“It didn’t go as easily as I expected it to . ”


  After seeing Sungyoon and the Ross siblings out, Grace sat back on the sofa . She took a sip of the black tea in front of her, but it had already cooled by now .

  “What? Did you think they’d just let you into their party?”


  “If I’m being honest, a part of me thought so . ”


  It had nothing to do with her social status . She had confidence in her own abilities . That was why she was a bit shocked right now .

  “Of course, they should discuss it . There is nothing more important than accepting a new member into a party . It is a good sign that he isn’t an egomaniac that makes all the decisions by himself . ”


  He was right .

  “Moreover, I can tell . They looked interested . Of course! You are unbelievable! Why wouldn’t they want you!”


  Russell raised his nose in pride as if it were his business . Grace looked at him with an incredulous expression .

  “Are you really sure about this?”


  Russell wiped the playful expression off from his face . He looked at her with worry in his eyes . There were no ifs, no ands, no buts about it . Grace had almost died .

  The man himself had almost died many times when he was younger . That was why he understood how much fear Grace was feeling right now . To make matters worse, she had also lost all her comrades .

  “.…… If I’m being honest, I’m still afraid . ”


  She hugged herself with her own arms .

  The Princess had been trapped in the labyrinth . She remembered the feeling the fear that arose from the fact that she didn’t know when she would encounter a monster . She also recalled how her trusted party members had all died .

  At that time, she had no idea if she could escape the place where not a single speck of light could enter . She had no hope, only despair .

  It really was a dark experience .

  Grace was proud of herself for even thinking about going back into the labyrinths .

  “However, you know this better than anyone . Connectors can’t live completely away from the Moon . ”


  It also meant that if they wanted to live on the Moon, Connectors had to go make money in the labyrinths . Such was their fate .

  “I never expected you to agree so readily when I said I wanted to join a different party . Moreover, you are actively helping me get into that party . ”


  “Let me be clear about this . This decision was not easy to arrive at . Your grandmother gave me an earful about it . ”


  Grace’s grandmother was very against the idea of entrusting her granddaughter to some unknown party . When Grace had told them her intention of entering Sungyoon’s party, the current queen opposed it quite fiercely . Russell had to go directly against her in order to support Grace’s decision .

  The queen wanted Grace to join one of the famous parties from England . It would allow her to provide a certain degree of protection to Grace .

  “Also, I looked into the party, especially Woo Sungyoon . He isn’t an ordinary person . ”


  Russell started to tell Grace about what he had found out . The information he had gathered was quite accurate, and he knew most of the events that had occurred to Sungyoon .

  “.…… That’s a very entertaining hero’s tale . Which author wrote that story?”


  “Surprisingly, all of it is the truth . He is getting pretty famous in our community . ”


  His physical abilities and leadership ability were above average . He was also a person of sound judgment . She never expected him to be more extraordinary than her .

  Grace’s assessment of Sungyoon went up a notch .

  “Their skills are on par with you, and they respect your opinion . That is why I agreed with your request of entering their party . ”


  “It seems I made the right choice . ”


  “I think so too . Although this is only my hunch, I believe Woo Sungyoon will do something amazing in the future . You can carve out your own story too . ”


  It seemed he was reacting to her comment about the hero’s tale . Grace smirked as she joked around .

  “Is this where the princess joins the hero on his journey? I’ll do my best . ”


  Russell laughed with her . However, he suddenly sobered up .

  “Are you starting to develop an interest in him? I hope not . If you do, you have to tell me . . . ”


  “.…… Sir Russell . ”


  She let out a large sigh as she placed a hand over his mouth to shut him up .

  ***

  Sungyoon and the Ross siblings discussed the prospect of Grace joining their party in earnest . No one really objected to it .

  She had the skills and the status . As for the lack of trust between them, it was something they could build while working with each other . So they decided to accept Grace into their party .

  However, Sungyoon had to meet someone first before he could deliver the good news to Grace .

  “Over here!”


  As soon as he entered the store, she yelled out . Sungyoon looked toward the source of the voice .

  Chelsea was sitting at a table, waving at him .

  Sungyoon sat on the other side of her .

  “It has been a while . ”


  “Yes, indeed . I heard through the grapevine that Mr . Sungyoon is living a life of extreme ups and downs?”


  “Not really . ”


  They had rescued Grace, and they had fought against a Skeleton . His party had also fought a life and death battle with a large number of monsters that had suddenly appeared . Despite all this, Sungyoon spoke in a calm manner . It seemed Chelsea had some information on what had happened, so she was baffled by his reaction .

  “I wonder what you would have to experience to consider it an out of the ordinary day . ”


  “It isn’t as if I experienced those events because I wanted to . So, why did you call me here?”


  He responded to her teasing remarks in a very blunt manner and went straight to business . Chelsea pouted at such a response .

  However, she welcomed his brand of bluntness . Recently, she had only been focused on her research, and it had felt as if she had been caged in her lab .

  “I heard you experienced another incident . ”


  “Are you talking about the incident with Ms . Taylor?”


  The only incident he had experienced in recent days was the one inside Grace’s labyrinth .

  “Ms . Taylor?”


  “I’m talking about the person called Princess Grace . ”


  “Ah! That’s right!”


  She was usually referred to as Princess Grace . Very few people remembered her last name of Taylor .

  Chelsea took out a laptop from a bag next to her . She turned it on as she spoke .

  “I would like to hear what you experienced in detail . Is that possible?”


  “Is Ms . Chelsea’s research facility in charge of investigating this incident?”


  “We are the only research facility on the moon . ”


  Chelsea’s eyes reminded him of the eyes of a dead goldfish . When he looked closely, he could see dark circles behind her thick glasses .

  “Thankfully, I have a connection with you . I was allowed to leave the premises in order to listen to an eyewitness’s account of the incident . I can finally take a breather . The other researchers are struggling in hell right now . ”


  “It seems you’re going through a lot of hardship . ”


  “Thank you for acknowledging that . That is why I’m going to blow off some steam before I go back . ”


  Chelsea pushed aside the laptop that she had just taken out . She opened the menu placed on top of the table .

  “Let’s order first!”


  By the look on her face, it seemed as if she wanted to order every food on the menu .

  “You should order too, Mr . Sungyoon . I’m paying today . ”


  “You are paying today?”


  Sungyoon subconsciously looked at his surroundings .

  It was a decent sized store . And it was also unlike the store with no servers that Sungyoon and the Ross siblings used to visit .

  Well-dressed employees were attending the tables . At a glance, he could tell this place was fairly expensive, and his suspicion was confirmed when he looked down at the prices on the menu .

  However, Chelsea was nonchalant .

  “It is fine . I have this . ”


  Chelsea took out something from her wallet . It was a credit card .

  “I have to listen to Mr . Sungyoon’s story . It is considered work . That is why I brought a credit card issued by the research facility . I never expected my relationship with you would bring such a boon . ”


  She burrowed her head into the menu as if she were going to eat the menu instead of the food .

  “I want this . . . . this . . . ”


  It didn’t seem she planned on ordering just one or two dishes to save money . Sungyoon felt a bit bad . He decided to pick the dishes that had reasonable prices .

  “Since we are done ordering, may I hear your story?”


  She had acted like a klutz up until that moment . But that version of her disappeared . She now acted like a researcher who investigated the unknown truths of the world .

  It was said that a man looked more attractive when doing work . This held true for a working woman like Chelsea too .

  Sungyoon had nothing to hide, so he calmly told his story .

  Chelsea’s expression kept changing as time passed . She knew the general story, but it was a different experience listening to an account from someone who had gone through it . It provided a sense of realism to the story . When Sungyoon was finished, Chelsea let out a sigh .

  “Since I’m in this line of work, I know that each Connector has one or two harrowing stories . But I don’t think I’ve ever heard of a Connector who lives a life like yours . ”


  Chelsea entered the story on her laptop and organized it . She then expressed her surprise .

  Their food started to come out . Chelsea raised her fork and knife in front of the table full of food .

  “Let’s eat . ”


  Would he describe her as being tragically beautiful? He wondered if those words were appropriate for this situation .

  She got busy as she started attacking the food in front of her . Sungyoon ate his portion too .

  “Ah! I should tell you about the Golem you gave us . ”


  Chelsea swallowed another mouthful of food before continuing .

  “I’m sorry to say this, but we haven’t found anything definite yet . The shape and the material is something we haven’t seen before . But just as we were about to start our research in earnest, the anomalies in the labyrinths had started, the highlight being the moonquake that originated from the Great Labyrinth . Then we received the report about magical energy leaking out from a labyrinth, which allowed the monsters to exit the labyrinth . This matter has a direct impact on the safety of Armstrong, so we were tasked to find the cause of these anomalies . That became our priority . ”


  “ So the research on the Golem became a non-priority . ”


  “Yes . ”


  Chelsea glanced at Sungyoon . She knew his personality, so she knew it wouldn’t happen . However, there was a chance that Sungyoon might become offended and take back the Golem .

  But Sungyoon reacted as she had expected . He remained and looked almost disinterested in the topic .

  “Is that so?”


  As he spoke those words, Sungyoon pierced his food with his fork .

  “.…… I feel a bit awkward saying this, but shouldn’t you show more interest in your own business?”


  Chelsea couldn’t hold back from speaking up .

  However, Sungyoon’s interest in the Golem wasn’t that high . He wasn’t a scientist, neither was he someone interested in research . The Golem was just a mysterious item that looked like a robot . He didn’t feel anything beyond that .

  The only reason why he had the sole rights to the Golem was because of him giving up his rights to Mrs . Ross’ Devices and Gems . It almost felt as if the Golem had been pushed onto him .

  Of course, he was still a little possessive of the item, and had zero desire to hand it over for free . But he wouldn’t go neurotic over the fact that the research on it wasn’t progressing .

  “I’m satisfied if it helps you find the truths regarding the labyrinths . ”


  The labyrinths were getting more and more dangerous, so he preferred finding out more information about them .

  “Are you planning on continuing to raid the labyrinths? At the very least, shouldn’t you rest until these anomalies subside?”


  Chelsea sounded worried .

  However, Sungyoon shook his head from side to side .

  “There is no guarantee that the anomalies will subside . And as a Connector, I tread a fine line when it comes to danger . Above all else . . . ”


  A firm will was evident in his eyes .

  “I am aiming for the Great Labyrinth . ”


  This was also true of the Ross siblings . He had already spoken to the two of them about this topic . It was also one of the reasons Grace wanted to join his party .

  Chelsea couldn’t say anything when Sungyoon showed so much resolve .

  But she couldn’t help but be worried .

  She spoke in a small voice .

  “Still, you should be careful . ”


  He had no objections to those words, so Sungyoon nodded .

  ***

  Jiyoon was working hard at the company once again .

  As expected, it was a great learning experience to work at a Connector company . This was different from what she had learned in the lecture hall . Here, she worked through problems as she gained real-world experience .

  It also helped that Jungbum was in the midst of an expansion .

  Jiyoon shut off the computer after she entered all the data given to her by Jimin . And when she looked at her watch, she realized it was pretty late .

  It was time to leave soon . She double-checked her work as she started to clean her workspace .

  ‘Should I drink a cup of coffee before I leave?’


  She walked towards the small lounge provided for the staff . But when she opened the door to the lounge, her eyes turned round .

  “Ah! Unni!”


  Shinhae was sitting at the table . She had just finished drinking her milk when she turned to look at Jiyoon .