Girl in the Box: Please tell me why I was reincarnated as a mimic monster!

"Okay, take care."

Rin and Ning watched them go to their respective posts, and they all joined the effort to rebuild Akihabara. Rin was especially grateful to the four Dragon Kings for staying by her side and helping her after the war ended, but she still had to do the things that needed to be done by herself.

“Hmm… so they’re probably all there now…” Li’s gaze fell on the Borg Chamber of Commerce at the very center. “Ning, let’s go, it’s time to get to work.”

Chapter 3 A Completely Different Reason

"President, take a break."

"Hmm? Ah... that makes sense... everyone, let's take a break, it's time to change shifts."

At Natsuki's suggestion, Olitto realized that they had been working for a long time. He announced to the others that they would take a break and told them to switch shifts with another group. He then slumped into his seat, let out a long sigh, and reached out to grope on the table. Finally, he found the somewhat hard object and picked it up.

"Ah... you've finished drinking?" Olitto said, somewhat disappointed.

He was holding a fist-sized metal can, a can with a gold-painted exterior. Everyone on Earth knows what it is: a sports drink, sold by scalpers.

“It’s all finished,” Natsuki said, walking over with a cup of black tea and handing one to Olitto. “That’s the last one.”

"There's nothing we can do about it," Olitto said regretfully, picking up his teacup.

These sports drinks were naturally rare and precious items obtained from Li, which was one of the reasons why the Borg Merchant Guild fully supported her. From the moment the sports drinks appeared, Olito had been filled with anticipation for this special Dragon King; this was a merchant's unique intuition. The amount of scalpers she obtained was never much to begin with, and Olito was initially somewhat addicted, but considering the future usage, he has become quite frugal.

However, after the war ended, the sports drinks were all gone, and in every sense, Olitto felt a sense of emptiness from the end of something. This amount of work was still a piece of cake for him, but he always felt something was missing after losing the sports drinks.

While Li and Ning were recuperating, he did everything he could as the temporary leader of Akihabara, arranging accommodations, distributing living resources, organizing reconstruction efforts, and so on. Although the Borg Merchant Guild's wartime support had left its warehouses nearly empty, even a weakened camel is bigger than a horse, and Olitto unhesitatingly used all the remaining supplies to support the reconstruction of Akihabara and the founding of Li's nation.

He believed that these efforts would soon pay off.

"Oh, yes, I'm here."

The door to the temporary office was suddenly pushed open by two girls. They peeked into the office and then walked in. These two girls were Li and Ning, familiar partners of Olito.

"You've worked hard," Li said, rewarding Olitto. "You've really gone to a lot of trouble while we were both recovering from our injuries."

"Hmph, it doesn't matter, just don't forget your due reward." Olitto adopted a work-like attitude.

"I understand, I understand."

Li smiled, took the briefcase Ning brought, and opened it. A flash of silver light appeared, and several large cardboard boxes materialized in the office. Ollito didn't understand the writing on the boxes, but he was absolutely certain he wouldn't mistake the red bull's head printed on them—it was exactly the same as the gold metal cans he kept on his desk.

“Consider these as a thank you gift for the past few days,” Li patted the suitcase stacked as tall as her. “There are different flavors, but they are all the same drink, so don’t worry. And this suitcase too.”

Li closed the suitcase and pushed it in front of Olito. Logically speaking, this suitcase should be of little value compared to the several cases of sports drinks, but judging from the expressions on Li and Ning's faces, it seemed that it was not so simple. Olito silently took the suitcase and opened it. The gentle silver light immediately illuminated his face, and he then realized what this suitcase was.

"It actually worked!?" Olitto asked incredulously as he closed his suitcase.

"Eh~ yeah, it just happened by accident." Li scratched her head a little embarrassedly.

"I really admire you. You managed to do it so easily." Ning seemed a little helpless.

This suitcase is the outer shell that Rie used during the final battle. Although it was tattered after the battle, it can still be used after some repairs. In addition, Rie also discovered by accident that the suitcase was imbued with extra spacetime magic. Afterwards, the two of them found other suitcases to conduct experiments and finally discovered the cause and manufacturing method.

That's right, this suitcase is the kind of four-dimensional pocket that protagonists in most RPG games carry... well, it's like a dimensional pocket, a small bag that can carry a lot of items and equipment. But right now, we can only make this kind of thing with a suitcase. As for the name... well, I haven't thought of one yet, and I'm too lazy to think of one. Let's just call it the Dimensional Suitcase.

"Let me ask you something first," Olitto asked, "how big is this suitcase?"

“Well… I haven’t actually tested it myself… but there’s at least this much space.” Li pointed to the cardboard box next to him.

Several cardboard boxes stacked together took up a considerable amount of space, at least several times larger than the suitcase. Even with only that much space, it was worthwhile. Although this was just the beginning of the dimensional suitcase, it represented a significant step forward in its future development. Olito waved to Natsuki, then handed him the suitcase, indicating his next task with his eyes. After receiving the assignment, Natsuki immediately left the office with the suitcase.

Olitto rested his chin on his hands on the table, gazing at the two girls who had saved the world, his heart filled with excitement. His decision back then had indeed been correct; these two always managed to bring him all sorts of surprises, and this time was no exception.

“I’m saying,” Olitto’s expression gradually turned serious, “did you do this on purpose?”

“Well, I guess so.” Li admitted frankly. “Besides, the Borg Chamber of Commerce has done so much for this war, so I should do something in return, right? Well, let me make this clear from the start: I can’t mass-produce this briefcase yet, because I’ve only just started working in this field. I’ve only made two so far. I’ll try my best to finish it.”

“…I understand. Let’s talk about the briefcase another day. You didn’t come here just to talk about these things, right? I’ve already sent someone to call the commander and the others over. Let’s sit down and chat first.”

"Let's leave it at that for now. Oh, you guys are really quick..."

Li and Ning sat down and began to tell Olitzo about what had happened during this time. Ning remained mostly silent, quietly reading a book beside Li as usual. This time was different from before, mainly because their positions were different. Li had undergone a slight change, and Ning no longer needed to be the one to carry out all the work for her.

It's normal for Olito to have such questions. Something about Li is clearly different. What Li just did appears to be a reward and a treat, but there's a deeper meaning behind it. The sports drink was part of the plan, but that's not the main point. The main point is to introduce the dimensional briefcase. Olito couldn't possibly be uninterested in it. Li also released a small amount of information; while everything she said was true, she was still holding back some details.

Her meaning was clear: as long as the Borg Chamber of Commerce maintained its cooperative relationship with them, they would provide sufficient compensation and other benefits. The dimensional briefcase alone was astonishing enough, not to mention the long-term benefits. She was telling Olitto that withdrawing now would be a loss.

Seriously... what exactly did she go through?

Although it was still a bit rough around the edges, it was having some effect. It seemed that Li's intelligence was starting to kick in, and Ning was happy to see this happen, because her workload would finally be reduced.

Chapter 4 Things to Do Before the Founding of the Nation (1)

"Here he comes! Sorry to keep you all waiting, Negi, the head of the construction department, is here!"

After greeting everyone, Negi pushed open the office door and hurried in, quickly finding a seat. She had just returned from the construction site, so her dark purple dress was a little dusty. Finoer sighed and leaned closer to brush the dust off her clothes. Thus, the first meeting of the new Akihabara Residents' Committee began in the new headquarters office of the Borg Trading Company. Well, there was no other way; Akihabara was still under reconstruction, so everything had to be kept simple.

At this moment, besides the three who had been there all along, several more people had gathered in the office. These were all acquaintances of Li: the three Dragon Queen sisters, the adventurer trio, the leader, Uncle Xihong, and her younger sister Xiao and Xia Ling. So, in this new Akihabara neighborhood committee, these were the only ones who could be of help right now.

"Ahem, now that everyone's here, let's begin..." He cleared his throat and straightened his posture. "The first meeting of the Akihabara New Generation Neighborhood Committee will now commence. Let me first explain the specific content of this meeting. First of all, as everyone here knows, our future goal is to establish a nation, but before that, we must first complete the reconstruction of Akihabara. If we can't even manage a small town, let alone a nation. So before that, I'd like to know if anyone here has a coal mine or is unwilling to join us?"

This was a very important matter, and although Li already knew the answer, it was still necessary to confirm it formally. No one voiced any objection, and no one showed any sign of opposition. After confirming this, Li moved on to the next topic.

“It seems there aren’t any more. If anyone wants to quit halfway, please say so as soon as possible.” Li reminded them briefly, and then continued, “In that case, let’s move on to the next topic. Everyone, I would like to first understand your respective jobs and work situations, let’s start with those three adventurers over there.”

"Huh? Us?" Seria pointed to herself, somewhat bewildered.

"Please hurry, we don't have time to wait for you." Li maintained a businesslike demeanor.

“Uh, East? Why don’t you do it?” Celia wasn’t too confident in her speaking skills.

“Haa… then I’ll do it…” East sighed helplessly, then stood up.

This is the Black Knight Ist, a girl wearing the Black Knight Magic Armor. She is currently wearing her everyday clothes. Don't let her delicate appearance fool you; when she dons the magic armor, her combat power far surpasses that of ordinary adventurers. Her companions are the two behind her, Wu Ke and Seria.

"I think we don't need to introduce ourselves. There are three of us, plus this young lady. We are now the leaders of the Akihabara Guard, who are in charge of protecting Akihabara."

East deliberately pulled Xiao, who was dumbfounded by the unusual appearance of Rin, to explain the work they were doing.

"The Akihabara Guard has 57 members, which is a decrease compared to before, but not because they died in battle."

"...I understand, please continue. What is the current security detail?"

Li naturally understood what East meant. Yes, it was true that all the residents of Akihabara had moved here, but there were also many members of the Akihabara Guard who did not belong to Akihabara. The reason why they did not come together was also obvious, so there was no need to continue. Li urged East to continue.

“After that war, because a large number of monsters appeared and roamed all over the world, our main task is still to guard against the invasion of these monsters,” East explained. “We divided the guard into fourteen groups to operate separately. The patrols are on a shift system. We divided into ten groups to take turns on duty, with two groups on each shift, patrolling near Akihabara. The remaining four groups stayed on standby.”

"Because of the massive amount of magic generated by that war, this magic spread from the battlefield. Due to its extremely high concentration, the entire continent has now been transformed into a demonic realm. The demonic realm generates monsters based on the intensity of the magic concentration, resulting in the current situation where these monsters roam the continent with dominance. For various reasons, most of these monsters are now pure elemental monsters and are extremely aggressive."

Ning explained before Li asked, not only to tell Li but also to explain to others who didn't understand this. Because this world had been almost completely destroyed by the kingdom, these not-so-complex monsters were created due to a lack of materials. Although these monsters were not complex, their combat power was comparable to that of dragons, which was why the guards did this.

“Yes, just as Miss Ning said,” East continued. “That’s why we encounter quite a few monster attacks every day, averaging more than ten times a day. But thanks to Tosalid and Xiao, we’ve successfully repelled any monsters that come.”

"Eh...is that so? More than ten times..." Li nodded. "I understand. Thank you for your hard work. Next, Neki, I'll leave it to you."

"Hey~ I'm Negi from the construction department. Oh, I already said this, but don't worry about these things too much," Negi continued at her usual pace. "Like I said, I'm the current head of the construction team. Everyone has seen how busy we've been working on building houses for everyone lately. However, there's been a bit of a problem~~ Not only are there not enough building materials, but we also don't have enough manpower. There are still quite a few people without a place to live! Aren't you two in the HR department and the warehouse manager going to do something about it?"

The HR manager and warehouse manager, who had been calm all along, suddenly showed rather amusing expressions, and the atmosphere instantly became strange.

"Huh??" Mr. Olito, the warehouse manager, spoke first. "Wait a minute? I understand that supplies are scarce right now, but is it really necessary to use them so drastically?"

"I really don't know what to do about personnel arrangements right now," the respected leader shrugged. "Most of the people have gone to explore the maze, and quite a few won't be back for a while, but this is something we have to do."

"Ah! That's your problem! It doesn't matter if you leave all that nonsense aside! The most important thing right now is the house, isn't it!"

"Waaah, don't just start talking all of a sudden."

After Negi suddenly interrupted their rhythm, Li interrupted them with mixed feelings. She had finally created a good atmosphere, but Negi's actions ruined it, and she didn't know what to say for a moment.

“So, you should stop thinking about yourself all the time,” Negi bluntly pointed out. “Atmosphere doesn’t matter. Get rid of that inefficient approach. We in Akihabara never care about these things, do we? You’re being too selfish.”

Negi noticed something was off as soon as she came in. After checking, she realized that Negi was doing something pointless, but the fact that everyone was going along with her made Negi very uncomfortable. So Negi simply ruined the atmosphere. Rather than following that routine, it would be much more efficient to do things the way Akihabara does.

And it's probably not just Negi who thinks this way. Because everyone is so uncomfortable, they're probably not very relaxed, which isn't like Akihabara at all.

“…Ha, I was wrong.” Li sighed, resigned to her fate. “Let’s just do it the way we usually do. I’m not feeling too comfortable either…so let’s ignore these procedures. I roughly understand the issues we were talking about earlier now. Olitzo, what’s the status of the various supplies we have here?”

"Not very optimistic," Olitto stated bluntly. "First, there's the food. Our guild can only provide so much food; it'll last about a month at most. Replenishing is out of the question for now because, as Ning said, the situation outside is too chaotic. It's not a good time to go out. As for water, producing water with magic isn't a solution either. Water produced from magic usually contains a very high concentration of magic, so it's not safe to drink directly. Then there's the issue of building materials that Neki mentioned earlier..."

"We saw that this morning," recalling what happened that morning, "that the building materials weren't quite enough, were they?"

“Yes,” Olitto nodded, “If we take into account all the needs, we can’t use too much of it on building houses, so this is all we can provide in the short term. Our main problem right now is that most of our supplies can’t be replenished. If we could solve that, everything would be fine, but what can we do now?”

Yes, now this impoverished world has almost nothing left. They have survived, but there are still a lot of problems to consider, the most important being the issue of resource regeneration. They cannot obtain any resources from this world in the short term because the situation here has deteriorated beyond imagination.

"Oh dear, that's a real problem," Neki said with a headache. "We don't have enough manpower, we don't have enough materials, and we can only build a limited number of houses. We've tried our best to get everyone to squeeze into the same house, but it's still not enough."

Negi has done her best, but this is all she can do. Although it's impossible to provide a house for every family, she still wants to do her best to ensure that they have a place to live.

“Hmm… By the way,” Li asked, “Neki, what materials do we usually use to build the houses we’re building now?”

“Wood and stone,” Neki replied. “These two materials are quite common, so they are usually used in combination. However, we’ve almost run out of wood, but we still have a lot of stone left. That’s where my problem lies. And what exactly is the structure of this maze? It takes a lot of effort to even knock down a slightly larger stone.”

"...Well, I have some ideas now," Li said, several plans already forming in her mind. "I'll tell you about it later. As for building materials, if we're building a stone house..."

"It's not impossible, but it takes more effort; processing the stone is very troublesome."

"It's a manpower issue, Commander."

The topic was then turned to the group leader, who, after waiting for a long time, nodded to indicate that he was listening.

"How many people did you send to explore the maze?" Li got straight to the point without any preamble.

"I sent a total of sixty people into the maze to explore," the leader reported the exact number. "Because of resource constraints, we started exploring other parts of the maze, hoping to find something. As for why we sent so many people, I think you know the reason."

The maze has always been a deadly place, with its unique structure and traps everywhere. Even though the original monsters of the maze are no longer there, it is still quite dangerous. In addition, it is a very large maze, so this is the only way to be efficient.

“Ah… I’m sorry, this was my fault…” Li suddenly apologized. “Ning and I are already very familiar with this maze, and we know exactly what’s in it. We’ll bring these people back later and get you some maps.”

“…I didn’t expect that to happen,” the captain shrugged. “Well, what can I do? You two were recovering from your injuries back then. To be honest, I didn’t quite understand why you chose this place as the location of your new country at first, but now I finally understand why. You two are really full of surprises.”

“I’m really sorry, it’s our fault for not telling you these things beforehand,” Li apologized honestly. “Although the labyrinth was looted by those people from the kingdom who brought adventurers, there should still be some things left. We will take everyone to find those things later, and if they are useful, we will bring them back.”

"Then we'll wait for that day."

"As for the map, I have it here."

Ning, who had been mostly silent, spoke up at this moment. He then used the power of his Creator skill to create several silver, transparent crystals, placed them on the table, and picked one up to demonstrate.

"All you need to do is take this and infuse it with magic."

Ning infused a small amount of magic into the crystal, causing it to react. The magical light formed a holographic map of the Time Corridor labyrinth. The map was incredibly complete, perfectly recreating every detail—truly worthy of her.

"Captain, take this and give it to the exploration team to find the others."

Ning handed the crystal to the leader.

"I see, it's a really good product."

The leader only needed one glance to know that the crystals were not simple to make. They accurately reflected the map of the entire maze and marked the current location with a highlighted dot, which was exactly what Akihabara needed right now.

This was indeed a mistake on her part. She overlooked the structure of the labyrinth and teleported the Akihabara group here directly instead of taking them deeper into the labyrinth from the outside. Apart from a few adventurers from Akihabara, almost no one knew anything about the labyrinth, so it was impossible for anyone to know the structure of the corridor. This limited everyone's ability to move around.

“I will make more of this stuff and distribute it as much as possible in the near future,” Ning said. “But please don’t rely on it completely, because in the end we will still have to remember how to navigate this maze ourselves.”

"Yes, I understand." The leader took the bag and accepted all the crystals. "Speaking of which, this maze is really complicated. There are at least eighty rooms of all sizes, and nearly five hundred entrances. It's also divided into four levels."

"As expected of the commander, he memorized so much information after just one glance." Ning praised him without reservation.

"Oh dear, I'm getting old," the battalion commander chuckled bitterly. "If I were young, I could memorize it all at a glance. Anyway, I should go now and distribute these things to them."

"Take care, Commander."

Chapter 5 Things to Do Before the Founding of the Nation (2)

After resolving the issue with the leader, he left without lingering. He probably wanted to finish this as soon as possible, which is why he left so quickly. At this moment, what Akihabara needs to do is to seize every second to consolidate its foundation. The leader's actions were not without reason, and I fully agree with his decision.

“Oh, and then there’s Olitto and Nechi,” Rie said, watching the captain leave before moving on to the next problem. “The housing issue definitely needs to be resolved. It’s not safe for them to be sleeping in tents outside right now. Nechi, I’ve already taken care of the manpower issue with the captain. I’ll try to send as many people as possible to help. Can you give me two days? I also have a way to get the building materials.”

"Hmm... let me think about it."

Negi stroked her chin, lost in thought. Her mind began to calculate everything she could do in the past two days, taking into account all the variables, and then she arrived at an answer.

“Okay, no problem.” Negi replied with a smile. “As long as you can solve the building materials problem, I’m fine. Don’t let me down, okay? Well, I’ll be going now! There are still many houses that haven’t been built yet.”

After Negi's question was resolved, she waved and left. Since she had already said so, Li felt relieved. In the current situation where monsters are constantly invading, it would be very dangerous if there was no place to rest and protect oneself. Judging from what Ning said, these monsters are not ordinary in strength. Although she knew that the residents of Akihabara were ridiculously strong, Li still wanted to try her best to avoid danger.

“Speak,” Olitto leaned back in his chair, “you just said you had a way to solve this problem. Since you’ve said that, you’re not going to tell me to divert some resources or cut back on spending, are you?”

"Of course! What do you take me for!" Li naturally had her reasons for doing so.

"So? What do you want to do?" Olitto listened attentively.

"First, we definitely can't give up on finding and developing the remaining resources in the maze," Li said, outlining several plans. "Because of the battle we fought, the outside world is in a state of utter destitution. Before we can stabilize our lives, we need to see what else in this maze can help us. Secondly, we need to restore the external environment. In any case, if the outside world continues to be in this terrible state, we won't be able to contact other countries. So once things stabilize, we need to start working on understanding and restoring the external situation. At the very least, the area around our maze needs to be restored to what it used to be."

“I see…” Olitto nodded, agreeing with her idea.

Yes, if this situation continues for an extended period, it would be extremely troublesome for any faction, even after stabilizing their domestic situation. There's practically nothing left in this world now, just rubble and debris, which are probably of little use. Furthermore, the demonic transformation has led to a dramatic increase in the number of monsters outside, which is also a very threatening problem.