A/N: Sort of AU, but not really. They're still on the Grand Line, but…not. It'd not the kind of story that uses the same kind of literary emphasis as my other ones. It's more to get this idea out of my head. This might be hard to understand if you've never gamed before, but I'm drawing influences from things like Ragnarok Online and the dot hack series. I've been playing around with this idea a bit and haven't seen it done yet, so…here goes!

I hope you enjoy reading this. The first few chapters might be rough, since I'm trying to get more information in than anything else.

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There was something about being on the ship of one of the Grand Line's most wanted pirates that attracted adventure.

If that's what you wanted to call it.

Zoro wouldn't necessarily call it adventure, per se. It was more like a distraction while they waited for the next big thing to happen.

After all, video games were pretty lame, if you asked him.

For one thing, the strength of the character didn't even correspond to the player's own abilities. You could be the freaking 120 million beri Pirate Hunter and be owned because your character was still level one. Plus, it was considered as poor sportsmanship to throttle your opponent in real life if they kicked you out of the ring with a one-hit KO. Several times in a row. Furthermore, it wasn't as graphic as real life.

His complaints with the whole system definitely did not come from the fact that he had been utterly ground up and spat out while playing Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six against Usopp. Or that Luffy had just hadoukened him to 0 HP in Street Fighter. Hell, even the degrading loss to Sanji while playing Cooking Mama (how did they even manage to convince him to play that sissy game?) wasn't part of it. [1]

At least, that's what he continued to tell himself over and over again as he gritted his teeth and continued to pump iron. Now that's what he was good at. Being strong.

Zoro cursed the traveling salesman who had convinced them to buy the damned thing.

"It's amazing!" the man had cooed, tenderly holding up the game console like an infant. "This GLGS—Grand Line Gaming System—can play games from all over the Grand Line! If you buy our product now, you'll get these games for fifty percent off the regular price as well as a chance to purchase our latest games while on your travels! It's a foolproof way to keep yourself entertained while on those long, arduous trips!"

"Nami! We have to buy this!" Luffy had insisted. When she glared at him for even suggesting that they use her precious money, he pulled out the puppy dog look. "Please?"

She capitulated. He cheered.

"Kuso…" Zoro muttered. "Everyone else has their little specialty game, but here I am stuck trying to figure out the difference between the 'A' and 'B' button functions. How the hell does Luffy remember all those combos?" As he grumbled to himself, he felt something hard strike him on the top of his head. Cursing and rubbing his green mop of hair, he picked up the object that had fallen from the sky, and spied a messenger bird flying away.

"'The World'?"

Zoro looked at the small box, emblazoned only with those two words in some archaic script. He opened it to find a small cartridge that would fit in the slot of the GLGS. He shrugged; the newer games they had had been delivered in this manner, so it was nothing unusual. Maybe he'd have more luck with this. Walking into the galley, he found Luffy prancing around a weeping Usopp while cheering in victory. When his captain spied the small box that Zoro carried, he whooped.

"What's that, Zoro? Is it another game? Let's play!" Luffy exclaimed, wrapping himself around Zoro's torso in a serpentine manner. He tugged the box out of Zoro's hands and began to try and read the instructions before sighing and giving it to Robin. "What does this say, Robin?" he asked plaintively.

She read the instructions on the inside of the box. "Okay, captain-san. It says…'Welcome to The World. Come and join a realm full of adventure, danger, and fun! Compatible for up to eight players.' There isn't anything else," she said with a shrug.

Luffy looked around excitedly, counting on his fingers. "We've got eight people," he said in excitement. "Let's play!"

"Wait, captain-san. There's a line of fine-print here…it says that the latest three-dimensional headgear is required to play for all participants, and that any injuries sustained shall not be the liability of the GLGS company. Unfortunately, we lack the headgear," she said apologetically. [2]

Zoro stood and turned to the door. "They might have delivered some on deck. This one fell from the sky, so maybe…" He went to the deck of the Thousand Sunny and was not disappointed. A large crate marked "FRAGILE" had landed on the soft grass of the deck's lawn, and he dragged it inside. "Here we go."

"What about the part that was talking about injuries?" Chopper asked tremulously.

Luffy laughed in a carefree way. "You'll be here with us, right? As long as our doctor's with us, we'll be fine!"

"That doesn't make me happy, asshole!"

"Someone should keep watch, just in case there's trouble," Sanji said. "We wouldn't want the Marines to drop in while we're playing videogames. That would just be pitiful. I can just imagine the headlines now…"

Franky raised his hand. "I'll keep watch. Don't worry, I'm not into the whole videogame thing. I'll let you guys know if anything's up, okay?" He rose and left, presumably to the crow's nest.

Once everyone was hooked up, Zoro picked up the game and stuck it into the slot, and then pressed Start. He pulled on his helmet just in time to see the introduction to the game.

Wearing the helmet provided a whole new perspective. It was as though they had stepped onto a new island; the screen provided the sights, sounds, and even smells of their new surroundings. At first, everything was black, and Zoro was unsure as to whether or not the game was operating properly. When the words "The World" flashed in front of him in bright red letters, he knew that it was working.

The darkness faded away into a grassy field, and he found that he was alone in the field. The air shimmered in front of him, and a person appeared in the form of what could only be described as a small sprite. The sprite—who turned out to be a woman—smiled serenely and said in a smooth, musical voice, "Name." Zoro stared for a moment, then started and said, "Roronoa Zoro." He heard the others saying their own names, and wondered if they were going through the same process. The sprite repeated his name, and when Zoro nodded the sprite said, "Requesting approval for screening." Now, he definitely didn't know what that meant, but he might as well do it.

"Approval granted," he said. She smiled and began to shimmer again.

"Prepare for combat."

"Wait, what?" Zoro said in alarm, seeing the sprite morph into a monstrous ogre. He took a deep breath, and began to experimentally tap the buttons on the controller in his hand. Somehow, he managed to grasp the controls intuitively—there was something about being faced with a giant monster that made you value your life enough to teach yourself how to move—and wished that he could use his swords. When the monster lunged after him, he managed to avoid the charge and struck out at the beast. He was surprised to find himself actually being physically affected by the jarring motions, but quickly forgot about it when he found an array of weapons floating in the air. "Katana…katana…" he muttered to himself, and grinned in delight when he found three suitable ones. He grabbed them, and decimated the beast. However, he noticed that his body was unusually unresponsive and weak.

"Screening complete," a familiar voice said, and the sprite rose from the bloody remains of the ogre. "Melee fighter. Physical attributes: strong. Intelligence: low. Weapon of choice: katana."

Zoro grumbled when he heard the sprite commenting on his intelligence.

"Please choose your avatar," the sprite continued, waving a hand and conjuring several body forms in midair. Zor perused them carefully and finally found a body that was muscular enough for him without looking like Oz. He pointed to the body and was a little freaked out when the bodies disappeared, to be replaced with a row of floating heads.

"This is way too weird..." he muttered to himself, choosing details that went from facial structure to nose type. "I wonder if Usopp managed to find a nose long enough for him?"

"Please choose your colors," the sprite said, bringing up a rainbow of palettes. "Skin tone first."

"Hm, that tan color looks about right. Hair?" Zoro asked, and the sprite nodded. Zoro hesitated. "I could change my hair color...eh, whatever. I like looking like a marimo. I mean I like my green hair, damnit! That one," he pointed.

"'Roronoa Zoro,' are you in possession of any Devil Fruit abilities?"

"Hell, no."

The sprite continued to speak. "Processing…'Roronoa Zoro' will be born as a level one novice. You will be provided with your weapon of choice: katana and will level with elevated Physical levels and deflated Intelligence levels. If you are willing to proceed, please indicate with 'Yes' or 'No.'"

Zoro sighed, and then said, "Yes." He might as well get on with the game.

The grassy field disappeared, and he heard the sprite say, "Welcome to The World…"

In place of a field, Zoro found himself in a forest. He looked around and found himself to be alone again, and searched for some kind of instruction. He nearly shouted when words began to form in the air directly in front of his face.

"Welcome, 'Roronoa Zoro.' To determine your class, please locate the farmer to the west. To level up, proceed to the field in the south. For more tutorials, say 'Help.'"

Zoro trudged away from the words, muttering "Damned videogames," as he walked away. He had intended to find the farmer, but found himself in the middle of yet another grassy field. He saw a group of other players, and trudged up to them.

"Is that Zoro?"

"It's gotta be him! Look at those katana!"

"Leave it to the marimo to be the last one here."

Zoro looked around and realized that he had found the rest of his crew. While their bodies were the same, they all wore different clothing from what they wore in the real world. Looking down, he saw that he was also garbed in the same plain slacks and tunic made from rough cloth as they were, and grinned as he saw the three swords by his side. He saw Nami hefting a large staff and Usopp hoisting a gun by his side, but the others were unarmed. He chuckled when he saw that Chopper was in his reindeer form—the Grand Line Gaming System must have included information about Devil Fruits.

"So what the hell are we doing here?" Zoro asked, looking around.

Nami rolled her eyes. "Didn't you listen to the tutorial?" Zoro shook his head. "Figures. Well, we're here to level up so we're not entirely helpless. After we reach level ten we can go and talk to the farmer about our jobs. So, let's go find some monsters!"

"M-m-monsters?!" Usopp said in alarm, looking around. "Where?"

A shriek from up above called their attention to the sky. "It appears as though we are about to fight our first monsters, longnose-kun," Robin said, crossing her arms. A large flock of birds was coming after them, hooked beaks poised for the attack.

"Can you use your ability, Robin?" Nami said in surprise, gripping her staff.

"Yes," the archeologist responded simply. "But I can also do this. Fire!" Several of the birds were enclosed in a fiery embrace and disappeared in a poof of feathers. Zoro saw several small bags fall from the sky, but ignored it as the first wave of birds reached him. He managed to cut down quite a few of them, and it wasn't long until the ground was covered with feathers and small bags. He picked one up and gaped as he saw gold coins spill from it.

"Gold?" he said incredulously, biting a piece. It appeared to be real.

Quick as a flash, all the bags disappeared and Nami looked very satisfied. Words appeared above her head that said, "'Nami' has earned 132 gold!"

"That's not fair, Nami!" Luffy whined, picking up a feather and putting it in his hair experimentally. He looked lost without his straw hat, which hadn't carried over in the game. The words "'Monkey D. Luffy' has obtained (1) feather" formed over his head as the feather disappeared with a 'poof.' Luffy, Usopp, and Chopper immediately began running around, collecting feathers and laughing as they saw them disappear.

Zoro shook his head at their antics and suddenly felt a warmth enveloping his body; judging from the expressions of the rest of the crew, they were going through the same sensations as well. A burst of light emanated from his body, and the words "'Roronoa Zoro' has leveled up" popped up over his head. He grinned, feeling refreshed and a little more like himself.

"So this is leveling up, huh? C'mon, ero-cook, I bet I can reach level 10 before you can."

"You're on, marimo!"

The two of them ran through the field, searching for more monsters. The other Strawhat Pirates followed at a more reasonable pace. The first monster they stumbled upon was a small, round manju. [3]

"Are we supposed to eat this or kill it?" Zoro said skeptically, seeing the little manju smile at him. "Oh my god, it smiled. Manju isn't supposed to smile. Rice cakes are supposed to be eaten, right?"

Sanji laughed and reached down the pet the round blob that hopped back and forth. "C'mon, you can't possibly eat this cute little—ow!" The manju bit him, and hopped away. "I'll kill you, you shitty manju! I'll grill you until you're nice and crispy!" he shouted, running after it.

It wasn't long until they saw the familiar flash of light and the words "'Sanji' has leveled up."

---

"Finally, level ten!" Luffy cheered, clapping his sticky hands. He had resorted to eating rather than just killing the living rice cakes that ran rampant everywhere.

"Let's go find that farmer, then," Zoro said, walking in what he believed was the right direction. He heard sniggers and turned around. "What?"

"Zoro…it's that way," Nami said with a small smile. "Leave it to the navigator, okay?"

They found the farmer sitting against a wall, and Luffy ran up to him excitedly. "I'm level ten! What does that mean?"

The farmer looked at them and said, "Congratulations on reaching level ten. Please indicate your class of choice."

"Help," Nami said, and a tutorial flashed in front of her. "Is everyone paying attention? Good. Requesting: Class Guide."

Immediately, words began to play on an invisible slideshow. "Class Guide. Upon reaching level ten, you may choose one primary class and one secondary class. The screening process has already predetermined what class types are available to you. For more information, please request 'Class Guide: personal.'"

Nami grinned and turned around. When she saw that several of the men (including Luffy and Zoro) were still mystified, she sighed. "Here, I'll help you."

Eventually, they managed to straighten everything out. Nami cleared her throat and said, "I'll begin. Just follow my lead. Do you remember your classes? Good." She turned to the farmer. "Requesting class change."

"Please state name and intent," the farmer responded mechanically.

"Name: Nami. Intent: primary class mage, secondary class thief," Nami said confidently, waiting for the farmer to respond.

"Request granted, 'Nami.'"

She turned to the others and grinned cheekily. "See? It's so easy that you'd have to be an idiot not to understand."

"Perhaps I should go," Robin said. "Just in case they need another example. Requesting class change."

"Please state name and intent."

"Name: Nico Robin. Intent: primary class mage, secondary class acolyte."

"Request granted, 'Nico Robin.'"

"Oh! I want to go next!" Chopper squealed, hopping up and down excitedly. "Requesting class change! Bypass questions," Chopper said quickly, eager to get it over with. The farmer nodded, and Chopper continued. "Name: Tony Tony Chopper. Intent: primary class acolyte, secondary class brawler."

"Request granted."

"Requesting class change. Bypass questions. Name: Sanji. Intent: primary class brawler, secondary class merchant."

"Request granted."

"Requesting class change. Bypass questions. Name: Usopp. Intent: primary class gunslinger, secondary class mage."

"Request granted."

Luffy and Zoro looked at each other. "You go first," they said simultaneously.

"You're captain, so you get the honor of going first," Zoro said immediately.

"I'm captain, and I outrank you, so I say that you go first," Luffy countered.

"Damn. Okay. Uh…requesting class change," Zoro said hesitantly.

"I don't think you should bypass the questions, either," Sanji said sagely.

"Shut up, ero-cook."

"Marimo."

"Please state name and intent," the farmer interrupted them. He sounded awfully annoyed for an NPC. [4]

"Name: Roronoa Zoro. Intent: primary class swordsman, secondary class…" He paused, unable to choose. "…ninja."

"Request granted."

"That's so cool! I want to be a ninja, too!" Luffy exclaimed.

"You can't, baka. Your screening process doesn't allow it," Nami said, smacking him. "C'mon, hurry up. I want to go on to the next step."

"Ow, okay. Requesting class change. Bypass questions." The others gasped in shock; was Luffy capable of remembering what to say? "Name: Monkey D. Luffy. Intent: primary class brawler, secondary class—"

"Error. Character 'Monkey D. Luffy' has no secondary class available," the farmer interrupted. "First request granted."

"What the hell?" Luffy said angrily, reaching out to punch the man.

"Luffy, you can't harm the NPC," Nami said in exasperation. "You could get cited or something."

Luffy let his hand fall. "But why can't I choose another class?" he asked plaintively.

"Captain-san, I believe you can always choose another one later on in the game," Robin said quietly. "You'll just be stronger in your primary class."

"Hm…alright, then. Yosh! Where will we go next?" he said, quickly getting over the incident.

"Next location?" Nami asked the farmer.

"Please proceed to the City of Lotus. A map will be provided." The NPC paused, then said, "Requesting approval for finalization of class changes."

Nami looked around and said, "Is everyone okay with what you have? Except for Luffy," she said, ignoring her pouting captain. "Okay. Request granted."

Zoro looked down and saw his clothes disappearing and yelped in alarm. It wasn't as though he was ashamed of his body—actually, he kind of relished the fact that he had the body of a god—but definitely didn't want the others to see what he had to offer down there. Not that he was ashamed of that, either. He was relieved when he saw that he had been left with a loincloth on and that clothes were reappearing on his body. He now wore clothing that mixed the loose hakama of a samurai with the tighter clothing of a ninja. Smoky black and green cloth enveloped him from head to toe, and he wore soft leather boots that laced up his shin with hard shin-guards. His swords were fastened at the waist with a broad strip of cloth not unlike a haramaki, and his shirt flowed like the top of a kimono and was open in the front. All in all, very comfortable.

Zoro turned and saw that similar things had happened to the rest of the crew, although Sanji was writhing on the ground with a nosebleed—a virtual nosebleed?—after seeing Nami and Robin in their undergarments. ("'Sanji' has lost five Virtue Points")

Luffy looked at himself closely, turning around in vain while trying to see what the back of his outfit looked like. He wore a set of loose-fitting brown martial arts pants and shirt, the latter which was closed by a long belt. His sandaled feet slapped comfortably in the grass, and he grinned as he stretched experimentally. The rough clothing adapted well to his abilities. "Hey Nami, where's that city?"

Nami turned to him, her long orange robes rustling as she moved. She wore the typical heavily embroidered mantle of a mage, complete with hood, but it was unbuttoned and revealed the tight garb of a thief underneath—soft-soled shoes for silent steps, cropped brown shorts with pockets and chains to which she could fasten her tools, and a tight top to minimize rustling if needed. "It's a shame that the robe will give me away if I try to steal anything, but I suppose I could always take it off…hey Luffy, did you know that you have tattoos now?" she said in surprise. Indeed, he had two spindly red tattoos around each arm that ran across his torso in a spiraling pattern.

"Sugee! You do too, Nami!" he exclaimed, pointing to her face.

She touched one cheek softly; two thin auburn slashes were on each cheek. "Request coordinates: City of the Lotus." A translucent map materialized in thin air, which she perused curiously. "It's not far to the northeast. Shall we go?"

"Hai, Nami-swan!" Sanji cried jubilantly. He pranced towards her in his own loose garb similar to Luffy's. However, his were more refined and made of dark blue silk rather than the coarse brown sackcloth that Luffy's were made of, and he wore solid leather laced shoes rather than sandals. "Are you ready, Robin-chwan?"

Robin nodded, her long purple robes swirling around her. They were an almost violent purple hue, with silver thread tracing the shapes of constellations around it. It was of a lighter make than the heavy mantel that Nami wore, and buttoned halfway down to allow the bottom to flap freely. Underneath the robe she wore a simple button-down shirt and a skirt. She also sported a thin violet triangle adjacent to each of her eyes.

They marched on.

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A/N: Here's some information that I left in brackets…

[1] Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six is a shooting game. Street Fighter is a…well…fighting game. I mean, you all know 'hadouken' right? And I've never played Cooking Mama before but it seems to fit Sanji, since he wears that pink Doskoi Panda apron around.

[2] The headgear was taken from .hack. It's like this thing that wraps around your eyes so you can't see anything except the game.

[3] I've seen the manju monster in Ragnarok and Water Margin. I think it's kinda cute, heh. Small and pink, with a leaf on its head. The pink ones are Porings, and the blue ones are…Pourings. I think they have metallic ones too. But they hop around and stuff, and most of them are generally weak.

[4] NPC: Non-player character. They're controlled by the game, and are usually guides or merchants and the like. In other words, this farmer isn't another player—he's a part of the game.