Chapter 2: Welcome Gift
Eric Williams. Still alive. Still sarcastic. Still in the middle of what felt like a low-budget hallucination with surprisingly high stakes.
The floating blue text called him a "Hunter."
Cute title.
He hadn't signed anything yet, which made the whole thing feel like a very aggressive software license agreement—click yes or die.
"What's with the 'Hunter' tag?" he asked aloud, because why not talk to the magical screen hovering in your brain?
The glowing words responded immediately, like a clingy chatbot.
> [Contractors are individuals who've signed with Reincarnation Paradise. They complete missions and earn rewards.]
> [Hunters are rare contractors with innate combat-oriented talents. Paradise assigns them additional 'Hunting Missions' to eliminate abnormal or rogue contractors.]
> [Query limit reached. Further questions will be ignored. Sign the contract or await biological expiration.]
"Well, that's ominous," Eric muttered. "Guess I'm officially out of customer support tokens."
The surrounding light collapsed, plunging him into complete darkness.
From the void, a sheet of parchment materialized—ancient, floating, and probably cursed. Symbols twisted across its surface, dancing like they knew something he didn't. At the bottom, a blank space pulsed faintly.
> [Sign the contract? Yes / No]
Eric eyed it warily.
He'd read enough Faustian stories to know how this usually went. But he wasn't exactly drowning in better options.
Revenge didn't wait."Sure. I'm feeling adventurous," he said, stepping forward.
His body moved on its own. Thumb pressed against the paper. A sharp sting flared—then blood.
The contract drank it eagerly. The parchment turned crimson, then burned away in a wisp of bloody smoke.
> [Contract established. Repairing body…]
A pale green glow wrapped around him like a gentle cocoon. Muscles knit back together. Burns faded. Bones reset.
Eric stood still, jaw clenched. The warmth was nice.
That didn't last.
> [Hunter talent detected. Forcibly awakening innate ability.]
Then came the pain.
Like someone had replaced his blood with fire and decided to shake the bottle.
Every nerve screamed. Every vein bulged. Eric dropped to one knee, biting his lip to stay quiet.
He didn't scream. Wouldn't give the system the satisfaction.
The agony faded as quickly as it came, leaving behind a strange new awareness—like an extra limb he hadn't noticed before. Something had changed. Something inside him had... woken up.
> [Partial system interface unlocked. Semi-dataization enabled.]
> [Warning: This system does not prevent death via critical organ damage. Play stupid games, win stupid prizes.]
> [Hunter-exclusive trial initiated. Failure means identity revocation. Death means death.]
> [Paradise Rule: All things must be paid for in equal value.]
"Touching," Eric muttered.The light vanished. A brief flicker of static, then darkness slammed into him like a hammer.
> [Transferring…]
---
Eric came to inside a collapsing shack that smelled like mold, piss, and burning rubber.
The roof was half-caved in, sunlight streaking through the hole like a spotlight on poverty. Garbage choked the floor. Walls were missing. A stiff breeze carried the warm, spicy scent of urban decay.
"Wonderful. I'm in paradise's idea of an Airbnb."
He sat up slowly. His arm burned. He looked down to see a black tattoo on his forearm—sword-shaped, slick and sharp like inked steel.
Blue text flared up again, this time inside his field of vision. No more floating in space. This stuff was wired directly into his retinas now.
Lucky him.
---
Entering Derivative World: One Piece
World Difficulty: 6 – Purgatory
World Source: 0%
World Description: Seas. Freedom. Pirates. Oppression. The Navy. The World Government.
Main Mission: Assassinate the King of the Goa Kingdom.
Side Missions: None.
Warning: Do not mention Reincarnation Paradise. Breach equals immediate execution.
Note: World difficulty will increase if you leave the Goa Kingdom region.
Language Protocol Active: Automatic fluency in native language for 72 hours.
---
Eric blinked as the text faded. For a moment, all he could do was laugh.
Not a cheerful laugh. A tired, sharp exhale that barely counted.
"One Piece," he said aloud. "Of all the possible multiverse destinations… I land in anime."
He rubbed his face. "Should've known. Place smells like filler episodes and dead parents."
Still, the world wasn't a joke. He knew enough. Superhumans who punch islands into craters. Fishmen with arm-thick tendons. A government run by gods with zero moral oversight.
Not the friendliest neighborhood for a newly signed murder contractor.
And his job?
[Main Mission: Assassinate the King of the Goa Kingdom.]
Target: King Philip Herbert.
Location: Royal Palace, Goa Kingdom.
Deadline: 72 hours.
Reward: Full activation of Hunter status.
"Three days to kill royalty in a fortified palace," Eric muttered. "Subtle."
He glanced around. Garbage. Fire pits. Bones. A place where even flies hesitated.
He was in the Gray Terminal—essentially the world's biggest landfill, tucked behind the Goa Kingdom's shiny white walls.
Charming.
In the distance, he could faintly make out the spires of the city and the smoke curling up from the palace hill.
This wasn't a tutorial level. This was a meat grinder.
Eric exhaled slowly and brought his focus to the tattoo on his arm.
It pulsed faintly. He concentrated.
A translucent interface opened in front of him—like a budget version of a video game HUD.
> Menu Options Unlocked:
Personal Info
Mission
Inventory
Skills
Equipment
Other functions locked. Increase rank to unlock.
He ignored most of it. He wasn't here to admire menus.
He tapped on "Mission."
The details were the same, but reading them again felt like reading his own obituary in advance.
King Philip Herbert. Royal palace. No plan. No map. No allies.
Three days.
Eric looked up at the broken sky through the hole in the roof.
"Alright," he muttered. "Let's kill a king."