"I swear, One Piece is the dumbest cartoon ever made," he muttered, stepping out of the small grocery store with a plastic bag full of instant noodles.
He was a 20-year-old college dropout with messy hair, dark circles under his eyes, and no real goals in life — except maybe trash-talking popular anime online.
"Seriously, how can adults still watch that stretchy rubber guy yell about friendship for a thousand episodes?"
He unlocked his phone and scrolled through Reddit, smirking at a One Piece meme someone posted.
> "One Piece changed my life!"
"Yeah," he snorted, typing a reply. "Changed your brain into mashed potatoes."
That was when fate struck. Or rather — a plastic bottle.
He didn't see it on the sidewalk. It was clear, half-crushed, and placed at just the wrong angle.
He stepped on it.
SLIP!
His foot flew out from under him like a bad cartoon. His head slammed into the pavement with a sickening crack.
Everything went black.
---
"...Am I dead?"
He opened his eyes.
He was floating — weightless, in pure white space. No walls. No ground. No plastic bottles.
A glowing figure appeared before him, dressed in a long robe with a gentle face.
"You died," the figure said kindly.
"No sh*t," he muttered, rubbing the back of his head. "That bottle should be arrested."
The figure didn't laugh. He just watched.
"I mean, seriously? Slipping on trash? Not even a car crash or heroic sacrifice? You couldn't give me a cool death?"
The figure blinked. "You were given many chances in life, yet you chose to waste them."
"Hey! Not my fault the universe sent a bottle to assassinate me. I demand a refund. Or a second life. Or both."
"You made your choices."
"You insulted art," the figure said, their voice suddenly deeper, darker.
"Huh?"
"You mocked One Piece."
"What does that have to do with—wait. You're a fan?!"
The figure's glowing face twitched. "Fan! I am the Guardian of Anime Realms!"
"Oh come on!" he groaned. "This is a setup, isn't it? You're telling me I died because I slipped on a bottle and disrespected rubber pirates?!"
"Yes."
"That's ridiculous! I should've died fighting a bear or choking on a chicken nugget, not—" he threw his arms up, "—this! What a pathetic way to go!"
The figure raised a glowing brow. "You still mock your destiny?"
"You know what? Fine. Since you love mocking so much, let's give you something to laugh at..."
"Wait, what—?"
"You shall be reincarnated."
He blinked. "Huh?"
"Disrespecting One Piece even now…" he murmured under his breath.
The light around the figure glowed brighter.
"You mocked the greatest story ever written. Again and again. You called it a cartoon. You insulted Luffy."
"I will insult Luffy. What kind of name is that anyway? Sounds like a pillow brand."
The figure closed his eyes.
"Enough. You will understand... soon."
Before the guy could throw another insult, the space around him cracked like glass. Light poured in. A loud whoosh filled his ears.
"Wait, wait, WAIT! What do you mean by—?"
He didn't get to finish.
Because the next thing he knew...
He was screaming.
Being reincarnated.
And somewhere, very far away, a baby cried.
Something was wrong.
He felt warm. Soft. Safe.
Too safe.
His eyes opened slowly.
Blurry ceiling. A fan spinning lazily. Wooden roof?
He blinked again.
He couldn't move his head much. His body felt… tiny?
He tried to sit up.
"Waaah!!"
"WHAT?! Was that my voice!?"
It came out high-pitched. Baby-like. No, not baby-like—baby baby.
He looked down.
Chubby little arms.
Tiny feet sticking out of a red onesie.
His heart skipped a beat.
"No… no, no, no. This isn't real. This is some dream. I'm dreaming."
He raised his arm and slapped himself.
PAP.
Pain.
Real pain.
"I'm a baby!?"
A shadow appeared above him. A woman leaned over—tan skin, strong jawline, short black hair tied back. She smiled kindly.
"Aw, little Luffy is awake!"
"HUH!?"
She picked him up and held him against her chest.
"Luffy? Did she say Luffy?!"
His mind raced.
"No. No way. There are other people named Luffy, right? It's just a name. A coincidence."
The woman spoke again, rocking him gently.
"Don't cry, Luffy. Your grandpa will be back soon."
"GRANDPA!? WAIT—NO. NO NO NO—"
His brain was doing backflips. Grandpa? Luffy? Old wooden house? Did she say back soon?
He managed to twist his head and saw a worn-out poster of a wanted pirate on the wall.
He squinted.
There was a man in the poster. Red hair, three scars over his eye, a long black coat.
"Wait a second... I know that guy."
He stared harder.
"Shanks?"
His heartbeat sped up. That was definitely Shanks. One of the most famous One Piece characters.
"But why is his wanted poster here…?... unless...?"
The truth hit him harder than that bottle ever did.
"No. Freaking. Way," he thought, eyes wide like saucers. "That anime freak... He really sent me into One Piece?"
He squirmed in the woman's arms, but his baby muscles were useless. His head wobbled like a bobblehead, and the only sound he could make was—
"WaaaAHHH!!"
The woman gently patted his back. "There, there, Luffy. What's got you all fussy today?"
"I'm fussy because I just found out I'm the main character of the show I used to hate!!"
All he could say was,
WaaaaahH! WaaaaaAhH!
The woman—his new mother apparently—rocked him gently in her arms, whispering,
"Little Luffy... you're safe now."
Safe?
He was not safe. Not when the truth was sinking in.
He wasn't just in the world of One Piece.
He was Luffy now.
The same Luffy he used to mock online.
He had called the anime "overrated", "for children", and "never-ending trash."
He remembered it so clearly now…
That fanboy had done this to him.
"You—" he wanted to scream.
"You bastard! You cursed weirdo anime freak! I hope you get paper cuts between your toes every day for the rest of your life!"
But again, all that came out was—
"Waaaahhh!! WaaaAAA!!"
He flailed his chubby arms, screaming in frustration. His little fists clenched with rage.
The woman gently patted his back. "Poor thing. You're so emotional today."
"Of course I'm emotional!!" he shouted inside.
"I was a grown man with a job! I had ramen plans tonight! And now—now I'm in this... rubbery nightmare!"
His eyes darted back to the wanted poster of Shanks.
He narrowed his baby eyes.
"And you! You red-haired troublemaker! You better not hand me a straw hat. I swear, if I see one straw hat—"
His tiny stomach growled.
"Ugh... and now I'm hungry too?"
This was hell.
He lay there, wrapped in a soft cloth, arms too short to punch something, legs too wobbly to walk away, and a voice in his head screaming.
"Calm down. This is a dream. Just a crazy, weird, sugar-rush dream!"
But then he saw it again.
That wanted poster on the wall.
A red-haired man grinning with three scars over his eye — Shanks.
That name.
That face.
And the woman just now had called him—
> "Little Luffy."
His breathing hitched. His chubby chest rose and fell.
"No, no, no, no... It can't be. That's not my name. My name is—"
Wait.
He couldn't remember it anymore.
Not his full name. Not his job. Not even his phone passcode.
Only one thing was clear—
He had called One Piece a "dumb cartoon."
He had argued with fans online, saying things like:
> "Grow up. One Piece is for 12-year-olds."
His tiny heart dropped.
"No. No way. That anime freak… He didn't actually—"
He looked at his round baby arms.
Felt the missing teeth in his mouth.
He could barely roll over without help.
Then he turned to the Shanks poster again.
Everything is real. Not a dream.
"Oh my god... I got reincarnated."
His jaw dropped, or would've if it wasn't so baby-soft.
"I got isekai'd into the world I used to make fun of... as the person I hated the most."
A faint breeze brushed his face as the window opened slightly.
"I'M FREAKING MONKEY D. LUFFY!!"
He screamed internally.
Externally?
"WaaAAHHHH!! WAHHHH!!!"
"Anime freak!!!" he cursed in his mind.
"I hope your WiFi disconnects every time you download episodes! May you never finish an arc again!"