Chapter 197: 000
Ancient Labyrinth, Day 90.
I planned to go to the Great Forest again today.
Not for exploration, but to find a vending machine.
Yesterday, after eliminating the intruding Alchemists, I received a Vending Machine Tracker as a reward.
By the way, this Vending Machine Tracker was special.
Unlike before, it clearly indicated that the vending machine was located in the Great Forest.
I didn’t know why the tracker's performance had improved.
If I had to guess, it was probably because the Ancient Labyrinth's favorability toward me had increased.
【Pururu】─ㅎㅇ Good morning.
【Mysticism】─🌞
【Rizenova】─You’re late.
【Luna-chan】─Pururu-chan, why are you so late! You're slacking off!
【Bubble Bubble】─Sage, you just got here too.
【Hwang Mir】─By the way, if we revive the intruders we killed yesterday and then kill them again, can’t we get the rewards twice?
【Yumi】─Are you a demon?
“That won’t work. Intruders can’t be revived.”
【Luna-chan】─Really? I guess the Ancient Labyrinth takes their souls right away.
【Hwang Mir】─What a shame.
【Yumi】─Wait a minute. You’re speaking as if you actually tried it.
【Pururu】─Looks like he secretly tested it last night after turning off the broadcast.
Truth be told, I did try it yesterday.
The chances seemed slim, but I still wanted to give it a shot.
Unfortunately.
Even with the Medical Angel’s liquid, I couldn’t revive the intruders.
Just as Luna-chan said, the moment intruders died, the Ancient Labyrinth must have immediately collected their souls.
【Pururu】─Geon, but didn’t you notice any changes?
“What kind of changes?”
【Pururu】─You said yesterday that the Ancient Labyrinth's favorability toward you increased.
【Mysticism】─It even sent a thumbs-up emoji as a thank you. 🤭
“Oh. Nothing significant has changed since that notification. Except for the fact that the Vending Machine Tracker now gives the vending machine’s exact location.”
【Yumi】─So, even if the Ancient Labyrinth’s favorability increases, it doesn’t seem to make much of a difference.
【Pururu】─Lame.
【Hwang Mir】─Right? I thought good things would happen if the favorability went up.
Answering my assistants’ questions, I used a warp device with some monsters to travel to the Great Forest.
［Ah, ah, you’re here.］
［Welcome.］
In front of the warp device installed in the Great Forest.
The SS-rank monsters Willow Lace and Exocid greeted us.
“You don’t have to come out to greet me.”
［W-w-when a friend arrives, greeting them is natural.］
［It’s not that I came out to greet you—I was just standing here the whole time. You said if I ran away, you’d catch me and beat me even worse than yesterday... But now that we’re friends, there’s no reason to run...］
In just one night.
The spots on their bodies had completely changed from red to green.
Taming was complete.
I retrieved the severed arms I had attached to them.
Then.
Using Willow Lace’s nature assimilation ability, I sat still on the ground and moved toward the vending machine’s location.
Once I arrived in the Great Forest, the tracker was unnecessary.
Willow Lace could assimilate with the entire Great Forest.
The Great Forest was, in essence, Willow Lace.
Since Willow Lace was the Great Forest itself, it could observe everything within it and naturally pinpoint the vending machine’s location.
“But it’s kind of a shame.”
【Pururu】─What is?
【Mysticism】─🤔
“The tracker just happened to reveal the vending machine’s location in the Great Forest. That information is practically useless.”
【Mysticism】─🧐
【Bubble Bubble】─Now that you mention it, that’s true.
【Bubble Bubble】─Since the vending machines in the Great Forest can always be located through Willow Lace, the tracker is unnecessary.
【Mysticism】─😮
【Pururu】─Ah-ha.
As I sat there, I looked down at the ground and asked.
“Willow. When was the vending machine we’re heading to created?”
［N-not long ago. It appeared right after you contacted me through the crystal, Gauntlet.］
“You mean it appeared when I contacted you?”
［Y-y-yes, that’s right.］
【Pururu】─I wonder when it’ll stop stuttering.
【Mysticism】─🤭
【Yumi】─It still stutters even though we’re friends now.
【Hwang Mir】─Maybe it’s just an act?
【Rizenova】─Perhaps it’s not nervousness, but simply the way it speaks.
The moment I used the Vending Machine Tracker, I contacted Willow Lace.
In other words.
The vending machine was created the moment I used the tracker.
“So, the tracker usage directly caused the vending machine to spawn… That can’t be a coincidence. Could the vending machine have been created in response to using the tracker?”
［I-I-I don’t know about that.］
【Bubble Bubble】─So, the tracker didn’t just reveal the location of an existing vending machine.
【Luna-chan】─Yeah, it seems like using the tracker actually made a vending machine appear.
【Rizenova】─If this isn’t a coincidence, then the Vending Machine Tracker is essentially a Vending Machine Creation Ticket.
【Hwang Mir】─Ancient Korea.
【Rizenova】─?
A thought crossed my mind.
Were the previous Vending Machine Trackers like this as well?
Was it originally a feature of the tracker to spawn a vending machine the moment it was used?
Or was this a special case?
Or maybe this was just a coincidence?
There was no way to know.
But, it didn’t really matter.
As long as I could find vending machines, that was all that mattered.
Anyway.
If this phenomenon wasn’t just a coincidence…
If the vending machine was truly created due to using the tracker, then using the Vending Machine Tracker was by no means a wasted effort.
［O-o-over there.］
At Willow Lace’s voice, I lifted my head.
A massive tree, so enormous that calling it a World Tree wouldn't be an exaggeration.
In front of it stood a lone vending machine with an ordinary appearance.
Willow Lace controlled the earth, guiding me to the vending machine.
［A-a-arrived.］
“Thanks.”
After expressing my gratitude, I stood up and examined the vending machine.
★━━━ 【The Assisted One’s Exclusive Vending Machine】 ━━━★
✧･ﾟ: ✧･ﾟ: 『Ticket Purchase』 :･ﾟ✧:･ﾟ✧
➤ Dimensional Altar Installation Ticket ▼
◇ 1 ticket: 5,000 coins
◇ Purchase limit: 10 tickets
※ Allows the installation of an altar in a world where no assistants exist.
※ Through the altar, you can receive support items from that world. If you are unsatisfied with the received item, you can opt to receive coins instead. In that case, coins equivalent to the item’s value will be granted.
※ If an assistant is born in the world where the altar was installed, the altar will disappear.
※ This ticket can be transferred to a tamed monster and used on your behalf.
➤ Top-Tier Invitation Ticket ▼
◇ 1 ticket: 1 coin
◇ Purchase limit: 1 ticket
※ A ticket that allows you to request top-tier support. Automatically used upon purchase.
➤ Brilliant Evolution Ticket ▼
◇ 1 ticket: 995,000 coins
◇ Purchase limit: 1 ticket
※ Evolves a tamed monster into a higher entity.
➤ Dispatch Ticket ▼
◇ 1 ticket: 10 coins
◇ Purchase limit: 500 tickets
※ Dispatches one tamed monster to another dimension for 24 hours. A regular dispatch ticket sends the monster to a random dimension.
➤ Designated Dispatch Ticket ▼
◇ 1 ticket: 50 coins
◇ Purchase limit: 200 tickets
※ Dispatches one tamed monster to another dimension for 24 hours. You can designate a dimension with a connection to the explorer.
➤ Transferable Return Ticket ▼
◇ 1 ticket: 10 coins
◇ Purchase limit: 100 tickets
※ A return ticket that can be transferred to a Drifter.
➤ Reverse Support Ticket ▼
◇ 1 ticket: 1 coin
◇ Purchase limit: 500 tickets
※ Allows you to send an item owned by the explorer to an assistant. Reverse support is only available for assistants ranked GOLD or higher.
➤ Wandering Merchant Tracker ▼
◇ 1 ticket: 1,000 coins
◇ Purchase limit: 1 ticket
※ Allows you to track the location of the wandering merchant traveling through the labyrinth.
║ ⚠ Check your available coins before purchasing ⚠ ║
⏳ Time until vending machine disappears: 9999:12:02
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The Brilliant Evolution Ticket became cheaper.
Its price was drastically lower compared to before.
Not only that.
The overall prices of other tickets had also dropped.
Their purchase limits had significantly increased as well.
‘At this rate, I can buy everything.’
Even the Brilliant Evolution Ticket, which I hadn’t dared to purchase before, was now within reach.
I didn’t have enough coins yet.
But the time remaining before the vending machine disappeared was more than generous.
‘More importantly, what is this Top-Tier Invitation Ticket?’
Among the many tickets.
The one that caught my eye the most was the Top-Tier Invitation Ticket.
A ticket I had never seen before.
I had never even encountered a High-Tier Invitation Ticket before, and now they were skipping straight to Top-Tier?
Its price was practically free.
1 coin—basically forcing me to buy it.
The phrase "automatically used upon purchase" seemed a little suspicious, but there was no harm in buying the ticket.
‘…I don’t know who the support request will be sent to, but I might as well buy it.’
Cautiously, I purchased the Top-Tier Invitation Ticket.
At that moment.
『TRINITY-rank Assistant "Unknown - 000" is watching you.』
【Yumi】─?
【Rizenova】─?
【Bubble Bubble】─??
【Mysticism】─😮?
【Luna-chan】─Huh?
【Hwang Mir】─Who is 000?
【Pururu】─Wait, their rank is Trinity? What is this?
An assistant named 000 had appeared.
And they were ranked Trinity.
“Uh, excuse me, but… who are you?”
【Mysticism】─Who are you?! 😠
【Hwang Mir】─Reveal yourself!
【Rizenova】─Whoever you are, at least say hello first.
【Pururu】─Who are you?
【000】─(。O ⩊ O。)