Moon's Labyrinths

Sungyoon quickly returned to his company and knocked on the door of the president’s room.

Jimin was his wife, but she was the president of Jungbum. Sungyoon had been a president of a company before, so he was very strict in keeping up appearances.

Boom! Boom!

However, since it was urgent business, he loudly knocked without any gentleness.

“Enter!”

Bul-kuhk!

As soon as he received consent, Sungyoon barged through the door.

Of course, his eyes first went to his wife. It seemed her work was taking a physical toll on her as he could see dark circles under her eyes. The string of attacks that had occurred on Earth meant that she had to spend hectic days at work.

Sungyoon was the heart of the response to the monsters' attacks, but he was also her husband and her company's employee. That was why she was busier than ever before, and it took a toll on her mental health.

The two of them rarely slept in the same bed in recent days, so when they did get together, she complained and lamented to him. It was very unlike her to do so, and Sungyoon did his best to spoil her.

He would've comforted her right now if she had been the only person inside the room.

“You're here, Brother-in-law?”

A man greeted Sungyoon. He was Jimin’s brother Woosang.

Woosung, who stood behind Woosang, hesitatingly lowered his head toward Sungyoon. He even used ‘Brother-in-law,’ a term unfamiliar to him, to greet Sungyoon.

It seemed he was starting to accept Sungyoon as his family.

Of course, the biggest reason for his change in his behavior was his big sister. She always berated and glared at him if he was out of line.

After Dongin’s evil deeds came out in the open because of Hyunwoo’s betrayal, Fabion had literally evaporated into the air.

A more thorough dismantling of a company had never been witnessed before.

A company that had an enormous influence in the Connector industry had ended with a whimper.

It meant that the people left behind had to pick up the pieces. They had to face reality.

A lot of Fabion Connectors had followed Hyunwoo in betraying humanity. They had disappeared from Earth, but a large contingent of Fabion Connectors had been unaware of it all. They had just been diligently collecting moonstones.

Many Connectors with considerable abilities had been left behind in the wake of the scandal. Of course, a lot of them received multiple offers from other companies.

Woosang and Woosung had also received multiple offers from distinguished companies. However, they turned them all down to work for their sister’s company.

Now, both brothers were working as high rank Connectors for Jungbum.

“It seems you got here before me.”

Sungyoon received the greetings from his brothers-in-law with ease. However, that was it. It wasn’t time to have a cordial conversation. He immediately walked toward Jimin.

“How’s the situation?”

“Not good.”

Jimin shook her head from side to side.

“Monsters started attacking Armstrong city exactly two hours ago.”

“How many?”

“There are so many that the Connectors can’t even count them. It's impossible to step out of Armstrong city because of the monsters.”

“Do you think this is an all-out war?”

Woosang butted in.

“It's a possibility. They are probably trying to chase humanity out of the Moon once again.”

“How big is the enemy force? Do you think we’ll have to fight every monster on the Moon?”

Woosung asked the question after hearing Jimin’s answer to Woosang.

His voice contained a bit of fear. If they were fighting against all the monsters on the Moon, humanity had no chance. He couldn’t even fathom fighting so many monsters.

“The possibility of that being true is low.”

Sungyoon firmly denied it.

“If they were capable of controlling all the monsters, they would've mobilized the monsters as soon as we retook Armstrong city.”

“It seems Mother was right.”

“Are you talking about Mother-in-law Plu-El?”

“Yes. She said that there's a limit on how many monsters an officer can control.”

“I think so too. If the officers were capable of controlling all the monsters, we wouldn’t have been able to establish a foothold on the Moon.”

Sungyoon had gained a new mother-in-law, and Jimin had gained a new mother. Both of them inwardly thanked Plu-El as the information she had delivered to humanity had been very useful.

“That means there's a finish line to this fight.”

“We can reach it if Armstrong city holds up.”

After saying those words, Jimin looked at the three men standing in front of her.

They were the best Connectors that her company had to offer. At the same time, they were her family.

Her brother Woosung was still immature, but he was her family and she could never hate him.

Woosang looked reliable, but as his sister, she knew that he was worried.

Then there was her husband and savior. Sungyoon had gone through many hardships to emerge as the hero of humanity.

Jimin looked each of them in the eye.

“Armstrong city wants Earth to send all available Connectors to them. Of course, you three are included in that call.”

Jimin did her best to stop her voice from shaking.

“Please be careful.”

The three of them nodded at the same time.

***

“Dad!”

When Sungyoon exited the president’s room, Shinhae ran toward him and clung to him.

Sungyoon had received the emergency call in the backpack store, so he didn’t have the time to drop off Shinhae elsewhere. He had to bring her to the company.

“Ah. Uncles are here too!”

“Hello, Shinhae!”

Woosung let out a bright smile as he placed his hand in front of Shinhae.

Clap!

Shinhae didn’t hesitate to high-five Woosung.

“Have you been well?”

“Yes!”

Woosung squatted in front of Shinhae and ruffled her hair. Shinhae laughed as she grabbed her uncle’s large hand.

“Woosung is really good at playing with Shinhae.”

“It's because their mental age is the same.”

“I think so too.”

Woosung’s hyung and noona were teasing him. Seeing this, Sungyoon let out a bitter laugh.

“Did the meeting end?”

Jiyoon, who had been taking care of Shinhae in the meantime, approached them.

Jimin, Woosang, and Woosung discreetly eyed each other.

“Hey, Shinhae. Do you want to play with your uncles for a little bit?”

Woosang picked up Shinhae, and Shinhae laughed as she swung her feet in the air. Woosang also laughed as he took her into his arms and headed toward the break room.

“I’ll go play with my niece too.”

Woosung followed the two. Then, Jimin said she had some work to do and returned to the president’s office.

In a flash, the only ones left were Sungyoon and Jiyoon.

‘Jeez!’

The three of them had disappeared in an instant. The fact that they could understand each other without speaking made it clear that they really were siblings.

‘I get why Jimin is doing this, but why are my brothers-in-law doing the same thing?’

Normally, brothers-in-law were supposed to speak up when the husband of their sister tried to get close to another woman. They were supposed to object.

However, Woosang and Woosung had excused themselves as if nothing out of the ordinary was happening. Even Woosung, who had objected to the marriage between Sungyoon and Jimin until the end, said nothing.

‘Is this the difference in growing up within a Connector family?’

In the first place, the two brothers had relationships with multiple women. So they naturally understood Sungyoon’s situation.

Moreover, Woosung hadn’t truly objected to Sungyoon and Jimin's marriage. He had basically thrown a tantrum. That was why he had accepted Sungyoon after the marriage pretty quickly.

“Mmm. This isn’t the response I expected when I asked the question.”

Thankfully, Jiyoon had similar thoughts as Sungyoon. She thought she had caught the discreet exchange between the two brothers before they made themselves scarce. That was why she was a bit taken aback.

“I heard you're heading back to the Moon.”

“Armstrong city is in danger. I have to go.”

Jiyoon took a step closer to him.

The two of them became very close to each other. Jiyoon lightly took hold of Sungyoon’s front shirt.

“Please be careful.”

She just spoke one sentence.

However, it was enough to express her emotions.

“Understood.”

Sungyoon calmly nodded.

***

The spaceship with Sungyoon onboard flew into the sky.

After defeating Kevil, Sungyoon had received a short vacation, but he couldn't enjoy that vacation as he had to return to the battlefield. That was why Sungyoon felt very discontent.

However, his discontentment went away when he looked out of the window as they approached Armstrong city.

Sungyoon, Woosung, and Woosang were in the same spaceship, and all three looked out of the windows.

“This is no joke.”

“They are all monsters?”

Sungyoon had experienced many things in a short amount of time, but the two brothers had much longer careers as Connectors.

Yet, they both sounded shocked by the number of monsters they saw.

The spaceship was still up high, so the three of them couldn't see the details. However, they didn’t need to be closer to tell that it was a sea of monsters. Armstrong city was like a toy surrounded by black water.

‘It reminds me of a swarm of ants.’

When he had been young, Sungyoon had gone to the countryside and witnessed a swarm of ants attacking an earthworm. The battle ongoing below reminded him of that scene from the past.

‘I hope the result will be different.’

In the fight between the earthworm and the ants, the ants had won.

He hadn’t seen that fight until the end, but by the time he had left, the earthworm had been severed into two.

Sungyoon couldn’t let Armstrong city suffer the same fate as the earthworm.

“Are your party members already in Armstrong city?”

“Some of them are in Armstrong city. Some are arriving in the next spaceship.”

Woosang answered Sungyoon.

When Fabion had broken apart, most of the Connector parties had also followed suit.

Some parties separated, and their members signed onto different companies. Other parties lost members as many Connectors had decided to betray humanity along with Hyunwoo.

Thankfully, Woosang's and Woosung’s parties didn’t suffer either fate.

Their party members had also gone to different companies, but thankfully, these companies were sympathetic to their unique situation and allowed them to create the same parties as before.

These people had worked with each other for many years, and they had been very productive. The companies decided it would be detrimental to their bottom-line if they broke apart the parties.

“What about your party, Elder Brother-in-law?”

“One is in Armstrong city. Two will come at a later date.”

Grace was in Armstrong city, and the Ross siblings would come later.

‘That princess...’

Sungyoon clicked his tongue when he thought about Grace.

After they had defeated Kevil, each member of Sungyoon's party had decided on the private plane that they would go to their country to rest.

Sungyoon and the Ross siblings had gone home, but Grace had a high sense of responsibility as a princess. Therefore, she had cut her break short and gone to Armstrong city to help.

‘I’m sure she's safe.’

Even though an incredible number of monsters had surrounded Armstrong city, the city was still standing.

The Mayor had beefed up the defenses of Armstrong city, so they were doing very well in repelling the monsters' attacks.

“Let’s head down, Elder Brother-in-law.”

Woosang’s voice broke Sungyoon out of his reveries.

The Connectors gathered near the entrance of the spaceship.

The spaceship was still a long distance away from Armstrong city, so their actions were a bit puzzling.

However, the spaceship had no intention of landing on the Moon.

If they attempted to, there was a high probability that monsters would damage the spaceship.

“I can’t believe I have to drop out into midair again.”

“Now that I think about it, Elder Brother-in-law, I heard you jumped out of a fighter jet to defeat Kevil. What did it feel like?”

“It's a blur. I don’t remember much. I had to spend a long time in a very small space in the backseat of the fighter jet. By the time I had to jump, I had become nervous about going into battle with Kevil.”

“Is that so?”

“Yes. Also, I don’t think hearing about my experience will help you when it comes to what we are about to experience.”

Dul-kung!

The door opened, exposing them to space. The air inside the spaceship escaped to the outside.

Sungyoon spoke his last words as winds raged around him.

“At least, I had a parachute when I jumped out before!”

Tuh-uhk!

The Connector standing in the very front jumped out of the spaceship.

The others also jumped out in a line.