Chapter 139
Chapter 139
Sungyoon had gone through a very arduous battle, so the two of them decided to take a rest . Hyunwoo told him that he knew a good place to rest . He started guiding Sungyoon to an unknown location .
Hyunwoo struck down every monster they encountered with a single blow . Sungyoon quietly followed after him .
‘Huh?’
Suddenly, the current of magical energy hitting his body changed . Since it was the Mana Stream period, the magical energy had been turbulent . Suddenly, the already turbulent magical energy became more violent .
“The magical energy became more turbulent . Will I be ok?”
Since this was his first time experiencing this, Sungyoon asked the question to Hyunwoo .
“You’ll be fine . At your level, you won’t feel any adverse effects from the magical energy . Moreover, the fact that the magical energy is raging like this means I found the right place . ”
Hyunwoo kept moving inward .
The magical energy was progressively getting rougher and harsher . How much time had passed as they pushed through?
Hoo-ook!
Suddenly, he couldn't see anything .
‘What the hell!’
Sungyoon looked at his surroundings in surprise, but he couldn’t see anything . He quickly touched his eyes . He didn’t feel anything amiss .
He didn’t feel any liquid that might be blood . He didn’t feel any pain in his eyes . It was as if he had entered a place without any light .
‘Now that I think about it, there’s no magical energy!’
Until a moment ago, the magical energy had been running wild as it stimulated all his senses . He could no longer feel it .
The labyrinth didn’t have any light within . The only reason why Connectors could see their surroundings was the magical energy delivering the information of their surrounding instead of light . Magical energy acted as a medium for the information . Of course, Connectors wouldn’t be able to see their surroundings if magical energy wasn’t present .
“Are you surprised?”
His surroundings brightened as soon as he heard Hyunwoo’s voice .
Sungyoon had to close his eyes when he saw the blinding light . He blinked his eyes a couple times to get used to it, and he checked the source of the light .
The only time Sungyoon experienced seeing light in the labyrinth was when the monsters spawned . This was why he became tense at the presence of the light .
Instead of a monster appearing, Sungyoon saw Hyunwoo, who was holding a lantern .
“…what is going on?”
Sungyoon became very surprised . It was impossible to use any modern conveniences inside the labyrinths .
This was why the acquisition of the moonstones was something only the Connectors could accomplish . However, Hyunwoo was holding an electric lantern right now . The lantern in Hyunwoo’s hand ruthlessly broke apart his preconceived notion .
“Have you heard about the Magical Void before?”
“…Magical Void?”
He slowly went over what was explained to him about the labyrinths . Sungyoon remembered hearing such a word amongst the explanations in the past .
“It is a space that appears within the Mana Stream . They are like the eye of a storm . These spaces are completely devoid of magical energy . It is theorized that this phenomenon is caused by an interaction between the current of magical energy and the layout of the labyrinth . Of course, it is only a theory . No information is certain when it comes to the labyrinths . ”
Hyunwoo took up the lamp as he took the lead . Since the magical energy was completely gone, Hyunwoo’s lantern was the only source of light in this completely dark labyrinth .
The Magical Void encompassed a pretty large area . They continued to walk until they reached a large wall . It was a dead end .
Hyunwoo placed the lantern in one corner, and he sunk to the floor .
“You can rest without worry . Magical Voids are places where monsters do not show up . You don’t have to be so tense . ”
Then he spread his legs .
Sungyoon followed his advice . He sat down .
“Eat . ”
Hyunwoo tossed something to him . It was a sandwich with ham, cheese, veggies and some sauce in it . Sungyoon bowed his head to express his thanks, and he bit down on the sandwich . His tongue was in ecstasy as he ate something that was hard to acquire on the moon .
Hyunwoo also took out his own sandwich, and he started eating it .
For a while, only the sound of them chewing food could be heard within the labyrinth .
“Do you have a sleeping bag at the very least?”
“Yes . ”
When he navigated through the Beginner’s labyrinth, he had carried around a worn out blanket given to him by the Support Center . He now used a high quality sleeping bag, which had been fairly pricey . He kept it stored within his Storage Gem .
“That’s good . Let’s stop hunting for the day and stay here until dawn comes . ”
Then Hyunwoo started pouring out items from his storage Gem . These were items that Sungyoon would have never imagined bringing to a labyrinth .
Hyunwoo took out charcoal, a BBQ grill, meat, all kinds of vegetables and even soju . Sungyoon’s mouth fell open . He forgot to swallow the food in his mouth . However, Hyunwoo wasn’t bothered by Sungyoon’s dumbfounded look . He just continued to make preparations for a cookout .
How should he react to this? Sungyoon was momentarily left speechless .
He was barely able to open his mouth when Hyunwoo started placing meat over the charcoal .
“…what is all this?”
“Huh? What’s wrong? You don’t like BBQ?”
Hyunwoo filled a cup with soju, and he passed it to Sungyoon . He was being offered alcohol, but he didn’t dare drink it .
Even if this was a Magical Void, this was a labyrinth filled with monsters .
On the other hand, Hyunwoo downed a large cup of soju . He drank without even eating any appetizers . He had the face of a 20 year old, yet he acted exactly like an old man .
“What are you doing? You should drink too . ”
“…are you sure this is ok?”
Sungyoon refused to drink the soju, so he just held his cup as he asked the question . Hyunwoo poured himself another cup as he disregarded Sungyoon’s worries .
“Jeez . Did you only live your life by being duped?”
Hyunwoo grumbled in displeasure .
“I know a lot about the Magical Void . This phenomenon also exists in the Great Labyrinth . The Great Labyrinth’s Mana Stream lasts all year long . That is why Magical Voids exist all year long too . I owe a great deal to the Magical Voids . ”
He once again downed the cup of soju .
“What characteristics does it have?”
Sungyoon was more interested in the information regarding the Magical Void than the soju .
“It isn’t much . Monsters never enter into this place . We tried to lure monsters into this place, but they always stopped in front of the Magical Void . Monsters would either vent steam from their noses or run away from this place . They would never voluntarily enter this place . ”
“It means they are incapable of entering this place . ”
“No, that isn’t true . We threw a couple monsters into the Magical Void, and they didn’t die instantly . It just turns out they just really hate entering this place . ”
The meat was starting to turn brown . Hyunwoo quickly flipped them over before he burnt the meat .
“That is why you shouldn’t worry . You can drink the alcohol . This place is safe . ”
Hyunwoo was an old hand in the labyrinth, and he was making a definite statement in regard to their safety . Sungyoon carefully drank the soju . The bitter taste of alcohol hit his nose .
“Hahahaha . It’s good, right?”
Hyunwoo laughed magnanimously .
“This is the most unique place to have a BBQ! I tried drinking foreign liquor here, but it couldn’t get me in the mood! Soju is the best for a place like this!”
Hyunwoo downed another cup .
In a flash, the soju bottle was almost empty . However, Hyunwoo didn’t pour out the rest . He just downed the remaining alcohol by placing the bottle on his lips .
It seemed he didn’t want to waste a single drop of alcohol . Hyunwoo sucked and licked at the entrance of the bottle .
Hyunwoo was so relaxed in drinking his alcohol that Sungyoon started to relax too .
“I’ll grill them . ”
Sungyoon took the tongs from Hyunwoo, and he grilled the meat . Smoke appeared within the labyrinth .
This was how Sungyoon experienced BBQing and camping in the labyrinth . His day came to an end by doing something that was beyond a unique experience . It was insanity .
***
Tim and Emily were in an unfamiliar place called Korea, so they decided it would be best if they used two weeks to get familiar with this place .
It wasn't just about them being in a different country . Korean culture was very different from their own culture, so everything felt awkward to them .
Since they were in a bit of a time crunch, they went around learning about the monetary system and how much everything costs .
Finally, the day when they would go to the moon as Connectors of Jungbum was near .
“Hello!”
Tim gave an energetic greeting as he entered the company .
He spoke in a slow and hesitant manner, but he was clearly speaking Korean . Tim gave his greeting in Korean every time he visited the company, and his mouth felt comfortable saying those words now .
“Hello . ”
Emily followed up after him, and she also spoke her greeting in Korean . She spoke in a cautious manner .
Tim had confidently shouted out his greeting, but Emily spoke each word in a deliberate manner . This might be why Emily’s pronunciation was much better than Tim at this point in time .
“Welcome . ”
There was a young man typing furiously into his computer . The young man stood up . His name was Lee Hyungwon, and he was one of the newly hired employees of Jungbum .
There was another female employee nearby . She paused from her work, and she bowed her head towards the Ross siblings .
She was also a newly hired employee of Jumgbum . Her name was Shin Junghwee .
“Is the president in?”
Tim queried . He only knew a few words alongside the standard greetings in Korean . Since he couldn’t ask a coherent question in Korean, he spoke in English .
Hyungwon and Junghwee let out an awkward laugh .
Since they were only capable of being hired by a company of Jungbum’s size, it was obvious that they weren’t elites capable of speaking English .
They usually stumbled over their words as they incorporated hand gestures to get their point across in English .
Fortunately, they were able to understand the word ‘president’ in English, so they just nodded their heads as they pointed towards the president’s office .
Tim nodded his head when Hyungwon let out an awkward laughter as he pointed towards the president’ office . He walked towards the door .
Jungbum had gotten quite big . The square footage of the office space had increased, and all the employees had their own space where they could work .
Of course, it was big compared to Jimin’s previous office space . When compared to Fabion and the Ross sibling’s old company, Jungbum was extremely small .
However, the two of them weren’t disappointed . Tim liked the idea of contributing to the growth of a company . Emily had no complaints since Sungyoon was in this company .
Boom! Boom!
Tim’s massive hand knocked on the door to the president’s office .
“Please enter . ”
She had spoken in Korean, but she had spoken words he knew . Tim opened the door . He saw Jimin working behind her desk .
“It’s me, president . ”
Tim walked into the president’s office .
Emily quietly followed in behind him .
“Good afternoon . ”
When she realized it was the Ross siblings, she started speaking in English .
Tim spoke .
“We plan on heading up to the moon next month . We wanted to visit you before we did that . ”
“It seems you plan on getting back to full swing . Do you remember the appointed time and place?”
“Of course . ”
Tim pounded his chest as if he was telling Jimin to rely on him . Tim felt Emily give him a salty glare . Jimin nodded her head as if to acknowledge that Tim was someone that was reliable .
“You are quite dependable . Please help Mr . Sungyoon, so you can reach your goal of raiding the Great Labyrinth . ”
“Of course . ”
Why did they leave their former company? His old company disparaged his dead mother, and it was a part of the reason why they had left . However, there was another reason . They left, because their old company didn’t want them to raid the Great Labyrinth .
In the past, the Great Labyrinth had been a distant goal . It was a goal that they could only dream about, but they were starting to see their dreams being realized . They could see their goal in front of their eyes .
At that moment, it became a bit noisy outside the office .
“What’s going on?”
Tim poked his head out from the president’s office .
He saw two people enter into the company . It was a woman and a child .
“It is Shinhae . ”
Emily had poked her head out next to Tim . Her eyes shone . Shinhae alongside Sungyoon held all of Emily’s interest right now .
Shinhae was the daughter of the man she was interested in . She had to get close to Shinhae no matter what .
A woman had brought Shinhae into the company . It was Jiyoon, who had recently been hired to Jungbum as a temp worker .
“Is it already that time?”
Jimin had expected the two of them, so she stood up from behind her work desk . She exited her office .
“It’s unni!”
Shinhae ran towards her . She smiled towards Shinhae . It was a smile that rarely appeared unless Shinhae was present . Jimin hugged the child .
“Thank you for taking care of her . ”
“It was nothing . I adore Shinhae too . ”
Jiyoon laughed as if it was no big deal .
“Shall we go eat dinner?”
Jimin relaxed the arms around Shinhae . She took a firm grip of Shinhae’s hand as she spoke .