Something was rocking.
Something loud.
Something wet.
Kai groaned and opened his eyes — pitch black. He tried to move, but his elbows hit wood. The floor shifted again, making his stomach twist.
"…Where the hell am I?" he muttered.
He pushed hard, and with a cracking noise, the wooden lid above him burst open. Sunlight poured in, nearly blinding him. The smell of salt and booze hit next.
When his eyes adjusted, he saw rough-looking people staring at him. A deck. Torn sails. Pirates.
One of them pointed at him. "Who's this bastard!?"
"Another stowaway!" a huge woman with heavy makeup shouted, swinging a club the size of a tree trunk.
Kai froze. "Oh, no. No, no, no…"
That face. That voice. That club.
He wasn't sure how, but he'd seen her before. On TV. In anime.
That was Alvida, the first villain from One Piece.
Before he could think, someone shouted, "Throw him overboard!"
Kai raised his hands. "Wait, wait, wait! Let's talk about this—"
A glowing blue message suddenly appeared in front of his face, floating in midair.
[System online.]
[Welcome, Streamer.]
[First mission: Survive your debut broadcast.]
"…What?" he whispered.
Before he could read more, a barrel behind him exploded.
A boy with a straw hat popped out, grinning like a maniac.
"Man, that was a good nap!" the boy said.
Kai stared. "Holy crap. Luffy."
Luffy turned to him. "Oh, hey! You were in a barrel too?"
Kai blinked. "Uh… yeah?"
Alvida screamed and swung her club. Luffy stretched his arm, punched her goons, and the fight erupted like chaos. Kai ducked behind a crate, trying to make sense of everything.
"Okay," he muttered to himself. "I'm either dreaming, dead, or… this is some kind of isekai prank."
Another message blinked in front of him.
[Stream started.]
[Viewers: 3.]
He looked around, confused. "Who's watching this!?"
Then a sword nearly hit his shoulder. He grabbed a broken mop handle and swung back on instinct, knocking a pirate into a barrel.
Luffy laughed. "Nice move!"
Kai sighed. "Guess I'm doing this."
He ran, ducked under a swing, and tripped another pirate. Luffy handled the rest easily. In minutes, the entire crew was either unconscious or swimming.
When it was over, Luffy turned to him. "You fight pretty good. What's your name?"
"Kai," he said. "And you're… really Monkey D. Luffy?"
Luffy nodded proudly. "Yup! I'm gonna be King of the Pirates!"
Kai rubbed his face. "Unbelievable."
A soft chime sounded again.
[Mission complete.]
[Reward: Starter Pack.]
A small snail with a metal lens on its shell appeared in his hands. It blinked at him.
"…It's a camera snail," he said in disbelief.
Luffy peeked over. "Can it eat?"
Kai quickly hid it behind his back. "No. It's... a pet."
The snail blinked twice, as if amused.
That night, while the two drifted on a stolen dinghy, Kai sat staring at the sea. He didn't know how he'd gotten there or what the "Streamer System" was, but one thing was certain: he was in the One Piece world now.
And somehow, the world was already watching.
Chapter 2 — The Boy and the Marine Dreamer
By morning, Kai had accepted it. Sort of.
He sat in a tiny boat with Luffy and a nervous pink-haired kid named Coby. The waves were calm, but his mind wasn't.
"So," Kai said, "let me get this straight. You," he pointed at Luffy, "escaped from a barrel to become Pirate King. And you," he pointed at Coby, "want to join the Marines."
Coby nodded nervously. "Y-Yes!"
Luffy grinned. "He's a good guy. Bit scared though."
Kai leaned back, sighing. "This feels like a fever dream."
The snail camera rested quietly in his pocket. It was still recording somehow, even though there was no signal, no power, nothing. Every now and then, he'd hear a faint beep — maybe the system was running in the background.
They reached a small island with a Marine base on top of a hill — Shells Town.
"That's where Captain Morgan is!" Coby said. "And Zoro's locked up there!"
Kai frowned. "Zoro? As in Roronoa Zoro?"
Luffy just laughed. "Yep! I'm gonna make him my crewmate."
Kai looked at him. "You're serious?"
"Of course!"
Kai followed reluctantly. He didn't have a better plan. Maybe if he stayed near the main cast, he'd survive long enough to figure this world out.
They snuck into town, and sure enough, there he was — Zoro, tied to a post in the Marine courtyard, sun beating down on him.
Kai whispered, "Man, he's taller than I thought."
Luffy yelled across the courtyard, "HEY! YOU WANNA JOIN MY CREW!?"
Kai covered his face. "Smooth."
The Marines shouted, rifles raised. Luffy charged in like a lunatic, and Kai, for reasons even he didn't understand, followed.
He ducked under a bullet, grabbed a broom, and swung it into a guard's gut. Zoro, watching from the post, raised an eyebrow.
"Who the hell are you?"
"Kai," he said, panting. "Background character, apparently."
Zoro smirked faintly. "Not bad for a nobody."
After a messy fight and a lot of yelling, Zoro got his swords back. They escaped together, leaving chaos behind.
Out on the boat again, Luffy laughed like a maniac. "That was fun!"
Zoro looked unimpressed. "You're insane."
Kai just slumped against the rail. "This world's gonna kill me."
That night, as they drifted toward open sea again, Kai opened his pack. The snail camera blinked at him, projecting faint words in the air.
[Viewers: 9,000]
[Tips received: 12,500 berries]
[New ability unlocked: Replay Save — once per day, rewind 5 seconds of reality.]
He stared at the message, then whispered, "Okay… maybe this won't be so bad after all."
The sea breeze carried Luffy's laughter across the waves.
And somewhere, unseen to everyone else, thousands of viewers kept watching the man who had just joined the Straw Hat Pirates — the first streamer of the Grand Line.