We decided to head back to meet with the party that escaped to the lower floors.
Ah, Grida. Let’s leave the ants in this room alone. Don’t collect them.
“Huh? Why?”
This is around where the ants first popped up. Do you remember? Those three mean guys got dragged into this room.
“Oh, yeah!”
A lot of other adventurers were around then too. If we don’t leave the corpses of the ants that killed them, it wouldn’t make sense!
“You’re sharp, Furutsu!”
“Ah, Datil. That outfit’s no good,” Fresa noted.
“Yeah. Jeez, what should I do?” Datil replied.
“Be careful of how you talk, okaaay? This has to be a secret!”
“Yeah, yeah, I understand, Fresa-san.” Holmer had died. To make sure that became a fact, he needed to transform into a completely different person—Datil.
“Hmmm, okaaay, how about a helmet that covers your face and an eye patch?” Fresa suggested.
“No, that would just make me seem even more suspicious.”
In other words, we can’t leave a scrap of evidence. Hey, Grida, why don’t we give Datil some armor that might fit him from the storage card?
“Okay!” There was a pause before Grida sounded confused. “Uh, huh?”
What’s wrong?
“A box suddenly appeared next to me. I’ve never seen it before.”
A box? Next to you, as in inside the storage box? A box within a box? What’s going on?
“Um, there’s some kinda writing in a language I don’t understand, and a picture. It looks like putting something in the big box will make a round sparkly thing!”
Hmmm? You put something in and get a round sparkly thing? Does it have something to do with your new abilities? You got Isolation Barrier and Coin Creation, right? That box might...
“Be a part of my Coin Creation?”
Yeah. Anything else notable about that box?
“Ummm, oh! There’s a number on it. ‘100,’ I guess.”
A number? The picture made it seem like you insert something, right? Grida, can you put something in that box? Uh, how about the ant corpses? We’ve got a lot of them, so let’s try it out.
“Okay. In we go!”
Ding! Clack. Clack. Clink!
What was that sound?!
“Furutsu, the number went down by one!”
Hm, interesting! What happens when it reaches zero? Okay, wait a bit. I left Fresa’s hand and rolled on the ground.
“Huuuh? What’s wrong, Apple-san?” Fresa asked.
Nothing, just getting some space just in case anything happens. I know you can’t hear me, but look at you, you’re staying away regardless! I’m not sure why you always get the idea of what I’m going for, but it’s convenient. Grida, I know it’s a hassle, but could you put in ninety-nine more of those corpses?
“Sure! I can put them all in at once, so it’s not a hassle at all! Here we go!”
How are you moving around in that box? I’m a bit curious.
Ding! Clack. Clack. Clack. Clack. Clack. Clink!
What’s going on?
“Furutsu, look! Something’s appearing in front of Fresa-san!”
Huh? What?
“G-Gold?! What’s this all about?” Fresa cried. In front of her was a floating gold coin, about the size of a hundred yen coin from my world.
Is this the effect of Coin Creation?
“Huh? It’s an ability to just make money?” Grida said.
No, this isn’t a bad thing. But a hundred ant corpses only gets us one little gold coin? Maybe we’d turn a better profit if we sell them as is?
“Apple-san, are you giving this to me?” Fresa asked.
Right, if a gold coin suddenly appeared in the air, you’d probably think it’s because of me. Why did Grida’s ability materialize in front of Fresa anyways?
Fresa reached her arm out towards the gold coin. The moment her fingertips touched it, a rustic box suddenly appeared.
“Furutsu, that’s the box I’m in,” Grida said.
I see. It does look familiar—that’s the box in the storage card. I don’t have any hands, so I can’t pull anything out.
Ding Ding! “Hoard Lottery will now begin.”
Wait, that announcement... That’s Fresa’s ability! So what’s this box for?
“How odd,” Grida said.
Yeah. Normally, you should be able to pull out whatever you like from that box, but, well, no hands. For the past few days, I’ve been taking this box out, but I really couldn’t reach inside.
“It’s a box, isn’t iiit?” Fresa asked.
“It’s a box, yeah,” Datil replied.
Fresa? Datil? You guys can see it too?! My storage box ability should be abstract. It shouldn’t have a concrete form! Why can you see it? Maybe it’s got something to do with that announcement!
“It said, ‘Hoard Lottery will now begin,’ didn’t it?” Grida said.
Upon closer inspection, that box is actually a little different.
“What’s that hole?”
That’s gotta be a coin slot that you’d normally see on vending machines. I think everyone from my world would think the same. There’s a lever and change tray on the bottom too.
“A vending machine?”
Yeah. You put money into it, and an item comes out. It’s like a store with no staff.
“Wow! That sounds so cool!”
I agree. It’s cool, but why does it have a coin slot? Wait, I get it now! That’s where you put that coin!
“Am I supposed to put the coin into that box?” Fresa asked.
“I believe that’s the only sensible course of action,” Datil politely replied.
Oooh, Datil’s getting used to speaking in a more reserved tone.
“Whaaat? But the apple gave me this coin!”
“I’m sure it has something amazing in mind.”
Uh, wait, I don’t know what’s gonna happen here either.
“All right, I’ll put it in then, okay?”
Clink!
The coin went inside the box with a satisfying clink, which was followed by a dinging sound and a voice.
Ding! “Starting the Hoard Lottery!”
A drumroll played and the box lit up with completely unnecessary flair and a sudden voice.
Beep! Beeeep! Tweet! Tweet! Beep! Beep! Tweet! Tweet! “Yaaaaay! What item will appear today? Let’s see! No backsies even if it’s not the item you want! Boom chaka boom boom!”
What is this, a samba?
“Wh-What? What’s going on heeere?!” Fresa cried.
“A-Apple-san! What is this?!” Datil yelled.
I don’t know either! What is this? What happened?!
“And baaaam!” came the voice. The drumroll stopped and the light show ended. After a moment of silence, a spotlight illuminated the box. The lid popped open, and a large round object flew out.
Plop! Roll. Roll. Roll. Click!
The object popped open on its own. I feel like I’ve seen this before.
“Dun da da duuuuuun! Congratulations! You’ve won item number 17904020481, SSR, Loga’s Leather Armor!”
“That surprised me! What just happened? What’s an SSR?” Fresa asked.
“Loga’s Leather Armor? Is it this thing?” Datil said.
Both of you saw and heard that announcement and fanfare. I feel like those Cards of Fate are becoming more open to others...but never mind that now. Grida, is that armor—
“Yep, this armor was inside the box with me! I couldn’t take it out!”
I knew it! My storage card has a bunch of items that the previous owner left behind. But neither of us were able to take them out.
“I can only remove things that I stored myself.”
Your Coin Creation and Fresa’s Hoard Lottery let us randomly remove items we couldn’t get out from the storage! That’s a really OP ability, isn’t it?!
“It looks like normal leather armor,” Datil said.
“But it went ‘congratulations!’ Wait, there’s a piece of paper here.”
Oh yeah, a piece of paper did come with the armor. What does it say? Whoa, is it the armor’s specs?
Loga’s Leather Armor: SSR
Armor made from the skin of the Demon Lord, Loga, who ruled a different world known as Em Es Ex.
The armor may look like normal leather, but its defense and magic defense are god-tier.
The armor will snugly fit the user’s body type.
Defense: 11316
Magic Defense: 10018
Self-regenerates
Resist: Heat
Resist: Cold
Resist: Thunder
Resist: Water
Nullify: Petrify
Nullify: Instant death
Someone made armor from the Demon Lord’s skin after beating it? What was next on the agenda, some hidden boss? Whatever. Those numbers and the description are impressive. Is it really that powerful though? I don’t have a good comparison, so I can’t tell.
“Different world?”
“Demon Lord’s skin?”
See, look, Fresa and Datil are both tilting their heads. Wait, Grida, didn’t we pick up some metal armor a while ago?
“Yeah. Ummm, here it is.”
Oh, you don’t need to take it out. I’ll just select it from this list. I knew it, I can see the armor’s stats. Let’s see...
Steel Full-Plate Armor
Steel armor meant for the entire body. Due to its high defense against physical attacks, it’s very heavy.
Defense: 28
Magic Defense: 2
Weakness: Thunder
Slows user by 68%
Wait, what? That strong looking steel armor only has 28 defense?! If this were a game, Loga’s Leather Armor is like armor meant for the final boss!
“Huuuh? Apple-san looks surprised at something,” Fresa said.
Huh? I have no face. How can you tell that I’m surprised?
“Is it maybe surprised by the stats of this armor? It does say ‘god-tier,’ so I can only assume it’s extraordinary,” Datil said.
Yeah. That’s the jackpot. I rolled around Datil’s feet.
“I knew it. This armor also makes me look like a young newbie adventurer. I should change into this immediately.”
I see now. It looks like a normal piece of armor, so it’s perfect for a disguise. I didn’t think an item of this caliber would pop out so easily though. Coin Creation and Hoard Lottery sure are impressive. I guess God did say that there was a possibility that the storage card might still have stuff from the hero that beat the Demon Lord, so there might even be other amazing items in here too. Okay, Grida. Could you please exchange all the ant corpses for those coins?