I opened my eyes and I was confused about where I was. The last thing I remember was being shot. But this was some sort of town. It looked nice, though some of the people looked really gloomy. Did I die and get reincarnated like in those isekai mangas?

I chuckle to myself. I hated most of that genre, and now I am one of their characters. How ironic.

I wasn't sure where I was nor who I am. Well, names are made up anyway. If I don't figure it out, I'll just make one up.

I walked around the town. it looked like a nice town,

" *Hick* Did you hear about Gold Rogers? Apparently, he became the Pirate King." A man who was heavily drinking says. His partner laughs, "Yeah, I wonder what he will do now?" he says while grabbing a drink.

Gold Rogers? What a weird name. And did they say pirate king? Well, it would be best not to disturb them. I walk up to a stand. Most people were talking about this Gold Rogers. I just couldn't understand who he was.

But from what I heard, he was a strong, evil person. But those are just rumors; maybe this guy isn't that bad.

I then hear my stomach rumble. I had seen a forest near here, so I went to the woods to find some fruit.

I walked for a few minutes, I think? I didn't really think of the time. I saw an old guy. He had one arm, gray hair, and was pretty buff. I look at him with caution. For all I knew he could be a pirate. Even though I was cautious around him, he smiles.

"Ah, hello young one, what are you doing here?" He asks with a smile.

It didn't feel like he had any malicious intentions, so I answer him, "I'm here to find some food."

The man looks at me with a pitiful smile."I see, so you are an orphan," He says as he comes closer to me. "Your clothes are also super dirty." He says I became more cautious since I had no idea what he would do. He laughs, "Shishishi, don't be so cautious around me. I won't hurt you. Now let's go hunt some food down!" He says loudly. I nod, though I was still a bit cautious, as I didn't know anything about him.

"Alright, what's your name? Mister." I ask the man, and he smiles, I felt like he didn't have many people to talk to, and I kinda pitied him, "Shishishi, don't you look at me with that pitiful look, my name is Taejin," He says with a smile. Then some sort of animal that I have never seen came behind him.

"MISTER, BEHIND YOU!" I yelled. I was terrified of that animal. It looked like a bear and lion chimera. Taejin quickly spins around and does a reverse hook kick. The air pressure from the kick made my hair go up.

And the chimera? That thing got sent into a tree. "Oo, it's our lucky day," Taejin says, "It's a Leobear. These things taste pretty good if cooked correctly." Teajin goes to the chimera thing and picks it up easily with one hand.

On the other hand, I was shocked. The speed. The power of that kick. It was superhuman! "Hey, hey, don't daydream," He says with a smile, "Let's go to my house. It's pretty far away from here, but don't worry. As long as I am here, nothing can hurt you in this forest."

I nod, "Hey, mister, how did you do that?"

Taejin chuckles, "What do you mean it's a simple reverse hook kick."

I look at him, shocked,"What do you mean simple? That kick was so powerful!" Taejin laughs, "Compared to my strongest kick, that was nothing!"

"How strong is your strongest kick?" I ask intrigued.

"Well," Taejin points at a decently sized mountain, "With my strongest kick I could destroy that entire mountain." I feel even more shook, "Woah, how did you get so strong?"

Taejin chuckles, "I used to be a pirate in my youth, but I retired twenty years ago."

I nod, "I see, so you were, a pirate once." I paused. "YOU WERE A PIRATE?" I yell, confused.

Taejin laughs, "Yeah, I was quite the strong pirate. I even had a bounty of one billion two hundred million and fifty-five berries." Taejin smiles.

"Woah, that sounds like a lot," I say. I did wonder what reason there was for a bounty on him.

"Yeah, it kinda is," Taejin says.

I look at him with interest, "was it fun being a pirate?"

Taejin's smile fades and then reappears. "Well for the most part, it was. Though there was a reason I retired," Taejin says, "I settled down on this small island in the North Blue two decades ago."

"North Blue?" I ask.

Taejin nods, "Yup. The world is separated into five different parts: East Blue, West Blue, North Blue, South Blue, and the Grandline."

I nod, "What do you do as a pirate?"

Taejin chuckles."Oi, don't go and try becoming a pirate so soon. But when I was a pirate, I used to go island to island exploring with my crew. Escaping the marines, battling marines and other pirates. It was quite fun!" Taejin says with a smile, though he looked sad when he mentioned his crew.

I smile."Then you have to tell me about some of your adventures!"

Taejin laughs. "Alright, but first I'll cook the meat. You can go into my house. There are some books you can read if you can read. If not, I'll have to teach you later."

I nod."Alright, I'll go to see the books!"

Taejin smiles. "Alright, have fun," he follows me inside and grabs a cooking knife.

I go look around to find those books he was talking about. I did find some. They were on some important stuff like the history of the world. "Huh, the void century? Wasn't there something like that in my world?" I ask myself. I hear the door opening and quickly put down the book.

"The Leobear is currently cooking. So, can you read the books?" He asks with a smile.

I nod with a smile, "Yeah, I can read it. I just read about this thing called 'the void century.' Do you know what that is?"

Taejin laughs. "Well, there's no information about it, other than nothing happened in that century."

I nod, "I see. I wonder why nothing happened in that century?" I was super interested in what could've happened.

Taejin laughs. "Well, maybe in the future you could find out," Taejin says as he goes out.

I read some of the other books, and then suddenly wondered when I learned to read. Well, I guess it didn't matter for now. other books I read, there wasn't anything cool or important. Most of it was just dates, wars, and some other stuff. the inventions that were in that book also happened in my world.

But I learned something. There were no continents. There were just islands. I also learned about the Grandline, which was a line of the sea that the only way to enter was a huge mountain in the middle of it that circled the entire world. The Grandline was also surrounded by a part of the sea that is called the calm belt; the water didn't move. There was no wind, and there were also humongous 'Seakings' which is some sort of fish I'm guessing. The book didn't describe it so I don't know how it looks.

The only way to get to the Grandline is to go through something called 'The Reverse Mountain.' It's a reverse waterfall that apparently is not even the craziest thing in this world.

This world was insane. Full of mysteries. I will definitely become a pirate and find out about this world's history and see all the islands! But I would have to become very strong for this. I'll have to ask Taejin to train me. He is pretty powerful.

"Alright the meat is done," Taejin says with a smile.

I nod and go with him. The leobear was cut into many different steaks. I tasted one. It was cooked nicely, and it melted in my mouth.

"Oh!" I say," This is super good!"

Taejin chuckles, "Well, I'm no chef but I am pretty good at cooking. Especially meats," Taejin started eating and we quickly finished all the food.

"Hey, Taejin, could you teach me how to fight?" I ask.

Taejin laughs, "Sure, but why do you wanna learn to fight?"

I look at him with the most determination I have ever felt in my life, which wouldn't have to be much. In my past life I never really cared about anything. There wasn't anything I could do. I wasn't smart so I couldn't invent anything, nor explore the world since that was already explored. And history was never my favorite subject in school.

"I wanna become a Pirate and explore the seas!" I say.

Taejin looks at me, shocked, but then smiles. "Well, if that's what you want. But you know you don't have to become a pirate to explore the seas," Taejin says.

I look at him confused. Was there another option?

"You can become a marine. At least then you won't have to be hunted down by all of them," he says with a sad smile.