Vending Machine - 219 - Tools of Civilisation

Chapter 219: Tools of Civilisation

Link: https://ncode.syosetu.com/n7583de/

Author: Hirukuma

Translated by Zzonkedd

Edited by Gumihou

About thirty minutes of leisurely driving later, we came to where the road split into three paths and stopped.

Magic lamps had been installed here, illuminating three different paths.

Each path, or road, was about ten meters wide, wide enough for the sports car to pass through comfortably. If I were to compare this road to the ones in my past life, I’d say it was as wide as a three-lane highway.

There was a sign on the rightmost path written in the local language.

Hyurumi squinted at the sign and said, “Let’s see… huh. Dead end ahead. Explored.”

“Just like what we’ve been told,” said Ramis. “So, which one should we try next? The middle or the left?”

Hyurumi crossed her arms and leaned back in the driver’s seat. Even though there were other people in the party, the decision was left entirely to her. For a moment, all was silent as Hyurumi stared down the two paths.

Suddenly, she slapped her thigh and sat up. She pointed straight ahead and said, “Down the middle! When in doubt, just stick to the centre-most path!”

“Yup, yup, if it’s the wrong one, well, that just means we get to spend more time riding this ka’ar!” Ramis said enthusiastically. Then, she turned around to say, “Everyone okay with that?”

There were thumbs up from everyone in the cart, and with that, the party set off down the middle road.

The starting speed I set was about 50km per hour, which was a little slow for such a wide road. However, [1] given that we were on an unfamiliar road with an unfamiliar vehicle with a cart that had been hastily hitched on in the dark just yesterday, it made sense to take it easy first. We could always go a little faster once everyone had gotten used to travelling by car.

If I recall my marathon numbers correctly, the average person could walk about 5km per hour, so even at this speed, we were going ten times faster — and that’s without factoring in rest stops that a normal human would need. Realistically, our advantage was much greater.

According to reports from previous explorers who had travelled down this path for six months, the road would remain straight and flat, without a single curve. Which means there was no need to worry about sudden swerves on the road, [1] especially when it was so dim all the time.

There was also the risk of the road collapsing under our combined weight, especially the weight of the car. Thanks to Pitee’s [Weight Manipulation] gift, the car would remain light enough to at least not be a risk. Naturally, there were contingency plans in case of a road collapse, but I’d rather we not test them out.

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A week had passed since we started on this super straight road. Today, Mishael had the wheel with Hevoy in the passenger seat.

Right now, the rule is that the front seaters must be switched every two hours. This was due to the car’s unexpected feature. Naturally, as a cutting-edge sports car, it came with a high-performance navigation, [2] which became largely useless in a world that does not have a GPS.

Instead, what caught my attention was the DVD player. That’s right, this car came with an unexpected entertainment feature [3], which shouldn’t have surprised me considering how this car was supposed to showcase the future of vehicles.

[2] In short, everyone now wanted to be in front of the TV.

Right now, Hevoy and Mishael were watching a Western-style animated film with utmost seriousness. The people stuck in the cart were craning their necks, trying to peek at the video, but my body was blocking the whole view.

[3] That’s right, I was still the main driver of the car despite being stuck in the boot of the car. Sadly for this snazzy little sports car, the lid had been taken off for me to sit inside after that one incident when the driver almost drove us off the path… In the end, Hyurumi had modified the car further so that I could be nearer to the car’s control as a driver even in my normal form.

Well, I really could not fault them for wanting to watch movies. Novelty aside, everyone was bored. The endless darkness, a straight road with nothing to do… At first, they chatted or maintained their gear, but eventually, the monotony crushed all motivation.

So, I had transformed into a [DVD Rental Vending Machine] and pulled out a few movies, ones that didn’t rely much on dialogue. Once I played them through the car’s screen, everyone was hooked. Now the driver’s and passenger’s seats were the most coveted spots. …Yes, this was entirely my fault.

Action films, anime, and nature documentaries seemed to be the crowd favourites.

Since sitting too long was bad for the body, we took breaks every time a movie ended — about two hours — to stretch and swap seats.

As for the people in the back? They were busy playing card games and board games that I had dispensed earlier.

“I’ll end my turn by setting this card face down-su!”

“Heh, naive, Shui! I activate my trap card! And then—spell card! Light Blast on your Wall Monster!”

“Nooo! I’m done for!”

Hyurumi thrust her card forward triumphantly while Shui threw himself backwards in mock agony. They were both having far too much fun.

Ever since reaching Level 3, I could produce items I had never personally purchased before, things like capsule toy items. One of them is a specialised card game. After a brief explanation of the rules, I accidentally sparked a localised card game craze.

Naturally, Hyurumi was the strongest player.

There were plenty of other games too. There was an old model vending machine on my list that contained all sorts of old-style games. From there, I pulled out different kinds of playing cards and even a few Othello sets to keep them entertained.

[1] Finally, even though the entire floor was shrouded in perpetual darkness, between my own light and Hyurumi’s inventions, illumination was never a problem.

[1] Speaking of which, the two men were done with their anime movie. Both had tear-streaked faces as the credits rolled. Well, time for a break and a shift change.

I stopped the car, and everyone climbed out to stretch. The ride was comfortable enough, but it was still a couple of hours sitting in the car [1] or the cart, so stretching was an important part of the routine.

“Right, let’s get to the usual before lunch training!” Ramis said as she cracked her knuckles and stepped forward.”

“Heh, I won’t lose today!”

Everyone except Hyurumi gathered at the front of the car, where the light was the brightest with the combination of the headlights and my own natural illumination.

To keep their bodies sharp, they sparred twice daily — two hours before lunch and two before bed.

Though the breaks might look like a waste of time, since I don’t need sleep, I can just drive the team through the night while they sleep. Compared to those who had to walk and set up camps for breaks, our progress was leagues ahead.

Lately, since everyone had gotten used to travelling in the car, I had been steadily increasing the speed too. At this rate, we should reach the end of the path sooner than expected.

Also, even if the car suffered damages like a puncture or parts broke down, I could just repair these by spending points, so we could afford to push the limits a little.

While I watched my companions spar, I noticed that Hyurumi had gone back to inspecting the car. She had popped the hood open and was now poking around the engine compartment.

“I really want to take this apart and study it…”

“Ab-so no” I said firmly.

“Tch. I figured as much.”

The other thing I had to do was keep a wary eye on our curious friend. She could tinker with the car to her heart’s content after we cleared this Floor.

For now, everything was going well. Everyone trained four hours a day, slept well, ate balanced meals — and thanks to the vegetables I dispensed, their nutrition was perfect. No sickness or fatigue in sight.

Hunters were naturally hardier than normal folk, but it was still important to try to maintain good health.

As their training wound down, I began preparing everyone’s meals[5]. [1] After a week of travel, it became an entire ritual by itself.

First, Hyurumi set out a folding table and helped ferry the food from me to the table. She even arranged the types of food according to each person’s preference. [5] Shui’s portion was arranged at the end of the table, piled high enough so that the archer practically disappeared behind the mountain of food.

This saves us a lot in terms of waiting time. While Hyurumi was limited in her combat power, she made up for it with her wit and excellent support skills.

“Phew, I’m starving-su!”

“You always are, Shui.”

“Hakkon’s… food…”

“Wonder what’s for lunch today~”

“Master Hakkon, thank you as always!”

Everyone sat together and began eating, their appetites as healthy as ever.

I had been worried about them not getting enough exercise, but thanks to the daily workouts, that worry was put to rest.

“Come to think of it, we haven’t seen any red sticks in the ground lately,” Ramis said, glancing at the road’s edge.

“Indeed, not since yesterday,” said Hevoy.

“Does that mean… we’ve already reached the end?” Shui asked.

“It’s… only been… a week,” Pitty pointed out.

“At this pace, it’s possible,” said Mishael. “Right, Master Hakkon?”

“Ye–es”

We had been going at the speed of about 80km per hour every day, so it was possible. The last rod was said to have been planted at the sixth month of travelling, and we had passed by that in a week. At this rate, we should know whether we will hit a dead end soon or hit the jackpot.

“Oh my, have a look at that, everyone. What do you think that is?”

Hevoy, who had been quietly keeping a lookout, slowly stood up and pointed down the path.

We all turned our gaze in that direction.

There, floating in the darkness ahead, was something red and white.

[Gumihou: The… Red and White Twins?] [1] Added details for logistic purpose

[2] Adjusted details for clarification

[3] DVD player as a sports car feature seems laughable now in 2025, but since the chapter was written in 2016, it was a time when having a DVD player in the car was still quite the ‘in’ thing.

After considering the matter for a bit, I decided to stick with the 2016 mindset (assuming Hakkon had been transmigrated before 2016), having a DVD player in the car would still be ‘cool’ to him.

[4] Logistics of the 2 meter limit, car boot, and driving. Answer, take the cover off the boot and stick Hakkon into it.

[5] It says ‘Or rather, started by preparing a lot of food for Shui’, but then nothing Shui-related happened aside from the team commenting on how Shui kept saying she was starving. So, scrapped that remark and left it at ‘preparing food for everyone’. Still, I added a bit in the next paragraph to remark on Shui’s appetite, since the author seems to want to comment on Shui’s eating habits.

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