One Pice: A Game Blue System.

Kivuruk Island, South Blue

On a small island in a remote corner of South Blue a young man of 25 years sat atop a hill reading a book underneath the shade of a large tree. A light breeze rustled the leaves overhead and blew a few locks of his hair from side to side.

'Despite their small size a typical blue-ring octopus carries enough venom at any given time to kill over two dozen adult humans or even a small Sea King. Their bites are often small and painless meaning many victims do not even realize they're in danger until paralysis or respiratory failure arises. There are four known species of blue-ringed octopus with rumors of a fifth in the form of an Octopus Fishman that can be found on the fabled Fishman Isle in the Grand Line.'

Ding!

Skill Lv. up! South Blue Zoology Lv. (12/50)→ (13/50)

-Your knowledge about the animal life of South Blue.

With a simple thought I dismissed the blue pop-up and went back to reading the book I was immersed in. The wildlife of this world was bizarre to the extreme. Some species -like the blue ring octopus- held a lot of familiarity to the animals I remember existing back on Earth whilst others here were so cartoonish and comical that it baffles the mind how or why they would ever evolve in the first place. Then again, if there's one thing that 'One Piece' spits in the face of more than anything else, its basic biology.

In the end it's probably best just not to question it.

I make it through a few more sections of the thick tome of South Blue fauna, earning another three levels in the [Zooology] [Skill], when a much different notification appears overhead.

Ding!

Quest Failed!

Quest: Read 100 books on Kivuruk Island within one year of your arrival. Progress (89/100). Time Remaining: 00:00:00. Reward: +10 INT, +10 WIS, and ?

I click my tongue in mild annoyance. 'That was today? Shoot. Thought I had another week on that..oh well..No big deal.' With a heavy yawn I stand up and stretch my arms overhead. The [Quest] failure doing absolutely nothing to change my blissful mood of lazily wasting away another day. My only regret, if any, is that I didn't get to find out what the '?' reward was.

A second yawn escapes my throat and a hand scratches my chest as I start the slow trip of meandering back towards town. 'So today marks the one year point huh? Time certainly does fly.' At the visual reminder of my anniversary in this world I couldn't help but reflect on my time here as I descended down the grassy knoll.

One minute I was closing my eyes while splayed in a pool of my own blood- Or..at least I think I was? Those last memories are hazy on the best of days- and the next clear moment I can recall is washing up on the shore of this tiny island in South Blue coughing seawater out of my waterlogged lungs. Then, just to compound the bizarreness of the situation, I had somehow come into possession of the infamous powers of [The Gamer] as well. At least a weakened version of them that is.

Was my being here the work of some higher power? A bored deity? A ROB? A group of multiverse traveling [Gamers] that decided to bring me into the fold? I haven't a goddamn clue. Whatever puppet master may be at work here has elected to remain completely silent on the matter.

Although, if I had to be perfectly honest with myself? I stopped caring a long time ago. I'm here and it seems like I'm here to stay.

I'm not quite sure exactly where I am in the timeline of canonical One Piece, but much like my reason for being dropped here in the first place, I just stopped worrying about it after the first few weeks. I know that I'm somewhat near the start of the manga story. The four Yonko and seven Shichibukai are the same ones they started as in Pre-timeskip 'One Piece' and according to the town mayor Gold Roger was publicly executed "around 20 years ago". A calendar showed me that the year I arrived in was the end of 1519 but honestly.. that doesn't really do me much good. I can't recall reading any specific dates from the story.

I suppose, in hindsight, I could've put more effort into finding out if Luffy was a wanted man yet or not, but once again... I just don't see the point. Why does it matter? I'm literally half a world away on some backwater little isle in South Blue that only gets a single News Coo once a week. Hell, the only town on the island -if you can even call it that- isn't even 400 people strong. The chance of me interacting with the Straw Hats in any capacity at all seems to quite literally be zero. Not that I'm disappointed about it mind you. I am perfectlycontent to be well away from all the big names in the world and their special brands of insanity. The edge of town comes into view and I'm greeted by the sight of a deliriously happy man in a yellow shirt and blue overalls updating the population counter that sits at the outskirts of the village. Even from a distance his cheer is practically infectious and I can feel the mirth grow on my face as I approach. "Good news I hope?" I call out.

Raymond, Humble Farmer, Lv. 6

"Jack!" he turns to me with a glowing expression. "They're boys! Twin boys!" he exuberantly cries, revealing the placard as changed from '352' to '354'. "I'm finally a father!"

"Congratulations Raymond! Is your wife doing alright?" I answer back with a genuine smile, all the while silently thanking the blue writing over his head that reminded me of his name. When I first arrived in this universe the titles hovering over everyone was incredibly distracting, but now having been here a year, I barely notice them anymore. Unless I focus on one in particular it all just becomes part of the background.