A ragged young man lay quietly on a sandy beach, the seawater gently lapping at his trouser legs.
"Where… is this?"
His fingers twitched, eyelids fluttering. When he opened his eyes, the dazzling sunlight made him squint before he could finally see clearly.
Blue skies. White clouds. Seagulls circling lazily above.
"Am I… in heaven?" he muttered.
"Yes, that must be it. After all, I was a good person when I was alive—always helping others, reminding teachers to assign homework, helping old ladies cross the street, fixing computers for lonely widows… pure virtue."
He sighed. "A man like me is destined for heaven."
He tried to move, but—
"Hiss! It hurts! What the hell? Why do I still feel pain if I'm in heaven?"
Confused, he lifted his right hand and looked down at his body.
"Wait a second… why am I a kid?! Even if this is reincarnation, shouldn't I be a baby?"
Before he could think further, a rush of unfamiliar memories hit him like a storm.
"I transmigrated? To the world of One Piece?!" His eyes widened. "And it's a soul transfer into someone else's body? Oh, you were also called Rolan?"
He looked up at the sky and shouted, "You've gotta be kidding me! I was joking about transmigrating to the One Piece world! Juliet still hasn't agreed to be my girlfriend yet, and I was only ten thousand dollars away from buying that gift for her!"
Rolan had been a software engineer on Earth, a programmer who spent his days writing and fixing bugs for a massive company.
Endless overtime. A demanding female boss. No social life. No friends.
The only comfort he had was reading One Piece manga after work. It was his escape, his spiritual fuel.
That New Year's Eve, after another grueling shift, Rolan was heading home while complaining about working on a holiday.
He'd been daydreaming, thinking, If I were in the One Piece world, I wouldn't have to work every day. I'd have adventures—and maybe a cute anime girl by my side.
But fate had other plans.
At a dark intersection, Truck-kun came out of nowhere and struck him.
As his body hit the ground and his vision blurred, the world faded… only for him to wake up here, on a strange beach.
"I was just joking! Don't take it seriously! Juliet's still waiting for me back on Earth…"
After collecting himself, Rolan sifted through the original body's memories.
"So the kid whose body I'm in… he had it rough."
This town had been occupied by pirates. The boy's parents sacrificed their lives to send him out to sea, hoping he'd survive. But he was captured by another pirate crew and forced to become a cabin boy.
He'd been on that ship for three long years.
Cabin boys had no status. Even the ship's dog was treated better. They ate scraps, slept on the floor, and were beaten for the smallest mistakes.
There had once been two cabin boys. The other one—a frail old man—was beaten to death just for accidentally breaking a wine glass that belonged to the captain, Fideh.
Yesterday, Rolan had made the mistake of entering the restroom without knocking while the vice-captain, Joseph, was inside gambling with one of the captain's women. Joseph had beaten him nearly to death and thrown him overboard.
By some miracle, he washed up here alive.
"Man, you really had it bad. I just got yelled at by my boss every day."
Suddenly, a mechanical voice echoed in his mind.
[System detected successful transmigration to the world of One Piece. Activating…]
Rolan froze. "What?! I get a system too?!"
A glowing progress bar appeared in his mind, slowly filling.
[Activation complete. Received: Newbie Gift Pack ×1.]
"Oh? A newbie gift pack? Open it, quick!"
[Opening Newbie Gift Pack… Rewards obtained: Wahaha Purified Water ×1 box, Nami Photo Album ×1, Paramecia-type Devil Fruit ×1, Basic Martial Arts Card ×1, System Space (3×3).]
Rolan blinked. "A Nami photo album? What am I supposed to do with that here?"
Still, excitement filled him. A system. A Devil Fruit. This is real!
He focused his thoughts, and a small glowing square appeared in front of him—the system's storage space. Inside was a strange fruit shaped like a pineapple.
"So this is a Devil Fruit, huh? Why does it look so ugly?"
He frowned. "And it's a Paramecia fruit… Should I really eat it now? What if I find a Logia fruit later?"
After hesitating for a moment, he sighed. "Forget it. The system's reward must be legit. Let's just trust it."
He picked up the fruit and sniffed it. "Doesn't smell weird… Hopefully, it doesn't taste as bad as they say."
Taking a deep breath, he bit down.
Crunch.
"Ugh—gross! I've never eaten garbage, but I'm sure this is worse!"
He forced himself to swallow. "That's enough!"
He hurled the remaining fruit into the waves, watching as it drifted away.
Moments later, a surge of energy rippled through him, and new knowledge flashed across his mind.
[You have consumed the Paramecia-type Electromagnetic Fruit.]
Rolan froze, then grinned. "Electromagnetic Fruit? Are you kidding me?!"
"If someone else ate this, maybe they wouldn't understand its full power. But me? I topped the physics exams back in the days!"
He clenched his fists, electricity crackling faintly around them. "This is it—A strong Paramecia Devil Fruit!, similar to Enel's fruit!"
He stood, laughing wildly, waves crashing behind him.
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