He couldn't believe what he was seeing—it felt like he was inside one of the JRPGs he loved so much. In front of him, various types of humanoids passed by, ranging from humans and dwarves to elves and wolf-men. The place bustled with activity: carts rolled by, knights in armor rode horses, mages in robes walked calmly, and citizens wore medieval clothes.
In the sky, several kilometers away, there were clouds, beams of light, and giant floating islands, indicating that other cities—built with structures unlike anything Kai had ever seen—were nearby.
All of this would've been enough to captivate the attention of the young man who had just appeared there, if not for the massive system message in front of him, written in white letters over a purple background, announcing what awaited him.
"I have to become a villain? What kind of madness is this? Am I hallucinating?" He looked around, pinched himself, and started jumping. "Could this really be a dream? Everything feels so vivid, and I can't seem to wake up. And what's up with this giant message in front of me? No one's even looking at it—am I the only one who can see it?"
He started walking around and quickly realized he was in the center of a large city, where people of various races and abilities gathered.
For some reason, I can understand exactly what they're saying, as if they're speaking English. I can also read the signs on the buildings, even though the characters look like weird symbols.
Scratching his head a bit, Kai muttered, "System, tell me what's going on." Nothing happened. "Err… System, open." A large purple notification window appeared in front of him.
[Welcome to the System. You can access your profile or open the available quest menu. What would you like to do?]
"Profile? I'll go with that. Access my profile, please."
[User Profile:
Name: Kairo.Age: 18 years.Level: 1.EXP: 0/9Class: none.HP: 10 MP: 10STR: 3 AGI: 2 VIT: 1 INT: 1 PER: 1]
"Hmm, let me see," he tried touching the window, but his fingers passed right through it, as if it wasn't really there, "tell me more about the level."
[Level is the main measure of a person's growth. By increasing your level, you gain points to invest in attributes. Additionally, leveling up unlocks the use of equipment and access to specific dungeons and quests.]
"Main measure of a person's growth? So I'm not the only one with a level?" The System didn't respond. "Apparently, you only react to specific commands. Okay." He looked around and noticed some people giving him strange looks.
Maybe talking to myself out loud isn't a good idea here either.
He went quiet, trying to decide what to do, as the notification window disappeared on its own. He followed the movement of a carriage out of the city, where two guards in heavy iron gear stood. Outside was a vast green plain. Many adventurers gathered on the edge of the city. He walked toward the outskirts, and the System reacted.
[WARNING: Enemy nearby.]
Enemy?
His heart raced. He raised both hands and one knee, ready to execute the first muay thai technique that came to mind, which also put a nearby group of adventurers on alert—but nothing happened.
"Lightning bolt!"
A small, cheerful, gooey green creature exploded into a thousand pieces after a mage cast a lightning spell a few meters away. The group beside him burst into laughter. Embarrassed, Kai walked a few more steps outside the city.
Was that the enemy this stupid system was warning me about? A slime?
"How do I level up?"
[Experience (or EXP) is a value that determines how much a character has fought. The higher your level, the more EXP is required to level up. You can gain EXP by defeating monsters or completing certain quests.]
"What's the maximum level, and how much EXP is needed to reach it?"
No response.
"Argh, this thing not answering is really annoying. I don't even know what your commands are. Can I really only learn more about my stats and available quests?" The notification window remained unchanged, and Kai sighed. "Tell me more about classes, System."
[Classes are like professions and act as a progression path with unique abilities. You can choose your path starting from level 10. Once chosen, a class cannot be changed. For example, a Mage cannot switch to Swordsman.]
"So it's a really important choice then, but I can't choose any class yet." He thought about the group of adventurers and looked at the ones who had just laughed at him near the city gate. He noticed unique traits among them. "If I'm deducing correctly, there are at least two swordsmen, one mage, and one healer there. By the way, why are there so many groups over there?"
"Anyway, that doesn't matter. How does HP and SP work?"
[HP (Health Points) is the character's life, shown as a green (or red) bar below the character. If you're in a party, you can also see your teammates' HP bars. For monsters, the HP bar is shown in purple. HP increases based on your level, class, STR, equipment, and passive and active abilities.]
[SP (Soul Points) are points needed to use abilities, shown as a blue bar below the green HP bar. SP increases based on your level, class, INT, equipment, and passive and active abilities.]
"Lastly, explain each of the attributes, from STR to PER, please."
[Strength (STR) is mainly used by melee fighters. It directly influences basic attacks and the physical power of weapons, and also boosts endurance, stamina, and HP. The higher the Agility (AGI), the less time it takes to perform an attack. This stat is also used to reduce skill cooldown times. It also affects movement speed.]
[Vitality (VIT) increases HP and defense. It also boosts resistance to negative status effects. Intelligence (INT) enhances a character's mental power, improving magic attacks and reducing cast times.]
[Dexterity (DEX) increases the physical damage of ranged attackers—those using bows, firearms, whips, or musical instruments—and also improves evasion. Perception (PER) refers to the ability to understand the world through the senses: touch, hearing, vision, smell, taste, profile analysis, and power awareness.]
"Profile analysis and power awareness? Anyway, I think I understand the basics. Now I just need to see what quests are available. System, open the quest menu."
[Tutorial Quest:
Steal something precious from someone (0/1).Reward: 9 EXP.Time limit: 10 minutes.Penalty for failure: extreme fatigue.]
"What?"