7 Time & Fantasy

- Help 4 -

"Please... don't erase me..." <- Like this, the game developers, Cherry Blossom Software won't take responsibility if an NPC mentally breaks.< p>

While the AI sets a pain limit threshold for each player and ejects them from the game if that threshold is exceeded, the same rule doesn't apply to NPCs. If you subject an NPC to torture, they won't vanish; instead, they will simply endure the torment.

Therefore, it is important to note that those residing within One Piece Online can't magically teleport to Earth and treat the NPCs respectfully.

The game's ability to bypass legal restrictions and accommodate players of all ages, despite featuring gore, sexual violence, drugs, and mature content, remains the wonder of Earth from the future.

*SKIP*

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March 25

"Oi, Ban," I swung the door open and explained the situation to Ban who was with Mistella at the time. 

"An unfamiliar woman who suddenly appeared? Is she someone from your world?" Ban who listened to my story got his interest piqued as he asked the woman's origins and her whereabouts at the moment.

"No," I responded promptly.

"Why do you say that? Are you certain?" 

"Japan has no person with green-blue hair living." I clarified. At least during at the time, dyeing hair wasn't common in Japan.

'Huh,' Old man Ban contemplated my words before heading in the direction I pointed.

We didn't have to walk very far; the island wasn't particularly large. Soon, the three of us stumbled upon the same woman I had seen earlier, slumbering on the spot.

As I thought, the attire and her posture were very stimulating for a teen who has just hit puberty.  Fortunately, me and Mistella were barely 3 years old at the point, and besides, Mistella was a girl. As for, Ban he was not your ordinary old man; he was a true gentleman, and a 45-year-old virgin at that.

Ban gently draped a coat over the unconscious girl. Observing this action of his, I intended to go out to fetch a bucket for the girl.

"Boy, where are you going?" Ban inquired

"To get some water!" 

"Why do you need a bucket? She won't need that much water. Plus, our house is on the other side," Ban pointed in the exactly opposite direction I was heading, the ocean.

"Why would she drink seawater? It's for pouring on her so that she will wake up!" I replied, tilting my head in confusion.

"You idiot, that's unnecessary! Come help Mistella carry this girl to the house."

Although I was still puzzled, I left the bucket from where I had taken it and began carrying the girl by pulling her hair as if it were a convenient handle.

"Ouch," I winced as I felt a sharp pain from above my head and looked at Ban who had a fiery look on his face, blowing his red hot fist.

"Treat a girl gently! Here, carry her like this."

I was taught by old man Ban how to handle a girl 'gently.' Even though I didn't quite grasp the point of doing so, I tried to absorb his words nonetheless.

Listening to Ban's words and comparing my past, I noticed how limited and inadequate my experience had been so far.

---

Arriving inside the house after taking care of the girl, Ban had us sit in dogeza. From his demeanor, I noticed he was about to give a lecture so I wholeheartedly took a posture to listen to his valuable life lesson attentively.

"You too Mistella, sit next to Heylail. This is an important lesson about coming of age."

Frowning, Mistella gave up as she obeyed his words and sat down next to me. Having spent a considerable amount of time with Ban, Mistella understood that when he was determined to do something, he wouldn't be swayed.

Ban nodded at Mistella before speaking up.

"In this world, there are two types of kindness," he started.

"The first type is commonly used by cowards who don't have the guts to become 'something else'' a kindness to benefit oneself."

I listened intently, intrigued by Ban's words.

"For example, as a marine, you're invited by your friend to take a mission with a high reward to save the citizens from pirates and you accept it."

"At first look, that action may seem like an act of kindness because you don't want your friend to be engaged in danger, in reality. it is the distinguished appearance of 'cowardice' of not wanting to disappoint your friend by refusing their intention. As well, the reason for acceptance often stems from the desire to benefit yourself and gain riches/evaluation rather than a genuine wish to save lives."

"People might think 'I want that bellies' rather than 'I want to save everyone.' and they save the people as a means to an end. While it is an act of kindness because of the positive action, the act itself is driven by self-interest that is compromised by sacrificing what you truly want to do. Ultimately, this kind of kindness can lead to self-destruction."

"Oh~ I understand that! I get it!" I enthusiastically pointed my finger at Ban.

"The most frustrating part of this lesson is I am the only one thinking about, troubled by this thinking and this is a theory I created, so everything explained here would, certainly be a waste of time and only increase your headache in the futu... Ahem," Ban coughed and continued with his lesson.

"The other one is—" 

Just as Ban was about to continue his sentence, a groan from not far away interrupted his lesson, capturing our attention.

"Urgh? Where...?" Following the groan, a high-pitched voice echoed, sounding disoriented.

"Young lady, you're on Nanimonai Island in the Grand Line. How did you end up there? By the look of it, you don't have the Log Pose nor a comrade," Ban inquired.

"Nanimonai Island? Oh no... Where is that!?" the blue-green-haired girl asked in panic.

"Excuse me but do you know hyie!" the woman oddly looked behind her.

"What's wrong?" Ban asked her.

"Did you hear a voice just now?" the petite girl asked Ban who seemed more depending than us.

'What the heck is going on with this woman? Is she insane? Or... wait this strange phenomenon,' Ban thought.

"Miss, are you a devil fruit user?" Ban asked.

'Devil Fruit, from what I remember Ban saying during the lesson, there are three types: Paramecia, Logia, and Zoan.' I recalled the past about this topic.

"I don't know what a Devil Fruit but I do have an abilit-, oh, he confirmed it! This is strange, he never spoke to me before. Could it be, is my ability..., Devil Fruit going through some kind of change, like Devil Fruit puberty?" the woman was an air-headed person.

'Never mind. She is probably insane,' Ban thought.

"Miss, what were you doing on a deserted island like this one?"

"Hmm... I asked the kind-looking stranger the way to Wano Country and the next thing I knew I was unconscious... that's right! I was captured by that kind-looking stranger and I leaped through time to escape! But that's strange. Can a city fall into ruin in just ten years?"

"Woman! Woman! Can you jump through time?" I asked puzzled. To me who spent my entirety in 1980s Japan, superpowers were an unfamiliar concept.

"Oops, I forgot that I shouldn't have mentioned that I can time travel... look at the harmless adorable children in front of me. It's probably okay!" the woman in front of me seemed carefree despite being just in a dangerous situation ten years ago... This paragraph came out weird.

"That's right. By the way, mister, do you know where the Land of Wano is? I have some business there," the girl asked Ban.

"The Land of Wano is on the opposite side of the World from here.  It's in the New World region of the Grand Line, and to reach it, you have to cross the Red Line."

"Why is that? The last time I leaped, I was in the New World. Did the terrain undergo a great change once again?"

"Nope, never heard of that. Perhaps you leaped to different places at different times?" 

Listening to Ban's analysis, the girl refuted, "But that is impossible. Every time I time-travel, I end up in the same place."

"Is that so... could you wait for a moment?" Ban didn't wait for her response before calling me over. "Heylail come here a bit."

"What is it, old man?" 

"Heylail, when you think of time ability, what comes to your mind first?"

"Time ability? Hmm..." I searched for my memories, recalling something I had read in a manga. The manga was called Dragon Ball and it is the most popular manga nowadays.

"I think a time ability is when you can stop time by holding your breath and do whatever you want while time is frozen!" I recalled the Gohan & Krillin vs. Guldo fight because that is the latest volume released. The greatest thing about Dragon Ball is you don't need to learn words to understand what is happening.

"By holding breath? That's quite an imaginative idea. Miss, would you mind trying to hold your breath and move?"  Despite being perplexed, the blue-green-haired girl did as she was told, and surprisingly, the moment she held her breath, everything around her froze.

The tall grasses Ban had been tending to, the surging waves, and even the unmoving clouds all came to a halt, creating a profound sensation of solitude as she stood alone in the world.

In what felt like an instant to me and actual instant, the girl who had originally been within my line of sight suddenly disappeared without a trace.

The same was true for Ban. Despite being carrying the eyes of a seasoned veteran and the experience of a top Marine trainee, he lost sight of the delicate-looking girl.

'""What the hell!?""' Ban, Yami, and the girl herself thought in amazement.

Never in 800 years, did she know she had the ability to stop the time. After releasing her breath and returning time to its normal flow, she felt an overwhelming sense of fatigue and powerlessness.

"What the heck... Kid, kid. What do you think of the power of darkness?" Ban asked me with a tingle of glimmer in his eyes.

"Darkness hmm... Making darkness to hide your body?" 

'That is lame as fuck...' 

Later, Ban finds out that he can't use his darkness to hide himself.