REWRITE!!
——————————
I did not die in a dramatic way.
There was no loud crash. No blood. No screaming. No blinding white light. No sensation of my soul being torn out of my body like the reincarnation stories I used to read to kill time.
I simply fell asleep.
That day was no different from any other. I came home in the late afternoon, my body exhausted and my mind empty. Teaching all day at a small private school where the students talked more than they listened. A monthly salary that was always late. A temporary position with no clear future. A life that kept moving without ever really going anywhere.
I took a shower. Ate whatever was available. Then lay down on my bed with my phone still in my hand.
I remember staring at the ceiling. There was a small crack in the corner that I had been meaning to fix. Maybe next month, I thought. A simple thought that now felt strangely ironic.
Then I fell asleep.
When I opened my eyes again, the world was no longer the same.
The air smelled salty.
That was the first thing I noticed. The strong scent of the sea hit my nose before my brain could even process what I was seeing. I blinked several times. A vast blue sky stretched above me. Not the ceiling of my rented room. Not a flickering fluorescent lamp. This was open sky, with a sun far too bright for an afternoon nap.
I sat up on reflex.
Sand.
I was sitting on warm, coarse sand. In front of me lay an endless blue ocean. The sea breeze brushed against my hair, which felt longer than it should have been.
I stayed silent for a long moment.
I did not panic. I did not scream. I did not run.
Instead, an oddly calm thought surfaced in my mind.
This is too real to be a dream.
I looked down at my hands. The skin was tighter. There were no small calluses on my fingers from holding chalk every day. My arms looked younger. Stronger. My hands trembled as I touched my own face.
No glasses.
My chest tightened.
I stood up. This body felt light. Too light. When I took a step, my legs did not wobble like they usually did. There was no familiar ache in my knees from standing up too quickly.
I turned around.
Simple wooden buildings stood not far from the shore. Small houses with a design that felt strangely familiar. Dirt roads. A wooden pier. Small flags fluttering in the wind.
Shell Town.
The name surfaced in my mind without effort.
And in that moment, I understood.
I swallowed hard.
Not just understood.
I knew exactly where I was.
This was not another world that merely resembled a story. This was not a generic fantasy setting. This was a world I had watched, read about, and memorized long before many others even paid attention to it.
The world of pirates.
A world where freedom and violence walked hand in hand.
The world of One Piece.
My legs gave out, and I dropped back onto the sand.
My breathing grew shallow.
This made no sense. This was impossible. I was a thirty year old part time teacher who had been counting the remaining cash in his wallet just last night. I was not a protagonist. I was nobody.
Reality did not care.
The sea breeze continued to blow. Seagulls flew overhead. People walked in the distance, completely unconcerned with my existence.
I forced myself to calm down.
If this truly was the world I knew, then panicking would only get me killed faster.
I made my mind work.
First, I was alive. That much was clear.
Second, this body was not my original one.
Third, if this was Shell Town, then the timeline had barely begun. This was early. Very early.
Which meant one thing.
I was weak. Extremely weak.
I took a deep breath.
Then the voice appeared.
Not from outside. Not from the air.
From inside my head.
Calm. Neutral. Emotionless.
Not a human voice.
—
[Shadow Ascension System initialized]
—
I froze.
My eyes widened.
A transparent layer seemed to overlay my vision.
Text.
A window.
I blinked hard.
It was still there.
—
[User confirmed alive]
[Synchronization complete]
[Existence status: Unregistered]
—
A short laugh escaped my lips before I could stop it.
So this is how it feels.
I had read hundreds of stories with this setup. Systems. Status windows. Missions. Progress bars. From the outside, it always sounded exciting.
But when the text truly appeared in front of my eyes, excitement was the last thing I felt.
What I felt was pressure.
I rubbed my face.
Calm down. Do not overreact. Listen first.
—
[Welcome, Remang Wisesa]
—
My name.
The same name.
My chest felt strangely heavy.
—
[This world does not require your existence]
[Objective: Survive without disrupting core narrative]
—
I stared blankly.
So from the very beginning, I was unnecessary.
Funny. Even a fictional world did not need me.
Another window appeared.
—
[Status Window]
Name: Remang Wisesa
Physical Age: 20
Race: Human
Location: East Blue, Shell Town
Status: Civilian
Threat Level: 0
Reputation: None
Attributes:
STR: 4
SPD: 5
END: 4
PER: 6
WIL: 5
INT: 7
—
I let out a slow breath.
Not terrible. Not impressive. Average.
Reasonable.
I looked back at the sea.
If this system was real, then I could not act recklessly. I knew the major events of this world. I knew who would come to Shell Town. I knew what would happen here.
And I knew the most important thing of all.
I could not be seen.
If I interfered too deeply, I would change the flow of history. And if the system had already declared that my existence was unnecessary, then every mistake could be fatal.
Another window appeared, as if reading my thoughts.
—
[Main Quest issued]
Title: Survive
Description: Do not die before the main event begins
Failure Condition: Death
Reward: System Continuation
—
I stared at the text for a long time.
There was no power boost. No skill unlock. No item.
Just one thing.
Permission to continue existing.
I smiled bitterly.
Fine.
If this world did not want me, then I would survive in my own way.
In the shadows.
Without disturbing the main stage.
Without becoming a hero.
I stood up and brushed the sand off my clothes.
The sun was still high. The day was far from over.
And history was about to start moving.
I just had to make sure I did not get crushed beneath it.
—————
Shell Town was more alive than I remembered.
In my memories as a viewer and reader, this town had been nothing more than a brief backdrop. A stopover. A starting point before the story accelerated. But as my feet walked along its dirt roads, it felt real. Too real to be just a background setting.
People moved about with their own concerns. Fish vendors shouted their prices. Children ran past, laughing. A Marine patrolled the street with a rifle on his shoulder. The creaking of wood from the docks mixed with the cries of seagulls.
I noticed something quickly.
No one paid attention to me.
Not in the normal social sense. Not because I was uninteresting. It was something deeper. As if there was simply no reason for me to be noticed at all.
People passed by without glancing at me. The Marines did not look my way. Even a child who almost bumped into me stopped abruptly and ran off in another direction, as if something had instinctively warned him away.
I swallowed.
This system was no joke.
I walked slowly through the town. No rush. No unnecessary movement. The clothes I wore were plain. A dull long sleeved shirt and comfortable trousers. No weapon. No strange accessories. I looked like an ordinary civilian, which was exactly what I needed.
I stopped near the town bulletin board.
Several notices were posted. Curfew rules. Security announcements. And one face I recognized immediately.
Captain Morgan.
Steel jaw. Arrogant stare. A Marine uniform worn like a costume.
I let out a quiet breath.
Right.
This was before his fall.
Before a straw hat wearing boy arrived and shattered this small, rotten order.
I lowered my gaze.
Knowing what would happen also meant knowing what I must not do.
Direct interference would only accelerate my own destruction.
The system activated again.
—
[Log Update]
[Existence suppression active]
[Public interaction risk: minimal]
—
I was not sure whether to feel relieved or unsettled.
I continued walking until I found a small roadside diner. The smell of fish soup drifted out. Only then did my stomach remember that it was hungry.
I stepped inside.
A small bell rang above the door.
A middle aged woman glanced in my direction, her eyes passing over me before returning to her pot.
"What do you want" she asked, without really looking at me.
"Just a meal," I replied quietly.
She pointed to a seat without another word.
I sat down. The wooden bench felt rough beneath my palms.
A bowl of soup was placed in front of me a few minutes later. I paid with coins that had somehow appeared in my pocket. The system offered no explanation. As if this starting money was simply part of the arrangement to keep me from dying stupidly on my first day.
I ate slowly.
The taste was simple. Fish. Salt. A bit of vegetables. But it was warm. Real.
As the spoon touched my lips, an unexpected emotion welled up in my chest. This was not cheap instant noodles in a rented room. This was food in a world I should never have been able to touch.
I lowered my head and swallowed along with that unfamiliar feeling.
I was alive.
And for now, I had to accept that.
After eating, I left the diner. The sun was beginning to tilt. Shadows stretched across the road.
I had no clear destination. No home. No job. My status said civilian, but I was not registered anywhere.
The system appeared again.
—
[Side Quest detected]
Title: Shelter
Description: Find a safe place to rest for the night
Time Limit: Before sunset
Reward: Minor Endurance increase
Failure Penalty: Fatigue debuff
—
I sighed.
Fair enough.
I headed toward an old warehouse near the docks. It was poorly maintained. The wood was rotting. But it offered shelter from the sea wind. I checked my surroundings. No people. No Marines.
I went inside and cleared out a small corner, then sat with my back against the wall.
Uncomfortable, but sufficient.
The system chimed.
—
[Side Quest completed]
[END +1]
—
A faint smile crossed my face.
Slowly. Very slowly.
Night fell.
The sounds of the town faded. Oil lamps were lit in some houses. From afar came the drunken shouts of sailors.
I closed my eyes for a moment.
Then the system activated again, faster than before.
—
[Alert]
[Canon proximity increasing]
—
My chest tightened.
I stood and peeked outside.
In the distance, I saw a tall, slender figure casually walking through the town gate. His steps were light. His expression carefree. A straw hat hung behind his back.
I recognized him even if my eyes were closed.
Monkey D. Luffy.
The protagonist of this world.
The center of the storm called history.
And he had just stepped onto the stage.
I held my breath.
Notifications flooded my vision.
—
[Main Quest updated]
[Do not interfere]
[Observation permitted]
[Direct contact: restricted]
—
I leaned my back against the wall.
So this is how it begins.
I was here. At the starting point. And my task was simple.
Remain unseen.
I peeked out again through the gap in the warehouse. Luffy walked on without a care, unaware that the world would change because of his footsteps. Unaware that someone stood in the shadows, watching him with knowledge of the future.
I felt small.
Not because of his strength. Not because of his status.
But because he walked without fear, while I moved with constant calculation.
I closed my eyes.
I was not jealous.
Everyone had their own role.
And mine was to make sure the wheels of history kept turning without derailing.
The night grew deeper.
I leaned back once more.
The system delivered its final message of the day.
—
[Daily Log]
[Survived Day 1]
[Mental stability: acceptable]
[Reminder: You do not belong to the spotlight]
—
I smiled faintly.
That was fine.
Even shadows have their place.
And for now, that was where I would remain.