Chapter 79

As we proceed down the main road, the number of people steadily increases. It’s before noon at the moment, so normally, people would gather at the stands in front of the Hunters Association, but not many are there today. I wonder if it’s because they’ve all started to flow this way. Once we exit into a place where we can physically see the former site of the Chains Restaurant, the sight of a line of people jumps out at us. At the front, we can see a giant white box. That must be my imposter. I can’t see its exact shape from this distance. There must be around ten people lined up wanting to buy something. Others, close to twenty, are eating at outdoor chairs and tables. “Let’s get in line.” “Okay.” We get to the end of the line and decide to observe things until our turn comes. The imposter is standing with its back to the wall of the former Chains Restaurant. It hasn’t reopened—the store is still closed down. As we get closer, I realize something—the imposter is twice as big as me. It easily exceeds six feet, about as tall as Director Bear. Its width and depth are twice my own, too. Its coloring and design are close to mine, but it feels like a cheap knockoff. It gives off a very homemade feeling, but they definitely made it to impersonate me. “Looks like it’s finally our turn.” I’m peeking out the very top of the bag, so I have a great view. The thing closely resembles my design, for sure. But the items it has on sale are definitely not the same. Drinks are shown lined up on the upper portion, but the containers are completely different. All of them are glass and have cork lids stopping them. The product names are written in this world’s language above the buttons, so it seems friendlier than I am in that respect. “Looks like they’ve got sweet tea, water, and juice made from squeezed fruit,” says Hulemy quietly, conveying the information to me. “The price is one silver coin each.” The prices are the same as my previous ones, too? The beverages are all things you can procure in this world. “The bottom is the food. There’s fried meat, pasta, and something with bread around the ingredients.” The foods are lined up on the second row, including karaage, a ramen rip-off, sandwiches, and something that looks like oden. They seem to have put in quite a lot of effort, but can they actually provide them in a warm state when we buy them? “All right, let’s each get one drink and one thing to eat.” Hulemy puts a silver coin into the slot. That part is mostly the same shape as mine, too. Though the silver coin enters, the switches don’t light up, so it’s hard to tell whether or not you can buy something yet. “One silver coin received.” Whoa! I heard a voice from the vending machine. Wait, they can do voice recording with this world’s technology? I thought Hulemy said it was being researched but that putting the idea into application was presenting difficulties. “A voice feature? Still…” She puts in a second silver coin. “Two silver coins received,” says the voice again. This time, when I calm down and listen closely, I realize that the young man’s voice seems too vivid to be a recording. Hulemy, tilting her head, puts in a third coin. “Three silver coins re— Cough. Received.” It coughed! Wait, is there a real person inside this vending machine? An evil grin appears on Hulemy’s face, and she reaches out with both hands, pushing both the tea and the fried meat buttons at the same time. “Huh…?” Now, that definitely sounded like a confused man’s voice. Everything would make sense if someone’s in there. Vending machine features are still too difficult for this alternate reality’s technology to replicate. But if someone’s inside dealing with customers, it can still exchange money and provide the products. A drink is placed in the compartment, but the fried meat hasn’t come out yet. “Please wait a moment,” says the person inside the vending machine. If they had fried chicken ready to go, I’d think they could give it to you right away. Over five minutes later, the product is placed into the compartment. When she takes it out, the fried meat is on a ceramic plate with steam rising from it. He didn’t just reheat it—it definitely looks like he made it from scratch. Could the person inside the vending machine be doing the cooking? No, that can’t be. The box might be bigger than I am, but there’s just not enough space for an adult to cook in there. “Then I guess I’ll have the water and the pasta soup.” The water comes out right away, but the ramen rip-off seems like it takes time, too. Though it comes out faster than the fried chicken, three minutes have already passed. This product looks like it was just cooked as well. It’s impossible to put what you need to make fried chicken and ramen inside there. I wonder what the trick is. The two girls place their items on a nearby table and begin to eat. “Oh, this is good. It wasn’t premade.” “Yeah, you’re right. It’s good in a regular sort of way. Wait… This flavor is like when we ate at the Chains Restaurant.” When I hear Lammis’s impressions, everything clicks. The vending machine’s location is the answer to everything. The imposter is doubtless someone related to the Chains Restaurant. I’m only guessing, but the back of the vending machine is probably open, connecting to the former Chains Restaurant building. They opened up a hole in the wall to connect to the vending machine, and when they get the money, they make the food inside the building. That means everything makes sense, right? In that case, I have to ask why they’d be doing something so bothersome. Their biggest goal is probably to steal my customers. And maybe it’s also harassment directed at me, too. A single magic item had humiliated a big chain store. It’s possible they pulled out without much resistance in order to have time to put this plan into action. “Well, let’s go back. We can talk about it more in the tent.” “Okay.” We now know how the fake vending machine works and who’s pulling the strings behind the scenes, so we just have to think of a countermeasure. I don’t feel good about someone copying me, but to be honest, I admire their misplaced business efforts. If I’d been broken in the Labyrinth stratum, this little stunt would have solidified their takeover. It’s a good imitation, in my opinion, but not the kind of quality that would trick my regulars. The truth is, none of my regulars was in the line of people buying things earlier, either. I’m sure their products don’t taste bad, but their frank impressions are probably that they might as well eat and drink somewhere else. The stalls and other shops saw an increase in both flavor and food quality when I helped them before, so as things stand, the Chains Restaurant wouldn’t have an advantage if they challenged them to a taste-testing contest. I feel as though we could leave them alone, and they’d decay naturally. They have to quickly make the food when it’s ordered, and they have just one vending machine, meaning their turnover rate is bad, too. I’m skeptical as to whether they’re making a profit—or if they even have a proper business going. After that, we go back to the tent the two girls live in and start discussing it. But in the end, we reach the conclusion that if I start doing my vending machine business normally, everything will work itself out. And so, after reopening sales at my fixed spot in front of the Hunters Association the next day, word spread in a heartbeat. My regulars swarmed me all at once, and my items began flying off the shelves. The cooks from the stalls came, too, to buy large quantities of items to replenish their ingredient stocks. From dawn to dusk, there was no end to the hordes of excited customers. After a week, when things had finally calmed down, the imposter vending machine was gone. The wall it had been placed in front of was also boarded up. Hopefully, this will convince the Chains Restaurant to give up, but I can’t help but feel like they’ll meddle in our affairs again. We’re probably under careful watch after this incident. This is a matter of pride, so a major company could actually come to try to run me out of business. Still, if they lay a hand on my friends or me, all we have to do is turn the tables on them.