First, Matthew could start with a list of essential questions, so he did. Though, he was risking outing himself, but with the inn regulars' help, maybe he could seem like a drunk or some foreigner with his modern clothes and unique ethnic appearance.

He said: "Where exactly am I? Is there a name for this place or region?"

A hooded figure clad in flowing robes, clutching a staff crackling with hints of lightning, nodded as he stood, his bread and butter of a beard dousing his short tunic with a ruggedly handsome note. He said, his voice like a singing brass: "Hell, indeed, if you want to know, just check the [System]. It'll give you coordinates of where you are. Moreover, you can also find out whether how many days have passed since this world was created. Weird question. But you're joking right?" He chuckled politely.

His name was Thorne.

Matthew answered, his voice as clear as the tropical jungle ate up space in the sky. "No, I honestly don't know about what's going on. It's not [System] I know at all. Whatever you're talking about. But I am... I want to say thank you, and I really hope you can keep answering questions because it would be helpful." It was a little nerve-wracking for him to be so clear, considering that he was the outsider here in a new culture, leaving him very vulnerable.

When the affirmative responses he got were short and left much to interpretation but with tones of openness and enjoyment, he continued, albeit carefully watching the most forward and least forward, comparing their reactions to get a quick assessment of the general acceptance rate since that could change in response to his following questions.

"What is the [System]? And how does that relate to showing coordinates?"

"It shows it by showing you through the words. You can see it. Just think about the [System]."

Matthew wasn't sure, so he tried. After a minute of trying sheepishly to get it to work, he followed up on with another question. "How is it supposed to work? Are there any other actions I must take?"

"No, it's supposed to show you as soon as you form the intention for it to appear."

"Well, it's not working."

Thorne told another regular named "Elara," "Hmm... Ela, what's happening here?"

"I don't know. But maybe he's cursed?" Elara said and glanced at the other regulars, prompting them to respond.

Thorne continued: "Maybe... Maybe."

Matthew didn't look nervous, but his heart was ramping quickly, concerned about the possibility of a curse. If he really was, he would ask for help about it. That was the only thing he could do. Children asked many questions, and he was effectively a child in this new world.

The smell of food entered the kitchen. It was the first batch of the day, and Matthew hadn't eaten yet. So the other regulars told him to wait for a few days and that the [System] might work again then, inviting him to eat with them.

After Matthew ate, he reunited with the adventurers who saved him outside near the stalls. They made him enter the inn because they were engaging in routine work as merchants and helping organize the bazaar where they worked. So they gave him some money to buy food, but the inn regulars were kind to him since he entertained them as a curious, reserved, approachable young man.

But he wanted to finish the rest of his questions, but he wanted to stick close to the adventurers for now instead of loitering at the inn.

In the end, he couldn't push it and focused on observation.

Anyway, he had one concern weighing on his mind.

Since he was staying in a city, getting out often entailed dangers and a lack of a support system for any ambitions he had in mind.

Additionally, his initial goals for starting in this city included learning how to get in and out the city with ease, as some territories had a tendency toward border control. In order for him to find out whether the territory he was in had strict border control or not, he had to ask around.

Fortunately, a group of teenagers who were looking to please older adventurers, especially those who had saved Matthew, presented themselves. Matthew took advantage of this opportunity and asked an important question, "Can I just go outside the city?"

"Sure, you can," said one of the teenagers.

"How about back in?"

"Yes—"

Another teenager interjected: "Hey, I finally got my quest. Let's go!"

"Third week?" said a third teenager. "Let's go!"

"What was—" Matthew said.

"Wait a minute," said one of the adventurers. "That's only if you're registered. Are you registered?" He was referring to going in and out the city.

"No," said Matthew politely.

"Then... let me show you how to register..."

"What was that about the third quest?"

"Huh, the quest you get every three weeks? You should have one right now..."

"I don't."

"Huh. Are you new to the [System] somehow? That's weird. Anyway..." He beckoned Matthew with his hand. "Come on."

Since the adventurers gave him space instead of conversing with him, Matthew had to give up the potential of understanding through them and opt for contemplation. If he could visit a village or a small, more remote town, that would give him an idea of how "regular" life was like for most people. However, at the moment, he was in the middle of a bustling urban populace, so it was hard to glimpse the broader world and its flow. In more complex terms, finding out the threads that kept together certain structures and how they combined to fill the needs and demands of various markets would enable him to pinpoint the source most appropriate for his time, space, and resources.

Returning to a lighter mood, Matthew found himself observing and listening to the adventurers in the background and the way they bantered.

When the adventurer who had beckoned Matthew got him registered, Matthew asked, "Is there a village or a small town nearby?"

"No." The adventurer smiled and then burst into a chuckle. "Yes. I'm just playing with you."

Matthew smiled slightly, still hesitant to respond strongly.

When the adventurer calmed down, he stared for a moment, glanced at his fellow adventurers, and returned his gaze at Matthew. "Why? Do you want to go there? I can accompany you there." His name was Deathbringer.

Currently, they were inside an office building, and next to them, someone was watching.

This watching person spoke up when he ascertained the lull in their conversation: "Okay, Matthew. Okay, Mr. Deathbringer. What do we have here? I see both your names, but I don't see a licence to visit one of the 'villages'."

He was the registrant, and he was the way for Matthew to register as part of the city to get in and out.

"No, not one of the monster dens. We don't mean that." Deathbringer turned his attention to Matthew, telling the other adventurers to vacate the room and head outside with a gresture. "Sorry, if you don't know, the villages he's talking about refer to the monster dens. It's where monsters appear every few seconds and stuff."

With that said, Matthew tilted his head to the left and kept his eyes curious with the intention of looking approachable.

His place in the conversation was brief, but he knew that he could continue to listen and observe, accumulating knowledge even as a spectator.

Deathbringer told the registrant, "Since Matthew is newly entered, is it okay if you complete our reports for us? Also, the golem should help out in occasions like these, right?"

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

The registrant nodded, waving his hands to cast a spell that made a loud drumming sound lasting for a several seconds.

With the magical cue of the registrant, a golem at the entrance moved around, having served as a stationary part of the entrance structure. But currently, his purpose extended beyond visual decor, giving a sense of dynamism. While he might be a golem, Matthew noticed it glancing appraisingly at the adventurers behind Matthew and Deathbringer. These adventurers were sitting sparsely at many two-seat tables. Moreover, they talked in a mirthful manner across tables, resting their arms on the backrests, sitting down sideways, and having one leg crossed over the other. In addition, often times, they mirrored each other's postures like a bunch of monkeys, but rather than involving manipulation, this reflected their deep-seated camaraderie as friends of many years.

When the golem went outside, it quickly offered a hand of support toward Matthew, the newly registered person.

The registrant at the concierge explained about the golem, "She will help you through the muddy path you took earlier on the way here. She'll lead you to the main road; there, she will drop you off."

During his explanation, Matthew kept glancing at Deathbringer to understand the nuances of the registrant's words through him. He was much more mindful of this since he was a foreigner but especially since he heard that the term 'village' could refer to monster dens as well.

Earlier at the registration building, the registrant observed Matthew's expression and thought. Depending on Matthew's next actions, he could be a one of the new adventurers his boss was expecting. In the end, with the monsters growing day by day, more fodder was needed to ensure that the monsters never breached the walls of the city. This was a necessity.

The next day, when Matthew came to another village, he began to develop a certain inclination. Simultaneously, his mind began to recall various memories of simulations he had coded. Namely, he would press the "Run" button and watch his creations spur into life, as each agent in his program began to embody the functions he had given them. This moment of observing a village was similar to that moment. It was the inspiration of a creator and level editor that made him almost irrationally excited.

He ran to the village and became enamoured with the way their culture manifested. The way their houses aligned with the various pipes circulating through the open canals of the village made him feel so delighted. It was as if he was seeing the agents of his game burst into artificial intelligence life. Basically, he saw the villagers like little tiny characters.

The villagers, seeing his stare, began to gossip about him. Even if their communication was largely unsystematic, they did have ideals in place for what to do with travelers and strangers. In short, they wanted to manage him with everything that entailed.

Doing away with the background, Matthew greeted one of the villagers, prompting a long discussion. However, instead of an easy, fruitful discussion, the villagers had their own reservations, interests, and concerns, so it took the most sociable of the adventurer group, Marcher, to convince them indirectly to talk. Instead of framing the discussion as a way to get information, Marcher framed it as a way to advice the villagers on how to sell their coffee beans more effectively. Specifically, he told them that selling the beans while they were still yellow and raw was not going to sell well with the clients. To add to this, he asked them: "Do you guys like the yellow? How did it taste?"

"Bad," one of the leading villagers said.

Marcher nodded. "Yes, so if the beans itself taste bad, why should you think that turning it into coffee would make it taste good? There's a difference in taste. So it's not going to work really if you guys sell it in yellow. Red is the only way to go, because it's sweet that way. The clients like that."

Instead of saying yes with submission, the two leading villagers opted to stay silent, seeing that they were wrong in this matter. However, their silence was telling enough. As a result, Marcher relaxed and returned to his place among the adventurers.

For context, Marcher procured connections with numerous people, and he was knowledgeable about the coffee process, business, and market.

As a mere spectator, Matthew only stood still like a model waiting for her chauffeur, while the other adventurers, including Deathbringer, interacted with the village children in a engaging way. To Matthew, they were just background numbers in a research paper concerning children, but to the adventurers, the children were smaller versions of themselves, because they were still in touch with their child selves as what was typical of their explorative, curious, and adventurous occupation. They saw potential and a whole world behind those children's eyes, empathy flowing like a broken river dam. But this empathy was more than emotions. It was an understanding of potential growth and how the most effective holistic strategies could extricate this growth from a curious child.

In the meantime, Matthew viewed the mountain next to the village and the different groups of trees that looked identifiable now that he was closer. In the distance, earlier, the trees all looked the same, just one green pile of bushy vegetation. But now, it was like looking at segmented aspects of a complex dynamic structure. It scared him to think that the mountain was alive, because it invited interest on a more analytical level.

Then, to curb his nervous excitement for study, Matthew turned his in-depth attention toward Deathbringer, but as time passed, he noticed hints of intelligence from the children, while Deathbringer talked casually. It was as if the guise of nonchalance rested upon an even more seemingly sinister systematic rationale: grooming a child to become their best selves.

Finally, feeling overwhelmed, Matthew wanted the world to stop, so he focused on the palms of his raised hands. As he focused, he began to recognize where he was.

First, the sun shone in a lively manner like a sapient deep vase breathing deep fumes into the mouth of a cat. Second, the ground felt dependable yet soft like a man embracing his child. Third, the sky felt graceful like birds crafting and engraving curved blades with a performative approach. Lastly, hints of the night such as the flames of light marking each household nearby deepened the communal aspect of this small society. This could be compared to fresh charcoals thrown breezily into a furnace. In conclusion, this was the general atmosphere.

When looking around him, he couldn't help but appreciate his saviors for saving him.

To explore these saviors in detail, they ranged from bright colored skies to those who looked like they had been thrown off a roof or smacked against a ceiling. When it came to their appearances, they were functional and nondescript, and Matthew concerned himself only with pronounced details. Moving forward, several details that came to his mind were the lack of weapons that they held when compared to other adventurers in the vicinity, the excessive complaints of hating traveling, and the way they kept their distance from each other despite the apparent camaraderie in their conversations. When combining these details together, they hinted at a lack of committment to or compatibility with their traveling, combat-ready, and team-based profession.

But he didn't want to rely on his assumptions. Hopefully, he was wrong.

Meanwhile, the nearby palm trees and their vegetation-covered trunks caught Matthew attention for the rest of the time he was in the city, as did many of the other plants of the environment.

And soon, they left the village and returned home to the city. At the city, Matthew entered an inn, using the money he was given, and lay down to sleep. He wondered if the adventurers would abandon and throw him away. This was a perfunctory, sleepy thought, but it was a real concern.

Then, the next day, in a meeting at a cafe, Matthew was invited. "Progression," said the healer who had saved him from the goblins days ago. "Have you thought about it?" Her face and demeanor was soft-spoken and mild-mannered, telling nothing about her ambitions.

"Is that like a concept or what?" said Matthew, his eyebags a little weighty.

"Yes. But if you want, we have levels both in a staircase and in a system."

"What?"

"Yeah, if you just press your wrist here, and, of course, I'll have to make sure you actually receive it..." She was speaking in a step-by-step voice, tapping Matthew's wrist. "There!"

He saw a blue glow emerge from her hand and his wrist. "What happened?"

"You got the system level, so now, you can say [System]. And you'll be able to know exactly what your skill set is. Though, I'm afraid you're not actually skilled yet."

Matthew pretended to be offended, because he was sure that she misspoke.

She continued: "But what I'm saying is that you're still new to this all. So you shouldn't have any spells or skills and whatnot."

Matthew slowly spoke with a confused inflection, "Okay...?"

"Yeah, yeah, so basically, say [System]."

"[System]"

After a pregnant pause, Matthew shifted his attention from the middle of his view to the healer. "So what level am I?'

"Oh, it's not showing?"

"It doesn't show for me."

"Uh, that's a problem." She began speaking as if she was thinking out loud. "Is it because you didn't say it right?"

"[System]," Matthew repeated, glancing at the neutral expressions of the other adventurers around the healer.

He waited for a moment before the healer said, "Nothing?"

"Nothing," Matthew confirmed.

"W-what the hell is happening?"

"It's weird, no?" Matthew assumed that this was not normal.

"It's not weird. I mean, yes, it's weird, but why is it happening to you?"

"It's not supposed to happen to me?"

She interjected, "It's not supposed to happen until you're level 20. Are you level 20?"

"No... Maybe?"

"Yeah, you're not level 20. So there must be something else."

"What... do you think?"

"Death, what did you see earlier in the forecast?"

"It said that we have several troubles passing us today," said Deathbringer, walking up.

"Is it that bad based on the tone?"

"No, it was actually optimistic."

"Then what?"

"I-it could be the broken tulips from the other day in the mission."

"Which one?" She sounded frustrated. "Sorry..." She softened her tone. "Which one?"

"It was the one with the 'Barkada.'"

"If it's that, then I don't see why that should still apply the same mark effect on us right now."

"Matthew, do you know about this?" said the healer.

"No... Not that I know of?" Matthew said, beginning to frown.

"If you don't get this finished, you won't be able to go with us to the dungeon steps."

"Dungeon... steps?"

"Yeah. There's a dungeon steps nearby. It's just spawned, so we wanted you to come. But now, I'm thinking that it won't be possible today, sorry. It's just that your [System]—Oh, I brought up mine... Closing it... It's just that your system is broken, and we should fix it. But we don't know how. Can you be patient while we ask our friends and contacts about this? You can sit down. I'm going to have a messenger visit the people I know. Don't worry. It will only take a couple days. The messenger will be taking the speed boost. Of course, if you have any questions, just ask Deathbringer. He knows everything I know and more."

"Sure!" Matthew said in an optimistic tone to shield himself from the lingering mood.

After the healer left, he sheepishly asked Deathbringer what her name was.

Deathbringer said, "Sophia."

With the adventurers bantering as they carried crates past him, Matthew smiled endearingly.

In the meantime, Matthew and the adventurers were headed to a bazaar where they would be retailing vegetable and fruit supplies.

After the bazaar retailing ended, Matthew and the adventurers left.

Their next destination was a dungeon steps.