Paper Sails, an one piece fanfic

Hey guys, it is I, the Phoenix, back with a new story this time! While I know that you all might be angry at me for coming up with yet another new story instead of updating the ones I already have, which I'm close to finishing a few chapters of, this is actually meant to replace the now-removed Stardust Crusade in the story slots, and is actually my first collaboration fanfic!

Collaboration, you might ask?

Well, to be honest, I actually don't know much about One Piece. I've never watched it, and I barely know anything about it. And that's where the collaboration aspect of this story comes in.

This story is another one of my 'Unique' Gamer System stories, up there with the likes of Grand Eroge and the soon to be rewritten Lessons Learned. This time, the System is based off of a Storytelling Game, with me as the 'Main Character' and my friend and Beta for this story, Zaralann, being the Game Master.

What does that mean, exactly?

It means that the Game System is controlled exclusively by Zaralann, with things such as Objectives, Perks, Traits and Rewards completely being his idea and under his dominion while my role in the story is to 'play' through it, in a sense, as the gopher. That means even I don't know what might happen in the story, which is an interesting experience for sure!

I've never played anything like Dungeons and Dragons or those type of Games before, so this is probably the closest I'll ever get to that experience.

Basically, how this is going to work is that I'll watch the episodes corresponding to the Arc the story is in, and then write my own 'Playthrough' of it, which then gets graded by Zaralann, and depending on my assessment, I decide my next actions! He's also in charge of making sure I'm following canonical rules, and I'm confident he can catch anything that's against the rules of One Piece. It's kind of a reverse Friend-Insert, in a manner of speaking, or a slightly modded Quest fanfic.

So yeah, this is an interesting new experience. Kind of complicated but not anything too unwieldy.

Well, I don't really have much to say anymore, so without any ado, let's get on with the story!

Chapter 1 - Opening Act

"...e...y!"

Hm? Was someone calling me?

"...ou...ay?"

I began to stir, my consciousness returning as the sound seemed to get closer and closer.

However, it was murky, as if there was a fog hanging over me, muddling my mind.

I struggled to return to the land of the living until-

"Hey, are you okay?!" cried a voice from above me as something or someone shook me awake.

My eyes snapped open and I let out an involuntary sound akin to a small gasp as my faculties finally returned to me.

The salty smell of sea water invaded my nostrils, something which didn't make much sense because the last thing I remember was going to bed after completing the last of a brutal round of college exams.

Once my vision cleared, the first thing I saw was the person who had woken me up. She was a tall and slim girl with brown eyes and blond hair, wearing a blue T-shirt along with green and white shorts.

Next came my surroundings.

I was slumped against something rough and wooden, and after giving it a cursory glance, I realized that it was a dingy-looking rowboat that looked like it was from the 1700s. By the looks of things, I was on a boat and had drifted into some kind of port.

I say 'drifted' because I didn't see any oars in the boat with me, which was pretty telling.

But that information didn't make any sense! What the hell was I doing out at sea, when there was a freaking pandemic ravaging the World! I hadn't even left my house till last month, and that was only because college had reopened and I basically had no choice but to go!

There was no logical explanation to how I had ended up in this situation. I never drank even if I had hit the legal age, and I definitely didn't take any drugs. Plus, there was no way I was kidnapped because no one had broken into my neighborhood before, much less my house, and there was no particular reason for anyone to even attempt to, much less just to leave me adrift at sea on an antique rowboat.

So what the actual hell was coming on?

All this ran through my mind within the span of a few seconds, before the girl who had woken me up called to me again.

"Here, take my hand!" she called, and I nodded gratefully and complied, reaching out and grabbing the outstretched limb.

I was NOT prepared for what came next.

The slim girl who looked like she didn't have anything resembling muscle on her was able to pull me up and onto the pier she was standing on, with about the same amount of effort one used to carry a particularly unwieldy suitcase. For a few seconds, I couldn't say anything, because I was so stunned I could hardly speak. It might seem like I was overreacting from an outsider's perspective, but this girl who couldn't be more than 15-16 at the most was able to lift me, who weighed around 70 kgs, with one arm and a little bit of assistance from myself.

Just what was this girl eating?

I decided to shove that train of thought into the back of my head when I realized I was being rude to someone who had probably saved me when I was adrift at sea (which I still couldn't figure out the mystery behind, no matter how much I racked my brains).

"Thank you for saving me, Miss!" I said, giving a quick bow out of courtesy.

"Oh, it's nothing! I'm glad I could help." she said, shaking her head. "But what happened to you? Did you get attacked by Pirates at sea?"

I found it kind of odd, but when she said the word 'Pirate', her hands clenched into firsts and her face turned tense, almost angry. That implied that she was being dead serious, and wherever the hell I had ended up, Pirate attacks were an actual danger.

Where on Earth even was I? It's been centuries since pirates were active pretty much anywhere on the globe!

Wait, contemplation later, backstory first. What was I supposed to tell this girl exactly? Even I couldn't believe my current situation, which I didn't really know. Would she even believe me if I told her?

I needed more information before I could come up with an answer to her question. There was simply too much I didn't know right now.

"If you don't mind me asking first, Miss, where exactly is this place?"

She straightened up with a smile. "Sorry! My name is Silk, and this is the Town of Dawn, on Romanze Island in the East Blue!"

Um, what?

None of those locations were ringing any bells, because I'm pretty sure I would remember a place with such a lame naming convention. Sure, you could argue that there were tons of out-of-the-way third world lands, but I doubt an Island named Romanze was one of them. And what on Earth was the East Blue? The way she said it suggested that it was the name of some kind of region, but I'd never heard of it before.

It seemed ridiculous to even think about it... but was I not on Earth anymore?

*Ding*

The sound of a digital bell chime rang out, and suddenly the World grayed around me. Seagulls stopped their flight through the air, the waves lapping at the pier froze in the middle of their wake, and the girl in front of me was frozen with her mouth halfway open.

Only my own body retained any semblance of color; time had stopped completely for what looked like basically everyone and everything else within my line of sight.

At this point I was beginning to have a sneaking suspicion of what had happened, and those suspicions were confirmed when a pale blue Window decorated with black text appeared before me.

'Welcome!'

Oh no.

[Welcome to the wonderful World of 'One Piece', with endless seas and never-ending Adventures awaiting you at every corner! You have been granted a chance for your own Journey, a chance to fulfil the True Man's Dream! Your Compatibility Rating exceeded 80% so you were chosen for this wonderful opportunity! Now go and seek the most Impossible Dream of all in this beautiful World!
Condition: Reach Laugh Tale and acquire the One Piece.
Reward: Your Wish shall be granted!]

For a few moments, I just gaped at the Window, trying to process the information.

However, no matter how long I stared at it, the text didn't change. The World didn't return to normal. I wasn't back in my bedroom worrying about my upcoming finals.

The situation didn't change.

Worst part was that it made a lot of sense, surprisingly enough.

I'd already deduced that I was in some kind of Isekai situation, no doubt karma for writing fanfiction, but this new detail just connected the rest of the facts.

The girl who had pulled me ashore spoke as if Pirate attacks were common, and the name and location of this town and Island made no sense, until you made the connection that the 'Blue' in East Blue probably referred to an oceanic geographical division as opposed to one divided by landmasses like our Earth.

Honestly though, even if this was the One Piece World, I was no better off with this knowledge than I was without it.

After all, I never watched One Piece.

There were only three things I knew about One Piece;

1) The Setting was semi-modern, with technology being increasingly advanced in some areas while primitive in others, and Pirates were everywhere, many of them looking for the mysterious treasure of the late Pirate King Gold Roger, called the One Piece. Of course, with Pirates being a widspread problem, the main police force were the Marines, who served the World Government and were usually the bad guys because the Government was corrupt, because of course it was.

2) The protagonist is a dude named Luffy who has rubber powers and wants to become the next Pirate King. He has a crew called the Straw Hat Pirates, and goes on lots of adventures with them on his journey to find the One Piece. Or at least that's what the synopsis says.

3) The main powers in this World were from Devil Fruits; items which gave a single power in exchange for the user's ability to swim. Why they ate those Fruits when they literally sailed the oceans all the time, I didn't know. Maybe the promise of a unique power was just too much to resist. I heard that some of them were absurdly strong, though I didn't know any of these Fruits in particular, only that they were all universally disgusting.

All in all, not enough information to really be worth a damn.

Then there was this weird Gamer-esque Window that was floating in front of me. Considering I had the Isekai trope crossed off already, being a Gamer wasn't really enough to faze me.

The 'Goal' it had given me though...

It was obviously intended to get me involved with the plot, as opposed to just letting me spend my days at some rural village in relative peace. The 'Wish' was just bait, bait to get me to go after the most coveted item in this World.

After all, the anime was literally called One Piece, and I knew for a fact that everyone and their mother was after this treasure, for reasons varying from fame and fortune to shits and giggles. It was this same treasure that I needed to get in order to have any chance of returning home, back to the relatively peaceful life I'd led until literally a minute ago.

One thing was strange; why did I of all people have a high compatibility rating for One Piece? I was far from adventurous; a bookworm who ruled by logic. Having adventures and willingly heading into certain danger was not my modus operandi, and would probably be the last thing I would do. I didn't have any remarkable shonen qualities nor was I some sort of Date-A-Live Brand Harem Protagonist.

I was as bland as an ordinary schmuck from Earth could get.

Not to mention I knew nothing about sailing. I could easily operate a rowboat or a motorboat, but that was basically the extent of any naval knowledge I had.

How on Earth could I compete with the hundreds, if not thousands of people who had been preparing and risking their lives for the same treasure that I needed to find? This was also a shonen anime, which meant that there would be absurdly strong people who would stand in the way, most likely people with Devil Fruit powers. Just what kind of edge would I need to keep up with them?

Sure, one could argue that I was now a Gamer and that I had the key to ultimate power right in my hands, but I of all people would know that getting Gamer abilities did not equal omnipotence. Not all Gamer powers were born equal, as the Ritsuka Fujimaru I've written about in fanfiction can no doubt testify, and there was no guarantee that the 'powers', if I could even call them that, would be significant enough to help me survive the full brunt of a shonen anime World.

But... I didn't have a choice. In order to find a way back to Earth, I needed to find the One Piece. It was the only thing I could do. Sure, I could just find a nice town to settle down in and forget all about my past, but then that would just be giving up on the only shot I had at reclaiming the life that was stolen from me. And I wasn't raised a quitter.

So it was decided; I needed to find the One Piece, because otherwise I would never see my family again. This wasn't about fame, wealth or glory; this was about grasping the thing closest to my heart.

One might call me a fool for trusting the words of a random Window, which could all too easily just be a puppet for some ROB, but I simply didn't have any other leads. I had no idea whether items like the Holy Grail existed in this World, and all I had to go on was whatever this System promised me. All I could do is try my level best to seek the treasure of all treasures, and hope everything works out in the end. Because honestly, there was no other acceptable option.

'Resolve Acknowledged!
Loading Scenario...
Saga: East Blue
Arc: Romance Dawn
Chapter: 1'

Suddenly, the World returned to normal around me, the colors returning to my surroundings and time resuming its course.

It took me about a second to realize that Silk had just introduced herself to me, and it would be polite to return the favor, especially since I was a suspiciously stranded guy who had drifted to shore in a World where literally everyone on the high seas was a Pirate, a Marine, or affiliated with one of those two groups.

I was honestly surprised she didn't suspect me of being a Pirate, but I wasn't about to look a gift horse in the mouth.

"My name is Sparrow Jack, and I'm a doctor in training." I said, meeting her eyes. "I was leaving my home for the first time so I can further my studies, and I got caught up in a storm at sea. I don't quite remember everything that happened, but the next time I came to is when you woke me up."

Technically, most of that wasn't a lie, which is why I didn't even twitch when I said it. Except for the name. For some odd reason, I couldn't remember my real name, probably some Isekai bullshit now that I thought about it, so I just went with the first name that went to mind. And in a World of Pirates, there was only one name I could think to use.

Was it corny?

Yes.

Did I care?

Not really.

After all, Disney couldn't sue me in this World for stealing from them. Also, since this was a World from a Japanese Anime/Manga, I introduced my last name first, just in case Japanese naming conventions were in effect here.

"A doctor? Wow, you look the same age as me, so that's pretty impressive." said Silk, which confused me.

Same age?

I was 20 years old; this girl looked about 15. Had I been de-aged? That wasn't really out of the ordinary, compared to everything else that had happened so far. Not that I could figure out the reason why whatever mysterious force had dragged me across Worlds decided I needed to become a teenager again.

Come to think of it, I hadn't noticed it earlier, but I was smaller than I used to be, both in height and physique. I mean, I hadn't had an opportunity to notice any abnormalities in my body, considering it had been two minutes since I had arrived in this World, so cut me some slack.

"Pardon me, but do you mind showing me the way to the town?" I asked sheepishly. "I still need to figure out what I'm going to do now that I've... erm, lost my way, so to speak."

"O-oh, of course!" she said, a little embarrassed. "I'm so sorry! You must be tired considering everything that happened to you. The town is this way, so just follow me!"

On that note, we set off, and I couldn't help but admire just how clean the air was. The closest I ever got to this kind of air quality was in the Himalayas when I went there for a vacation. It was air untouched by pollution or industrialism, and that's what made it truly something else.

"You know, we're so used to Pirates causing trouble that it's easy to forget that storms are still a threat, even if the East Blue is usually calm." said Silk as we trudged along a well-worn path. It seems she had come out here to fish, at this small pier a small distance away from the town proper. Lucky for me, I guess.

"Are Pirates such a big problem? Where I'm from, we've heard a word of Pirates roaming the sea, but I didn't know it was this bad. You make it sound like the seas are infested with them."

"... Well, for a long time, Dawn has been a constant target for Pirate attacks. So I guess I'm a little bit biased. But Pirates are a big problem, even in a place like the East Blue. I guess we're just lucky to not have a lot of them here, not of the bad kind, anyway…." She said, a strange expression coming across her face.

"'Bad kind'?" I asked curiously. I had no idea Pirates had a Classification System. "I wasn't aware there were 'kinds' of Pirates. Aren't Pirates basically sea thieves who raid other ships and coastal towns?"

"That would be most of them, yes." She said, nodding vehemently. "But there are also those that simply dock to buy provisions and refill their supplies, they don't do much other than drain liquor and sometimes pass-out drunk. Many of them are the ones that chase after the One Piece... People like Red-Haired Shanks aren't really bad people, but since they break the law, they're called Pirates anyways."

Huh. Well, I supposed the author of the Manga needed some way to sell a Pirate Protagonist for a shonen series. After all, just like with the Ninjas in Naruto, Pirates were not good people in reality. Hundreds if not thousands of innocent people died during the Golden Age of Piracy on Earth, and millions of dollars worth of precious materials were lost. Here, however, Pirates could just be people who wanted to go on Adventures and broke a few laws while doing it.

To be fair, even Jack Sparrow, whose name I had so callously stolen, was similar to this kind of "idealized" Pirate.

The sad part was that I, a law-abiding citizen who had never even thought of doing anything illegal in my life barring sneaking an extra cookie past the cafeteria lady in 3rd Grade, was most likely going to have to become a Pirate as well since I needed to find the One Piece to go back home.

I stifled a sigh at that thought and continued the conversation. "What about the Marines? Are they able to give any help to your town?"

"Dawn is a little far from the nearest Marine outpost; it's why Pirates love attacking the town so much. Unless we somehow send out a distress call days before a Pirate attack, they won't be able to help at all."

By this time, we had reached Town Square. Dawn was pretty rustic as far as towns went, but it looked fairly modern, with electrical faculties and everything. People were going about their daily lives, and a few called out greetings to Silk while shooting me a few curious looks but ultimately nothing else.

For a town that was plagued by Pirate attacks, they were pretty chill, especially when it came to new faces in the Village. It could also have been because of my de-aging; I checked when I walked by a puddle, and it looked like I'd been kicked back to the age of 14-15 for some unknown reason. I suppose it worked in my favor here, however. I mean, why would you suspect a lone random kid of being a deadly pirate, amirite?

When you looked at it from that standpoint, it kind of made sense.

My train of thought was cut off by the roar of my stomach, sending a wave of hunger-induced pain throughout my body with an intensity that made me visibly wince.

"Do you want something to eat first?" asked Silk, giggling. "We can meet the Mayor afterward!"

"Please." I said, stifling an embarrassed blush. "I would appreciate it."

A couple of minutes later, I found myself in a dainty little restaurant that was just named Café and Bistro (an extremely fancy name, if I do say so myself), Silk sitting across from me.

As promised, a plate of what looked like Steak and Pasta (an interesting combination) sat in front of me, while Silk sat across from me. While I wasn't sure whether it was wise or not to go to the Mayor first regardless as he was the highest authority in this town, Silk reassured me that the Mayor was a kind man who would understand my situation. I wasn't sure how much I could take that statement at face value, considering Silk was about my age, but I was really hungry, and any excuse to get food faster was golden in my book.

After taking a bite, I took a moment to appreciate what could only have been purely organic, free-range cooking. It may have seemed like I was paying attention to the weirdest things when I was in a freaking Anime World, but I honestly had no idea what to expect from One Piece considering I had never seen it. Instead, I was going to appreciate the little things that were considered a commodity in our World; pollution-free air and organic food.

After I had taken the first bite, Silk decided to ask me the question I'd been waiting for since we had met. "If you don't mind, what is your home like?"

"No, I don't mind." I said, stabbing the steak with a fork. While I had quit eating meat a couple of years back, I wasn't about to complain when I was in another World. I would take what I could get. "It's not like it's some kind of secret."

I didn't have to go into any specifics here; it seemed to me that Silk was asking because she seemed to have never left Dawn her entire life, and as such was undoubtedly curious about anything new. I could testify; living in a small town without exploring the World outside is awfully dull, though a large proportion of weebs won't agree with me on that. This wasn't an interrogation, but rather honest curiosity.

"I come from a remote Island named California." I began, my Bullshit Generator (TM) beginning to kick into gear. "Sunny place, nice tropical weather, though summers can get unbearably hot. I guess if there was anything I could say I love the most about my home, it would be that it's a very safe place to live. No wild beasts and we haven't experienced any Pirate attacks for almost a few generations."

"Wow, I've never heard of such a place!" she said, enraptured, while I focused on devouring my meal with as much civility as I could muster. "To think, there's a place where Pirate attacks are nearly unheard of..."

"Hey, to be fair, if you had heard of such a place, then Pirates would probably have flocked there." I said with a spot of humor. "And keep in mind that just because there are few dangers doesn't mean there are few problems. Human beings are inevitably driven to conflict, especially in peaceful settings where normal life isn't difficult to live."

"That's..." she said, frowning in thought.

"It's not the most positive way of thinking, I agree." I said, putting out the words she had been hesitating to say. "But I'd rather be prepared for the worst as opposed to hoping for the best, you know?"

I wasn't a nihilist or anything like that, but neither was I a person like Naruto Uzumaki or Izuku Midoriya who were all about being positive even in the worst of situations. Smiling at a problem wasn't going to fix it, although that was just my humble opinion.

"Yeah, I think I understand." said Silk, nodding a few times. "That's not a bad way to think when you're traveling the East Blue. There are dangers at every turn here, and not only from Pirates."

Well, duh. This was a shonen World, where the most important things were dealing with adversity and fancy battles. If there weren't dangers at every turn, then I would eat my shoes.

I finished up the rest of my meal pretty quickly, and then thanked the old lady behind the counter for the food. Seriously, these people had taken me in and given me free food. That kind of hospitality was nearly impossible to find in our World, especially for a common nobody like me.

However, when I stood up from my chair to go and meet the Mayor along with Silk, I blinked in surprise as the World around me froze once again, everything around me going grey.

Before I could ask any questions, the Window appeared with answers.

'Scenario Complete!
Saga: East Blue
Arc: Romance Dawn
Chapter: 1
Progression:
Find your Location: Town, Island, Sea. - [10%]
Become Silk's Friend - [35%]
Eat a meal to restore your Strength - [15%]
Form a believable Backstory - [25%]
Come up with your Name - [15%]
Result: 5/5 - [100%]
Status: Complete!
Achievements Unlocked: 5
Reward: You gained a [Sailor's Beginner Guide]!
Reward[100%]: You have gained the Perk, [Beginner's Luck]!'

Hmm. From what I could tell, the Gamer ability I had was some sort of Story-Telling Game as opposed to an RPG, with different Plot Scenarios that I had to bypass.

Each Scenario would have several Objectives I would need to complete to get an additional Reward before I moved on to the next one.

The sad part was that I didn't have any visible Stats, or even an HP gauge, which meant I was on my own when it came to that kind of stuff.

However, I did have Skills, Perks, Traits, and Achievements apparently, according to the Main Menu that had become visible after the Message faded.

The Skills Menu was greyed out, probably indicating that I didn't have any Skills to look at.

The next tab I looked at was the one corresponding to Achievements, mainly because I had somehow unlocked five of them already.

'[For Want Of A Name!]
Condition: Create a new Name for yourself.
Reward: [I was Here!]-Perk.

[Stolen Valor]
Condition: Use the Name of a famous figure of your World.
Reward: [Infamy]-Trait.

[Smooth Introduction]
Condition: Your first Friend is a Female of approximately your age or close to it.
Reward: [Ladies First]-Perk.

[Hit the Ground Running!]
Condition: Complete your first Chapter.
Reward: [Protagonist]-Trait.

[Full Throttle]
Condition: Complete a Chapter with 100%.
Reward: [Dedicated]-Perk.'

Basic stuff. And using Jack Sparrow's name seemed to have worked out in my favor since I got an extra Achievement out of it.

Now, I needed to see that these Rewards did.

Fortunately, the corresponding Menus weren't very difficult to bring up.

'TRAITS:

[Infamy] - Your Name spreads faster among the population of the World and your deeds will now become public knowledge faster. As a Pirate, this would cause your Bounty to grow at an accelerated rate while as a Marine it would make it easier for you to gain a Promotion.

[Protagonist] - You're now the 'protagonist' of your own 'Story' which allows you to carry the same Metaphysical Weight as the other owners of this Trait within the World.'

[Infamy] looked like a double-edged sword. On one hand, it would make me famous faster, the reputation boost possibly proving helpful, but on the other hand, fame wasn't exactly a good thing in Worlds like these, because being famous attracts challengers and other people like flies on sugar.

Plus, since I was going to have to become a Pirate, it would only serve to increase my Bounty, which would make the weaker people avoid messing with me but at the same time would attract big bads my way and lead to trouble.

Well, it looked like there was no crying about it now. Somehow, I no longer felt better about using Jack Sparrow as a name.

[Protagonist] was a Trait I didn't understand. Well, I did, but I didn't understand what it meant by 'Metaphysical Weight'. The only bit of information I ever heard relatively similar to that is regarding Servants in Fate, where a Heroic Spirit's Conceptual Weight was an actual factor that could lead to wins or losses during the battle.

But what about here? Did it mean that the World would prioritize me or something and grow more adventures my way? Did it mean I got some kind of plot armor? Its description was vague as hell, so I couldn't get any answers to those questions.

Well, it was time to move onto Perks.

'PERKS:

[I was Here!] - No matter what language you encounter, you are now capable of writing your new name in it instantly and perfectly.

[Ladies First] - The first impression you make upon meeting a new Female becomes more positive than it would've been otherwise. However, it does not make it fully positive if it's a hostile encounter, but said Female would see you in a better light compared to if this Perk wasn't present. It also smoothens over certain interactions during your first encounter, giving you an instinctive knowledge of how to make a better first impression.

[Dedicated] - You no longer suffer from diminishing of personal investment over prolonged repetitions of actions, which means that you wouldn't grow bored of training or work, making you capable of never losing focus whenever you perform a task due to its monotonous nature or length of time required for its completion.

[Beginner's Luck] - At the start of each Arc you would have a burst of Luck directed your way, making entering it much smoother for you but only for you.'

[I Was Here] was probably the most useless Perk I had ever seen in my life. I couldn't foresee a situation where being able to write my name in any language would be useful.

[Ladies First] was... okay, I guess. I didn't particularly care for it, but I suppose any boost to my frankly abysmal social skills was welcome.

[Dedicated], however, was where I had struck literal gold. One of my biggest flaws during my youth was my inability to focus on the same thing for too long, which made non-practical education extremely difficult for me, along with a variety of other complications. I got over it with mental discipline and maturity gained through age, but this Perk cemented my ability to put the maximum amount of effort into any action I take, which could only be a good thing.

[Beginner's Luck] was another one of those things I didn't understand. I just assumed that it would reveal itself in time, and left it at that.

Now, I was only left with the Reward I had gained for completing the Chapter in the first place, which took the form of a palm-sized booklet containing advice on sailing. Pretty handy for me, who was going to end up spending lots of time at sea.

Once I had gone through all my Rewards, another Window showed up.

'Would you like to Progress to the next Chapter or Re-Play the current Chapter?'

For a moment, I was dumbfounded.

Re-Play?

Did that mean I could go back in time, back to when Silk found me at her fishing spot?

If so, that was incredibly broken. I guessed that the option was available to give me the chance to fulfill all the 'Objectives' that the System gave me for each Chapter.

Still, I had no reason to 'Re-Play' this Chapter, so I decided to Progress to the next Chapter instead.

'Choice Acknowledged!
Loading Scenario...
Saga: East Blue
Arc: Romance Dawn
Chapter: 2'

Suddenly, color returned to the surroundings again, as time resumed its course.

I was starting to get the hang of how this System worked now, so the Time Stop and Continuation didn't really faze me anymore.

"Jack, we should probably head to the Mayor's office now!" Said Silk cheerfully as she stood up in tandem. "He'll probably be relaxing before going off to his lunch break, so we should catch him before he can run off!"

An odd way to talk about one's Town mayor, but who was I to judge? Maybe it was like the Hokage situation back in Naruto where people close to authority figures in some way could talk about them however they wanted to.

I nodded my affirmative at her, and both of us exited the restaurant, and then-

"PIRATES!" Came a cry, ringing out through the town, as one of the townspeople began to frantically ring the bell to alarm the rest of Dawn's inhabitants.

It took a split second for me to realize what was going on, but the large, clearly unfriendly pirate ship visible from the port told me everything I needed to know.

As I was about to open my mouth, there was a sudden booming noise from the ship on the horizon, and several black somethings began to arc through the air at an incredible speed.

Even as I came to a horrifying realization of what that something was, it was already too late.

The cannonball landed a direct hit on where I was standing.

The last thing I remembered was an immense amount of pain as my bones turned to slush and my cardiovascular system was pulped, before everything went black, and I was greeted with the sight of a single, ominous message painted in red.

'You have Died...'

"Jack, we should probably head to the Mayor's office now!" said Silk cheerfully, completely unaware of the fact that she had literally just been killed along with me by stray cannon fire. "He'll probably be relaxing before going off to his lunch break, so we should catch him before he can run off!"

I was suddenly back in the restaurant, and Silk was speaking to me once more as if nothing had happened. As if I hadn't been graphically killed by a cannonball a few moments ago.

I could only stare at her smiling visage with a pale face, as my hands began to tremble uncontrollably from the realization of what was going on.

Time had been reversed.

I had been murdered, but instead of going to whatever afterlife the World of One Piece had, I had instead returned to the beginning of the Chapter, back to when Silk and I were about to leave the restaurant in order to find the Mayor.

Instead of being allowed to fade away, I had been brought back to moments before my death.

Some may have seen it as immortality.

Others, as a much-needed second chance to make things right.

But to me?

This was a never-ending nightmare.

And it had only just begun.

Progress Report:

TRAITS:

[Protagonist] - You're now the 'protagonist' of your own 'Story' which allows you to carry the same Metaphysical Weight as the other owners of this Trait within the World.

PERKS:

[I was Here!] - No matter what language you encounter, you are now capable of writing your new name in it instantly and perfectly.

[Beginner's Luck] - At the start of each Arc you would have a burst of Luck directed your way, making entering it much smoother for you but only for you.

And that's a wrap!

I think from this chapter, you guys have a pretty good idea of how this System works. If not, it'll be more apparent in the next chapter.

As for my choice of name, well... I'm not going to take it back. In my opinion, Jack Sparrow is the perfect name for a One Piece Self Insert, so bite me.

Now, I'm sure you all have several questions, such as why I started in Romance Dawn or who I'm going to take into my future Crew, but the honest truth is; I have NO IDEA! Considering the nature of this fanfic, such things are dependent on the GM and my own actions in the Play-through.

And that's kind of exciting, I have to admit.

So yeah, this is actually a thing now. I hope you guys like this story, because its a fun experience on my end. While I do have finals around the corner, from April i will have plenty of time to write FFN, so please be patient till then.

Stay safe, everyone!

Spatialphoenix here, burning to ashes.