Hello and welcome to a new series of mine that I hope to keep going alongside my other one, No Holds Barred. It's a 'The Gamer' + One Piece series. How original, I know. For those familiar, you'll quickly see that it's heavily inspired by such stories as 'A Gamer in the South Blue' and other such game-system-based fiction. I just thought I'd preface that in case there was anyone thinking I was copying/stealing. The concept of a game/stat system has been around for a minute, and I love One Piece. So I thought I'd try my hand at it, put my own spin on it and see what people think.

Enjoy.


An Unnamed Island, West Blue

Crack.

I ripped off another leg of a giant crab. Fortunately, despite the current situation, the island provided plenty of plants and creatures for me to live off of. I stared at the metal pot full of boiling water. It popped and bubbled quietly as it slowly cooked another unfortunate crab until its shell turned red.

Congratulations, [Cooking] has levelled up. (1/10) → (2/10)

What a welcome surprise. I'd already been on this island for close to a month, and only now did my cooking skill increase. Though, I suppose it's not surprising when said cooking has just been shoving whatever I find into a pot and hoping for the best. Still, maybe I'd see a difference in the taste somehow.

I sighed as I looked around, slowly sucking on another crab leg for whatever meat was left inside. Much like when 'I' first arrived here, the island was empty save for myself and the occasional bird or semi-aquatic creature that decided to make land. Well, that and the wreck of an enormous wooden ship only a few hundred feet through the tree line. It was quite a shock when I first awoke here, on some random bumfuck island in the middle of nowhere. Of course, not as shocking as the fact that I was neither in my own body nor on fucking Earth. Fortunately, it didn't take me long to figure out who and where I had ended up.

Oliver Crave. A poor, weak little cabin boy with about as much skill as a pineapple and the intelligence of a below-average octopus. Which, honestly, compared to some people was probably quite smart.

'At least I'm a normal-looking human... Quite handsome too if I do say so myself. Could've possessed a disproportioned freak that seemed so common in One Piece.'

I considered it once more for what felt like the hundredth time. One Piece. I was in fucking One Piece. Why? Don't know. How? Don't know. Even worse I didn't even know where exactly I was or the current state of the world. So I was on a bumfuck island, in a random ass body, with no sense of where I was. Pretty standard Tuesday afternoon.

What I did have going for me was this fun, odd little system. The concept was fairly familiar to me, being present in pretty much any RPG or specific genre of fiction. A 'game-like' system with stats and skills and all that jazz. I merely willed the screen to appear and it quickly materialized itself into the air in front of me.

Name: Oliver Crave

Race: Human

Level: 6

EXP: 340/600

HP: 550/550

Fame: Non-existent.

Titles: Survivor, Graverobber, Crab Calamity

Bounty: 0

Attributes

Strength (STR): 25

Agility (AGI): 15

Vitality (VIT): 55

Intelligence (INT): 21

Charisma (CHA): 15

Luck (LCK): 4

Perks

[Inventory]

You have been granted a wondrous ability to store things in a spacious demi-plane. How much does it fit? Find out!

[Survivor's Resilience]

Increases Vitality by 10 points and accelerates natural healing (Grants the [Regenerate] skill).

[Post-Mortem Pillaging]

Your experience in pilfering the dead has granted you quick hands and a keen sense when looting corpses.

[Sea Legs]

Your life on the sea has granted you perfect balance upon the waves and immunity to sea sickness.

[Hidden Potential]

?

[A Crab's Fated Enemy]

Your hatred and dedication towards the annihilation of crabs has reached its peak. All crabs, alive now and in the future, fear your mere presence. You are their fated enemy. Any damage dealt to [Crabs] is increased by 50%. [Crabs] will instinctually fear and run away from you. These effects apply to other [Decapods] at half the effectiveness.

Skills:

[Observe]: (2/10)

[Brawling]: (9/50)

[Physical Endurance]: (2/30)

[Cooking]: (2/30)

[Danger Sense]: (3/25)

[Novice Swimming]: (5/10)

[Bushcraft]: (7/10)

[Crab Slaying]: (10/10)

[Regenerate]: (1/100)

I looked over the screen as I had every day since arriving. As usual, any changes made to it were helpfully announced through a small yet distracting notification. It was difficult to tell how I compared to the rest of the world when I was completely alone, though I assumed it wasn't anything impressive based on my memories of the original Oliver. I had done my best to train and increase his strength when I had the time, which tended to be quite often. When I had first awoken and discovered this system, the [Brawling] skill had been at a rather pathetic (1/50).

I looked over at a group of trees, all sharing a distinct circle where the bark had been stripped off and the wood itself dented. It had taken a lot of time, but I slowly managed to raise the skill purely by punching trees over and over again like some demented blockman. Unfortunately, it didn't seem like I'd get that 10th level any time soon. I guess trees didn't cut it anymore.

'God, I hope something happens soon. Anything at all. I just need to get off this goddamn island.'

I willed it once again, and the status screen in front of me quickly changed to present new information.

Quest Log

Current Quest: Escape the Island!

You have been stranded on an uninhabited island! Do your best to survive and escape the island!

Reward: 1000 EXP, Silver-Rank Chest, Freedom

The quest had been taunting me for the entirety of my time here, and what's worse was the promise of a 'chest' which I could only assume to be some sort of lootbox-esque reward. Alas, I had yet to see any sort of way out of here. I mean, for god's sake, I had managed to increase my swimming skill up a whole four times trying to swim far enough to try and cheat the quest and technically escape the island. Sighing, I swiped my hand lazily to remove the screen. Though the loneliness was certainly a burden, it was probably preferable that I had awoken here as the only survivor. If the original's memories were anything to go by, it seemed the crew he had been a part of, The Brasshand Pirates, were more akin to your average pieces of shit. I can't imagine I'd have survived as long as I did if a few of those guys were walking about, especially with the previous Oliver being a mere cabin boy. Regardless, they were dead, and I was thriving... mostly.

I definitely wasn't starving, which I was surprised at. It seems this island was a popular hotspot for a particularly large species of crab, roughly the size of a small child, and thankfully I wasn't so weak that I couldn't beat the crap out of them. The shipwreck, which I mournfully looted and pillaged, provided me with most of what I needed. To be honest, it was actually surprising how much had survived despite how the ship had come to wash up here. Poor little Oliver and his crew had been assailed by another crew. It seemed they had quite the grudge against Mr. Brasshand, as they didn't even care to pillage their loot, merely blasting them to pieces and leaving them for dead.

The Inventory perk I'd been granted was particularly useful for storing everything I'd taken and so far it didn't seem to be anywhere near its full capacity. After testing it out, it even seemed to prevent stuff from decaying to a certain degree. I'd shoved some crab meat in there when I first tried using it and after taking it out nearly a week later it hadn't changed at all. It even smelt fresh.

I pushed myself up onto my feet. Introspection was fun and all but not particularly productive in this context. I finished chewing on the last of the crab legs, tossing it and the rest of the crab husk into a large pile made up of its brothers and sisters boiled corpses. I should probably clean that up at some point. Leaving the other crab to keep boiling, I leisurely made my way towards the shipwreck and beach of the island. The island was predominantly made of sand and I had gotten used to feeling the warm grains shift between my toes. I had shoes, too many in fact, but somehow it felt wrong to be stranded on an island and not go barefoot.

'Maybe I've gone insane without realising it. If I had a volleyball lying around I might be tempted to give it a name.'

I quickly reached the shoreline where the unfortunate crew of ol' Brasshand had met their end. The ship they manned was honestly far too big. It was easy to forget the scale of One Piece at times, especially with how inconsistent it could be. This ship was easily double the size of the Merry and even in its ruined state it emanated a certain aura of grandeur. Now though, it was just an empty shell. Any treasure and loot it once held had either been lost to the ocean or taken by yours truly. I made my way to the edge of the water, allowing the waves to slowly lap at my feet. Looking down at my reflection in the water, a familiar dishevelled face stared back. The original Oliver had certainly been blessed with a handsome face, perhaps to make up for his shitty pirating skills. Long dark hair tumbled down to my shoulders in tangled waves. I'd slowly developed a mess of facial hair which struggled to make itself into anything worthy of being called a beard. Thankfully I didn't actually look too different from how I did on earth, having kept my blue eyes and similar sharp facial features. Perhaps whatever took me here had taken some pity on me. My body had certainly changed drastically, for both myself and the original Oliver. Gone was the scrawny frame of the teenage cabin boy, replaced with a body befitting a professional athlete. I'd even opted to go shirtless just to catch the occasional glimpse of myself. It was odd to think that I had achieved such a body in under a month, and on a stranded island no less.

'Maybe those crabs are miraculous muscle-crabs. Probably just the laws and biological oddities of the world of One Piece.'

Not thinking too hard about it, I looked up from the water and stared out into the distance. The oh-so-wonderful horizon.

A ship.

A ship.

"That's a fucking ship." The words slipped out of my mouth. It might have been my first words in days.

A ship had, at some point, appeared on the horizon. Not a single one had appeared in the entirety of my stay here, but now one had suddenly appeared. Was it finally time for me to leave this godforsaken island?

I narrowed my eyes, attempting to garner any sense of where it was heading. My brain clicked with inspiration. I raised my hand into the air beside me and reached into my [Inventory]. My hand disappeared into thin air for a moment before retracting with a simple-looking spyglass gripped between my fingers. I quickly pulled it out to its full length and placed the narrow end against my eye. I stared through it, directly at the ship in the distance. Immediately I noticed a black flag twisting in the wind. It depicted a familiar skull and crossbones, though this one was decorated with a pair of golden spectacles.

Observe.

I quickly activated the perk. Looking through the spyglass, I could see a large line of text appear above the approaching ship.

The Crimson Earl

A Frigate under the command of ?, it bears the symbol of the ? Pirates.

HP: 500/500

Pirates. Probably not the greatest outcome, but not exactly surprising. Marines and civilian ships had no reason to come to a shitty little island like this. They'd no doubt seen the wreckage and were hoping for easy loot. Now it begged the question, how the hell was I getting out of this? If I was lucky, they'd be nice enough to just let me on the ship and provide a free ride. The more likely situation is they just kill me on sight and look around for the loot. Maybe when I died his inventory would just drop everything like an RPG.

'Best if I avoid that outcome.' I dropped the spyglass, storing it back in my inventory. I quickly raced back to my little camp. Hopefully, I was lucky enough to avoid being spotted and could get the drop on them. I quickly grabbed a line of rope from my inventory and wrapped it around one of the many large trees surrounding my camp. Fortunately, the island hosted trees with significant foliage. Using the rope to assist my climb, I made my way to one of the highest branches and tied myself into position to avoid falling out. In position and securely in place, I began to wait. There was no way I was just gonna wait around and greet them with open arms only to be blasted in the head with a bullet. No, I'll wait and observe. They'd no doubt come across the camp and realise someone else was there.

But it would be too late by then.


"Hey! Boys! Look over 'ere! Someone's been livin' on this fucking shithole. Hahaha!" A large, dishevelled-looking man with a bald head wandered into the camp below me, unaware of my presence looming over him.

The man took no time in kicking over the large boiling pot, causing the half-cooked crab to tumble out onto the dirt. A frown formed on my face. It seemed like dinner was ruined. I looked around, doing my best to avoid shuffling among the leaves and revealing my presence.

Another man of similar apparel to the first, though scrawnier and shorter, made his way into the camp. He stopped in front of the large pile of crab shells and legs that I'd so diligently created.

"What the fuck? You seeing this?" The man spoke, clearly shocked at the ridiculousness of the collection. "Who the fuck is out here eating this many crabs? Nah, scratch that. Who the fuck is killing and eating crabs this big?" He spoke once more, turning his head to the bald man who was now poking around my makeshift bed.

"Dunno. Probably a group of people. No way it's just one person eating all that." He responded, returning to the centre of the camp.

"Ain't no way we'd miss a whole bunch of people on an island this small. Whatever, let's just head back to the ship and let the captain know." The scrawny one said, turning away from the pile of shells.

A third man with long blonde hair tied up in a ponytail had wandered into the camp as the other two were about to leave, stopping right beside the tree I was hiding in. He observed the camp for a bit before turning to the trees beside him, quickly noticing the strange marks created by my diligent training.

'Yes, yes. Impressive, I know.'

Huh, it looks like the guy doesn't know how to fuckin' chop a tree down. Harharhar." The man laughed, misunderstanding what had been done to create the wounds.

'You son of a bitch. Do you know how hard I worked?' A small vein formed on my forehead out of anger.

I quickly activated [Observe] and scanned across the ugly trio of men.

Fargas, Lv. 7

Gully, Lv. 4

Dasker, Lv. 6

They were on the same level as me. I pondered whether I should take the risk of even revealing myself. My [Observe] skill clearly wasn't at a high enough level to tell me anything else, so for all I knew, I'd just get annihilated. Yet my instincts were telling me otherwise. I didn't feel any sort of threat looking at these chumps.

I took a small, quiet breath as I steeled my resolve. I slowly, quietly untied the rope securing me to the tree and gingerly stepped down to a slightly lower branch above the closest one, 'Dasker'.

Congratulations! You've unlocked a new skill, [Stealth] (0/10) → (1/10)

'Neat.' Dismissing the notification, I stepped off the branch and began to fall directly towards Dasker waiting below.

Crunch.

I landed directly on top of Dasker's shoulders, pushing his body to the floor with a sickening crunch. I had clearly broken something.

"ARGHH!" The man screamed out in pain, struggling and twisting beneath my weight.

I quickly adjusted myself, straddling myself just below his ribs. I shot my fist forward at his head, landing a solid blow against his jaw.

+10 Exp

Hm. How underwhelming.

"HEY! HEY! WHO THE FUCK ARE YOU!?" One of the men shouted. The scrawny one, Gully.

I simply looked at him blankly. What a stupid question.

"Obviously the one fuckin' living here, dumbass! Get your fucking sword out!" The larger, surprisingly more astute pirate named Fargas commanded. He himself quickly unbuckled a flintlock strapped to his side, clicking down the hammer and pointing it at me.

"Easy there, bucko." I quickly stood up from their unconscious compatriot. I leaned down and grabbed the man by his neck, lifting him up in front of me with ease.

'Guess I was right to trust my instincts. Even if they were the same level, it seemed I was definitely stronger than them.'

"You sure you wanna shoot your friend here?" I asked, holding the unconscious pirate directly in front of me as a shield.

"Tch. You think I give a shit?" The bald man said, spitting a globule of saliva down at the ground towards me. He immediately pulled the trigger, letting loose a bullet straight at me and his friend.

-22 HP

[Regenerate] has activated - Restoring 0.1% Max HP per minute.

'Fuck!' I immediately dropped the body. The bullet had gone straight through the other man's torso before grazing the right side of my stomach. 'Figured these guys are complete assholes!' I looked up to see the man smirking, and beginning to click the hammer back down for another shot.

'Forgot the guns in this world don't make sense.'

I immediately rushed forward, ignoring the pain for the time being and charging straight at the man before he could get another shot off. From my left, the scrawnier man ran at me with a knife raised.

"Fuck off!" I reached into my inventory. I produced a raw crab leg I put away as emergency food and threw it straight at him, not delaying my charge.

The leg rushed through the air before it cleanly slammed right into the man like an oversized boomerang.

+10 XP

Congratulations! You've unlocked a new skill, [Throwing Weapons] (0/10) → (1/10)

Dismissing the notification, I leapt forward with as much strength as I could muster and closed the gap between me and the remaining pirate. I watched as his finger managed to pull back the trigger once more, though judging by his panicked expression, he clearly hadn't taken aim properly.

-55 HP

Another bullet pierced right through my left shoulder. It fucking hurt. Really hurt. I eventually landed on top of the man, the blood from my shoulder splattering across his face. I quickly raised my uninjured arm and brought down a hammer-like fist into the middle of his face.

"GAH!" The man groaned. He began to struggle and try to push me off, abandoning his gun and attempting to swing wildly at me: half blind from the blood in his eyes.

I grunted as I put my arms around my head to block the blows. My arm felt like it was burning, but I did my best to keep my guard up.

-7 HP

-5 HP

-5 HP

Congratulations! Your [Physical Endurance] skill has increased! (2/30) → (3/30)

Physical Damage reduction has increased from 6% to 9%

Looking down at the man below me, I simply took the hits while I waited for him to get tired. It seems whatever other crew members were on the island had yet to arrive, though no doubt they'd heard the two gunshots and would come running.

Eventually, the man's arms slowed down, and I could feel the sweat from the man building beneath me. 'Gross.' I dropped my guard and immediately began to pummel the man's face, as he had done to me.

+15 XP

Congratulations! Your [Brawling] skill has increased! (9/50) → (10/50)

"Fuck." I sighed heavily, my body heaving as I tried to catch my breath. I swept my hair back out of my face and stood up, looming over the now bloodied and beaten body of 'Fargas'.

I twisted my body around to face where the pirates had originally come from, seating myself securely on top of the man's chest. I gingerly reached down for the gun he had dropped, doing my best not to move my injured shoulder.

I immediately checked my status screen.

Name: Oliver Crave

Race: Human

Level: 6

EXP: 375/600

HP: 456/550 ([Regenerate] is restoring 0.55 HP per minute!)

Fame: Non-existent.

Titles: Survivor, Graverobber, Crab Calamity

Bounty: 0

Click here to reveal attributes!

Click here to reveal Perks! (Total: 4)

Click here to reveal Skills! (Total: 8)

'Alright. Not too bad. I guess that answers some of my questions about my stats. Seems like I'm definitely above the average shitty pirate. Yay.'

I didn't have long to reflect on the new information before I spotted a group of people making their way through the trees towards me. I groaned, partly out of pain and partly out of the fact that I had to deal with more assholes.

I preemptively cocked the hammer on the gun in my hand, though I had no expectations regarding my aim. Regardless, I propped my arm up on my knee and pointed it in the direction of the group. Before long, they broke into the camp, and the obvious leader of the group spoke up.

Lewis Flank, Captain of the Goldsight Pirates, Lv. 15

"My my... You've done quite the number on my men, haven't you?" The man spoke with a sultry, somewhat arrogant tone. It seemed he wasn't the type to immediately fly off the rails and demand his death. That certainly helped. He scanned his eyes across the camp in its entirety, not bothering to even look at me until he had finished surveying everything.

Eventually, his eyes landed on me. No, fixated on me. It seems he was waiting for me to say something.

"Well, can you blame me? Perhaps you've figured out that I live here?" I asked the man, keeping an eye on the several men behind him who just seemed itching to give me a beating. Honestly, it was a little disconcerting knowing I'd probably die if Lewis here felt like it.

"Hmm. Yes, I can indeed see that." He said, pushing up his glasses as he did.

Taking a better look at him, he was clearly in a much better condition than the rest of his crew. Whether that was simply due to position or dedication to cleanliness, he wasn't sure. The man had light blonde hair that had been slicked back out of his sharp and narrow face. He wore a pair of gold-framed glasses that sat securely on his face, lightly obscuring his green eyes. Despite his occupation, the man had opted for a fairly suave look - with a long, maroon leather coat and black shirt paired with your average black trousers and boots. It was a shame he'd no doubt murdered a bus worths of people.

"Well then, why shouldn't I kill you? I've already checked the wreckage and there's not even a single Berry present. I assume you have something to do with that?" He asked, looking straight at me as he placed a hand on a pistol strapped to a large belt across his chest.

"Right. Well, to be honest. I do have some of the treasure, but I can assure you most of its been lost in the ocean. I mean, come on, the hull was riddled with holes. Most of it's gone, mate." I said calmly, though I was honestly shitting myself.

"I see. First of all, do not refer to me as mate." He said, enunciating the last word with some venom. "Secondly, I believe it would be in your best interest to retrieve that treasure with haste."

I dropped my head with a sigh.

'Right. Gotta bargain with this guy, no way I'm just giving him my fucking shit and waving him goodbye. I don't really wanna sail with these fuckers but I don't seem to have a choice.'

"Let's make a deal shall we?" I asked, somewhat nervously.

"A deal?" He asked, releasing a groan of exasperation. "I assume you'll give me the treasure should I allow you upon my ship and off of this island?"

"Perfect! Took the words straight out of my mouth!" I said, my hope rising by the minute.

"No." He said simply.

"What? Why not?"

"Don't feel like it." He said, inspecting his fucking nails.

'Is this guy serious? Jesus H. Christ. Of course, the guy in charge is more annoying than the rest of 'em.'

I sat there for a moment, in silence, my knee shaking up and down as I thought of what to say. I looked behind Lewis to see the rest of his crew were growing slowly more and more irritated.

"Ok, ok. How about this? I'll give you the treasure and I, the man who just whooped three of your crew members' asses will join you and whoop whoever's ass you need until we reach the next inhabited island." I said, making damn sure he wasn't gonna twist my words on me. No way I was getting dropped off at some other bumfuck island.

Lewis thought for a moment, his fingers tapping against the pistol on his chest. He gave out another exasperated sigh before speaking once more. "Very well. Show me to this treasure then."

"Uhhh... Nah, just wait here I'll go get it." I said. No way I was gonna use my inventory in front of these bozos.

"Why? Just lead me to it."

"No, really. I can just go get it."

"No, I now insist, as your captain, you show me the way." Lewis said calmly.

My irritation began to grow, made worse by the flippant attitude Lewis displayed.

"No. I insist, Temporary captain, that I go and get it alone." I said, smiling through the anger.

"Very well." Lewis said, changing his mind as suddenly as the wind changed course.

'This fucker really knows how to get under a man's skin.'


I eventually made my way back to the shoreline where Lewis and his ship were waiting for me, dragging the sack of valuables behind me in the sand. It wasn't anything absurd but it was definitely a sizeable haul, especially considering Lewis would be getting it for basically nothing. Of course, this wasn't the full amount of what I had, with the rest of it sitting securely in my inventory.

I dropped the bag in front of him, allowing him and his men to sort through the various gems, coins, silver cutlery and other such valuables at their leisure. Lewis seemed satisfied and ordered his men to bring it onboard, leaving me to leisurely make my way on to the 'Crimson Earl'.

It wasn't long before we were ready to set off. I didn't have anything I really needed on the island, and anything I did need was already tucked away in another dimension. Lewis briefly spoke to me regarding my duties and did promise I could leave once they made land at a proper dock. Other than letting me know I was expected to take part in combat should it come to it, I was otherwise free to do as I wished.

Eventually, the Crimson Earl unfurled its sails and made quick work of distancing itself from my once home. I stood at the stern, watching as it slowly left my vision.

Quest Complete!

Escape the Island!

Reward: 1000 EXP, A Silver-Rank Chest.

A [Silver-Rank Chest] has been placed in your inventory. Open it up for a reward!

Congratulations! You have reached Lv. 7!

You have 5 unspent Attribute Points.

Congratulations! You have reached Lv. 8!

You have 10 unspent Attribute Points.

You have joined [The Goldsight Pirates] (Temporarily). You are now classified as a Pirate and enemy of the World Government! Marines and Government-Affiliated.

Congratulations! As a reward for joining a [Pirate Crew], you have been given the Perk [Common Pirate], a Bronze-Rank Chest, and 500 EXP.

[Common Pirate]: You are~ a pirate!

A [Bronze-Rank Chest] has been placed in your inventory.

A new Quest has been added!

Survive and Thrive!

You've made it off the island! Now you just need to survive these dreaded waters and make it to civilization! Good luck!

Quest Reward: 700 EXP, +1 All Stats

Bonus Quest: Defeat 10 Pirates/Marines before making land.

Bonus Quest Reward: 100 EXP for every opponent defeated, +1 to your STR for every opponent defeated

The flurry of notifications eventually came to an end. I wasn't really in the mood to read them right now. A strange feeling of relief and sadness mixed together and made for a poor state to be in. I swiped away the screens with a thought and made my way below deck, where I'd be forced to sleep with the other crewmembers for the foreseeable future.