The Kidnapping
Ah, hello there. It’s the vending machine. Bestselling and now in transit.
I’m currently being knocked around a buar-pulled cart—which is fine, in and of itself, but the problem is I don’t know where the cart is.
The cart I’m on doesn’t have a covering, which gives me a clear view of the surrounding area. We’re traveling through plains overgrown with long weeds, and occasionally a deerlike creature with three horns appears. It seems to be an animal rather than a monster. I can’t tell the difference between animals and monsters, but apparently, there’s a clear distinction.
As for what else I can see… Two men are sitting in the carriage seat. They’re likely forty or so. They have unremarkable faces.
And another buar cart is following behind this one. A band of six people who appear to be hunters are riding on it. They’re the ones who struggled to get me into the cart.
I know it’s far too late now, but I should have been a little more suspicious.
They came early this morning, lined up in front of me, and said this:
“The Hunters Association’s director requested that repairs and reinforcements of areas near the walls start in earnest today. He told us he wanted you to do your sales there for a while, Boxxo.”
At the time, I was in the middle of considering my abilities and mulling over what I should stock next. I gave my ready consent with a “Welcome” and sank back into the sea of my thoughts.
In the past, either Director Bear would come tell me personally, or Lammis would tell me on his behalf. When these hunters came instead, I figured that even the director found some things trivial enough to send only messengers.
And that was how the six of them loaded me into the cart while I was none the wiser. That was where I made another grave mistake. You know how when you’re riding in a car, and the sunlight shining in makes you want to go to sleep? I don’t technically have to sleep, but sometimes I want to because of my habits from when I was human.
The shaking of the cart and rolling of the wheels had a lullaby effect on me, and so I passed out.
And that’s how I got here. This means I’ve been kidnapped, doesn’t it? They must be after the gold coins stowed inside me, or maybe my value as a whole.
I feel no danger whatsoever to my life, but the thing that worries me most is not being able to move of my own volition. Even if I somehow manage to escape them here, I have no way of returning to the settlement. This stratum is massive, so if I end up alone on the way to wherever we’re going, it could easily be years before anyone stumbles across me. Of course, I’d probably run out of points first.
For now, I record the criminals’ faces using the vending machine surveillance camera I bought earlier as a crime-prevention measure. With this feature, I can replay the video I record whenever I want, so I’ll never forget what they look like.
Two of them, at least, are familiar faces. They’ve been buying from me a lot lately, and I remember a grim determination in their gazes compared to other people.
And then, hmm… Oh, he’s here, too. The low-life villain Gugoyle is watching me with a smirk on his face. Looking like the archetypical small fry, as always.
Either he was the one who brought this dissolute band together, or they were all allied to begin with. If so, will they eventually put me down somewhere and disassemble me? I’m pretty sure Gugoyle doesn’t know about my Force Field. I don’t think I’ve shown it to anyone save for Lammis and Captain Kerioyl.
In that case, I’ll hold on to my Force Field as a trump card. Still, the more distance we put between us and the settlement, the less of a chance anyone has of finding me. Wh-what should I do? I’m starting to freak out.
O-okay. I’ll go over my abilities. Maybe that will calm me down.
[Vending Machine: Boxxo] |
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DUR 100/100 |
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TGH 10 |
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STR 0 |
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SPD 0 |
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DEX 0 |
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MAG 0 |
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PT 11,346 |
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{Features} Cold Retention, Heat Retention, Omnidirectional Vision, Hot-Water Dispenser (Cup Ramen Mode), Two-Liter Support, Candy-Roll Vending, Paint Change, Boxed-Item Support, Vending Machine Surveillance Camera |
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{Blessings} Force Field |
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For a vending machine, I must say I’m pretty high-spec, but I can’t function properly in another world with just these sorts of abilities.
The biggest factor that created this situation was my giddiness at crossing the ten-thousand-point barrier, but it’s not all bad. With this many points, I can maintain Force Field for a long time. I’ll take that as a silver lining. If I need to, I can repair myself several times, too.
Calm down, calm down. They’re not going to scrap you right away. Force Field consumes 1 point per second, so 60 in a minute. But that’s 3,600 in an hour… Wait, this isn’t good…
We rapidly pull farther away from the settlement while I consider my options; we’re almost at the two-hour mark since I woke up.
“Hey! We’re taking a break,” shouts one of the men in the coachman’s seat before stopping the cart.
The buar cart following us stops as well, then everyone clambers off it. And then they surround me. Do they really think I’m just going to give them their lunch?
“All right, time to eat. Hey, Boxxo. If you’ve got a brain in there, I’m sure you know what situation you’re in.”
The low-life villain is getting full of himself, since he’s got friends around now. He must be remembering his earlier humiliation as he breaks out into vulgar laughter and flashes a blade.
“You’re going to give us the food and drink we want for free. I’m sure even an iron box like you knows what’ll happen if you don’t.”
“Too bad,” I answer immediately. I know exactly what will result from provoking him right now, but I can’t help myself.
As expected, blood rushes to Gugoyle’s face, turning it bright red. He likely doesn’t know the meaning of the word patience.
“Bastard! I’ll break you!”
He thrusts his short sword at the glass, but it only leaves a small scratch on the surface.
[1 damage. Durability decreased by 1.]
Just one damage? He’s weaker than I thought. The frog people hurt a lot more than him. Not learning his lesson, he damages me several more times, but I take only five points of damage total.
“Gugoyle, stop. We’re after what’s inside, but I told you the thing has value as a whole, remember? Don’t damage it for no reason.”
“Y-yes, sir. Sorry… Keh. You live another day.”
The perfect parting shot for a man like him. The man who stopped him is a good deal larger than all the others nearby. His physique, at least, is very similar to Gocguy’s, the man who traveled with the money-exchanging lady.
The huge blade scar on his forehead only adds to his intimidation. He has no eyebrow hair or hair on his head; I can’t tell if they were shaved or if he was born like that. If not for his grandiose beard, he might look a lot like Karios the gatekeeper.
“And you—you don’t want us to break you. I think it would be in your best interest to do what we say.”
The large man seems more logical than Gugoyle. He’s right—defying them won’t do me any good. The answer is to pretend to obey them while getting a clear picture of the situation.
“You’re Too bad.”
Just kidding. Why should I have to listen to what the guys who kidnapped me have to say? If Lammis were here, she’d absolutely refuse. I want to stay with her in the future, so I have no intention of living in a way that brings shame upon myself.
“You don’t seem to understand your position here. Hey, Gugoyle. You said this thing can fix its own damaged parts, right?”
“Yes, sir, it can. It was really beaten up during the hunting expedition, but it made itself go right back to normal.”
“I see. All right, everyone. Make the thing understand with force—just don’t break it.”
If I could feel pain, this would be a pretty terrifying situation. But these big, burly men are circling a vending machine, threatening it… This is some advanced comedy.
Their idea that I’ll do what they say if they recklessly hurt me, without knowing anything about me, is too easy. They must not realize how stupidly they’re behaving against a metal box.
“This is your last chance to apologize. Now that the boss gave the word, you’d better prepare yourself, because we ain’t having any mercy.”
Their boss, eh? If he’s the top of the chain, are all the rest of them his henchmen? Anyway, even though that tidbit lets me calmly understand the situation, I don’t have a way of asking them that.
[3 damage. Durability decreased by 3.]
[2 damage. Durability decreased by 2.]
They’re really going at it with those weapons. If this goes on, I’ll eventually break down. But I want to keep my Force Field hidden until the last possible moment. If I repair now, it’ll probably spur them to keep attacking me. What should I do? I think the correct answer is to let them get me to a near-broken state to make them worry…but I can’t take this lying down.
I don’t have enough points for a Blessing. Nothing in the features list stands out, either. Can’t I do anything else? My durability keeps going down, and I can’t counter their attacks. If I was a little tougher, I might be able to get away with no damage, too.
[Spend 1,000 points to increase toughness by 10?]
What? Words came up while I was looking at the toughness stat. Wait, I can upgrade my stats using points, too?!
A thousand points is fairly painful, but if I increase my toughness, I can decrease the damage I’m taking now. It’s worth giving it a try—let’s boost it.
[Toughness increased to 20.]
It doesn’t feel like anything happened, but I must be harder now. I’ll know if that’s true one way or the other in a moment.
[0 damage. Durability decreased by 0.]
Great, I nullified their damage. Now, if I leave my durability in its decreased state, my visible damage will remain, and they’ll mistakenly believe their attacks are having an effect.
Now to wait for them to tire themselves out.
