Moon’s Labyrinths Chapter 156

Chapter 156
Chapter 156
“It didn’t go as easily as I expected it to . ”
After seeing Sungyoon and the Ross siblings out, Grace sat back on the sofa . She took a sip of the black tea in front of her, but it had already cooled by now .
“What? Did you think they’d just let you into their party?”
“If I’m being honest, a part of me thought so . ”
It had nothing to do with her social status . She had confidence in her own abilities . That was why she was a bit shocked right now .
“Of course, they should discuss it . There is nothing more important than accepting a new member into a party . It is a good sign that he isn’t an egomaniac that makes all the decisions by himself . ”
He was right .
“Moreover, I can tell . They looked interested . Of course! You are unbelievable! Why wouldn't they want you!”
Russell raised his nose in pride as if it were his business . Grace looked at him with an incredulous expression .
“Are you really sure about this?”
Russell wiped the playful expression off from his face . He looked at her with worry in his eyes . There were no ifs, no ands, no buts about it . Grace had almost died .
The man himself had almost died many times when he was younger . That was why he understood how much fear Grace was feeling right now . To make matters worse, she had also lost all her comrades .
“… If I’m being honest, I’m still afraid . ”
She hugged herself with her own arms .
The Princess had been trapped in the labyrinth . She remembered the feeling the fear that arose from the fact that she didn’t know when she would encounter a monster . She also recalled how her trusted party members had all died .
At that time, she had no idea if she could escape the place where not a single speck of light could enter . She had no hope, only despair .
It really was a dark experience .
Grace was proud of herself for even thinking about going back into the labyrinths .
“However, you know this better than anyone . Connectors can’t live completely away from the Moon . ”
It also meant that if they wanted to live on the Moon, Connectors had to go make money in the labyrinths . Such was their fate .
“I never expected you to agree so readily when I said I wanted to join a different party . Moreover, you are actively helping me get into that party . ”
“Let me be clear about this . This decision was not easy to arrive at . Your grandmother gave me an earful about it . ”
Grace's grandmother was very against the idea of entrusting her granddaughter to some unknown party . When Grace had told them her intention of entering Sungyoon's party, the current queen opposed it quite fiercely . Russell had to go directly against her in order to support Grace’s decision .
The queen wanted Grace to join one of the famous parties from England . It would allow her to provide a certain degree of protection to Grace .
“Also, I looked into the party, especially Woo Sungyoon . He isn’t an ordinary person . ”
Russell started to tell Grace about what he had found out . The information he had gathered was quite accurate, and he knew most of the events that had occurred to Sungyoon .
“… That's a very entertaining hero’s tale . Which author wrote that story?”
“Surprisingly, all of it is the truth . He is getting pretty famous in our community . ”
His physical abilities and leadership ability were above average . He was also a person of sound judgment . She never expected him to be more extraordinary than her .
Grace’s assessment of Sungyoon went up a notch .
“Their skills are on par with you, and they respect your opinion . That is why I agreed with your request of entering their party . ”
“It seems I made the right choice . ”
“I think so too . Although this is only my hunch, I believe Woo Sungyoon will do something amazing in the future . You can carve out your own story too . ”
It seemed he was reacting to her comment about the hero’s tale . Grace smirked as she joked around .
“Is this where the princess joins the hero on his journey? I’ll do my best . ”
Russell laughed with her . However, he suddenly sobered up .
“Are you starting to develop an interest in him? I hope not . If you do, you have to tell me . . . ”
“… Sir Russell . ”
She let out a large sigh as she placed a hand over his mouth to shut him up .
***
Sungyoon and the Ross siblings discussed the prospect of Grace joining their party in earnest . No one really objected to it .
She had the skills and the status . As for the lack of trust between them, it was something they could build while working with each other . So they decided to accept Grace into their party .
However, Sungyoon had to meet someone first before he could deliver the good news to Grace .
“Over here!”
As soon as he entered the store, she yelled out . Sungyoon looked toward the source of the voice .
Chelsea was sitting at a table, waving at him .
Sungyoon sat on the other side of her .
“It has been a while . ”
“Yes, indeed . I heard through the grapevine that Mr . Sungyoon is living a life of extreme ups and downs?”
“Not really . ”
They had rescued Grace, and they had fought against a Skeleton . His party had also fought a life and death battle with a large number of monsters that had suddenly appeared . Despite all this, Sungyoon spoke in a calm manner . It seemed Chelsea had some information on what had happened, so she was baffled by his reaction .
“I wonder what you would have to experience to consider it an out of the ordinary day . ”
“It isn’t as if I experienced those events because I wanted to . So, why did you call me here?”
He responded to her teasing remarks in a very blunt manner and went straight to business . Chelsea pouted at such a response .
However, she welcomed his brand of bluntness . Recently, she had only been focused on her research, and it had felt as if she had been caged in her lab .
“I heard you experienced another incident . ”
“Are you talking about the incident with Ms . Taylor?”
The only incident he had experienced in recent days was the one inside Grace’s labyrinth .
“Ms . Taylor?”
“I’m talking about the person called Princess Grace . ”
“Ah! That’s right!”
She was usually referred to as Princess Grace . Very few people remembered her last name of Taylor .
Chelsea took out a laptop from a bag next to her . She turned it on as she spoke .
“I would like to hear what you experienced in detail . Is that possible?”
“Is Ms . Chelsea’s research facility in charge of investigating this incident?”
“We are the only research facility on the moon . ”
Chelsea’s eyes reminded him of the eyes of a dead goldfish . When he looked closely, he could see dark circles behind her thick glasses .
“Thankfully, I have a connection with you . I was allowed to leave the premises in order to listen to an eyewitness's account of the incident . I can finally take a breather . The other researchers are struggling in hell right now . ”
“It seems you're going through a lot of hardship . ”
“Thank you for acknowledging that . That is why I’m going to blow off some steam before I go back . ”
Chelsea pushed aside the laptop that she had just taken out . She opened the menu placed on top of the table .
“Let’s order first!”
By the look on her face, it seemed as if she wanted to order every food on the menu .
“You should order too, Mr . Sungyoon . I’m paying today . ”
“You are paying today?”
Sungyoon subconsciously looked at his surroundings .
It was a decent sized store . And it was also unlike the store with no servers that Sungyoon and the Ross siblings used to visit .
Well-dressed employees were attending the tables . At a glance, he could tell this place was fairly expensive, and his suspicion was confirmed when he looked down at the prices on the menu .
However, Chelsea was nonchalant .
“It is fine . I have this . ”
Chelsea took out something from her wallet . It was a credit card .
“I have to listen to Mr . Sungyoon’s story . It is considered work . That is why I brought a credit card issued by the research facility . I never expected my relationship with you would bring such a boon . ”
She burrowed her head into the menu as if she were going to eat the menu instead of the food .
“I want this . . . . this . . . ”
It didn’t seem she planned on ordering just one or two dishes to save money . Sungyoon felt a bit bad . He decided to pick the dishes that had reasonable prices .
“Since we are done ordering, may I hear your story?”
She had acted like a klutz up until that moment . But that version of her disappeared . She now acted like a researcher who investigated the unknown truths of the world .
It was said that a man looked more attractive when doing work . This held true for a working woman like Chelsea too .
Sungyoon had nothing to hide, so he calmly told his story .
Chelsea’s expression kept changing as time passed . She knew the general story, but it was a different experience listening to an account from someone who had gone through it . It provided a sense of realism to the story . When Sungyoon was finished, Chelsea let out a sigh .
“Since I’m in this line of work, I know that each Connector has one or two harrowing stories . But I don’t think I’ve ever heard of a Connector who lives a life like yours . ”
Chelsea entered the story on her laptop and organized it . She then expressed her surprise .
Their food started to come out . Chelsea raised her fork and knife in front of the table full of food .
“Let’s eat . ”
Would he describe her as being tragically beautiful? He wondered if those words were appropriate for this situation .
She got busy as she started attacking the food in front of her . Sungyoon ate his portion too .
“Ah! I should tell you about the Golem you gave us . ”
Chelsea swallowed another mouthful of food before continuing .
“I’m sorry to say this, but we haven’t found anything definite yet . The shape and the material is something we haven’t seen before . But just as we were about to start our research in earnest, the anomalies in the labyrinths had started, the highlight being the moonquake that originated from the Great Labyrinth . Then we received the report about magical energy leaking out from a labyrinth, which allowed the monsters to exit the labyrinth . This matter has a direct impact on the safety of Armstrong, so we were tasked to find the cause of these anomalies . That became our priority . ”
“ So the research on the Golem became a non-priority . ”
“Yes . ”
Chelsea glanced at Sungyoon . She knew his personality, so she knew it wouldn’t happen . However, there was a chance that Sungyoon might become offended and take back the Golem .
But Sungyoon reacted as she had expected . He remained and looked almost disinterested in the topic .
“Is that so?”
As he spoke those words, Sungyoon pierced his food with his fork .
“… I feel a bit awkward saying this, but shouldn’t you show more interest in your own business?”
Chelsea couldn’t hold back from speaking up .
However, Sungyoon’s interest in the Golem wasn’t that high . He wasn’t a scientist, neither was he someone interested in research . The Golem was just a mysterious item that looked like a robot . He didn’t feel anything beyond that .
The only reason why he had the sole rights to the Golem was because of him giving up his rights to Mrs . Ross’ Devices and Gems . It almost felt as if the Golem had been pushed onto him .
Of course, he was still a little possessive of the item, and had zero desire to hand it over for free . But he wouldn’t go neurotic over the fact that the research on it wasn’t progressing .
“I’m satisfied if it helps you find the truths regarding the labyrinths . ”
The labyrinths were getting more and more dangerous, so he preferred finding out more information about them .
“Are you planning on continuing to raid the labyrinths? At the very least, shouldn’t you rest until these anomalies subside?”
Chelsea sounded worried .
However, Sungyoon shook his head from side to side .
“There is no guarantee that the anomalies will subside . And as a Connector, I tread a fine line when it comes to danger . Above all else . . . ”
A firm will was evident in his eyes .
“I am aiming for the Great Labyrinth . ”
This was also true of the Ross siblings . He had already spoken to the two of them about this topic . It was also one of the reasons Grace wanted to join his party .
Chelsea couldn’t say anything when Sungyoon showed so much resolve .
But she couldn’t help but be worried .
She spoke in a small voice .
“Still, you should be careful . ”
He had no objections to those words, so Sungyoon nodded .
***
Jiyoon was working hard at the company once again .
As expected, it was a great learning experience to work at a Connector company . This was different from what she had learned in the lecture hall . Here, she worked through problems as she gained real-world experience .
It also helped that Jungbum was in the midst of an expansion .
Jiyoon shut off the computer after she entered all the data given to her by Jimin . And when she looked at her watch, she realized it was pretty late .
It was time to leave soon . She double-checked her work as she started to clean her workspace .
‘Should I drink a cup of coffee before I leave?’
She walked towards the small lounge provided for the staff . But when she opened the door to the lounge, her eyes turned round .
“Ah! Unni!”
Shinhae was sitting at the table . She had just finished drinking her milk when she turned to look at Jiyoon .