Life passed by—simple, yet fulfilling.
About ten days later…
The Swordsmanship Training Room reached Level 20, unlocking a new feature.
[Swordsmanship Mentor Module unlocked. Collect character card fragments to unlock a mentor and gain bonuses to swordsmanship training and access to special sword techniques…]
[Gold-tier Mentors: Dracule Mihawk, Dark King Rayleigh, Kozuki Oden, Gol D. Roger, Shimotsuki Ryuma, Saint Nasushiro, Fujitora, Shiki...]
[Silver-tier Mentors: Koshiro, Zoro, Shiryu, Borsalino, Vista...]
[Bronze-tier Mentors: Cavendish, Denjiro, Kyros, Brook...]
[Standard Mentors: Hachi...]
There were a ton of swordsmanship mentors—nearly every named sword user with decent strength in the One Piece world.
And their styles were just as varied, including even "Three-Sword-Style Zoro" as one of the mentors.
Which also meant…
This prize pool was huge. Completing even one character card wasn't going to be easy.
The good news: there were quite a few Gold-tier Mentors—most of whom were peak-level swordmasters in the pirate world.
Unlocking even one of them would give a significant boost to a character's growth.
Not just faster level-ups and stronger swordsmanship, but even access to exclusive Sword Techniques.
And on top of that…
Several of these mentors had unique bonds—unlocking those would grant special buffs.
As always, the game offered four daily discounted bundles, and Klein bought them all.
Which meant… one more bundle added to his daily expenses. And his wallet cried a little louder.
"I need to level up my swordsmanship fast… then I can raise my rates and earn more money. Once I've got the cash, I can buy a Silver Stand-in—or maybe even a Gold one!"
Klein had been drooling over the Gold-tier Stand-in for a while now.
If he'd bought that from the start, his swordsmanship level would probably be double what it was now.
But the price… 1,288,888 Berries.
Seven digits!
Which meant he had to give 258 massages to pay for it.
"So broke…"
"Too broke!"
Klein opened the bundles, used up the items, and ended up with a pile of fragments—still not enough to piece together a single sword mentor.
Sure, the discount bundles were cheap—all four combined cost less than 10,000 Berries—but they were part of the daily routine. He had to buy them every day.
And if he didn't?
Then he'd be stuck relying on the single free daily draw… which meant it might take a century to collect one full character card.
Scammy!
Classic game behavior.
Every new bundle added even more pressure to Klein's economy.
He sat on the bed, deep in thought. "No way I can keep up like this. Massages and part-time swordsmanship teaching aren't enough to fuel my gacha habits…"
"There are a few rich kids at this academy—I need to figure out how to make them pay."
Some students were like Garp, Sengoku, and Zephyr—broke boys from the four seas.
But there were others—offspring of Marine officers, also known as "Second-Gen Officials."
Marine officers…
They were loaded. A branch colonel in the Four Seas was basically a local warlord. And vice admirals? They were the top dogs of fortress bases across the seas.
They caught pirates all year round.
Plenty of cash!
If he could just skim some pocket money off these rich kids, he could fund his gacha addiction for a long time.
Enough to buy that Gold-tier Stand-in!
"Starting tomorrow, I'll keep a close eye on the 'Second-Gens' in our class. See if there's a way to squeeze some cash out of them."
—
Late at night.
The overtraining trio returned to the dorm. Garp and Sengoku both paid for Klein's "massage service."
But Zephyr looked a bit awkward.
He was broke.
Of course Klein noticed. After finishing Sengoku's massage, he smiled and said, "Zephyr, we're all students. Of course we don't have much money. But after graduation, as long as we're strong enough to catch pirates, we'll become officers. Then we'll be rolling in cash!"
"So how about this—"
"I'll put it on your tab!"
"I'll keep track, and once you graduate and get some money, you can pay me back."
Fourteen-year-old Zephyr looked up hopefully. "I can… pay later?"
"Sure. We're in the same dorm, and someday we'll be comrades fighting side by side. Besides, Garp and Sengoku are here to witness. You think I'm worried you'll stiff me?"
"Or are you worried you won't be able to pay me back?"
Zephyr puffed up his chest. "I'm going to be a hero one day. I'll definitely become a Marine officer. Oh, and I've seen you teaching swordsmanship… can I train under you too?"
"Absolutely," Klein grinned. "One student or two—it's all the same to me."
Tabs were a great idea. Once someone owed you once, there'd be a second time… and a third.
And Klein knew Zephyr would eventually become an admiral. He'd definitely pay him back.
Zephyr was honest and kind by nature—not the type to become a deadbeat.
Klein felt perfectly safe extending him credit.
—
Soon after that…
Klein began targeting the "Second-Gens" among the students. Observing their behavior, he actually found a promising business angle.
A lot of those kids had developed crushes on the girls in this year's class.
They were all teenagers, after all. Training together every day—feelings were bound to blossom.
"Looks like it's time to play matchmaker," Klein chuckled to himself. "If I do this right, I could make a fortune. Of course, I can't just pair anyone up. Gotta screen their personalities first."
He didn't rush. He first made friends with the "Second-Gens," getting close to them through casual conversation and learning more about them before slowly connecting the dots between crushes.
After Garp and Sengoku ran out of cash, they followed Zephyr's lead and started running a tab too.
They became Klein's debtors.
Klein became their debt master.
—
Another month passed.
At the end of the month, the instructors conducted a new round of evaluations.
And when Klein's results came out…
The entire room went dead silent.
Doriki Score: 358
He'd gained nearly 100 Doriki in a month—stunning everyone present.
"What the hell!! Is Klein some kind of super genius? That progress is insane!"
"How the heck is he training?! The guy spends all day giving massages and sword lessons. This doesn't make sense!!"
"Damn it!! I train twice as hard as Klein, and I only gained ten points?!"
"It's only been two months, and this guy's already ranked third among all students!!!"
"Unbelievable!! He spends all his time making money—how is he getting this strong?!"
"........"
Everyone was completely crushed—especially those who worked two, even three times harder than Klein.
Comparisons really do kill your motivation.