"Wha…!"
Seeing the colorful things flying out of the Box, I was a bit stunned and didn't move.
I was kinda lacking energy to run or be any more surprised, the hunger and thirst didn't help either.
But all of that changed when I saw what was in the box the moment they fell on the sand.
They were a Yakisoba bread, an Anpan, and a bottle of water.
A precious, precious bottle of mineral water!
I didn't feel myself when I corked open the bottle and took a sip. The taste of water in my mouth was heavenly, almost sweet, even though it should have been tasteless, but I didn't care.
The bottle was almost over before my mind was working again, I stopped when there was no more water to go in my throat and then looked at the two packages.
I opened the wrapping of the yakisoba bread and started munching on it, halfway through the bread, I started thinking.
'Where did all of this come from?'
Grabbing the Anpan in my hand, I started looking at the Box suspiciously.
When I was having the fiasco with the Box before, I filled the Box with wet sand to make it heavy so it would stop following me.
But the Box was light when I kicked it, moreover, it had these things inside it.
Keeping the food in my hand, I got close to the Box to check if it had more food inside it or if it was even the same Box.
"Eh?"
And to my surprise, the Box was closed.
Not just closed, but completely shut.
I flipped the Box to see if I could get the other side open, and I still got the same result.
Both sides were closed shut, no matter how much I tried to open the lid, it wouldn't pry open.
"This is strange…"
No matter what I did with it before, it didn't close its lid like this.
In addition, the Box was not heavy, which means it has no sand inside it now.
"What is going on?"
I kept looking at the Box while finishing my meal.
During the meal, and even after it, I was wondering what was happening, and where did this food come from.
'The Box was empty when I opened it first, it didn't have anything inside it.'
"And now, after all of this, it suddenly has food? With the lids being closed shut?" I thought aloud.
'Did someone change the box when I was not looking?'
It was only a few moments later that suddenly, while I was reexamining the Box more closely, I was able to open the lid again.
Clack!
When I opened the lid of the Box, I saw the carved arrow on the lid pointing toward the Box, and the Box was indeed opened.
Moreover, the Box was truly empty, with no sand or food either. I could see the bottom of the Box and could touch it with my hand.
I put the Box down while thinking about everything that happened, until finally a conclusion and an idea formed in my mind.
***
Two Days Later.
***
In the morning, close to noon, the smell of the sea was blowing with the wind, it was cold with a hint of warmth due to the sun being close to the top of the sky, with its rays shining on the sand of the beach.
But the golden rays shining from the sun in the sky aren't what's monopolizing my interest right now.
Ironically, what is monopolizing my interest is monopolizing the interest of the 8 billion people out there, Gold.
But while most of the 8 billion people only dream of it, I on the other hand was holding it, or more precisely, was holding a big gold bar in my hand, looking at it with curiosity.
It was a big bar, bigger than the two of my palms together. On it is written:
[999.9 PURE GOLD]
[12.3 KILOGRAM]
"Really heavy!"
Gold was heavy, the brick-like shape in my hand weighed 12 kg. I don't think I can hold it up for long, so I throw it to the bit big pile to my left.
*Trring*trring*
The big bar hit the pile of gold and made a ringing sound.
Yes, a pile of gold.
In the pile, there were a lot of shiny things. Gold coins, small gold bars, golden crowns, golden cups, golden rings, silver artworks, golden jewelry, and many, many, Jewels. Whether they are embedded in the artworks or alone.
Most of the jewels were small, with some of them being a bit big, one was as big as a plate.
That last one will be enough to turn most of the collectors crazy.
"Could I be considered a collector too now?"
At first, I thought of it as an experiment but I got carried away, and before I noticed this pile was there.
If I had been in my home when I saw all of that, I would have cried from happiness as I now know that my dream of being a House Husband was not far away.
My first step of action was to find a way to convert all of them into cash, assets, and real estate as fast as possible. Drop out of school and live the rest of my life lazing around being a good House Husband.
'Discussing this with my family and Yukinoshita would be a pain, but it would be worth it!'
The pile was that big! It should even fit a few Hachimans inside it! I pinched myself a few times to see if I was dreaming but to no avail. My situation was already weird, I was alone on an island where I didn't know where it was. Don't know who brought me here. And have no way out of it.
I look at the source of all the treasures, the Box, which is the most bizarre thing in this situation. And I don't know what exactly it is. And what is its relation to the situation?
"Don't think about it for now."
For the moment, I closed my eyes and focused on what I was doing while holding the Box.
*Click*
The moment the image in my mind was clear, the Box's other lid made a sound as if it was unlocked. And I didn't waste any time and opened the Box.
Inside the Box now was a golden western-style sword, its surface was full of jewels, and while I could see the handle well, the tip of the sword was shrouded in darkness.
Hesitating for a moment, I went to grab the sword. Not from the handle but from the sheath covering the blade side.
Suddenly, the moment I put my hand inside the Box, the Box disappeared from my hand, and instead of it was the golden sword. The Box was two meters away from me.
"Again, huh?"
This happens every time I ask for something that doesn't fit inside the Box. The moment I touch it, the Box suddenly disappears and leaves me with the thing I 'Ordered' in my hand.
"Damn bug correction! Whatever, it should be ready now."
I throw the golden sword at the pile too and make my way to the other side of the pile.
On the other side of the pile, there is a big beach umbrella, with its pole mid-section to the bottom in a round beach table.
Next to the table, there was a foldable chair looking at the sea.
I sat down on the chair and relaxed my back on it, staring at the wide expanse of water.
I reach down next to me to an Icebox and take out from it a MAXX Coffee.
Opening the can and taking a sip the MAXX sweetness of the drink makes me want to scream in happiness.
"This is almost enough for me to forgive you, Box!"
I say that to the Box that of course followed me like the curse it is, and now sitting alone in the sun.
Honestly, I almost forgave it after all the troubles it gave me the moment I saw the can of coffee, if not for the other troubling object it gave me and now is on the beach table.
If the Hachiman from two days ago would see me leisurely sipping coffee under the shade of a beach umbrella now, he would be very surprised.
How did I get all of these things?
I would then tell him it is because of this Box of Horror in front of me right now.
It turned out that this Box was a magical item of some sort, and before any Chinibyo awakened their hidden side, it was not that great.
This is how the Box works, I open a lid and put anything inside.
Anything! Whether it is sand, water, wood, anything, and then I close the lid.
The moment the lid closes, it won't open unless I wish for something.
Yes, wish! Exactly like when you wish for something when you are blowing out the candles on your birthday, but I have to wish for an item, not just anything.
And as I said, it is not that great, there is a limitation.
As if for example, I cannot get any item I want. There are things that I could not get no matter how much I tried. Like phones and laptops or anything electronic, no matter how much I tried, I couldn't get them.
I couldn't get books either, a pen and paper is possible, and empty notes too, But not books. Even when I knew the book or the manga, the Box refused to open.
Also, I couldn't get any items from anime or manga, though I was able to get some mundane things like food and clothing. But not something like Anywhere-Door to get back home.
In addition to all of that, I am sure there is a limitation that had a connection with what I put inside the Box.
Like when I tried to put only a fistful of sand, the Box only gave me a very small bottle of water when I asked for water.
Moreover, there is some kind of cooldown on the Box after every 'Order', though I have no idea how that works.
But that is not why I am troubled right now.
The reason for my trouble is the only item on the table.
I turn my gaze and finally look at the thing on the table as I continue my drink.
*Glup!*
When I said that I had tried Ordering mundane things from Manga, some things came out of the Box like I wanted.
And the thing in front of me was mundane too.
Well, sort of.
It was a black breathing mask, it covered up the mouth and the nose, and had two diagonal holes in the front and two horizontal holes on the upper part. With two round filters on the sides, and finally, two straps to hold the mask on the face, going all the way behind the ears.
So why I was thinking this was a trouble too?
Well, the mask was known as the 'Hamon Breathing Mask', a mask that appeared in the second arc of 'Jojo Bizarre Adventure' where the main character Joseph Jostar used this mask to master the power known as Hamon.
Hamon is a supernatural energy that appeared in the first two parts of the Jojo Manga and is mentioned briefly in the later parts. Through disciplined breathing, a qualified person can produce an energy manifesting as ripples throughout their body, and that is identical to the energy of the Sun. That energy has a deadly effect on dark creatures like Vampires and Zombies.
This energy is called Hamon. It has a strong connection to life, which gives it a wide array of applications from medicine to compact.
'So basically, it was what every Chunibyo out there was ready to completely sell their soul for.'
I really don't have anything against Chunibyo, well in some way at least, but everything that's happening right now is pushing me in their direction at Mach speed.
Clank! Clank!
I finish my MAX Coffee and throw it at the treasure pile, as it is a treasure too on this island, then I stretch my hand to the mask and then get a hold of it.
Obviously, I was very surprised when I saw this thing come out of the Box, because I tried many other things like my phone for example, I tried asking for a Dragon Ball even, but the Box still refused to open.
When I was trying to ask for more simple things during my experimentation, this one passed my mind and the Box opened, revealing the mask inside.
It was really unexpected for me then. I had the impulse to put it on and see if it was the real deal, but I stopped myself at the right moment.
From what I remember, once the mask is worn, the wearer can't take it off by themselves and needs someone else's help.
I am now alone on the island, and I have no idea how to breathe according to Hamon's rhythm –that if it was real in the first place– so I could just die from suffocation alone on this island.
So as always, Giving into your Chunibyo's impulses is wrong as expected™, and humoring them will be the death of you either socially or physically.
Like this, I had to come up with a countermeasure.
"Luckily I have an idea."
I get up and approach the Box, open it, put in a few handfuls of sand, close it, make a wish, and now open the other lid.
What is inside is a black ski mask.
Yes, this is my idea. I will wear another mask before the Hamon mask so I can take out both of them if I need to remove them.
Throwing the Box aside I put on the ski mask which unsurprisingly, was a bit unbearable.
"Now, time for a few modifications."
I take out a Swiss knife and cut off the upper part of the mask and a hole for the mouth and the nose.
Few more rounds of measuring and modification, the mask was ready.
Wearing the modified ski mask first, I slowly wear the Hamon mask…
"Haaak…gah…haa…huuu…GAAAH!"
The moment I put on the mask, I couldn't breathe properly. And had to take off both masks, which is something I am grateful for.
Getting my breathing again and looking at the mask, I felt a bit of apprehension.
"Looks like this will be a pain."
…
A/N: And that will be the second chapter!
As you can see, we are going a bit slow here, as there are many things that need to be emphasized, and a lot of other things that need developing. Whether it is emotionally or physically.
Thank you all for reading!
See you Tomorrow!