"Damn it, not again! Oda, you old troll, you've gotten lazy lately!"
Inside a cluttered, dimly lit room, Ross sat slouched in front of his computer, his face illuminated by the blue glow of the screen. The preview for the next episode of One Piece had just ended abruptly, cutting off right at the most critical moment.
He let out a groan that sounded like pure despair. "Seriously? Again? You're killing me here, man!"
He had followed this anime for over a decade. Every week, without fail. Every cliffhanger, every recap episode, every filler arc that tested his patience. Yet he stayed loyal. But lately, things had gotten ridiculous.
"Less than twenty minutes per episode, fifteen minutes of flashbacks, and five minutes of actual content. At this rate, I'll see the ending when I'm in a retirement home…"
Ross rubbed his face, half laughing, half crying.
"Hell, maybe when I'm dead and gone, my grandson will stand by my grave, tears in his eyes, saying, 'Grandpa, your favorite anime finally ended…'"
He paused, squinting at the ceiling.
"Wait. Why grandson? Why not son?"
Then he sighed. Right, he didn't have a girlfriend so much for having a son.
"Will I even live long enough to see the ending?" he muttered to himself.
The clock on his desk ticked past 2 a.m. He hadn't noticed. For a self-proclaimed otaku like Ross, time had long since lost meaning. Sleep came only when his body forced it. Work? That could wait.
Fresh out of college, he had promised himself he'd "start job hunting tomorrow."
He'd been saying that for a month now.
Turning off his computer, he yawned, stretched, and crawled into bed.
Before drifting off, he mumbled a silent wish.
"I just… want to see how One Piece ends…"
His thoughts wandered. Luffy still hadn't become the Pirate King. The anime had just reached the Reverie arc, and rumor had it that in the manga, Luffy had been one-shotted by Kaido. Ross wasn't sure if that was true he never read the manga. He was loyal to the anime. Always had been.
Then he fell asleep.
"Hey, Ross! Get up! This isn't the time to be napping!"
A voice barked near his ear.
Ross grunted and turned over. "Who the hell's yelling? I'm trying to sleep! Get lost!"
He tried to bury his head under the pillow but something felt off. The bed was… hard?
His fingers brushed against rough wood.
Wood?
And who the hell was calling him Ross?
Wait. Ross?
That wasn't his name.
He cracked one eye open and froze.
Standing around him were several burly men, all wearing open vests and pirate headscarves. One of them was bald and grinning broadly.
"Ross, you lazy bastard, finally awake?" the bald man laughed, giving him a hearty slap on the back.
Ross blinked at him, utterly confused. He looked around again, and his mind went blank.
Wooden deck. Swaying horizon. Ocean stretching endlessly in every direction.
He was… on a ship?
And not just any ship.
His gaze shifted to a red-haired young man laughing with a clown-nosed fellow on the far side of the deck.
Ross's jaw dropped.
Red-Haired Shanks.
Buggy the Clown.
No way.
No freaking way.
This had to be a dream.
In disbelief, Ross reached out and pinched the bald guy's arm.
"Ah! What the hell, Ross?!"
Ross blinked, staring at his own hand. The pain was real.
"Sorry," he said sincerely. "Just needed to make sure I wasn't dreaming."
"Then pinch yourself next time!"
Ross gave him a weak grin. "Yeah… that'd make sense, huh?"
The bald pirate just rolled his eyes. "Today's the day, remember? The Roger Pirates are disbanding. Go say your goodbyes to the Captain instead of napping your life away."
The name hit Ross like thunder.
Roger.
He turned slowly toward the distant figure standing proudly at the bow. The man's black coat fluttered in the sea breeze, the golden embroidery glinting under the sun.
Gol D. Roger.
The Pirate King himself.
Next to him stood the legendary first mate, Silvers Rayleigh. Behind them, the ship's doctor, Crocus. All real. All alive.
Ross felt his throat tighten. "No way… I actually crossed over… to One Piece?"
The ship beneath his feet massive, majestic, and unmistakable was the Oro Jackson.
The realization sent a rush through his chest.
The memories came flooding in like a tidal wave.
This body's name really was Ross. An orphan from a small island deep in the New World. Three months ago, the Roger Pirates had stopped by his island after conquering the Grand Line. Ross had acted as their local guide, and when they departed, he'd begged to join them.
Roger, being the kind of man he was, had simply laughed and said yes.
Ross had joined the crew at the very end of their journey too late to learn the great secret of the Void Century, but just in time to witness the closing chapter of the Pirate King's legend.
When the surge of foreign memories finally subsided, Ross formerly the lazy college grad stood there, dazed but strangely calm.
"So… I've really been transported into the world of One Piece," he murmured.
He took a long breath of salty sea air. The waves crashed below. The horizon stretched endlessly.
He smiled faintly.
It wasn't all bad. His parents were gone back in the real world; he hadn't left much behind. And here, in this world of freedom and adventure, maybe… just maybe, he could find something new.
Still, he wasn't about to become some fearless pirate king wannabe. Hell no.
Too dangerous.
He preferred a quiet life. Maybe after this, he could find a small island, settle down, become a local boss live comfortably, drink rum, and watch from afar as the next generation fought for the title of Pirate King.
When Luffy eventually set sail, Ross planned to watch him from the shadows, quietly witnessing the ending he had wished to see all his life.
He had no interest in fame or glory.
He just wanted to survive.
"Being a pirate?" he muttered under his breath. "No thanks. I'll pass on the whole 'danger and death' package."
Looking out over the sea, he felt a strange thrill anyway.
This was the world he'd dreamed of. The beginning of the Great Pirate Era.
And he Ross, the unambitious tagalong of the Roger Pirates was right in the middle of it.