Chapter 64

Sungyoon kept killing the monsters as he advanced. He didn’t know how long it had been. However, he was starting to encounter fewer monsters. But he didn’t notice it and just kept advancing forward.

After a while, Sungyoon was barely able to escape the sealed off tunnel.

“Hey! Hey, you there! Why are you coming out from there!”

When he exited the tunnel, the sentry on guard was surprised and taken aback. Then, the sentry started questioning.

“How the hell did you get in there?! We’ve been sealing that place off at all times!”

‘As expected, this place was supposed to be sealed-off.’

By the look of his equipment, this was another sentry, not the one he had seen earlier.

“I’m curious about that too.”

Sungyoon answered with a tired voice. He just had a flashback of entering into the sealed region, and running around like a mouse from monsters. It created an adverse reaction. He had been so nervous and tense that he had forgotten about his fatigue. Exhaustion washed over him all at once.

Sungyoon gave a complete account of his story to the sentry. This sentry had a helmet without a face mask, and it allowed Sungyoon the chance to get a good view of his face. As Sungyoon’s story progressed, the sentry’s face hardened.

“Nicholas! That son of a bitch! I knew he is normally an irresponsible and an ill-tempered bastard, but I never knew he was capable of doing this!”

The sentry sounded very angry as he shouted.

‘Nicholas. Is that the sentry’s name?’

He didn’t know if it had been a mistake or a prank. However, Sungyoon knew that this person had manufactured a scenario where he could have lost his life. He made sure to remember that name.

“I’ll report this to the upper management of Armstrong. You should report this to your country’s Support Center.”

“Understood.”

It seemed this sentry was different from the man called Nicholas.

“I’m sorry. I am still on duty, so I can’t leave this spot. Will you be able to reach the entrance of the labyrinth by yourself? If not, you can wait with me here for a while. You can choose to go out with me.”

Sungyoon did an assessment of his body. He was fine. No, the Gold Gem was still active, so he was overflowing with energy compared to his normal self. He was very fatigued, but it wouldn’t deter him from fighting. Above all else, he would be encountering only the low ranked monsters from this point on.

“I’m fine.”

The sentry looked over Sungyoon’s body. Soon, he noticed the golden l.u.s.ter around Sungyoon’s weapon. His eyes went towards the wrist where the Device held a Gold Gem in one of its slots. At first, the sentry had a surprised expression on his face, but soon, a sympathetic look appeared on his face. It was a knowing expression. He knew what kind of situation Sungyoon had been in, and he could deduce how the Connector had been able to come back out alive.

“Please take care of yourself.”

At the sentry’s words, Sungyoon nodded. He once again moved to exit the labyrinth.

Every monster he met afterward were all small fry. They were unbelievably weak compared to the monsters within the sealed region. Now, he was wearing good gear and was imbued with the power of the Gold Gem. He didn’t even break a sweat killing them.

He could see a light in the distance. It was the light from Armstrong city. It looked like light shining down from heaven to Sungyoon.

‘How long has it been since I’ve entered the labyrinth?’

He had entered the sealed region, and then, he had been chased around by monsters. It felt as if several hours had passed. Sungyoon looked down at his watch.

‘I was there for a whole day.’

Normally, this would be around the time he would wake up. He would be making preparations to enter into the labyrinth. He shook his head from side to side as he exited.

Since the Mana Stream was imminent, there weren’t that many people in front of the labyrinth. Sungyoon took a deep breath. He was out of the labyrinth, and it made him feel very relieved.

Sungyoon turned off his Gems. He was finally at a location that was completely safe, so he no longer needed to keep his Gems activated. Sungyoon unsummoned his equipment. The light from the Gems started to fade away as they went to sleep.

Pah-jeek!

He heard the sound of something breaking. Sungyoon bit his lips. He didn’t even have to look down. He knew the source of that sound.

‘I don’t know how I’ll be able to look the president straight in the eye.’

She had given it to him, so he could use it to save his life once. However, he couldn’t help but feel bad when he thought about how much that Gem was worth.

Ting!

At that moment, he heard a sound that woke him up from his reverie. Naturally, his gaze headed towards where he had heard the sound.

‘This is…!’

Sungyoon’s eyes widened. Something gold rolled across the ground.

‘Gold Gem!’

It wasn’t broken or crushed. The Gold Gem had clearly maintained its star shape. Sungyoon looked bewitched as he picked up the Gem.

It was as if he had seen an alien descending from a UFO. He kept turning the Gold Gem as he looked at it. Then his gaze went towards the Device where the Gold Gem had been slotted. The slot had been burnt black, and it was completely broken.

He had placed the Gold Gem in a lower rank slot and had forcefully activated it. However, the Gold Gem was fine. Only the slot had been damaged.

This meant only one thing.

Sungyoon currently had the capacity to be able to activate a Gold Gem.

‘Is this for real?’

He was dumbstruck at the unexpected good news. He stood there looking at the Gem for a brief moment.

* * *

“… what did you say?”

Her pretty face scrunched up, and she suddenly looked fierce. The receptionist, who was also pretty, looked like a beast closing in on its prey. Sungyoon thought it was weird that the women around him didn’t lose their beauty when they frowned. He once again explained his story.

“The one tasked to clean up the Beginner’s Labyrinth made a mistake, and you went into the sealed region. You were barely able to get out alive. Am I correct?”

“To sum it up, yes.”

The receptionist's frown deepened. She was one of the receptionists that he had only interacted with when he picked up his ration of water and vitamins. This was the first time seeing her so angry.

“Understood. We’ll be sure to do our job. We’ll investigate it thoroughly.”

She sounded resolute as if she was about to immediately get to the bottom of this.

“What was his name?”

“According to the other sentry, his name is Nicholas.”

“Nicholas….”

The receptionist pulled out a paper and she wrote down the name.

“You probably went through a lot today. Please go rest.”

The receptionist always had dead eyes when she interacted with the beginner Connectors. Sungyoon got goosebumps when she let out a kind smile as she told him to go rest. It once again confirmed the fact that the man named Nicholas had done an act of monumental folly.

* * *

Unlike the day before, Nicholas was in a very good mood. He had thrown the idiot beginner Connector into hell, and he couldn’t stop himself from humming.

“Oh my. Did something good happen?”

A half-n.a.k.e.d woman leaned in next to him. She tapped his sturdy shoulder as she asked the question.

“Something good? Yes, something good did happen.”

Nicholas laughed as he raised his glass. He downed the alcohol.

“What happened?”

There was another woman on the other side. Nicholas was sandwiched between the two women. She refilled his glass as she asked the question. This woman also wore a skimpy outfit.

“There was something that caused me a lot of frustration in recent days. Just know that I was able to solve that problem, and it feels awesome.”

Nicholas had a woman on each arm. After he gave a vague answer, he downed another glass of alcohol. The two women looked a bit miffed at his answer, but they no longer questioned in regard to that topic. It was against professional etiquette to ask questions that a customer refused to answer.

‘Is he still on the run? No, he probably got eaten by now.’

He thought about the maggot, who was seeing the real labyrinth within the sealed region. Nicholas smiled. The more he thought about it, the more it felt satisfying. He never expected to come across a once in a lifetime opportunity to get rid of that maggot.

‘This is why it pays to do good things in life.’

Even as he had that thought, he knew that line was dumb as hell. Nicholas started to laugh by himself.

‘I hope there comes a time when I’ll be able to get rid of that impertinent bitch.’

Nicholas’ thoughts moved on to Chelsea. In some ways, everything started when she turned him down. Sungyoon and Chelsea would be dismayed if they heard what he was thinking. However, Nicholas truly felt the blame lay with Chelsea.

‘It’s too bad when you consider her face.’

His gaze cooled as he looked at the two women who were acting coquettish in his arms. They were p.r.o.s.t.i.t.u.t.es working on the Moon. Moreover, they were pretty high-quality p.r.o.s.t.i.t.u.t.es, but they didn’t look as pretty as that bitch. She had been very pretty even without makeup. If she dolled herself up, she would be very beautiful. He couldn’t imagine how much more beautiful she would be.

‘Then there’s the Princess...’

It had been his first time seeing the famous Princess Grace. He had known that she was extremely beautiful through the screen, but in real life, she was much more beautiful.

Nicholas smacked his lips as he thought about the two women.

‘It can’t be helped.’

If he got another shot, he would make sure not to miss that opportunity. He decided to play with these two pretty women all night. Nicholas was about to pull the women closer by placing his hands around their slim waists. It happened at that moment.

He heard a commotion outside.

“What’s going on?”

One of the women got up to check what was going on outside.

Slam!

The door to the private room was slammed open as two people entered into the room. The two women were surprised, so they moved closer towards Nicholas.

The two people, who had entered the room, were armed to the teeth. Nicholas gulped. By the look of their equipment, he knew. These two Connectors were stronger than him.

He pressed down on his urge to cuss. Nicholas quietly stood up.

“What’s going on?”

Nicholas was polite as he asked the question. If anyone that knew him saw this, they would be shocked by his respectfulness. However, it wasn’t that surprising. He was a petty man that acted strong against the weak, and he acted weak in front of the strong.

“Nicholas Laughton?”

“That’s me.”

“Please come with us for a moment.”

One of the Connectors, who had entered the room, raised something in his hand. Nicholas felt his heart freeze when he saw it.

He had brought up a card, but it wasn’t a normal card. It was a special card distributed by the upper management of Armstrong City. It basically signified that this person was their proxy. Most of the people with this card were given the power of attorney, and they had the right to arrest criminal suspects in Armstrong city.

The p.r.o.s.t.i.t.u.t.es, who were next to Nicholas, quickly moved away from him. Nicholas couldn’t stop himself. He had threatened the police of Armstrong several times, so he had spent some time in a jail cell. However, he had never seen someone with the card arrest a high ranked Connector.

“T... there must be some kind of a mistake...”

Nicholas’ eyes roamed the room as he tried to think of a way to get out of this predicament. If he had done no wrong, he would have yelled at the top of his lungs. He would have professed his innocence. However, there was one particular incident that made him feel guilty.

‘F.u.c.k! Did they catch me doing it?’

He had pushed the maggot into hell. He was sure he got caught doing it.

‘How?’

Did that maggot somehow come back alive?

‘No. There is no way.’

By the time he got off his shift, the maggot still hadn’t come out. He had been in the sealed region for a very long time. Of course, the maggot would have been eaten by the monsters. His bones were probably consumed too.

‘So, how!’

He thought hard about it, yet he couldn’t understand how they found out.

The Beginner’s Labyrinth was a place to grow beginner Connectors who would allow the world to gain much in the future. It was the reason why Armstrong City considered the Beginner’s Labyrinth to be as important as the Great Labyrinth. If someone was found to have done something wrong within the Beginner’s Labyrinth, the penalty wouldn’t be small. If it was revealed that Nicholas’s action was intentional instead of a mistake...

Nicholas’ body shook.