A bunch of weirdos

Chapter 1: A bunch of weirdos

Khoras lay there for a few seconds. His body no longer hurt, and he felt much better than before, but he still didn't fully understand what had just happened.

From the texture of the ground beneath him, he knew there was sand, and the sound of seagulls brought a possibility quickly to mind.

'Did I get knocked unconscious and wash up on a beach?'

However, he remembered being struck by lightning—there was no way he could have survived in the middle of the sea. Plus, he could feel the changes in his body and knew exactly what they were.

Lord of the Mysteries was a novel he had read not long ago. It was odd, considering he wasn't a person who read much, but one of his friends had recommended it, and he had decided to give it a try.

In the end, he had liked it a lot, but that was all—it was supposed to be just a novel, a piece of fiction.

However, that voice had spoken, and a second later, his body underwent a series of momentous changes he had previously thought impossible.

The voice had said, "Sequence 9: Sailor," and that seemed to be the case.

His body had been athletic, but now it contained supernatural strength. Plus, he knew his control over it had greatly improved, even without moving.

He slowly opened his eyes, and the sunlight hit him hard. After getting used to it, he quickly looked around. Indeed, he seemed to be on a beach, and before him stretched the immense sea.

He let out a sigh and lay back for a moment to catch his breath before standing up.

"Good heavens, where the fuck am I?" He stroked his forehead to ease the headache this situation was causing him.

Behind him there seemed to be a rather lush forest. Certainly, the odds of him having ended up on a populated island were quite low.

'Eh, but at least I'm alive,' he consoled himself.

Luckily, it seemed that he had indeed acquired all the powers of the Sequence, which included the ability to swim as fast as a fish and hold his breath for over ten minutes. This gave him hope that he could get out of this situation safely.

While he was debating whether he should explore the island or try to head out to sea, two people emerged from the forest.

Khoras instantly turned his attention to them in disbelief.

One of them had long blonde hair and was wearing a light blue striped shirt. The other was much larger, even fatter, and had a bandana covering his head.

"Hey, who the heck are you?" one of them exclaimed.

"Oh, sorry, I fell into the sea and ended up waking up on this island." Khoras quickly explained his circumstances, thankful that he had found someone. 'I'm saved.'

He let out another sigh, but this time one of relief.

"Huh? You fell into the sea? There's no way you'd be alive after that!" The blond-haired man pulled out a cutlass that Khoras hadn't noticed until that moment.

"Hey, hey, wait a minute, buddy, I really just want to get back to dry land." He tried to reassure the two men, who seemed wary of him. "By the way, do you know where we are?"

Of course, Khoras had memorized the vast majority of islands near the area he fished in, just in case he ever got lost and had to ask.

"Hm?" The blond man hesitated a bit as he saw that Khoras didn't back down when he pulled out his weapon.

"You're on Goat Island," the other man, the fat one, answered. "You're out of luck, buddy. This is the base of the Alvida pirates."

Hearing this, the blond man nodded. "That's right, so we'll have to ask you to surrender and accompany us to the ship. We're short on cleaning staff lately; that fool Koby doesn't do a very good job."

Khoras immediately frowned. 'Pirates? Do these groups still exist? But these men are armed... bloody hell, I really am unlucky.'

Contrary to his thoughts, he began to approach the two men without fear. He knew that now he had nothing to fear from two ordinary people.

"Look, pirates, I just want to go back to my land. Don't you have a map so I can get my bearings? I've never heard of Goat Island." As he spoke, he prepared himself for a possible confrontation.

"Hehe," the fat man let out an evil laugh. "It seems you don't understand the situation you're in. We'll have to teach you a lesson."

At that moment, Khoras had already arrived in front of him, so the man only had to draw his sword and slash toward his arm, trying to slice it off.

However, to the surprise of both pirates, the cutlass wasn't even able to tear the skin. It struck Khoras' arm and was unable to advance any further.

Khoras took this opportunity and threw a punch at the fat man's face, causing his face to deform and his large body to fly a few meters away.

As the blond man shifted his stunned gaze from the fat man to Khoras, the latter looked down at his hand.

Just now, he had used an ability he had received from the potion. It was called Phantom Scales, and it allowed him to create illusory scales under or on top of his skin to resist and enhance attacks. The cutlass had been unable to affect them in any way.

He looked back at the blond man, who was shaking.

"Get me a map. I want to get off this damn island," he snapped at him.

"Y-Yes, sir, come with me, please." The man quickly put away his own sword and began to act friendly.

"Hm," Khoras grunted in affirmation. His good mood from surviving was beginning to deteriorate.

The man led him through the forest, and they eventually came to some sort of camp with several cabins. In the middle of them was a pirate flag fluttering in the wind.

'...I think these guys have watched too many movies,' Khoras thought, looking around in disbelief.

There were some men carrying barrels into one of the cabins, and among them was a boy with pink hair and very round blue glasses.

"Hey, what the fuck? Even pirates dye their hair nowadays? And isn't that a little boy?" Khoras pointed at the boy and looked at the blond man, who started sweating.

"Uh... that's Koby, sir. I think that's his natural hair..." he replied.

"Huh?" Khoras looked at him as if he were stupid.

Seeing that Khoras had suddenly let his guard down, the blond man started running and shouting.

"Alvida-sama, we have an intruder!" he exclaimed.

"Tsk, damn sea rat. Why does this have to be so difficult?" Khoras noticed that everyone instantly turned to look at them.

"Peppoko? You say there's an intruder?" one of the men asked, seeing the blond man running toward them.

Khoras decided he should go over and set the record straight, but before he could move, a crash sounded from one of the huts and the door flew open.

"Did someone say an intruder?" a woman's voice came from inside, and sure enough, she emerged shortly after.

She was tall—extremely tall—and very obese. She wore a white hat with red feathers and carried a huge mace in her hand.

'Where have I gotten myself into?' At this point, Khoras no longer knew whether to laugh or cry as he saw stranger things with each passing moment.

"Where is the intruder?" the woman screamed in a shrill voice.

"A-Alvida-sama, it's that guy over there," the blond man, who had been called Peppoko, pointed at Khoras, who was standing a few feet away watching everything with a face like he was living a fever dream. "He knocked Poppoko down with one blow, and his cutlass couldn't cut him!"

The woman watched Khoras intently, and eventually, a smile appeared on her face.

"Kukukuku," she laughed. "I heard there's a new pirate hunter who's getting quite famous even though he's just starting out. Tell me, don't you want to join me? I'd do well to have someone competent."

Khoras paused for a moment and frowned. 'Pirate hunter? What is this woman talking about?'

Then he shook his head. "I'm not here to hunt anyone. I just want a map so I know where the hell I've ended up."

Alvida didn't seem to hear him. "Don't think I'm that stupid. There's no way anyone would end up on this island by chance, kukuku. Besides, that scar on your face tells me you're no ordinary person."

Khoras grabbed his hair in frustration, noticing that it was severely disheveled, and also noticing what Alvida had said about a scar.

Finally, he sighed one last time.

"Alright, since you all seem unable to listen, I'll beat you up." Khoras had grown tired of trying to talk to these weirdos and wanted to get back home as soon as possible so as not to worry his mother any more.

"Heh, you seem confident, kid. However, now you're pushing your luck!" The giant woman began to run with surprising speed, considering the giant mace she was carrying.

As she swung the weapon, the wind produced a whistling sound, and Khoras raised his hand.

Dong!

A loud sound rang out, like metal clashing against metal, and the mace was blocked by a seemingly normal hand.

"I-Impossible! My Bludgeon..." Alvida muttered.

"All of you... I've had enough!" Khoras repeated the same blow, and had the same result.

Before the astonished eyes of the Alvida pirates, the giant woman rose several meters before falling with a thud to the ground.

Khoras spat on the ground. "You try to be nice, and all you get is attacks. Prepare your heads, you bastards!"

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My corrector is ChatGPT, so tell me if there's anything I should improve, I don't trust AI that much.