078. Zapan
Kang Geon named the vending machine monster Zapan. It was a rough name, easy to call out. Luckily, Zapan recognized him as its parent, making the taming process go incredibly smoothly. With taming complete and the monster codex entry finished...
"A newly born monster..."
Neo Hyung-seok sidled up beside him, muttering under his breath. With its ego and access to Min Hyung-seok's memories, it seemed to have an insatiable curiosity about labyrinth monsters.
"Neo Hyung-seok. Don't approach the Gauntlet without permission."
"Sorry, Master."
At the Necro Puppeteer's sharp command, Neo Hyung-seok drooped its shoulders and backed off. Kang Geon waved it off as fine and called it back. It wasn't the real Min Hyung-seok anymore—no reason to hate it now.
Neo Hyung-seok crept closer again, stealing glances at the Puppeteer, then stared intently at Zapan.
"The text on the vending machine... that's not translated—it's pure Hangul. And for a newly born monster... probably..."
Neo Hyung-seok stroked its chin thoughtfully, pausing to organize its ideas before continuing.
"It seems like a monster born from the influence of... well, not me, but a human named Min Hyung-seok—or rather, the Explorer. Hangul is the script used in South Korea on Earth."
"From peeking into Min Hyung-seok's memories, I learned that newly born monsters sometimes emerge influenced by the Explorer."
Neo Hyung-seok continued its explanation. In short: the Ancient Labyrinth analyzes an Explorer's home world when creating new monsters.
"When influenced, it reflects the races, environments, cultures, technology, and even imagination from the Explorer's home world."
"Imagination?"
"Imagination means myths, legends, legendary beasts that don't exist in reality, characters from movies, comics, or novels."
Even the centauride didn't know this. Min Hyung-seok must've been genuinely into exploring to uncover such niche info.
"...Anyway, Zapan was born modeled after Earth's vending machines?"
"Yes. Look, there's even Coke on the display."
Until now, he'd thought they were just similar-looking drinks. But up close, the PET bottle labels clearly read "Coke"—definitive proof of Earth's influence.
Listening to Neo Hyung-seok suddenly reminded him of the "labyrinth development fund" mentioned before. Coins skimmed as fees from that lump of greed—supposedly funneled into the fund. He'd wondered where they went. Now it clicked.
'So the labyrinth development fund gets used like this...'
Expanding this Ancient Labyrinth world. Creating new monsters. Something like that. The coins he'd spent on tickets probably fueled it too.
'Then Zapan's birth was more my influence than Min Hyung-seok's.'
The Domination Trait didn't use coins. No Jo-ryeokja sending them either—their powers were fundamentally different. Even if analyzed from Min Hyung-seok, the actual birth likely stemmed from Kang Geon's coins.
"Either way, being Earth-influenced makes it feel more familiar."
He stroked Zapan's body as he spoke. Zapan shuddered, letting out a pleased groan.
Kang Geon jotted down the new info, then tested Zapan's abilities. Surely dispensing drinks wasn't its only trick. It was an S-grade monster, after all.
The default drinks on display—not really "sold," since they were free despite needing coins normally. PET bottle cola, soda, canned coffee, water—standard Earth vending machine fare. Nothing special.
He dispensed a bunch of cola first and shared with the monsters.
As Elris said, unlimited drink generation without conditions was already broken. Infinite liquid creation—what wasn't cheat about that? Supply one to any world, and water shortages vanish.
He tested further, hoping for more. And Zapan delivered: beyond display drinks, it could infinitely generate anything liquid-like it'd personally "consumed"—even near-liquids.
"Grunt. Gruuunt."
"Zapan! Thanks! Dig in!"
Zapan ingested the Black Magma Slime's magma effortlessly, then casually wielded magma powers.
Magma control alone guaranteed solid combat utility. No wonder it was S-grade. Oh, and its body was insanely tough. It shrugged off most attacks. It couldn't tank SS-grade hits—Medical Mushroom healed those—but peer S-grade strikes? No problem. Rock-solid defense.
Its one flaw: immobility. He'd carried it back to shelter himself.
"...That screams expensive."
"Nah, no need. It'll go in the HQ squad, not scouting."
He'd snag a cheap float orb, but Rise admitted it was costly—no thanks. Mobility nice, but not essential. Better for Rise to send coins instead.
"Explorer, does Zapan's immobility bother you?"
Neo Hyung-seok piped up cautiously, gauging from his words despite unseen chats.
"Nah, not really. Why?"
"If it does, what about modding legs? There's a mech-type monster with body mod abilities. Tame it and ask."
Mech-type with body mods... handy to have.
"Know its location?"
"Roughly. Mech monsters cluster not far from here—probably there. Guide you?"
"Later, not now."
No plans to scout yet. Proper team, dedicated day. Today? Drink fest with Zapan's brews.
"Dad! More cola!"
"You too! Drink up! Zapan!!!"
(Beer available, but skipped—empty stomach no-go.)
Day 41 in the labyrinth. Breakfast with a beer can, then he used the Wandering Merchant Tracker ticket from the vending machine. No map navigation—voice only.
"Proceed forward."