1 It all began on a pirate ship

When she woke up, she was reincarnated in another world.

As a girl too.

Moreover, she was born on an island with the worst peace and order.

She had no parents, so she needed to work to feed herself, but no one would bother hiring a child like her.

She spent her days scavenging through garbage cans in the back alleys, but she finally got enough of her situation.

'At this rate, I will die sooner or later――!

If I'm going to die, either way, I don't care about anything anymore!

Just in time, there's a pirate ship anchored in the port, so I'll sneak into that pirate ship and steal all their treasures――!'

She had lost all the patience she ever had after enduring hardship every day. So when her frustration exploded, she was invincible in a spiritual sense.

With all her fears disappearing, one thing remained.

'I can do it. I can FUCKING do it――!' She fell into a crazy state.

There was no plan or anything of that sort. She randomly picked a wooden box and hid inside waiting for it to be carried into the pirate ship.

But what she didn't know was.

This island is located in a sea area called the New World, and pirates who come to this island are all strong men.

"The fun chase is over."

The laughter of the crew members echoed with that declaration of their captain.

She was found easily, was chased around the ship, and finally arrived at the hold where the pirates' treasure was kept.

However, she didn't realize she was being guided there until she got shot as soon as she entered the hold.

Apparently, the captain and his crew have all gathered here.

To play with her, who has snuck in just for fun.

"Well, you're gonna be dead soon. Any last words?"

She couldn't answer the captain's question.

The pain from the gun wound was too much. All she could do was groan.

With a smile on his face, the captain kicked her flying, and she smashed into their treasures.

"There, I gave you a favor. That's what you wanted, right? There are easily tens of millions belly there. Well, though you won't get to use the money after death, enjoy it 'till your last breath."

The captain said with a 'you're so lucky' look and his crew burst out in laughter.

Despite suffering from pain, she noticed what was placed in front of her.

It seemed to have been thrown out of a bigger chest. It was a small treasure chest.

She saw inside a mushroom-like fruit with a poisonous tint. It was covered with strange patterns.

It is dyed red like blood on the whole, and her instinct was roaring, as if to warn her how dangerous it was when she thought of eating it.

However, it also looked irresistibly delicious to her at the same time.

Looking back, she had never eaten anything decent in her life. 'I should just eat this to make up for it before I die,' she thought and used all her remaining strength to grab the strange fruit and gnaw on it.

It tasted like blood and was insanely disgusting, but she thought it was better than dying on an empty stomach and continued to eat.

She finished eating it in no time.

For some reason, the pain she felt from her wounds disappeared from the moment she ate it, and her body suddenly felt a lot lighter.

"Did you eat that Devil Fruit!?"

The captain shouted.

She stood up while pondering what he was talking about, but when she looked at them, she found them appetizing for some reason.

Her mood is similar to someone who was looking at the food displayed in a restaurant front with an empty stomach.

"Bastard, it clearly looked dangerous, so I was planning to sell it..."

From the captain's point of view, that was more important and regretful compared to the brat in front of him becoming a Devil Fruit User.

They lost at least 100 million belly in an instant.

Its appearance made all of them think that it would be dangerous to eat, so none of them ever imagined that a dying brat would do such a thing.

It was useless crying for spoiled milk, so the captain decided to finally finish her off first and pointed his gun at her.

The gun fired, and the bullet easily pierced through her heart, but――

"Ow, that hurt."

She shed blood. But that was all.

She stood there unwaveringly.

However, neither the captain nor his crew members were surprised.

"It was a mushroom, so I expected it to be something similar to Hito Hito no Mi, but you don't seem like you have changed...? Well, it doesn't matter."

For them, who started getting famous in the New World, they naturally had the experience fighting against powerful Devil Fruit Users.

Therefore, he was calm. Without any fear or impatience.

However, that was the cause of their tragedy.

Seastone is very effective for killing Devil Fruit Users, but they did not do such a thing.

Nevertheless, their tragedy could have easily been solved by quickly throwing her out to the sea, but their blind confidence in their strength made them want to kill the annoying brat in their own hands.

A crew member unleashed his sword, covered his blade with Busoshoku Haki, and chopped her head off.

It was a skillful and quick blow, everyone is convinced she's dead with that.

No human being could survive being decapitated.

On top of that, he used Haki, so his attack is also effective against Logia-type Devil Fruit Users.

The difference in their strength cemented that fact even more so. After all, she's just a kid who had just eaten a Devil Fruit a moment ago.

That would've been the case, in most cases.

But unbelievable things do happen.

The girl's chopped-off head suddenly burst out like a popped balloon.

After splattering into pieces, it all turned into blood and began to gather towards the headless torso.

Both the captain and his crew members could not take their eyes off what was happening.

Eventually, the blood gathered on the cut surface to form a sphere, which eventually turned into her head.

"Kill her! Kill that brat!"

The captain's call made his crew members pounce at her.

'Something wrong must've happened,'

'There's no way,'

The unexpected event made them panic and narrow their visions.

However, for some reason, the girl did not feel threatened by them, let alone afraid. She smiled as if she was looking at ducks carrying green onions on their backs, just waiting to be cooked.

And so, she places her hands together and says.

"Itadakimasu."

After all, it was important to be grateful.

"Ahhh!!"

She ate the pirates in the hold deliciously but screamed at the touch of sunlight.

She quickly shuffled back in a hurry and saw her skin burnt.

But soon, her skin regenerated at an unbelievable speed as time went fast-forward.

"...well, it seems that really I turned into a vampire."

She was not shocked by the fact that she had become a vampire or felt despair for other things.

For her, all of that does not matter at all. The most important thing is that she gained power that she did not expect.

It's a big deal, so she sat down and thought about her future.

"Insufficient knowledge..."

Because she did not receive education in any proper form, she overwhelmingly lacks the common sense and basic knowledge she needs to live in this world.

She doesn't even know anything about the Devil Fruit the pirates were talking about.

Following that, the next thing she needs is to become. stronger

Her previous battle was terrible. The only tactic she could play was to attack regardless of her safety.

Most importantly, her eyes could not catch up with the speed of the pirates swung their swords and other weapons because they were too fast. She couldn't even count how many times she was chopped into two sections in a single blow.

Taking advantage of the vampire's immortality and incredible regenerative ability, she managed to win by biting her opponents while completely abandoning her own safety, sucking their blood in an instant as soon as she caught them, but now, she found out another of her weaknesses.

She realized that she would burn under the sunlight.

She probably has many more weaknesses, such as being weak towards silver and blessed objects, being hurt by a cross, getting fatally wounded after having a stake in her heart, being unable to cross running water, being vulnerable to garlic, etc.

But she probably could do something about that.

It's a crazy manga-like world, so training while referring to the mangas she had read in her previous life might allow her to overcome such weaknesses.

She has seen many such examples of vampires who are not weak against light or silver in manga and anime.

It's worth a try.

"But how should I get knowledge and train my body..."

There, she suddenly had a flash of inspiration.

Fortunately, there are a lot of treasures in this ship's hold.

She thought of using them to hire an instructor.

If possible, finding someone who is familiar with the matters of the world and has strong skills and power would be the best, but such a convenient person probably doesn't exist.

Even if he does, pirates are the only people who come to this island.

'What about offering the treasures to a pirate in exchange for teaching me――?

The only thing that would happen in that case would be the treasures taken for free.

However, I don't have any other choice, so I should just first take my time and――'

"Hey, you kid. Where did the pirates on this ship go?"

She flinched because someone suddenly spoke to her.

She looked over and saw the person calling out to her――it was a man who completely looked like a pirate, with his hair distinctively undulating and standing upright.

She answers while looking at him.

"I sent them to the other side."

The man laughs with a smirk.

"That means someone got ahead of me, huh? I was targeting them too."

"Their treasures? I'm sorry, but it's mine now..."

The man waved his hands after hearing what she said.

"No, no. It's not that. It's something a million times better than that."

"A million times better?"

'Did they have something like that?' she tilted her head. The man answers.

"A mushroom that looks very dangerous in appearance, did you see it?"

"Ah, that? I ate it. I thought I'd die from hunger, so I thought it's better than nothing."

"...are you sure, you really didn't come for it?"

The girl answers the man's question.

"What you see here is an orphan who's living on the street eating garbage every day! Someone who thought she'd die soon without meaning! Someone who wanted to be a shooting star while facing death! Someone who just wanted to die with a meaning!"

Hearing that, the man laughs loudly.

"You, you brat quite have good guts ain't you."

"I think that's the case for anyone who goes to extremes after running out of patience."

"Well said... oh, that means, you ate it? That Devil Fruit."

"I did. It turned out to be something amazing."

"No doubt about that. What you ate is called Mythical Zoan-type Hito Hito no Mi, Model: Vampire. It's long been treated as an urban legend, but it was worth believing, so I kept searching for it... but you got it before me."

She nodded attentively and asked.

"Are you going to kill me to relieve your frustration?"

"I won't do such a cheap thing. Compared to that, I have a suggestion for you..."

The man leans his face close to the girl and stares straight into her eyes.

"You brat, no one's ever taught you anything, and couldn't eat anything good, right? I have a get-rich-quick scheme. If you cooperate with me, I'll educate you, I'll even let you eat delicious food. You'll definitely make profits."

"This might be strange for me to say this, but do you really think that someone would believe that, coming from somebody you just met?"

The man laughs after hearing her question and nods in agreement.

"I don't hate guys like you who are wary enough. Everyone should be like that. I'm like that too... but my suggestion shouldn't sound bad for you, doesn't it?"

"It's quite good, actually. But why are you doing this? Is it because I ate the Devil Fruit?"

"There's a part of that, but most of it is that I like idiots like you who would recklessly charge into a pirate ship without any plans."

"...well, I don't have anywhere else to go anyway, so I'll be on your care. However, I want you to train me. At least, enough to become the strongest in the world."

"Got that. What's your name, by the way?"

Being asked her name, the girl realized.

Since she was born in this life, no one has ever asked her what she's called.

The girl wondered, thinking what kind of name would be good――

"It's Lunatemicia, then."

When it comes to vampires, one would think of the moon. When it comes to the moon, one might think of Artemis. Mixing that, Lunatemicia.

However, the man didn't care about her thoughts.

"Too long! Change it!"

"Shut up, idiot! I did my best to come up with it! Since I was born, no one has ever called my name, no one has even asked me what I was called!"

The man fell into surprise after hearing her angry retort. He scratched his head and apologized.

"....my bad. You have no friends, huh..."

"You're right, but there's something wrong with that!"

After that, they continued arguing for ten minutes, and the girl finally decided on a name that the man was satisfied with.

The name was Lunacia.

After her name was decided, the girl――Lunacia asked.

"And you? What's your name?"

"I'm Rocks."

"...I feel like I heard that name from somewhere."

Rocks laughed at the girl who was tilting her head, pondering.

"It's the first time I've seen anyone who knows me react like that. Interesting brat... it's really a waste to keep you as a girl."

With those words of Rocks, Lunacia realized that he was somewhat famous. She started thinking about whether it was a good idea to ask him for a signature, but as she spent more time with him, she realized something.

"Rocks, are you really a pirate? Where are your crew members? Are you alone, by yourself?"

"Of course I'm alone. It's enough with just me."

Hearing Rocks' words, Lunacia was convinced.

Two weeks have passed since she decided to follow him.

During that time, Lunacia, who has visited many islands with him, finally got to know what kind of person he is.

He was, in a nutshell, a crazy guy in a good way.

With a picture-like pirate boss personality, he goes in his own way, using his powerful strength to do he wishes, killing and pillaging depending on his mood.

However, on the other hand, he has a certain charisma that attracts people and is very generous.

And although he is ill-mannered and speaks badly, he is very knowledgeable and is very good at teaching. He is very clear about the first things Lunacia wished to learn, and very strong too, perfectly meeting her requirements for an instructor.

"Oh right, about the get-rich-quick scheme. I'm planning to create a pirate crew to do it. You're gonna be the first crew member, so I'll let you be the vice-captain. How say ye? Happy, ain't ya?"

"Oh, I'm so honored that I feel like crying. But I think I'll be looked down upon if I'm too weak."

"You betcha. Get strong enough within three years. If you don't, I'll throw you into the sea."

Rocks seemed like he was joking, but Lunacia felt that he might really do it for real.

If she's thrown into the sea, she won't be able to get out by herself, probably leading to her death.

Lunacia doesn't want to follow the destiny of a vampire-like ultimate creature who was thrown to outer space and left to wander for eternity, so she decides to do better than ever desperately.

"Now then, how about starting to overcome sunlight starting today?"

Lunacia has come up with a simple solution of putting up an umbrella for the time being, but she won't be able to fight while holding such a thing.

"Do you have any good ideas? Should I cover myself with Haki or something?"

"Devil Fruit has something called 'awakening'. If you can achieve that, you'll power up a lot."

"In other words?"

"The method is actually quite well-known. Many people almost died or fell into life-and-death situations only to suddenly learn how to use Haki, or even achieve awakening. Sounds easy, doesn't it?"

"I have a bad feeling about this..."

"It's okay, you won't die! This is a training method only you could successfully do...!"

"I have heard tales about immortals feeling their life meaningless after their mind and body getting used to being killed..."

"Don't worry. I have a lot of ways to make you feel pain that you'd think it's better off to die. I won't let you get used to it."

Seeing Rocks say that with an evil smile, Lunacia finally gave up.

So she decided that at least she'll say something cool while she was at it.

"Come on! I'll be your opponent!"

"Here I come! I'll personally test how immortal you are!"

Rocks also sang to her tune and attacked Lunacia vigorously.

And so, the two of them fought for three days and three nights――Lunacia fought while being burned by the sun――but it goes without saying that Rocks one-sidedly beat her up.

The reason why their battle ended was that Rocks stopped attacking after saying he was hungry.

Lunacia tried her best to attack Rocks, tried her best to avoid attacks, and desperately tried learning the basics of battle.

Although she was killed continuously, and died countless times in these three days, Lunacia still did not die.

Rocks was very satisfied with the result, so in addition to previous lectures, a game of killing called combat training was added to their daily routine.

Shortly thereafter, it was only natural for Lunacia to become able to deal with the pirates and bounty hunters who had been aiming for Rocks' bounty.

After spending such days, Lunacia found herself alright while staying under the sunlight before she knew it.

But still, Lunacia cried, because Rocks soon decided that she would start training to overcome her weakness against flowing water, significantly increasing the number of times she's thrown into rivers during combat training.

She is no match against Rocks, so all she can do is endure.