Moon's Labyrinths

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.

Shinwoo 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 Shinwoo 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.’

Shinwoo 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.

Shinwoo 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. Shinwoo's eyes landed on the statue placed in front. The statue's face was familiar, and it resembled Shinwoo’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. Shinwoo 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 Shinwoo.”

A middle-aged man with an affable face greeted Shinwoo.

“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.”

Shinwoo took out a bag containing his cut of the moonstones.

“Understood. I’ll immediately take care of it for you.”

Shinwoo 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 Shinwoo always brought his moonstones here.

“How are you doing these days?”

The man asked Shinwoo 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 Shinwoo 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 complex tunnels 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 Shinwoo 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 puberty. I’m not my old self who wanted to get out of my father’s shadow.’

Shinwoo 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? Shinwoo looked up at the round Earth floating above the city.

***

Shinwoo's final destination was Korea, but he was on a plane heading toward the US. He had something to do before landing in Korea.

Shinwoo 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.’

Shinwoo 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, Shinwoo didn’t care about that. He would recognize his sister no matter what she looked like.

“Hey, Shinhwee.”

“Oppa?”

The girl who had been walking and laughing with her friends widened her eyes when she saw him.

***

“This is too much. Why do you have to pick me up? I’m old enough now.”

Shinhwee grumbled as she packed up her belongings inside her dorm room.

Shinwoo 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, Shinwoo 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 noble person who saved the kingdom...!' Oof!”

Shinhwee threw the clothes in her hand toward Shinwoo, and he caught it in an exaggerated manner.

“I told you to never bring that up again!”

Shinhwee shouted back at him. Tears appeared in Shinwoo's eyes as he laughed. She glared at him as she approached him and snatched 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.”

Shinhwee 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. Shinwoo 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, Shinhwee 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.”

Shinhwee 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 Shinhwee 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.’

Shinwoo 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 Shinhwee's lips, and Shinwoo 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 dick!”

In the end, Shinhwee kicked Shinwoo out of her room and didn't let him enter until she had packed all her luggage.

***

After picking up Shinhwee, Shinwoo 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 passed through the large front gate to reach a garden.

“I don’t know how he can live here.”

Shinhwee, 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. Shinhwee 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.”

Shinwoo 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 Shinwoo suggested that they all get along. Shinwoo let out a sigh.

‘Well, they’ve always been like this.’

Shinhwee was a free spirit, while Shinhyun 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. Shinhwee became influenced by Chelsea’s worldview. She valued common sense and saw the world as a free spirit.

It was the same for Shinhyun. After Britain became a constitutional 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. Shinhyun’s great grandmother was the queen, and his mother was treated like a princess. This was why him having aristocratic manners was inevitable.

Shinwoo 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 Shinwoo’s lips disappeared. He looked at the two of them with cold eyes.

Flinch!

Shinhwee and Shinhyun 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.

Shinwoo didn’t need to say anything further. Shinhwee and Shinhyun easily understood the implicit threat behind his words. They looked at each other, then nodded. Shinwoo was their older brother who normally acted like a pushover, but once he got angry, he became a very scary person.