Chapter 255

“Welcome!”

The mayor looked glad as he greeted Sungyoon’s party. The mayor looked worn out compared to the first time they had met.

It seemed he had suffered alot dealing with the string of crises.

“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 bit as he asked for the beverage of his choice.

‘It seems this business isn’t that urgent.’

He had worried a similar situation to what had happened to Gagarin·Yang city was about to break out, so he had been a bit worried. Since they were being served refreshment, it seemed the business wasn’t urgent.

‘I should have known. The emergency alarm hadn’t gone off, and downtown was being run like usual.’

If a massive monster horde similar in size to the one that attacked Gagarin·Yang city had made an appearance, the high rank officials would have sent out a warning.

The beverage of choice for each person was placed in front of them. Sungyo, Tim and Emily had ordered coffee. As always, Grace had ordered black tea.

“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 city.”

An SOS signal wasn’t that uncommon.

Sometimes, Moon Surface Vehicles flipped over. The moon was full of small and large craters. Accidents were to be expected.

This was why Connectors had to take long circuitous routes even if the destination was pretty close. If the driver was inexperienced, it was common for one to drive the vehicle into a ditch. Most Connectors experienced doing this over their careers.

However, if things were so simple, they wouldn’t have pulled Sungyoon’s party from the guard duty.

“We sometimes get requests for a rescue, but this one is problematic. It has to do with what was said before the connection was cut off.”

“What was it about?”

“They 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. In the first place, communication devices don’t work in 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 is close to Armstrong city makes it really dangerous. If things go south, the monsters may attack this city.”

It was as if he was going out of his way to not talked about what had happened to the Gagarin·Yang city. He might have thought it might be bad luck.

The mayor’s eyebrows twitched. His already gaunt cheeks looked more emaciated. Sungyoon felt pity for the mayor.

“Then we should get ready to defend.”

“Yes. We’ve already mobilized all the Connectors, who are on standby.”

“That means you have another reason why you called us here.”

“That’s right. I would like your party to go investigate the Moon Surface Vehicle where the SOS signal originated.”

“It is a dangerous mission.”

“I’m sorry, but it is.”

The fact that the monsters might attack didn’t mean they should stay put. This was the time when they needed information the most about what was going on in their nearby surroundings.

Moreover, Sungyoon’s party had successfully carried out a couple requests before from Armstrong city. They were the most reliable cards that the mayor could use.

“I know you were all ambushed not too long ago. I'm really sorry for throwing you into this mess. However, your party is very experienced. You have all gone through a lot. This is especially true of Mr. Sungyoon. I believe you are the most ideal person to deal with tis 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.