The darkness vanishes again in a show of blinding light, and I can feel my own weight again as a room begins materializing around me.
The materialization process ends in an instant, and I find myself sitting on a comfortable leather sofa, looking at a beautiful, white-haired woman who was sitting behind a mahogany desk.
"Well, this is new," I remark, raising my eyebrow in suspicion while looking at the woman behind the desk.
"Welcome back, Mr. T-" the woman greets me, trying to use my old name, and I quickly interrupt her. "That's not my name anymore," I replied while shaking my head.
"Of course, my apologies," the woman says without a change in her expression. "Then welcome back, Mr. Linder," she continues in a professional tone.
"That's even worse," I say with an exasperated sigh," I replied while shaking my head. "So, why am I here? Did I die again or something?" I ask, my tone turning serious.
"Not at all. The reason you are here is that you've reached a checkpoint," the woman replies. "Other than that, we have also updated the system based on your interactions with the perks and traits you've purchased," she explains as she adjusts her glasses.
"So, we will adjust some of the things you've purchased and give you the chance to purchase new things," she added, snapping her fingers. "Let's start with the checkpoint first," she concluded.
[Congratulations on reaching the reverse mountain as in doing so, not only did you cross a vital milestone, but you are also entitled to a reward.]
[Your reward will be a devil fruit chosen randomly from three categories, bronze, silver, and gold.]
[Randomization begins.]
[Randomization complete; you have received the golden paramecia devil fruit, Mishu-Mishu (Dense-dense)]
[Mishu-Mishu devil fruit: a paramecia type devil fruit that allows the user to control the density of his own body along with anything he comes in contact with.]
The cold, robotic voice explains, causing a golden box to materialize in front of me with its lid open, revealing a golden, watermelon-like fruit with silver swirls going through its body and golden stem.
Looking at the fruit in front of me, I barely push down the urge to gobble right here and now as I reluctantly turn to look at the woman behind the desk.
"Ok, what's the catch?" I ask as I look her in the eye, my expression failing to hide my suspicion. "There is no catch," the woman replies, causing me to look even more suspicious.
"Allow me to rephrase," she remarks, adjusting her glasses. "If there is a catch, then it's the fact that you're the first person to try our reincarnation experience," she explains.
"I'm sure you must have noticed some of the things you've purchased not working as intended or not working at all," she added, snapping her finger again, causing a floating screen to appear in front of me.
[Talent scout: able to instinctively sense the potential of all individuals within your line of sight]
"The talent scout perk, for example, is not working at all, along with other things," she stated, snapping her finger again and causing the floating screen to disappear.
"So you're here not only to receive your reward but also for us to install the new updates we've been working on," she concluded.
[scanning perks and traits.]
[Talent scout perk found defective. Perk removed and refunded.]
[You have received 300 CP as a refund and an extra 100 for the inconvenience.]
[Cyber ware malfunction detected.]
[Detoxifier: Grants complete immunity against poison effects].
[Metabolic Editor: poison now acts as a stimulant that increases your body's healing rate].
[I detect that the previously mentioned cyber wares do not affect nicotine and alcohol.]
[Updating cyber wares.]
[Cyber wares updated: from now on, nicotine and alcohol will not affect the user.]
[You have been rewarded 100 CP for the inconvenience.]
"Now wait just one goddamn second," I say hurriedly, standing up and pointing an accusing finger at the white-haired woman. "You can't just make me immune to alcohol without asking for my permission first," I stated while glaring at the woman, causing her to roll her eyes.
[User dissatisfaction, detected, calculating.]
[Solution found. From now on, stimulants that are slightly toxic or poisonous, like nicotine and alcohol in the user's system will only be filtered when they accumulate enough to endanger the user's health.]
"Now that's more like it," I remark with a satisfied expression as I sit down again, causing the white-haired woman to murmur something about alcoholic meatheads in an inaudible voice.
[I detect no more defects or malfunctioned elements.]
[Finalizing scan.]
[You have been rewarded 600 CP for the inconvenience.]
"You may now buy or sell any perk or trait you like," the white-haired woman stated, snapping her finger.
Name: Johnny D Linder
Gender: Male
Age: 16
CP: 1000
Perks:
[D-tribesman: not much is known about the infamous D tribe except for their logic-defying physique, which entails a higher healing rate, a higher need for nutrition, a higher physical potential, and that most of them are capable of superhuman feats that under normal circumstances should not be possible]
[Bio-cyber-ware: your Cyber wares are a part of your body and thus will heal, strengthen and grow the same as any other normal body part]
[Rocker-boy: you are naturally gifted with a voice that will turn any aspiring rocker's eyes red in envy and have a mastery of all types of guitars]
[Novice swordsman: you know where the pointy end of the sword is, you can wield all kinds of blades to a somewhat satisfactory level without maiming and killing yourself and are capable of essential sword maintenance]
[Blue sea sailor: you know the basics of sailing, and you are at least able of navigating the four blue seas without getting yourself lost or drowned]
[War veteran: as a fully trained soldier, you are naturally trained in using firearms, hand to hand combat, essential firearm maintenance, basic first aid, and small scale team tactics]
[Survivalist: you are capable and knowledgeable enough to survive and secure water and food in most environments that are not too extreme]
[Sea stone prosthetic: your prosthetic arm is coated with sea stone]
Note: upon the consumption of a devil fruit, this perk will disappear and be replaced by the tolerated by the sea perk.
Traits:
[Ambidextrous: you are capable of using both your right and left hand equally well]
[Charmer: you can naturally influence most situations to your advantage using only words, people are naturally attracted to you and whatever dream you choose to achieve as long as it doesn't conflict with their personal beliefs and morals]
[Ambitious: you always dream of bigger things and are capable of long-term planning to achieve your dreams]
[Dedicated: you are no stranger to hard work and can commit yourself physically and mentally to your goals and objectives]
[Freedom lover: you value your freedom and independence above everything else. Nonconformist people like freedom fighters and pirates are more easily befriended]
[Authority hater: you hate rules and authority with a passion, and the only limitations you will not break are your own. Conformist people like government officials and marines are harder to befriend]
(READ THIS BEFORE GOING FURTHER DOWN THE CHAPTER: the following traits are harmful ones that johnny added to get more cp. I added this note because many people have been complaining about them since the explanation is further down in the chapter, and they didn't bother reading all the chapters before they left their comments, and I'm honestly sick and tired of it.)
[Nicotine addict: you are addicted to cigarettes]
[Alcohol addiction: you are addicted to alcohol]
[Vindictive: you are a vengeful person who will return the smallest of slights sooner or later]
[Horn dog: you are easily aroused ]
[Hunted (bounty hunter): a bounty hunter from the first half of the grand line will persistently try to track and hunt you down the moment you become a wanted man]
[Illogical fears: apples, balloons, the number 13, and cotton balls]
Inventory :
[Johnny silver hand's outfit (self mending)] [Bullet proof long leather coat (self mending)] [Wornstar custom rocker hat - samurai logo (self mending)] [Johnny silver hands guitar (self mending)] [Modified power revolver Archangel (self mending)] [Satori Katana (self-mending)] [Camping gear] [Bullets bouch (infinite)] [Basic first aid kit (infinite)] [Basic survival kit (infinite)] [Cigarette pack (infinite)] [Whisky bottle (infinite)] [Black pen (infinite)] [Notebook (self mending)] [Devil fruit encyclopedia] [Big backpack] [The all-fruit (blank) 3]
Cyber ware:
Operating System:
Berserker: When activated, Berserk increases melee damage, speed, armor, and speed.
(1 slot available)
[Militech Berserk: When Berserk is activated, it decreases ranged weapons recoil and sway, increases melee damage, toughness, speed, stamina, and regeneration for 60 seconds].
Frontal Cortex: enhanced memory.
(3 slots available)
[Limbic System Enhancement: enhances the sense of smell].
[sensory support: enhanced senses].
[Ex-Disk: enhances the speed and capacity of the brain processing power(1-day cooldown)].
Ocular system: Enables optical zoom, saves all discovered wanted posters for later identifications.
(1 slot available)
[Trajectory Analysis: Able to perceive and analyze all incoming trajectories and attacks within line of sight to map the best course of actions to dodge with the least amount of movement].
Circulatory System: Enhanced circulatory and vascular functions.
(3 slots available)
[Bioplastic Blood Vessels: faster regeneration and healing rate].
[Synthetic Lungs: more stamina and better stamina regeneration].
[Second Heart: revives upon death caused by vascular failure and slowly mends and heals your damaged organic heart (1-week cooldown)].
Immune System: Enhanced immune system, more resistant to sickness and disease.
(2 slots available)
[Detoxifier: Grants complete immunity against poison effects].
[Metabolic Editor: poison now acts as a stimulant that increases your body's healing rate].
Nervous System: Enhanced reflexes.
(2 slots available)
[Kerenzikov: able to see clearly and aim while moving at extreme speeds].
[Maneuvering System: Enables you to dodge while airborne]
Integumentary System: more rigid and more durable exterior(skin, nails, and hair)].
(3 slots available)
[Fireproof Coating: Grants a very high resistance to fire and heat]
[Supra-Dermal Weave: Grants complete immunity against Bleeding effects]
Grounding Plating (Rare): Grants a very high resistance to Shock effects].
Skeleton: increased strength, vitality, and stamina.
2 slots available
[Titanium Bones: grants titanium coated bones].
[Bionic Joints: grants more flexible joints].
Hands: grants more dexterous hands and firmer hand grip.
(1 slot available)
[No mods]
Arms:
Projectile Launch System: This allows you to unleash a powerful projectile from a hidden compartment in your arm
(1 slot available)
[Explosive Round: the projectile explodes upon impact and deals Physical damage]
Legs: improved leg strength, movement speed, and jumping power
(1 slot available)
Lynx Paws: You make less noise when moving.
I briefly look through the perks, traits, and cyberwar and notice it's the same except for the missing talent scout and the 1,000 CP.
There are a lot of traits and perks that were useful when I first came to this world, but they are now redundant, so I start by selling those.
[The perks, blue sea sailor, and survivalist have been sold, you have received 750 CP.]
"Hmm? I just sold two perks, but their knowledge is still inside my head?" I remark as I turn to look at the white-haired woman again.
"As I've said, the operating system is currently a prototype with many loopholes that could be beneficial or harmful to you," she explains with a meaningful look on her face.
I nod my head thoughtfully at her words and begin browsing through my character sheet again.
'Novice swordsman is still the same, even though I've tremendously advanced my swordsmanship, so it's probably the same as the survivalist and sailor perks,' I think to myself. 'I'll get back to it later,' I concluded.
I then move on to inventory selling, the Camping gear, the Basic survival kit, the Black pen, The Notebook, and the backpack.
[Items sold, you have received 500 CP.]
Now that I have some CP to play with, I move on to remove some negative traits. I first remove Horn Dog because it's honestly very irritating.
[Negative trait removed, you have lost 250 CP]
The next one I remove is vindictive because it can be very irritating too, evidenced by how agitated about the cp9 situation.
[Negative trait removed, you have lost 250 CP]
The next on my list is my illogical fears, and I get rid of them all except for fear of apples, as it was too expensive to remove.
[Negative traits removed, you have lost 300 CP]
With that, I'm mostly done. I only need to look through whatever new upgrades now to see if there is anything worth buying.
There is a ton of new stuff, from one piece, cyber punk 77, and even other fictional worlds, but most of them don't rouse my attention or are too expensive for me to buy, except for one thing.
[Triton: a legendary weapon with the powers of bringing dead matter related to ships and the sea to life.]
After some deliberation, I grit my teeth, selling Satori and novice swordsman for 400 and 500 CP, respectively, and buying Triton for 2,000, which left me with only 350 CP.
I then look through the new cyber wares and buy a flame thrower in my empty Hand mod, along with a respirator that would allow me to breathe underwater for my circulatory system, thus for 200 and 150 CP, respectively, ending character customization.
"Now what?" I ask as I turn to look at the white-haired woman. "Now, you get to ask one question. It can be about the one-piece world or the origin of reincarnation experience, and I will answer it before I send you back to your ship," she stated.
"I see in that case, how...,"
-0-
I open my eyes and find myself standing on the black pearl's deck in front of Wilson, who was still frozen motionless.
It takes a moment for everything to start moving again, with the frozen water droplets falling first, and then everything comes back to life again.
"Alright, with that done, it's time to resume our journey," I exclaimed in a loud voice while gesturing to the sinking pirate ship, pretending nothing else happened.
"Hurry up and take us to North blue, Laffite," I instruct as I turn to look at my navigator. "We need to get a doctor before we go into the grand line," I concluded, and Laffite obliged with a smile, his eyes lingering on Triton that was sheathed on my waist for a second. (Author's note: I bet you didn't see that coming, did you? XD)
(Patréon ----> www..patréon.com/Wicked132 <---- It's currently empty as I just finished setting it up yesterday, but there will be no double releases in the near future as any extra chapter I write will go will be Patréon exclusive until I stack a couple of them there.)
(Discord server, ---->discord..gg/qSjCmebE)