"No thanks," Bob said.

"What? Why not?" James asked.

"I feel like I can do better," Bob said.

"So far it seems like you aren't doing anything at all. You can't exactly be picky. Not a lot of offers flying around out here." James said.

"Look, I know nothing about you. You showed up today and haven't made any impression and haven't done jack shit." Bob said. "Show me you are worth joining and I might change my mind."

As they were saying this the sound of stone grinding on stone sounded out from near the cave entrance.

"Looks like it's opening again. Wonder what we will see come out this time?" Bob said turning to look at the entrance with everyone else.

A door further back in the cave was lowering into the ground from the ceiling which had been blocking further access. It continued slowly until it melded into the floor of the cave seamlessly. Everyone waited anxiously to see what would happen.

After about five minutes of waiting and nothing happened Bob turned back around to the fire.

"Shame," Bob said.

"What does that mean?" Tom asked.

"If no one came out by now, no one is going to," Bob said.

"What?!" Tom said. "They just died?"

"No, I'm guessing they were killed. It's not the first time." Bob said putting another bite up to his mouth.

Through the quiet of the stunned camp, the sounds of boots stomping and metal armor rustling could be heard as Jake and his team moved forward with stoic faces. Turning to watch them move, the entire camp held a collective breath as they headed toward the cave entrance. Pausing at the mouth of the cave Jake turned back to the camp over his shoulder and smiled a grim smile.

"Time to clean up this mess," He said as he turned back and walked inside.

"He's really going in there with only five other guys?" Tom asked.

"He is. And nothing anyone can say will deter him or change his mind. He's sure he can handle all of it and that his team is better than everyone else here. Damned fool." Bob said.

"So you don't think he can win?" James asked.

"No one else has, why would he?" Bob said.

"What if he is stronger?" James asked.

"Everyone that came out said they barely scratched the creature inside. He won't fair much better." Bob replied taking another bite of his dinner.

The stone on stone grinding began again as the door closed behind Jake and his team and when the door closed completely the breath that most of the camp was still holding was all let go at once. People began talking amongst one another about how they might do against the monster. Some assured it was over already and others said they were ready for their turn.

"Since we have some time, what is the deal with these vending machines, Bob?" James asked.

"Rather vague question. Got anything more specific?" Bob asked in return.

"How do they work?" Tom asked.

"Well, all the vending machines in the world are hooked up to a singular mana network. It's powered by the mana core that was placed in the earth to give the people here access to magic. Items are created here in the Grand Canyon at the Source Machine for anything they need in the Item Bank. That is then sent via the network to any machine for whatever the class is that the user has." Bob explained.

"The creature in that dungeon has accessed the mana core via the Source Machine, which is what has given it the power it has," Bob said.

"So, it has an infinite amount of power now?" Tom asked suddenly very concerned.

"No, that's ridiculous. The body of any living creature can only contain so much power. It does feed it constantly so it was able to grow faster, but even dungeon creatures can only contain so much power based on a number of factors." Bob said.

"And how do you know this? I thought you were just a vending machine specialist." James asked.

"When I got the download I learned much more about this System than just the vending machine specs. I have to know a lot as someone who has far more access than others." Bob replied.

A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

"Just how much access do you have?" Tom asked.

"Not as much as an administrator, but I can access all the vending machines to repair them. Most of them can do minor repairs themselves, but sometimes they need additional work. That's where I come in." Bob answered.

"OK. So that means you can just take things from the machines?" James asked.

"I could, yes, but that wouldn't serve me any purpose," Bob said.

"You could be rolling in monster cores. You'd be rich." James said.

"And what exactly would I do with them? The only thing on Earth that takes monster cores is the machines. And if I can take what I want I don't need to buy them." Bob said.

"You could trade them to people," James tried.

"For what? I can get anything from the machines. And the machines can make anything." Bob said.

"Well....you could..." James began but was cut off by Bob.

"Look, boy. There is no point. I could have all the stuff I wanted but then I'd just have stuff. Nothing to do with it, nothing to gain from it, and it would be stupid and pointless. You're not really thinking this through. You're just thinking like someone from capitalist America with a dream of owning a yacht and four hundred cars because they saw people on TV doing it. It's completely fucking worthless now." Bob scolded James.

"Bob, you said the machines can make anything but we've only seen adventuring gear in it. So it can make say, toilet paper if someone needs it?" Tom asked.

"Sure can. Anything Earth has to offer it can sell you. Just have to go into the right menu on the screen." Bob said.

"The screen you have to have your hand on to access it?" Tom said.

"The screen you simply have to touch once so it can read your class. You can take your hand off the screen to see the menus after. Are you telling me you've had your hand on the screen the whole time?" Bob asked.

Tom, Derek, and James looked at him sheepishly.

"It just says put your hand on the screen to change options. We didn't realize it only needed it for a moment." Tom said.

"Well, I can see why you'd think that. You didn't try to attack the machines or anything did you?" Bob asked.

"No, there was a warning about that when we first were talking about the machines. We don't know exactly what happens, but we weren't willing to risk it." Tom said.

"Good. It'll summon a shit ton of monsters to your location to kill you if you do. You won't survive. The System will make sure of that." Bob said.

The trio blanched at that.

"Really glad we left that alone now," Derek said looking at James.

"What the hell? I wasn't going to do it...once I found that out anyway." James said.

"What about moving a vending machine? If a building didn't have one and they wanted to put one in their guild building for example, could they do that?" Tom asked.

"No, it would stop working once you removed it from the power source. And if it goes offline that could be seen as an attack and monsters might start spawning." Bob said.

"Note to self, leave machines alone," James said.

"Since you left your hand on the machine I suppose that also means you aren't looking at the upgraded items for your class as well?" Bob asked.

"What? No, we just assumed it was showing us the best items for us at the time." Derek said.

"Yeah, it does do that, but it's not based on your level. It shows you the lowest-grade items first. Stuff just about anyone would be able to use. As you level up you can change it to items that are better through the menu and purchase those. Of course they are more expensive, but they are better items. You just have to search for them based on rarity." Bob explained.

"I'm definitely glad we found you. Do you have any advice on the dungeon situation?" Tom asked.

"I'm guessing it's a raid boss. You'll need multiple parties to beat it. It's just too tough for a single party." Bob said.

"I thought so. Why has no one else tried that?" Derek asked.

"Greed probably," Bob said as though he didn't care at all. "People are fickle. You can't get people to do anything they don't want to."

"If we do fight this thing off, do you need to be in the party that goes in to fix it?" Tom asked.

"No, I'm not a fighter. But I can go in once the dungeon opens again to get the access I need." Bob said.

"Is there something you could do to get the monster away from the Source Machine to possibly make defeating it easier? If we gave it a distraction?" Derek asked.

Bob paused mid-chewing and thought about it for a moment.

"Actually, that's not a half-bad idea. But I would be in danger without protection. ...Yes, I believe there is something I could do about that." Bob said looking at Derek in a different light. "That's not a half-bad idea at all, boy."

"I bet we can get a few people to join up with us to form a raid party. We have enough people with us for almost two full teams. How many teams are allowed in a raid party?" Derek asked.

"Five normally," Bob said. "All depends on the boss, but this isn't a world boss so I'd guess it's the standard number."

"World boss?" Derek asked.

"Yeah. Big fuckers. But that's not important now. What is important is that you get other teams to help or you're doomed from the start. If you can convince them to help, I'll help you all as well." Bob said.

"Fair enough. Thank you, Bob. We will see what we can do to get some other teams involved." Tom said.

Getting up from the log, the trio wished him well and moved off to talk to some other teams. Zach was their first stop as he had seemed to be the most friendly of the people they talked to so far.

"Zach!" Tom called when he saw him across the fire.

Turning to see who called his name Zach smiled when he saw Tom and acknowledged him with a head bob and excused himself from the conversation he was having.

"Hey, Tom. How's it going?" Zach asked walking over to where they were.

"We talked with Bob, and we think we have a plan to end this whole situation. But we need three more teams to join us for the plan to work. Would you be willing to join us and is there anyone else that might join up?" Tom asked.

"I'd be more than happy to help put an end to this. But I'm not sure that any others would be willing to join up with us. This is a tough group of fuckers." Zach said.

"Can you point us to what people we might talk to?" Tom asked.

"Sure, I can take you. But what is it you have planned?" Zach asked.

Tom explained the plan of taking Bob into the dungeon to get the monster off of the Source Machine and using the teams to protect him as well as fighting off the monster. As he explained Zach thought hard about the plan and by the end he was smiling.

"That sounds like it would work well. Let's go talk with Jeff. He has a team that would be good for defense. He can help with protection and we can look for others that would be willing to join. Come on, I'll show you where he's at." Zach said.

Turning to lead the way, Tom, James, and Derek began to follow him. Behind them, they suddenly heard the sound of stone on stone as the Dungeon began to open. Turning to see what happened, none of them were prepared for the sight they all saw.