[Ding! A new system has been successfully installed. Please check immediately!]
The mechanical chime rang clearly in his ears.
Luffy froze at first, then his expression shifted into unrestrained joy.
Finally.
How many years had it been? Ever since he was flung into this strange new world, more than two decades had passed in silence. And now, at long last, the long-awaited system had arrived.
Tears welled up in Luffy's eyes as he thought back to the first half of his life.
In his previous world, he had been an ordinary man. One evening, after work, he stepped outside to grab a late-night snack. The street was quiet, the hum of neon signs flickering lazily in the darkness. Just as he strolled past the corner convenience store, a heavy truck suddenly roared into view. Its driver leaned out the window, shouting some nonsense about "For the Machine God!" before losing control and slamming straight toward him.
There had been no time to react.
A flash of headlights, the deafening blare of a horn, then darkness.
When Luffy opened his eyes again, he found himself lying in a cradle in an unfamiliar orphanage. This was not the world he once knew. He had been reborn, raised as an orphan, and over the years pieced together the truth: he had somehow crossed into the world of Honkai: Star Rail.
There was no mistaking it. His planet alone had a branch of the colossal Stellaron Hunters' greatest rival the Interastral Peace Corporation.
And today, he was trudging toward the company's local branch building for what would be his eighteenth interview attempt.
Yet just as he tightened his grip on the printed résumé in his hand, that crisp, mechanical voice chimed in his mind, announcing the arrival of his system.
The timing was so unexpected he almost laughed.
"I knew it!" he muttered under his breath. "How could a transmigrator like me not be given a system?"
Without hesitation, Luffy glanced at the résumé he had prepared, crumpled it into a ball, and tossed it into the nearest trash bin.
"If not for the pay, who would want to slave away at that company anyway?" he grumbled, glaring at the towering building of the Interastral Peace Corporation in the distance.
Now that he had a system, who needed corporate drudgery?
"System," he said excitedly, "introduce yourself!"
[Understood. This system's full name is the Pirate King Training System! My purpose is to cultivate the host into the new era's Pirate King!]
The voice that rang in his mind was bright and energetic, almost playful.
Luffy blinked.
"…What did you just say?"
[Pirate King Training System!] the voice repeated with pride.
His gaze instinctively drifted back toward the trash can, where the fragments of his résumé still lay scattered.
Was it still possible to print out another copy and rush to the interview?
[Host, you are destined to be the Pirate King. How could you lower yourself to become a corporate dog?]
The system clearly detected his hesitation and hurried to intervene.
[Don't you dream of becoming the ruler of wealth, fame, and power the one true Pirate King?]
Luffy shook his head immediately.
"Nope. Not interested. I'm a law-abiding citizen, thank you very much. Why would I want to become some pirate?"
He sighed, spreading his hands.
"And besides, even if I wanted to, this planet doesn't even have what you'd call a sea."
His world was officially named Windmill Star. It was powered almost entirely by harnessed gales, vast arrays of turbines dotting every horizon. There were lakes aplenty some wide enough to stretch further than the eye could see but no ocean, no crashing tides, no endless blue horizon.
Without seas, how could there be pirates?
[Nani?!]
The system's shock was palpable. Clearly, it had not anticipated this.
[W-wait a moment, Host! Give me a second to check some data. I'll get back to you right away!]
And with that, the lively voice vanished from his head, leaving silence in its wake.
Luffy let out a long, weary sigh.
So much for his long-awaited golden finger.
Here he had been, daydreaming about finally leaving behind instant noodles and cheap beef substitutes, and instead, he'd been saddled with a half-baked, utterly useless "Pirate King" system.
"Figures," he muttered.
With the interview missed and the résumé in pieces, there was no saving the day. The Interastral Peace Corporation had a reputation for its ruthless punctuality; a single minute late was enough to cost a candidate any chance.
Resigned, he turned on his heel and trudged back to his tiny rented apartment.
Once inside, he collapsed onto his bed, unlocked his phone, and began mindlessly scrolling through the infinite rabbit holes of the interstellar network.
At least there were still distractions.
Ever since the Windmill Star had been linked to the galaxy-wide net, the sheer variety of entertainment had multiplied. Streamers of every species flaunted themselves across platforms. There were beast-girls with twitching ears, mechanical android idols, even strange jelly-like "slime-girls." If it existed, you could find it on the net.
He was just starting to lose himself in "serious critique" of one particularly flashy live broadcast when
[Host, I'm back!]
The voice burst into his mind again, startling him so badly he nearly dropped his phone.
"Seriously?! Don't sneak up on me like that!" he snapped, rubbing his chest. His mood, which had been drifting toward far less wholesome avenues, had been thoroughly ruined.
[Good news! I've found a solution to your little problem of having no ocean to rule over!]
The system sounded positively triumphant.
Luffy arched a brow. "Oh? And what brilliant idea is that?"
[Think about it! Who says 'the sea' has to mean water? The starry sea the vast ocean of space counts too! If you can't be the Pirate King of the seas, then why not become the Pirate King of the stars?]
[Ding! System name updated: Cosmic Pirate King Training System!]
The announcement rang out proudly.
Luffy couldn't help but snort. "What's next? I'll be fighting tiny robots in space, all of us scrambling over fragments of infinite energy cores?"
[Don't be so cynical, my dear host. Let us carve out a destiny as cosmic pirates together!]
"Still not interested." Luffy waved a hand dismissively.
[Host, listen! A person without dreams is no better than a salted fish lying in the sun!]
The system's tone was almost paternal, full of disappointment at his lack of ambition.
Luffy ignored it, rolling lazily onto his side.
"Alright, system, let's say I did agree. How exactly do you expect us to set sail into the cosmos? Last I checked, starships aren't sold at corner markets."
[Simple! I've already scoured this universe's databases. All we need is a spaceship. Once we acquire one, our grand voyage can begin!]
"That easy, huh? And how exactly are we supposed to get one?"
[Well… we could buy one?]
Luffy sat up and glared at the ceiling.
"And why do you think I was applying for a corporate job in the first place?"
If he had the kind of credits to buy a starship, he would already be vacationing in Penacony, basking in luxury. As things stood, even a toy model of a starship made him wince at the price tag.
"Forget it. You figure out a plan for the ship. Until then, I'll focus on finding an actual job."
[Host, don't abandon me now!]
The system's voice cracked into a pleading whine.
But Luffy had already discovered the useful little trick of mentally "muting" the connection. With a flick of will, the system's chatter vanished into silence.
Peace at last.
For now, there would be no Pirate King. No grand voyage. Just the quiet hum of his old fan, the glow of his phone screen, and the uncertain future of an ordinary young man who had waited twenty years for a miracle only to discover that even miracles came with fine print.