"Ace..."
"Ace..."
A familiar voice, yet foggy, woke me up from my daze. I looked around the cell and saw Jinbe yelling at me because of my sudden blackout.
"Are you okay, Ace?" Jinbe asked, his tone full of concern and worry.
"I'm okay, I just have a little headache. These seastones are making me weak—even a mosquito can bully me, haha." Laughing at my own joke, I composed myself and looked at the small screen in front of me.
"Don't worry, Ace. Everything will be fine," Jinbe reassured me, his tone brotherly.
Looking back at the screen, the UI started glitching.
[@$@%^] The blue UI immediately turned red.
[Hi....] Small text appeared on the screen and was quickly erased.
[As you already know, this is the One Piece universe.] Another text appeared immediately after the first one disappeared.
"...."
[Your m#%#^# is to fix #$#%.....I think they don't want you to know.]
Yet a familiar scene happened again. Just like before.
I couldn't understand what it was talking about. Hearing this thing's tone—are there other parties involved in this?
[I don't have much time, but you'll soon figure it out. I'll give you this system.]
After a moment of silence, more text began writing itself on the screen.
[....Please don't die.]
Even though it was only text, I could feel the sympathy and worry in its tone.
I didn't say anything because Jinbe stayed next to me, but I wanted to ask many questions to figure out who he/she was.
[Welcome host! The check-in system will reward you each day you check in. Please press YES if you want to check in today. Y/N]
The system immediately turned back to its normal blue color and AI personality.
What does that even mean? Who was that thing writing the text? And why did he/she bring me here? I had many doubts in my heart, as this was not merely a free second chance.
---
"Ace... Do you know when we first met?" Jinbe, who had been silent all this time, spoke, his tone nostalgic.
"Yes..." I didn't know what to say and answered him with the least obvious answer someone in my shoes would give.
"At first, I thought you were reckless—a kid trying to face Whitebeard with your weak strength," he said calmly, his tone distant yet comforting.
"I was serious, though." I teased.
"I know you were serious. Despite your low chance of winning, you still tried your best."
"And even though you were on the upper hand in our fight, you decided to end the fight and talk instead."
he was silent for a while and then added.
"Actually, I was too exhausted. Fighting with you for five days wasn't easy, you know." Remembering the fight between me and Jinbe in Ace's memory—it was intense. Even though Ace was a rookie, he had the upper hand fighting Jinbe.
"I never had such a friend in my life who i would sacrifice myself if needed. You're a great brother and have had a lot to face, but don't be discouraged. I and your brothers stand by your side no matter what," Jinbe said, motivating me with worry in his tone.
Well, now that I had this daily check-in system, I wasn't worried about the fight anymore—probably something good would come out of it. Right ?
---
"Don't worry, Jinbe. I'll survive this time—I promise." Reassuring Jinbe, I glanced back at the UI screen. It was a little far away, and since my hands were tied, I couldn't touch it.
"System, can you come closer?" I asked inwardly, since I'd seen in many novels that systems could hear telepathic commands.
"..."
No response. Is it just an AI and doesn't have a personality? This is a problem. My hands are cuffed, and it can't get close. How the hell am I supposed to touch the YES button?
---
While I pondered how to touch the button, heavy footsteps echoed down the prison hall, and prisoners started yelling.
"What happened?" I asked Jinbe, confused.
"It's the food guy," Jinbe said calmly. "He brings us food and feeds us because our hands are cuffed," he added.
Probably because I gained Ace's memories... I don't know why, but I don't remember anything that happened after I fought Blackbeard.
I pushed the thought to the back of my mind as the food guy entered cell by cell feeding the prisoners.
He finally reached us and opened the cell. He took two large loaves of bread and small pots from the delivery cart that he was pulling.
Entering the cell, he sat in front of Jinbe, feeding him calmly and composed, like he was experienced.
After finishing feeding Jinbe, he moved toward me and did the same. Since the bread was tasteless, I just gulped it down to avoid getting hungry.
Looking at him again, he looked young—maybe the same age as Ace. What is he doing in this prison?
"Aren't you afraid of these pirates? What if one day they become free while you are feeding them?" I asked, chewing my bread, curious about his answer.
"Will you harm your feeder?" he asked me, continuing his work of cutting bread and giving it to me.
I was surprised when I heard his answer. "But pirates are pirates—they don't care about kindness," I said, trying to be realistic.
"You wouldn't get dinner tonight," he looked at me and said.
That backfired on me.
After that, the food guy left the cell, locking it behind him and moving to the other cells.
Now that I had eaten something, I felt a bit energetic. Looking back at the small UI, I tried touching it with my nose or head, but none of them could reach.
–––
It had been an hour since I started doing this. The seastones held me in place, making it hard to move—I only had one choice, and that was to stick out my tongue.
Well, here goes nothing—I moved my head up, positioning my mouth in front of the YES button, and stuck out my tongue to touch it.
"What are you doing, Ace?" Jinbe, who was still chewing something with food in his mouth, asked when he saw me sticking out my tongue.
"Nothing. I was just stretching. These cuffs hold me in one place for too long," I said, brushing off his question.
[Congratulations, host. You gain...]
TBC.....