1 Is this reincarnation?
Inside a large lecture hall, mid-afternoon, I was attending my last class for today. With half-closed eyes, I glanced at the physics professor from the very back of the hall.
"Okay, this is off-topic… but let me talk to you about the 'multiverse,' which you've probably heard already in fiction. The 'multiverse' interpretation of quantum mechanics asserts that quantum universes can all exist simultaneously…"
The professor stood up on the podium, passionately speaking about the 'many-worlds interpretation' of quantum mechanics.
I might have enjoyed this part of the lecture; however, I was on the verge of falling asleep at the moment.
"Hey Leo…! Check this picture out man!"
Before my afternoon nap could begin, it was straightaway interrupted by a guy tapping on my shoulders. His name was Eric Chen, a friend and a roommate of mine.
With a little bit of annoyance, I grabbed the phone in his hands and enlarged the picture. I narrowed my eyes at it and said, "Isn't this that rabbit mink, Carrot, from One Piece?"
"Yeah, it is man. Isn't she the cutest ever?!"
Eric took back his phone and hugged it with a perverted grin on his face.
Looking at the man's handsome features and his disgusting smile, I couldn't help but think, 'Damn… Eric would be perfectly dateable if only he hid his tendencies better.'
"Yeah, I guess so… That Raphtalia from that new Isekai anime isn't so bad too."
Eric nodded and replied, "You're right! But, I'm just bored of Isekai anime these days! The only world I want to be transported to is Nekopara with all of the ca- uod usisos uas…"
I immediately put my hands over Eric's mouth and glanced around my surroundings with a nervous look. Next, I whispered to him with red ears. "At least lower your voice when talking about shady fetishes like that!"
"Kuhum... Don't worry bro. Anyway, are you going to Eren's birthday party tonight? She's really… like really looking forward to you being there you know."
"Hum… I'll try."
"Ooh… Also, I heard that Alexa would be there."
Eric's gaze lingered at a girl sitting a few seats away from us. I couldn't help but have my eyes rest at Alexa too.
Alexa was a half-Filipino half-white beautiful girl with brunette hair. Her curvaceous and athletic body was a result of her daily training with the ROTC, a reserved army force for the US.
Just when I was about to get lost in her face,
Drrrrrrrrrrrrrr…
All of a sudden, the chairs and tables of the hall started shaking. I was forcefully brought back into reality, and I rushed to hide under the table.
'Shit, since when did Illinois start having earthquakes,' I thought as I clenched my fists in a panic.
After a few seconds, the vibrations stopped, and everybody heaved a sigh of relief.
"Whew… that scared the shit out of me."
I nodded at Eric's words and wiped the sweat from my forehead.
Soon the sirens went off, and everybody evacuated the building and headed home.
**
Inside the living room of my apartment, I was lying down on the couch and checking for updates on my phone. I was on the news site, BBC, reading the headlines for international news.
[Richter scale 2.5-3.5 earthquakes recorded all over the world including California, Tokyo, Moscow, Honk Kong, Delhi, Jerusalem…]
[Tsunami warnings have been issued in many regions of the world. Are you safe?]
[As scientists scurry for reasons, President Trump urges populace to calm down and wait.]
'Well, it's not like I can save the world. No point worrying about this,' I yawned and kept my phone aside, finally closing my eyes to take that much awaited nap.
**
Zzzz….
Zzzz….
Beep… Beep… Beep…
I put my hand over my ears, trying to shut out an annoying noise that was waking me up from nap. My complexion paled, as I realized that my body wasn't feeling the way it used to for some reason.
[Congratulations, you've been luckily chosen by Being X for a journey into your favorite fantasy world.]
After finally opening my eyes, I saw my body of a 9-10 year old boy. I was lying on a bed, alone, in a spacious bedroom. The flooring and roof of the bedroom seemed to be made of timber and wattle, with no ducts for air conditioning. In addition, the window shutter was open, allowing me to catch the glimpse of a bright yellow sun.
"Huh… What the fuck... Where am I?"
I blurted out, still doubting the absurdity of the situation. No matter how hard I tried to snap 'back into reality,' I couldn't ignore the life like feeling of the humidity in the air, and the… Swissh… noise of the wind crashing at the window.
'No way! Is this reincarnation or something,' I smiled bitterly to myself.
Thuk… Thuk… Soon I could hear footsteps approach my room.
Creak… In a moment, a pale beautiful woman opened my bedroom door and entered.
She was a slender woman with red lipstick, long curly black hair that was tied back, and a mole on the right side of her face below her mouth. She wore a marine coat on her shoulders like a cape; and underneath, she sported a short-sleeved pink shirt, with a frilled collar and an open neckline that exposed her cleavage.
More notably, she possessed a black spider tattoo on her left thigh, right below her dark brown shorts.
My eyes flashed when I got a proper look at her figure, 'I know this character…! Is this woman a cosplayer of that… that Momousagi from One Piece?!'
Currently, her eyes were sparkling with, seemingly, love and affection when she looked at me. I looked away from her gaze, as my eyes were unable to hold eye contact with such an intense stare full of love.
"Hey Sweetie! I see you woke up a bit earlier today...come and hug your mommy!"
The woman stretched her hands sideways, revealing her ample chest. 'Wow… someone has a really cute mom', I bit my lip.
'Well… I technically just reincarnated… I could surely use a hug from this fairy', I thought as I jumped into her bosoms.
Smooch… smooch… My 'mom' carried me into the air and kissed my cheeks a few times. Her smile broadened, and a dimple appeared on her face.
Tehehehehehe … Shortly, a loud laughter resounded in my room. A tall old lady with maid-outfit and an eyepatch walked in... The old woman carried a scar that started above her eye-patch and jutted out from below the eye-patch… The contrast between her veteran face and the maid outfit gave off a very queer sensation to me
The old lady looked at me with suspicion, and then she bowed to my mom.
"Breakfast is ready to be served madam…. hmmm… Young-master Leo was fighting with you all of last week... what's with him today?"
'Old lady, I don't know who you are… but let me enjoy my hug from this cute woman longer.' I was a little reluctant when my mom stopped hugging me. Also, I immediately established a little ill-will towards the previous owner of my body. How could he fight with such a fairy?
My mom just smiled at the old lady's statement and said, "Thank you for your service Louise. We'd be eating in the dining hall shortly. I'm extremely happy how my son is so friendly today."
"Madam… maybe all your efforts in coming all the way here for Leo has finally caught his affection."
"Hahaha, it's not that Louise. Ever since Gol D. Roger started the Great Age of Pirates, it's always been too chaotic for everyone. I barely get the time to stay with my cute kid here"
Both women had moist eyes when they were talking to each other. My head was blank as my ears were listening to their conversation. Then, my eyes flashed instantly.
'Hey, wait, did they just say the great pirate age by Gol D. Roger.'
Due to the distraction from their conversation and the sudden reincarnation, I completely forgot to think about the Momousagi 'cosplay' from earlier.
Is this possible? Oda's One Piece is one of my absolute favourites of all time. Blood rushed into my head as I imagined how great this miracle is. The song 'We are' played in my head as I already started fantasizing about being the next pirate king.
"Ahhhh, I'm in the One Piece world." I screamed with excitement and madness.
Fa-thud
Before I could calm my mind, my consciousness faded from tripping and hitting my head on a wall.
**
Presently, me and my mom were sitting together and eating dinner.
A few hours had passed since my reincarnation into this world. After being scolded by my new mom for running in the house, she left me alone to take care of some Marine business.
This allowed me to avoid my mom and gather intel about my new identity. I definitely didn't think it was a good idea to let her know that her previous sulky son had been replaced by someone.
The current year was 1512…
The town I live in was called Ragako. It is situated in the Haven Island, which also housed the Shimotsuki village…
Zoro's Isshin Dojo from the manga is on the outskirts of the Shimotsuki village…
Gion, better known by her alias Momousagi, was the name of my mother. While her young looks may fool you to believe that she's still in her early 20's, she is an infamous Marine vice admiral that began her Marine career before the era of the pirates even began.
Although I wasn't completely sure yet, I think I was adopted by Momousagi from her little sister, who died along with her husband in an unfortunate accident.
While I was lost in my current thoughts, my mom looked at me with moist eyes. She was worried because I was acting weird all day.
"Uhm… Leo, why have you been so quiet today?" My mom asked.
A sheepish smile formed on my face at the question. 'How could I possibly tell her that I've replaced her son.' It pained me a little to fool this caring woman, but I didn't have many options. After thinking for some time, I'd found a way to throw her off my tail.
"Mom! I've decided to train and become the strongest person there is. I want to help mom in fighting all her enemies."
I said, my voice full of determination.
Even though I didn't know what I wanted to do yet, I still needed to become much stronger than your average pirate to survive in this world. Besides, maybe this newfound determination will explain some of the personality change.
"Hum… yes I've been telling you to eat less swe-"
My mom stopped speaking mid-sentence, and her jaws dropped from shock. She moved her delicate hands towards my forehead to check my temperature.
"L-Louise… Did I hear my child's words right? I think he got hit in the head too strongly."
Mom asked, her voice trembling, empty of any calmness it had before.
"Hmmm, maybe he's serious… young master Leo has been thinking and asking a lot of questions since morning," Louise answered.
Shortly, my mom had tears trickling down her face. Even Louise seemed to be looking at me in a different manner,
"I'd wanted you to live a peaceful life sweetie…but… your ambitions are big just like your mom's when I was young. I'm very proud of you… but your training will have to wait until I return next time. Are you ready to leave home and come with me to train?"
"I'm ready, mom!"
Becoming stronger would be the key to achieving everything in the 'One Piece' world. I was determined to train, no matter how hard the training will be.
At that moment, I failed to notice an evil grin that had formed on my mom's face. 'I'm sorry my sweetie, but you better enjoy the last years of peace in your life,' thought Leo's mom.
**
It was the night on the same day. I was awake, lying on my bed, staring at the wooden ceiling of my room. Currently, my mind was filled with thoughts on what to do with my 'second-life'.
Hmmm… I don't think I want to be a Marine. Even though Momousagi was a Marine, a vice-admiral at that, becoming a Marine would give up all my freedom and for what… supporting the perverse atrocities committed by nobles. Well, it's not like Garp and Kuzan were complete idiots and ignored this stuff completely… they must have seen some form of 'necessary evil,' I guess.
After debating on my next course of action, I decided to get some sleep.
Creak… Just when I was about to go to sleep, the wooden door to my bedroom opened slowly.
An alluring figure entered my room. She was wearing a thin see-through nightgown that boldly emphasized the curves in her body. Steam seemed to be coming out of her beautiful long hair and voluptuous body, as though she just got out of the shower.
"Sweetie, I see you were about to fall asleep without me. You're so naughty...mom's going to punish you tonight for this."
My mom moistened her lips with her tongue and entered the bedsheet with me.
I blinked my eyes rapidly, trying to understand what's happening here. Gulp… 'My mom is super hot…! But, isn't this like super inappropriate? She's my blood-aunt and current mom for god-sake,' I thought.
"M-mom, what're you doing here right now?"
"What Leo, I thought you stopped fighting with me for this. Don't you want to sleep with your mom once again?"
I formed a tight-lipped smile on my face as I understood the reason my previous self fought with his mom. Even though I was in a body of only a 10-year-old, it was still inappropriate to sleep with my mom while she was wearing something like that.
"Mom, I'm not sure it's right for you to be here."
"Sigh… I guess I'll let you sleep alone tonight then. Sweetie remember, I'm going to give you enough love to cover both your mom and dad."
Mom pouted, like a cute young girl who failed to get her toy. She left soon after, returning the peace and quiet to the room.
Whew… my brows relaxed, and I finally decided to get some shut-eye.
….
Tun… Tee…
"Ahhh…"
I screamed; my head hurt as a clutter of noise sounded right inside of my head.
… In a little while, a screen appeared right in front of my eye.
[Congratulations, user has been granted powers by the generous god, Being 'X'.]
[Updating... updating… User stats updated...]
Notifications appeared on the screen, one after the other. "W-What is this…" I murmured, my voice shaky.
[[Updating… 100% Complete]
[Restarting system]
The screen turned blank, and then a list of text appeared on the screen.
===
Leo Magnus
▷Stats
[Strength 5]
[Vitality 6]
[Agility 7]
[Perception 10]
[Willpower 13]
Current Stat Points Available: 10
* Note 'stats' points can be increased naturally by training, or through gifts from Being 'X'.
▷Devil-Fruit Power
* You can select 1 free Devil-Fruit power you know. Note that selecting a Devil-Fruit would cause the original devil-fruit to disappear from the canon.
▷Skills
* You can select 3 skills from the One Piece world, like Haki. You're allowed to delete and add skills; however, 3 months minimum are required to delete a newly added skill.
* Note that you're unable to learn skills indigenous to the One Piece world from observation or training, unless they're related to your Devil Fruit. In addition, skills you haven't observed being used before can't be equipped: ie. Vegapunk's engineering.
===
* Note that the more influence you'll have in the One Piece world, the more gifts you'll receive from Being X.
===
"Hum…"
The first thing I paid attention to was 'Being X', who was mentioned often at the display screen. It seemed to be the entity responsible for reincarnating me into the 'One Piece' world. I didn't know if I should worship him or hate him. The stat screen was probably given to me to make it easier for 'Being X' to gift me strength I think.
The skills section caught my attention too, but I decided to wait for a later time to test it out further.
Next, I stared at the most exciting part of the screen. "You can select 1 free Devil-Fruit power you know." My face flushed with excitement as I fantasized about the various fruits I could consume including the: Paw-Paw Fruit, Tremor-Tremor Fruit, and the Ice-Ice Fruit.
In the end, I decided to go with Enel's Rumble-Rumble fruit. I didn't believe there was a fruit as invincible and overpowered as that.
"I want the Rumble-Rumble fruit!"
My voice resounded throughout the room. Right after, the illusive screen flickered, and restarted again.
[Command acknowledged, user has been granted the Rumble-Rumble fruit. Note that you're unable to swim anymore.]
Hmmm… I waited.
ZZZZZ… my entire body started trembling and lightning writhed out from my body. That night, a huge thunder storm hit the town of Ragako…
**
