Chapter 255

Chapter 255

“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 ma.s.sive 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-cus.h.i.+oned chair .

The mayor had lent out a very luxurious vehicle for their use . There were no cargo s.p.a.ce 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 refres.h.i.+ng 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 pa.s.sed 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 s.p.a.ce 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 st.u.r.dy, 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 .