Remember why you started

First POV

In the random bar in the downtown.

It was placed in the corner that was rarely visited.

"You know, Bob. You are the strong place to lean on when my emotions are unstable." I talked to Bob who was the one inviting Mercenaries from another world.

"I have met many bad things." I took a sip of fruit juice.

Only when facing Bob, I can express my true feelings. I could not show this weak side to Yamato. I wondered why.

Maybe because the current character is Furina. Furina is willing to suffer years of loneliness and she doesn't want to share the burden or tell anyone about her problem to anyone. She had to act from day to night without resting.

That is why she was a great character.

And I inherited some parts of her personality. I used the action skill to hide my bad emotional side.

Not like Furina, I have someone to share my burden. 

"So Bob, Can you help me? My emotion part."

Bob, as a professional bartender, had a responsibility to hear customers' frustration and find a solution.

He knew this world was a little bit broken when comparing his world. But the essence is the same.

"Can you tell me in detail? Maybe this will help you." Bob advised.

"Indeed. I can vent the frustration and despair that I have accumulated since I came to Alabasta. Where to start anyway." Bringing the cup to my mouth, I took a deep drink.

"Alright. It started when I invited ITI to inspect the video." 

"The video records the fight between Blackbeard and Yamato. And do you know what ITI found?"

"I am curious what you guys have found," Bob said.

"Blackbeard is possessed by someone. And that someone has system" I muttered but Bob could hear it clearly.

"When Blackbeard was on the edge of death, that system saved Blackbeard one life. I mean it saved the host one life."

"But ITI said I am afraid that you anger thing that you shouldn't. From level 0 to 15, I estimate this system must be between 4-6. If you are unlucky, it may be higher." 

I took a deep stop before continuing.

"And then I asked Why it's trouble to me. She replied as if I am a dead person."

"You should know. System is an entity that was born from the very first mechanic universe. Or from the human universe. I don't know. But the thing is. That thing has emotion. You should know when that system targets you then it will chase you across the universe. It will make your life miserable as much as possible"

"And now you know my situation, Bob. I am homeless now." I hiccuped while expressing my frustration.

"Maybe. I don't know since I haven't met thing like this before."

"Then why you don't ask ITI's opinion."

"I did and she refused. She said she didn't know this system lived in a group or played solo. If she knew it was playing solo then she could help me." I slammed the table with a delicate fist.

"But the case of playing solo is very rare. What do I have to do now? Even if I kill this one, another one will appear. Like a chain reaction, I kill son. His father appears. I kill the father. His grandfather appears." I put on the table a holo screen.

"Look. My name is on the list." I cried out my frustration. I have seen their video posting on the Universe channel. As long as you are on the list, you are not allowed to have a happy life. 

"They even get my original name and my birth planet. How can they do that? I wonder." 

"I see. That is a very big trouble" Bob tried to analyze the big picture. But with his limited knowledge, he wasn't well aware of the danger that his customer was facing.

"It mustn't be worse than some small assassination. I am right. Not surely."

"That is not all. My Senzu bean plants were uprooted by the sky fork. This situation. My heart can't deal with it. It's not easy to plant Senzu bean plants."

"Yes. Accidents can happen anytime. I understand that feeling." Bob could only nod his head. Even his tavern met accident sometime. Seeing the state of his customer, he decided to give her a free apple juice to refresh her mind.

"Not only that, businessmen refused to cooperate with me. I don't know why. My brain kept thinking it was the World Government. But my heart said it was me that wasn't good enough."

A screen popped up in the air.

[ Business: loss

Reputation: loss

Belief: loss

… ]

This was a long list but just looking at the red color covered the whole list. Bob knew the girl sitting in front of him didn't have a sense of business.

"I think I can do business but reality slaps my face so hard." I drank the apple juice and cried at the same time.

"This drink does help me but not enough." I continued crying since I could see my ending.

"I thought businessman was an easy job and could make me rich. The truth is I am just a nameless Software engineer without talent."

"I see." Bob comprehended the whole story and he knew what his customer lost while facing reality.

Bob slowly cleaned the cup and offered another apple juice.

"Lady. It will be inappropriate for you to cry like this."

"Why. Even a dead man has a right to cry."

"You lost it, aren't you." Bob looked at my eyes. I could see my reflection in his eye's pupils.

"I don't know what are you talking about. If something is lost, I can find it later."

"Are you sure?" Bob placed a book on the table. "Then you don't know what you have lost." 

I looked at the book on the table. A surprise could be seen on my face.

"That's my book. I lost interest in it a long time ago. That is the reason why it's delayed." Looking at the name, I remembered the time when I was very young. Around 25 years old. Now, I should be over 100 years old. I wrote it when I first met my God.

"I had forgotten the joy it once brought me"

"There. That is your problem. You lost it while facing the cruelty of society. Why you don't read it to realize it by yourself."

With Bob's encouragement, I picked my book up and read to delve back into the pages of my past.

After 3 hours of reading, I realized one thing.

"This book is not good." I gave bad comments to my book. This book is the most interesting book to read. However, compared with the vast universe, this book is considered bad. 

"No no. You are wrong. Read again and try to imagine it. Remember the time you put every care in your words."

I opened the book again and read it again. Only reading again, I somehow found it interesting to read.

Each line brought back my old memories.

"So. Do you know what you have lost?"

"You are right. I lost my Wibu spirit" I said out loud a cringe word.

The moment I said this out loud, Bob's sweat slowly ran down his back.

"You mean dream and hope" Bob corrected my words.

"You can understand like that" I replied.

"Since ITI refused to help me, God of Wibu can. Why I didn't think this before."

"Okay. Your fire is reignited. Another cup for your reborn" As long as his customer was good then he was good.

"Thank Bob, I realize why I started this." Taking the cup and raising it high, I declared.

"I, Furina, just want to be a funny person. I refuse to be defeated by the trial of fate."

"So do you know how to solve your problem?" Bob asked me.

"Yes, I do now. By becoming 5 stars character" 

I laughed. Bob also laughed.

While immersing in my old spirit, a random guy stepped into the tavern. He wore a black hood and acted very suspiciously. He looked left and right to inspect the bar and found a girl sitting in front of the boss of the tavern.

He steadily approached the table where the girl and boss of the bar had a happy conversation.

He placed his butt on the chair and order a drink.

"One big cup of alcohol"

"One big cup of alcohol is coming your way" Bob went to the storage to take a wine. Since this place rarely had customers, he always stored his stock in his storage.

When the boss of the tavern went to fetch the wine, the stranger started a conversation with the girl sitting next to him.

"Hey, you. You are very famous in my place. I have never done this before. But … can you." he took a wanted paper from his hood and placed it on the table.

"Here, sign right here." He placed the wanted poster in front of my face and pointed at the place to sign. 

The wanted paper had my appearance on it.

'Oh. They update it. Very fast' I thought.

I slowly put the cup on the table and looked at the place where this stranger asked me to sign.

The quote Dead or Alive. He pointed at the word 'Dead'.

"Okay." I did it without hesitation. I took a pen from my pocket and signed my signature below the word 'Dead'.

"Your taste is very unique. But I like it." I laughed a little bit.

"Can you tell me your name?"

"My name is Bellamy" he took off his hood. A big grin appeared on his face.

"I see, Bounty Hunter."

"Bounty Hunter. Hahaha" He laughed out loud that Bob in the basement could hear it.

"I never do that kind of lowly job." he took off his clothes and showed his tattoo on his back.

"I am Doflamingo's subordinate. His right hand" he said proudly.

"That sounds very cool." I gave my compliment.

I knew this guy. He is a springman but is beaten like a sandbag throughout the story. Pity this guy.

"That's right. And I come here to claim your life."

"Whoa. Can you tell me why?" I asked.

"Hmm. Don't show that fake smile. That's disgusting."

"No. This is my true smile. I no longer have to wear fake smiles anymore. It's very tired. You know" I said sincerely.

"Whatever you say. The reason why I am going to kill you today is because" Bellamy looked at my hat. 

"You are the one who ruined my master's business"

"Oh. Where I ruined his business."

"SMILE fruit. You are the one who destroyed the SMILE factory at Wano causing a huge loss to my master. So to compensate. Your life isn't enough."

"You are so smart. How did you know that?" I asked curiously. Wano was a close country. How can someone know what happened in it?

"With this" he tapped his head 

"And my connection"

"I see" Looking at Bellamy, I thought Bellamy came to this conclusion due to Yamato.

After all, Yamato was very straightforward.

Nonetheless, I wanted to see the potential inside him. so I decided to play along with him.

What I wanted to see most was a different version of Bellamy. Not like the sandbag version in the original.

This world didn't lack of genius. What lacked most was genius with hard work, diligence, and perseverance.

The One Piece that I was currently stayed was a branch of the original so it won't have any problem if a small change appears.

I offered my right hand to him.

"What are you doing, little girl? Are you begging me?" Bellamy threatened.

"Ah no. I am recruiting you into my troupe. You will be the third member to be in my troupe."

"Troupe" Bellamy broke the table 

"Do you take me for a fool" A vein bulged out on his head. His look was full of disdain.

"There is a thing that I can't endure. And that is humiliation." He squatted down. His legs turned into the springs.

His eye glinted a sharp light. That gaze was filled with killing intention.

He launched himself towards Furina. With this attack, the little girl in front of him would become disabled.

However, he didn't have the intention to disable her right now. He just wanted to scare her so that she stopped trash-talking.

"That is not humiliation." I waved my hands.

"I am very sincere in recruiting you." I touched his head. Using his motion, I redirected his trajectory.

Bellamy hit the wall and embedded himself in it.

It took him a quite to escape from the wall.

I looked at Bellamy with a gentle gaze and extended my invitation.

"To the troupe. Let spread happiness to every corner of this world through music, dance, and opera." 

"So can you be my light boy who will hold the light for me?"