Chapter 360
Chapter 360
Connectors lived simple lives . They entered the labyrinths, killed monsters, and collected moonstones . When it was time to rest, they went to the only city on the Moon and blew off steam .
s.h.i.+nwoo was the same . It had been several years since he had entered this industry . He had made a name for himself to a certain extent, but his life didn’t differ too much from other normal Connectors .
After hunting in his Personal Labyrinth, he returned to the city . He parked his Moon Surface Vehicle in the large parking lot located on the city"s side . Normally, his vehicle would be full of moonstones, but he had left his labyrinth earlier than usual . Therefore, he hadn’t come back with much profit .
‘I feel bad for my party members . ’
Right now was supposed to be the busiest part of their schedule, yet s.h.i.+nwoo had pulled out . His party members had said that it was ok, but he was his party"s strongest member . So he felt bad for doing this .
‘I’ll have to treat them to a lot of alcohol next time . ’
s.h.i.+nwoo got off his car and took deliberate steps toward the city . When he arrived at the entrance, the large sign hanging above city gates came into view .
- Sungyoon City
Every time he saw that sign, he felt a bit uncomfortable . In the past, before he was born, this city was called Armstrong city . However, after the city was rebuilt on the newly-formed Moon, it was renamed as ‘Sungyoon city . ’
‘These are the times when it hits me . ’
It always reminded him that his father was an amazing person .
s.h.i.+nwoo opened the gates to ‘Sungyoon’ and entered the city . He walked down a long main street and soon reached a large plaza . A lot of people were walking around the plaza, and the stores were trying very hard to tout their business . However, the eye-catching part of the plaza was the large statues in the middle . s.h.i.+nwoo"s eyes landed on the statue placed in front . The statue"s face was familiar, and it resembled s.h.i.+nwoo’s face .
These were the statues of the heroes who had saved humanity and Earth . The one in the front represented this group; it was Woo Sungyoon . The statue had a solemn and earnest face . s.h.i.+nwoo laughed because he could see his father looking awkward when his mothers and sisters teased him . After glancing at the statue for a moment, he resumed walking along the main street and entered a building .
“Welcome…! Ah! You"re here, Mr . Woo s.h.i.+nwoo . ”
A middle-aged man with an affable face greeted s.h.i.+nwoo .
“You came back sooner this time . Where are your party members?”
“They are still hunting within the labyrinth . I came back early because I have some business elsewhere . ”
“I see . ”
“Please dispose of this for me . ”
s.h.i.+nwoo took out a bag containing his cut of the moonstones .
“Understood . I’ll immediately take care of it for you . ”
s.h.i.+nwoo was standing inside the building belonging to a specialized company that transported moonstones to Earth . This company had an exclusive contract with his mother’s company, so s.h.i.+nwoo always brought his moonstones here .
“How are you doing these days?”
The man asked s.h.i.+nwoo while putting away the bag of moonstones .
“It"s always the same . ”
“That’s good to hear . It"s important that your daily life stays the same . Nothing"s better than boring peace . I had this epiphany when the incident with Grenoid occurred . ”
The man winked, and s.h.i.+nwoo awkwardly nodded .
“At the time, I was new to this business . Now, I’m so old . Honestly, I never expected to continue in this line of work after Grenoid was defeated . ”
After the battle for humanity"s fate had ended, Grenoid’s body had disappeared as it melted into the ground . The remaining source of magical energy within Grenoid was also pulled into the tower at the heart of the Moon . This development had surprised no one . In the information Hyunwoo had left behind, he had predicted something like that might occur . A while later, the labyrinths and the monsters had started appearing on the Moon once again .
“It was a relief for us . We regained our way to make ends meet . In that aspect, I’m glad Grenoid"s corpse was helpful . ”
As the source of magical energy became whole again, it could create monsters after absorbing Grenoid"s body . Moreover, the waves of magical energy from the tower had created a complex tunnel as the Moon had been reformed . Magical energy had started to leak out into these tunnels . New labyrinths had appeared on the new Moon .
“This is all thanks to your father and his comrades . ”
“Ha ha! Father will be happy to hear that . ”
The man’s bright eyes made s.h.i.+nwoo uncomfortable . His father’s halo had followed him ever since he had been born . It was a burden to him, but at this point, he was somewhat used to it .
‘I’m not in p.u.b.erty . I’m not my old self who wanted to get out of my father’s shadow . ’
s.h.i.+nwoo inwardly laughed as he thought about his stormy adolescence . He then said goodbye to the man and left the building .
‘Finally, it"s time to go to Earth!’
How long had it been? s.h.i.+nwoo looked up at the round Earth floating above the city .
***
s.h.i.+nwoo"s final destination was Korea, but he was on a plane heading toward the US . He had something to do before landing in Korea .
s.h.i.+nwoo stepped inside one of the top universities in the world . Any person would look at someone with envy just for getting into this university .
‘This is the best years of their life . ’
s.h.i.+nwoo looked at the students conversing with each other as they moved through the campus . He thought like an old grandpa . However, he was only a couple of years older than them .
“Ah! She"s over there . ”
It wasn’t difficult to find the person he sought in the crowd of students . Her attention was focused elsewhere, but her eye-popping beauty struck out . However, s.h.i.+nwoo didn’t care about that . He would recognize his sister no matter what she looked like .
“Hey, s.h.i.+nhwee . ”
“Oppa?”
The girl who had been walking and laughing with her friends widened her eyes when she saw him .
***
“That’s too much . Why do you have to pick me up? I’m old enough now . ”
s.h.i.+nhwee grumbled as she packed up her belongings inside her dorm room .
s.h.i.+nwoo already had an excuse .
“I guess they still see you as a young girl . I can’t do much since this is an order from our mothers . ”
“I’m only a year younger than you . ”
She shot back . However, s.h.i.+nwoo just shrugged .
“Maybe, they don’t think of you as trustworthy . What did you always say in the past? "I am the daughter of a n.o.ble person who saved the kingdom . . . !" Oof!”
s.h.i.+nhwee threw the clothes in her hand toward s.h.i.+nwoo, and he caught it in an exaggerated manner .
“I told you to never bring that up again!”
s.h.i.+nhwee shouted back at him . Tears appeared in s.h.i.+nwoo"s eyes as he laughed . She glared at him as she approached him and s.n.a.t.c.hed the piece of clothing from his hand .
“Give it back! What are you doing holding your dongsaeng’s underwear!”
“You threw it at me . Stop being delusional . I have no interest in my dongsaeng’s underwear . ”
s.h.i.+nhwee snorted as she resumed packing her luggage .
“How’s school?”
“it"s ok . ”
Even though her voice sounded sharp, she answered every question he posed to her . s.h.i.+nwoo crossed his arms as he leaned against the wall .
“You really are something . You"re a Connector born with enough talent to become one of the highest rank Connectors in this world, yet you chose to go into research . Either way, you’ll have to go to the Moon a lot . ”
Since the source of magical energy was still on the Moon, Connectors still felt the urge to go up there . That was why most Connectors chose to hunt monsters as their occupation . However, s.h.i.+nhwee had chosen the path of a researcher . She had to go up to the Moon due to the pull she felt, and she had to kill monsters if she wanted to provide for her own living expenses . Therefore, she had less time to study and research compared to others . Despite all that, she chose to silently walk down the road of a researcher .
“It"s probably Mom’s influence . Well, I don’t regret my decision . Research is fun . ”
s.h.i.+nhwee let out a burst of bright laughter . There wasn’t an ounce of negative emotion on her face .
‘She"s the daughter of mother Chelsea . I guess it can’t be helped . ’
It seemed like s.h.i.+nhwee had inherited the researcher"s blood of her mother, the famous researcher Chelsea Strobe .
“Then, you can focus only on being a researcher . Father or I can provide your living expenses on the Moon . It won’t be too hard for us . ”
“I can’t live off Dad or Oppa forever . I’m good . This is my life, and I’ll take care of myself . ”
‘She’s so headstrong . ’
s.h.i.+nwoo was worried that his sister had to work so hard, but at the same time, he was proud of her .
“If that’s what you want, I’m fine with it . ”
“Yes . I really love my life right now . ”
A big smile appeared on s.h.i.+nhwee"s lips, and s.h.i.+nwoo laughed along with her .
“I’ve always been curious about it . Why did you call yourself the daughter of the man who saved the kingdom? Our father saved the world . If you were going to make some teenage fantasy, it should"ve been closer to reality . . . ”
“Get out of here, you d.i.c.k!”
In the end, s.h.i.+nhwee kicked s.h.i.+nwoo out of her room and didn"t let him enter until she had packed all her luggage .
***
After picking up s.h.i.+nhwee, s.h.i.+nwoo headed to his next destination, London . The two of them caught a taxi at the airport and arrived at a house with a luxurious design . They pa.s.sed through the large front gate to reach a garden .
“I don’t know how he can live here . ”
s.h.i.+nhwee, who was dressed in comfortable clothing, looked at her surroundings . She sounded salty .
“I wouldn"t be able to live here . It would be too suffocating . ”
“That"s the difference between you and me . ”
She heard a stiff voice . s.h.i.+nhwee turned toward the source of the voice with a frown . A teenager walked toward the two of them . He looked like a beautiful young man from a shoujo manga . There was a dignified look on his face, but his face still looked young . That was why his appearance looked a bit unbalanced .
“You"re so stuffy . ”
“I’m better than you . You don’t even know how to observe basic courtesies . ”
“Hey, let’s stop fighting . It has been a while since we’ve seen each other . We should get along . ”
s.h.i.+nwoo got in between his two siblings, but it was an empty gesture .
“She’s the one who picked a fight with me . ”
“I can’t get along with him . ”
Both his siblings looked horrified when s.h.i.+nwoo suggested that they all get along . s.h.i.+nwoo let out a sigh .
‘Well, they’ve always been like this . ’
s.h.i.+nhwee was a free spirit, while s.h.i.+nhyun always followed the rules . Their personalities were like oil and water .
‘They are the same age, so why can’t they get along?’
No, them being the same age might have made it worse .
“I can talk to mother Grace, but he’s too rigid . ”
“I should be the one saying that . Mother Chelsea is a free spirit, but she always observes her manners . She"s different from you . ”
Thankfully, the two of them didn’t despise each other’s mother . That was a relief .
“Our family is well known around the world . Our history is short, but our father accomplished the greatest achievement in human history . We are part of that family . That"s why we have to be careful in each of our actions . If we act recklessly, we will sully our father"s and mothers" names . ”
“Stop saying such ignorant things . This is the twenty-first century . Who cares about family names? Why should I care what others think about us? I’ve done nothing wrong, and that should be enough . ”
Their words clearly showed their ways of thinking .
‘I’m sure their mothers had a big influence on them . ’
It was always like this in every era, but the world needed the ingenuity of scientists . s.h.i.+nhwee became influenced by Chelsea’s worldview . She valued common sense and saw the world as a free spirit .
It was the same for s.h.i.+nhyun . After Britain became a const.i.tutional monarchy, they had quickly adopted a representative democracy . They still had a monarchy and aristocracy . It was ironic; while they were progressive, some parts were still conservative . s.h.i.+nhyun’s great grandmother was the queen, and his mother was treated like a princess . This was why him having aristocratic manners was inevitable .
s.h.i.+nwoo let out a sigh as he watched his siblings growl at each other . However, he soon let out a smile as it reminded him of the past .
‘They also acted like that when they were young . ’
Thankfully, the two of them didn’t hate each other . They only bickered when they met . That was why he didn’t worry too much about them .
However…
“It’s fine when we are alone like this . There is a saying that goes "You get closer the more you fight . " But . . . ”
The smile on s.h.i.+nwoo’s lips disappeared . He looked at the two of them with cold eyes .
Flinch!
s.h.i.+nhwee and s.h.i.+nhyun forgot to glare at each other . They flinched backward .
“We are having a family dinner after being away for a long time . You better not act this way when the time comes . ”
He really wouldn’t go easy on them .
s.h.i.+nwoo didn’t need to say anything further . s.h.i.+nhwee and s.h.i.+nhyun easily understood the implicit threat behind his words . They looked at each other, then nodded . s.h.i.+nwoo was their older brother who normally acted like a pushover, but once he got angry, he became a very scary person .