As the sun is nearing the horizon during it's descent, I arrive at the edge of the forest. I had managed to find a beaten path and followed it. At the edge of the forest, the trees are bit more sparse and the path ahead goes through a beautiful plain.
This is a seriously awesome world. Not only can I grow with the power of the System, I get to live in such a vibrant and strange land!
Exiting the forest fully and running out into the grassy plain, I stop and stand with my arms thrown into the air and my legs spread wide. A tasteful beam of light covers my nethers as I take in a deep inhale.
[Wade?] "What a glorious world!"
[???] "Ueh!? A pervert!"
A voice? Huh? I look to my right and... there's a group of three people. Two women. One man. It seems the one who spoke was the shorter woman.
[???] "Yup. Seems to be a pervert."
I receive a look from the taller woman that says 'just die' or something along those lines. My heart...
[???] "What kind of weirdo just prances naked around the forest? Gross..."
Sir! How dare you!? I pranced in the grassy plain, not the forest! The forest actually kinda sucked!
[Wade?] "Ahem... Greetings! Sorry for the scare!"
As I greet the trio, I equip my turtle shell shield and hold it in front of my crotch. I try my best to smile despite my embarrassment.
[Wade?] "I've been lost in the forest with no clothes, money, food, or water. I just finally made it out after two days. Could you point me to the nearest town?"
[Short Woman] "They'd never let a pervert like you into town!"
[Tall Woman] "They have a policy against nudity."
[Man] "...Still gross..."
In the same order, they retort and don't assist me.
[Wade?] "Ugh... Okay. Uh... Then have a good day?"
I turn to leave and move the shell to my butt to hide my cheeks from them as I leave, but then I hear the man call out.
[Man] "Hold on... I'd be doing the world a disservice to let you leave like that. I have extra trousers. Just take these and don't assault people with your nudity anymore, sir."
[Wade?] "Uh... I'll ignore all these off comments and just accept the trousers. Thank you very much..."
I scurry over to the man after he fetches a pair of trousers from his pack. Turtle shell over my junk, of course. He extends his arms out and avoids getting too close to me as I snatch the trousers from him and hastily put them on. Both girls flinched away from me while hiding their eyes.
These trousers aren't anything super special. A beige-colored linen that's light and breathable. They're a little loose on me, but I tighten them with the drawstring.
[Wade?] "Ah... Finally... Pants..."
[Man] "You really were just stranded naked, then...?"
[Wade?] "Sir, why are you all so certain that I'm just a pervert!?"
[Trio in unison] "Gut feeling."
I hang my head, dejected.
What about me makes them so sure I'm a pervert?
[Man] "If you're trying to get to a town, just head east along the trail. You won't get there until the dead of night if you leave now, though."
The man speaks up again.
[Wade?] "Well I don't have many options right now."
[Man] "As an apology for all of us calling you a gross weirdo pervert-"
[Wade?] "You added more adjectives!?"
[Man]"-I'd like to invite you to camp with us for the night."
The shorter girl shrieks in surprise, obviously rejecting the idea of camping with me.
[Short Woman] "What!? No! Never! I still think he's a pervert!
[Tall Woman] "Oh, come on. He actually seems interesting, even if he's weird."
[Wade?] "I can hear all of these insults, you know?"
[Man] "Come on, let's go set up camp. I'll cook something for dinner."
------------
I followed the trio for maybe ten minutes away from the path from earlier. They quickly assembled their camp nearby a boulder and a fallen tree. Quite convenient for these to be here, but I'll ignore that.
There's no tent for me, but I told them that it's okay. I can always sleep in a tree again. To that, they gave me quite a strange look in response.
However, we are now gathering around the campfire and waiting for a delightful looking stew to finish cooking. I'm sitting atop the boulder, a bit away from the campfire. The shorty is sitting on the fallen tree as far away from me as she can. The taller woman and the man are both closer to the fire as the man stirs the pot.
[Short Woman] "So, Mr. Pervert. Gonna introduce yourself? Or should I just call you Mr. Pervert forever?"
This shrimp is really just trying to piss me off, isn't she? With her stupid, pink hair that looks super soft. And her gross, perfect, porcelain skin. And her annoying, sexy, cinched waist and tight leather pants. And her obnoxious, low cut pink top that shows off just barely enough-
Wait... Am I totally a pervert?
[Wade?] "My name is Wade. And please stop calling me a pervert. It's not like I wanted to be lost and naked."
[Short Woman] "I don't know. Mr. Pervert might be a better name. Never heard a name like yours before."
[Wade?] "Oh yeah? Well what's yours then? Bet it's weirder than my name!"
[Tiss] "Tissela von Claus. My friends call me Tiss. You can call me Lady von Claus."
[Wade?] "I'll just say Tissela."
While Tissela huffs and pouts at me, I look over at the other woman and the man.
[Wade?] "Can I ask your names, too?
[Rick] "Frederick Mason. Just call me Rick."
Rick seems like a friendly enough guy. The smile on his face while he stirs the stew is gentle enough that I've almost totally forgiven the extra adjectives. He's got lightly tanned skin, brown hair, and a bit of stubble. Rick almost is wearing a chainmail tunic, linen pants, and leather boots.
[Elyssia] "Elyssia Frostpetal."
No nickname, huh? And what's this? I never noticed before, but she has long pointy ears that extend out horizontally. An elf!? A real elf!?
Elyssia here is a tall, elegant beauty. She has dark, chocolatey skin, purple eyes, silver hair, and wears a royal blue robe with elegant gold trim. A statuesque and perfect goddess made flesh!
[Wade?] "So it's Tissela, Rick, and Elyssia. So are you three an adventuring party?"
[Rick] "Ah, not exactly. I'm a knight of the Claus Dukedom. Lady Tiss is the first daughter of Duke von Claus. Elyssia is a close friend of Tiss."
[Wade?] "Oh, Tissela's a noble? I apologize for my indecency earlier."
I bow my head and clap my hands above my head as I apologize.
[Tiss] "As long as you know your place, creep."
Creep seems like it's slightly better than Mr. Pervert. I'll take it.
[Wade?] "What brings a noble lady, her friend, and her knight to a forest?"
[Elyssia] "There's a bunch of adorable Savage Bunnies here in the forest. I wanted one as pet and planned to come here. I thought that Tiss might want one too!"
As Elyssia speaks of this so-called Savage Bunny, her face is beaming with delight and excitement. Tiss is still sitting a bit away, but I can see her make a similar face when thinking about these creatures.
I can only grimace while remembering a small bunny jumping at sonic speed and giving me the most vicious sack tap in history.
[Wade?] "So that thing was called a Savage Bunny, eh? What makes it so savage?"
[Elyssia] "Oh, they're known for being extremely territorial and will attack each other on sight. They're not very high level and not very strong, but they get into some bloody awful fights amongst each other."
[Wade?] "They sound just awful."
[Elyssia] "Anything but! They're so sweet and friendly to pretty much anything that isn't trying to hurt it. They make for wonderful companions."
Those demons!? I will never forgive that bunny for what it did!
[Wade?] "Well I wish you luck in your bunny hunt tomorrow."
[Rick] "Dinner's ready!"
And so it seems our conversation about the evil bunnies has come to an end and dinner has begun!
Rick ladles out stew into wooden bowls, puts a spoon in, and hands each bowl to us before serving himself. As each of them take a bite, they all seem rather satisfied. Everything I've eaten since coming to this world has been garbage quality.
Maybe I can use this moment to test something...
(Open Inventory)
I think those words and my Inventory appears before me. I glance over at the trio and none of them seem to notice. I guess they can't see the System window. I then take a look at my Nearby section.
Oh! What's this! Sir Rick is an excellent chef!? Hmmm... I wonder what his Cooking level is at... But first, I must taste this.
I spoon a bit off stew into my mouth. I make sure to get some beef, some potato, some carrot, and as much broth to still fit on the spoon. Once it hits my tongue, flavor explodes through my body. Succulent beef becomes my whole existence. I lay on a pillow of soft potato and carrot. I swim through river of this broth. A true masterpiece!
[Wade?] "Sir Rick, you are an excellent cook! I only make garbage. How can I get this great?"
[Rick] "Hm? The right tools help. Just using the right things will increase the quality of the dish. Seasonings, too. And if you use high quality ingredients, that helps... I guess my best advice is to cook a lot with the right tools and increase your level with your Cooking skill."
Aha! So others do have skills and levels! I wonder what the normal capabilities of people are in this world are.
[Tiss] "It's kinda strange for somebody coming out of the Bloodsoaked Forest to not know how to cook. It's a basic survival skill."
[Wade?] "The what-now forest?"
[Tiss] "Bloodsoaked Forest. This place is home to monsters that start at a high level on this side of the forest and are lower level near the lake in the center."
[Elyssia] "About a quarter mile in and you'll be in the territory of the Sanguine Wolf. It's the bloody color of their fur that became this forest's name. You didn't know?"
[Wade?] "I uh... I woke up by the lake, stayed there a day, then I just walked this way. I never saw any monsters."
[Trio in unison] "WHAT!?"