DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN ONE PIECE—PLEASE SUPPORT THE OFFICIAL RELEASES!

PROLOGUE

"Huh?"

I'd gone to the library to do a bit of reading.

I'm a junior in high school and yes, I'm also aware that I am more of a nerd than the rest of my classmates. Ever since I first became interested in video games, anime and Manga, I've given them more of my time than my actual studies.

My parents knew this about me, and so they gave up on me early on. Instead, they focused their attention on my older brother in an effort to "secure his future." But the pressure was too much for him. He got worn out with all the studying and turned into a troubled teen, dying his hair and yelling obscenities around the house.

For a little while, the whole family was miserable. But then a savior appeared to save the day: me!

My brother was always scowling and mouthing off to everyone, but I had an ingenious plan up my sleeve: I suggested he try playing a popular game. It was a dating simulator, the kind where you get to go on dates with cute girls.

"What the hell?"

"Just try it! You don't have to keep playing if you hate it."

I'll just skip right to the end: there's one more fan of video games in the world now.

If you walked into his room now, you'd see posters and figurines from the very same game I introduced him to. Not only that, but he also rededicated himself to his studies, got into a great college, and is apparently top of his class.

Okay, so that was a bit of a digression. I had gone to the library to do a bit of reading.

My parents gave me an allowance of 100$ every month. The naughty games and magazines, light novels, and manga that I go through eat up that allowance pretty quickly. So whenever I need to save money, I go to used bookstores or to the library to read.

The library when all this craziness started.

I was looking for the next Volume of One Piece in the corner dedicated to Manga. "Sixty, sixty-one..." I muttered to myself skimming my hands along the shelf. "Sixty-three!"

No Volume 62.

Which meant someone had already checked it out. And I would have to wait to do a second read-through of the Paramount War. Sure, I could have skipped to Volume 63, but 62 was such a good one!

I went over to where the computers were and sat down. I was glad One Piece was popular enough manga that it got an anime adaption. There were a few changes, but they were mostly the same. I could watch the anime until Volume 62 was returned to the library.

I was looking for the right episode when I started to feel dizzy. "Huh? What's..." I heard my own bewildered whisper and felt my consciousness slipping away. I'd never dreamed that I'd be transported to another world.

(ONExPIECE)

"Oh wow..."

I heard the sound of people marveling at something and suddenly was awake again. My eyes weren't ready to focus on anything, but I pointed them straight ahead anyway.

As my vision cleared, I saw a strange-dressed man staring at me. He was wearing a full-body thick white suit that resembled a spacesuit with medals, buttons and a green collar, and a resin bubble over his head.

Celestial Dragon cosplay?

"What's all this?"

I turned in the direction of the voice and discovered three other people there. Like myself, they didn't seem to know what was going on. I scratched my head.

Only a moment before I was in the library, but then...And just where was I?

I twisted left and right to look around, and saw that I was in a room. The walls were made of marble. Regardless, I don't think it was anywhere I'd been before. And it was certainly not the library.

I looked at the floor. It was made of marble too and was covered in geometric patterns that had been painted in some sort of fluorescent material. There was also an altar of some kind. It looked like something magical and straight out of a fantasy.

We were standing on the altar.

"Where are we?"

Just as I was wondering the same thing, the man next to me asked the man in the robes.

"Oh, you four? You're here to get me home!"

"What?" the four of us shouted in unison. "What is that supposed to mean?"

"There are many complications in this situation, but the simple answer to your question is I have just summoned you four to this world."

"Summoned?"

It sounded crazy, and there was a really good chance that it was all some prank, but it wouldn't hurt to hear the guys out. Besides, if this wasn't a prank, and just some crazy guy losing his mind, it would be safer to play along.

"I've been stuck in this world for over twenty years now. I want to go home, but the only way to get home is supposedly on Laugh Tale," the World Noble smiled. "Because I won't want to risk my life, I've summoned you four."

"Well, it wouldn't hurt too..." I began to reply, but the other three guys spoke up quickly.

"I don't think so."

"Yeah, me neither."

"We can go back to our homes, right? We'll talk about your problems after that."

I stared at them in shock. What? How did they think it was okay to speak to someone who kidnapped them like that? Someone who was dressed up as a World Noble, and just told us he was okay with us dying?

They must have seen too many movies, I glared at them in silence, and soon the three of them were looking at me. What were they smiling about? We could all for the room growing tense.

Or at least I could.

"I see, so that's how you're going to be," the World Noble lifted his hand. "Room!"

A transparent bubble covered the room.

"Shambles!"

My jaw dropped as the heads of my three outspoken companions vanished and reappeared in front of the World Noble. He drew a sword from his waist and drove it through all three heads like a shishkabob.

"Uggh, how foul." the World Noble dropped the sword and the heads and walked out of the room. As he stepped over the three decapitated bodies, he glanced at me. "Follow."

I didn't want to die, so I followed him.

We walked out of the room darkened room and down a hallway that was also made of marble. How should I describe it? The air felt fresh...and I can't think of any other words for it. As we walked I was able to steal a glance through the window, and the scenery took my breath away.

Below us, a town spread out from the building I was in. All the houses were lined up nearly, just like one of those European cities you'd see featured in a travel brochure. I wanted to pause for a minute to take it all in, but there was no time.

I was hurried past the window and down the hall, and soon enough we arrived in a throne room of some sort.

The World Noble went to sit on the throne. "I won't bother introducing myself," he said, leaning forward as he spoke. "We're not friends or partners. You work for me."

I somehow managed to resist the urge to yell, "Work implies that I'm getting paid!" But I caught myself just in time. This guy had been a Celestial Dragon for the past twenty years, and it was obvious he didn't mind abusing his authority.

A few moments ago I got a front-row seat to his willingness to kill.

"Now then, as I said, the only way for us to get home is to find the One Piece. Supposedly, there's a Poneglpyh there that holds the instructions on how to reverse the spell used to summon us here."

I'll try to summarize the World Noble's story.

After Gol D. Roger's execution, he had been summoned to this world by the same spell he used to summon me. He didn't say by who, and I wasn't going to risk getting stabbed in the brain by asking.

He had been tasked with finding the One Piece—Gol D. Roger's great treasure, but the world of One Piece was dangerous. It was full of pirates, bandits, corrupt marines, slavers, and massive Sea Kings.

So instead of setting sail himself, he started summoning more people to find the One Piece for him.

Of course, since I'm here it was clear that everyone before me had died. Either trying to find the treasure or because they refused and were killed on the spot.

Now it was my turn.

"Understand?" the World Noble asked

I nodded. It was pretty simple. If I wanted to get home, I had to sail the most dangerous sea in the world.

"Good," continued the World Noble. "Of course, I also understand that sending you out as you are would result in your immediate death."

He snapped his fingers and a collared shark Fish-Man stepped out from behind the throne.

I felt sick at the sight but held my tongue. I was pretty sure I was in Mary Geoise, which meant his poor guy was one of probably tens of thousands of slaves. Helping him was impossible.

The human-like shark walked toward me, carrying a book. When he was in front of me he opened the book and stood as still as a statue.

On the pages, I could see drawings of Devil Fruits. I knew they were Devil Fruits because they were unnaturally shaped. Most of the Devil Fruits were crossed out. Probably the ones he couldn't find, or have been eaten already, I thought flipping through the pages.

"Devil Fruits, they really are amazing," said the World Noble. I looked up and saw that half his arm had turned into Magma.

I flipped to the K-section of the book and saw the crossed-out picture of the Kopi Kopi no Mi. That explained how he had been able to use the powers of the Ope Ope no Mi and the Magu Magu no Mi.

"Most of these are Zoan Devil Fruits..." I muttered to myself. That was a little surprising since Paramecia Types were supposed to be the most common of the three Devil Fruit Types.

"Yeah, most people I summon aren't interested in a Zoan Devil Fruit. Not unless it's Mythical, and those are hard to find."

No one even wanted the Ancient models? I wondered, seeing a few Ancient models. I guess that kind of made sense. Only the Mythical Zoan Fruits gave their user "powers" so to speak. Normal and Ancient Zoans only let the user transform into an animal.

Compare that to a Paramecia type that could literally give you any power other than turning into an animal or a natural element, and it was obvious why so many people chose the Paramecia.

I didn't even bother asking why there weren't any Logia Devil Fruits available. Those would have been the first to go, and any the World Noble did have were probably lost in the Grand Line somewhere.

As I looked through the book, trying to decide which Devil Fruit I was going to eat—and I was definitely going to eat one—the World Noble continued speaking.

"Naturally," continued the World Noble. "I also can't have you just taking a Devil Fruit and running off to some isolated island."

I froze halfway through turning a page. What did that mean? It sounded ominous. Was he going to stick a tracker in me? Order one of his slaves to follow me and if I tried to live a normal life, kill me?

"Room!"

Another transparent bubble covered the room.

"Personality-Transplant Surgery!"

I blinked and suddenly found myself staring at MY face. Only I wasn't looking in a mirror, and there was a weight in my hands. I looked down to see webbed hands holding the Devil Fruit Encylopedia.

"Why—"

The World Noble cut me off before I could ask why I was in the Fishman's body. "This isn't permanent. Just a demonstration," he said and flicked his wrist. "Personality-Transplant Surgery!"

I was back in my own body. My shoulders sagged as I exhaled in relief.

"I'm sure you know that the humans in this world are vastly different compared to us. They're capable of feats that your body could never achieve no matter how much training you do."

That was true. Humans in One Piece could literally push themselves off the air itself with superhumanly strong kicks, allowing them to travel through and remain in midair.

With a snap of his fingers, the World Noble summoned a second Fish-Man slave that had been behind his throne.

This one was carrying a book filled with characters from One Piece.

"Choose your character," the World Noble ordered. "I'll send some Cipher Pol agents to retrieve whoever you pick."

I stared at the book. Trying to decide which Devil Fruit to eat was simple. I had no problem perusing that book.

Picking a person, whose life I was going to end?

My hesitation was noticeable and the World Noble assumed that it came from a selfish place.

"Don't worry, I'm only putting your brain in your character's body with my Personality-Transplant Surgery. Your real body will remain here, in Mary Geoise. Safe and frozen in a Vinsmoke Cloning Tube. If you manage to find the One Piece, I'll put you back before we go home."

I would never consider myself a genius, but I didn't have to be Einstein to read between the lines. The World Noble wasn't just giving me a stronger body to help me find the One Piece. This was how he was going to keep me from running away and trying to live a normal life on some island.

By letting me "choose a character" he was giving himself the ability to kill me no matter where I was in the world. Like what Law did with people's hearts on Punk Hazard.

"Go ahead," the World Noble pointed at the two books. "Create your character."

He's treating this like a game! This isn't a game, this is my life! This is these people's lives!

Despite my disgust at the situation, I started looking through the book of "Characters". There was nothing I could do right now. Maybe sometime in the future I could try and fight back, but right now, if I wanted to live long enough to get the chance to escape, I had to play along.

As I perused through the book, I noticed the lack of strong characters. Like I said, I was a big fan of One Piece so I knew that Law couldn't switch the personalities of people with stronger Haki than him.

I looked at the overweight World Noble and decided he was not anywhere near as strong as Law. He might not even be able to use Haki at all!

So the fact that the strongest character I could pick was Jabra didn't surprise me.

I frowned as I kept flipping through the book. A started forming in my head. I went back to the Devil Fruit Encyclopedia. Once I found the specific Ancient Zoan I was looking for I asked, "Do I have to pick a human?"

The World Noble glared at me. "Do you see only humans in the book? You can choose any character in the book. Fish-Man, Merfolk, Giant, male, female...I don't care."

I shook my head. That wasn't what I was asking. My plan was a little crazier than that.

"No, I mean can I choose an animal?"

Prologue to my One Piece Self-Insert!

I'd like to see if anyone can guess what Animal and Devil Fruit is being chosen!