Moon's Labyrinth

The time was past afternoon, reaching the point where one could call it night. The smell of fragrant food filled the house. Properly cooked white rice and boiling pollack stew lay in the middle of the table, with side dishes neatly placed around the table. Just the sight of the food could make one’s mouth water.

It had been a while since Sungyoon’s family sat around the picturesque spread of food on the table. The sight of Sungyoon, Jimin, and Shinhae sitting next to each other presented a warm and gentle atmosphere.

“What about Mothers-in-law and Brothers-in-law? Aren’t they going to eat?”

The threat to his family hadn't gone away, so everyone still resided inside Hweeyoung and Aiin’s house.

Jimin picked up a scrumptious piece of fish and placed it on Shinhae’s dish as she spoke.

“My brothers are on a mission, and my mothers already ate. They are full. ”

“They are very considerate of us. ”

“I think so too. ”

Sungyoon was as busy as he could be, so he spent very little time with his family. Moreover, his schedule would continue to be busy. Therefore, Hweeyoung and Aiin made sure he enjoyed quality time with his family during dinner.

After a long time, Sungyoon could finally have a delightful meal with his family.

Usually, he ate in the dark and dangerous labyrinths. Since he had the storage Gem, he could eat tasty foods, but this didn’t mean he enjoyed the experience. It couldn’t be compared to eating a comfortable meal with his family.

“How long will you be home for, Dad?”

Shinhae asked Sungyoon.

Sungyoon wanted to say, ‘I’ll be here every day!’, but reality was a harsh mistress.

“I won’t be able to stay long. I have to head out soon. ”

“Heeng! I want to play with Dad!”

Sungyoon really wanted to do that too.

‘I can’t because of that bastard, Grenoid!’

Sungyoon hated Grenoid for being the enemy of humanity, but his desire to kill it went through the roof at that moment. Because of Grenoid, the time that he could spend with Shinhae had drastically gone down. No, it was more than a drastic cut. He could barely see his daughter these days.

“Then when will you finish your busy work, Dad?”

“I’m not sure. I have no idea. ”

A sad expression appeared on Shinhae's face, and Sungyoon's desire to kill Grenoid skyrocketed further.

“Your dad does admirable work. He helps other people, and that's why he's short on time. You can bear this, right? Shinhae is a good girl. ”

Not too much time had passed since Jimin married Sungyoon and become a mother to Shinhae. Yet, she had settled into the role of a mother quite well as if she had been a mother for over a decade.

“When he has time, he’ll make it up by taking you to fun places that you want to go to. Where do you want to go, Shinhae?”

Jimin discreetly changed the topic. Shinhae became serious as she agonized over her choices. The little girl's sad figure was nowhere to be seen now. Seeing this, Jimin winked at Sungyoon.

Sungyoon chuckled at the sight of Jimin redirecting Shinhae’s thought process.

Shinhae had even stopped eating to think about the choices. Jimin carefully took away the spoon in Shinhae’s hand, scooped the rice, and placed a piece of fish on it. Then, she immediately guided the spoon to Shinhae’s mouth.

“Nyam!”

The scene looked as though a mother bird were feeding a baby bird.

Jimin repeated this process several times before she handed the spoon back to Shinhae. Shinhae once again started to eat her rice with her spoon. Jimin continued to place fish on her rice, but she could see that Shinhae’s mind was elsewhere.

“Ah!”

Shinhae opened her mouth to speak and let out a sound, but she then realized her mouth still contained food. Since she had been taught to not speak with a full mouth, she chewed on her food first.

She wanted to speak, so she did her best to swallow the food as soon as possible.

Sungyoon and Jimin could see what she was doing, and they did their best to hold back their laughter.

Shinhae was unaware of this. Her mind was elsewhere, and she didn’t have the processing power to pay attention to her surroundings right now. She wanted to tell her mom and dad about the places she had thought of.

Gulp!

She finally swallowed the food in her mouth. A grain of rice remained stuck to her bottom lips, and it only added to her cuteness.

“There's a place I want to go to!”

“Where?”

“Europe!”

Shinhae pointed to the table with her hands. However, she quickly put her hands down when Jimin scolded her.

“My friend Hanna went there last time with her mother and father!”

“Really? Europe isn’t just one place. Which country did they visit?”

Shinhae was so excited that her arms and legs moved every which way. However, she froze when she heard the question. She started to think again, and this time, she clutched at her head.

“Mmm… That's… It sounded like a bug’s name in Korean. .. . ”

“Paris?”

“Yes! Paris! That’s it! It was named after an annoying bug!”

‘I thought the same when I was young. ’

Sungyoon watched his wife and daughter have a fun time with each other.

Paris was a city known for its fashion and elegance. However, if the name was translated into Korean, it sounded like the name of a dirty bug that annoyed people in the summer.

Therefore, it was normal for Shinhae to make such an association with the two names.

“Then! There is. .. uh. .. Lan, Lan, Lan. .. ”

It seemed Shinhae remembered another place, but she couldn't quite recall its name.

‘… Lan?’

This time Sungyoon had no idea what Shinhae was trying to say. Shinhae continued to work her brain to find the answer that she wanted.

“Lan… duh? No. Lan? Lon?”

“London?”

“Yes! That one!”

Shinhae was delighted.

However, Sungyoon was surprised, and he stared at Jimin with a dumb expression.

Jimin laughed as she continued to listen to the excited Shinhae. She turned to look at Sungyoon and let out a sigh when she saw him.

“Don’t be jealous of your wife because of your daughter. ”

Jimin had immediately deciphered Shinhae’s words, which he couldn’t understand. This had given him a great deal of shock. As Jimin said, he had felt jealousy flood his heart, as if she had stolen his daughter.

“I’ll have to end this as soon as possible. ”

He had to spend more time with Shinhae.

“I agree with your assessment, but my feelings are complicated since I’m feeling jealous of my wife. ”

Jimin was struck dumb.

His daughter was important, but his wife was important too. Thankfully, Jimin didn’t take his words the wrong way. Still, he had to make it up to her. He felt the need to spend the night with her to pay extra attention to her needs. It had been a while since the two of them had been together.

These damned monsters always got in the way when he wanted to spend quality time with his family.

Sungyoon’s phone rang. He frowned, while Jimin’s face froze. Shinhae didn’t know what was going on, so she continued to enjoy her meal.

“Hello?”

Sungyoon answered the phone with a sour expression.

There was a very small chance that this call was about nothing. However, the voice on the other end smashed his faint hope into pieces.

“… Yes. Understood. I’ll be there right now. ”

Sungyoon ended the call. When Jimin saw his expression, she didn’t say anything as she stood up.

“Where are you going, Dad?”

Shinhae still held her spoon, and her eyes had turned round. Sungyoon walked up next to her and gave her a tight hug.

“Dad is being called to work. I have to go right now. ”

“Again?”

Again.

When he saw his teary-eyed daughter, Sungyoon felt like a piece-of-shit workaholic, who ignored his family.

“You just came back. ”

“Yes. Dad wants to stay with Shinhae, but a lot of people are in trouble. Dad has to go help them. ”

“Shinhae. Your dad's going out to do good deeds. He’ll help the good people and punish the bad people. Let’s let him leave. ”

Shinhae looked downcast as she squeezed her father’s hand once more. Then she let him go.

“Ok. You can go. Instead, you have to play with me next time. Ok?”

“Of course! We’ll do as you suggested! We’ll go to Europe! We’ll go to Paris, London, Rome, and Berlin!”

Sungyoon stroked Shinhae’s head as he looked into Jimin’s eyes.

“I’ll leave Shinhae to you, Jimin. ”

“Don’t worry. She's my daughter. ”

Jimin placed a hand on Shinhae’s shoulder.

Sungyoon quickly exited through the front door.

“Huh? Where is Son-in-law Woo going?”

Sungyoon encountered Aiin, who exited her room at that moment. Hweeyoung was behind her.

“I received an emergency call. It seems the monsters have appeared again. ”

The expressions on the two women’s faces darkened.

“Again?”

Hweeyoung said the same thing as Shinhae, with a frown on her face.

“It seems you're going through a lot. ”

Aiin consoled Sungyoon with a sympathetic expression.

Shinhae and Jimin exited from the kitchen. Hweeyoung and Aiin felt pity when they saw the two of them, who looked to be in a bad mood.

“I’ll be back. ”

He said goodbye to his mothers-in-law, then looked at Shinhae and Jimin.

“I’ll be back as soon as possible. ”

Sungyoon opened the door under the gazes of four people, who had come out to see him off.

***

Kwah-jeek!

A monster’s head was crushed in its entirety.

Boom!

An explosion erupted afterward.

Blood and flesh splashed onto the asphalt and the pavement as the headless monster fell to the ground.

Earth didn't have a magical-energy-rich environment like the Moon, so monsters couldn’t replenish any of the magical energy they spent here. It also meant that their corpses didn't vanish and turn into a moonstone.

However, Sungyoon didn’t care why such a thing happened. He ignored the corpses. He just felt a burning rage toward the monsters who had interrupted his family time.

‘Next!’

He threw his halberd at a monster roaring in the distance. ;The halberd pierced through the monster’s mouth and exited out of the head. Sungyoon had physically made the monster shut up, and he looked for his next prey.

‘Next!’

Kwah-jeek!

A monster resembling a leech emerged from the surface below him. It tried to bite Sungyoon with its sharp teeth.

Puh-uhk!

He just swung his ax into the side of its face. The monster retreated back into the ground in surprise. Sungyoon didn’t chase after it. He just looked at the hole where the monster had run away to.

Keeeeeeeeee!

Soon, a scream came out from that hole. The ground shifted as the monster moved underground.

Puh-uhng!

Its tail shot out from the ground. The poison was decaying it, so its body emanated a foul smell.

Boom!

Its tail flopped to the ground. After trembling for a moment, it became motionless forever.

‘Next… There are none. ’

It seemed while he was rampaging, all the monsters had died. The people dispatched to clean up the place rushed forward to pick up the corpses. They started washing away the blood.

While watching the clean-up crew, Sungyoon kept his guard up. He made sure he hadn’t missed any monsters.

At that moment, he received a call. The screen displayed the Mayor’s number.

Was it another mission?

He really wanted to get back home, so he scrunched up his face. However, he couldn’t ignore the call.

“What is it, Mayor?”

- The day we’ll recapture Armstrong city has been set!

Finally, they were going to reclaim Armstrong city, so the Mayor sounded elated. His voice was very bright.

Sungyoon was speechless for a brief moment, but then, he remembered his own reality where he had to stop his dinner with his family to come here.

Ggah-doohk!

His phone let out an ominous sound due to the pressure being put on it.

“Mayor. ”

- What is it?

It seemed the Mayor realized Sungyoon was in a bad mood, so he became subdued.

Unlike him, Sungyoon’s voice became stronger and full of killing intent.

“I’ll make sure we’ll kill all those sons of bitches on the Moon!”