The Novelist System: Writing Story From Memory
Chapter 3: A Pirate's Hat
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It was still early. The city outside hadn't fully woken up yet. A few motorbikes hummed in the distance. Crows cawed from the rooftop. But inside the small, single-room apartment, Arlen sat quietly in front of his laptop.
The cursor blinked on the screen. Blank page. New chapter.
The blue system panel hovered silently beside him, waiting.
He wasn't rushing. That wasn't his goal. He didn't want to dump out a hundred chapters and be done with it. He wanted to savor the process—just like how the story once unfolded for him. Slowly. Naturally.
[System: Continue? Suggested chapter – "A Pirate's Hat"]
Arlen nodded.
His fingers moved across the keyboard as the system began transcribing from his memory, shaping the second half of the first episode—Luffy's first real appearance, not the shouting in the intro, but the boy in the barrel.
The writing was clean. Thoughtful. Descriptive, but not rushed.
The chapter opened in a calm sea.
A small ship rocked gently under the morning sun. Birds flew overhead, their cries sharp against the wind. Below deck, the sound of water dripping echoed faintly.
Then—a thud.
Inside a wooden barrel, someone shifted.
Bubbles floated to the surface as the lid popped off with a loud pop and a boy with messy black hair emerged. He stretched like he had just woken from the best nap of his life.
"Man… I'm hungry."
Monkey D. Luffy.
The strange boy with a straw hat resting against his back. His smile wide. His eyes bright.
He climbed out of the barrel, completely unaware of the crew of bandits nearby.
Arlen typed slowly, pausing now and then. Not to rest, but to remember.
He took time describing the moment Luffy smiled for the first time.
There was a warmth in it—a kind of joy that couldn't be faked. Like someone who had already decided what kind of person he wanted to be, and wasn't looking back.
He didn't need dramatic power displays or brooding monologues.
Luffy just existed. And that was enough.
By the time Arlen finished, it was past noon.
He leaned back, scanning the chapter.
The system prompted him:
[Word count: 2,488]
[Upload chapter to StarNovel?]
He clicked yes without hesitation.
The new chapter appeared beneath the others.
Chapter 1: Romance Dawn
Chapter 2: They Call Him Straw Hat Luffy
Chapter 3: A Pirate's Hat
The book page looked cleaner now. Fuller. Each chapter its own small brick in a tower he was slowly building.
No rush.
He checked the analytics. The views were climbing steadily. Not fast, but consistently.
Someone had liked the second chapter.
That was enough for today.
He stood up and stretched. Then walked over to the kettle and poured hot water into a cup of instant coffee. Bitter. Cheap. But warm.
Tomorrow, he would start on the next part—the real meeting between Luffy and Coby.
But not today.
He glanced at the screen one last time before closing the laptop.
The sea had just begun to stir.
And the boy with the straw hat had only taken his first step.
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Thanks For Reading
By Mr.Midnight_21
To be continued…
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