Alright, Sparky, you've survived the initial shock and hopefully figured out which end of your new body is up. Excellent. Now, let's address the fundamentals often glossed over by protagonists too busy unlocking their Infinite Sword Glitch: Food, Shelter, and Not Getting Shanked Over Pocket Lint.
Sustenance Acquisition: That growling in your stomach isn't your nascent beast tamer ability awakening; you're hungry. Options typically include:
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Foraging/Hunting: Are you in a forest? Great! Enjoy playing "Guess the Poison Berry!" or "Is That Rabbit Fluffy or Rabid?" Requires Survival Skills you likely don't have. Success rate correlates inversely with how cool the local monsters look.
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Working: The honest approach! Find a menial job. Muck out stables, wash dishes, deliver packages. Low pay, low respect, high chance of encountering quest-giving NPCs or bullies. Requires basic communication skills and not looking like you just crawled out of a sewer (difficult, we know).
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Begging: Dignity is a luxury. Find a high-traffic area, look pathetic (shouldn't be hard), and hope for pity. Effectiveness varies wildly based on local attitudes towards vagrants and your LUK stat. May result in being "recruited" by the local thieves' guild (see 'Shanked Over Pocket Lint').
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Theft: High risk, potentially high reward (a moldy bread crust!). Requires Stealth, Dexterity, and a LUK stat that doesn't actively try to trip you into the path of oncoming guards. Getting caught can lead to fines, imprisonment, or impromptu amputation. Proceed with extreme caution (or find a save point, if your System is premium tier).
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Adventurer Guild Quests: The classic! "Kill 10 Rats," "Collect 5 Slime Cores." Requires joining a Guild (fees may apply), basic combat competency (or a willingness to be bait), and accepting that your life is now measured in EXP. Often the fastest way to level up and acquire non-ragged clothing.
Shelter Procurement: Sleeping in alleys increases your chances of waking up sans kidneys.
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Inns/Taverns: The standard. Requires currency (see 'Sustenance Acquisition'). Quality ranges from "Surprisingly Clean" to "Infested Nightmare Fuel." Often double as quest hubs and rumor mills. Beware of exorbitant 'Otherworlder Tax' if you stick out.
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Squatting: Find an abandoned shack, ruin, or unoccupied corner of the sewers. Minimal comfort, high risk of encountering squatters of the monstrous or gang-affiliated variety. Check for structural integrity before settling in.
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Joining Factions: Guilds, Temples, or even less savory organizations might offer lodging. Comes with obligations, rules, and potential betrayals. Read the fine print.
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The Great Outdoors: Only recommended if you have high Survival skills or enjoy being eaten.
Basic Social Blending & Threat Avoidance: You stick out like a sore thumb dipped in neon paint. Try to mitigate this.
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Listen more than you speak. Absorb local customs, slang, and who seems to be in charge.
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Avoid eye contact with heavily armed individuals, anyone wearing too much black leather, or creatures that drool acid.
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Don't flash System screens or talk about "levels," "stats," or "Earth." You'll either be labelled a lunatic or dissected by a curious mage.
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Currency: Figure out what people use for money before you try to buy something. Offering Monopoly money rarely works.
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Guards: Assume they are underpaid, overworked, and possess zero sense of humor. Avoid interaction unless necessary.
This tale has been unlawfully lifted without the author's consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.
Remember: Your goal is to survive long enough to become the overpowered protagonist, not to become cautionary tale #7 in the next edition of this guide. Now, find some grub and try not to die. Again.
(Footnote: If you encounter glowing mushrooms in a dark cave, DO NOT LICK THEM. We cannot stress this enough. The resulting psychedelic trip rarely involves useful plot progression and frequently involves waking up naked in a goblin latrine.)
[Kevin's Story: Part 3 - Hunger Pangs and Horrible Luck]
The single hit point gained from the questionable water did little to quell the gnawing emptiness in Kevin's stomach. Sustenance acquired? Technically. Satisfied? Not even close. The [No Longer Utterly Clueless] title had vanished as promised, leaving his INT back at a measly 9. Brilliant.
He clutched the [Basic Healing Potion (Crude)]. Using it now felt like a waste. It smelled faintly of stagnant pond and regret. Better save it for when he was actually bleeding out, which, given his LUK of 3, felt imminent.
Okay, food. Real food. His eyes scanned the bustling street below again. The aroma of roasting meat from a nearby stall was both torturous and motivating. But the empty coin pouch felt heavier than lead. Work? He looked down at his rags. Who would hire him looking like this? Begging? The thought made his stomach churn almost as much as hunger. Theft...
He checked his skills again. [Petty Theft] (Lv. 2). You can palm a coin... sometimes. Requires DEX check. His DEX was 8, not terrible, but LUK 3 screamed "critical failure." Still... starvation was a powerful motivator.
Maybe he could use [Urban Navigation (Slums)] to find a less busy area, somewhere easier to... observe opportunities. He focused, trying to access the skill. A faint map-like overlay flickered in his vision, highlighting grimy shortcuts and shadowed alcoves on the surrounding buildings. It wasn't GPS, more like vague suggestions whispered by someone who knew the area.
"Okay, System, guide me somewhere... opportunistic?" he muttered.
He carefully climbed down a different, slightly less rickety ladder into another narrow alley, this one filled with overflowing refuse bins. The smell was atrocious, but it was deserted. Progress? He followed the vague impulses from the navigation skill, ducking under low-hanging laundry lines and squeezing between damp stone walls.
Suddenly, another wave of dizziness washed over him, stronger than before. A flash of someone else's memory – Finn's memory – exploded behind his eyes.
Cold cobblestones pressing against his cheek. The reek of cheap ale. Rough laughter. A glimpse of a burly arm swinging something heavy. Not the alley he was currently in, but nearby... a specific tavern sign, the 'Salty Siren', swinging crookedly... then darkness.
Kevin stumbled, leaning against a wall, gasping. The memory was brief, violent, and deeply unpleasant. So Finn was murdered. Near a place called the Salty Siren. And the motive felt... casual? Like a drunken brawl gone wrong, or maybe silencing a witness? Fragmented memories, indeed. Good luck, the System had said. No kidding.
Shaking his head to clear the phantom pain, he peeked around the corner at the end of the alley. He was behind a row of shops now. A baker, his face red and furious, was shouting at a small, urchin-like figure darting away down the street, clutching a stolen loaf of bread.
"Thieving rats!" the baker roared, shaking his fist before stomping back inside.
Kevin's eyes darted to the ground near the bakery's back door. In the commotion, a small, slightly misshapen roll had fallen from a basket and now sat forlornly on the dusty cobblestones. It wasn't much, but it was food. Unattended food.
This wasn't even theft, was it? More like... opportunistic scavenging. His heart pounded. He glanced around. No one was looking. The baker was inside, the urchin long gone.
He took a deep breath and darted out, snatching the roll. It felt blessedly real in his hand. Warm, even! He scrambled back into the alley's shadows, triumph surging through him.
CRACK!
Kevin yelped as his foot caught on an unseen loose cobblestone – damn you, LUK 3! – sending him sprawling. The roll flew from his grasp, landing with a soft plop directly into a puddle of indescribably foul green liquid.
He stared at the soggy, contaminated roll in utter despair.
Ding!
[Skill Usage Failed: [Opportunistic Scavenging] (Unofficial Skill) - Failure due to external LUK interference.]
[Status Effect Triggered: [Minor Despair] - Motivation slightly decreased. Everything seems futile.]
[Suggestion: Consume [Basic Healing Potion (Crude)]? Current HP: 7/15. Minor scrapes acquired from fall.]
"No, I'm not wasting the potion on scrapes!" Kevin hissed at the air, frustration boiling over. He pushed himself up, ignoring the sting in his palms and the renewed ache in his stomach, now accompanied by the bitter taste of failure. "Stupid system, stupid luck, stupid world..."
He slumped against the wall, the [Minor Despair] effect surprisingly potent. Maybe... maybe begging wasn't so bad after all? Or maybe he should just find that Salty Siren tavern and see if anyone looked like they enjoyed clocking people with heavy objects. It wasn't much of a plan, but it was more appealing than eating puddle-bread.
First things first, though. He needed to get out of this alley before the baker came out to empty his slops bucket onto Kevin's head. His luck being what it was, it felt like a statistical certainty.