The sea breeze caressed the air, wandering between the azure water and the blue sky. The seagulls circling the ship and the bustling crowd on deck reflected the lively atmosphere.
"Yo, Ren! Still drinking sullenly by yourself? Come on over and have a drink with us!"
"No thanks, Captain. I'm used to having a little drink on my own. You guys have fun," Ren replied, snapping out of his daze to address the tall man.
"Still the same as ever. Well, forget him! This voyage has been as fruitful as always, and we'll be back in Bilgewater by tomorrow morning. Until then, let's sing for our harvest and toast to another safe return! Come on, you little bastards, let's finish off the rest of this booze!"
"AYE!" "To you, Captain!" "Cheers!"
Hiding alone near the ship's railing, Ren took a small sip from his cup, his thoughts drifting back to the problem at hand: how to get the hell off this pirate crew.
A pirate's main business was robbery, a life spent licking blood from the blade's edge, frequently taking lives. The people pirates killed were mostly merchants, sailors, and travelers. Of course, there were villains among them, but the majority were just ordinary folk.
This was in no way comparable to fighting in a war, acting in self-defense, or protecting one's homeland. For Ren, who had received a nine-year compulsory education, it was simply unacceptable.
That's right, this Mr. Ren was a legendary transmigrator. Not a soul replacement or a body-swap, but a direct reincarnation into this world, experiencing life from fetus to infant, to child, and now to an 18-year-old young man.
However, he hadn't possessed his past-life memories since birth. He wasn't sure if something had gone wrong during his transmigration or if he'd just had a bit too much of Meng Po's soup of forgetfulness.
It wasn't until a week ago that Ren finally broke through the "mystery of the womb" and awakened his memories from his previous life.
Regardless, Ren was still Ren. His past life was his, and his current life was also his. All the memories he possessed, all the trials he had faced, belonged to him.
Having just recovered his memories, Ren quickly felt a strong aversion to his identity as a pirate. Piracy inevitably involved burning, killing, and plundering.
Besides, what kind of future did a pirate have? Was he supposed to brave a thousand storms to find some great treasure and become the Pirate King? This wasn't One Piece.
Having been born in Zaun, Ren knew this was Runeterra—the world of the MOBA game League of Legends from his past life, which later built out the massive League of Legends universe.
From his childhood in Zaun, Ren knew that this world was, without a doubt, the world of the animated series Arcane. This corresponded with his past-life memories. Before Ren transmigrated, Riot Games had announced that Arcane, Legends of Runeterra, and any potential future films and animations would all be canon to the League of Legends universe.
This meant Riot Games was trying to unify the lore. They had probably realized that constantly retconning their own stories wasn't a good look, he thought with a laugh.
As dusk fell, the sounds of revelry continued unabated. Ren finished the dregs of his drink, stood up, and headed towards the ship's cabin to return to his room.
"Our little bookkeeper, heading off to rest so early again?" asked a scar-faced man nearby, his face flushed from drinking.
"What's the fun in being by yourself all the time?"
"Come drink with us! Long live the party!"
"Ren's finally 18, huh? He used to be so shy. When we get back to Bilgewater, I'll find a nice girl for you and pop your cherry!" a pirate hollered.
The surrounding pirates roared with laughter and egged him on.
"I can't hold my liquor, I'm going to sleep. You guys have fun," Ren said, casually deflecting. "And you, Kap, get the hell away from me. What are you even hooting about? Find one for yourself when we get back."
After a perfunctory reply, Ren nodded to the captain, Solo, who had glanced his way. Solo gave a small nod in return, and Ren left the scene and returned to his room.
Back in his room, lying on his bed, Ren once again reminisced about the past.
First, his past life. After finishing Arcane, he had felt an empty void, a sense of longing, and no longer had the excitement of waiting for next Saturday's episode. That's right, Ren had seen both seasons and knew the entire plot of Arcane.
He also had a general impression of the League of Legends universe. At the time, Ren had watched countless videos—lore explanations from YouTubers like Teacher Xu, Leo, and Little Prince Wang. It had been a few years, so he was sure he'd forgotten some details.
But that didn't matter. To believe a book completely is worse than not reading it at all. The League lore had been retconned so many times before, and Riot was now trying to unify the universe. If he remembered and clung to every old detail, he could easily get screwed over. After all, who knew if old information would make it into the new canon or just get retconned again, turning it into false intel.
Speaking of which, back then, the empty-feeling Ren had binged all sorts of Arcane videos, clips, and analysis. Still not satisfied, he started searching for fanfiction. But with the second season having just ended, there weren't many stories, and the ones that existed only had a few chapters. He'd read a bit and then there'd be nothing more. Finally, he washed up, got into bed, and went to sleep. That one nap sent him straight to Zaun.
Ren still found it strange. He hadn't spilled water on a power strip. He hadn't choked to death on food. He wasn't hit by a truck or sucked under a car while saving a kitten. He just... went to sleep, and here he was. Was it really that casual?
Then again, being reborn was pretty good. In his past life, Ren had been all alone (a traditional trope for protagonists, right?). Now, reborn in Runeterra, there were so many unseen landscapes, cultures, and histories, and even magic. How wonderful was that?
Just don't think about Mordekaiser. Or the Demon Jester. The Darkin, the Void...
Sigh. Eighteen years reborn, and a whole week since awakening his memories. Where was his golden finger? Where are you? Am I not worthy? Or are you asking me if I'm worthy of holding the key, and how many keys I'm worthy of...
For the past week, Ren's mind had been racing. I transmigrated, got reborn, so it's only natural to have a system or a golden finger, right? I wonder what it'll be like when it shows up?
Since this is a real world, if I get something that lets me ascend to godhood in one step, it would be awesome, but the hidden dangers would be huge. In my past life, I saw so many shows, anime, and novels where some weak little chump with a power level under 5 suddenly gets world-destroying power. They act all high and mighty at first, but they get beaten to a pulp later on. After all, it's not their own strength; it was just suddenly given to them.
It would be pretty good if I got something that gave me a starting point, a seed, and let me train and build my strength step by step. That way, even if something went wrong later—like my golden finger suddenly flying away or the system exploding—it wouldn't affect me.
Ren had spent the whole week lost in such thoughts. Unfortunately, his golden finger never appeared.
By now, Ren had started to give up hope. "No system is fine. If there's no golden finger, I'll just make my own. I have talent too. I'm a mage, after all."
Ren was a mage. This was the reason Solo, the captain of this pirate ship, had abducted him from Zaun all those years ago.
In Zaun, Ren's parents had died in a mining accident. He was then taken in by his parents' friends, who took turns caring for him. One day he'd be eating at Vander's place, the next Silco would bring over some tasty food, and the day after he'd be staying with Vi and Powder. Years passed in a flash.
He remembered his last day in Zaun. His friends were still discussing whether to try their luck in the upper city in a few days. According to the little ones, there was a big score to be had.
It was when Ren was out for a stroll by himself that his innate talent awakened: space magic. Ren discovered he had awakened a magical space that could fit two of him inside. In the words of his past life, it was a 'space ring,' a 'warehouse,' or a 'subspace portable backpack.' As for why Ren could awaken such an ability, it was likely related to his mother. According to Silco and the others, Ren's mother was from Ionia.
The awakening happened in a deserted alley, but unfortunately, Solo, who was finishing up some business before setting sail, saw the whole thing. He made a snap decision and abducted Ren—in the physical sense.
And just like that, Ren was passively turned into a pirate. During this time, Ren tried to master and improve his ability. But over the years, while his magic space grew larger and larger—big enough to fit two pirate ships—he never awakened any other offensive abilities.
The previous Ren had brainstormed ideas, but he was limited by his spatial gate. His gate could only open to about 1x1 meter. By concentrating, he could stretch it to 3x3 meters at most, but he couldn't maintain it for long. Most importantly, only Ren could store and retrieve items. No one else's body could enter. If they tried to stick a hand in, it was as if they hit an invisible barrier, unable to advance an inch. This had dashed the original Ren's many "R-rated" schemes.
Although he had no offensive abilities, Captain Solo was not disappointed and never blamed Ren. Ren hadn't suffered much here, aside from Solo's "carefully customized" daily training (i.e., getting beaten up?). After all, as Ren grew, his ever-expanding magic space became critically important to the pirates—it could even be considered a strategic asset.
The former Ren loved to read. The captain would give him any books he plundered. Gradually, Ren became a renowned "master test-taker" in Bilgewater—at least among this band of pirates, he was a scholar they had to look up to. It was just a pity there was no art class for him to fail here.
And because of his magic space, Ren became the ship's bookkeeper, managing the accounts and safeguarding most of the treasure and valuables.
Both the previous Ren and the current Ren were repulsed by the pirates' attacks on innocent people and never participated. Because of his status (and value) as a mage, Solo didn't force him in the beginning. Later, with Ren's multiple roles solidifying his position, he was even less likely to be questioned.
Thus, Ren became the cleanest person on the ship, with hardly any blood on his hands.
Hardly any blood meant he still had some, but it belonged to rival pirates. He had no choice. If Solo was defeated, what would the victors do to Ren? He wasn't about to gamble with his own life. Besides, were there any good guys among rival pirates? If this were some cultivation world, killing them all would probably earn him some karmic merit.
As he thought, drowsiness washed over him. Tomorrow's problems are for tomorrow. Time for sleep.
He had nothing else to worry about. Even without a golden finger, he had now awakened his past-life memories. According to novels, when a transmigrator's soul merges with another, their aptitude becomes much higher than before. Ren was a reincarnator who had lived two lives for 18 years before breaking the "mystery of the womb" and awakening his past-life wisdom. His aptitude had to be much greater now.
Things he couldn't do before didn't mean he couldn't do them in the future. He had no offensive abilities before, but in the future, he'd whip up a Dimension Slash in minutes, just you watch.
And if he really couldn't develop the mage potential within his body, what's the big deal? He could just go preach. Praise the Wind Goddess! It is our generation's solemn duty to restore the glory of the Wind God. When the time comes, I'll become Janna's chosen one...
Lost in his thoughts, Ren drifted off to sleep.
'Ding'!
'System has been activated. A newbie gift pack has been issued. Receive now?'
Ren, who was already asleep, shot up bolt upright. His expression was explosive, as if he had pulled two all-nighters, downed two cups of coffee, and was now bouncing off the walls, ready to party.
"Receive! Receive! I'm an adult now! I'll take it all!"