The event had developed so suddenly and resulted in such an outcome that nobody could react properly . Their mouths just opened and closed as if they were fishes . Tim and Emily, who knew Sungyoon’s true skills, broke out of their stupor first .

  “O . . . of course!”


  Tim still felt shell shocked, but there was conviction in his voice . Louis had drawn his weapon first, but Sungyoon had neutralized his attacker without harming him . It was well under the definition of self-defense .

  Everyone slowly started to break out of their shocked state . However, they became gloomy at the reality smacking them in their faces .

  “L . . . Louis!”


  Even if he had a bad personality, Louis was one of them . Cohen had enough of a character to be worried about his comrade . He subconsciously moved to check up on Louis .

  “Please do not come any closer . ”


  Sungyoon spoke as he moved the blade of the halberd .

  “Heek!”


  When the sharp blade of the halberd got closer to his neck, Louis let out a high-pitched scream .

  “What are you doing……!”


  Cohen was about to protest, but he soon shut his mouth . To be precise, he realized that he had no right to raise his voice in this situation when he was Louis’ comrade .

  He bit his lips, and his eyes kept shifting while his brain operated at full capacity . However, no solutions came to his mind . Louis had created too big of a problem . It was absolutely forbidden to activate a Gem in Armstrong, and doubly so when it came to ambushing someone .

  His hand had reached his head without him realizing it . He had a headache .

  ‘Stupid bastard!’


  He stared daggers at Louis, who remained pinned underneath Sungoon’s foot . He wondered if his comrade was of sound mind . In the end, the facts remained the same . A Connector contracted to their company had tried to attack another connector inside the company building .

  He had no choice but to lower his head . Up until a moment ago, Cohen had ignored this person, yet he now had to do this . It was very humiliating .

  On the other hand, he also realized he had to re-evaluate Sungyoon .

  ‘He stopped the surprise attack . ’


  No one could have expected Louis’ unpredictable actions, yet this man had nonchalantly defeated Louis, that too with overwhelming force .

  In the company’s eyes, Louis was a prospect on par with the Ross siblings . He had easily graduated from the Beginner’s Labyrinth, and he clearly showed his worth in labyrinth raids hosted by the company . He wasn’t someone that could be subdued by a common 1st Gen .

  However, the proof was in the pudding . Louis had ambushed the 1st Gen, yet he lost without being able to do anything .

  Cohen looked at the halberd and the battle-ax gripped in Sungyoon’s hands . At a glance, one could tell the blades were sharp and sturdy, and the shafts were smooth and well made . There was no way these were low-rank weapons

  ‘At the very least, they have to be at the Yellow rank . ’


  It meant this man was different from the normal 1st Gens who could barely handle the lower rank Rainbow Gems .

  ‘Shit! He’s basically someone that won the lottery!’


  It really was rare, but sometimes 1st Gens possessing abilities unbefitting a 1st Gen existed . Cohen realized he was able to get a small glimpse of Sungyoon’s true skills .

  ‘Moreover, his Gem activation speed . . . ’


  No one here could have stopped Louis’ ambush, not even him . They couldn’t do it because they couldn’t activate their Gems in time .

  However, Sungyoon had neutralized Louis too easily . He summoned and unsummoned multiple Gems . It was like watching an acrobat perform stunts . The man didn’t even concentrate when deploying his magical energy, and his actions were without delays . He literally summoned his weapons in a blink of an eye, and Cohen could only let out a cold sweat when he had seen it all .

  Did he predict Louis’ attack? Did he activate his Gems beforehand? Cohen shook his head from side to side . The 1st Gen would have to know how and when Louis would attack . He would also have to supply the Gems with magical energy beforehand so that he could summon them in the order he needed . Was that plausible?

  ‘No way . ’


  Unless he was Laplace’s demon, he couldn’t perfectly predict what would’ve happened like that . It was more plausible to think that the man possessed the ability to activate his Gems at blinding speed .

  ‘That is also hard to believe, but . . . ’


  If his Gem activation speed was really that fast . . .

  ‘It seems the Ross siblings were right . ’


  He had made a big mistake .

  His mind went blank when he reached this point in his thoughts . However, he was the most senior employee in this building, and it was his responsibility to salvage the situation .

  “First, I would like to apologize for the fact that one of our employees attacked you . I’m sorry . ”


  Cohen gave a courteous apology, trying his best to be humble . The disrespectful look in his eyes was nowhere to be seen, and he didn’t hesitate in giving an apology . Everyone was surprised by this . Even Sungyoon was inwardly a bit impressed .

  ‘He knows what needs to be done, and takes action . ’


  He had seen many men in this world who had refused to humble themselves, even though they were in a terrible situation . Their pride wouldn’t allow it, and it inevitably led to worse results for them . Cohen wasn’t like that . He didn’t like Sungyoon . It was more apt to say he hated Sungyoon, yet he had lowered himself in front of him . He knew how to minimize the damage in a bad situation .

  ‘I’d rather deal with someone like him . ’


  Cohen was capable of making decisions in a rational manner . Well, everyone was capable of doing that, but an unusually small number of people actually went through with making rational decisions . A prime example of this was Louis, who was pinned underneath Sungyoon’s foot . He was incapable of acting in such a manner .

  “He activated his Gems in Armstrong, and then he attacked me with them . Do you agree?”


  “.…… I agree . ”


  “You do realize that Armstrong gives a lot of leeway under the law of self-defense, right?”


  ‘We really messed with the wrong guy!’


  Cohen was breaking out in cold sweat .

  If anyone else had experienced what Sungyoon had gone through, the person would be extremely angry and emotional . Usually, they would lash out in violence, or their heightened state of emotion would give Cohen a small advantage . Then he could somehow dig at the small advantage until the damage was minimized .

  However, Sungyoon showed no signs of doing anything rash . He remained calm, collected, and cold . His appearance didn’t look like that of someone whose life was threatened not too long ago .

  “.…… However, you were able to subdue this idiot . I agree Louis was at fault, but he is no longer a threat . I would like to believe you wouldn’t cause him any further harm . ”


  “You have a good point, but……!”


  Kwah-jeek!

  Sungyoon’s foot came down on Louis’ arm .

  “Ahhhhk!”


  Louis screamed .

  “What the hell……!”


  Cohen yelled out in surprise . However, he shut his mouth soon . The Device equipped on Louis’ arm had Gems that were slowly losing their light .

  Louis had tried to activate his Gems once again .

  ‘That stupid bastard!’


  Cohen assessed the situation, and he was almost having a hard time breathing . He had become too frustrated . This dumb bastard had tried to secretly act in order to escape from Sungyoon .

  “If he continues to act this way, I’ll have no choice but to take a more forceful action . Please warn him so that it doesn’t develop into something unfortunate . ”


  “Hmmph! Do you think I’ll believe your bluff!”


  It seemed as time passed, Louis regained his ugly personality . He shouted in a strident manner .

  “You don’t have the balls to kill a single ant!”


  Even a mutt would bark inside its own house . A sharp ax blade and a spear blade was right next to his neck, yet Louis remained bold . However, he shut his mouth when Sungyoon’s cold gaze landed on him . He had gotten in arguments with others before, and even took part in fistfights, but he had never seen someone look at him like this .

  “I have no reason to kill an ant . However, I did kill a talking monkey before . ”


  Louis shut his mouth in an instant . Talking monkey, Louis wasn’t dense enough to miss what Sungyoon was alluding to .

  “Y . . . you are bluffing……”


  He forced his mouth open, yet his voice shook a little bit . While they walked on the edge of life and death, their job was to kill monsters . Killing other humans was an entirely different proposition .

  “I’m not bluffing . Some monkey took issue with a trivial matter . He held a grudge and followed me in my labyrinth . Of course, I almost died too, but . . . ”


  Louis became speechless at Sungyoon’s extremely calm attitude .

  Cohen had an inkling as to what Sungyoon was talking about . He had recently heard in the news that a Connector had tried to ambush another Connector in a labyrinth . The attacker had died in the attempt .

  ‘Was he the one?’


  However, he couldn’t be sure . This man could have heard the same rumor, and he might be bluffing .

  But it didn’t matter if his words were the truth or not . It didn’t change what Cohen had to do .

  ‘They aren’t showing any signs of helping me out . ’


  He glanced at the Ross siblings . They weren’t doing anything yet . Cohen would consider himself fortunate if the Ross siblings didn’t take Sungyoon’s side .

  “ . . . Louis . Can you just shut up and do nothing for now?”


  He stopped his comrade from making things worse . If Louis made the wrong move again, Sungyoon might kill him . Then they would really be at the point of no return .

  Cohen worried Louis would object, but he obediently listened to his words . It seemed he had become afraid of Sungyoon .

  “Let me say this again . I would like to apologize . ”


  His voice became warier than before .

  “I’m sorry for asking this of you . Could you forget everything that happened between us?”


  “What did you just say?”


  Tim’s hackles rose .

  “Louis attacked a person, yet you want us to just forget about it?”


  Tim really hated Louis, and the man had attacked Sungyoon, whom he respected . It couldn’t be helped . Tim exploded in anger .

  However, Cohen didn’t even look toward Tim . His gaze remained on Sungyoon .

  “We’ll give you adequate compensation . If you want something, just say it . Also, Louis isn’t a bad guy . He just has a bad temper . In truth, he was not attacking you, but just trying to scare you . ”


  “That is true . ”


  Although the skill gap between the two of them was large, Sungyoon wouldn’t have been able to easily subdue Louis if the latter had used his full power . He knew Louis had been holding back .

  When Sungyoon conceded that point, Cohen inwardly let out a sigh of relief . At the same time, he felt a shock to his system .

  The sigh of relief came because Sungyoon had acknowledged that there was no killing intent behind Louis’ attack . The shock appeared because . . .

  ‘He knew . He knows that Louis had attacked with reduced strength . ’


  It meant Sungyoon was skilled enough to notice that . It seemed they really had made an error in judgment when it came to Sungyoon . Cohen felt his mistake to the bone .

  “Do you have enough authority to grant me what I want?”


  “Not really, but this is a big incident . Even if you overshoot in your request, I can make it happen . ”


  This was beyond rectifying Louis’ sin . Their company’s image was on the line . He knew the company would go through great lengths to bury this incident .

  Sungyoon pointed towards the Ross siblings .

  “I want you to make sure no negative consequences occur from them breaking their contract . ”


  “.…… is that all you want?”


  It was unexpectedly a small request . However, Sungyoon shook his head from side to side .

  “You can discuss the rest with my company’s president . ”


  Sungyoon really had no idea what to ask for . So he decided to rely on Jimin .

  Cohen frowned at the idea that someone else outside this group would learn about this incident . But in the end, he let out a sigh as he nodded . The one holding the handle of the knife wasn’t him but Sungyoon . He also thought the agreement would be a bit more binding if the contract was made at the company level . Of course, he could pass on the role of negotiator to someone else, so there was a bit of selfishness in his thoughts too .

  “.…… Understood . Will you let go of Louis now?”


  However, Sungyoon just stroked his chin and didn’t let Louis go .

  “Mmm . How can I trust you guys will keep your word?”


  “You don’t have to worry about that . ”


  Tim’s face had been red with anger as he was watching what happened . However, he grasped this opportunity to step forward and took out a video camera from his bag .

  “I had brought it to record the scenery on the moon, but it can be repurposed for other uses . ”


  Sugyoon nodded . But Cohen let out a sigh as he wiped the frown off his face .

  “So, you’ll have proof now . May you let go of Louis now?”


  However, Sungyoon didn’t listen to Cohen’s words once again .

  “First, let Mr . Tim outside . He can film all of this from there . ”


  “.…… you are very cautious . ”


  “I experienced something very bitter when I failed in life . ”


  While Sungyoon and Cohen conversed, Tim followed Sungyoon’s directions . He went outside the building and pointed the camera inward . Only then did Sungyoon let go of Louis .

  Hoo-da-dahk!

  Louis quickly moved to the side of the Connectors of his company . It seemed he had regained his confidence after being back amongst his comrades . He turned a death glare at Sungyoon . However, Sungyoon didn’t even bother looking back at him .

  Sungyoon walked up to Emily’s side . When he received her permission, he put the possessions of the Ross siblings into his storage Gem . Everyone once again became shocked at his Gem activation speed .

  He paid no attention to them and walked toward the entrance of the building with Emily . The company employees did not dare to block their way .

  “Let us meet again in better circumstances . ”


  After he spoke those words, Sungyoon exited .

  Emily had been about to follow Sungyoon, but hesitation appeared on her face .

  Did she perhaps change her mind? Hope appeared in the eyes of the company employees .

  However, the words that came out of her words shocked everyone . It especially shocked Cohen .

  “You were a close comrade of my mother, Mr . Cohen . I think it is right to tell you this . ”


  Her eyes were clear as she spoke .

  “We found our mother’s corpse . ”