Entering the cube was not a scary event. It did not extend and gobble him up. It did not turn out to have a gooey consistency and pull him in like a quicksand.
Nor did it try to suffocate him as he went in. It was instantaneous.
Walking in, Harry felt no resistance. It felt like there was nothing. Just a screen of light.
After walking in, Harry turned back. Confused as to whether he had really entered and whether he could actually go back.
Apparently not.
Putting his hand on it, it felt like a wall with a slightly jagged surface. Almost like a smoothened out red brick wall.
Seeing that there was no way back, Harry decided to continue. He turned his back on the wall and continued forward. The place was filled with fog. The Cube and the fog inside was red. He hoped that it would be blue like it's supposed to be outside as well.
'Is the cube outside still red? But shouldn't it already turn blue and hopefully turn blue here as well? Also, what is going to happen? This is too eerie'
Harry really did feel the place to be eerie. After all, he assumed that he was going to die here. And for some reason, nothing seems to be happening. He was scared.
[Hello traveler. Welcome to the Interdimensional Cube]
"Arrgh, what the hell? What's going on?"
[I am the manager of the Interdimensional Cube. And you are inside one.]
"Huff…huff, ok…..ok. I see. So you are a system, like in those fantasy novels, right?"
[Correct and not correct. While I certainly am a system, I'm not like those so-called fantasy novel-esque systems. I am not going to be with you forever and am only here for your initiation into the trial world]
"Trial world? What? You mean you are just like a truck kun and you are going to dump in a different world and then leave me there to die."
[Yes, that's completely correct but I am also going to be giving you some benefits in the meantime before I whisk your soul to another world to die or do the main task given.]
"What? Really? Am I going to be given insane abilities?"
[Yes, you will]
After this bit, Harry calmed down a bit. Something felt a bit off.
"Wait, if you give everyone abilities before they go, then why do they die out so fast, or do they even die actually?"
[Hmm, unfortunately, the assumption that everyone had that they died is true. Every time a traveler dies, the Cube shows that it's ready for a new traveler. But they do not really die that fast. Or in just one day. There is a time difference. One week in the new world is just one hour in this world.]
And that news was both devastating and relieving at the same time.
Relieving because he was not going to die as soon as he thought might and the situation might actually be much better than expected.
Yet, devastating because he was sure that his family would be crushed since it was guaranteed because the time ratio is 168 to 1. If he lived 168 years in that world, only one year would pass in the real world.
It would be impossible to live that long since no human lifespan is that long. But even if he lived that long, it would be useless in the end, because his parents and family would see that he died pretty soon.
He was afraid that his mother would fall into depression and so would his father and sister. This he could not accept.
"Is it possible for me to return home? Is it possible for me to get back to my family?"
[For that you would have to achieve the main mission given to you by the Cube. After you finish that, you can return]
And for the first time ever after coming into this world and being forced into a harrowing situation, Harry felt a tiny amount of hope.
"Please tell me what that is."
[It's simple, in the world you are going to, you are going to have to find a legendary treasure that is called 'One Piece'. Simple task. Should be a breeze.]
'What?'
Harry was so surprised and shocked that the only word that came to his mind was 'what'. After that, his mind just went completely blank.
[What? Why are you so shocked? That is a very simple objective. Travel the world, find clues to the treasure and then simply get to it. Why are you looking at me like your whole world fell apart?]
And the system was correct in its assumption. The world and mind of Harry was very much flipped. All that time of agonizing over the possible hellscape he was going to be thrown into, it turned out to be the world of One Piece. That is one of the more mild situations to be thrown into. And since no one had done the task given by the Cube in all cases,( because then they would have returned to the real world, ) He can just chill in that world and die a natural death.
One year (at most) would have passed in the real world and he got to live a relatively peaceful and satisfying life. All that tension and worry over nothing. This was not a deathly situation but just a mild situation.
Huh.
So, in those cubes, most people just led a natural life and died in a normal manner.
No one thought about the possibility of the time ratio. All the people in the world misunderstood these Cubes as death machines where they are just a chance at a restart in life. What a surprising situation.
[what? Done thinking?]
"Ahh yes. You're right. I was just shocked. I thought it would be something like killing an impossible opponent. But it turns out to be just a fetch quest. I'm just surprised."
[Ahh, yes. That might indeed sound misleading. But yes, it is somewhat a simple fetch quest.]
"Is there a type of penalty if I did not or could not find the treasure?"
[Nope. No problem whatsoever. After you die of whatever cause, we reset the world and invite the next traveler in. Sometimes, if the traveler left a mark that's either very small to the world or irrelevant, we leave their accomplishments in there and do minimal changes.]
"Interesting. What are the rewards actually, for finding this treasure?"
[Well, first of all, the treasure itself. The freedom to return to this world and some others that you do not have the authority to know. But I assure you, they are worth every bit of the hassle.]
"I see. I'll keep that in mind. Are there rewards based on other activities outside of the main mission?"
[Yes actually. After you do the main mission, you will be given an evaluation and be given extra rewards based on the evaluation and your overall impact on that world.]
'Interesting.' Harry thought. This gives a lot more information than you would think. What does 'impact' mean for a world that is from a manga? Does that mean changing the plot? Or just treating the place as a real world and actually being a well known person and having a genuine impact on the world?
The entire situation is quite vague and Harry could not help but feel that it was intentional.
"Can I ask about what 'impact' means in this context? Does it mean being a well known person or just someone affecting the world?"
[That, you will have to figure out. I can't hand feed you information like that]
Just as he thought, it was left vague on purpose.
"Alright then. I can't think of any other related questions. What type of powers and abilities were you talking about in the beginning?"
[Ah, yes. Here's a store with almost every type of ability you might get with their side effects. You can choose based on your current amount of points.]
"Current?"
[Yes. you may reduce or increase that points based on the number of handicaps or advantages you choose to give yourself.]
"Interesting indeed"
And as he opened up the store menu, he was given an interface filled with devil fruits, martial arts, haki and even obscure concepts and abilities like Devil Fruit awakening. It was a lot to take in at first glance. Also, he had only 500 points.
First, the devil fruit section is divided into three parts as usual. Paramecia, Logia and Zoan.
And after that, it showed hundreds of devil fruits . And each and every one had a different price tag based on how world breaking they were.
For example, The Gura Gura no Mi, the devil fruit of the strongest man in One Piece, is worth 1000 points whereas The Jake Jake no Mi is worth only 10.
"Hmm, what shall I do? System, If I decide to sacrifice half my lifespan, how many points would I get?"
[Calculating, just 100]
"Dang, that's low. It would seem that my life is not worth that much."
And that's when a devious idea came to him. Since he was planning to be the best, why not try the combo of abilities that he theorized in his previous life would make anyone invincible or at least give them the potential to be one.
'Let's see, the Mane Mane no Mi, worth 200 points.' [500 to 300 points]
This was Bon Clay's fruit and looking at the description, it matches.
Next, 'Paramecia fruit awakening ability', worth 300. [300 to 0 points]
That is suspiciously perfect.
Next let's trade in my good looks and exchange it for the worst possible looks and charm humanly possible,
+300 points.[0 to 300 points]
Holy, I'll be looking really bad and have really bad charm once I get in there.
Nice. And next, knowledge of haki, each type of the three worth 200.
Hmm, time to sacrifice some strength and health. I can always train it back up in there.
Hmm, +200 points.[300 to 500 points]
I need 10 more for the perfect situation. What do I do?
Should I sacrifice limbs or create ridiculous restrictions for me?
Hmm, no. What else can I do?
Sell my balls?
How many points is that?
[10]
Uhhh. Maybe not worth it.
An eye?
[20]
All my hair?
[10]
How about getting an allergy to peanuts?
[5]
Wait a minute.
I might have miscalculated
I already have enough. Kind of...
I can't awaken conqueror's haki by just the knowledge of it. So, getting that would be useless.
I'll be getting just the Armament haki and Observation haki knowledge (Mainly training manual)
So, I'm left with needing only 400 points and I have 500 left.
Hmm, what else do I absolutely need. [100 Left after the haki knowledge]
And that's when it hit him, the last piece of the puzzle. The ability to fly. Or Sky walk or Geppo. The best ability that every fruit user needs to survive emergency situations that include the sea and drowning. And also, if I know about that ability, I'll be able to extrapolate the rest based on my knowledge.
Ahh right, I also don't know how to do the Kami-e because it's so vaguely explained. That's enough. That's all I'll need for now.
And the points needed for that is, 30 per each Rokushiki.
Perfect. I'll invest the rest of the 40 points back to my physique.
"I have decided on what abilities and information I'll get."
[Hmm…. interesting choice. Very interesting. And you thought this combo up on the spot?]
"Of course. How else would I do it? I just thought that the ability to be anyone you want is perfect for me who is a stranger in that world. Also, the other fruit that did the same thing was too expensive. So, I had to just enhance this one with the awakening ability or whatever."
'I actually have a deeper reason to choose this ability over the mythical fox one. But he doesn't need to know that' Harry thought as he continued explaining.
"After that I looked for the best martial abilities that would allow me to use my strength, So I chose the two haki abilities. The conqueror's ability seemed like something made to handle the mobs and just flex, so I avoided that and chose the knowledge about the other two.
Also, Just directly getting those were too expensive, so I had to make do with just the knowledge of how to awaken and use them.
The same is for the two Rokushiki abilities. They seemed like the perfect ones to a)Train really fast using Kami-E and avoid the fruit weakness to the sea by being able to fly somewhat.
It was the best I could do with what I had."
[That does seem to be a very reasonable explanation. Alright, we are done here. Get ready for your journey. I wish you good luck and goodbye. Hopefully we can meet again after you succeed in your task]
"Farewell to you as well. I also hope we meet very soon."
And then the world went dark for Harry. As he began an adventure that was not completely an adventure.
It was a mission.