“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 massive 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-cushioned chair .

  The mayor had lent out a very luxurious vehicle for their use . There were no cargo space 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 refreshing 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 passed 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 space 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 sturdy, 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 .