A Rude Awakening #1

Author's note: aight people, I won't beat around the bush. This story is still in the trial period. I might go through with it, or I might not. It all depends on the reaction and engagment I'll get from you, the readers.

In other words, comment, drop them power stones, and leave a review if you want me to take this story seriously. Better yet, subscribe to my P-word page and gimme money. The link will be at the end of the chapter.

...

"Ugh..." I couldn't help but groan, slowly opening my eyes as I felt something wet slap me in the face. "What the fuck...?" I muttered as I reached for my face and removed the paper covering my vision.

My confusion grew as I looked around and found myself lying on a beach with no signs of civilization, only water, and greenery as far as my eyes could see.

"Devin, you piece of shit! If this is another one of your pranks, you better start looking for a new roommate right now!" I exclaimed, hoping to go that it was one of my friends' pranks or a fever dream.

I struggled to stand up and immediately froze as I looked down at my arms and noticed how thin, short, pale, and full of scars they were. "Yeah, this is definitely a fever dream... definitely..." I said to myself as I looked around, trying to make sense of the situation.

Suddenly my eyes fell on the wet paper that was previously covering my face, and I quickly realized it was a page from a newspaper. 'It should help me figure out where I am, at least...' I mused as I picked it up, hoping for an answer, but I only had more questions for my effort.

"Famous actress, Victoria Cindry, dies in a tragic accident...?" I muttered as I read the article title at the top of the page, my grip unconsciously tightening over the wet paper.

"Who the fuck is Victoria Cindry?! And why does the fucking ground feel so close?!" I shouted at the top of my lungs, finally losing my patience and calm as I ripped the paper to shreds, threw it into the ground, and began stomping it with extreme prejudice.

"Wait... Victoria Cindry..." I said as I took a deep breath to calm myself and maintain rational thought after realizing the actress' name was somewhat familiar.

I was ready to dismiss the ridiculous line of thought when my mind suddenly blanked, and I felt a rush of information flooding my brain and filling it with memories that weren't my own.

I couldn't do anything but grunt in pain, clenching my fists as I closed my eyes and experienced the memories as one would experience a hyper-accelerated thirteen years long movie.

It was a strange feeling. The memories and experiences felt like they belonged to me as I was suddenly familiar with different skills I had no prior knowledge of, such as sneaking around and fishing.

Yet, the memories felt like they were someone else's as they had their fair share of traumatic events, which I couldn't relate to at any level, nor did I feel particularly attached to the few good ones.

"FFFFFFFFUUUUUCK!" I unconsciously let out a loud, drawn-out curse as I snapped out of the memory-induced daze upon realizing and processing my current situation, or rather predicament.

I was in the world of One-Piece. What's more, I have possessed the body of a recently deceased twelve-year-old like some ghost, which wasn't even the worst part.

The kid was not only a dirt-poor orphan, but he also happened to live on a hellhole of a lawless island in South Blue that even the world government didn't bother to take over, which still wasn't the worst part.

The worst part was that I had to go through puberty again, and I won't even be able to do it peacefully, to add insult to injury.

The kid's name, or rather my new name, was Cedric D. Strode, and everyone on this fucking island knew it because the damned kid was too much of a big mouth who couldn't stop bragging about it.

I didn't go too deep into the One-Piece manga and stopped reading at the Wano arc since I didn't have enough patience to wait an entire week just to read fractions of ten ongoing fights, but even so, I knew the name was problematic.

The D clan members were supposedly the arch-enemy of god, and the world government hated their guts, meaning I couldn't do anything worth a shit without getting unwanted attention.

To make a long story short, I was in the world of One-Piece, on what could possibly be the most dangerous island in Sout Blue as a regular kid without a dime to my name.

I didn't get a wish, a system, or anything of that nature. All I had was my future knowledge and what little survival skills the former owner of my new body had, which weren't even that serviceable, considering they couldn't save his life.

'I need to get somewhere safe and think...' I mused, holding back the barrage of curses and obscenities tickling the tip of my tongue, freezing as I noticed a black backpack on the sand near me.

"This better be what I think it is, or someone will feel my wrath..." I said to no one in particular as I hurriedly reached for the backpack. "Please... for the sake of my sanity, please have something good..." I muttered almost fanatically as I opened it.

"Three bottles of water, some snacks, a lighter, a small knife, a book, a pen, a notebook..." I remarked as I rummaged through the backpack with a bitter expression. "Still better than nothing, I suppose," I said, sighing as I closed it, putting it over my back, and prepared to leave.

"What do you know... if it isn't little Cendry Strode, alive and kicking no less..." Sounded an obnoxious, familiar voice from the shrubbery as an overweight man with a scar over his face and a ragged approached me.

"Maybe all those stories about the great D clan that stupid broad told you before she died had some truth to them, eh?" He added as he broadly grinned, showcasing his yellowing teeth.

I froze at the sight of the man as I recognized him, but my survival instinct took over, and I instantly replied. "What more do you want, Newland?" I asked, tightening my grip on the backpack.

"You already took back that crappy flintlock and threw me from a fucking cliff. I'd say that makes us even," I added, subconsciously taking a step back as he didn't stop approaching me.

"True, but they don't call me Greedy Newland for nothing..." The man said, his smile broadening, much to my disgust, as he stopped close to me. "I want what's in that bag. Give it up, and I won't have to bury you today," He added, pointing at the black backpack in my hand.

"It's why I'm here, you know... clover island might be lawless, but plenty of fools would get all pissy about little shits like you suddenly disappearing," Newland concluded as he extended his hand toward me, demanding I give him the backpack.

My first instinct was to turn around and flee, but I pushed it down as I sighed in defeat. "Fine. I'll give it to you if it means you'll leave me alone from now on," I said, my shoulders slumping as I raised the backpack and approached Newland, much to his satisfaction.

"Here," I said as I closed the distance between us and offered Newland the backpack, waiting for him to reach for it before throwing it in his face, causing his arms to fumble as he tried to catch it.

The backpack might not have much, but I was sure the book would be worth something at the very least. It could be my only ticket getting the fuck out of this island, and there was no way I was handing it over to some rotten-mouthed bandit wannabe.

I kneed him in the crotch, making him scream as he kneeled and held his balls, clearly in extreme pain. "Bitch, you thought?!" I said as I buried my forehead into his nose, breaking it with a sickening crunch of bones.

Acting as fast as I could, I immediately snatched the backpack and burst into a full-blown sprint, fully intent on getting as far away for Newland as possible.

"Just wait until I get my hands on you, you little shit...!" Newland angrily exclaimed, but I turned him the deaf ear and continued to widen the distance between us, running as fast as my legs could carry me.

Much to his credit, Newland got back to his feet faster than I expected and started running after me with a speed that no man his size had any right to as he shouted threats and obscenities at me.

"Get fucked, you fat cunt! Leave me alone and go find sea-king to eat or something!" I couldn't help but throw an insult of my own at Newland as he started talking about my mom, which really pissed me off.

However, my attempt to trade insults miserably backfired as I heard a loud thundering noise behind me and felt something grazing my shoulder, followed by searing pain.

My eyes widened as I looked at my shoulders and saw a jet of blood flying in the air before tripping and falling flat on my face, shocked and appalled.

...

Want more chapters? Then consider subscribing to my pat rēon. You can read ahead for as little as $1 and it helps me a lot!

-> (pat rēon..com / wicked132)

You can also always come and say hi on my discord server

-> (disc ord..gg / sEtqmRs5y7)- or hit me up at - Wicked132#5511 - and I'll add you myself)