At night, the sea was calm and still, a stark contrast to the violence of the day.
There wasn't a breath of wind or the splash of a wave. The ocean surface was a mirror, perfectly reflecting the silver sickle of the crescent moon hanging in the ink-black sky.
At the bow of the small boat, Darian sat gazing up at that moon, contemplating his future.
Just yesterday, he had clocked out of work, gone for drinks with his colleagues to complain about the grind, and then… blank. Now, he was here. He hoped he hadn't lost his mind.
For Darian, who had survived the grueling "996" work culture of his previous life, the concept of hard work wasn't scary. What scared him was the isolation. He missed his parents. He missed modern conveniences. But as an adult, he had to accept the cold, hard reality: he had traveled to the world of One Piece.
Time travel? Fine. Transmigration? He'd read the books.
But there was a prerequisite for these stories: Give the hero a cheat code!
Without a "System" or an overpowered ability, how was an ordinary person supposed to survive in a world filled with sea monsters and super-powered pirates?
So far, his only "cheat" seemed to be a built-in translation filter that allowed him to understand the language. That was useful, sure, but it wouldn't stop a cannonball. The world of One Piece might have cyborgs and lasers, but its day-to-day life was closer to medieval Europe. No phones, no internet, no safety net.
Ordinary people here were fragile. One bad encounter with a pirate crew, and it was over.
Fortunately, he had been picked up by Nami.
Unfortunately, because Nami had saved his life, he had been forced to sign various verbal "unequal treaties," effectively making him her indentured servant.
Question: How does an ordinary modern man survive in the One Piece world?
Answer: Join the Straw Hat Pirates. You might get beaten up, but you probably won't die.
Right now, he had successfully latched onto Nami—the future navigator of the Straw Hats, the "big sister" of the crew, and the woman who could beat up the future Pirate King without Haki. It was a good start.
Creak!
The cabin door opened. Darian turned his head to see Nami stepping out onto the small deck. She had changed out of her wet clothes into a fresh white t-shirt and a pair of tight shorts.
The boat was small—stolen from a pirate crew if the skull-and-crossbones on the furled sail was any indication—but it had a tiny cabin that offered shelter from the elements. A shelter Darian was currently banned from entering.
"Nami," Darian greeted her.
Nami hummed a non-committal response, looking a bit awkward. She shifted on her feet. "Darian, go inside for a bit."
Darian blinked in surprise. "Is something wrong?"
She had spent the last hour explicitly forbidding him from entering her "private quarters." Now she was inviting him in? He was confused.
Seeing his hesitation, Nami's awkwardness instantly morphed into her signature bossiness. She puffed out her chest, planted one hand on her hip, and pointed a finger at him.
"Just go in when I tell you to! Why do you have so many questions?!" She raised a fist, threatening him. "And I'm warning you—don't touch my treasure chest, or you'll regret being born!"
Under the pure white moonlight, Darian could see the impatience in her eyes. It wasn't just anger; she seemed... desperate.
"Oh. Okay." Darian obediently stood up and ducked into the cabin.
Inside, a single candle flickered, casting long shadows in the cramped space. It was simple: a narrow bed, some bedding, a pile of clothes, and a heavy treasure chest locked tight next to the pillow. The air smelled faintly of mandarin oranges and old copper coins—Nami's signature scent.
As soon as he was inside, the door slammed shut. He heard the distinct sound of something being wedged against the handle from the outside—likely her bo staff.
She locked me in?
He didn't understand why, until he heard the rustling.
Outside, having secured the perimeter, Nami hurried to the gunwale. The ocean was vast, but privacy on a ten-foot boat was nonexistent. She unbuttoned her shorts, her face burning red from her neck to the tips of her ears.
She had lived at sea for years. She knew how to handle "nature's call." But doing it with a strange man just a few feet away, separated only by a thin wooden wall? That was an unprecedented level of embarrassment.
But she had no choice. Between the adrenaline of the storm, the CPR, and the long hours sailing, her patience had reached its limit.
Inside the cabin, Darian froze.
The sea was dead silent tonight. No wind. No waves.
Which meant every sound was amplified.
He heard the soft hiss of water hitting the ocean surface.
Oh.
Realization hit him like a brick. She had locked him inside to give herself privacy.
The combination of the girl's lingering scent in the cabin and the unmistakable sound of water outside made Darian's heart pound against his ribs. It was such a mundane, human moment, yet in the quiet of the night, it felt incredibly intimate.
His blood pressure spiked, making him dizzy. He leaned back against the door for support.
Thump.
"EEP!"
Outside, the sound of Darian bumping the door startled Nami so badly she nearly fell overboard. She gripped her waistband, eyes wide. If he dared to come out right now, she would beat him into a coma.
But the door held. It was just a false alarm.
A minute later, the door was pulled open from the outside. Darian, still a bit flushed from the awkwardness, stumbled out, nearly falling backward as the support disappeared.
Nami stood there. Her blush had faded, replaced by a mask of nonchalance. She eyed Darian's disheveled appearance suspiciously.
"You didn't touch my treasure chest, did you?" she demanded, her voice sharp.
Darian steadied himself, forcing a smile to cover his racing heart. "How could I? I owe you my life. I wouldn't dare steal from my savior."
The mention of "owing" flipped a switch in Nami's brain. Her eyes sparkled, not with romance, but with the sign of the Berry.
"You heard everything just now, didn't you?" She leaned in close, a playful, dangerous glint in her eyes. "That's going to cost you. Let's say... one million Berries."
She tilted her head back, blowing a soft breath against his neck. It was a calculated move, teasing and terrifying all at once.
Darian might have been an adult in his past life, but his resistance to Nami was currently zero. The feeling of her warm breath on his skin made his pulse jump.
Seeing she had him completely under her control, Nami smiled sweetly. "Today, I saved you. You ate my food. You're living on my ship. And you invaded my privacy. So, total debt..." She tapped her chin. "Eleven million Berries!"
Darian snapped out of his trance.
"Eleven million?! Nami, I don't have that kind of money!" A drop of cold sweat trickled down his temple.
Nami grinned, a fox who had just caught a rabbit. "If you don't have money, you can work it off. As my slave!"
With that, she grabbed his arm and shoved him out of the doorway.
Bang!
She slammed the cabin door shut and locked it from the inside.
"You can sleep on the deck tonight, slave!"
The cool night breeze hit Darian's face, finally cooling his feverish head. He stood alone on the bow, listening to the gentle lap of the water against the hull.
He had definitely been tricked. He was broke, in debt, and sleeping outside.
But as he looked at the moon, he couldn't bring himself to be angry. It was going to be a long, sleepless night.
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