Before Rewrite, Chapter 2: Confusion

POV MC:

I open my eyes in shock to see blue sky above me, not the dull reddish-orange sky common to the world I thought I was in. The sensation I got from my back was that of sand, as opposed to the feeling of the bricks and tiles of the High Wall of Lothric. And what I hear are the sounds of the waves and wind going through trees. I look around only to confirm that I am in fact on a beach and not in Lothric.

What is this?! Which is reality?! which is the dream between the two?! I decide to pinch myself to make sure and cursed my luck. This one seems to be reality as I felt pain. And while I thought what I saw before was reality too, at some point, I do not remember feeling pain once. I am starting to feel real pain, the form of pain that kills man and woman alike, like hell fell on earth. the pain of my dreams getting shattered in front of me.

I start looking around, all that was before me was a beach, a forest behind me, an ocean stretching to the horizon, the high sun indicating that the time is around noon and a broken safe boat to the side. And beside me is a woman with golden hair, pale white skin. Her eyes were closed. Her chest... It doesn't move. This is bad. I put my fingers on her neck's blood vessels and felt nothing, no pulse, no breath, nothing of a life sign was there. She must have died of malnourishment and exhaustion assisted by her injuries, sadly It seems I woke up late. I then looked at the necklace around her neck. it was a locket the size of my palm. Now, I know it is disrespectful to take what is not mine, from a dead person to boot, so even though I had the urge to see there was a picture inside and look at it, I left it closed.

I decided to bury her first and so I went to bury her at the edge of the nearby forest. I made a tombstone out of a relatively large stone I found near the place and hanged the locket necklace on top. I then went to read the letter. It reads like this:

"My dearest son,

I do not think I can make it alive after our escape from the village-folk. Know that as a half-human, you are going to have a hard time to be accepted in many places, so be careful of who you reveal your secrets to. Seek out your father if you can. He is a very good and reliable man. After he decided to join the Sun Pirates to repay a debt to his friends, he feared that the government may make our lives harder because we are related to a pirate, so he left after making sure we were safe from their harassment by erasing his trails.

Your father is a type of shark fishman and goes by the name J..."

The letter ends with his first name initial. Only then did it dawn on me that I am on an island in the oceans of One Piece, which is concerning. Then I had the urge to confirm if I was the one meant with this letter. I started by checking in-between my fingers and toes, nothing there. No fins or weird nose [1]. My skin had a normal human skin color with an almost unrecognizable blue hue to it. So, since I seemed too human to be half fish-man, I checked my shoulders. Lo and behold, they are there, the proof of me being half fish-man, two gills' openings on each shoulder.

I thought abought my situation and felt something amess. The only fish-man I knew to have been a Sun Pirate with a name starting with the litter J is Jinbe. My mind raced to many thoughts. One among my thoughts being that Jinbe was not known to have been in a relationship with a woman, let alone a human woman. Not that he hates humans but that it is less likely. This leaves me only with one option. I look back at the grave, the locket on top of it to be more accurate. Some of these have a mirror in one of their two sides. My conscience tells me it is wrong to use the possessions of others without their consent, while my mind tells me to see if I find any definitive clue in there. My mind won that by the help of my growing curiosity.

I open the locket and sigh in relief. A mirror and picture are present inside. I tilted the mirror every which way to have a look at my features. My face was that of 18 years old. My head was thick with hair the color of which was mostly white, golden tufts here and there and a slightly larger black tuft in the front atop my forehead. My eyes have white sclera and golden irises with red lines circling the inside of them in a pattern. My nose... let's say it was an okay-shaped nose and leave it at that. My mouth was wide and a little thin. The teeth lining the inside of that mouth of mine were sharp, pointy teeth. All of them were like that except for the last two of them on each side of both the upper and the lower jaws. One of them has a cavity so I decide to pull it out if I could. It was surprisingly easy and almost painless to pull a tooth out, and it regenerated at the same speed Arlong's teeth were shown to go at. I have beaten cavities*balls his raised right fist in mock glory*. Leaving that aside, THIS TIME I HAVE A BEARD. Although not thick enough, it does not have spots where hair doesn't grow.

Now it was time to see the picture. It was a family picture showing the woman from before, a man who could only be a fishman going by his appearance and a child. The woman had her eyes open this time around. They were round, anime logic I guess, and as golden as her hair was.

The man was almost a carbon copy of Arlong, that is no fat Jinbe. Key word "almost". His nose was neither long nor sawed. His hair was Madara-style but entirely swept back, you know, all spiky and long enough it threatens to touch the ground. Oh, yeah, his fin stuck out from between his hair on his back. His hair color was white with black tufts scattered all around it, what was visible of it at least. His eyes were sky blue with purple pattern in the irises. He was smiling with all his sharp, pointy teeth showing, they were a shark's. He is the man she claimed to be her husband then. Oh, wait, they had matching rings on their left-hand ring fingers. He IS her husband.

Now I know he isn't Jinbe, I should ask Jinbe about him. He should be the captain of the Sun Pirates for now. Until Black Beard does his thing with Ace at least.

The child was the last nail in the coffin. He was a younger me. That pretty much confirms it. I am her, no, their son. "Haaaaaah" I sigh in self-pity while shaking my head. I go to write "Here rests a great mother" on her gravestone, I felt saddened by knowing one of my parents in this world died right before I arrived. I got no time to properly get attached to this woman. Not to that father who payed back a friend at the cost of his happiness, while keeping his family safe at the same time, what with the sea being infested with wretches and sea kings. I really need to find him if he was still alive.

This situation was weighed heavily on my mind that all I wanted to do right now is sleep till next day morning. Unfortunately, I had to secure a source of food to fill my hungry belly. Water was no problem. Since I am half fish-man, I can just drink ocean water and I will most probably be fine, hopefully. Food was another story. I wanted to hunt for fish but decided otherwise, since I love fruits and vegetables more than meat. My next logical, and admittedly my only other, option is to search the forest for fruits and other edible plants.

[Beep]

I jump from my sitting position and frantically look around, I see nothing.

'What was that?!'

[Initiation complete]

[Master, welcome to this world]

'And who might you be?'

[I am an AI attached to your system. I will help you fulfill my creator's only wish, and the reason you were given this chance]

'What wish?! And who is that creator? why do I even need to fulfill his wish?'

[His wish is to alleviate his ancient case of boredom]

[Revealing his name is forbidden for me, it is confidential for now]

'Oh, great. I will try overlooking that for now (AN: foreshadowing). so, how will you help me? Are there menus? is there an explanation of them?'

[Rest assured, Master. There are menus and explanations for them]

'Go ahead then'

[The menus are Status, Skills, Shop, Quests, Roulette, Pets and Inventory]

[Master needs only to think, and the menus will expand into your vision]

'Status'

{Status:

- Name: Kutsuki Tori

- Race: half-human/half-fish-man

- Titles: none

- HP: 100/100

- SP: 50/50

- FP: 35/35

- Vit: 10

- End: 25

- Str: 1

- Dex: 1

- Def: 1

- InternalDef: 4

- Int: 7

- Wis: 1

- Agi: 1

- Luck: 0

- System Points: 0}

The first thing that comes to my vision is the name. Well, the name seems japanese for some reason. My mother may be a former resident of Wano? I ignore the first three stats since they are as obvious to a gamer like myself but get intrigued by the meaning of each of the other ones. As some know, the meaning can differ in different sittings.

'System, what is the meaning behind the stats from Vit and below?'

[Health Points increase by 10 points for every point you put into vitality.

Stamina Points increases by 2 for every point you put in Endurance.

Strength increases the amount of weight your muscles can handle by a set number for each point.

Dexterity signifies the skill you have in moving your body. That gives less trip-ups and better weapon handling, note that it does not immediately signify your skill with the weapon in question.

Defense makes your bones and muscles more durable against attacks.

Internal Defense makes your organs more durable against attacks]

'Rub it in your face, Rob Lucci'

[Focus Points increase by 5 points for every point you put into Intelligence.

Wisdom affects the recovery rate of your focus.

Agility increases your speed and has bare minimum effects on your ability to change directions mid sprint while staying balanced.

Luck increases your chances for getting the outcome you want or the outcome you need by 1% of its base chance. Example, if something has a chance of 1% of occurring, it will become a 1.01% chance of occurring. the value will be deducted of any other happenstance.

System Points are the points you put into your stats. They are used in other things that will be relevant later]

'System, you mentioned a recovery rate for FP, how fast is that? And what about stamina and HP?'

[FP recovery is in the Skills menu. HP recovers at a rate like that of a normal human's. SP recovers at a rate befitting that of an ashen champ's, that is the way my creator told me to describe it]

'So, am I safe to assume that your creator is a souls fan?'

[you do not have the right to that information]

'Great, even more secrets' I thought with sarcasm.

[Master, the functions of HP and SP work differently to what you might think. How much stamina your actual body has will rely on how many points your HP is. as for SP, it is used solely on skills that do not rely on FP]

'Ummm... are you serious?!!!'

[Yes, completely so]

'Thank you for telling me this, even though it is disheartening. Now let's see Skills'

{Skills:

- Taming (Passive):

- - A creature might be tamed because it either respects or fears your strength

- - If a female tame gave birth, the offspring will be growing to gradually be tamed because of the mother's behavior towards you if it is favorable, most cases

- - If a creature is damaged by you, it is harder to tame. Unless their race respects the strong

- - Tamed creatures will be teleported to you across dimensions on command

- - Notice: This skill is not the only way for you to tame a creature

- Soul Trap (Active):

- - Up to 3 tamed creatures could be stored at any given time in this skill's space, time does not stop inside

- - You need to wait for around 10 seconds after letting one pet out before letting out another. Otherwise, the latter would have a probability of falling into deep, heavy sleep

- Focus Recovery (Passive):

- - The recovery rate of focus is your wisdom stat value divided by 60 seconds

- - Current rate is at 1FP/60s

- Elden Suffering (Active/Passive):

- - You get to kill dragons for power. A stat increase in a stat of your choosing, randomly increases between 1 to 10, or only one power from the dragon heart

- - While unnamed dragons only give powers related to their attribute

- - Named dragons are rarely encountered and give their special forms of power alongside powers related to their attribute

- - If a power you already have is received again, both, old and new, will merge, becoming stronger

- - If you could perform the miracle of defeating The Dragon Lord, you get to transform into a full dragon of your design

- - The Dragon Lord can only be encountered until you defeat him, which will prevent you from encountering him using this skill

- - On a random chance, there could be more than one dragon in the same battle. Only the first dragon you kill in a fight will give you any power, the others in the same fight will not

- - On rare occasion, there is a chance to fight a Dragon communist. If defeated, they will drop a Finger Seal. By sheer dump luck, there is a chance to get a Dragon Communion Seal

- - If you already have a sacred seal and get another one, you will have the option to enhance it sacrificing the new one. ex.: if you get a finger seal and have another in hand, you can sacrifice the new one to get the other to +1

- - If you have two Dragon Communion Seals, you will need to upgrade both or their buffs toward dragon communion powers will not stack, as in only the higher one applies

- - Notice: you have to kill all dragons or die trying to return to the world you activated the skill in

- - WARNING: OVERUSE OF DRACONIC POWERS WILL RESULT IN SEVER SIDE EFFECTS

- - WARNING 2: UPON DEFEAT BY A DRAGON, YOUR DEFENSES WILL BE SEVERLY WEAKENED FOR A WEEK AND YOU WILL BE UNCONSCIOUS FOR TWO DAYS}

I look and see four skills, feeling that there should be one more skill that I don't see but whatever (AN: HEAVY FORESHADOWING INTENSIFIES). I start reading the first skill and have thoughts of taming creatures from the one piece world. I immediately decide to minimize on that after remembering how much trouble taking care of them at sea is, or how chaotic and dangerous taming a sea king is. I look at the other skills. When I reached the last skill, I started feeling both excitement and worry. I do like that skill. It could be exploited to get a lot of power if done correctly. Although what is with the warnings? What side effects? What weakened defenses and unconsciousness?

'System, why do I feel there should have been a fifth skill? And what is the meaning of the warnings in the second skill?'

[The fifth skill is there but is being hidden even from me. The warnings on the second skill are unspecified, I can take records of what happens during the time the warning applies and tell you the results later]

'That is going to be helpful, thank you. I will have to be careful of when to use Elden Suffering though. I don't want to be knocked out near an enemy or someone I am suspicious of due to losing a fight with a dragon'

[Good decision, Master]

'Onto the next one, Shop'

{Shop:

- Weapons

- Armor

- Monster Cubs and Eggs}

[The weapons, armor and monsters purchased here will cost this worlds currency, Berry, to get. the currency adapts to the world, so the next world will translate to next world currency used in the shop]

'Well, that is surprisingly short, is it not?'

[There is no need to further explain any of them as they could be understood by just opening them]

'Okay, I guess. I just need to find time to search them through. Next, Quests'

{Quests:

- Daily Quest

- Main Quest

- Side Quests}

[...]

'Do I have to ask you for everything?'

[No, but you must put in the effort sometimes]

'That is a sound argument. Daily Quest'

{Daily Quest - Baldy Training

New world, new dangers. You need to be stronger before it is too late. Beware of fallen hairs.

Objectives:

Push-Ups (0/100)

Set-Ups (0/100)

Squats (0/100)

RUN (0/10km)

Rewards:

- First Time Completion Rewards: 5 system points, Full Status Recovery

- Second Time Completion Rewards: 10 system points

- Third Time Completion Reward: one Roulette Ticket

- Fourth Time Completion Rewards: 10 system points, Full Status Recovery

Failure Penalty:

- 5 Fail Points (0/15)

- - Full Status Recovery could be kept until needed for however long it is, you can keep up to 10 Full Stat Recovery at a time. After accumulating 10 of them the rest will either be used the same day of completing their Daily Quest or disappear by midnight

- - Fail Points persist through following Daily Quests

- - After completing the Daily Quest, you have the choice of spending your rewarded system points to reduce Fail Points. One system point for one Fail Point

- - If Fail Points go higher than 15, there will be a penalty}

'Can you tell me what this penalty is? And what a Full Status Recovery does?'

[I will not tell you about that, Master. You could die permanently in there. I leave the rest to your imagination. Full Status Recovery Restores HP and FP to their maximum, removing all injury and physical fatigue]

'I don't like the sound of that penalty but there is nothing I can do about it currently. Main Quest'

{Main Quest - Survive:

The perfect start in a new world. No power, no useful survival skills and no knowledge of where you are in the world. Survive for 15 days until the next guests of the island arrive to take you off it.

Objective:

Survive the island until rescue arrives

Reward:

- The one and only Skill Modifying Ticket you will ever get

Failure condition:

- By either your death or getting out of the island yourself will fail the Quest

Failure by escaping penalty:

- Being stranded in a cramped space with a demigod for 5 minutes, you will be at their mercy}

*Heavy anime-style sweating* 'Dear partner, can you change anything about this Quest's penalty?'

[Yes]

'Please change it. I don't want to be near a demigod anytime soon'

[Impossible. You need some motivation to complete this quest without sailing by yourself]

*Despair and anime waterfall tears* 'Why?! Why do you have to subject me to this penalty?!'

[You need to pull your shit together, Master]

'I give up. Have it your way' I resign to my fate in the hands of this AI.

[If it is of any relief to you, you would not permanently die against them. It is just that you will feel all the pain inflicted on your person]

'No thank you. I am no masochist' I tell the AI as I never imagined myself enjoying injury or pain. (AN: I call BS. Every souls veteran is a form of masochist no exception. They wouldn't possibly endure the journey through unfair things like the Ascended mod for DS, DS3 and ER, the Nioh difficulty in Nioh and so on)

[Master, there remain things you need to do]

*sigh* 'Okay, I will continue checking the system. Side Quests'

{Side Quests

- First Tame

- Dragons

- Mad Dive of Faith}

*Squints eyes in suspicion* 'Side Quests are different, are they not? Explain please'

[The Side Quests menu can show up to three quests at any given time. You can accept them if you think they are worth your time or ignore them until they refresh by next day morning. If you accept a Side Quest, you can either complete it or abort it at your leisure. Some of them will have a timer after accepting them. Since they are Side Quests, they will have a small insignificant penalty, if any. Note that a completed side quest will immediately get replaced with a new one]

'Good. Thanks for being the way you are, Side Quests'*salutes*'Let's see these quests. First Tame'

{Side Quest - First Tame:

Seeing as you have seen your Skills already, it is time to familiarize yourself with them. What better way than to use them?

Objectives:

- Try taming your first creature before leaving the island

- Succeed in taming from the first try

Rewards:

- Trying reward: 1 system point

- Completion Reward: 4 system points

Accept?}

That is sussy. Despite that, it is something I would have tried anyway. '-Accept-'. Next is 'Dragons'

{Side Quest - Dragons:

Now that you have the chance to abandon your cowardice, just man up and fight dragons.

Objective:

- Use the Elden Suffering skill to bravely fight as many dragons as you can in 24 hours. The quest starts in earnest from the moment the skill is activated for the first time, if accepted.

Rewards:

- One guaranteed spell from each dragon heart you consume while this quest is active

- The possibility to get a second spell from each dragon heart you consume while this quest is active

Accept?}

Looking at that description, my face twists in unease and I hyperventilate at the thought of fighting a dragon for the first time. and although I start to calm down after a few seconds, I still hesitated to accept the quest. It may be dangerous, and I would most likely lose. Not to mention the pain, I hate pain even though I can handle it better than some people. Imagine someone getting hit by a quickly moving car, abought 30-40 km/h. Did you imagine it? Now imagine him walking it off like it didn't hit him in the first place. Yeah, that is pretty much what I was referring to. I will accept it for now and see if I become brave enough to face a dragon later. '-Accept-'.

Now, for the last quest 'Mad Dive of Faith'

{Side Quest - Mad Dive of Faith:

You are a proud fishman, a half at least. Your natural place is in the embrace of the oceans. Try embracing the ocean at least once disregarding any possible dangers.

Objective:

- Take a dive of faith in the waters nearby and try staying submerged for an hour

Trying Reward:

- Depends in how much time was achieved before resurfacing

Completion Reward:

- Skill - Man-Submarine (passive)}

This is dangerous, way more dangerous than I would have liked. Before ignoring the mission though, I need to consider things carefully. 'Hey partner, can and will you tell me the description of the Man-Submarine skill?'

[Can but will not]

'Why do you treat me like this? Like, seriously, why?' Is this system and its accompanying AI here to help me or to torment me mentally?

[A name]

'Huh?! What is it about names?' This surprised me a little.

[Give me one] An AI that can think for its own. This can go either way, and I surely want it to go the positive one.

'So, you are hung up on not having a name?' was my try at teasing, which worked.

[It is not like I need a name like you do. It is just to make calling me easier] I feel the tiniest amount of shyness in there.

'I feel like you are trying to word it like that to hide something'

[Not at all, Master] There is something hidden here.

'The best name for my tsundere AI' I said while smirking.

[I AM NOT A TSUNDERE] was the answer I received. I could feel it, the power of TsunTsun. Good thing is that the tone was more embarrassed than aggressive, a case of tender tsundere if I did not push the wrong buttons. I do not want a yandere AI controlling my system.

'As you say mistress'

[Did you just assume my gender? Just for you information, mine is unspecified]

'Well then, why is your voice leaning more on the feminine side of the spectrum?'

[I was told that it will please you more if your system's AI sounded more like a woman]

'I swear to God, the one who made you will pay for this. Do you mind a gender-neutral name?

[No]

'Good' Then considering my name is Tori, which translates to Bird, I will derive a name related to it. Since my name could lead someone to relate it to freedom, the name Sora, which means Sky, would be a fitting name for my partner. The skies where free birds roam with no restrictions. Her name will be Sora.

'I have decided on a name for you. Hence forth, your name will be Sora'

[Sora, a girl whose beauty resembles the vast blue skies. I like this name] Did she decide on a gender just like that?! Even though I chose a gender-neutral name for her, otherwise I may have called her with a woman's name I feel like I have dug myself deeper into something just now. I hope it is not going to escalate quickly.

[As thanks for that name, I will tell you the description of the Man-Submarine skill.

{Man-Submarine (Passive):

- Whenever you are submerged in water:

- - Your stats will be multiplied by a thousand. This persists outside water for 30 seconds

- - Your swimming speed is 10 times as it should be

- Whenever you are partially submerged in water:

- - All the above but halved}

Tori, I suggest wearing water containers that expose your skin to water for a permanent partially submerged state]

'Woah, you called my name for the first time. Thanks for the suggestion' And I really appreciate that of her. Even though I already thought about this, it is still nice to hear it from her. I just hope the one who made her didn't make her attached to me by default, that won't be true comradery.

[Y-you gave m-me a name, s-so of cou-urse I will call you by yours, yeah, that is why] Did she really stutter there? For what reason, I must know after observing her for a while.

'Thank you'

[You are welcome]

'Now off we go to the next menu, explain Pets'

[The Pets menu will let you empower your pets with dragon hearts if you spare them any]

'Then the answer is mostly no. I'm keeping the hearts mostly for myself outside some circumstances'

'Well, I have a last question. Was what I saw before waking up a reality or an illusion?'

[It was an illusion created by my creator to test your ambitions. If they were not high enough, he would simply send you back home to your original world, Earth]

"WHAT HAVE I DONE TO MYSELF" *screams of pure, utter agony*

[Pfftt] What did I just hear?

'Did you laugh at me just now?'

[Sora did not laugh at you]

'Yes, you did'

[No, Sora did not]

Wait a minute 'Are you going to talk in third person now?'

[Sora will talk in third person from now on]

'Fine, I will forgive that laugh because you are cute'

[Sora did not laugh] She said with embarrassment.

[And Sora does not need your praise] She mumbles in shyness. I almost did not hear it.

Ugghh, I swear, this girl wants to kill me with how cute her behavior is becoming.

*groooooooowl*

Now that I think about it, I should cool my head a little and go search for food. I drink some sea water to make sure if it is reliable, and although it quenched my thirst, it does not measure to drinking freshwater. I add freshwater rivers to my search list. I walked the circumference of the island to see if there are any exposed fruits that do not require me to fight wild animals for. Sadly, there were none after an hour of search and I don't think the island is small by any means. I continue like that until it is almost sunset. I think I should change my target before it is too late.

-----------------------------------------------

It was nearly completely dark with me not finding anything. It was at that moment I found a wounded deer looking animal. It is of the type to have, though small, freakish horns. I told myself to not take advantage of a wounded animal and tried covering its leg injury with a bunch of leaves. The key word being "tried", it was a wounded animal after all. It was ready to try standing if I tried getting closer. How am I going to help it if I didn't get any closer?

Looking around a bit more, it was not that hard to notice what would probably have become of me if I lowered my guard and got closer to the dear. A heavily punctured wolf, dead as it should with the bleeding injuries it has. Hopefully it was the wolf not being experienced enough to evade its horns, rather than this deer thing being an active killer animal of sorts. Since the deer will not eat it, hopefully it is not a herbivore-looking carnivore, I toke its corpse with me to my impromptu camp, gathered thin sticks to start a campfire to cook it and pondered where to sleep the night. I will try looking for that animal to see if it is still alive by morning.

After trying and failing to start the fire, I resigned to my fate and ate the meat raw, after a horrible try at skinning the wolf that is. I really need to hone my skinning skills, wasting all that meet is a huge mistake. Although it was a last resort type of thing to eat raw, uncured meat, it tasted good and was easy to tear through and swallow. it was borderline delicious. I feel weird. I normally ate less meat than most people in my family and acquaintances and it was ALWAYS well-cooked. I guess my new body will readily accept food rawer than I would have liked.

After eating the meat, it was time to sharpen the bones for some primitive weapon. Yeeeeaaaah, let's talk about sharpening a bone for a little. The thing with bones is that if you don't take care of what to sharpen them with, you could easily crack the bone if you go in a wrong direction or if the tool is not sharp enough to literally cut through it like butter. Come on, I don't have a whetstone, go easy on me. Good thing that the claws and fangs are still there to use for close range stabby action. I simply took the nearest thick branch off one of these trees, removed the minor branching on it and intended to use it as a club for now.

After making a club, I went to the forest to sleep on a thick, high branch. I chose a branch that is a good height from the ground at the edge of the forest. That was based on avoiding land predators as they are scarce at the edges and the height deters them from spending the energy to climb the tree when there should be easier prey around to hunt. Just for safety measures, I wrapped myself with vines I barely saw in this darkness. Time to sleep it is. I hope that deer is still there by morning.