"No, I was wrong! Love sauce, don't ignore me! Right now… I only have you!"
Kiana quickly apologized. In this One Piece world, Ai-chan was the only 2D girl she could actually talk to. If Ai-chan ever ignored her… well, death would feel like nothing in comparison.
"Then I'll forgive you this time, Captain!"
Ai-chan crossed her arms and gave Kiana a sideways glance, one eye narrowed. Secretly, she thought that if this perverted captain dared to pull any more idiotic stunts, she'd really stop caring about him forever.
"Thank you so much! Ai-chan, you really are the best!"
Kiana decided she wouldn't dare attempt any perverted behavior with Ai-chan again. Instead, she grabbed the Basic Learning Chip for Crimson Impulse and activated it. A flash of light streaked across her body, and the crimson armor's level rose to Level 2. The next step would be learning new skills—but first, she had a practical task: collecting gold coins from the refinery.
"Just over 1,000? Not bad… but first-level refineries really don't produce much."
Kiana stared at the coin counter above the refinery and sighed. A thousand gold coins were still a thousand. Even a mosquito is meat, after all.
The moment she collected the coins, a white glow flashed, and her total surged past 2,000, with several [-]% numbers blinking beside it.
"A crit?" Kiana grinned. The refinery had a critical mechanism for gold collection. She hadn't expected to hit it on the first try—lucky. The coins instantly more than doubled, bringing her closer to the next milestone.
Still, Kiana didn't celebrate too much. She knew these coins were only part of the total needed—spend too quickly, and they'd vanish in a few clicks.
Next, she opened the skill interface. Both White Comet and Crimson Impulse armor glowed brightly. She first clicked on White Comet. A red dot blinked in the skill options—normal attack could be upgraded. She tapped it.
Three branches appeared under normal attack. After a moment's thought, she chose the option that increased basic attack power. Then, switching to Crimson Impulse, she discovered that many skills were still locked due to her low level. She opted to upgrade the normal attack here as well, learning the Bleeding Skill: attacks now had a [-]% chance to inflict bleeding, dealing ten points of damage every [-] seconds for three seconds. Skill improvements would increase both damage and duration—but for now, this was all she could learn.
With skills learned and missions completed, Kiana wondered what to do next. Her gaze drifted to the main interface, searching for a way to grow stronger.
"…This is… the achievement system?"
A small red dot blinked in the upper-right corner. Tasks complete, but waiting for refresh? Kiana shrugged and clicked it.
Achievements poured onto the screen. The first task, "First Battle," was complete. Reward: 280 crystals.
"…"
Kiana blinked. This was unexpected. She was sure there had never been a reward this generous in the original game. Usually, it barely covered a single supply draw.
She tapped to collect it, and instantly, her crystal count jumped from five to 285.
Scrolling further, she saw the rest of the achievement tasks. A little disappointing—they were exactly the same as the original game:
Ten consecutive hits: ten crystals
[-] hits: [-] crystals
Character favorability reaches two hearts: [-] gold coins
The pattern was consistent. Only the first-battle bonus was special—clearly, preferential treatment for a traveler like her, Kiana thought.
Then she saw the favorability quests and froze. Interaction with Valkyries… in the original game, it was fun because she could molest the girls. She remembered the shy, flustered expressions when you touched their chests.
…And now?
If it backfired on her own body? Touching herself?
The thought alone made her blush crimson.
But Kiana wasn't about to pass up gold coins. She had seen how precious they would become later.
"…It's just teasing myself… it's not a loss, right?"
She whispered to herself and slowly raised her hand toward her chest. The reaction was instantaneous:
"…Uh, um, ah!"
Her body was far more sensitive than she expected. A coquettish pant escaped her lips, her face instantly heating with embarrassment. But alongside the shame was a strange, numbing pleasure, making it impossible to stop.
"Ugh."
Her hand slid between her thighs, feeling the soft flesh beneath the armor. Is this… how girls feel when they…? Kiana's mind reeled, losing all sense of direction.
Suddenly, a translucent counter appeared above her head—visible only to her.
Four heart-shaped frames floated there, one glowing pink, the rest dull. Below, a progress bar inched upward with her movements.
"Ah, dame… yay… no way!"
With heavy breathing, Kiana collapsed to the ground in satisfaction. A small, satisfied smile appeared on her lips, and her body twitched intermittently.
"…I didn't expect you to be this kind of Captain… to take action on your own?"
Ai-chan's horrified voice blared from the phone. Kiana immediately rolled over.
"Eh? No, Ai-chan! Listen! I'm doing this for the mission!!"
She lunged for the phone, but it seemed to sprout wings and fluttered out of reach.
"Don't touch Ai-chan, perverted Captain! Go wash your hands!"
Kiana froze. Only then did she notice her right hand was slick with some unknown viscous fluid, exuding a fragrant scent.
"Ai-chan… I swear! I really did it for the mission!"
Red-faced and embarrassed, she ran to the beach to wash her hands, returning moments later with her dignity slightly restored.
"First rule: no touching your phone in the future. Ever."
Ai-chan's voice was merciless, flat as steel.
"Eh? No, Ai-chan…"
Kiana could only sigh. Some missions… were never easy, even in a pirate world.