"Akira, get up already! Didn't you promise to head out and fish with us today? Don't tell me you're slacking again!"
THUMP THUMP! A chubby man pounded Hata Akira's door without mercy.
"Knock it off, you lardbrain! Keep that up and you'll smash the door to pieces!"
Hata Akira flung off his blanket and swung out of bed. He let out a quiet sigh. He had been in this world for more than half a year.
From resisting at first to accepting it with a helpless shrug, he still felt lost about his future.
When he first heard the village kids chattering about the Pirate King, Gol D. Roger, he thought he was dreaming or that everyone here was just a die-hard fan.
But whenever they brought up the Pirate King, a worshipful glaze filled their bright eyes, a touch of mania flickering underneath like zealots. It made his skin crawl.
From the fisherman who had saved him, Hata Akira learned he'd been drifting alone on the sea, already unconscious. If a boat hadn't happened to be nearby, he would've become fish food.
To survive, Hata Akira learned to fish. He trained hard. Six months later, he had become one of the village's best hands.
Crews would swing by to invite him along before they set out; with him aboard, the catch was always heavier.
At first, Hata Akira considered planting vegetables and living as a carefree farmer. But the village soil was barren nothing would grow. Everyone survived on the sea.
For half a year he ate fish every meal, and somehow never got sick of it. The local waters teemed with species he'd never seen; every day, every plate tasted different.
Back on Earth, fish weren't exactly rare. But here, some creatures simply didn't exist there.
Take the "snowflake fish" he'd had the day before yesterday: even after steaming, it stayed icy cold no matter how you heated it. The flesh was silky, boneless. In the sweltering summer, it was perfect.
What rotten luck. In novels, the transmigrator wakes up with a cheat. Why am I still just… ordinary?
Grumbling, he followed the chubby man toward the shore.
Villagers greeted Hata Akira warmly along the way, and a gaggle of kids played "Marines catch pirates."
"Today I'm Whitebeard, the great pirate! You be a Marine ensign and try to arrest me!"
"Idiot. Whitebeard's the world's strongest man. A puny ensign wouldn't dare. At least send an Admiral."
Hearing them, the chubby man sighed. "Youth is wonderful. I used to dream like that become a pirate famed across the seas, find the legendary One Piece, and become the Pirate King. I gave up in the end."
Akira eyed him and kept the thought to himself: With your skills, Buggy the Clown would take you out before you even reached the Grand Line.
"Do you know why I quit?" the chubby man asked.
"Why?"
"I set sail brimming with ambition, and before I'd gone far, a massive Sea King flipped my boat. If someone hadn't happened to save me, I'd be dead."
Akira blinked. Right out here, Sea Kings were everywhere. With this guy's level, he didn't need rival pirates. One Sea King would do him in.
"Who saved you? No one in our village could handle a big Sea King."
"I don't know. Some weird old man. He said he just happened to be swimming past and saved me on a whim. Sounds like bragging, right? Who swims from one island to the next? But he was strong. He tossed a pebble and knocked that giant Sea King clean out."
Akira froze. Could that have been Silvers Rayleigh?
"Did the old man have a scar over his right eye?" Akira blurted.
"Yeah! How'd you know?"
"Lucky guess."
Still, it nagged him. Why would Rayleigh come to the East Blue? From what the villagers said, Gol D. Roger had died twenty-two years ago, which meant Luffy should have already set sail. So why was Rayleigh in the so-called weakest sea a year earlier?
He'd watched One Piece a dozen times back on Earth and didn't remember Rayleigh swinging by the East Blue right before Luffy left. Was that… Oda's foreshadowing?
"Hey! Stop spacing out. Time to fish!"
Akira snapped back and hopped aboard. Another day of honest work began.
Two hours later, he and the chubby man admired their haul ten brimming baskets. Enough to live on for a while.
They turned for home when the sea heaved. WHOOM! A towering wave nearly capsized the little boat.
"Not good it's a Sea King!" The chubby man gaped at the beast rising from the depths, almost wetting himself.
So that's a real Sea King…
Akira stared up at a monster with a horse-like maw, lantern eyes, and an octopus's sprawling body. It loomed like a tiny Ultraman at least twenty times the size of their boat.
"There shouldn't be Sea Kings in these waters. Why is it here?" the chubby man yelped.
"Forget the why. Row!"
Drenched by spray, Akira grabbed the oars and pulled for dear life.
He suddenly missed motorboats. Back on Earth, you didn't have to row till your arms turned to jelly just to inch forward.
ROOOAR!
The Sea King lunged, jaws yawning to swallow the boat whole.
As the reek of its breath washed over him, Akira's hope guttered. Is this it?
"Gum-Gum Pistol!"
A long arm blurred over his head and BAM! the Sea King rocketed backward, stunned.
"Awesome! This guy looks delicious."
A boy in a straw hat with a small scar under his left eye vaulted onto their boat. He stretched an arm to the bow and slingshotted toward the floating behemoth, eyes sparkling.
"A m-monster his arm stretched!" the chubby man squeaked, green to the lips.
"Whoa, you've got tons of fish. They all look so tasty." The straw-hat boy's drool practically puddled.
"Monkey D. Luffy!" Akira's heart thudded. He felt both thrilled and tense. A character he'd only ever seen on the page stood here in the flesh and had just saved his life.
"How do you know my name? Have we met?" Luffy tilted his head.
"But it's not weird people know me. I'm the man who'll become the Pirate King! Hahahaha!"
The chubby man keeled over in a faint.
Akira noticed Luffy eyeing the baskets and thought for a beat. "Come back to the village with us. Let us treat you to a proper feast to thank you."
"Really? Great! I'm starving!"
Then he froze, dashed to the rail, and shouted, "My boat!"
"Is it that one? It's drifted way off." Akira pointed to a lonely speck bobbing in the distance.
"That's my boat!"
Luffy followed his finger and spotted it immediately.
He'd been so focused on saving them that he hadn't tied up. The current had carried his skiff away.
"Hey, get back here! Don't you want to be the ship of the future Pirate King?" Luffy bellowed at the retreating craft.
Akira was speechless. Single-celled organism, confirmed.
"This is bad. Without a boat, I can't go to sea," Luffy muttered, crestfallen.
"If you don't mind, you can borrow this fishing boat," Akira said. The idea tickled him the future Pirate King setting out in his boat.
"You're a good guy." Luffy grinned, then brightened even more. "You're a man, right? Come with me set sail and be a pirate who's free on the open sea!"