One Pice: A Game Blue System.

I had to work extra hard to suppress my grin. It would threaten to split my face if I let it out. "I really don't see what the issue is. You guys knew I was stronger than I look."

Tom sighed morosely. "Yeah Jack we know but...there's a limit man."

Before more could be discussed good ol' captain Dan remade his appearance and brought everyone's eyes onto him. "Alright boys good work today! Tomorrow morning we set up the stall and then it's time to sell sell sell! As always you can lodge on the boat for free or if you want something more comfortable than your rack there's a few hotels just a couple blocks up the road. Either way I'll see you all here at 8:00 AM sharp!"

Despite a chorus of grumbles and groans the crew slowly rose to their feet and started shuffling their way back onto the ship. None of them wanting to blow a small piece of their pay on a fancy bed.

Except for me of course.

I'm sleeping on a fluffy queen-sized mattress tonight if it's the last thing I do.

"Jack? You coming?" Dan asked in a friendly tone. "We've got beef stew on the stove. Carrots aren't the best quality but it'll fill you up good."

"Nah. I think I'll try my luck in town." I reply with a look over my shoulder. "I'll see you in the morning captain." Dan gave a tiny shrug. "Suit yourself. Remember 8:00."

"Right! 10 AM you got it."

"8:00"

"Heard you the first time boss. 9:30."

"8:00 Jack."

"You really don't need to keep repeating yourself captain! My ears work fine. 8:45 on the dot." I joke back as my feet set off in the opposite direction.

I don't really plan on being late, it's just too much fun to tease him. Dan's a bit of a stickler for punctuality. 'Although I'm not ruling out 8:20.'

You know for a city that had such an incredible hustle and bustle just a few hours ago the night life is surprisingly quiet. There's a few lights shining through the occasional window but besides that the place seems to almost be devoid of any life. The word 'eerie' would not be inappropriate.

Maybe I should try to think of it as 'peaceful' instead? The only sound being my boots on the pavement and the waves of the ocean in the background does create a small sense of tranquility.

It's about 50 minutes later when I peer down my third alleyway and I'm really starting to worry that I've missed a turn somewhere.

'...shit. Another dead end..' I curse in my head. I'm getting a touch annoyed at this point. 'How hard can it be to find a string of hotels? Aren't they supposed to be decently tall buildings with bright neon signs out front? They shouldn't be this hard to miss!'

"Um..[Gamer] powers? I don't suppose you have a hidden mini-map feature do you?" I whisper to the air half jokingly. "Waypoints? Goal markers? Anything like that?" My only response is an alley cat knocking over a trashcan.

I hung my head low and sighed dejectedly. "That's what I thought..."

A sudden shiver snakes its way up my spine. An activation of the sixth sense that every man, woman, and child possesses when they just know someone is watching them. The individual hairs on my neck stand on end and I pivot around to see four silhouettes emerging from the shadows across the street.

"Alright stranger. Here's the deal." the tallest one says as he approaches, flipping the knife around in his hand as he does so. "Take out your wallet, place 10,000 Beri on the ground, and you get to leave in one piece. Normally I'd take everything but I'm in a pretty generous mood tonight."

I'm sure my face was decidedly unamused by the byplay as my eyes flitted from one underling to the next before finally resting on the big guy.

Unlike the original [Gamer] Han Jee-Han, I'm not in possession of the iconic Gamer's Body. Nor its partner ability Gamer's Mind. In fact there seems to be a great number of functions that have been stripped away that weaken the powers I've been gifted.

But there is one classic [Skill] that I've discovered is still within my repertoire.

Some may even argue it's the most important one of all.

'[Observe]'

Thomas Poliver, Gang Leader, Lv. 8

The younger of the two 'Poliver Brothers', Thomas is a mean-spirited all around bastard who, along with his older brother Reggie, have harassed the people of Caeba's port town for many years. They have escaped Marine custody through a combination of always setting up an alibi beforehand and sheer dumb luck. Both he and his brother have been laying low in recent months though ever since the local government finally issued a minor bounty on the two siblings heads.

Health: 130/130 STR: 19 VIT: 13 DEX: 10 INT: 7 WIS: 3 LUK: 11 I finished reviewing the stats and let me tell ya, I wasn't impressed. The STR was a smidge high and the LUK was good but nothing else stands above normal civilian standards. "Look man, I don't know who it is you think you've stumbled upon tonight but I can assure you I'm not what you would call 'easy prey'. Why don't you and your little girlfriends crawl back in the gutter you came out of and fuck off?"

Now, was that the best thing I could've said for a peaceful conflict resolution? Probably not. But sometimes you just can't control the words that come out of your mouth.

"Why-you little!" one of the grunts sputters indignantly and then haphazardly rushes forward with his knife.

I sidestep the one pathetically choreographed slash before wheeling around and slamming my foot into the side of the mans head.

It is times like this that one truly appreciates living in an anime universe because there is absolutely no way in hell I would have landed that kick so perfectly had I still been on Earth.