After recovering from shock, I started to grasp the situation as I walked on the street made of cobblestone.

I had been transported into the middle of a society with no instructions, so I supposed that I had to figure out the way out of this mess by myself, but the good news was that there was likely no time limit since it wasn't announced.

With those thoughts in mind, I started figuring out my method of survival here.

I saw the people here trade bronze, silver and gold coins of all sizes, which I assumed to be the currency. It was probably best to just gather information about this place casually. Taking risks before knowing how things worked here was idiotic, not to mention that I had no idea how long I'd be staying in this odd ruin.

I continued moving forwards and noticed people looking at my clothes weirdly once in a while, but I just ignored it, and after a short while of walking, I was forced to stop continuing straight forwards since there was a huge white building that stood out from all the houses made out of wood and stone.

'It looks like someone important lives here,' I noted as I started looking around the building. There was an area in front of the building that was largely empty for some reason.

It didn't make sense why the people had set up their shops in the street instead of this area, but I guess it was a rule or something.

Moving past that, the building marked a center point, from which you could go in four directions. All the four streets one could walk through were filled with people doing business and the like.

Now that I had a clear perception of how the town was constructed, I could focus on inquiring about the people here.

With this in mind, I turned right and started to head down one of the four streets. As I walked, I noticed that some of the roofs had brick tiles on them that looked like they were poorly fitted together and attached, some even on the verge of falling. It wasn't really a danger to me, though, so I didn't mind.

Also, this time I had my ears open and could hear people trivially chatting, salesmen yelling about their product being the best there is, and babies crying.

All these noises were an annoyance and served no purpose, but for some reason I didn't feel as angry as I usually would have.

I continued my way down the street and looked for a place where I could get my hands on some information. Those places would be bars or other kinds of service based businesses.

On that note, I needed new clothes. Fortunately, I knew exactly how I would get them.

I found a target who was wearing a brown outfit, much like almost everyone in this place, but the quality of his clothes seemed to be much higher and his shoes seemed to be much cleaner.

After noticing him, I slightly changed my walking path, and after a while, we bumped into each other.

My hands moved quickly, and then I found myself on the ground.

"Hey, watch it," the man snapped at me as I fell to the ground.

"Oh, I'm sorry. I—" I apologized but got interrupted by the man, who looked at what I was wearing in confusion.

"Save it," the man said, after deeming me a madman for my unruly behavior and clothing. The man then turned away and kept walking.

After the man had walked 10 or so meters, I stood up and looked for a clothing shop. It was good to change into the kind of farmer's clothing these people wore, since my tight-fitting, fully black outfit stood out a lot.

I soon found a stand that seemed to sell clothes. I took the coins from my pocket and looked at them. There were six of them, and they ranged from small bronze to large silver coins. It seemed as though figuring out the value of what I had wouldn't be much of a problem.

I walked over to the stand that had multiple types of clothing and pointed at some common clothes and asked, "How much for this outfit?".

"Outfit?" the man asked.

"The shirt, pants, and shoes," I explained.

"Oh, yes. That would be... one large silver," the man said, after doing the math in his head.

"..." I looked at the man wordlessly with a frown on my face.

"Heheh, no need to be so serious. I was just kidding. That's all," the man said with a nervous laugh. "They usually cost one small silver, but I'll give a discount just for you, heheh. One large bronze coin, a great deal, eh?"

'What a clown,' I thought, and wordlessly handed him a large bronze coin and took the clothes.

I then looked for an alley where I could change, and after finding one, I walked over, changed my clothes once again, and threw the black outfit into the garbage disposal.

After changing into more normal clothes, I kept looking for a place where I could get information.

I walked through the crowd, as I looked around, and eventually a sign caught my eye.

I turned and walked into the place with a sign with "bar" written on it.

The door creaked loudly, and multiple gazes were directed at me, as I opened the door and walked in.

The heads that had turned, soon went back to their original positions, and I breathed in the scent of sweat and alcohol through my nostrils.

If you come across this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.

The bar was fairly large and had over 10 tables that circled around the bar counter.

"Welcome, what might you be looking for?" the middle-aged bar tender on the heavy side with a bald head and a messy black beard asked.

"Oh, I'm just looking around," I answered with a wave of my hand.

"Well, you might want to order something, or you can go look around the streets," the bartender said crudely.

"Are you this rude to all your customers?" I asked with a slight sneer on my face.

"No, I was just making a statement," the bartender said, feigning innocence.

'Just a statement, huh?' I thought.

"Oh, right. You know, your beard looks like you shaved a black squirrel and poorly attached its hair to your chin," I made a statement. "Also, one beer, please." I said, and the man just silently stood there.

I noticed that almost every pair of eyes was on me and started to have regrets about my attempt at humor.

'I thought these types of people appreciated creative insults,' I thought.

"Hey, relax, it was just a statement," I said, acting as cool and outgoing as I possibly could, and suddenly the bartender burst into loud laughter.

Immediately after, I felt a little pressure lift off of my heart. "That's a new one. You hear that? The boy said that my..." the bartender started loudly explaining my statement to the others.

After a while, the others also burst into laughter, although it seemed a bit half-hearted. For a while, I thought these people were making fun of me, but I didn't care enough to linger on it for long.

"Here you go, on the house," the bartender said, as he handed me a large wooden cup filled with piss-yellow liquid.

"Thanks," I said, as I sat down on a stool, and took a sip.

'I can't believe that some people drink this on a daily basis,' I thought, as I tasted the beer, which tasted like mild lemon water.

"So, I assume you're new in Cavea," the bartender said.

"Yeah. About that, is there any place that I can sleep besides the street?"

"There is a motel in the east part called Lucid, but that place is a total shithole."

"So basically, my only option is a shithole."

"You can also ask one of those guys for a place to crash," the bartender said, pointing at the people sitting at the tables behind me.

I looked behind me to find some large, burly, dirty, and balding men sitting in groups of four.

'This is a good example of why quality will always prevail over quantity' I noted and turned back.

"Yeah, no, thanks," I said as politely as I could.

"Heheh, you can also ask Eddie when he comes. According to my information, he lives alone and is quite the clean fellow."

"Eddie?"

"Oh, he's in charge of a small construction firm and is a regular here," the bartender explained.

"When will he be arriving?" I asked.

"Usually he comes around 5 o'clock when his shift ends."

"What time is it now?" I asked.

"It's... 5 o'clo—" the bartender was saying when the door slammed open.

A tall man with short, dark brown hair and a muscular build entered. "Damn, this place smells more like shit than yesterday. Didn't know that was possible," the man noted humorously as he looked around with his brown eyes.

"Good afternoon," the bartender said, welcoming the man.

"Who's this guy?" the man asked as he pointed at me while approaching the counter.

"Oh, this is... Wait, what's your name?" the bartender was saying before remembering something and whispering a question.

"I'm Akir."

"This is Akir, he's new in Cavea," the bartender introduced me.

"Nice to meet you, I'm Edward, but you can call me Eddie," the man said and outstretched his hand.

"It's a pleasure." I said and shook his hand.

"Well, what can I get you?" the bartender asked Eddie.

"The usual," Eddie answered, and the bartender got to work. Soon he gave Eddie a small glass with green liquid in it, and Eddie handed the man a medium-sized bronze coin.

"What's that?" I asked.

"It's a unique concoction that actually tastes good, unlike other alcohol drinks," Eddie answered, sounding a little defensive about the matter.

"You see, Eddie can't get his beer down," the bartender whispered to me in a voice that I was sure Eddie could hear.

"Fuck you. You always say that bullshit, just because I'm not willing to swallow piss to get some happiness out of life." Eddie cursed at the bartender.

It seemed like he had been harassed pretty often because of this trait of his.

"Calm down, I was just kidding a little. Oh, I forgot to mention that Akir is looking for a place to crash. Could he by any chance crash at your place?"

"Sure, I don't mind if you don't stay for too long," Eddie said nonchalantly and sipped his drink.

"Really, how much do I pay you?" I asked.

"Actually, I have one worker that is out sick right now, so if you cover for him, I'll give you the place and some coins on top," Eddie said.

"I guess you'll be my employer from now on, then," I said, stretching out my hand to seal the deal.

"I guess so," Eddie said, and we shook hands once again.