I was feeling thirsty on a summer night after a whole day of work with late-hour meetings. During the few hours I spent browsing through fanfictions, I somehow forgot to bring a water bottle to my bedside table. I was drowsy when I started going to the kitchen, then I felt myself losing balance. I tried to stabilize, but being sleepy, my response was delayed. I slipped.
That's all I remembered before feeling thirsty again.
I could hear waves in the distance, which didn't make sense since I don't live near any water body. But the sound was very clear. I could also smell the sea from afar—that peculiar fishy and salty scent.
I got up and found myself in an unfamiliar place, inside a small hut, sleeping on an old bed. I climbed down and realized my whole body was aching, and my headache was killing me. I stood up, only to realize my height had somehow increased, and my skin tone had darkened.
I walked out to check where I was. It seemed I was in a small village near the sea. It was nighttime, so in the moonlight I could see that the village looked remote—the roads were made of mud, and the houses looked very poor with thatched roofs made of hay.
I was weirdly calm about all this. Rationally speaking, I should have been freaking out, but somehow, I felt an unnatural sense of calm, as if everything was under control. Then I saw a wooden barrel kept outside my hut. I walked to it and saw that it was filled with water. In the moonlight, I saw an unfamiliar face staring back—but deep down, there was a strange sense of belonging, as if that face had always been mine, not a stranger's. The rough, sunbaked skin with scars and a short beard.
I walked back into my one-room hut and sat on the corner of the bed. I had to center myself and think. What should I do?
Then, as if answering my thoughts, I felt a nagging urge to notice something from the corner of my eye. There, sitting on a small table, was a letter. It looked out of place—pure white in this dusty, rustic setting. I decided to check it out.
There on the page was a single sentence:
"Sorry, my bad. To make up for it, sent to alternate terra with 'SYSTEM.'"
I blinked.
Then a transparent screen appeared in front of my face with a few words:
Level: 2
Health: 100%
Stamina: 100%
Vitality: 2
Strength: 3
Wisdom: 7
Mana: 3
Agility: 3
As soon as I saw the screen, everything started to click.
I had transmigrated!
The thought was exhilarating, thrilling, and downright terrifying. A midnight walk to my kitchen had somehow turned into a new life of adventure. After thinking about what this meant, it was clear that I had a system—one showing my basic attributes, with percentages for health and stamina, and primary stats corresponding to my level.
I checked the screen again to see if I was missing something, and lo and behold, at the bottom was a special section labeled Achievements, which was blank. That gave me the idea that it probably corresponded to leveling up or increasing my attributes.
Also, my unusually high Wisdom could be the reason for my unnatural calmness. The next step was to identify what each stat signified—and since Mana was listed, maybe I could use magic.
First things first: MAGIC!
Thinking of all the possibilities made me giddy. Despite my calmness, I couldn't stop myself from grinning—hopefully roguishly, not stupidly.
I started to recall any spells I could remember from the countless fantasy books I'd read before, and began trying them one after another.
0. "Lumos!"
→ No change. So, not the Harry Potter world… or maybe I just lack a wand.
1. "Bibbidi-Bobbidi-Boo!" – Cinderella (Disney)
✨ The Fairy Godmother's playful spell that turns pumpkins into carriages and rags into gowns.
2. "Abracadabra!" – Traditional magic word
🪄 One of the oldest and simplest incantations, used for casting or revealing spells.
3. "Open Sesame!" – Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves (Arabian Nights)
🏰 A simple phrase that opens the door to a secret treasure cave.
4. "Mirror, mirror on the wall…" – Snow White
🪞 The Evil Queen's incantation to summon her magic mirror.
5. "Hocus Pocus!" – European folklore
🎩 Often used by magicians; originally a nonsense version of Latin words from old rituals.
6. "Once upon a dream…" – Sleeping Beauty
💫 Symbolic of destiny and enchantment; could be a soft spell of memory or love.
7. "By the pricking of my thumbs, something wicked this way comes." – Macbeth (Shakespeare)
🔮 A chilling incantation that foreshadows dark magic or approaching evil.
NOTHING WORKS!!!
What's the use of having Mana on my panel then?
Maybe it's just there to taunt me. And why are there no original memories? Did the author just have writer's block while creating this fanfic and couldn't come up with a backstory?!
It's frustrating to think that my grand adventure is starting with nothing but confusion and dread—thanks to the author's apparent laziness and lack of creativity.
After ranting all this in my head, I noticed that the sun had started to rise, and with it came the sound of birds. Wanting to forget the embarrassing performance of trying out random incantations, I walked out and looked toward the horizon.
The scenery was otherworldly—picturesque and absolutely breathtaking. The rays of the sun painted the horizon red as darkness retreated, while countless stars still glimmered faintly above. Those distant balls of fire and gas, burning away their lives across countless worlds, brought an unexpected calm to my heart.
There was hope. Whatever came next, I could handle it.
And then I saw something that shattered my composure.
The dawn birds were wearing caps and carrying bags around their necks.
Everything clicked.
This was a world of sea and adventure—
of pirates and marines.
This was One Piece!