Moon's Labyrinth

The Bigfoot was easily over 2m tall, and it looked exactly like a monkey. Aside from its face, its whole body was covered in black fur. Its long arms reached its knees. It walked across the floor like a human. Its face, the only place where it didn’t have fur, was wrinkled face. It was a face of an old man on his deathbed.

However, it possessed arms that were as thick as a man’s waist. It was proof that this monster was on a different stratosphere when compared to an old man.

-Koo-rook!

Its dry and cracked lips moved.

‘It is smirking at us.’

Its heavily wrinkled face made it less obvious, but one could clearly see it was smirking at them. Sungyoon didn’t become mad at its provocation. If his information was correct, it wasn’t a monster that he would be able to defeat, and he felt a chill down his spine as fear washed over him.

“T.. Tim! What should we do!”

The woman spoke as she looked at the man next to him. Her voice shook, but she did a good job hiding most of her fear. However, the man named Tim didn’t have an answer to her question.

Sungyoon’s eyes sharpened as he watched them. It was clear they were being chased by this terrifying monster. And from what he heard, they didn’t have the ability to kill this monster.

‘If they had the ability to kill it, they wouldn’t have brought the monster here.’

Sungyoon’s eyes kept moving. He was trying to find an escape route, but as expected, he couldn’t find one. The Bigfoot was blocking the only way out of this dead end.

‘Damn it!’

Sungyoon slowly retreated backwards. The man and woman also retreated backwards. However, they were unable to move farther away from the Bigfoot. The monster was rapidly closing the distance. It didn’t look like it was walking fast, but it was tall, and its long limbs covered the distance pretty quickly.

The man named Tim kept glancing backwards. His eyes moved past the woman, and they landed on Sungyoon. There were conflicted emotions in his eyes.

Ooh-doohk!

He gritted his teeth.

“I’ll keep it occupied. Run away, Emily!”

He raised his shield forward.

‘Ah. Is he going to keep it occupied?’

Sungyoon felt relieved. Fortunately, the ones responsible for bringing the monster were going to pay the price. When the man turned to look at him, Sungyoon had worried the man was somehow going to send the monster Sungyoon’s way and run away. Sungyoon welcomed this man’s actions. 

“But, Tim...!”

“Hurry!”

Were they lovers? Or were they friends? Maybe, they were just comrades? They might be siblings. The only certain thing was the fact that they had a deep relationship.

Obviously, they were in a sad and regrettable situation. He would be lying if he said he felt nothing. However, Sungyoon had no intention of helping them.

‘I was barely able to kill a Fang Boar. There is no way I can do anything against the Bigfoot.’

If he thought otherwise, he wouldn't call it courage. It would be arrogance. If he forcefully activated his Gold Gem, then he might be fine. However, he couldn’t easily give up the Gold Gem like that.

Moreover, he didn’t plan on putting his life on the line for complete strangers. After being betrayed by his former friend and ex-wife, Sungyoon had become surprisingly cold towards strangers.

“The person in the back!”

Tim yelled out his words. He was probably referring to Sungyoon, whose eyes naturally landed on the man.

“I’m sorry for troubling you, but may I put my sister in your care!”

‘She is his younger sister.’

Sungyoon silently assessed the situation.

‘Would it be ok if I help one of them?’

If the man was successful in occupying the attention of the Bigfoot, he could run away with the woman without much problem. Since she was able to come into the labyrinth, she must be a Connector. She was a woman, but she probably ran much faster than most normal men.

If he ran away with the sister, the brother would probably do everything in his power to stop the Bigfoot. He would probably give up his life. This entered into Sungyoon’s calculation. Calculated was a better description of Sungoon’s current state right now.

“I have a condition. If you fail to block the Bigfoot, I will leave both of you behind.”

He had to prepare for the worst case scenario. If the man failed to stall the Bigfoot, the monster would gain two new targets. When that happens, he couldn’t take care of this woman.

“That sounds good to me!”

Unexpectedly, the man didn’t quibble and agreed to Sungyoon’s demand. Maybe, he felt guilty about dragging Sungyoon into their mess.

“Tim! I don’t want to do this!”

“Don’t be stubborn! This is the only solution we have!”

“How will I be able to face mom and dad if I do that! I’ll fight with you! I have battle equipment too!”

“You’ve never used it before! You’ve always stayed in the backline as a healer! There is no way you can fight!”

The brother and sister argued with each other. It was a fight born out of love. They were worried for each other’s life. However, Sungyoon’s life would be forfeit at any moment, and their bickering just annoyed Sungyoon.

“Shit! You should listen to your big brother in times like this!”

Tim yelled at her. One could feel his desperation from his shout. However, Emily shook her head from side to side as tears appeared in her eyes.

“I don’t want to!”

‘They are a lost cause.’

The love between the two siblings was thick. She didn’t plan on running away. She wouldn’t abandon her brother. Sungyoon slowly moved away from them. It was unfortunate, because he liked them. However, he didn’t plan on getting involved with the two siblings.

Hweek!

Emily, who had been in the middle of an argument with Tim, turned her head. She looked straight at Sungyoon.

Sungyoon flinched in surprise.

‘Is she thinking about using me as a sacrificial lamb?’

Fortunately, the words Emily spoke were different from what he expected.

“I’m sorry, but is there any way you could fight with us?”

It seemed Emily wanted to recruit Sungyoon to defeat the Bigfoot. Sungyoon glanced at the Bigfoot. It was larger than a human, and it was looking down on them.

‘Impossible.’

He wondered if his crappy Gems could even pierce through its hide. His blunt spear blade would glance off its hide, and his weak shield would be shattered. He could vividly imagine his future where the monster’s fist would break open his head like a watermelon.

However, he couldn’t reject it out of hand. Her offer was basically an alliance between the two groups. If Sungyoon turned her down, there was a chance that these two might use him as bait and run away.

Of course, he could lie, and he could run away at an opportune time. However, he didn’t want to do that.

‘Damn it! My personality has become a real nuisance!’

It couldn’t be helped. Even if he lost his life, he didn’t want to become like that son of a bitch. He couldn’t sugar coat his words to make others trust him then ruthlessly break his promise. He wouldn’t allow himself to become like his former best friend.

“Excuse me……!”

Emily’s voice became desperate. The Bigfoot had reached Tim, who had his shield up. Its iron fist was raised into the air, and the attack was imminent.

“I’m sorry, but I won’t be of any help. The only Gems I can use are Purple Gems.”

His Gems were the lowest of the low. He couldn’t even clear the 4th floor of the Beginner’s labyrinth with it.

“I can see you have a Gold Gem.”

Emily’s eyes were plastered to Sungyoon’s wrist. Unfortunately, the woman was quick in picking things up.

“It isn’t a Gem that I can handle right now.”

“If... if you forcefully activate it...”

‘You want me to waste a Gold Gem on strangers I’ve seen for the first time?’

He almost spoke those words aloud, but he held himself back. His words might cause ill will to form between them. However, Sungyoon’s gloomy silence telegraphed his intentions to her.

Boom!

“Koo-ook!”

An explosive sound rang out. Emily desperately turned her head around. Tim was barely able to stop the iron fist of the Bigfoot. Still, his shield was creaking as if it was screaming. It was a very tenuous situation.

Emily once again looked towards Sungyoon. Sungyoon was already starting to move away from the battle. He wasn’t showing any signs of activating the Gold Gem. In fact, he looked like he wasn’t going to join in on the battle.

Her heart had a strong and adverse reaction towards the man. A person’s life was on the line, yet he was placing an item over her brother’s life. However, she couldn’t say that out loud. In some ways, a Jewel Ranked Gem was worth more than a person’s life.

‘He said he only has Purple Gems.’

Her thoughts churned at a rapid pace. He only had Purple Gems, so he was the lowest of the low in terms of rank. Either he started raiding the labyrinth not too long ago, or his talent was trash. It was either of the two. Basically, he didn’t have that much power.

However, she couldn’t leave Tim. Even if she was grasping at straws, she had to grab it since she was drowning right now.

“I’ll give you a Gem!”

Emily yelled out loud.

“If you help us, I’ll give you my Gem!”

Gem. This one word stopped Sungyoon in his tracks.

When she realized Sungyoon was showing interest, she quickly spoke.

“B...Blue Gem! It is two ranks higher than the Purple Gem!”

Blue Gem. Amongst the Rainbow Rank, it was the fifth strongest Gem. It was also the Gem one needed if one wanted to acquire a personal labyrinth. It would be a lie to say that he wasn’t tempted. Wasn’t he struggling in recent days to find a higher ranked Gem?

Sungyoon looked at the Bigfoot once again. It was backing the man named Tim into a corner. It possessed great power, but Tim was holding out better than expected. Sungyoon caught sight of the Gems embedded in his Device. They were letting out a bright light.

‘Did he overclock it?’

It was different from forcefully activating a Gem. If one overclocked a Gem, it could produce power that was one rank above its current Rank for a short period of time. As a backlash, the Gem lost its power for a certain amount of time. If one pushed it too far, the Gem would break. Basically, this man was holding the Bigfoot in place knowing he might lose his Gems.

‘Do we have a chance?’

If he joined in, would a victory be guaranteed? Bigfoot was a high ranked monster that shouldn’t exist in the Beginner’s labyrinth. However, in the grand scheme of things, it wasn’t a powerful monster. Moreover, Tim and Emily were armed to the teeth. 

“As I’ve said before, I’m a low level Connector, and I don’t plan on using my Gold Gem here. If the situation takes a turn for the worse, I’ll retreat immediately. Is that acceptable?”

“O.. of course!”

Emily's face brightened. His words were still cold, but she had somehow acquired his help. The probability of the two siblings winning against this monster improved with him joining.

Sungyoon tightly gripped his spear as he slowly walked towards the site of the battle.

The Bigfoot was letting out a roar as it kept pounding Tim’s shield. Sungyoon firmed his resolve.

‘I don’t trust them, but...’

How could he trust strangers, whom he had never met before? It wasn’t a guarantee that they’ll give him a Blue Gem after this battle ends. However, there were two things that were a certainty. First, he really wanted a high ranked Gem. Second, they had the chance to bait the monster into attacking him. At the very least, they had the initial opportunity of running away, yet they hadn’t. 

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