sungyoon acquiring this Gem was a welcome development, and the Mayor had even cheered when he heard Sungyoon had acquired it. However, when Sungyoon explained how he got the Gem, the Mayor's expression soured.

A lot of words were exchanged, but Sungyoon could only say one thing.

“I have no idea.”

“Anyway, it's good that we obtained the Mage Gem. However, of all the people, it came from...”

The bundle Sung Hyunwoo had given to Sungyoon didn't only contain the Mage Gem.

“What’s in the USB stick?”

“I’m having it analyzed. The file on it isn’t big, but they want to be careful in examining it. There might be something nefarious on it, so it’ll take them some time.”

Apart from the Gem, the bundle contained a USB stick. It was an item that might explain Sung Hyunwoo’s odd behavior.

“The result is in!”

An employee yelled as he opened the door. Sungyoon and the Mayor shot up to their feet.

***

“This came out from the USB Sung Hyunwoo gave to us?”

“That's correct.”

Plu-El slowly looked over the documents.

She fluently spoke Korean, but she wasn’t that knowledgeable about the language of the documents. So it took her a lot of time to read the documents. She still kept the documents with her as she was interested in them.

The director of the International Moon research facility stood next to her. When he had mentioned he was going to see Sungyoon, Chelsea had followed him.

Dark circles had appeared around the eyes of the two researchers. They had lost their research facility, but they were busier than ever. Ironically, they were learning about the secrets of the Moon and the labyrinths after they lost their research facility on the Moon. In fact, they felt as if things were going too smoothly for them.

A lot of the Moon people, including Aruwen and Plu-El, had taken root in Korea. Therefore, the Director and Chelsea had half-settled here too.

“Is this true, Mr. Sungyoon?”

The Director was tired. His eyes were bloodshot, and he was roughly breathing like an angry bull.

Chelsea kept staring at her copy of the documents. The documents had been translated into English for her.

“I have no idea if it's true. The only thing that can be verified is that these documents came from the USB.”

“That… That means….”

The Director looked at Plu-El, then rushed out of the room. He returned seconds later, holding a small model of the Moon. After taking out a black marker, he drew circles on the model indicating the locations of the Great Labyrinths.

“Ms. Plu-El!”

He approached Plu-El.

“Can you tell me the locations of the Great Labyrinths you know about?”

“Alright.”

She wanted to confirm this information too. The Director handed her a different colored marker. She used the red marker to draw circles on the model. The locations of the Great Labyrinths known to Plu-El and the Director mostly coincided with each other. However, there was one difference.

The Director knew about the location of four Great Labyrinths, and Plu-El also knew the location of four Great Labyrinths.

However, five locations had been circled.

“I’ll tell you this ahead of time. These are the exact locations of the Great Labyrinths we know. This knowledge was passed down through our ancestors, and it has been confirmed several times throughout our history.”

Plu-El spoke up first. The Director had no intention of gainsaying her words.

“Then what is this one?”

The Director pointed at the location circled only by the black marker.

“This place has all the special characteristics found in the Great Labyrinths. There’s always a Mana Stream ongoing here, and each floor is unique as if each floor is a different world.

“Jeez! We no longer have a facility on the Moon that’ll allow us to research this topic.”

The Director pounded his chest in frustration.

Sungyoon asked a question.

“What if Grenoid created a fifth Great Labyrinth? Is that a possibility?”

“Impossible. Even if its seal is unraveling, the magical energy started to leak out from the labyrinths not too long ago. Grenoid doesn’t have the enormous power needed to create another Great Labyrinth.”

“Then let’s work under the assumption that Grenoid didn’t create this Great Labyrinth.”

Everyone glared at the model of the Moon as if it were their worst enemy.

Sungyoon once again took the initiative to speak.

“Could this Great Labyrinth have been naturally formed?”

“If it were a cave, I would agree with you. However, a Great Labyrinth can't form naturally.”

“Is there a possibility that your ancestors created this?”

“That would be too important of a fact to not pass down to us.”

“What if the descendants of Planote left behind on Earth did it?”

“Magical energy was the foundation of our civilization. Without magical energy, it's obvious what happened to our ancestors left behind on Earth. I don’t know when science was found, but anyone left on Earth would've lived like beasts before that. Their lifestyle would've been primitive.”

Plu-El responded in the negative to all of Sungyoon's questions. Sungyoon, who had been hunched over to see the model, straightened his back.

“In the end, we have no choice but to go and investigate it.”

“It might be a trap.”

“The possibility is high.”

Sung Hyunwoo had betrayed humanity, and he was the source of this information. Of course, these people were suspicious.

However, the topic of the information was too interesting.

“I’m sure it's a trick, but…”

Plu-El closed the report and looked at the big title printed on the title page.

“Isn’t the title a bit too grandiose for it to be a deception?”

‘Method of Defeating Grenoid.’

It was a very sensational title. Aside from the traitors, all of humanity wanted to defeat Grenoid, and Hyunwoo was claiming that the method of defeating the Grenoid was in this labyrinth.

“Did Sung Hyunwoo join the monsters for humanity? Is he a double agent?”

“Bullshit!”

Plu-El curtly dismissed the Mayor’s words.

The Mayor became a bit embarrassed for making such a suggestion, and he lowered his head a little.

“If he were a spy for us, he would've shown some signs of committing to our cause in some form.”

He may have a great cause. He might be sacrificing himself to spy on humanity's enemies from within their rank. However, such noble actions only appeared in novels or movies. In reality, it was much better to act as a spy by working with an outside agency. Such a plan was all about efficiency and stability.

“Then it really is a trap?”

The Mayor was deep in his thoughts when it happened.

Kwahng!

“Emergency! It's an emergency!”

Someone slammed open the door and entered.

“What’s wrong?”

“Monsters! Monsters have appeared!”

“What about it?”

The appearance of monsters on Earth was a big deal, but it was treated more like a recurring event that had to be dealt with. The Connectors waiting nearby would go and kill the monsters, so this person had no reason to panic like this.

“The… The number of monsters is on a different level! Swarms of monsters are appearing all over the world! The government is asking for the Knight to be mobilized!”

“They are making their move.”

Sungyoon ran out of the room as he left the sighing Plu-El.

***

A simultaneous multi-pronged attack—that was how the attack was described.

The government had quickly sent a helicopter to Sungyoon, and he was watching the site of the battle from the sky.

‘This is no joke.’

This wasn’t like the sporadic attacks from before. The number wasn’t as large as the number of monsters that had attacked Armstrong city, but it was still enough to swarm the Connectors.

However, it seemed that high level monsters were absent from this attack. On top of that, monsters suffered a decrease in power when they moved away from locations having a pool of ambient magical energy. Thus, the monsters here were weak. The problem was that there were too many of them, and they could easily kill regular people.

Sungyoon didn’t have the time to hesitate, and he jumped out of the helicopter.

Ggoo-uhhhhhh!

An Ogre was chasing after a boy. The teenager ran as if his feet were on fire, and his face was so pale that it looked as if he were wearing white powder.

Sungyoon maintained a straight posture in the air as he gathered his feet. His thick steel boots slammed into the Orc’s head, and he let gravity do all the work.

Ggoo-uh!

Crunch!

Before the Ogre could finish its roar, it turned into a bloody pulp.

“Tsk!”

It was great that he had killed a monster as soon as he landed, but he was covered in blood now. Sungyoon clicked his tongue in disgust.

“K... Knight?”

The teenager froze in place when he saw Sungyoon.

“Hurry! Go, run away to somewhere safe.”

“Yes, yes!”

After hearing Sungyoon’s words, the teenager started running again as if his feet were on fire.

Sungyoon immediately zeroed in on the next monster, a Bigfoot rampaging in the distance.

‘It's quite a diverse group of monsters.’

Sungyoon summoned his halberd and threw it with all his might.

Kwah-jeek!

The halberd pierced through the Bigfoot’s head, and with a spray of blood, the monster fell.

Sungyoon unsummoned his halberd and climbed to the roof of the nearest building. He caught sight of three monsters wreaking havoc in the city. Two of them were chasing down humans, while the third...

‘Shit!’

It was chewing the corpse of a young girl. Sungyoon unconsciously ground his teeth. He wanted to hack the monster into pieces, but he somehow held himself back.

“I have to save the people who are still alive.”

Sungyoon spoke to himself as he pushed off the roof.

Tuh-uhng!

His body started falling.

Woo-oong!

Suddenly, his wings unfurled behind him, and his surroundings whizzed by. After accelerating, Sungyoon soon arrived in front of a roaring monster that was causing a rampage. He swung his sword.

Sss-kahk!

Rumble!

The two sounds rang out in a harmonious manner.

The unstoppable monster split into half, and its corpse was burnt into a crisp.

Tunk!

Sungyoon changed directions, and his wings unfurled once again. A halberd appeared in his hands, and without slowing down, Sungyoon jammed the spear blade of the halberd into the head of the second monster.

Puh-uhng!

The monster’s head exploded as if a shotgun had hit it.

In a flash, Sungyoon had killed two monsters.

‘Next!’

Sungyoon moved once again, and his target was the monster he planned on killing the last. Since it had been eating a corpse, he had decided it posed less of a threat compared to the other two. However, all this time, fury was surging in Sungyoon's heart.

Tuhk!

He stood next to the monster and looked down at the girl’s corpse.

She was younger than an elementary student and seemed to be of the same age as his daughter.

Ggoo-uh?

The monster that had been eating the girl's arm took notice of Sungyoon’s presence. It turned its head.

Ggoo-uhhhhhhhhh!

The monster became angry since Sungyoon was standing next to it as if it weren't a threat. Pushing itself to full height, the monster yelled.

However, the monster's anger couldn't even be compared to the fury in Sungyoon's heart.

“Die.”

He said one word, then swung his ax.

Kwah-jeek!

The monster’s arm was sent flying. It screamed as it rolled around on the ground. The monster had great vitality, so even when its arm was cut off, it was undeterred. It stood up in anger as it tried to attack Sungyoon. No, it had tried to get up.

The poison had spread from the wound and circulated through its entire body.

Ggoo, ggoo-roo-roo-roohk!

The monster’s body shook as it thrashed in pain. It convulsed until it lost its life.

However, Sungyoon had already moved on from the monster. He was looking down at the corpse of the girl, seeing the terror etched in her eyes. After closing her eyelids, Sungyoon resumed hunting monsters.

He climbed up to a new roof and again looked for monsters.

Puh-uhk!

Sungyoon saw a monster in the distance fall to the ground. He looked up to see a helicopter rumbling in the air. Aruwen was inside the helicopter, and he had pointed his longbow toward the surface.

‘Finally, they have been deployed.’

The Moon people had been confined in a settled zone, but they were here now. They all jumped out of the helicopter at once.