Back home, Alex throws himself onto the large couch, still mulling over his conversation with Melissa. Jewel hops onto his chest and settles there, staring at him shyly.
Already used to this kind of attention, Alex strokes her cool body and closes his eyes for a minute. From the kitchen, he hears Menchi bustling about, obviously preparing dinner. Seemingly with a lot of enthusiasm.
Meanwhile, Benezia slips into her room.
Probably playing some more. I think she's getting even more interested in the game, especially after I mentioned Samara.
About half an hour later, the delicious aroma of food drifts in from the kitchen.
As Alex gets up, he notices Tereza stepping out of her room—likely just returning from the Realm.
"It smells soooo good!" she says, walking into the kitchen and hugging Menchi from behind.
I guess the time to relax just ended. Not that it matters—I'm hungry anyway.
Princess Jewel is hungry as well! She wants to eat meat!
Makes sense, Jewel… but you know, I love you, and if you say it like that while staring at me with all your eyes… I'm kinda getting freaked out.
Princess Jewel does not intend to indulge in anything indecent with her Soulmate… yet.
What the?! I was talking about you eating me…! What were you thinking? You know what—forget it. I don't want to know. I never asked!
❤️
With his appetite suddenly gone, Alex rises to his feet.
Tereza immediately throws herself at him and boasts, "I got it! Wasn't even that expensive!"
"Really?" Alex asks.
She got what? An item that lets her join me? But my item specifies random players… When we entered the Wizarding World, it only worked because it required a team of five to go in together, which was specified in the item description.
"Show me your world item again!" Tereza says brightly.
"Sure…" Alex mutters, pulling up a system screen to reveal his [Baroque Works Invitation].
[Baroque Works Invitation]
Quality: Purple
Type: World Item / Quest Item
Effect: Allows the player to automatically select a fresh One Piece world at an early timeline before the Straw Hats encounter the organization. The player's next mission will be locked into this world and cannot be changed.
The player will have the opportunity to join Baroque Works during the Arabasta Saga.
Requirements: Level 5-10
Note: Any Officer Agent is tasked with scouting worthy personnel and has the authority to invite new members into the organization. This item grants the player the position of a Frontier Agent, with the chance to work for Mr. 0 himself.
Note: After clearing the tutorial and unlocking the full functions of the Fantasy Realm, the player can use this item to initiate a mission spanning the entire Arabasta Saga. Other random players of similar level will also be selected to join.
This item cannot be traded or sold. It will disappear from your inventory at level 11.
"Judging by the quality and description, this item seems quite promising," Alex says. "The players will have a lot of freedom, and it will be a mission involving others, which increases the potential risk, but also the potential rewards. However, chances are we won't be able to act as freely as we want, since it mentions joining Baroque Works. I hope that isn't a permanent decision, not after the little surprise I prepared for a certain crocodile, hehe. Still… what item did you buy that can actually help you? The description of mine mentions random players of similar level. Sure, our levels match, but it feels like a stretch that we'd get paired together."
"Hehe, take a look at this!" Tereza says, sharing the details of her newly purchased [Duo-Leveling Request Beta].
Hmmm, weird name. Reminds me of the 'solo' variant.
[Duo-Leveling Request Beta]
Quality: Blue
Type: World Item / Quest Item
Effect: Allows the player to join another player's next mission if he is using a World item that permits additional players to join. For this item to succeed, the target must consent to the request and already have a World Item activated.
Requirements: Level 5-10
Note: Both the player and the target must fulfill the requirements.
Note: Can't be traded.
Note: Free Meals are not included!
"No wonder this thing is only Blue Quality. Limited to level 10, requires someone with a World Item that allows others to join, plus you need consent. Still, good job finding something like this!" Alex says. "Seems oddly… specific. Almost too lucky?! Did you choose this item?"
"Actually… I signed a contract with another player. I can't tell you with whom I signed it with or where I bought it, but I can tell you I was referred to a secret shop. That shop sells a bunch of items like this. This one was cheap—just 10,000 FC—so I grabbed it instantly, because it perfectly fits my needs and costs way less than the others. Some of them cost around 100,000 FC!"
"You signed a contract?" Alex asks, looking worried.
Even Menchi and Benezia suddenly appear, stepping closer, concern showing on their faces.
"Calm down. The contract contains just two points: I can't reveal the secret shop or the person who referred me to it. The person sold me that information for 5,000 FC. The contract is only to keep me from reselling the information. Usually, these shops don't stay around for too long, and the contract ends in six months, so it's really no big deal. I am allowed to sell you items and tell you what's in stock, so there's no reason to be upset. The catch is that the items almost always can't be traded. I can maybe ask the person—who refers to themselves as an information broker—for more details if you want the location too."
"Well… not now, but maybe later. I guess you did a good job. Can't hurt to know more people!" Alex says with a grin.
"As long as you're safe, Tereza, I'm satisfied," Menchi says. "You had me worried there a little. Now let's eat!"
The team, including Tereza, gathers at the table and digs into the feast Menchi prepared.
Benezia's face softens into a smile. "Every day is a new journey of discovery, Menchi. I am grateful to you," she says, savoring a rich tomato–mango soup.
"It's a trap," Alex mutters, tearing into the most scrumptious meat dishes and ignoring the soup. "You'll fall in love with her cooking, and then once you're on a mission and get separated from her, you'll be forced to eat generic garbage. It's so bad that I occasionally pack some food into my inventory just to have it later. I even ate White Quality meals just for the taste alone."
"Hehe," Menchi chuckles, clearly pleased by the compliment.
"Let's talk business now, okay?" Alex says, chewing through a pair of beef skewers and pulling the meat off the stick with his mouth.
"Next mission, since we're teaming up with Tereza, we'll include her in our plans. We'll be using my [Baroque Works Invitation]," Alex explains.
"That means you all have a lot of work to do!" he adds.
"Work?" Benezia asks. "I don't think there's much for us to do until we get there… or are you talking about preparing items, specifically supplies for the mission?"
Matriarch Benezia is very smart but has not yet adapted to the reality of the Realm. Soulmate means that we all need to study the world we are going into! Princess Jewel is right, isn't she?
"Yeah… One Piece has over a thousand chapters. Anime-exclusive scenes and movies are usually considered filler, but some parts are canon. There are also plenty of explanations and author comments scattered around on the web. People have compiled that information online, but it still takes extensive research. The opinion of the fandom also influences the story. Thankfully, we'll be entering the world during a relatively early part of the story. Most major arcs won't have started yet, so you can probably get away with reading summaries and focusing on just the relevant parts," Alex explains.
"I see… this feels wrong somehow," Benezia says. "Did you also prepare yourself like that before you entered my world? Is this just a script we are following? Are we just actors?"
"It's way more complicated than that, Benezia. Of course, we prepared… Jewel was the worst. She forced me to play the games over ten times. Worst of all, she always had a clear preference for certain… choices," Alex sighs, remembering his ordeal.
"It doesn't always help, though," Alex continues. "For example, Lowell City on Mars was never part of the game, and only a little information exists about it. The Realm takes what is known and builds the missing pieces around the established lore. So sometimes, no matter how much you prepare, you'll still be blindsided. It is always an adventure and a sandbox-like world, and never just a linear path. One Piece has quite a few items, secrets, and mysteries that were never fully revealed, so chances are we'll be going in at least partially blind. Thankfully, we have Tereza with us! She's got the biggest cheat imaginable. She can fly and is strong enough to carry two of us plus Jewel. That means we can avoid the water and just fly from island to island! This will be our biggest advantage! Since I can only take one combat Supporter with me, either Benezia or Menchi will have to stay inside the settlements. Of course, if I change settlements, I can summon them, so we will meet frequently."
Now… who to pick…? Decisions, decisions.
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