One Piece: Horror Creation

Well, I'm dead.

That's the only thing that can explain why I'm floating around in, what seems to be, space.

I had work in the morning so I went to bed early so I could have a bit of a smoke before heading to the office. It's just a data entry job, nothing fancy, but it keeps the lights on.

The next thing I knew, I was here seeing colors that the human eye couldn't possibly see nor comprehend. Considering that I no longer felt any of my limbs, heartbeat, or lungs expanding, what else could explain this other than death?

A problem in this logic is how am I receiving ocular stimulation, or how I'm thinking at all.

The only reason I haven't freaked out yet is because of the common trope that follows next.

Reincarnation, transmigration, Isekai…this is the bread and butter leading up to the next stage in my life.

Could this have a more reasonable explanation? Maybe, but I've never done drugs to trip this hard nor have I ever had a lucid dream.

Sometimes the most impossible and unlikely answer, when all else fails, no matter how ridiculous, must be true.

I wonder where I'll go. Perhaps I'll keep my name, Marcus? If not, oh well. Humans are nothing if not adaptable.

Before I could ponder further, I don't know how, but I could feel myself accelerating at high speeds as a spectrum of colors whizzed by, epilepsy be damned.

I felt myself going faster and faster being pushed forward. My vision began to blur and my consciousness started fading in and out.

With a plop, I fell onto a soft bed as I bounced a bit before settling.

I'm now fully alert and realize I could now feel my body. I would have had second thoughts about what I experienced was real if I didn't see that the bed was completely different from my own.

It was a twin with a black blanket, two white pillows, and red sheets. My old one was a mish-mash of different types of pillows and blankets.

Taking a deep breath, I began to check my body for any differences.

The proportions are still the same at 6'1", presumably, so I wasn't reincarnated, maybe a transmigration? I felt my hair and it was now black instead of dark brown, but it was still the same length going down to my shoulders.

Feeling my body, there was a firmness that wasn't present before, as I was quite lanky.

I had on a black graphic T-shirt with Luffy on it and white shorts that stopped above the knee. On my feet was a pair of slides that I definitely did not have on to sleep, so perhaps whatever brought me here got me shoes? 

How thoughtful.

My mental state was basically just resigned acceptance because what else could I do. Demand to go back? To what? A 9-5 rather than a once in a lifetime opportunity? Am I sick in the head?

Naturally not, so I'm quite excited to see where I ended up. Unless it was Attack On Titan then I'll take the 9-5 any day of the week.

Surveying the room, it's clearly a master bedroom with a large bed, probably a queen, a nightstand, a closet, and another door. Checking out the closet, It was a walk-in, and a rather large one. I've never been one for fashion and there's nothing in here anyway, or was it not obvious with the Luffy shirt.

Walking through the remaining door was a living room with a kitchen next to it, only separated by a counter and stools. Next to the kitchen was a table and chairs which was clearly a dining area. So a kitchen, dining, and living room in one. It was rather small but had a cozy feeling to it especially since there's already furniture.

No TV though which was odd since most living rooms have one. My bedroom didn't have one either, but there were modern appliances like a stovetop, oven, and a refrigerator.

There were two windows on the left and one on the right in the living room and dining area respectively but the curtains were closed. If the lights weren't on, then it'd be pitch black in here.

Opening the curtains I am greeted by…water?

That's not entirely accurate as there was grassland, and about a dozen trees, but farther out was nothing but water.

Running outside, I could clearly see that I was on an island that was about 5 acres. Looking around, I was truly by myself. Going back to the house which is in the center, I sat down on the couch.

"What…am I supposed to do?" I'm truly without words as there's nothing around me.

So I began to brainstorm. An island in the middle of nowhere, transmigrated, and no entertainment.

I deeply sighed with my elbows on my knees rubbing my eyes. Realizing something, the Luffy shirt, island, no TV or anything.

"Could it really be in One Piece?" I thought aloud and then something incredible appeared before me.

[Welcome to One Piece! Please state your name!]

A seemingly system-like screen appeared with white text and a gray box with a black border.

Shoving down my excitement, "Marcus."

The box disappeared before reappearing with minimal delay.

[Congratulations, Marcus! You have gained the Horror Creation System! Please say "System" for more information. Happy Halloween!]

It disappeared and my lip started twitching in amusement.

"It's February though?" I shake my head in disbelief. Maybe it's October here? It seems likely.

Horror Creation? I know it makes me sound like a bitch, but I hated scary movies. Well, hate is a strong word as I liked going to them, but the dread and eerie feeling made my heart race and jump scares ALWAYS got me. Horror games were even worse as I could force myself to play it but it was always a heart racing experience. It's probably why I still play them sometimes.

Well here goes nothing.

"System." I called out and a menu with the same color scheme appeared.

==[Horror Creation]==

Level 1 (0/5000XP)

Experience Points: 0XP

[Stats]

[Create Game]

[Edit Game]

[Starter Package]

==[Exit]==

'Game? So I'll be creating horror games. Also, is that my system level or a personal level?' Without any further prompting, he presses on the [Starter Package] option.

[You have gained 2500 Experience Points(XP)!]

[You have gained Horror Creation Manual!]

[You have gained 1x Gaming Bracelet!]

Two items appeared on the coffee table in front of him. One was a black book with red lettering labeled "Manual", and the other was an onyx-colored bracelet with blood-red swirls reminiscent of the design on Devil Fruits.

I grabbed the bracelet and it immediately twisted and bent around his wrist in a way that defied all logic. It's as if it bonded to my arm. A section of the design on the top of his wrist disappeared and a red "ON" text appeared.

Twisting my wrist, the same phenomenon happened at the bottom with an "OFF" text appearing.

I tapped on the "ON" and a display appeared.

[No games have been found.]

Next, I pressed the "OFF" and the bracelet detached itself in the same logic-bending way and made its way to my palm.

"Well…that was something." I couldn't help but laugh at the absurdity and decided to bring up the system again and selected the [Stats] option.

==[Horror Creation]==

Name: Marcus

Strength: E- [+]

Agility: E- [+]

Vitality: E- [+]

Endurance: E- [+]

Armament Haki: N/A [+]

Observation Haki: N/A [+]

Conqueror's Haki: N/A [+]

Devil Fruit: N/A

Island Maneuverability: Stationed [+]

==[Exit]==

'I don't even need to know the grading system to tell that it's bad.' I sighed before thinking further.

Let's see if I can see more. I pressed on [Vitality].

[Vitality]

Grade: E-

Upgrade Cost: 5XP

Increases your survivability, defense, toughness, damage recovery, and overall constitution.

That's something. Maybe I could become as tanky as Kaido…or maybe not since he's an Oni and not exactly Human. Perhaps I could get close.

The cost for upgrading seems to be ridiculously low but it'll definitely get more costly.

Not having Haki is a given but I wonder what the plus is for so I press it.

[Armament Haki]

Grade: Unawakened

Awakening Cost: 100XP

Coat yourself with your willpower to increase defensive and offensive capabilities. There are advanced uses for this power.

I was in disbelief. Don't you have to go through hell to awaken this and typically in combat, but all it takes is XP?

W System.

The one thing I'm confused on is the island part, but not in the way most would think.

Is this like Thriller Bark? Could the island move? That would make it far easier since I could go to different islands to sell games.

I press it.

[Island Maneuverability]

Traversing Level: Stationed

Upgrade Cost: 1000XP

The island is your base of operations. Upgrading this will allow it to sail the seas.

'Nice. I'll probably upgrade this since it'll be a necessity.' I then exit the menu and bring up the [Create Game] option.

[Say the name of the game you wish to create. Be aware that if the game's quality set by the system is too high for your level, then you'll be unable to create it.]

'Hmm, that's interesting. Perhaps I should read the manual? But who knows how long it'll take to make, or maybe it's instant.' I stopped that train of thought and I started going down memory lane of horror games.

"Outlast"

[Error! Your level is too low to create this game! Please select another game.]

I thought that could be the case

There's a few other in mind, but I just had to choose this classic.

"Slender"

[This game is classified at Level 1. It will cost 1000XP and 1 hour to create. Confirm?]

"Confirm."

[The game "Slender" is being created]

[1000XP has been deducted!]

[Time Remaining: 9:59]

The OG Slenderman was terrifying when it came out. At least to the 12 year old me…well it's still creepy at 24 years old.

One must collect 8 pages in a forest being watched by a tall faceless being. Looking at him will cause your screen to go static and you lose if he's too close. The difficulty increases with each collected page.

It is pitch-black outside of a flashlight. There is no fighting and one must not look at him. A great game at building tension and dread. A true classic.

Now that I have some free time, it's time to read up on the manual.

The grading system is as one could expect.

E-, E, E+, D-...S-, S, S+, SS, and SSS. In total, it's 20 grades.

Also, since there isn't really anything like TV and gaming equipment in this world, the bracelet is needed to play them. In other words, the games will be in VR. The system can completely emulate all senses and even pain. Isn't that terrifying?

I was initially worried since I didn't know how to get more bracelets but apparently the system store will unlock after the first game is created.

One must then wonder how to gain experience. That's the true beauty of it. I won't have to do a damn thing.

The customers will do the work for him.

Every objective completed is 1XP. Half-Completion of the game is 2XP, and full completion is 3XP. That is only for Level 1 Games. It goes up after upgrading the system.

So for a practical example, if a customer completed Slender. I would gain 13 XP. It sounds off but when I looked at the [Edit Game] and saw the XP distribution. Each page counted as an objective. I kind of lucked out with choosing the game since it could just be an XP farm.

It's not THAT overpowered though since once Half-Completion and Full-Completion are reached, it cannot give any XP. Only objectives constantly give XP.

If that was everything, then even if these games would be a hit, it wouldn't be overtly sought after considering this is a world of adventure, and while these games can be a type of new world, it's still just virtual.

The truly broken part of the system is that it can increase your strength and will. Is that not busted? Sadly though, this doesn't apply to me nor does playing my own games give me XP.

This system is basically telling me to be a salesman. Well, a potentially powerful salesman.

At the end of the manual, I am given a 30-day protection bubble from all harm, so long as I'm on the island. It's definitely not enough time to fight off the monsters of the world, but at least I won't get spawn-killed. 

It also has a detection feature.

Very nice!

A system prompt suddenly appeared.

[Slender has been created!]

[Congratulations on creating your first game!]

[You have gained x10 Gaming Bracelets]

[You have unlocked the System Shop!]

[You have gained 100XP!]

[Would you like to upload "Slender"?]

"Yes!" I immediately responded and a spooky chime emitted from the bracelet from the table.

I also realized that the manual is now gone from my hand! That was creepy.

Putting on the bracelet and pressing the button, I noticed that Slender is there with a black graphic and creepy writing style of "Slender". Next I saw under the graphic, is the price I set in the [Edit Game] tab.

I priced it at 100 Belly which I learned from the book is about 1 dollar USD. Why so low? It was because every Gaming Bracelet costs 1XP and there's a belly conversion of about 1,000 belly to 1XP.

Honestly, if I didn't get XP from objective, I'd be selling at a loss, but I can always increase the prices, and I will.

I just need to get my foot in the door and establish customers.

The bracelets will be the way to go since I can upload games and it'll be updated on all devices and money can be put into the screen and appear inside. I could also make a designated area for collection but I don't have a chest or anything like that yet.

Now, I'll upgrade the Island Maneuverability to go places and get customers. After that, I'll upgrade my stats. Other islands aren't safe and I need to know where in the timeline I am.

As if fate itself was heeding my words, I got a notification.

[Monkey D. Luffy has stepped on your island.]

[Roronoa Zoro has stepped on your island.]

[Ussop has stepped on your island.]

[Sanji has stepped on your island.]

[Nami has stepped on your island.]

[Repel trespassers? Confirm/Deny]

The prompt was just for confirmation but the moment they stepped foot on the island I could immediately expel them.

"Deny."

[Confirmed. Designated as "Guests".]

"HELLO?! ANYBODY HOME?!" An iconic voice shouts at the top of his lungs. Even the dead could hear that.

I got up and made my way to the door, having a more clear idea of where in the timeline I am.

Time to sell some games.

The door opened revealing a man taller than the crew. Jet-black spiky hair going down to his shoulders with amethyst eyes.

"Hello, who are you guys?

Yo. I apologize for the info dump but that's just how it goes. Now that things are explained, the good times will continue.

Chapters will be 2k in length.

Until next time.