Ggwah-ahk!

  Aruwen clenched his fists . His eyes turned bloodshot as he ground his teeth . Everyone else in his group kept glancing at him .

  “Did that man just use the Royal Gem? It wasn’t an automatic response like before . He activated through his own will . ”


  “Why is it awakening so fast? Didn’t we lose it just a while ago?”


  Whispers rank amok . However, when Aruwen glared at them, most of them stopped talking . However, a few didn’t care about Aruwen’s feelings, and it wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say that they disliked him .

  “Even amongst the old royal family, he’s talented enough to be recognized as a once-in-a-generation talent . ”


  “If he had been born in a better environment when the old royal family flourished, he might have been extraordinary . ”


  Tiotudo and Plu-El shared their opinions . Of course, Aruwen glared at them too, but the two met his gaze with confidence . In fact, their attitude was taunting him .

  “It’s too bad . If the Leviathan had killed him, we would no longer have to pay attention to him . ”


  Tiotudo grumbled, while Plu-El unconsciously nodded .

  In order to kill the silver-armored man, the group had gone on an information-gathering mission . They easily found what they needed . Their opponent was famous, and his name was Woo Sungyoon . When they had seen his face, Plu-El had become surprised, and an odd smirk had appeared on Aruwen’s lips .

  Their opponent was the man who had looked out for Soyoung at the zoo .

  Plu-El had been sad that she had to kill someone who had looked after Soyoung . On the other hand, Aruwen was overjoyed at the fact that he could kill someone who had been rude to him .

  ‘If he had died to the Leviathan, I wouldn’t have had to fight him . . . ’


  It was dirty and hypocritical for her to think this way . Plu-El knew this . However, it was ok even if she were being a hypocrite .

  “Let’s go . ”


  They had to hit their opponent before he could recover . Aruwen was raring to go as he gestured with his hand .

  However, Tiotudo got in his way .

  “He activated the Royal Gem, yet you want to fight him? Are you out of your mind?”


  “Shut your mouth if you don’t know what you are talking about . ”


  Aruwen had been annoyed by Tiotudo’s interruption, and he continued speaking .

  “The Royal Gem is beyond formidable . Do you think that he can freely use it? He just awakened to it, so he can only use its power for a brief moment . It’s a completely different scenario from when he activated it in response to that ‘thing’ . ”


  Even though he couldn’t use it, Aruwen was very knowledgeable about the Royal Gem . He knew it precisely because he couldn’t use it . Imagining the day when he could use it, Aruwen had memorized all the special characteristics of the Royal Gem .

  “This is better for us . In the early stages of awakening the Royal Gem, the user suffers from a state of lethargy that lasts for a while . We’ll be able to easily kill him . ”


  As Aruwen had said, Sungyoon wasn’t in a good state . He sat on the floor and clutched at his chest; his body also swayed back and forth .

  Aruwen pointed at Sungyoon to make his point, then walked ahead .

  ***

  “Hoo-ooh! Hoo-ooh!”


  Sungyoon clutched at his chest and took deep breaths .

  The sound of the heartbeat had disappeared, and so had the power in his body . After all of it had gone away, pain and lethargy had suddenly taken over his body . Despite not needing to, Sungyoon unconsciously took deep breaths .

  “Are you hurt? Are you injured somewhere?”


  His party members had been blankly staring at the corpse of the Leviathan when Sungyoon had slumped . It had surprised them . Grace helped Sungyoon get up, and Emily quickly cast her healing spell .

  However, it was useless .

  “I’m not injured . I think it’s the aftermath of using the power with which I killed the Leviathan . ”


  Sungyoon sat back down and unsummoned his armor . He felt worse being trapped within the small confines of his armor .

  “As expected, Mr . Sungyoon defeated the Leviathan!”


  Tim was also worried about Sungyoon, but his eyes shone . He looked between Sungyoon and the decapitated body of the Leviathan . Admiration toward Sungyoon surged in his eyes . However, Sungyoon barely registered Tim’s respectful gaze .

  ‘As expected, this Gem caused it?’


  He looked down at his mysterious Gold Gem .

  With time, his body started to recover, but the lethargy didn’t leave him . It seemed the party would have to end the Labyrinth run on this floor . Sungyoon put away the large moonstone of the Leviathan that Tim had given him . He was about to discuss their labyrinth run when something caught his attention .

  Chul-kuhk! Chul-kuhk!

  Hearing the sound of metal clashing against the floor, the party turned toward the source .

  “What the hell? That surprised me . ”


  When he realized his opponents weren’t monsters, Tim relaxed . However, Grace and Emily reacted differently . Emily nudged Tim .

  “Don’t let your guard down . ”


  “Who cares? We’ve come across a lot of parties in the Beginner’s labyrinth . This is no different . ”


  “As I’ve said, the only party to trust in this labyrinth is your own . ”


  “Mmm . ”


  Tim thought Emily was overreacting, but he could see that her words made sense . Therefore, he took a firmer grip of his ax .

  “.…… We are surrounded . ”


  When they heard Grace’s words, Tim and Emily quickly looked around . Even if he wasn’t feeling good, Sungyoon couldn’t continue to stay on the floor . He pushed his struggling body and stood up .

  “What business do you have with us?”


  Grace asked the question to the approaching group . However, no one replied to her . Grace was about to repeat the question when Sungyoon stopped her . He placed a hand on her shoulder .

  “Don’t bother, Ms . Grace . ”


  Sungyoon pointed to the side . As her gaze followed his finger, Grace’s eyes turned round . Some of the people in this group were familiar to her . One of them was a man clad in black armor and wielding a black greatsword . Another was an archer holding a large bow .

  ‘They were the ones who ambushed Mr . Sungyoon and Armstrong’s research team . ’


  The ambushers didn’t say anything and prepared to attack . Sungyoon’s party bunched up in one location and they got ready to defend . It was unclear as to which group had the upper hand .

  ‘There are eleven of them . ’


  Sungyoon moved his exhausted body as he counted the number of ambushers . The number made their prospects dismal . If their opponents were low in rank, they could overcome this number, but this wasn’t the case .

  “Ms . Grace . Please prepare something big . Mr . Tim, you must always play defense . ”


  “Understood . However, I don’t know if my Gems will last . ”


  Tim looked worried as he watched his overclocked Gems .

  “We’re all in the same boat, and there are no alternatives . ”


  “It can’t be helped . ”


  It wasn’t an exaggeration to say that Sungyoon’s party was a veteran party . They had defeated the Leviathan, albeit barely . Although the appearance of an unknown hostile group when they were dead tired had discouraged them, the party didn’t despair .

  The battle started .

  Sungyoon saw several of his foes prepare spells, so he threw his halberd and ax toward them .

  Kah-ahng! Kah-ahng!

  A series of clangs rang out . The weapons thrown by Sungyoon were blocked by those tasked with protecting the spell casters . At the same time, the ambushers tasked with attacking Sungyoon’s party charged forward .

  Kwahng! Kwahng!

  The violent clangs shook the surrounding as Sungyoon groaned while blocking a scythe .

  ‘Heavy . ’


  Sungyoon’s body felt heavy, and the attack felt heavy . He had barely lifted his shield and blocked the attacks . The thought of counterattacking didn’t cross his mind . As he deflected each attack, Sungyoon glanced at his party members . Tim was faring much better than him .

  However, that was it . He was still fighting a hard battle . The biggest problem was Emily .

  Kwahng!

  “Kyaa!”


  Emily staggered each time a mace struck her shield .

  Since they were surrounded, they had to protect Grace to let her prepare her spell . Therefore, Emily had to take up her shield too .

  Emily had always been prepared for the unexpected . She had a high-rank shield and tried to improve her defense every chance she got . Of course, this was only done to prepare for the worst-case scenario .

  Sungyoon and Tim were having a hard time in their fights, while Emily was barely holding on .

  ‘Tsk!’


  Sungyoon quickly raised his ax .

  Kwahng!

  He deflected the sword coming at Emily from the side .

  ‘They are starting to focus their attack on Ms . Emily . ’


  The ambushers had realized the weak link of the party . The number of attacks being sent toward Emily increased . Sungyoon and Tim were nearby, and they had to help her . However, this meant they fared worse in their own fights .

  As if things couldn’t get any worse for Sungyoon’s party, the ambushers finished their spells first . The close-ranged fighters stopped advancing all at once and moved away from Sungyoon’s party .

  Chwahk!

  White bubbles started to form in the nearest water droplet . Then, as if the water had a life of its own, it elongated and shot toward Sungoon’s party like a tsunami .

  “Shit!”


  Tim stepped forward to block the tsunami . Sungyoon hugged Grace and Emily and added his strength by pushing against Tim’s back .

  Kwahhhhhhhhh!

  In a flash, Sungyoon’s party disappeared into the water . The water from the tsunami raged as it indiscriminately flowed into the other water droplets .

  Chwahhhhk!

  The tsunami had appeared in a flash, and it disappeared in a flash . The remaining water crawled toward the nearest water droplets to be absorbed as if it were following a law .

  Sungyoon and the others had fallen to the floor .

  “Oooh!”


  The party groaned . Underneath the water, several hundred mini swirling torrents had assaulted them . If they hadn’t been wearing armor, their bodies would have been ripped apart . Fortunately, they had avoided being separated from each other in the rough currents . It counted as a blessing in a misfortune .

  However, the ambushers’ attack had yet to end .

  Puh-ung!

  A fireball shot toward them like a comet .

  “Koo-ook!”


  Tim swayed on his feet as he got up . He pushed his shield forward .

  Kwahhhhng!

  “Koo-ahhhhhhhk!”


  Fortunately, he had blocked the fireball . However, in the process, the impact had sent him flying away as his body emanated steam .

  “Tim!”


  Emily desperately crawled toward him as she prepared her healing magic . Tim rolled on the ground due to the pain .

  Grace started preparing the spell that had been canceled due to the previous attack . However, she knew she wouldn’t be able to get it off in time . Moreover, someone interfered with her casting too .

  Shoohk!

  A cold-hearted arrow flew toward Grace . Sungyoon stood in front of her and quickly raised his shield .

  Kwahng!

  “Koo-ook!”


  The power behind the arrow was incredible, and it flung Sungyoon to the ground .

  “Mr . Sungyoon!”


  Grace screamed . Emily, who had been healing Tim, had no idea what to do .

  Sungyoon grabbed at his left arm, which had blocked the attack .

  ‘It’s broken!’


  He quickly activated his healing magic, and the pain slowly subsided . However, the situation remained the same .

  Clank! Clank!

  The ominous sound of metal clanking against each other was getting closer and closer as the ambushers rushed toward Sungyoon’s party . And this time, the black-armored man was leading the charge .

  ‘Shit!’


  Sungyoon stood up once again, but there was no strength in his body . It would be impossible to fight with his body in this state . The idea that he could die here danced in his mind .

  Of course, the first image that appeared in his mind was Shinhae . Then, the face of Jimin also popped up in his mind .

  ‘I’m about to die right after I remarry?’


  Did he have the devil’s own luck when it came to marriage? He was in danger, but Sungyoon let out a sigh . This had the effect of clearing his mind, and his thoughts turned cold .

  ‘Yes . I can’t die here like this . ’


  He had to live for his daughter . He had to live for his wife . However, this didn’t change the fact that he was out of options .

  ‘The only thing I can trust is this . ’


  Since Sungyoon had nothing to lose, he sent his magical energy into the mysterious Gold Gem, but the Gem didn’t show any reactions .

  ‘I guess it won’t work . ’


  Just as that thought came to his mind—


  Woooooooong!

  A blue light rippled next to him .