Chapter 340

Sungyoon’s party exited Armstrong city to test their newly-acquired Diamond rank Gems. They looked like little children who had received surprise presents from Santa Claus. Excitement and anticipation were written all over the faces of Tim, Emily, and Grace.

‘They are...’

After exiting the city, Sungyoon discovered a group of people outside. They were clad in white gowns as they stood on top of a little hill while looking toward the heavens. One person in the group turned to look at Sungyoon. Even though it was unkempt, her golden blonde hair looked beautiful as it moved in the air.

“Huh, Mr. Sungyoon?”

Chelsea met eyes with Sungyoon.

***

“You wanted to see space?”

“Of course!”

Chelsea waved her arms as she answered, and Sungyoon saw her eyes shine behind her thick glasses.

“Unlike before, we can directly see space! We don't have to put on our visors! We can see it with our own two eyes!”

‘Her glasses are so thick, so it probably doesn’t make much of a difference.’

Despite these thoughts, Sungyoon wasn’t dumb enough to say those words out loud. Instead, he looked up.

‘Now that I think about it, Jimin wanted to do the same thing. She wanted to see space for herself.’

He looked at the black space and the stars brightly shining within it.

“Since air is spreading across the Moon, I thought it would be like Earth where we’ll have blue skies. However, we can still see space.”

“It’s because the atmosphere is still thin. However, the air's density near the surface is very high. It's enough to allow regular humans to walk on the Moon's surface. If one logically thinks about it, this shouldn’t be possible.”

Making the impossible possible was a regular occurrence for magical energy.

“Is it possible to explain magical energy or the phenomena it creates with science?”

Sungyoon asked the question that had suddenly popped up in his head.

“Hmmm.”

Chelsea crossed her arms and closed her eyes. She kept letting out a sound as if she were pondering the answer.

“At the very least, it won’t be an easy task.”

“There has to be a law. However, magical energy shows no signs of following a uniform law. One of my colleagues left our team because he was sick and tired of seeing something that defied logic. From the rumors I heard, he went to school to become a preacher.”

“Hmm. I hope things work out for him.”

“Will you be ok, Ms. Chelsea?”

“I do get stressed out about it.”

She had already been stressed by the flow of magical energy and the existence of magic, and this stress was compounded by the fact that Grenoid and his monsters were causing trouble.

At this point, common sense had been thrown out the window.

“However, I joined despite knowing all of that. Most of the scientists joining this field come in knowing that things might not make sense. A professor from my college always told me that this world was the height of absurdity. As a scientist, he said this field could be like hell.”

Normal people were capable of rationalizing and moving past phenomena that they couldn’t comprehend. Scientists were a breed of people that couldn’t do that.

However, more research done on magical energy led to more mysteries.

“Still, I’m fine. Not all scientists live a logical and calculating life.”

Chelsea looked up at the sky. She could see the blue Earth floating in the sky.

“Even if it is irrational and illogical, this is what I dreamed about doing since I was little. It was an idea tempered with romanticism. Of course, I found out that there was no romanticism in this field when I grew up.”

She had been very naive in how she had thought about Armstrong city. Her romanticism in regards to Armstrong city had been shattered in one go.

“Despite knowing all this...”

Chelsea laughed as she looked at Sungyoon.

“Magic is such a romantic idea.”

“It seems you are a fool, Ms. Chelsea.”

“Ah! Jimin said the same thing about me in the past! She made fun of me saying I’m a smart idiot!”

She stamped her feet as she aired her grievance towards Jimin.

Sungyoon had a glimpse into why Jimin considered Chelsea to be her best friend.

‘Romanticism.’

He never thought of it that way.

In Sungoon’s world view, this occupation was a means to an end. It was a job that would allow him to feed and raise Shinhae.

At the time, he never regretted his choice to hold such a world view. In fact, he held the same view to this day.

He was sorry to say this to Chelsea, but Sungyoon hadn’t felt an ounce of romanticism when he got into this business.

‘In some ways, I envy her.’

He had experienced many nightmarish experiences, and it felt as if his emotions had been sucked dry. This was why Chelsea's innocence was a bit blinding in his eyes.

Puh-uhhhhhng!

A large sound could be heard.

Sungyoon and Chelsea turned to look at the source of the sound.

“…what is that?”

Chelsea’s mouth fell open in surprise.

The two other researchers, who stood a bit away from Sungyoon and Chelsea, expressed their surprise.

They said ‘Jesus!’ and ‘Unbelievable!’ It was words that Sungyoon had an easy time understanding.

“It seems Ms. Grace used her spell.”

“Now that I think about it, you guys came here to test out your new Gems, right?”

Tim, Emily, and Chelsea stood far away from Sungyoon and Chelsea. They were starting to test out their new Gems.

The nearby researchers looked like penguins huddling in the cold. They gathered around to watch Grace use her Gem.

“We thought about going into a labyrinth, but no one really wanted to go into a labyrinth. The mayor didn’t like the idea either. In some ways, the labyrinths are our enemy’s home ground.”

Currently, humanity needed Mana Knights and moonstones. This was why Connectors still entered the labyrinths. However, they all were reluctant to enter the labyrinths for any other reason. Moreover, the higher-ups also advised Connectors to refrain from going into labyrinths if possible.

‘Now that I think about it, it has been a while since I’ve entered the labyrinth that I own.’

“It...it sounded like a very powerful spell? What kind of spell was it?”

Grace continued to look at the aftermath of her spell.

‘Is it really that surprising?’

The power of the spell was incredible. Moreover, it was much flashier than a shield or a support spell. It was much more appealing and impactful.

“It’s the Diamond rank Gem that she acquired.”

“Diamond? Isn’t that the high ranked Gem?”

“Correct. We have a high chance of encountering another officer or Grenoid. This was why the mayor gave us the best spoil of war.”

“The power being displayed makes sense since it is a Diamond rank Gem.”

That wasn’t all. Grace possessed many support Gems that increased the power of her attack spells. She also had support Gems that decreased the delay between spells. This was why her spell felt that much more powerful.

“As expected, Mr. Sungyoon’s party will fight in the front line. You’ll be at the tip of the spear.”

“It is to be expected since my party has all the special Gems.”

It was already a very dangerous war, but Sungyoon and his party members had to fight the most dangerous enemies. Their exposure to danger was on a different level compared to the others.

Worry appeared in Chelsea’s eyes.

He could see tears starting to form behind her thick glasses.

“It seems we have to do our part too.”

Chelsea had been sitting on the ground. She stood up.

“Are you here to do something?”

“Of course. We have no reason to be on the Moon if we didn’t have work to do here.”

Currently, Armstrong city had been at war. This was why it was odd to see Chelsea and the other researchers here. They were civilians.

“The battles are done by Connectors like you, but that doesn’t mean we should stand by and do nothing. Everyone has to be all hands on deck. Everyone is trying to make contributions in different ways. We are carrying out a project that might help you.”

“What is it?”

“Hooht! You’ll find out soon.”

Chelsea laughed as she hyped up her next meeting with him.

“It seems my break is at an end.”

Chelsea looked towards her colleagues. They were finished watching Grace, so they were walking back towards Chelsea.

The researchers couldn’t hide their excitement as they talked about Grace’s spell, which they had just witnessed.

“Please be safe in the upcoming battle. I’ll be doing my best. Please remember that there are a lot of people working to support you.”

Chelsea waved her hand as she re-joined her colleagues. Soon, the researchers disappeared in Armstrong city.

‘Support.’

He had no idea how much support they could provide. However, he felt a bit better hearing such words.

Sungyoon smirked.

‘I guess I was nervous.’

It was a fight with the fate of the world on the line.

The battle will start in a week, and if they couldn’t find a way to stop the Moon from falling toward Earth, the world would come to an end. It was natural to feel nervous about it.

‘How did I reach this position so quickly?’

If he thought about it, his status in life had changed drastically in the past couple of years.

He had been a president of a medium-sized company that worked with a large conglomerate. In the course of his hard work, he was crushed under debt. This led to him becoming a Connector to clear his debt. He did so by gathering moonstones from the monsters that he killed.

Now he was a warrior fighting for the fate of the world.

‘If I told myself from several years about my current life, he would think I’m crazy.’

At the time, he had a precious friend, a cute daughter, and a loving wife. He had been financially stable. It had been the height of his happiness.

However, it had been false happiness.

‘It’s fine. I’m happy now.’

He had a kind and beautiful new wife. He had comrades that he could trust. His daughter was still cute.

‘I have to maintain my happiness.’

There was someone that was trying to interfere with his happiness. It was Grenoid.

Sungyoon didn’t care what happened in the past. He knew what to do right now. He couldn’t let go of the happiness that he was barely able to recapture.

After checking his Gems, he went forward to greet his party members, who had just finished up their test.

***

One week passed by in a flash. Nothing major happened in this time frame.

Their preparation for a counter-attack was progressing at a steady pace, and the monsters showed no signs of attacking Armstrong city.

Some monsters did attack from time to time, but these were monsters, who had wandered out of the labyrinths. It was a spontaneous attack. It wasn’t an organized attack by a large group of monsters.

The D-day was a day away. Everyone went to sleep after making their resolutions.

Sungyoon chose to talk to his precious daughter before he went to sleep.

“How was your day? Was it good?”

-Yes! I played with Haena!

She had a weak vocabulary and a poor grasp of grammar. However, she continued with her story.

From Sungyoon’s perspective, her words sounded like an epic poem made by an accomplished poet. He listened to her with a smile on her face.

- When are you coming back, dad?

After she spoke to her heart’s content, Shinhae asked the question.

Sungyoon’s complexion worsened a little bit.

“I’m not sure. However, I’ll be there as soon as possible.”

He could see the disappointment on Shinhae’s face.

“I’ll come back with a big present. What would you like?”

He tried to appease her with a present, but the present was meaningless in front of her desire to see her father.

-Mmm. I have nothing I want right now.

“You should think about it until it’s time for dad to come back home. I’ll be sure to buy it.”

-Ok.

At that moment, Jimin approached Shinhae from the back.

- It is late, Shinhae. It is time for you to sleep.

After placing a hand on Shinhae’s shoulder, Jimin looked at Sungyoon through the screen.

- You should sleep too. Tomorrow is the day of the important mission.

“Yes. Dad should sleep now.”

- Ok! Good night, dad!

Shinhae said goodnight through the screen, then she ran into her room.

Sungyoon looked at her retreating back with satisfaction on his face. Then he met eyes with Jimin.

- …I won’t make a long speech.

She told him to be careful countless times before. This was why she didn’t say it this time. She had a small smile on her lips as she spoke to Sungyoon.

- We have to go see Shinhae’s elementary entrance ceremony next year.

Her words cut close to his heart more so than any normal words of worry.

“Yes. Let’s go together.”

After saying those words, he ended the call.

On the next day...

“Let’s begin.”

The mayor’s words were the starting point to the counter-attack that would decide the fate of Earth.