The nameless soul sat there for a few minutes, taking in the massive sight of Marineford. The towering walls, the bustling Marines in their crisp uniforms, and the general atmosphere of military discipline were both awe-inspiring and intimidating.
"Well, this is definitely not what I expected when I asked for a world full of beautiful women," he muttered, watching a group of stern-faced Marine officers march past. "Though I suppose there are a lot of female beauties in this world. Maybe I can find some female Marines around here."
Suddenly, a mechanical chime echoed in his head, interrupting his daydreaming.
{Ding! System Activation Initiated!!}
Hearing this, his eyes widened with excitement. "Oh! Here we go! The cheat codes Truck-kun promised are finally here!"
{Welcome, New User. Please input your name to bind and activate the system.}
A translucent blue screen appeared before his eyes, with a text input field waiting for his response. Hearing this, he grinned widely, remembering his favourite childhood anime.
"Hehe, if I'm going to live in this world, I might as well make a fresh new start and pick something memorable." He thought for a moment before typing with enthusiasm: ASH D. KETCHUM
{Name Registered: Ash D. Ketchum}
{Please state your primary goal in this world.}
Ash rubbed his hands together gleefully. "Easy! My goal is to catch all the baddies in this world!" He paused, then added with a perverted grin, "And by baddies, I mean all the beautiful women! Gotta catch 'em all!"
{Ding! Goal Registered: Catch all the female baddies in this world.}
{Analysing Optimal Power System...}
{Analysis Complete!}
The screen flickered for a moment before displaying new text that made Ash's heart race with excitement.
{WELCOME TO THE ONE PUNCH MAN TEMPLATE SYSTEM!}
"YES! YES! YES!" Ash jumped up and down in happiness, pumping his fists in the air. "One Punch Man powers! This is even better than I hoped! Nothing is more broken than the power of a gag character! I'm going to be able to invincible in this world!"
He started doing a victory dance right there in the street, completely oblivious to the confused stares from the passing Marines.
"I can already see it! Unlimited strength! Invincible defence! Speed that breaks the laws of physics! The power to end any fight instantly! The women of this world won't be able to resist the charm of someone as powerful as Saitama!"
{INITIATING POWER ACTIVATION...}
{SCANNING HOST COMPATIBILITY...}
{ERROR! ERROR! ERROR!}
The blue screen suddenly turned red, flashing warning messages rapidly.
"Eh? What's wrong?" Ash's celebration came to an abrupt halt.
{CRITICAL ERROR DETECTED}
{INCOMPLETE ACTIVATION KEY FOUND}
{SYSTEM CORRUPTION: 50%}
{RUNNING DIAGNOSTIC...}
The screen flickered for several tense seconds while Ash watched nervously, his dreams of instant overpowered abilities slowly crumbling down.
{DIAGNOSTIC COMPLETE}
{CAUSE: DAMAGED ACTIVATION ARTIFACT}
{GOLDEN COIN INTEGRITY: 50% - CRITICAL SYSTEM FUNCTIONS COMPROMISED}
"The golden coin..." Ash suddenly remembered how he had clenched his teeth so hard during the second truck impact that the coin had broken in half. One piece was with him while the other one actually fell off somewhere in the void. Thinking of this all the colour drained from his face.
"This is bad, this is very bad, isn't it?"
{ANALYZING POSSIBLE SOLUTIONS...}
{SOLUTION FOUND!}
{DUE TO SYSTEM CORRUPTION, MANUAL ACTIVATION METHOD REQUIRED}
{TO UNLOCK ONE PUNCH MAN TEMPLATE ABILITIES, HOST MUST COMPLETE DAILY TRAINING MISSIONS}
{DAILY TRAINING REQUIREMENTS:}
- 100 PUSH-UPS
- 100 SIT-UPS
- 100 SQUATS
- 10 KM RUN
{DURATION: 5 YEARS}
{FAILURE TO COMPLETE DAILY MISSIONS OR MISSING A DAY WILL RESET PROGRESS}
Ash's jaw dropped. His dreams of instant gratification and overpowered abilities crumbled like a house of cards.
"FIVE YEARS?! You've got to be kidding me! I wanted to become overpowered immediately, not follow that baldy's insane training routine!" He grabbed his hair in frustration. "And in this world full of monsters and pirates, I have to survive for five whole years?! I will die from a stray bullet anywhere!!"
{REMINDER: ONE PUNCH MAN TEMPLATE GRANTS UNLIMITED POWER UPON COMPLETION}
{ESTIMATED FINAL POWER LEVEL: WORLD BREAKING GAG CHARACTER POWERS}
"World Breaking Powers." Ash's eyes gradually lit up again reading this. "Wait, that actually sounds really amazing. But five years in the One Piece world without any powers? That is just a plain and simple sucide mission. I doubt I will be able to survive a month or two if I encounter someone like Buggy, let alone someone like Daflamingo or Kid who go around killing people for fun." His excitement deflated once more. "I'm going to die before I even finish the first month."
{GOOD LUCK, HOST! TRAINING BEGINS TOMORROW AT DAWN!}
{DAILY MISSION TIMER: 23:47:32 REMAINING}
"Tomorrow at dawn?! Isn't that too soon? Can't I get at least a week to prepare mentally or something?!"
{NEGATIVE. TIME IS OF THE ESSENCE.}
Ash slumped his shoulders in defeat, staring at the countdown timer that had appeared in the corner of his vision. "This is not how I imagined my isekai adventure would start."
"Hey kid!"
A gruff voice interrupted his internal breakdown. Ash turned around to see a muscular Marine with sergeant stripes approaching him, looking stern and slightly confused.
"What are you doing here, kid? This is the recruitment centre for new Marines. You lost or something? You are too scrawny for enlistment."
Ash blinked, suddenly realising his predicament. He was standing right in front of what appeared to be the Marine recruitment building, having wandered here during his system-induced celebration and subsequent despair.
"Uh..." Ash looked around nervously, seeing several other young men his age lined up near the entrance, apparently waiting to enlist. "I was just admiring the architecture?"
The sergeant raised an eyebrow skeptically. "Admiring the architecture while screaming about catching women and dancing like a madman?"
"That was, umm, interpretive art appreciation?"
"Uh-huh." The Marine crossed his arms. "Look kid, if you're here to enlist, get in line. If not, move out of the way. We don't have time for weirdos disturbing the peace."
Ash glanced at the recruitment line, then at the imposing Marine buildings around him, then at the countdown timer still ticking in his vision. A crazy idea began forming in his head.
"Actually," he said slowly, "I think I want to be enlisted after all."