Chapter 242
As soon as he left the spaceport, the tepid air unique to Armstrong city swamped him . Sungyoon frowned a little bit as he sniffed to clear his nose .
On Earth, he had to be on standby in his house for his shift . It was boring, but he preferred it to being in Armstrong city .
However, he soon became used to the recycled air . It had been a while since he saw the streets of Armstrong city . As he walked the streets, he realized that Armstrong city was still the same . Even though the city had been facing a crisis, people still coveted the moonstones, and with the fall of the other Lunar city, Armstrong had recovered much of their standing in the world .
Sungyoon's feet came to a stop in front of a particular five-story building . The first floor was a pub, and the other floors had various shops designed to prey on the money of Connectors . Sungyoon owned this building .
Considering the crazy cost of living in Armstrong city, he was receiving an astronomical sum of money for rent from the stores: a couple hundred thousand dollars from each store for one month . It made him understand why Armstrong was so resistant in giving away properties to Connectors .
However, the higher-ups of Armstrong city no longer hoarded the real estate market .
‘This is my building… . ’
An odd light flashed in Sungyoon’s eyes as he looked up at the building .
Despite the outrageous rent, the number of store owners that wanted to rent the space in his building was enough to form lines . This wasn’t the only building Armstrong had given to Sungyoon . Even if Sungyoon stopped acquiring moonstones, he would be able to amass an enormous fortune over time with the rent from his buildings all over the city .
Leaving behind the loud and bustling store, Sungyoon returned to his house .
When his party members were forced to serve in the defense of Armstrong city, they had also received some real estate in Armstrong . However, they still resided in Sungyoon’s house when they came to the Moon .
As a party, they wanted to maintain good chemistry, and it was more convenient that way .
When Sungyoon reached his house, he found no one inside . Chelsea was conducting her research, and his other party members hadn’t arrived yet .
Sungyoon went up to the second floor and entered the room right across the stairs . It was a playroom . The first thing his eyes fell upon was a billiard’s table in the center room . Game consoles and board games like chess were spread everywhere in the room .
Sungyoon remembered that when he started out, he used to receive a small number of nutritional supplements and water from the support center because he didn’t have any money . His residence had been a dormitory where he cooped up like a chicken . The luxury in front of him right now was something that the low rank Connectors couldn't even dream about . It showed the extreme gap between the rich and the poor in Armstrong city .
Sungyoon picked up a cue stick mounted on the wall and rolled the billiard ball . The sound of billiard ball bouncing around broke the silence in the room . He was about to kill some time when he heard a knock .
Knock! Knock!
Sungyoon calmly turned around as if he had already known that she was there . At the open door, he saw someone leaning against the door frame . She was a striking woman with large glasses and dressed in a dirty lab coat .
“Hello, Mr . Sungyoon . It has been a while . ”
“Yes, it has . ”
Chelsea offered her pale hand . Sungyoon grabbed it, and he pumped it a couple of times for a handshake .
“You want to have a match?”
Chelsea pointed at the billiards table . Sungyoon had no reason to turn her down .
“Now that I think about it, I’ve rarely played pool with you, Ms . Chelsea . ”
The one who usually played pool with Sungyoon was Tim . Sungyoon and Chelsea had gone against each other when they had played billiards as teams, and this would be the first time they would face each other one-on-one .
“Don't take me lightly . When all three of you went to Earth, I played every day . Alone! On the Moon! I was the only one left!”
The Connectors had to go back down to Earth to fulfill their duties to their country, but they got to live on Earth . Chelsea remained behind on the desolate Moon, conducting her research in the lab . She had a lot of pent-up frustration .
Her slim legs parted as she assumed the proper stance . She placed all her frustration into her cue stick and struck the ball .
Tik!
The sound didn’t have much strength behind it . Chelsea had missed the mark when hitting the ball, so the ball slowly rolled diagonally .
Boom!
Chelsea bumped her head against the billiard table . She tried to act nonchalant as she watched the white ball roll in the direction of the red ball . However, the white ball stopped well before it could reach the red ball .
Sungyoon smirked as he grabbed the cue stick .
“You can make such faces now . ”
Sungyoon froze for a brief moment . Chelsea leaned against the billiard table and propped herself up with her arms . She looked up at Sungyoon and spoke .
“You used to be like a marble statue . ”
Sungyoon touched his face . She was right; the corners of his mouth were slightly lifted into a smile .
“Was marriage that good for you?”
“… Did you hear it from Ms . Jimin?”
“Yeah . ”
Chelsea snorted .
“She used the expensive communication service to call me from Earth . She was unusually chatty, and I could tell she had called to show off . ”
Sungyoon felt awkward as he scratched his cheek . Chelsea had an air of a jealous woman around her, and it looked like she was about to take out and bite her handkerchief .
Pushing off the billiard table, Chelsea stood up straight . With the billiard table's obstructed cleared, Sungyoon raised his cue stick .
Ddahk!
A snappy sound rang out as the white ball hit two red balls in succession . Sungyoon moved the cue stick a couple more times .
“Jimin told me something else too . You know about how the others feel about you?”
Puhk!
A dull sound rang out .
Sungyoon's cue stick had missed its target; it was exactly what had happened with Chelsea earlier . He was off-target, and the ball weakly drifted to the side . With round eyes, Sungyoon stared at Chelsea, and this time Chelsea laughed .
“You’ve really changed . When I had first met you, you were very rigid . However, your face expresses human expressions now . ”
Sungyoon had changed, but the changes in his expressions were still very minute .
“You should prepare yourself . ”
Chelsea grabbed her cue stick and hit the white ball .
Ddah-dahk!
Unlike before, her movements were smooth, and the white ball hit two red balls in succession .
“I held back until now because I knew what you had gone through in the past . However, Jimin has opened the pandora’s box . A lot of women will move a bit more aggressively toward you now, and I'm one of them . ”
Chelsea winked . Her true beauty suddenly shone through her shabby outer appearance .
“… I’m already married . ”
“One marriage is nothing when it comes to a Connector . ”
Ddahk!
She spoke those words in a playful manner as she once again hit the ball . She then changed the topic .
“It seems you didn’t tell Jimin about the black armor . ”
“Yes . It's a sensitive issue . ”
“If you're having a hard time telling her, should I talk to her instead?”
Sungyoon shook his head from side to side .
“You don't have to . I know it’ll be hard for you to speak to her too . I’ll do it . ”
“Hmm . As expected, you want me out of it when it has to do with your lovely wife?”
It seemed she would continue to make fun of him for a long time . Sungyoon made his resolve to talk to Jimin .
“Wouldn’t Woosung and Woosang tell her? Ah! Are the two of them also hesitant to tell Jimin, Mr . Sungyoon?”
The two brothers were in Fabion, so Chelsea thought the two of them would know about it .
Sungyoon thought about the meeting with his mothers-in-law where the two brothers had been present .
‘Can this guy make our noona happy?’
This thought was in both brothers' mind . Woosang had continued to observe him, and Woosung complained about Sungyoon .
“The two of them don’t know . ”
“They don’t know?”
Chelsea’s eyes widened from surprise .
“I thought Fabion brought their main force to eradicate the black armor and his men?”
“The two of them weren’t there . It's possible Mr . Dongin and Mr . Hyunwoo didn’t include them in the mission . They might have been worried about the two brothers . ”
“That kinda makes sense . ”
“I don’t think my mothers-in-law know about it either . I’m sure they are keeping it quiet until they are able to get facts . ”
Chelsea wiggled her eyebrows when Sungyoon used the term mothers-in-law . Sungyoon silently hit the billiard ball .
***
It had been a while since the party members were all in the same place . Therefore, they were all very happy to meet each other .
On that night, they had laughed like idiots and talked uproariously . When Chelsea had broken the news about Sungyoon’s marriage, it had surprised everyone, but they soon laughed and congratulated him .
As the night moved on, alcohol was served .
It started at that moment . Sungyoon’s party members became a bit more aggressive . The change was subtle . but it was still a change nonetheless .
***
Sungyoon had come out to buy a cup of coffee before he entered the labyrinth . He was going over his thoughts as he felt flustered right now . The women in his life had become a bit more open in pursuing him . However, he unexpectedly didn’t feel repulsed by it .
‘Am I completely cured of my distrust of women?’
Even Sungyoon knew it was a serious disease of the mind that he suffered from . However, it hadn’t inconvenienced him, so he had left this mental illness alone .
Did it somehow treat itself? Was he cured?
“A . . . are you perhaps the Knight?”
As Sungyoon was about to return to his party members after buying the coffee, he heard a hesitant voice .
The coffee shop employee’s eyes shone as she looked at him . This was a common occurrence given Sungyoon's fame . The employee didn’t even wait to listen to Sungyoon’s answer and pushed a pen and paper toward him .
“C-can you please sign this?”
Overall, she was a very cute woman and pretty enough to attract gazes from men .
Sungyoon put his very boring signature on the paper, then left the happy employee . He exited the cafe with his coffee .
‘It isn’t fixed . ’
In order to get the signature, the employee had moved closer to him . Sungyoon had barely stopped himself from unsconsiosuly retreating a step back . His distrust of women was still active .
Somehow, this fact gave him a feeling of relief .
***
The party had entered the Great Labyrinth after a very long time . The familiar humongous labyrinth and the fierce monsters greeted them . The four of them quickly got through the floors they had already cleared, but the Great Labyrinth was so large that it still took them a lot of time to reach the floor where they had left off .
“Even if we have gained the power to clear the Great Labyrinth, it’ll be impossible because of how long it takes . ”
Grace calculated how long it had taken them to reach this deep in the labyrinth . She furrowed her brows .
Four months .
It was a very long time, but if one wanted to clear the Great Labyrinth, it was a short perios .
Tim weighed in .
“Even if we ignore the monsters, we won’t be able to reach the lowest floor of the Great Labyrinth in four months . What are the higher-ups thinking?”
“They are strictly thinking about the safety of Earth and Armstrong city . It's hard to fault them for thinking that way . ”
As Emily had said, the raid on the Great Labyrinth could only be successful if both Earth and Armstrong city remained standing .
Tim knew that . However, this didn’t mean he liked it .
“If we continue at this rate, we can only clear the Great Labyrinth in our dreams . If something is missing from us, we can fix that . However, what can we do about the lack of time?”
All four of them had received many rights to real estate in Armstrong . They could live a life of luxury even if they never stepped into the Great Labyrinth again, yet they continued to come into the Great Labyrinth . The reason was clear . They wanted to fulfill their goal of clearing the Great Labyrinth .
Emily didn’t have an answer, so she just chewed on her blameless lips .
“For now… . ”
Everyone looked at Sungyoon when he spoke up .
“Even if we talk about it, we can't solve this problem . ”
Sungyoon looked up, and the rest looked up too .
The size of it couldn’t be estimated, but a large body of water was indefinitely floating in the air . Sungyoon's party members shut their mouths at once when they saw this overwhelming sight . They felt an enormous ocean was floating in the air .
“… I wonder what kind of laws of physics the Great Labyrinth follows . ”
“Don’t think too hard on it . It’ll just give you a headache . ”
Emily and Grace sounded dismayed as they talked to each other .
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