Moon’s Labyrinths (Web Novel)

The one-eyed monster was looking down at the two Connectors as if they were bugs.

The Ogre had been 2.5 meters tall, and its body was rather large. However, the Ogre looked like a child compared to the Cyclops.

At a glance, it looked to be over 4 meters tall. Its body didn’t look like something belonging to a living being. Watching the monster step forward looked as if a large boulder were walking.

The monster itself was a nightmare, but what made it even worse was the fact that it held a weapon. Sungyoon would probably be turned into a pancake if he tried to block its enormous hammer with his shield.

“Mmm. I think this one might be too much for you to handle.”

Sungyoon had been letting out cold sweat at the prospect of fighting it. So he was very glad to hear these words.

Hyunwoo lightly shook his sword and slowly approached the Cyclops.

A small human dared to stand up to it. It was laughable. The Cyclops laughed scornfully.

Even in this situation, Sungyoon was impressed that the monster could express such emotions with only one eye.

Ssssssk!

The Cyclops slowly moved. And then, it drew its hammer backward.

However, the slow movement from before was gone.

Hoo-oong!

Unlike its enormous size, the monster swung its hammer at great speed. Its large body and long reach allowed it to attack from a significant distance away. Hyunwoo was walking toward it, and he was completely within its reach.

He was in a situation where he would be sent flying and turn into a bloody pulp, if he got hit by the hammer. However, the man's sword moved when the hammer was about to reach him. By any measure, it looked like he was reacting too late. However, the result was unexpected.

Kwahhhhhhng!

A loud sound rang out. It was hard to believe a sword and a hammer had just clashed. It had sounded like an explosion.

Sungyoon shouted in pain as the sound hurt his ears, but he didn’t look away from the fight. He didn’t cover his ears or blink. He solely focused on watching the battle conducted by Hyunwoo, one of the strongest Connectors in the world.

Gulp!

Sungyoon gulped at what he saw. It was unbelievable.

The cyclops had swung the hammer violently toward Hyunwoo, yet the weapon was easily deflected.

It resulted in the monster falling on its butt as it couldn’t withstand the rebound.

The Cyclops shook its head from side to side. It seemed to have no idea of what had just happened.

Koo-rahhhhhhhhhhk!

However, it didn’t take long for the monster to get back on its feet. It let out a roar of anger. Then it picked up the hammer, which had been knocked out of his hands.

The hammer had been half destroyed, but the Cyclops didn’t care. It swung the weapon once again.

Kwahhhhhng!

The hammer impacted the ground. Even if it was damaged, the weapon was capable of causing massive amounts of destruction. The Cyclops grinned when it thought it had made the little human into a bloody splat on the ground.

However, it had celebrated its victory too early.

“Why are you laughing like that? It’s creepy.”

The Cyclops heard a disgruntled voice near its feet. It looked down. Sungyoon had also missed Hyunwoo’s movement, so he turned to look from where the voice had come.

Hyunwoo was right in front of the Cyclops.

When did he move there? However, something else caught Sungyoon's interest more so than that question.

The Flamberge sword in Hyunwoo’s hand was now burning red hot. Flames had erupted to form a three-meter long fire sword.

Hoong!

Hyunwoo swung his weapon. He looked a bit disinterested, and his sword strike was sloppy. Yet it moved like the wind, and the flame sword cut through the Cyclop’s abdomen.

Suh-guhk!

The sword had way too easy of a time cutting the Cyclops into two.

However, that wasn’t all.

Hwahhhhhk!

Flame erupted from where it had been cut.

Then….

Kwahhhhhng!

An explosion occurred. The flames which had erupted from the severed surface of its body instantly surrounded the Cyclops.

The labyrinth became filled with red light, and heat erupted forth. Soon, the Cyclops was burnt to a crisp, and the charred pieces of its body were sent flying into the surrounding.

Hyunwoo had turned his back to the explosion, and he leisurely walked toward Sungyoon.

“Hmm? What’s wrong?”

Hyunwoo sounded puzzled when he saw Sungyoon shrinking away. But he quickly realized the reason.

“Ah. Is it because the Rainbow rank defensive gear doesn’t have Resistance ability?”

The extreme heat was making their surroundings feel like an oven.

Clank!

Hyunwoo’s shield made a sound. It was a layered shield. Five plates had been combined to make this shield, and one of them fell away.

The detached part of the shield floated in the air before flying toward Sungyoon. It then attached itself to the man's arm.

The heat, which had been tormenting Sungyoon, was gone in an instant.

“Hoo-ooh!”

As if he had barely come out of an arduous situation, Sungyoon unfurled his back.

“I’m sorry. I don’t have to worry about this when I raid with my comrades.”

Hyunwoo was a bit cheeky as he gave an apology. However, Sungyoon was too busy staring at the shield attached to his arm. It was probably blocking the insanely hot heat in his surroundings.

‘As expected of a Jewel rank Gem, it has more functions than being just sturdy.’

It wasn’t just the shield. Hyunwoo's weapon also had some kind of magic-like ability that could cause an explosion. The sword was also shocking in what it could do.

‘He is indeed one of the strongest Connectors...’

Currently, Sungyoon couldn’t hold a candle against him.

“What Gen are you, Mr. Hyunwoo?”

“Me? I’m a 2nd Gen. My father was a 1st Gen.”

Hyunwoo answered in a nonchalant manner.

However, was Sungyoon just imagining things? He had a sense that Hyunwoo was acting as if nothing were wrong.

Sungyoon looked at the Cyclops…

No, he looked at the messy remains of the Cyclops.

Hyunwoo had killed the Cyclops in an instant, but this monster was absolutely a massive threat to Sungyoon if he were to face it.

“Are Cyclops usually located on the 1st floor of this labyrinth?”

“No. Since it is the period of Mana Stream right now, it appeared on the 1st floor. Usually, they appear much deeper.”

It seemed this was a situation similar to the time he had encountered a Bigfoot on the 1st floor of his labyrinth.

“Does this happen a lot in the Great Labyrinth?”

“What do you mean?”

“I’m talking about high ranking monsters showing up on floors that they aren’t supposed to be on.”

When he realized what Sungyoon was referring to, Hyunwoo smirked.

“In the first place, the Mana Stream never abates. It rages all year round. And since the Mana Stream doesn’t end, you don’t see monsters sort themselves out throughout the different floors. Still, this doesn’t mean there is a complete disorder in the distribution of monsters. However, you won’t experience something horrifying like the monsters from the lowest floor appearing on the first floor.”

The true nature of the Great Labyrinth was yet to be discerned. It was unknown as to what type of outrageous monsters inhibited the lowest floor. Still, if they showed up on the earlier floors, it would be impossible to progress in the Great Labyrinth.

“It depends on how strong the monster is. There is a range of floors they can appear on. However, it isn’t precise like other labyrinths. It is why that place is so difficult.”

Sungyoon once again learned about the dangers of the Great Labyrinth.

***

Boom! Boom! Boom!

The sound of continuous clashing could be heard. The monster continued to pound on Sungyoon’s shield, but Sungyoon’s stance remained stable as he blocked each attack.

“Hoohp!”

Sungyoon faced the fist head-on by swinging his shield.

Boom!

But he had to take a couple of steps backward, thanks to the rebound. And the impact had also made the monster pause in its attack.

The shield disappeared from Sungyoon’s hand, and a halberd appeared. He used the halberd’s long reach to take advantage of the distance created when he had been pushed backward.

He immediately swung his halberd.

Poo-oo-ook!

The ax blade pierced the monster’s wrist. The monster screamed.

Sungyoon unsummoned the halberd, and immediately followed up with another attack. After resummoning his halberd, he had used the spear blade this time.

Poo-oo-ook!

A deep wound appeared on the monster’s stomach.

Kahhhhhhhhk!

It screamed once again.

However, it was able to execute a counterattack this time. It grabbed the shaft of the halberd with one hand and used the other hand to attack Sungyoon.

But Sungyoon didn’t even sweat it. He unsummoned his halberd once again and ducked past the attack.

The sound of destruction brushed past his head. However, the Connector wasn’t intimidated. By the time he finished taking a step forward, an ax was already in his hands. The monster had exposed its side when it had attacked Sungyoon. He didn’t miss the opportunity and immediately swung his ax.

Puhhhhhhhhhhk!

The battle-ax ruthlessly cut into the monster's belly.

It once again struggled, but it had already lost the engagement.

Sungyoon didn’t retreat this time.

The monster swung its arms in a wild flurry, but Sungyoon blocked each blow with his shield. Then he swung his ax once again after retrieving it.

Puhhhhhhhhhhk!

It was already suffering a critical wound on its side, yet Sungyoon attacked the same place once again. Of course, it created a much deeper wound.

The monster's flesh fell open as its innards dropped out.

It tried to hold it in using both hands, an inevitable reaction. It was in too much pain.

However, its two arms were its main mode of attack, so the price of diverting both his hands toward its wound was devastating.

Puh-uhk!

Sungyoon didn’t hesitate as he summoned the halberd. He swung it toward the monster’s neck. The ax blade cut halfway into its neck, and blood sprayed out from the wound.

Ggoo-rooooooooohk!

Boom!

With a bizarre scream, the monster fell.

Flinch! Flinch!

Its corpse twitched very imperceptibly. Sungyoon looked at it with cold eyes and brought down the halberd from up high to apply the finishing blow.

Poo-ook!

The spear blade pierced through its head. It seemed the monster had been barely alive as its body slumped after the spear blade pierced through.

When Sungyoon confirmed his kill, he once again observed the monster.

It was around 2 meters tall, and it possessed bumpy green skin. Its girth made it look bigger than it was.

“You are able to take down a Troll without much trouble now.”

Hyunwoo had done nothing as he had been observing from the back.

Three days had passed since the two of them had been going around Hyunwoo’s Personal Labyrinth. Sungyoon had gained many good experiences. He was able to confirm that he had become stronger, and he had been able to test out tactics that he had only theorized in his head. Moreover, he was able to experience fighting a variety of monsters, and he realized that the bar of being one of the strongest Connectors was ridiculously high.

“Amazing. Your movement is getting better every day.”

“I’m still far off.”

Sungyoon wasn’t being modest. Whenever a monster that he couldn’t handle appeared, Hyunwoo displayed his power. It was shocking. Sungyoon felt that even if he worked very hard, he wouldn’t be able to hold a candle to Hyunwoo’s skill level.

Woong!

Sungyoon’s Device shook as it emitted light, and both Connectors looked toward the source. It was the device equipped with the Evolution Gem. The two Blue rank Gems were letting out a silver light.

Sssssk!

Soon, their color changed. They turned from blue to green.

“They evolved.”

Hyunwoo spoke.

“By the shape of them, they look to be magic Gems.”

“That is correct.”

These gems were the Gravity magic Gem and the Healing magic Gem. Sungyoon then activated the two Gems to see how their abilities had changed.

‘It increased the gravity, and the number of times I can use the Healing magic went up.’

Before, his Gravity magic increased the gravity eight times. But now it would increase the gravity sixteen times. He could use healing magic four times before, but now he could use it six times in succession.

It was objectively a satisfying result.

However, why did it feel lacking? Sungyoon realized why he was feeling such emotions.

‘I have witnessed Mr. Hyunwoo’s amazing abilities, so of course, I would find my abilities lacking.’

Sungyoon glanced at Hyunwoo’s equipment and smacked his lips.