Chapter 10
"This... is a lens?"
I had the armory appraise the item the boss spat out at the last moment.
It was a transparent, radiant lens.
[Precision Aiming Lens]
- Core component of a mechanical boss monster. Built-in optical zoom and thermal imaging detection functions.
"Still, since it was a boss, it did give me this..."
It didn't seem bad, but it wasn't something I really needed right now.
I briefly considered just selling it, but then I thought of a way to make use of it.
I went to the drone hangar in Car 2's armory.
"After all, this dungeon had been for this very thing."
I poured the materials I'd gathered for the combat drone into the feed slot.
And finally, I put in the lens I'd just gotten as well.
[Crafting started : Combat Drone -
Time required: 1 hour]
Whirr-clack.
The drone hangar began to turn with a pleasant mechanical sound.
The reconnaissance drone stared blankly at the sight beside me, as if expecting something.
I told the reconnaissance drone to take a break for now.
"I've got some things to do."
Humming to myself, I returned to the cockpit and set the destination to the vending machine.
Rumble-rumble-
The train glided smoothly along the tracks.
I flopped onto the sofa and let out a long sigh.
"Ughhh... I can finally breathe."
The fatigue from rolling and running around the dungeon felt like it was melting into the plush cushions.
The comfortable temperature, the smooth ride, and the apocalyptic scenery sliding past outside the window.
The comfort created by this bizarre mismatch was addictive.
"Mm...."
It would take some time to get to the vending machine anyway.
I slowly closed my eyes.
***
Had I dozed off for a bit?
Before I knew it, the train had stopped in front of the golden vending machine.
I gathered up the things I'd sell.
The monster junk I'd picked up in the dungeon, the items Spike had harvested.
And...
"Let's sell this too."
I untied the dreamcatcher necklace hanging from one side of the train.
I didn't feel the need for the subtle effect of gaining goblin favor.
I didn't know what price it would fetch, but I figured I'd try selling it once.
"Please."
I had the reconnaissance drone carry off the things I wanted to sell.
I decided to watch the screen while lying on the sofa.
I had muscle soreness from going through the dungeon, so there was nothing I could do.
Ding-
The drone dumped the various monster junk items into the vending machine tray.
There were quite a lot of them, so it came to a decent sum.
[Bulk junk purchase: $105]
"Huh? Not bad."
Compared to mana stones, the efficiency was pretty good.
And now, the necklace—the main event.
[Purchase price : $100]
"...Expensive? No, why would that be..."
I was a little surprised.
100 credits.
That was the price of one random box displayed in the vending machine.
Maybe, since the boss spat it out, it was a pretty decent item after all?
It would be a big help in a dungeon with goblins.
[Sale complete.]
[Current balance : $205]
I scanned the vending machine shelves.
Should I buy mana stones, or—
Then my gaze caught on a box in the corner of the vending machine.
[Random Box]
- Price: $100
- Description : You never know what you'll get.
"...I can't resist this."
A gamer's dream: gacha.
I couldn't resist the temptation.
In the end, after some deliberation, I asked the drone for a favor.
I asked it to buy two random boxes.
I quietly took out my smartphone.
I needed people to share this thrill with if I was going to open them alone.
This was also important information.
---
[Title : Bought 2 random boxes from the vending machine.]
Author: Choo-Choo
I had just sold the loot from killing the boss, so I had 200 credits loaded up.
I'm going to go for two 100-credit random boxes at once.
Everyone, pray for me.
[Comments]
Armchair Lu Bu: Is this bastard for real? The world's half ruined, and he's doing gacha?
Survival King: When you do gacha, I usually pray for you to fail, but this time it's literally a matter of life and death, so I can't even do that.
Anon: But you really did rack up credits well. Got any tips?
Anon: This might be rude, but could I get just one mana stone...
---
The reactions were intense.
I slowly opened one of the boxes the drone had brought back.
The tension was unreal.
When I opened the box, a message appeared along with the item.
"Please..."
[A pack of dried squid]
- Extremely hard. While chewing it, you can breathe underwater.
"...Oh."
A squid worth 100 credits. That was way too expensive of a snack.
I immediately took a picture and posted it.
---
[Title : Got squid.]
Author: Choo-Choo
Fuck.
(Photo)
[Comments]
Survival King: Did that really come out? No way, right?
ㄴ OP : I wish it were a lie...
ㄴ Anon : The GOAT among dried snacks, lol.
ㄴ Anon : Hahaha.
Anon: Pull one more and let's go for Squid's first limit break, lol.
ㄴ Anon : Reading this comment suddenly makes me want to play a game...
---
"...Let's chalk that up as a bad-luck tax. Round two."
Clunk-
This time, the box was a little heavier.
[Skill Book - Basic Repair]
- Effect : You can repair damaged equipment or machines.
"Oh."
Before I knew it, I sprang up from the sofa.
A repair skill—this was an essential skill for maintaining my train.
The train itself was sturdy, but what if a drone broke or some unexpected situation came up?
A skill perfectly suited to me had come out.
The comments were split.
They were divided between people who were jealous and people who thought a repair skill was a little questionable.
Watching the flood of attention and comment notifications, I smiled with satisfaction.
The loneliness of being alone faded, and I could feel the dopamine kicking in too.
Gacha really is fun.
I carefully kept the skill book the drone brought back, and bit into one of the squid legs I'd grabbed from the convenience store.
The chewy texture was really good.
If anything, I wanted to chew the squid leg I got from gacha.
But thinking that it was worth 100 credits, I couldn't bring myself to do it.
I took my frustration out on the convenience-store squid instead.
That was when it happened.
A mighty mechanical sound rang out from the Car 2 armory.
"No way—"
"Was the crafting finished?"
I stood up from my seat while chewing on the squid.
Whiiir—
As I entered Car 2, the combat drone launched from the hangar with a heavy mechanical hum.
If the existing reconnaissance drone had the look of a standard drone, this one was slimmer and sleeker.
A small-caliber submachine gun was mounted underneath, and the precision aiming lens I had gotten from the boss was installed in the main camera, shining brilliantly.
"Whoa..."
Its appearance was intimidating.
For now, I ordered the combat drone to go outside and look for monsters.
I sat on the sofa and checked the drone's vision on the cockpit panel.
Just then, a group of monsters swaying like zombies came into view on the rooftop of a ruined building near the tracks.
"Hmm, go take care of those."
Tututung-!
Maybe it had a suppressor or something, because the gunshots weren't loud.
But the result was clear.
Bang! Thwack!
Bullets fired from some distance, and even while swaying in midair, pierced the monsters' heads with perfect accuracy.
The bullets had considerable power too, since the backs of the heads they went through burst apart.
Thanks to the lens's correction effect, I could even see the rounds snapping onto their heads like magnets.
"Nice."
At this rate, I didn't even seem to need to rush in myself and swing my mace.
If the opponent wasn't a dungeon boss monster, it felt like I could just sit here and watch until everything was over.
I kept ordering the combat drone around, making it spot and attack the monsters nearby.
Watching the screen like this made it feel like I was playing a game, and I got a little immersed.
Then it suddenly occurred to me that I should gather the mana stones the monsters left behind, so I asked the reconnaissance drone to retrieve them.
And by chance, the two happened to run into each other.
Their behavior was strangely funny.
Whirr.
When the combat drone just watched blankly as the reconnaissance drone picked things up, the reconnaissance drone waved its claw and urged it on.
Then the combat drone belatedly helped with the retrieval.
It was like a senior teaching a rookie.
After that, whenever the reconnaissance drone first swept the dangerous area, found an enemy, and pointed it out, the combat drone followed behind and opened fire.
Their roles were neatly divided.
At some point, when the reconnaissance drone picked up a mana stone, the combat drone moved over beside it and started picking them up too.
Seeing that, the reconnaissance drone gently tapped the combat drone's body.
Was that meant as praise?
"The two of you, search the area a little more."
As the reconnaissance drone scanned a wide area from high up, something out of place was caught at one corner of its screen.
"Huh? What is that? Show me that apartment again from before."
I put down the squid and stood up.
The static-filled zoom landed on an apartment complex in Incheon not far from the tracks.
Most of the windows were broken, and the buildings were hideous, blackened hulks.
But on one apartment that looked relatively intact, there was something that looked like writing on the rooftop of Building 107.
S. O. S.
I couldn't tell if it was white paint or flour or something sprinkled on, but it was big enough to be clearly visible from the sky.
And beside it, a red cloth that looked like someone had hung it there was flapping in the wind.
"It's a distress signal..."
I already roughly understood that the world had gone to hell.
But seeing such a vivid cry for help made it hit home even more.
"Should I go take a look and see what's going on?"
I felt like I wanted to check it out a little.
Honestly, before this, even if I had seen a rescue request, I wouldn't have thought like that.
Because my life was the most precious thing to me.
I wouldn't have taken the risk.
But now, I didn't need to face danger myself just to help.
All I had to do was order the drones.
I rested my chin on my hand, mulled it over, and smiled at the two reliable drones on the screen.
"Okay."
I gave the order.
"Head to that rooftop marked SOS."
I added a condition.
"For now, keep your distance and just observe. If it looks dangerous, run immediately."
I had gained a repair skill, but if a drone was completely disabled and couldn't return to the hangar, I wouldn't be able to use the repair skill either.
The two drones responded at once.
The reconnaissance drone took the lead, clearing the way, while the combat drone covered it from behind and turned toward the apartment complex.
Whooosh—
The scenery on the screen flashed by quickly.
The ruined city was vividly in view.
I swallowed hard and leaned my face closer to the monitor.
The drones began closing in on the apartment rooftop.