(TO GET CHAPTERS EARLY, SEARCH 'ONE PIECE OFFLINE' ON WEB NOVEL)
Wealth, fame, power.
That's all the players of One Piece Online ever set out to achieve.
Some would try to spin you a story about how they play OPO for the adventures they'd have with friends.
Or for the 'down to earth' one piece experience…
But they would be lying.
Sure, that's probably why they all got hooked initially.
Always chasing that nostalgic feeling.
That's likely how they reason with themselves when it's pondered how they poured so much time into the game.
But in the end, the addicting gameplay of a skill-based nonp2w RPG set in the ever-so-wonderful world of One Piece would always find a way to taint the intrinsically toxic hearts of competitive gamers.
For almost two decades a war had been waged over the dominion of the 'north blue'.
This was their perfect game world that encapsulated the feelings of the manga. Everyone sought to carve out a chunk of the narrative to preserve for themselves.
The rise and fall of powerful pirates. Dominant crews, empires, kings. Only the rare few withstood the tests of time.
Most became like rain drops falling where no one could see them. Only some managed to drop near the the one torch that could display the rainbow effect of water and light.
A constant tug of war between the World Government and Pirate factions left the virtual ground soaked in blood.
Every player who travels the map of OPO forever see's the shades of memories roaming around as if sensing the happenings of ghosts.
But now they will no longer be able to roam these seas.
For tonight, One Piece Online shuts down for good.
[Zxeror: omg ur stil ugly noob]
[Jessie37: …]
[Iriesoja: xDD]
[YoshidaMori: Tch. Pirate scum.]
On an island located in the center of the North Blue, hundreds of players gathered to celebrate and mourn the end of a game that held a special place in their hearts.
It did not matter if they were part of separate crews, if they were pirates or marine, nor did any past grudges spoil the air of festivity.
This was a time of a bitter-sweet sayonara. One that none of these gamers wished to ever endure.
[Zartania: Still, I can't believe Worl is shutting it down.]
[bcongeboy5: Ikr like why delete it :/]
They were all gathered on the island of Conge. Home of the first bank, a great apple orchard, two large ship docks, and easily the most popular port in the sea.
To take advantage, the prices of goods on this island were ridiculous.
["$400 belli for an orange juice?!"] they would say.
["Are you kidding me?!"]
For almost 20 years the island of Conge was the natural center point for all mainstream gatherings. If you ever wanted to encounter other players, all you had to do was sail to there.
There were no rules on this island- every man for themself.
One minute you can be sharing an orange juice with someone, and the next minute they will be stabbing you in the back in an act which the community called 'snaking'.
But none of that was going on.
No snaking, no turf wars, no raids, no buster calls…
And perhaps the biggest miracle of all: no toxicity.
Ship after ship sailed its way into Conge.
Never had an armada of vessels gathered in such mass. From warships to dingies, they anchored around the island as if creating logs to a camp fire.
[guccimanegod: ROBIN BEST GIRL]
[saugat: is there an admin? I need to restore my buso x_x]
[Kaitosu: I need 400 beli can sum1 spare pls]
[axxerus: uwu]
[yvenson: 1v1 1v1 1v1 1v1]
[cmdr22: kenya ftw]
[Dannathon: Okay yvenson]
[XyncSync: wow so faces it's like a renunion]
[Raguza: Hi all.]
[jeffreyubi: Hello, Fleet Admiral, sir!]
[Gxeror: lawl cringe bois]
[Inverter: hellbringer pirates number 1]
[BizarreRolith: Marines number 1!]
[Kiloze: Smiley pirates assemble]
[jacobdan22: Anyone lift?]
[Trisins: inverter is noob]
…
…
The party roared. A layer of speech bubbles appeared over the avatars of the gathered players as they typed to each other for the last time, talking about all the crazy fun they had together.
Away from it all, on the beach at the western side of Conge, stood many companions side by side, looking out to the horizon and sipping orange juice.
[xRai: Where is that baka..]
[PrinceRNJ: You think he forgot? X_x]
[Qadoory: If he doesn't come in 5 min we hunt his a## down]
[Flamebee17: xD]
They were watching the virtual sunset over their fantastical world of One Piece, anxiously waiting for their friend to come sailing over the horizon.
[Xhec: If there's one thing we can guarantee is that he won't mess up a job like this..]
And sure enough, as if on cue, they could see his ship in the distance.
[swiss: YOOHOHOHO!]
The sound effect of brooks laugh was triggered by the chat command. A shirtless scalawag wearing circular glasses and a Christmas cloak stood at the bow of the ship, hollering to his friends onshore.
[PrinceRNJ: LOL!]
[xRai: Dat baka..]
The ship was full of treasure chests that had golden writing over them. Each one boasting
[$69,000,000 belli]
At the sight of so much golden writing sailing towards the island, all the party-goers gathered on the west beach.
[Sneakythang: budha-budha user?]
A large vessel came in and kept going until it run itself onshore.
Pouring out of the ship in an overflow were thousands and thousands of sake and rum bottles, sacks of cash, and food items.
The crowd cheered.
["BRIGHTBEARD SAMA!"]
Brightbeard is what they called him. Though he no longer had Kizaru's shine-shine fruit, it was a name they still called him out of respect.
[swiss: ahoyyyy! What did I miss?]
Swiss jumped off the ship and talked to his companions that were waiting for him.
[xRai: Nothing much 'lamebeard sama'. Glad you could finally show up..]
[swiss: bruh ofc I had 2 come thru with the brew xD]
With everyone now in possession of food and drinks in their inventories, the true festivities began.
Every player who made a name for themselves in the community was here. Every legendary pirate, every well-achieved marine, every noble and civilian alike.
The whole scene of people not random killing each other seemed strange everyone. It was hard to stand next to those who you had been fighting each day.
This was espicially true for swiss. Jack, who was his real name, smiled at his computer screen with tearful amber eyes.
He had been playing OPO for over 12 years on a daily basis, and right now every single day felt like they were trying to cling onto him, desperate to not be left behind.
Seeing old user names, hearing old sounds, watching people reference old memes. It ached his heart that these were the last hours of the game.
Yet at the same time, he was glad to move on. He was but 11 years old when he logged on for the first time. He practically grew up on this ocean of make believe.
And anyone who had been playing in the final days of One Piece Online would tell you that swiss was one of the most chill players in the community.
A great fighter whom not many could take on, who believed more in social fun rather than senseless PVP killing for stats.
Jack chuckled, shaking his head at the screen as he read all the immature messages his fellow players were spamming in the chat.
Time passed quickly, as it does when one has fun. In the final moments of OPO, the admins stood on a rock overlooking the orchard where all the players were gathered.
[Narutoworl: Hello everyone.]
When the game owner spoke, everyones screens received a pop up of what he was saying, ensuring nobody missed it.
[Narutoworl: Thank you all for your continued support throughout the years.]
[Aurarus: :))) All your enthusiasm and antics is what drove us to continue this game for almost two decades.]
After a barrage endearing messages, Worl continued.
[Narutoworl: This community was special. Aura and I will never forget you guys. When we sought out to create a one piece game that was not pay to win, never did we think it would blow up and be this successful. There have been many ups and downs along the way, but in the end we had a blast. Thank you all. You are my treasure.]
Hundreds of players prompted voice commands using the chat.
[YOSH!]
[ZEHAHAHAHH!]
[NOOT NOOT!]
[OI OI!]
[NAMI SWAN]
[OW!]
[GURARARA!]
[YOYOI!]
And then Worl equipped a bottle of sake.
[Narutoworl: And so, my friends, let us all raise a glass together and farewell our beloved OPO. I wish you all the best in life. It is now time for us all to…]
The countdown clock that had been ticking on the top right of everyones screens then neared its completion.
*3…*
*2…*
Alongside Worl, they all helped finish the sentence, the hundreds gathered there typed in all caps;
["SET SAIL!"]
*1…*
[bai 3]
*OOF!* *OOF!* *OOF!* *OOF!* *OOF!* *OOF!* *OOF!* *OOF!* *OOF!*
Romance dusk.
Health bars dropped to zero, the 'OOF' sound effect heard when a player dies erupted like millions of popping corn seeds. Jacks watched his character Swiss die on screen alongside his friends.
"…Set sail." Jack longingly reached out and caressed his computer screen, its sudden blackening darkens his gaming room in a hauntingly lonely silence.
That was it. The end of the voyage and the start of a new one called life. Every fiber of Jack's muscle memory convinced him he could just click a few buttons and log back on to OPO.
But now it was impossible, and that was starting to finally eat away at Jack. He realized he had been pretending he was ready all this time.
Only now he didn't have the energy for any feelings of emptiness.
'Yawn'
Exhausted after having played the last 18 hours, Jack rolls his eyes back and collapses on his keyboard, falling asleep instantly.
As he drifts into dream land, Jack swears he can hear a call.
There in the dark he hears a distant voice…
.
..
["Set sail!"]
..
.
A brilliant sunrise blesses a sandy beach that stretched as long as the eye can see.
Large gulls circle in the sky. The waves softly crash against the sand.
Stacy Mayah rubbed the sleep from her eyes as she gazed out at the beach from the top of tall sand dunes.
A storm had just passed, prompting her and her father to set out this morning to collect any sea weed washed ashore.
"Hurry along, missy!"
Mayah groaned at her fathers morning enthusiasm. She never did figure out how she always got set up to accompany him on these harvesting treks.
"Coming, father."
Mayah and her father walked along a path at the top of those sand dunes for a while, saying nothing to each other. All they could hear was the ocean and the remnant winds of the passing storm.
Mayah did not care to keep an eye out. She preferred to keep an eye shut instead. She was walking with her eyes closed, following the sound of the footsteps in front.
She was dozing off into a daydream when her nose slammed into her fathers back.
"Ow! What the heck?" she grimaced.
"Look!"
Mayah's father, Stacy Lockett, pointed down to the beach. There far in the distance was a mass of something dark washed onshore.
"Woo hoo! Looks like we hit the jack pot!" Lockett rejoiced.
"Great."
Stacy Lockett ignored his daughters coldness and power walked his way to the dark mass.
As they got closer and closer, the image of the mass became more apparent.
"A whale?" Mayah asked like it was not her first rodeo.
"Looks so. Let's check it out."
Sure enough, it was a whale. Albeit a small one, the little guy nonetheless got unlucky was beached during the storm.
"Poor sod." Lockett said, placing a hand on its oily skin, "We oughta get back to Ahipara and get everyone to help with this."
"Mmm." Mayah hummed and gazed down at the beached whale. Surrounding its eyes was a rim of what looked like gold dust. She got lost in how they sparkled in the morning sun.
"Uhhh… Looks like there's more." Stacy Lockett added.
"Another one?" Mayah snapped out of her daze.
"Sort of…"
Mayah walked over to her father and saw what he meant. "Ummm?"
There, on the ground, was a naked olive skinned young man with his face in the sand, his bare ass cheeks facing upward.
Mayah and Lockett share a brief eye contact, before Lockett rolled the young man over.
"Hey! Wake up! You alive?" Lockett lightly slapped the naked young man in the face.
It didn't work. He slapped harder.
*COUGH COUGH COUGH* The naked young man splattered his lungs out, clearing them of any water.
Then after a bit of groaning, he glossed over Mayah and her father with his amber eyes and said
"Set… whale?"
That was all he could muster before passing out face first into the sand.
Mayah winced at her father, "I'm not carrying him…"