Kevil was one of the three officers Grenoid had personally created, so its death was a shocking piece of news .

  The three officers, including Udocus, were very proud that their great master had a direct hand in their creation . Therefore, Udocus’s actions made a bit sense .

  He wasn’t sad about his comrade’s death; he was sad that one of his master’s creations had perished .

  However, only Udocus and Grenoid’s other creations held this view .

  “Is that so? That’s too bad . ”


  Since Jinsoo was a human, he didn’t have much of a reaction . It fueled Udocus’s anger .

  “Aren’t you angry that one of the beings our great master created is no more!”


  “What do you want me to do about it?”


  Jinsoo picked his ear .

  “It isn’t as if I had a lot of interaction with Kevil . Whenever I saw him, he acted arrogantly . I couldn’t even greet him properly . Would I cry and throw a tantrum for someone like that? If I did that, it’d be the abnormal thing . ”


  Jinsoo took his finger out of his ear and blew away the earwax on his fingertip .

  “Will you shout in tears if Mr . Hyunwoo or I pass away? Or will you be like us and treat it as a nonstory?”


  Jinsoo was making an invidious remark, but he had also addressed the heart of the problem .

  Udocus ground his teeth, but he had no answer for Jinsoo, and this made Jinsoo crow over Udocus .

  “Stop it, Kim Jinsoo . He was still our comrade . Even if you can’t be sad for the loss, you should stay quiet . ”


  “Comrade?”


  Jinsoo looked at Hyunwoo . He thought Hyunwoo was making a joke, but Hyunwoo solemnly nodded .

  “Yes . Comrade . ”


  “If you say so . …… I go with whatever you say, Mr . Hyunwoo . ”


  Jinsoo raised a hand toward Udocus .

  “I’m sorry!”


  Earth had something called a non-apology apology . Jinsoo was doing that .

  Udocus’s patience had reached a limit .

  “Ah! I have some work to do . I have to go now!”


  Jinsoo realized this, so he quickly went out toward the labyrinth .

  Udocus continued to glare at Jinsoo’s back, but in the end, the thick dark energy around his hands dissipated .

  “I’m sorry about him . ”


  Hyunwoo apologized, but Udocus coldly turned his back on him .

  An awkward atmosphere formed around them .

  Hyunwoo wasn’t as dispassionate as Jinsoo, but he wasn’t the type to be swayed by the mood around him .

  He immediately asked a question .

  “Our biggest fighting power left behind on Earth is dead . What will we do now?”


  Udocus didn’t want to deal with any humans, whether it was Jinsoo or Hyunwoo . However, he couldn’t act like that as one of Grenoid’s officers .

  Moreover, Hyunwoo wasn’t asking any personal questions . His question was a tactical one .

  “.…… Even if he died, he died after doing what was needed . ”


  Udocus slowly walked, and Hyunwoo followed him .

  “I told you before . I sent Kevil to Earth with a couple of contingency plans . ”


  “You did say that . ”


  “He carried out the final yet worst plan . ”


  “Final yet worst plan? Are we in that desperate of a situation right now?”


  Hyunwoo earnestly spoke .

  “No . An incredible opportunity has presented itself . We are at a slight disadvantage right now, yet we’ll soon flip the table on our enemies . ”


  “Then, why did you call it the worst of plans?”


  “Kevil’s death!”


  Udocus stamped his staff on the ground, and the loud sound reverberated through the labyrinth .

  “It’s a plan that can only be exercised when Kevil loses his life!”


  Udocus was truly grief-stricken over Kevil’s death . Of course, Hyunwoo didn’t feel an ounce of sympathy for him .

  “Does that mean our side will regain the advantage?”


  “Yes . However, it won’t happen immediately . We have to make preparations . ”


  “Preparations?”


  “Power! Blood! Souls! Sacrifices!”


  Udocus whipped around his body . His red eyes intently stared at Hyunwoo .

  “Tell Glaia to bring all the monsters she can control!”


  “Are you sure about that? We still haven’t recovered from our losses . ”


  Grenoid’s officers couldn’t control all the monsters within the labyrinths . They weren’t Grenoid after all .

  If they had such power, they could’ve made the world cry . They would’ve pulled off a strategy that would’ve shocked the world . Humanity wouldn’t have been able to take back Armstrong city .

  Currently, Glaia was trying to refill the ranks of monsters lost during the fight for Armstrong city . She was going around spreading her influence over the monsters not under their control .

  “It’s fine! If this plan is successful, we don’t have to waste time on the other trivial plans!”


  “Understood . I’ll tell Glaia . ”


  Hyunwoo nodded .

  “What do you plan on doing with the monsters?”


  “We’re stuck on the Moon right now, and we can attack only one place . ”


  “You’re referring to Armstrong city . ”


  “That’s right!”


  Udocus’s red eyes shone brighter .

  Hyunwoo became lost in his thoughts for a brief moment .

  ‘The safety zone can only be created when the four cities are completely awakened . Moreover, the magic city started awakening after its seed was activated . ’


  It hadn’t been long since the seed had been activated .

  ‘At the very least, they can’t create the safety zone in the near future . ’


  It seemed Udocus was confident in his plan . If things went along the plan, Armstrong city would be overrun by monsters, and humanity would be expelled from the Moon once again .

  ‘I guess it doesn’t matter . ’


  Hyunwoo didn’t care if Armstrong city fell or not . It was none of his business . In fact, the fall of Armstrong city might accelerate his own plan .

  ‘How strong is Woo Sungyoon now? Should I visit him for a short time? Should I got tell him about this plan’


  Despite the thought, Hyunwoo inwardly shook his head from side to side .

  ‘No . I don’t need to help him anymore . In fact, it’ll be detrimental to his growth to help him too much . ’


  Hyunwoo had already pointed out the path that would lead humanity to victory .

  ‘If he dies now, he isn’t the person I’m looking for . ’


  That person wouldn’t be able to become strong enough to reach Hyunwoo’s standard .

  “We’ll hit Armstrong city and finish the ritual Kevil started . The humans are probably in a joyous mood because they killed Kevil . We’ll teach them a lesson . ”


  Udocus’s words were filled with murderous intent, and they broke Hyunwoo out of his reveries .

  ***

  It was said that time flies . In the past, Sungyoon had felt this saying to be true when he had reached his late twenties, the period when he had started showing signs of aging .

  Afterward, he had felt time flying faster and faster .

  It especially felt true in recent days .

  In the micro, Sungyoon was fighting for Shinhae’s future . In the macros, he was fighting to bring peace to humanity . That was why he felt the time was flying .

  When he came to his senses, Sungyoon was farther out into the future .

  “Dad! Look here!”


  It was Shinhae’s growth period . She had grown a lot . Her voice oozed excitement as she put on her backpack . Shinhae was about to greet her eighth birthday .

  The current year was almost coming to an end .

  Shinhae was choosing a new backpack since she would be entering elementary school next year .

  “Do you like it?”


  Sungyoon smiled as he spoke . He didn’t look at the price tag in the first place as he had decided to buy the one Shinhae liked . However, Shinhae looked a bit iffy regarding the current backpack .

  “Mmm!”


  She took it off, held it in front of her with both hands, and stared at it . Then, she turned to look at Sungyoon .

  “I want to see the other ones!”


  “Yes . Take your time . ”


  Shinhae hummed as she ran toward the racks with all the backpacks . A conflicted expression appeared on her face as she looked at the choices .

  Sungyoon stood in the back and looked on with a satisfied expression on his face .

  ‘These are the style of backpacks elementary students wear now?’


  Sungyoon’s gaze moved on from Shinhae and fell at the large selection of backpacks . More than thirty years had passed since Sungyoon attended elementary school . Of course, the design of backpacks had changed a lot in this time .

  At that moment, he thought he would be as happy as he could be if Shinhae liked the backpack he had picked out .

  Sungyoon started to look through the rack to pick out the backpacks that caught his eyes .

  Flash!

  “Huh?”


  Sungyoon turned his head when a camera let out a flash .

  Middle-school girls had pointed their phones toward him and were squealing . When he turned his gaze further, he realized a lot of people had gathered a distance away . They were all whispering to each other .

  Many of these people had pointed their phones toward him .

  ‘I’ll never get used to this . ’


  First, he had received an embarrassing nickname called the Knight . Now, they were starting to call him the Guardian of Earth .

  It was to be expected since the masses had started showing more interest in Connectors after they had started the fight with Grenoid .

  And since Sungyoon was the most famous Connector, the public’s interest in him had skyrocketed .

  ‘The Mayor is also fanning the flames . ’


  [Please listen to me carefully, Mr . Sungyoon . ]

  He remembered what the Mayor had said to him .

  [We’re at war . I know you’re all tired, and I feel an immense amount of guilt for pushing you all into the battlefield . However, the civilians on Earth are also suffering a lot . ]

  War was painful for everyone .

  [Moreover, this war is unprecedented in the history of Earth . We’re fighting a war against non-humans . This means that the public is more afraid than usual . In a war, it’s very important to sure up the home front . The people produce the supplies needed in the war and make up the reserve troops . Connectors hold an important role, but regular people excavate and process Mana Knight . So, it’s very important to secure the home front . ]

  The war was happening to protect the homefront . Basically, everyone was fighting to protect their country and their people .

  [We have to stabilize the homefront . To do so, we have to reassure the civilians . That’s why . . . ]

  Sungyoon remembered the Mayor’s apologetic expression .

  [I’m really sorry to say this, but we have to make some Connectors, including you, heroes . ]

  It wasn’t a surprising development . When one looked through history, wars always had heroes . It was a surefire way to boost morale .

  Moreover, Sungyoon had defeated Kevil, and this had put him back into the spotlight . He was like a black hole that sucked the attention of not just of the Koreans, but the whole world .

  It wasn’t funny, but this was why he had become the poster boy for their cause . Therefore, he couldn’t express his annoyance when people interrupted his precious time with Shinhae .

  ‘I can’t believe I have to manage my image at this age . ’


  The best course of action Sungyoon could take was ignoring the people around him .

  He really didn’t like coming outside, and he avoided it if he could help it . However, he had to come out this time since it was a special event where Shinhae needed a new backpack for elementary school . He couldn’t miss such an event .

  ‘I should go back to picking out a bag . ’


  Suddenly, Sungyoon realized that he had a really poor taste, so he looked for an employee .

  “Excuse me…… . ”


  “Yes!”


  Was it a coincidence? It probably wasn’t .

  The employee had been hovering around Sungyoon as if he were Sungyoon’s personal assistant . He quickly moved to Sungyoon when he was called .

  He looked to be a man in his late twenties or early thirties .

  However, the man looked like a kid who had just met his favorite comic-book hero . His eyes twinkled .

  “Harumph!”


  Sungyoon almost said something he might have regretted . He couldn’t get used to such a gaze, but he knew he had to endure it .

  “Which one is the most popular item—”


  Sungyoon couldn’t end his sentence . His phone started ringing in his pocket, and his face stiffened .

  “Huh? Aren’t you going to answer the phone, Dad?”


  Shinhae, who had been shopping for a backpack, approached him .

  Sungyoon forced a smile, nodded, and took out his phone .

  “Ah! That phone is different from the one you usually use!”


  Shinhae laughed, but Sungyoon couldn’t laugh .

  This phone wasn’t for personal use . It was a phone that would be used in emergencies .

  Since it was ringing, it meant that an emergency had occurred somewhere .

  “Yes . This is Woo Sungyoon . ”


  Sungyoon’s voice sounded heavy .