Tick—Tick—!
Scarlet blood dripped onto the wooden floor, the metallic scent thick in the air as it spread across the small general store like a red stream.
"What… what is this…"
Slumped weakly against the ground, Ren stared blankly at the blood-stained dagger in his trembling hand.
His other hand pressed against his chest, where a deep gash—split open by an unseen force—slowly began to knit together beneath his fingers.
Within moments, the wound sealed completely, leaving behind only the lingering weakness echoing through his body.
He began to think.
Who am I? Where am I? What am I doing?
Just as the thought surfaced, a searing pain exploded inside his skull.
It was as if a red-hot crowbar had pried open his skull and was violently stirring his brain.
"AHHHH—!"
Ren rolled on the ground, screaming in agony.
His crimson-stained shirt grew darker still as the blood from the floor soaked into the fabric.
And amid that flaying torment, his three philosophical questions finally found their answers.
His name… was Keya.
This town… was home to Marine Branch No.16.
And the act that brought him here—was suicide.
The dagger had pierced directly through his heart. "He" had died in slow, excruciating pain.
The world had gone dark then, just like a screen slowly fading to black.
Pain—!Unbearable pain!
Some people live yet are already dead; others die yet somehow live on.
Ren was the latter.
When the waves of pain finally receded, fragments of Keya's shattered memories came flooding in.
He—no, his former self—was Keya, a man living under an alias.
He had fled from Cocoyasi Village, escaping the cruel oppression and extortion of the Fish-Men. Seeking safety, he came to rely on his cousin, who served as a Marine.
But good fortune was short-lived.His cousin died in battle against pirates.
With his only protector gone, Keya was soon tracked down by the Fish-Men, who demanded he pay the years of overdue protection fees—or be tossed into the sea to feed the sharks.
In theory, as a relative of a fallen Marine, Keya could have sought help from the Marines.
Unfortunately, this was the Marine Branch No.16, where money ruled above justice.
And the "help" he received was nothing but extortion and abuse—kicks and punches, buckets of water dumped over his head, his possessions robbed in the shadows.
His last shred of faith in humanity collapsed.So he chose death.
Then, somewhere in another world, an overworked corporate drone was stumbling home after yet another late shift when a truck's headlights blinded him.
Ren vaguely remembered the hallucination that came next.
Right—a dump truck.
It suddenly transformed like a Transformer, became a robot, and shouted at him:"Hey, buddy! Help me out with my sales quota, will ya?Don't worry, you'll get a cheat power over there! The world's beautiful—maybe even a harem one!"
Then a mountain-sized fist came crashing down.
The next thing he knew, Ren had inherited this wretched life.
Waking up to find a dagger in his chest—who could possibly understand that horror!?
"This Fish-Man Arlong… is this that place?"
He staggered to his feet, went upstairs to a corner room, opened a dusty cabinet, and pulled out an old, yellowed wanted poster.
His eyes scanned the lines of text, stopping at three familiar characters.
"Sh—anks—!!"
The face printed on the paper looked even more imposing than it had in the anime he once watched.
There was no mistaking it—this was Shanks, the man with the Face-Face Fruit!(Or so Ren's shocked mind decided.)
"Holy crap… this is the world of One Piece?"
A world where commoners were as insignificant as grass,where pirates ruled the seas,where justice and evil blurred under the heel of the Celestial Dragons.
What fun adventure? What friendship and laughter?
Sure—for Luffy maybe.
But what did that have to do with the helpless common folk!?
"Damn it all—how did I end up reincarnating here!? You promised me a harem world!"
Ren ripped the wanted poster to shreds in fury—then stopped mid-rage, realizing how ridiculous he must look.
He'd actually believed that hallucination.
After calming down, he began to think rationally about survival.
Survival, after all, was something a corporate drone understood very well.
In one sentence: Be born, keep living.
Send off those who love you, raise those you love, then lie down in your little box and call it "game clear."
But as he thought further, Ren realized why Keya had chosen death.
"The original guy's savings and this store's profits… they could barely cover the Fish-Men's protection fees and the Marines' bribes."
"But those bastards demanded he repay all previous debts in one lump sum—immediately, no bargaining allowed."
"After years of arrears, he took a loan from a loan shark, and now it's compounding interest…"
Ren did the math—and gave up on the idea of ever paying it back.
Impossible.Completely impossible.
He could barely pay the monthly fees. His first instinct was to report it.
Then memory reminded him—the loan shark was related to Captain Nezumi, the Marine officer.
"Ha… So the judge, jury, and executioner are all their people.How exactly am I supposed to resist that?"
"Total system lock. What a heavenly collapse of a start!"
Ren slumped down in despair, pacing back and forth in the small room.
Then, suddenly, he stopped.
An idea?
No—he just gave up.
He sat down. Then lay flat on the floor.
"What am I doing?""Lying flat, obviously."
How do you break a dead end like this?
You don't.You lose everything—your debtors catch you, carve you up for parts, maybe even while you're still breathing.
Might as well die first.
As he lay there, Ren absentmindedly picked up the blood-stained dagger again. The reflection in the blade showed a man whose eyes were completely done with the world.
And then—something changed.
In an instant, he flipped upright, staring at the back of his own hand.
A glowing, colorful wheel-shaped pattern had appeared there, pulsing faintly like a breathing light.
"!"
Ren froze as realization struck him.
That truck—what it said—it wasn't a hallucination.
There might not be a harem world…But the cheat was real!
{Host's emotional state stabilized. No risk of sudden death detected. Investment viable. Dimensional Roulette activating...}
The glowing wheel shimmered into view before his eyes, projected like a hologram in the air.
{Adapting to world parameters... Collecting host data... Loading beginner roulette...}
A torrent of notifications cascaded across his vision.
And then, a light-blue interface materialized.
[Name: Ren][Age: 18][Race: Human]
[Strength: G– (Weaker than the average person)](A measure of physical power, muscle strength, and explosive force.)
Ren: "???"
Something about this system felt… off.
[Agility: H– (Even among humans, you're slower than a turtle.)](Agility reflects speed, reflexes, and balance.)
[Constitution: G–/(G)](You're normal—just a bit weak from blood loss.)
[Luck: I–(?+)](Your luck is abysmal. Death's breath is already in your ear.)PS: I was going to ask you to give that truck driver a five-star review, but maybe he should hang from a lamppost instead. Anyway, my first client's about to die!)
[Charm: E](Your looks are above average for a human.)PS: What? "Ordinary Louis Koo"? Damn it—kick this guy out!)
[Trait: None](Traits refer to special abilities such as regeneration or immortality.)
Ren's mind spun.
There really was a system—but it had a snarky commentator built in.Was this thing even reliable!?
He didn't know.But he knew one thing—this was his last lifeline.
"Ha… huuh!"
He took a deep breath and forced himself to calm down.
The display flickered, turning to a full-screen view of a colorful wheel.
A cheerful tune began to play in the background, and new information streamed directly into his mind.
Dimensional Roulette — His Cheat Power.
Core Function: Draw from all things across dimensions.
Attachment: Harmless Artificial Intelligence.
Effect: Randomly acquire prizes from the multiverse—abilities, talents, buffs, items, and more.
Cost:Beli.(PS: Money is everything, my friend. Our motto—create happiness with gold! No cash, no spin!)
Tiers: Beginner, Intermediate, Advanced, VIP, and beyond.
Special Event: Every 100th spin becomes a Jackpot, increasing tier and prize probability.(PS: I hate this feature.)
{Beginner Roulette activated. Insufficient chips. Please recharge.}{Ding! Compensation from "Mr. Driver" received.}
"Of course it's gambling! Dammit! Don't they know I hate gambling and drugs!?"
Ren scowled. With his luck rating and cursed fortune of meeting a truck driver desperate for sales quotas, what good could possibly come from this?
Throwing in what little money he had left? Might as well flush it.
Then his eyes fell on the final notification.
Right.So it wasn't a dream.He really was someone's sales commission.And that bastard even sent him "compensation."
Compensation?What, Hell coins?
"Why don't you burn them for your mom instead!" he shouted at the air, fury bubbling again.
But before he could rage more, a loud crash came from downstairs—twice in a row.
The sound of a door being kicked open, followed by angry voices:
"Not too late, right? Dead men's organs don't sell for much."
"Boss, I smell blood."
(End of Chapter)