Reborn as a Vending Machine, I Now Wander the Dungeon (自動販売機に生まれ変わった俺は迷宮を彷徨う, Jidōhanbaiki ni Umarekawatta Ore wa Meikyū ni Samayō) is a Light Novel series written by Hirukuma that started as a web novel that ran from March to December 2016 on Shousetsuka ni Narou. It was later picked up for publication by Kadokawa with illustrations by Itsuwa Kato, and was published from 2016 to 2017 for three volumes. A manga adaptation by Kunieda began serialization in ASCII Media Works's shōnen manga magazine Dengeki Daioh in August 27, 2021. Both the light novel and manga have been licensed in English by Yen Press. An anime television series adaptation by Studio Gokumi and AXsiZ premiered in July 5, 2023.
The story follows the adventure of "Boxxo", a vending machine otaku who attempted to save a vending machine falling over but was crushed by it and reincarnated as vending machine in a dungeon in another world. He surmises that he needs a good flow of money to stay operational as all of his functions rely on a point system that he also passively loses just by running, and worries when he realises he's been placed in the middle of the countryside. Luckily a super strong young girl who is training to become a hunter encounters him and after being impressed with his product range and figuring out a rudimentary way to communicate with him using his canned phrases, she picks him up and decides to take him home, and then adventuring with her by strapping him to her back.
Tropes in the series
- A-Cup Angst: Suori is frustrated by Lammis' large breast size and brags that hers will grow even larger one day (oblivious to the fact that her mother actually pads her chest).
- Amusingly Awful Aim: Lammis seems to be cursed to be unable to punch anything intentionally. Wearing Boxxo on her back sets her aim off-balance just right to where her hits should be. Eventually, she remembers how her master used to train her to fight with a boulder on her back, and overcomes this. Fortunately, the thugs threatening Suori in episode one didn't find it so amusing. While she failed to land a hit on either of them after she put down Boxxo, punching a hole in the brick wall right next to one of their heads was intimidating enough that they ran away anyway.
- Bizarre Beverage Use: Boxxo gives Lammis a pack of Soda bottles and "certain candies" when the Frog King attacks. After an accidental "Eureka!" Moment, she and the wounded hunters create a fountain that hits the monster in the eye and stalls it long enough for The Cavalry to arrive.
- Bland-Name Product: For trademark reasons, Boxxo can't vend real-life brand names, just parody ones — for example instead of Japanese sports drink brand "Pocari Sweat" he vends "Pocket Sweat".
- Brain Uploading: Nobody has ever made a sentient magic tool, though it doesn't stop shady engineers from using a brainwashed human soul to act as one. This is outlawed due to obvious ethical questions and such puppets going haywire.
- Cast from Hit Points: Boxxo can spend Points to use his functions, cast magic, or to repair himself, and he also passively loses 1 Point per hour. He concludes that running out of Points will shut him down. Given that Points continuously drain at a set rate, it probably also counts as Cast from Lifespan.
- Covert Pervert: Despite being a machine, Boxxo is a man inside and feels embarrassed by the topic of sex safety and tries to convince himself that being installed in a woman's bathhouse has no personal benefits.
- Crazy-Prepared: A variation. Although his stock is limited to things he had bought from vending machines in his previous lifetime, as a vending machine otaku from a nation where you can get almost anything from one that covers a lot of bases, particularly since he can change his stock on the fly. A lady of the night even buys condoms from him at one point.
- Diving Save: How the nameless human protagonist dies before becoming Boxxo, played for comedy as what he is trying to save by way of Heroic Sacrifice isn't a person or even an animal... it's a vending machine that's falling off a truck into a cliff.
- Deflector Shields: Boxxo can use Barrier to shield himself and allies, but it does drain a lot of Points. (100 per minute!)
- Doomed Hometown: Subverted. In Episode 3 the party finds the front parts of their village burning and completely obliterated. However, everyone has evacuated, and the hydra got killed by the remaining defenses, so the repairs smoothly start the next day.
- Dub Name Change: English translations name the title character 'Boxxo'. He's given the name 'Hakkon' in the original.
- Easy Logistics: Boxxo and Lammis are asked to accompany an expedition to facilitate this. Not only can Boxxo readily provide food and water, but providing hot, ready-to-eat food for the expedition would do wonders for morale.
- False Dichotomy: Boxxo is offered the chance to obtain a wish that could turn him human again. The narrative acts like this is a dilemma whether the opportunity to "Eat Lammis' cooking and walk hand-in-hand with her" would be worth giving up all the amazing abilities he has, but nobody seems to consider the logical idea of just wishing to be able to freely shift between forms at will.
- Fictional Currency: 10 Owa is equal to 1 Yen, and Boxxo earns a Point per 100 Owa. A bronze coin is 100 Owa and a silver coin is 1000 Owa.
- First-Episode Resurrection: The beginning of the story has the protagonist die and be reborn as a vending machine.
- First Friend: As the first person he's met and who's helped him a lot, Boxxo feels obliged to support Lammis in any way he can. Lammis feels an equal amount of loyalty, as his goods kept her from starving to death.
- Flower Motifs: Boxxo gives Lammis a pink carnation which means "gratitude".
- Forgot I Could Fly: It seems Lammis had gotten so used to killing foes with a single blow that she's half-forgotten her martial arts training, but having Boxxo on her back causes her to recall training with a boulder strapped to herself and she quickly picks her skills back up.
- Frog Men: The first enemies in the series are frog fiends and the village sends a preemptive strike against them.
- Funny Animal: The Director of the Hunters Association is a talking well-dressed bear. There are also a fox and a raccoon who act just like humans aside bringing up the mating season.
- The Gambling Addict: Boxxo's lottery function got the attention of an old chronic gambler, who gets pulled away by his wife without winning extra water. His granddaughter wins on her first try and Boxxo implies he let the family be happy.
- Genius Bruiser: Lammis is perceptive, intuitive, and with her combined Blessing of Might and martial arts skills, a dangerous fighter.
- Gold–Silver–Copper Standard: The money of this world use the copper, silver and gold coins with the value rate of 100 to 1. Boxxo had to add a currency conversion function to be able to accept this world's money, as he initially could only accept Yen. The potential deficit of silver coins was brought up in Episode 3 and Boxxo was given gold coins for tender exchange.
- Hammerspace: As long as he is paid, Boxxo can give an infinite amount of food and can change his selection.
- Invisibility: Boxxo can use Mimicry to completely disappear from sight. When asked to assist policing a street, Lammis and Suori have a conversation about him while being a few feet away, though he reveals himself to Lammis.
- Language Barrier: Lammis cannot read the writing on Boxxo's products, which are in Japanese.
- Magitek: While characters are confused by the presence of a vending machine, with minimum prompts they quickly get used to it as it's mentioned magical tools aren't uncommon.
- Mega Dungeon: The known world is actually one dungeon. Despite there being a sky, the area Boxxo starts in is just one layer of the many and hunters can teleport between them at certain points.
- Monochromatic Impact Shot: In the anime version this is what happens during the brief scene we get with Boxxo recalling his death as a human, as he slams into the vending machine to try and cushion it's fall by driving off a cliff on his moped the moment the impact connects has the background fade to red and his body and bike turn into a black silhouette.
- Nerds Are Virgins: Potentially subverted, Boxxo was a massive nerd for vending machines in his previous life and has access to items he bought from said vending machines during it. However, this includes a condom machine, which implies he's had sex at least once in his previous life.
- New Life in Another World Bonus: Boxxo's reincarnation as a vending machine could have been terrible, and he certainly thought so initially as he's stuck in the middle of nowhere with no ability to move and starts attracting monsters. However, his unique trait includes a mental shop that can grant him new functions and magic, which he uses to bypass his limitations while Lammis covers his need of movement. As a machine he also lacks biological needs and can stay idle for months if he has enough Points to last.
- No Periods, Period: Averted; Boxxo actually mentions how in a lot of fantasy stories he encountered in his past life this trope was truly in effect and the female characters never mention them, but this isn't case with Lammis when she ends up on a 3 week long recon mission with himself and others and gets her period so he turns into a pad vending machine for her as well as coin operated washing machine to clean her clothes.
- No Social Skills: Aloof Black Flash Mishuel hides under his charismatic face that he's not used to talking to people and feels awkward when not alone. He learns to overcome this issue when travelling with the heroes.
- Obviously Evil: Lammis' group is intercepted by an armed group, two of which have eye-themed masks and the leader has a scar over his left eye and a grin. Mishuel was right to be on the defensive.
- Ojou: Suori is a rich child with massive Ojou Ringlets and daddy issues, who feels entitled to things she doesn't own and repeatedly tries to buy Boxxo from Lammis.
- The Omniscient Council of Vagueness: In a parodied case, the village's diner holds the membership metting in a dark room to plan against the Chains Restaraunt's expansion.
- Once for Yes, Twice for No: A variation of this is how Boxxo communicates, Lammis works out a system with him which she teaches others - for example he uses "Hello there!" to mean 'yes', and "Too bad!" to mean 'no', he also uses "You might win an extra item!" to alert Lammis of approaching enemies.
- Otaku: In his previous life Boxxo appears to be a fan of vending machines and dies saving one.
- Red Eyes, Take Warning: A possessed puppet presented by Kanashi's magic engineer has bright red eyes. It goes berserk shortly.
- Red Light District: The village has an "entertainment quarter", so with the recent rise of immigration, Boxxo was asked if he has any suggestions for public health. Luckily for them, he has a condom dispenser form.
- Reincarnate in Another World: Boxxo, a human from Earth that was an otaku for vending machines, was reborn as a vending machine in a world of Sword and Sorcery.
- Reincarnated as a Non-Humanoid: Boxxo has a mixture of emotions on the matter. On the one hand, he was a vending machine otaku so part of him is thrilled, on the other hand... he doesn't have any hands or feet or anything else humanoid anymore and can only communicate very basically with others now which is pretty inconvenient.
- Salt Solution: Subverted, Boxxo tries to spray the undead with rock salt along with some religious souvenirs to make them go away, but it does nothing.
- Self-Referential Humor: The rather absurd nature of the show’s gimmick gets a lampshade hanging by Boxxo in the ending:Boxxo: Being reborn as a vending machine to wander the dungeon in another world is a ridiculous premise.
- Shown Their Work: The vending machines that Boxxo can transform into may seem unbelievable, like a porn magazine vending machine and an oxygen vending machine in Episode 4, but they're real machines in real-life.
- Soda-Candy 'Splosion: Boxxo vends Lammis a pack of Soda bottles and "certain candies" when the Frog King attacks. After an accidental "Eureka!" Moment, she and the wounded hunters create a fountain that hits the monster in the eye and stalls it long enough for The Cavalry to arrive.
- Stupid Sacrifice: Not as far as Boxxo himself is concerned, he was happy to die protecting a vending machine. However any onlookers or people investigating his death would probably come to that conclusion.
- Super-Senses: Boxxo buys the ability to see all around himself at once. Although the ability makes him a little queasy at first, once he gets used to it he makes a good lookout for sneaking enemies.
- Stylized for the Viewer: Boxxo's eyes only appear to humanize him, as otherwise, his face is just transparent glass.
- Sudden Game Interface: When Boxxo concentrates, his stats and abilities are displayed like a retro videogame menu.
- Super-Strength: Lammis has the Blessing of Might, which lets her carry Boxxo with ease.
- Survivor Guilt: Lammis and Hulemy were the only survivors of their village being wiped out, prompting a then-timid Lammis to become a hunter and get stronger.
- Talking Appliance Sidekick: The protagonist Boxxo is a sentient vending machine sidekick to Lammis, who often carries him. Except he can only communicate using preprogrammed lines.
- Teeny Weenie: Boxxo can stock large, medium and small condoms in spite of only being able to create things he's purchased in his life as a human. He sheepishly explains this to the reader as "My vanity, my pride, and my reality".
- Too Dumb to Live: Statistically, vending machines kill more people on average per year than shark attacks. Why that is so is because you got the protagonist stupidly trying to save a vending machine from falling over after narrowly avoiding an oncoming truck. Only to unsurprisingly get crushed to death for his efforts.
- Utility Party Member: While Boxxo's main role is to provide food supplies, he knows defensive magic and some of his wares can be used as Improvised Weapons.
- Vengeful Vending Machine: Boxxo can pull tricks on people if he wants but only does it when he is pushed by bandits/thieves. For example when a man tries to break into him for the cash inside he seemly vends him a free water, then as soon as the would-be thief reaches in for it drops a burning hot can of soup on the thief's hand in retaliation.
- Visual Pun: Chains Restaurant is a chain restaurant. Filled with chain decorations.
- Voluntary Shapeshifting: In a limited fashion, Boxxo can use points to add functions such as a heater for soups and even form shift into other types of vending machines. For example, when he needs Lammis and some others to pull off the "mentos and coke" trick he vends some bottles of cola then shifts forms to a candy dispenser to provide the mints. It costs him points to do this, and he can only stay transformed away from his base form for a maximum of 2 hours a day.
- Welcome to Corneria: Boxxo can't speak, but can instead play one of the select few messages. He and Lammis work out a way to communicate by designating one phrase to mean "yes" and another to mean "no". These are enough to at least let others know how he feels. He does manage to expand his vocabulary by cutting and pasting phrase fragments together.
