Drake woke to pain.
Not the sharp, immediate agony of fresh injury this was deeper, a dull throb that radiated from his chest with every breath.
His makeshift bandages had soaked through during the night, dark stains spreading across the fabric.
[HP: 82/120]
[Natural Recovery in progress]
"Six points overnight," he muttered, checking his status. "At this rate, I'll be fully healed in… what, five more days?"
That was too long. In a world where a random encounter could turn deadly in seconds, fighting at half-strength was asking to die.
Drake forced himself upright, biting back a groan. The cave was still dim, dawn just beginning to paint the sky beyond the entrance. His fire had died to embers sometime in the night.
He needed a plan. A real one, not just "get stronger and hope for the best."
The Daily Quest notification still floated in his peripheral vision, patient and persistent.
[Daily Quest: Physical Training]
[Objective: 100 Push-ups, 100 Sit-ups, 100 Squats, 10km Run]
[Reward: +1 to all Physical Stats]
Drake looked down at his bandaged chest, then back at the quest. "You've got to be kidding me."
But even as he said it, part of him the part that had survived medical school through pure stubbornness was already calculating.
The injuries were bad, but not that bad. Mostly superficial. His durability had taken the edge off what should have been fatal wounds.
And if he was going to survive this world, he couldn't afford to waste a day recovering when he could be getting stronger.
"Alright," he said to the empty cave. "Let's see what this body can do."
Push-ups were torture.
Drake made it through twenty before the pain in his chest forced him to stop, breathing hard against the cave floor. Sweat dripped from his forehead, mixing with the dirt.
[Daily Quest Progress: 20/100 Push-ups]
"This is insane," he panted. "I'm injured. This could reopen the wounds."
But the System didn't care about excuses. And neither did this world.
He pushed himself up for number twenty-one.
The medical student in him screamed that this was reckless, that he needed rest, proper treatment, antibiotics that didn't exist on a deserted island.
Thirty push-ups. Forty. Fifty.
His arms shook. His chest burned. Blood seeped through the bandages.
[HP: 79/120]
[Warning: Sustained physical activity while injured may slow recovery]
"Noted," Drake grit out, and kept going.
Somewhere around push-up seventy-five, something shifted. The pain didn't disappear it was still there, still demanding attention but it became… manageable. Background noise. His muscles found a rhythm, his breathing steadied.
[Fast Learner Lv.1 Active]
[Your body is adapting to sustained exertion]
One hundred.
Drake collapsed onto his back, chest heaving. Every breath felt like knives, but he'd done it.
[Daily Quest Progress: 100/100 Push-ups]
"One down," he gasped. "Three to go."
The sit-ups were worse.
Each rep engaged his core, pulling at the wounds across his chest. By number fifty, blood was running freely down his torso. By seventy-five, Drake was pretty sure he could taste copper.
But he didn't stop.
[HP: 74/120]
[Natural Recovery temporarily suspended due to physical trauma]
"Great," Drake muttered between reps. "Just great."
One hundred sit-ups. Done.
The squats were almost a relief by comparison at least they didn't directly stress his chest. Drake pushed through them with grim determination, his legs burning but his wounds staying relatively stable.
[Daily Quest Progress: 100/100 Squats]
Three down. One to go.
The ten-kilometer run.
Drake looked out at the jungle, then down at his bloodied bandages. The smart thing would be to stop, to rest, to let his body heal before pushing further.
But Drake had died once already doing the smart thing, and look where it got him.
"Fast Learner," he said aloud, checking his passive skill. "Natural Recovery. System says I'm adapting. Let's test that theory."
He started running.
The jungle blurred past in shades of green and brown.
Drake's feet pounded against the dirt, his breathing ragged but steady. He'd set a mental route a loop around the island's interior that he estimated at roughly ten kilometers. His Analysis Eye helped him navigate, highlighting landmarks and tracking distance.
[Distance: 2.3km]
His chest screamed. His legs burned. Every impact sent shocks of pain through his system.
[HP: 71/120]
But something else was happening too. Beneath the pain, beneath the exhaustion, Drake felt something building. Like pressure in his veins, like electricity in his muscles.
[Fast Learner Lv.1 Active]
[Your body is rapidly adapting to combat damage and physical stress]
[Analysis Eye Lv.2 analyzing self-condition…]
A new notification appeared:
[Observation: Your accelerated healing factor is being enhanced by sustained physical activity.
Drake would have laughed if he had the breath for it. The System was basically telling him that working out while injured was somehow helping.
This world was absolutely insane.
[Distance: 5.1km]
Halfway there.
Drake pushed harder, his dreads whipping behind him as he picked up speed. The wolf pack territory was ahead he recognized the claw marks on the trees. But the wolves didn't show themselves. Maybe they sensed something different about him now.
Prey didn't run toward danger. Predators did.
[Distance: 7.8km]
His vision started to blur at the edges. His HP was dropping, but slower now. The Natural Recovery seemed to be kicking back in, fighting against the damage he was deliberately inflicting on himself.
It was like his body couldn't decide whether to shut down or adapt.
Drake chose adaptation.
[Distance: 9.2km]
The cave came into view ahead, which meant the loop was almost complete. Drake's legs felt like lead, his chest was on fire, and he was pretty sure he'd reopened every single wound the tiger had given him.
But he could see the finish line.
[Distance: 9.8km]
[HP: 68/120]
Almost there. Just a little more.
Drake dug deep, finding reserves he didn't know he had. His speed increased, muscles screaming in protest but responding. The medical student in him was horrified. The guy with a second chance to live was exhilarated.
[Distance: 10.0km]
[Daily Quest Complete!]
Drake collapsed at the cave entrance, sucking in air like a drowning man. His entire body trembled, blood and sweat soaking through what remained of his shirt.
[Quest Complete: Physical Training]
[Reward: +1 Power, +1 Speed, +1 Durability]
[Bonus Achievement: Relentless - Complete training while critically injured]
[Bonus Reward: Natural Recovery Lv.1 → Lv.2, +2 Durability]
[Level Up! Level 4 → Level 5]
The notifications cascaded across his vision, but Drake barely saw them. He was too busy trying to remember how to breathe.
Then the real changes hit.
Warmth spread through his body, starting from his core and radiating outward. It wasn't the slow, subtle increase he'd felt from previous level-ups. This was intense, like liquid fire in his veins.
[Natural Recovery Lv.2 Active - Enhanced healing rate, accelerated tissue repair]
Drake watched in fascination as the bleeding slowed, then stopped. The wounds didn't close completely that would have been too convenient but they visibly began to knit together, the angry red fading to pink.
[HP: 89/140]
"Holy shit," he breathed. Not only had his max HP increased with the level-up, but Natural Recovery Lv.2 was working overtime. At this rate, he'd be fully healed by tomorrow.
Drake pulled up his status screen with shaking hands:
[Status Window]
[Name: Drake D. Carter]
[Level: 5]
[Title: Beast Slayer]
Stats:
[Power: 26]
[Speed: 26]
[Durability: 23]
[Haki: 5 (LOCKED)]
[HP: 89/140]
Skills:
Active: [Basic Combat Lv.1]
Passive: [Analysis Eye Lv.2], [Fast Learner Lv.1], [Natural Recovery Lv.2]
Achievements: [First Blood], [Beast Slayer], [Survivor], [Relentless]
He'd gained five levels in three days. His stats had nearly doubled from where he started. And he'd just proven that pushing himself to the absolute limit made him stronger faster.
"This System," Drake said, laughter bubbling up from his chest, "is absolutely broken."
He lay there for a while, watching his HP slowly tick upward as Natural Recovery did its work. The sun climbed higher, warming the cave entrance. Birds called in the jungle. Somewhere distant, waves crashed against rock.
A new notification appeared:
[Daily Quest Reset Available]
[Complete today's Physical Training for additional rewards?]
Drake considered it. Every fiber of his being screamed for rest. But that warmth was still spreading through his muscles, that feeling of growth and adaptation.
"Tomorrow," he decided. "Let's not get too crazy."
Instead, he opened his quest log to check on Warrior's Path.
[Warrior's Path: Defeat 20 enemies in combat]
[Progress: 6/20]
Fourteen more enemies. The jungle beasts didn't respawn like video game mobs once they were dead, they stayed dead. Which meant he'd need to either find new hunting grounds
The thought should have been more concerning than it was. But Drake had already killed. He'd already crossed that line. And in the One Piece world, combat was inevitable.
The question wasn't if he'd have to fight people. It was when.
"Soon," he murmured, watching the waves. "But not yet."
First, he'd master this island. Build his strength. Then he'd face whatever or whoever the world threw at him next.
Drake closed his eyes, letting Natural Recovery continue its work. When he opened them again an hour later, his HP had climbed to 103/140.
"Five more days on this island," he decided. "Train. Hunt. Get as strong as possible. Then…"
Then he'd find out what the One Piece world really had in store for Drake D. Carter.
A grin spread across his face.
He couldn't wait.
End of Chapter 3