[OUTLAW SELECTED]
[WOULD YOU LIKE TO SPECIALIZE AS A PIRATE OR BOUNTY HUNTER?]
Pierre stared at the crimson text floating before him. The void seemed to darken around the edges, focusing his attention on this single choice.
"Bounty hunter sounds practical," he muttered. "Work alone, no crew drama, legal enough to move around freely."
He remembered the chapters where bounty hunters appeared in Pirate Lord's Great Adventure. Most were unnamed characters who existed solely to be defeated by Jack Steelheart in a single paragraph. The few named bounty hunters had been given backstories only to be humiliated or converted to Jack's cause.
"There was that one guy... what was his name?" Pierre snapped his fingers as the memory surfaced. "The Reaper. Jack's big rival for like three chapters before he got his ass handed to him and disappeared from the story."
The thought of becoming fodder for Jack's ego made Pierre's stomach turn. Even as a top-tier bounty hunter, the story's structure would inevitably pit him against the protagonist—and in a shonen world, that meant certain defeat.
"I'd just be another stepping stone in Jack's journey." Pierre shook his head. "Pirate it is. At least I can sail my own course and avoid that Boobie-powered idiot entirely."
He tapped the [PIRATE] option. The crimson light pulsed in acknowledgment.
[PIRATE SELECTED]
[PLEASE SELECT YOUR STARTING LOCATION]
A map materialized before him—a sprawling world of islands and seas, divided into color-coded regions. Four main oceans surrounded a massive mountain range that circled the globe: the Dawn Sea to the east, the Dusk Sea to the west, the Frost Sea to the north, and the Ember Sea to the south. The central red mountain range—the Crimson Belt—bisected another massive water route called the Grand Blue.
"I remember this. The Dawn Sea is where Jack started his journey." Pierre examined the map. "It's supposed to be the 'easiest' sea, whatever that means in a death world."
He tapped the Dawn Sea region, and the map zoomed in to reveal dozens of islands scattered across blue waters.
[DAWN SEA SELECTED]
[STARTING POINT OPTIONS]
[SHIPWRECK ISLAND] - Begin as a castaway with nothing but your wits
[MARIANA CRUISE] - Begin as staff aboard a luxury liner
[NAVY RECRUITMENT CENTER] - Begin as a recent navy deserter
[CORAL TOWN] - Begin as a fisherman in a peaceful village
Pierre read through the options, pausing at the second one. "Mariana Cruise... why does that sound familiar?"
He searched his memory, trying to recall if this location had appeared in the novel. Then it hit him—Chapter 22, "The Maiden's Treasure." The Mariana Cruise was where Jack had first met Raven. The ship had been attacked by the Redbeard Pirates, leading to Jack's first battle.
Still, starting on the cruise offered advantages—he'd begin with a job, shelter, and food. Plus, knowing the attack was coming gave him time to prepare.
"I could warn the captain about the pirates," Pierre mused. "Or just steal a lifeboat before the attack. Either way, I'd have a head start."
He tapped the [MARIANA CRUISE] option.
[MARIANA CRUISE SELECTED]
[WOULD YOU LIKE TO CUSTOMIZE YOUR APPEARANCE?]
A humanoid silhouette appeared, rotating slowly in the crimson light. It matched Pierre's real-world appearance—a lean young man standing 6'1" with short brown hair and gray eyes.
"Height options?" Pierre asked.
A slider appeared beside the silhouette, currently set at 6'1".
"This world has some freakishly tall people," Pierre recalled. "Giants, fishmen, and those weird long-limbed tribes. Even some normal humans are like 7 feet tall."
He adjusted the slider upward to 6'4".
"Not too tall to stand out, but enough to have presence," he decided, watching his silhouette stretch accordingly.
[HEIGHT: 6'4" SELECTED]
[CUSTOMIZE HAIR COLOR?]
Another slider appeared, showing a spectrum of colors.
"Might as well go for something distinctive." Pierre slid the marker across the spectrum. "If Jacks hair is blue...."
[HAIR COLOR: RED SELECTED]
[CUSTOMIZE EYE COLOR?]
"Fuck it, why not?" Pierre selected a light shade of blue.
[EYE COLOR: SKY BLUE SELECTED]
[CUSTOMIZE PHYSICAL ATTRIBUTES?]
Pierre raised an eyebrow. "What does that mean exactly?"
The silhouette rotated, highlighting different body parts—muscle mass, facial features, and... other attributes.
"Oh, you've got to be kidding me." Pierre laughed as he realized one of the sliders controlled dick size. "This really is like a perverted game."
[PHYSICAL ATTRIBUTES CUSTOMIZED]
[CONGRATULATIONS! CHARACTER CREATION COMPLETE]
[WOULD YOU LIKE TO OPEN YOUR GIFT PACKAGE NOW?]
[YES] [NO]
Pierre studied the floating notification. The character creation process had been straightforward enough, but now he faced his first real choice in this new world.
"What happens if I say no? Does it disappear forever?"
A smaller text appeared below the options:
[Gift package will remain in your inventory until opened]
"Inventory? So I do have some kind of game interface." Pierre glanced down at his body—still transparent in the void. "Might as well see what I'm working with before I start."
He tapped [YES].
The crimson light condensed into a small chest that materialized in front of him. It was an old-fashioned wooden box with brass fittings, about the size of a shoebox. The lid popped open with a soft click, revealing three items:
A small pouch that jingled when the chest moved.
A clear glass vial containing what looked like a tiny seed suspended in golden liquid.
A folded piece of paper.
Pierre reached for the pouch first. It was heavier than it looked, made of worn leather with a simple drawstring closure. He loosened the string and peeked inside.
[5,000 CORI ACQUIRED]
"Cori... that's the currency in this world, right?" He pulled out a coin. It was gold with a square hole in the center, similar to ancient Chinese currency. "Not bad. Wonder how much this buys in-world."
He returned the coin to the pouch and picked up the vial next. The seed inside was no larger than a grain of rice, but it seemed to pulse with an inner light that shifted between blue and gold.
[MYTHICAL SEED ACQUIRED]
[SPIRIT SEED TYPE: RESONANCE]
[SPECIAL ABILITY UNLOCKED: ESSENCE DRAIN]
"Mythical Spirit Seed?" Pierre turned the vial, watching the seed float in the golden liquid. "I don't remember this from the story."
He searched his memory of Pirate Lord's Great Adventure. The magic system had been based on something called Spirit Seeds—rare objects that granted users special abilities. Jack had gotten his first seed in Chapter 15, the "Emission Seed".
But Pierre didn't recall any mention of a "Mythical Seed" or an ability called "Essence Drain."