BAM! CRACK!
Those were the last things "???" heard before being hit by a speeding truck. He never expected to die in such a cliché way.
He always imagined dying in an epic fashion. In the middle of a gunfight or stabbed in the back—after all, that was the kind of environment he was used to.
But that wasn't the case. On an ordinary day off, he went out shopping and was suddenly run over by a reckless truck.
At that moment, he found himself staring into the void of his empty mind, drifting through the deepest infinity. Then, suddenly, he heard a high-pitched sound, one he instantly recognized.
Ding!
"Link with user complete."
System ready for use. Transferring consciousness...
Selected Character: Monkey D. Luffy!
Transfer will be completed in...
3... 2... 1...
He immediately recognized what was appearing before him—after all, he had once been obsessed with manhwas where the protagonist gained powers through something called a "system."
Back then, his greatest dream was to reincarnate in another world with one of those systems, but as he grew older, he let go of that idea, thinking it was too unrealistic.
And now he realized—it wasn't. His dream was possible, and he was one step away from living a new life.
Hiding his excitement about having something so amazing, he focused on the character chosen by the system.
"Monkey D. Luffy?!" he thought joyfully, imagining the adventures ahead.
A sharp pain shot through his head, so intense that he fainted instantly.
While he rested, the system made all the preparations for his new adventure. When he woke up, he would no longer be himself.
Now, he was Monkey D. Luffy.
---
"What a good nap I had!" he said, stretching his arms up. "Looks like it really wasn't a dream!" he smiled, looking around and seeing the vast ocean while sitting in a small boat.
It seemed he was now at the start of Luffy's adventure, moments before being caught in that whirlpool that would take him to Alvida's ship.
Already anticipating what was about to happen, he got ready and climbed into a nearby barrel.
As soon as he entered it, a quick notification appeared, surprising him.
[Be cautious.]
[Protect yourself before something bad happens!]
[Received 5 Soul Points!]
"Huh?" he muttered, confused. "Seriously? Something that simple gave me a reward... Looks like this is going to be more fun than I thought!"
Curious about the previous system notification, he decided to test something.
Luffy: "Hmmm... Status."
[Status]
Monkey D. Luffy, rising pirate. A young man who dreams of becoming the Pirate King, possesses the Devil Fruit known as the Gomu Gomu no Mi, which turned him into a rubber man.
Strength: 0
Endurance: 0
Agility: 0
Soul: 5
---
"Why are all the stats at zero?" he asked, not expecting an answer, but what came next surprised him.
"Because I am an upgrade system, and for better tracking of your evolution, I chose to set your stats to zero."
Luffy was impressed that the system itself answered his question—but of course, how else would he learn more about it?
...
It didn't take long for him to feel the boat start moving erratically. Without needing to think much, he realized he was approaching the whirlpool.
As he got closer to the center, his speed increased more and more—until it made him nauseous.
Not liking that feeling, he decided to lean in a corner of the barrel and take a nap, hoping things would play out like in the original story.
...
And that's exactly what happened. For some reason, the whirlpool's force weakened, and a nearby current redirected Luffy's boat.
Now he was heading in a "random" direction across the sea.
"Hey, look! Seems like we got lucky this time!" shouted a pirate, grinning as he looked at the sea, confusing his crewmate. "A wine barrel floating in the sea—that's what I call a gift!"
"Huh, really!? That's lucky then. I just hope Alvida doesn't find out what we're doing." he said, preparing a rope with a hook to throw toward the barrel.
"Relax, it's just the two of us here. No one will notice." he replied, copying his friend's actions—but then he glanced to the side and saw a small pink-haired boy with a nervous look.
"M-m-mmm, Miss Alvida knows what you're doing..." the boy said nervously, holding a broom.
"No... And she won't know, right, Coby?" asked one pirate with a threatening look, making the boy sweat even more.
"Y-yeah! I won't tell anyone!"
"Still, we can't leave you here—come with us." He finished pulling the barrel with ???1's help and began pushing it toward a small room on the ship.
"You're right. Come on, Coby." grabbing the boy's arm, making him drop his broom.
When the three reached the room, they quickly shut the door behind them and searched for something sharp to open the barrel. After a few seconds, ???1 found a small razor and started cutting the barrel lid.
"Haha, we really are lucky! This barrel was heavy—there must be tons of wine!"
He was almost done cutting when suddenly, two arms shot out and hit him in the face.
"Ah! What a great nap!" Luffy shouted, stretching and launching his arms into the pirate's face, sending him flying.
"What!?" everyone yelled at once, seeing a skinny young man with a straw hat emerge from the wine barrel.
"Hey, are you crazy!? What do you think you're doing invading a pirate ship!?" shouted one, grabbing the razor his friend had dropped.
Before anything else could happen, Coby grabbed Luffy by the arm and ran toward the ship's storeroom, hoping none of the pirates would follow.
"Great, everything's going according to plan," he thought, excited to live the story firsthand.
...
"Right, I remember! There should still be some apples in those chests over there. You can eat them if you want, but I don't know if it'll fill you up," said Coby, pointing to a pair of crates set apart from the rest.
"Hmm, thanks, kid..." grabbing an apple and taking a small bite. "Hard to believe this is the first thing I'm eating since arriving in this world," he finished the apple and grabbed another.
"Ah, I forgot to introduce myself. I'm Coby... What's your name?"
"I'm Monkey D. Luffy, and I'm going to become the Pirate King!" he shouted with a huge smile, feeling good saying those words.
[Determined!]
[Say a classic line of your character.]
[+5 Soul Points]
"Seems like Soul is pretty easy to level up... but what does it actually do?"
"Soul, also known as Spirit, is the ability to influence and inspire others, while also boosting spiritual strength and resistance to magical (elemental or psychic) attacks.
Bonus: The higher the soul level, the more respected you are."
"Interesting... I can see how that'll be useful."
"Pirate King!? So you're going after that famous treasure—the One Piece?"
Luffy simply nodded in response.
"No way! Do you know how many people die trying to enter the Grand Line to find it? Besides, yo—"
"Shut up!" Luffy yelled, punching Coby's head, making him fall to the ground in pain. "One thing you should never do is doubt someone's dream."
Coby just stared silently, feeling guilty for what he said.
"Actually... I have a dream too. I want to become an admiral and arrest bad pirates!" he shouted, but not loud enough for anyone outside to hear.
"And what's stopping you?" Luffy asked, even though he already knew the answer.
"This ship... I've been stuck here for two years as Alvida's subordinate. If only I had some strength to escape..."
"You know, I don't like people like you. Cowards are boring. Why not make a plan and try to escape?"
"Impossible! Alvida always finds out when someone tries. I've tried before, but she always caught me. Since then, I gave up and accepted this life."
"If you had the chance to escape, what's the first thing you'd do?"
"I'd become a Marine and arrest Alvida, for sure!" he shouted with all his determination.
"What did you say, Coby!?" yelled a large woman, suddenly appearing after breaking the storage ceiling with her iron mace.
"A-Alvida-sama!?" he said, surprised to see her.
"I hope I misheard you. Now tell me—who's the most beautiful woman on the seas!?"
"O-of course it's you, Lady Alvi—"
"Coby, who's this fat old hag?" Luffy asked innocently, pointing at Alvida, who was stunned.
"How dare you, you brat! Bean, Jim—take care of him!" she yelled, and the two appeared.
"As you command!" they said, charging at Luffy.
"I hope I get a reward for this," Luffy thought.
When they were just steps away, Luffy stretched his arm back and launched it at them.
The two hit the wall and fell unconscious.
[Effortless Victory.]
[Defeat Alvida's two subordinates in a single blow.]
[+2 Strength]
"Only two?" he thought.
"Those idiots! And to think they were the strongest after me," Alvida thought angrily, gripping her mace tightly.
"Wow! Mr. Luffy is amazing," Coby thought in awe.
"I guess you're next, huh?" Luffy said with a grin, starting to wind up his arm for another punch.
"Damn it! I didn't think I'd need to use this just to beat someone!" Alvida thought indignantly, pulling out a small chest hidden between her breasts. "Even if I lose the ability to swim, I won't let some rookie defeat me!"
"What the heck!? Is this really happening?" Luffy muttered, confused, watching Alvida take a small bite from the fruit inside the chest.
"Blegh! That's disgusting!" she complained after biting into the fruit, but didn't spit it out.
A few seconds passed. Everyone stood confused, unsure what would happen next after she ate the strange fruit. Their questions were soon answered when a strange liquid started to ooze from Alvida's body.
Her previously round figure began to slim down, revealing stunning curves. The freckles on her face disappeared, and the once-tight Extra GGG-sized clothing now nearly slipped off her body—barely held up by her hands.
"Damn it! I should've thought this through!" she said, blushing as she caught Luffy staring. "Now that I've eaten this fruit, there's no way you can defeat me!"
"It really is going to be tough… in the anime, Luffy had trouble hitting her because of how slippery her skin got..."
Before anyone could react, a loud explosion echoed nearby. Everyone turned toward the source of the noise, confused.
A massive hole had been blown into the side of the ship, and in front of it was a cannonball. They were being attacked by Marine reinforcements.
"Looks like we took too long here." Luffy grabbed Coby by the arm and bolted toward the emergency dinghy, unaware that Alvida was chasing close behind.
"There!" he shouted excitedly upon spotting a boat that hadn't been used yet.
Without thinking twice, he stretched his arm toward it, pulled it loose, and it splashed down into the water.
...
Now far from the Marine ship, they all let out a sigh of relief. Luffy turned his attention to Alvida, who hadn't said a word since boarding the dinghy. Coby didn't dare to even look at the woman who had imprisoned him for so long.
"What are you doing here?" he asked seriously. His intense gaze didn't seem to intimidate Alvida, who kept her usual blank expression.
"Since they destroyed my ship, I have nowhere to go... Besides, you defeated the strongest members of my crew, so I'll have to join you now."
She casually invited herself into Luffy's crew—something that surprised him greatly.
"And what makes you think I'd accept someone like you in my crew?"
"What a silly question. Who wouldn't want a beautiful woman who can fight in their crew?" she replied as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.
Luffy was just about to reject her and kick her off the boat, when suddenly, a notification from the system rang out:
---
[New Mission Available!]
[Invitation for the Sea Lady!]
[Recruit Alvida to your crew and gain your first reinforcement.]
[Reward: First crew member, 5 attribute points (user's choice), and 1 Basic Combat Manual.]
---
Seeing the amazing rewards, Luffy gave up on his original plan.
"Alright… but I'm the captain!" he shouted, making it clear he was the one in charge.
"Fine by me. I never really liked being captain anyway."
---
[Mission Complete!]
[Invitation for the Sea Lady!]
[You've recruited Alvida to your crew as your first reinforcement.]
[Rewards: First crew member, 5 attribute points (user's choice), and 1 Basic Combat Manual.]
Luffy: "Great!"
...
"So, you want to go to Shells Town? I heard Roronoa Zoro is there," Coby said while watching the sunset.
"Actually, that's exactly why I'm heading there. I'm going to recruit him for my crew!" Luffy said excitedly.
"What!? Do you really think a pirate hunter will just join your crew like that?"
"I never said it would be easy. Besides, I'm really persistent!" he replied with a smile, lying back in the boat. Beside him, Alvida appeared to be dozing off.
"Hmmm, I don't think I'll ever fully understand you," Coby said with a small smile.