I groaned as I rolled around trying to get comfortable. Just a little more sleep that's all, then I'd be ready to start my day. Just…a little…more…
SPLASH!
"GAH! SON OF A BITCH!" I yelled, jumping upright and crawling away from the waves. I heaved and staggered over as my brain spun from being woken up so fast, wiping the sand from my pa–
Wait what?
I froze as I started to process the facts.
Waves and sand. Does that mean I'm at the beach? Last I remembered I was in my bed watching the new avatar movie.
I slowly wiped away the sand on my cheeks and my eyes and blinked as I tried to gather my surroundings.
An amazing view of the ocean stared back at me with no end in sight to the beautiful sea.
The first thought that raced through my mind was 'I need to take my morning dump.'
The second but far more important question was 'How did I get here?', but that thought was soon overtaken by panic.
My mind was a whirlwind of mash potatoes between 'SHIT' or 'WHAT DO I DO!?'
I then promptly slammed the brakes on that train of thought, slapping my hands to my face and letting a huge release of air through my mouth. "Don't panic, just think!" I said, mostly to try and focus on the sound of my voice.
After a few seconds of standing there and repeating the same phrase and trying not to/failing to hyperventilate, I managed to calm myself down and actually think about the facts.
Fact one: Whoever did this to me deserves to hand my whole hand up their ass.
Fact two: I had to be in One Piece. I need to believe that I am because if I was in another, less friendly world that looks like this then I might be royally screwed…
Fact three: What helped me come to that conclusion is the most obvious looking one piece fruit that is peeking at me from buried sand. A wavy patterned fruit with arrows patterned all over the strawberry? Pineapple? I can't really tell with all that design. What I will do with that fruit will come later due to the fact that I have no idea what kind of fruit it is.
Anyways, the chances were high that I was in One Piece. This meant that my course of action is set: Find the Straw Hat Pirates and join their crew. Logically, I could just live somewhere in the corner of the world in a safe town away from all the fighting…but that plan has thorns and of itself. Main reason being, the Blue Seas are filled to the brim with blood-thirsty pirates and Marines who are sometimes worse than the pirates!
Was living the life of a pirate with Luffy as a captain terrifying? Yes. Yes it is. Was it dangerous and even life-threatening? Perhaps if not more so. Does this course guarantee that I'd have some of that protagonist plot armor? I hope so! But did it ensure that I have some of the strongest people in the world having my back as long as I became their comrade? Believe it!
I nodded surely, my decision set in stone: It looked like it would be a pirate's life for me.
Moving on to fact four: I had absolutely no idea where the hell I was.
I spun on my heel…and stared at the tropical jungle laid out before me.
I swear my blood turned to ice. 'I swear if it's Little Garden I'll just end my journey right here and now.'
However, a quick scan at the horizon and a moment of listening was enough to ease my worries. No enormous skeletons, no roars of prehistoric monstrosities, no smoke signals wafting up from active volcanoes. I was safe… at least I think so.
I winced as I tugged at the collar of my hoodie. I was also pretty damn hot, and not in a way that I'd like!
'Wait…' I blinked as a thought struck me. 'Hoodie?'
I made a hasty review of my clothes: My favorite oversized essentials hoodie, check. A simple white tee underneath, check. My black cargo pants, check. Beaten shoes, check. Aand my amazing backpack that got me through my schooling. Check, I guess I'll use it to write someone a paper on how I landed here.
I let out a weary sigh as I emptied out my backpack. As one could expect from a tropical climate such as this, it was rather humid. Thankfully, the water damage wasn't too bad and I tossed out everything in my backpack and carefully placed the devil-fruit in there.
I winced as my head throbbed painfully, promptly taking off my hoodie and wrapping it around my waist.
Anyways, without any other options available to me - especially after a final glance back at the ocean confirmed that there wasn't a ship in sight - I started to march forwards into the depth of the muggy green hell.
First and foremost, as far as I could tell, the island I was deserted, no signs of life or even ancient life. Which was…unfortunate. I had absolutely no clue where I was. Not even which sea I was in. East? West? Or even which hemisphere I was located on! As it stood, I had a super low chance of running into the Straw Hats. Hopefully I'm in the right Blue or I might be toast.
Second–
I was hungry. A lion seemed to be living inside my stomach from the way it let out a vicious roar, prompting me to blush in embarrassment. Right, food. Food is definitely my second priority. Which was complicated on account of how I had no experience with nature whatsoever.
I realized the jungle was a mistake.
Every step forward felt like I was pushing into a wall of wet air. My shoes squelched. Bugs buzzed. Leaves brushed my arms like they were alive and judged me for being here.
"Okay," I muttered, already sweating through my shirt, "so…tropical paradise my ass."
I tried to keep calm, but that uneasy pressure in my chest wouldn't go away. The kind you get when you know you're doing something wrong but don't have a better option.
After maybe a few hours of marching through green misery, I heard it.
Water.
Not waves — moving water.
My pace picked up, relief flooding through me. Freshwater means survival. It meant I wasn't about to die of dehydration five hours into my One Piece debut.
I pushed through a curtain of vines and nearly stumbled forward as the jungle opened up into a rocky slope.
Below me was a river.
Wide. Fast. Violent.
The water churned white as it smashed against rocks, rushing toward the ocean like it had somewhere important to be. My relief stalled halfway into dread.
"Of course," I said weakly. "Why wouldn't it be murder water."
I crouched near the edge, scanning for a calm section. There had to be one, right? Every river couldn't be a death trap.
That's when the ground shifted.
I didn't even have time to swear.
The wet rock under my foot slid, my balance vanished, and the world tilted violently as gravity decided it was my enemy.
I fell.
Hard.
The impact knocked the breath out of me, and then the river grabbed me.
Cold.
Loud.
Relentless.
Water filled my ears, my mouth, my nose — everywhere. I flailed, instinct screaming at me to fight, to swim, to do something—
—and the current laughed.
It slammed me into stone, spun me sideways, dragged me under again and again. I tried to kick upward, but there was no up. Just motion. Endless, brutal motion.
My backpack tore open.
Something bumped against my hand.
Fabric… paper… and then—
The fruit.
My fingers brushed that weird, patterned skin, still tucked inside the bag like it had been waiting.
My lungs burned.
No. No no no—
I kicked uselessly, chest screaming, vision darkening at the edges. My thoughts fractured, panicked and incoherent.
I can't drown like this.
I just got here.
I don't even know what the hell that fruit does—
Another impact rattled my skull, stars bursting behind my eyes.
That was when fear gave way to something colder.
Clarity.
If I don't eat it, I die.
If I do eat it… maybe I die later.
My fingers tightened around the fruit.
"I'm sorry," I thought to literally no one, shoving the thing into my mouth as water rushed in around it.
It tasted wrong.
Bitter. Sharp. Like chewing rubber soaked in salt and regret. I gagged, nearly choking as I forced myself to bite down again and again, swallowing chunks between desperate gasps that never came.
The moment it slid down my throat—
Something changed.
The river didn't slow.
But I did.
Not physically — mentally.
The panic snapped off like a switch.
The roaring chaos around me… separated. Patterns emerged where there had been none. I felt the current instead of fighting it. Not just the direction — the pressure, the pull, the rhythm.
Stop struggling.
The thought wasn't mine.
Or maybe it was.
I loosened my limbs.
And the river stopped hurting me.
I didn't float.
I didn't sink.
Iredirected it.
My body twisted without thought, turning with the water instead of against it. Rocks passed inches away instead of slamming into me. Where the current narrowed, I angled sideways. Where it dropped, I let myself fall with it.
The river carried me.
Not as prey.
As part of it.
Seconds stretched. Then longer. My lungs screamed, but somehow — somehow — I broke the surface near the riverbank, coughing violently as my hands clawed at mud and roots.
I collapsed onto the shore, retching, shaking uncontrollably as water poured out of me.
I lay there for a long time.
Long enough for the realization to sink in.
I stared at my trembling hands.
"…I ate it," I whispered hoarsely.
No lightning.
No explosion.
No dramatic transformation.
Just the river behind me… still flowing.
And for the first time since I woke up on that beach—
I wasn't afraid of it.
I laughed weakly, half-hysterical, half-relieved.
"Okay," I coughed. "Guess I'm doing this the hard way."