2 01. Prologue

You may not believe it, but this story began with my death.

The story of reincarnation into another world and later life in it began with the death of the protagonist. This has never happened before, and here it is again.

Before, I was an ordinary office plankton that worked in a small company, the Manager, who forced his employees to work overtime under the threat of dismissal, while not paying for these extra hours.

I didn't have any relatives. My mother and father died in a plane crash when I was graduating from university, and there were no other relatives left.

In my personal life, I was lonely too. Wife or girlfriend, I never got. Despite my good appearance, not super handsome, of course, but far from ugly, I could not find my soul mate.

Although, to be honest, I didn't really try to do it. I burned too much in my youth, with my first love. I really did not want to get up on the same rake a second time.

For me, the only close living creature was my cat, which, unfortunately, died of old age a couple of years ago.

In the end, I was a lonely clerk who lived in a small rented apartment, spent fourteen hours at a job I hated, and died at the age of 35.

So-so life, I know, but it just happened. I had the opportunity to change everything, but I did not see the point in doing it. I had no desire to change anything, so I just went with the flow.

A broken heart and the death of my beloved parents hit me too hard and, as a result, I closed my heart and, in fact, lost all the will to live, leaving only an empty shell that lived by inertia, like a robot.

I know it sounds like I was severely depressed and needed help urgently. It may well have been, but it's too late to weep over spilled milk.

I died from overwork, at least this is my working version. The last thing I remember is how I worked at the computer in the office for the twelfth hour in a row, and the next moment, I felt bad, and I passed out, after which I woke up in another world, in another body.

It happened a month ago. I woke up on a deserted island in the middle of the ocean, in the body of a teenager who, apparently, was wrecked on a ship, the remains of which lay nearby.

After several hours of wild panic, trying to accept reality and calm down, I finally examined my new body and, frankly, was pleased with what I saw.

In the reflection of the ocean waters, I saw a handsome, almost unrealistically handsome, young man, about seventeen years old.

I had bright, blue eyes, short snow-white hair, pale skin, a pretty face, a pointed chin, a small straight nose, high cheekbones and thin lips.

To be honest, I was like a Tsukasa Eishi from «Shokugeki no Souma», except that the eyes were a different color.

In support of my theory of the shipwreck, one could attribute the clothes that were to me that day. It was all torn, and I even saw traces of blood, although there were no traces of wounds on my body itself.

I did not receive any memories of the previous owner of the body, so the number of questions only increased.

I didn't know what kind of world this was, who sent me here, who owned this body, and so on. I didn't even remember my own name. Neither old nor new.

It is probably worth mentioning that the memories of my past life have been preserved almost entirely, except for my name and the name of my parents.

Although, at that moment, this did not bother me much, since I had other problems.

All I knew then was that I died, then ended up in another world, judging by the quality of the air, which was much cleaner than in the previous world, in the body of a teenager, a lonely shipwrecked on a desert island and stuck on it.

Frankly, I did not know what to do next and was already close to a new panic attack, as a holographic panel appeared before my eyes, which had something like this:

[Welcome to the new world!

Before you start your new life, you must pass a month-long test to show your determination to start over.

For the next thirty days, you will receive tasks that you will have to complete within one day. After completing the entire course, you will receive a gift that will help you in the future, giving you a lot of supernatural powers and unique items that will undoubtedly come in handy.

If you fail to complete at least one task, you will lose the chance to receive a gift and be left with nothing in this extremely dangerous world.

And also, as punishment for the unrealistic expectations we have placed on you, you will lose the memories of your past life, and really start your new life from scratch.

But of course, it's entirely your choice and you decide whether you will complete tasks or ignore them. But I will give you advice, you will not regret at all if you complete all the tasks and get your prize.

That's all. Good luck!]

After I read the message, it disappeared and the first task appeared, along with a 24 hour countdown.

The task turned out to be simple, Saitama's simple physical training, in the form of 100 push-ups, 100 squats, 100 presses and 10 kilometers of running.

My new body was in good physical condition, not a professional athlete of course, but the guy obviously kept himself in shape, so I could easily complete the task in just a few hours.

Since the situation finally moved forward and someone contacted me, someone who clearly could give me answers to my questions, I spent an hour yelling at the author of the message, but in the end, I wasted my energy, as there was no response.

It is clear that I did not want to lose my memory and was not going to refuse a gift that could help me in this world, which, if the report is to be believed, can be incredibly dangerous, so I immediately set to training.

Like I said, that was a month ago.

Thirty days have passed, and at the moment, a couple of hours have passed since I successfully completed my last assignment, and now there are only a few minutes left before the deadline expires and I receive my promised prize.

As it turned out, the entire task was a training complex like the first task. Only every day the standard increased and increased. The first couple of days I had no problems, but then serious difficulties began.

On the fifth day, the standard increased to 1,000 repetitions of each exercise and 100 kilometers of running. On the tenth day, up to 2,500 repetitions and 250 kilometers of running, by the twentieth day, these numbers doubled, and on the last day, today, I have done 10,000 push-ups, 10,000 squats, 10,000 sit-ups, 10,000 presses and ran 1,000 kilometers.

I know these are terribly large numbers, and I still can't believe that I accomplished this feat and completed this approach. Although, it took me almost 13 hours.

In the ordinary world, I would have overstrained and died a long time ago from all these loads, but it seems that this world itself contributes to the possibility of such training and my new body withstood this test without any problems.

The results of the training itself were extremely impressive. If before, I was an ordinary teenager with an ordinary body, now, I have surpassed all professional athletes of the past world, and it seems to me that I have already overcome the bar of a person and become a superhuman.

Skinny body, with weak muscles, which I used to have, turned into a muscular physique, which many athletes would envy. I didn't turn into an ugly bodybuilder, but rather a balanced body, the perfect combination of speed, strength and endurance, with tight muscles.

Already now, if I'm not mistaken, I'm about three times stronger than an ordinary training person. An incredible result for a month of training, but my standards were far from normal.

Luckily, the ship that wrecked on the island had enough provisions to keep me going through this training regimen. And I ate, I must say, a lot, very much.

The ship itself had a torn bottom and a destroyed keel, so that it could no longer sail, but I was able to live in it calmly, at the same time, in fairly comfortable conditions.

The pantry was filled with various foods, the water tanks were also intact, and I even had enough water for a shower. I also found suitable clothes, well, I lived in the captain's cabin.

Unfortunately, I didn't find any records or the ship's log, so I never found out what kind of ship is it and who did it belong to.

About myself, or rather about the previous owner of the body, I also did not learn anything.

In general, to be honest, this month of training helped me a lot. Yes, it was incredibly hard, but it cleared my head perfectly. At least after I went through all five stages of denial and accepted my situation.

As a result, I was finally able to let go of my grief, overcame melancholy and longing for my parents, let go of my past, and, in fact, I was reborn, becoming a new person.

Although my situation already meant it, but at first, I just changed my body, but now my spirit and my heart have changed. To be honest, it's just a great feeling.

I'm finally free from the past and I'm longing for life and adventure again. The world has returned colors to me again, and now I want to move forward, not wanting to go back to the past.

I don't even feel guilt that I just let it all go and am ready to start living again. I'm sure my parents would be only too happy for me, and this time, I won't let them down and will live life to the fullest, especially in this beautiful world.

And yes, I did find out what world I was in.

It happened two weeks ago. Having finished the next task, and having had enough rest, I decided to explore the island a little, on which I had been living alone for half a month now.

The island itself was quite small and completely uninhabited, I would even say deserted, since there was practically nothing.

There was a beach along the edges of the island, then a small rock labyrinth began, in the intervals of which dry trees grew.

There were no living creatures on the island at all, not even a single bug. The lack of fresh water is not even worth mentioning.

Still, I was lucky that there was a ship nearby, with everything I needed, otherwise I would not only not be able to complete the task, but I would also die of hunger and thirst.

The island itself did not tell me anything, but after a little research, in its center, on one of the dry trees, I found one unusual fruit, the only one on the whole island.

It was an orange round fruit, about the size of a papaya, with a twisted stalk at the top and many flame-shaped patterns, with swirls on each.

Mera Mera no Mi.

It was the Devil Fruit of the One Piece world.

By eating this fruit, a person gains the ability to create and control fire, and even transform into this element, as it is a Logia-type Devil Fruit.

Seeing this fruit, I received at least some answers to the questions that gnawed at me. I finally understood what world I was in, what kind of island it was and where it was.

All this time, I lived on Sixis Island, in the East Blue, the weakest of the seas of the One Piece world. The world of pirates, marines, devil fruits and so on.

Of course I watched One Piece. I will say more, this story is in the Top 3 of my favorite anime. So, I know the lore and the history of this world very well.

In general, films, series, anime, games, and so on, were almost the only ray of light in my gray life. I spent all my free time immersing myself in the history of other worlds, so I can be called a geek.

This, of course, helped me a lot to come to terms with rebirth, after all, any self-respecting otaku is subconsciously ready for isekai (getting into another world).

So, in the original story of the Mera Mera no Mi is a Devil Fruit whose power belonged to Portgas D. Ace, the older brother of the main character of this world, Luffy, and the son of the Pirate King, Gol D. Roger. At least before he died at the hands of Akainu.

Ace found his fiery fruit on this island. Shortly after he set off on his journey, Ace ended up on an island and got stuck here, as the island itself is surrounded by very strange and turbulent currents that prevent it from leaving. Another problem that I have to solve, but more on that later.

Once on Sixis, Ace met his future teammate, Masked Deuce, who also crashed and was also stuck on it. A lot of things happened to them, I don't see the point in telling all this, but in the end, Ace found the Mera Mera no Mi and ate it, thereby obtaining the power of fire.

But, this time, everything happened differently, and I found the fruit first.

Considering that I did not meet anyone else on the island and the fruit was still on the branch, I got into this world before Ace's journey began.

The main story begins when Luffy went on his journey at the age of 17, this happened in May 1522, according to local reckoning, if I'm not mistaken of course. This happened 22 years after the execution of Roger.

Ace had set out three years earlier, that is, in 1519. And, as I said, shortly after that, he got to Sixis and received Mera Mera no Mi. That means I got in at least three years before canon. The truth is, I have no idea how far I am. Who knows how many years the fruit hung on the branch before Ace found it. It is possible that the main story is still decades away. For now, though, it doesn't really matter.

The fruit itself, of course, I took myself. I don't care that my act changed the history of this world, since my own life is more important. This is my second chance and I'm not going to worry about others.

Moreover, it is quite possible that without receiving the fiery fruit, Ace will not rely on the power of the Logia and will not lose so shamefully to Blackbeard and may not even die at the hands of Akainu.

So far, I have not eaten the fruit, as I want to wait for the promised prize. First I need to find out what the reward is, and only then decide what to do with the fruit.

Still, despite the excellent set of forces, and abilities, this Devil Fruit has its drawbacks. Also, don't forget how Ace ended up dying. I don't want that.

As a last resort, if I find myself in a life and death situation, I will always have time to eat the fruit, which will give me a significant increase in strength. In my opinion, it will be more useful if I receive the power of the fruit already when I am strong, and not when I am a weakling, which until recently was a simple person.

Well, for now, the most important thing for me is to finally get a reward, and then get off this island, since I'm running out of provisions and, frankly, I'm tired of this barren piece of land in the middle of the ocean.

As I talked about the past month, the timer continued to count down, and there were only five seconds left.

5…

4…

3…

2…

1…

[Congratulations, you have successfully completed all thirty tasks, thereby passing the test.

You lived up to our expectations by proving your determination and will to live, while overcoming your past problems.

You were reborn not only in body, but also in spirit, which undoubtedly deserves a reward.

So your prize is…

Ultra Mega Super Cool Omniverse Gold Lottery!!!]

Ha…