Welcome to Pirate Glory!

[Complete!] The main story is 400,000 words, a short ensemble piece. I’m gathering material for the extras! Leave a comment if there’s a trope you’d like to see! You’re welcome to come find me under the same name on L!

*Also known as The Great Voyage with the Honor of Kings System / Where Am I Supposed to Find Someone Who Watches One Piece and Plays Honor of Kings? / How Are You Supposed to Win When Every Match Is a Huge Comeback?

*My own headcanon is everywhere! Classic strong male lead, even stronger female lead! This is mainly to celebrate pulling Hua He Dou! I’m treating myself to a self-indulgent fic and falling in love with Honor of Kings all over again for an hour!!

*For the support/roamer role, I use “Sage”; for the jungler, I use “Assassin.” The other three positions are still “Top,” “Marksman,” and “Mage.” They sound a little nicer this way.

*Warning! There will be some serious stereotypes! For example, the jungler is an emperor, the marksman is a giant baby, the mage steals kills, the top laner never joins team fights, and the support greedily farms minions. There’s no subtext or negative connotation; it’s just each of the five Summoners’ personal playstyles, and it’s also for entertainment value (x). Please don’t overanalyze or assume these refer to anyone in particular!!

*The golden fingers are the skills associated with each Honor of Kings lane (they can get nerfed, so they won’t be too overpowered… probably… though they really are invincible in the late game). They also come with Honor of Kings’ turn-based battle system (minimap/team voice chat/MOBA game mechanics/equipment shop/economy panel).

*At the beginning, during Part 1, things get a little bleak while normal people are still coming to terms with a real-life death game. But once they hypnotize themselves into getting used to it, they can farm minions and level up without a care in the world!

*Vague, flirtatious romance, light and fluffy sweet treats: Marksman x Marco, Support x Ace, Jungler x Beckman, Mage x Shanks, Top x Mihawk. An all-girl five-stack, with the girls cuddling up sweetly together.

*The Summit War will turn into a team fight to push the World Government’s crystal, changing the original ending considerably. Five semis will run everyone over!

*

*If you’re okay with all the warnings above, then

“High-energy 1v9! Strict class hierarchy! Your skills and your parents’ lives are on the line! No pandering to men or women, only to the strong! Welcome to W City.”

“Ding, System has detected an error, in a Wi-Fi environment, downloading resources, rematching you, loading new map, ”

“Pirate Glory! Start!!”

The five of them transmigrated to a completely unfamiliar world while playing as a five-stack with their friends. The Mage felt like she might have died a little.

But the familiar game system had come along, too. They could pick heroes, buy equipment, and level up their runes. She was nothing special, but incredibly good at the game, and looking at the row of national and provincial titles on her profile, she felt like she might be back in business.

After barely surviving the blood-soaked tutorial, they received several new system announcements:

“New season: Grand Line multiplayer competitive death match mode has finished loading. Good luck climbing the ranks, Summoners!!”

“Friendly reminder: The Team system is now open. You currently belong to the Pirate faction. Please choose one of the following five teams to join and receive team-exclusive missions and buffs.”

The System urged them to join one of the Four Emperors’ teams. The five of them stared at the options: Red Hair, Whitebeard, the Zoo, the Daycare, and Freelancers. They looked at each other, bewildered.

…Why? None of us really want to pick one… Every option looks weird and dangerous, doesn’t it? Do we really have to join one?

This feels like some kind of obedience test. What a crappy game.

In the end, they obediently picked one anyway.

Five loyal Honor of Kings slaves kneeling in a row.jpg

“High-burst, continuous-control but squishy Mage x Shanks, the reassuring tank who protects her perfectly”

Character setup: A timid, spineless “Mage” who never backs down when it counts, bold enough to Flash in at level four and instantly take down a Four Emperor with her ultimate x Shanks, who thinks it’s adorable how she always hides behind him when passing bushes and how fascinated she is whenever she throws out a skill, so he’s always making her laugh

“Want to join our crew? Sure.” He patted the young girl on the head and looked her in the eye. “But just so we’re clear, leaving the captain is absolutely not allowed, no matter what the reason.”

Seeing the System notification, “Changing teams costs ten billion gold or requires you to complete a defection mission,” she glanced at her completely empty pockets and nodded obediently. “Okay, boss.”

We were never meant to be. It’s all because I’m a coward and broke.

Still… “You’re not allowed to leave”? That’s awfully strict. Doesn’t seem like Shanks’ style. Is there some story behind it?

After getting to know the ship’s officers, the Mage brought it up. For some reason, her crewmates all turned away from her gaze and awkwardly changed the subject.

Mage: “…?”

Why are they acting like that? Is this some kind of forbidden topic?

After imagining all sorts of dark, bloody horror stories, the Mage promised Shanks, who was smiling innocently behind her, in a trembling voice, “I-I won’t betray you.”

Shanks: “Pfft, I know. With a nerve as tiny as a quail’s egg, you wouldn’t even dream of it, would you?”

Mage: “…”

He’s so damn annoying!!!

She finally got an answer after her friend the Assassin joined the Red Hair Pirates, too.

The Assassin had noticed something was up between them ages ago. Raising an eyebrow, she said, “Hey, you know Shanks has only ever said that to you, right?”

Once again, Shanks had infuriated the Mage by stealing her minions and kill. She was pinning him down and beating him when she blurted, “Huh?” Then she saw the smiling eyes of the man beneath her.

“What… huh? Really? Why?”

“Careful, you’ll fall.” Shanks lowered her utterly unthreatening fists and steadied her by the waist, admitting with a laugh, “Yeah. What about it? Wasn’t I obvious enough?”

The Mage, belatedly realizing something might be going on: “…Huh?”

“High-mobility, high-burst jungler emperor who sets the tempo and calls the shots x Beckman, who can predict her every move and cover for her recklessness and risky plays”

Character setup: A sharp-tongued, caustic, blunt, controlling, most worried about everything and most desperate to win, rank-obsessed “Assassin” who’s especially experienced at playing from behind x Beckman, an older, level-headed expert at love who raises an eyebrow at this young woman’s antics, only to realize he’s falling harder the more he watches her. An old house catching fire.

The “Assassin” sweet-talked an entire ship of men, calling Beckman handsome with a bright smile and addressing him as “big brother.” Beckman knew better than anyone what she was really like.

A sharp-tongued, proud, smug young woman who could bend without breaking, always ready to compete, controlling and vengeful, able to talk to anyone in their own language, immune to both soft and hard tactics, and unexpectedly fond of sweets. A visitor from another world.

After all, the first time they met, she’d swooped down, grabbed him, carried him ten thousand meters into the sky, then hurled him back to the ground…

Come to think of it, what exactly was that ability called “Cloud’s Grace”?

This girl is a little intriguing.

“Sorry, old man. I don’t know your name, but try to keep your eyes open next time.” She flapped her wings in farewell. “Try not to get unlucky enough to run into your grandma again.”

She was doing something downright ruthless.

So why was her face smiling so brilliantly?

So full of spirit. So alive.

As his body plummeted, whether from the suspension bridge effect or something else, Beckman stared at that smiling face and admitted it had thrown him off balance.

Back then, he thought: So that’s what she looks like when she smiles.

It’s actually quite beautiful, isn’t it?

He soon figured out her temperament, and finally understood why she forced herself to keep killing so many enemies even though she wasn’t bloodthirsty, always talking about “last hits,” “clearing waves,” “farming jungle monsters,” and “wait for me to take the Dragon.”

She came from a peaceful world, and she was fighting with everything she had to survive here, hoping to “win” this “game” and take her friends to the final victory.

For the sake of “winning,” she could do anything.

She had to build a very high wall, plant thorns all around it, and seal her heart away, pretending she was immune to poison.

That was how the Assassin lived.

Beckman watched her light up with that brilliant smile again at the sight of a chocolate cake, and clearly heard his heartbeat fall slightly out of rhythm.

He thought: Whatever happens, he didn’t want to see her “lose.”

He would help her keep “winning.”

…And he thought he finally knew why he’d been acting so strangely, why he cared so much.

“Marksman, a giant baby who farms cautiously in the early game and deals explosive damage late-game x Marco, whom she immediately picks and clings to because he can tank, fight, and heal”

Character setup: An explosive powder keg, a haughty, capricious young lady with a bad temper and a masochistic streak. She claims she’s giving up every time, but in practice she handles pressure better than anyone. The “Marksman” x Marco, a devoted dad who doesn’t know what “Support and Marksman glued together” means, but is used to worrying about and taking care of everyone. Somehow he ends up getting roped in himself.

While Pops was dealing with the kid called Fire Fist, Marco was drawn to the mermaid “Sage” beside him, who had mysterious healing powers and kept saying, “One more time.”

Pops’s illness was getting worse, and he wanted to invite her aboard to help.

Who knew she’d point at the sour-faced “Marksman” beside her and say with a smile, “She can’t live without me. If I leave, she’ll die. We’re conjoined twins. If one of us dies, we die together.”

Marco: “…That’s a bit much, yoi.”

Buy one, get one free: two new family members, and Pops’s health kept improving. It should have been a good thing.

But for some reason, after this little girl called Marksman discovered his phoenix ability, she started clinging to him, shouting, “I was born to be a support!”

“Support, come support me! What’s the point of following xxx instead of me?!”

“Marco, don’t go! What am I supposed to do if you leave? I’ll die!”

“I’ve memorized every brick in the bot lane, but my support still hasn’t shown up. Marco, go on. See the world for me.”

Marco, who’d only gone to the bathroom: “…”

Hey, no. Are you serious?

She was so clingy, it felt like he was looking after a child who couldn’t be away from anyone for even a second.

Honestly, it was the first time a girl had clung to him so tightly, and at first Marco was a little embarrassed.

But after hearing “Requesting backup” over and over, he was starting to go numb.

“I’m asking you, aren’t you a little too dependent on me, yoi?” After the battle, Marco patiently redid the Marksman’s braid, which had come undone in the bombardment, then wiped her face clean. “What are you going to do when I’m not around?”

He only wanted to tell her to grow up a little and become more independent.

He swore, he really didn’t mean anything else.

He didn’t expect the little girl, who’d been lying obediently on his lap like a cat, to suddenly bristle, eyes red as she threw a huge, furious tantrum.

She’d apparently misunderstood him.

With a practiced, aching head, he held her down, then smoothed her hair, hugged her, and lifted her up, putting in a great deal of effort to calm her down. She even made him promise that they’d “stay glued together as Support and Marksman, go to jail together, and never split up when disaster strikes.”

Marco: “…I have absolutely no idea what this kid is talking about… Have they already developed a generation gap?”

Meanwhile, the Marksman happily reported the good news to her friends: “No wild man stole him! Marco still likes duo-queueing with me best!”

The others, feeling like something was off but not knowing what to say: “…”

“Support, who can heal, tank, start team fights, protect allies, scout vision, and do it all x Ace, whom she adores endlessly because he’s reckless, hard-headed, and a little self-destructive”

Character setup: A true, old-money noble heiress: warm and easygoing on the outside, cool and distant within, kind to those beneath her, very mindful of boundaries, a peacemaker and smiling fox. The “Sage” x Ace, who fell head over heels at first sight of her mermaid form, is earnestly trying to confess in secret, only to be turned down again and again. A single-minded, clueless hothead.

“Miss Mermaid!”

Hearing that name yet again, the “Sage” sighed.

How could she explain it to Ace? She wasn’t actually a mermaid, just an ordinary human who could use Doria’s skills.

Should she be grateful that the first form he’d seen wasn’t her transformed into Zhang Fei, Niu Mo, Donghuang Taiyi, Yao, or some ridiculous contraption?

She couldn’t imagine being called “Miss Cow-Cow” or “Miss Loach.” The Sage gave him a helpless smile. “Did you get hurt again, Ace?”

This silly boy always managed to get himself covered in scrapes if she took her eyes off him for a moment.

He was growing stronger at the speed of a moth flying into a flame and burning itself up, rushing from one battlefield to another, each far beyond his ability level.

But rapid growth often came at the cost of increasingly severe injuries.

As someone older, she really wanted to ask Ace, “What are you in such a hurry for? Why do you always act like you’re trying to trade your life for something?”

He now had her by his side, able to rapidly heal him with all kinds of skills, but… one day she would have to go back.

What would he do if she left?

He’d die somewhere she couldn’t see.

She’d known that was coming all along.

So, faced with Ace’s completely obvious affection, she pretended not to understand, either brushing it off or abruptly changing the subject, forcing herself to ignore his dejected expression.

“We’ll have to part eventually anyway, right? Better not to start. It’s better for both of us.” She spoke calmly to her friend, the Marksman, pretending not to see the figure in the doorway. “Besides, I hate kids who don’t take their own lives seriously. We’d never work.”

Who was she really saying that to? By now, she didn’t know herself.

The Sage thought she could keep ignoring it forever. Honestly, she was good at that.

But during the Summit War, when she really saw that boy die right in front of her, she couldn’t accept it.

Fortunately, the System unlocked Chang’e the Immortal just in time. Facing Ace, newly revived and looking bewildered, she wore a rare frown. “You never learn, do you? Fine. From now on, your life belongs to me.”

“Are… are you angry? I’m sorry, I…”

The Sage cut him off, her voice cold and stern. “Go home and recover. If you run off again, I’ll find a dog leash and tie you up. I mean it.”

Picking up on the unusual anger and concern in her voice, Ace’s face turned bright red in an instant.

The Sage had only been trying to scare him with an empty threat: “…?”

Wait, what? Why’s he reacting like that? …Why does he look like he’s kind of looking forward to it?!

“Versatile, durable, hard-hitting, lane-pushing all-rounder Top x Mihawk, who’s completely absorbed in the fight, thinking, ‘Let’s see what surprise you come up with next’”

Character setup: A dependable lone wolf from the Freelancer faction who loves a good duel and charges in fearlessly, the “Top” x Mihawk, equally devoted to dueling, equally taciturn, and ready to fight anyone who challenges him. A true Top-lane couple, perfectly matched.

The first time Mihawk met the “Top,” she was full of openings and didn’t even know what Haki was.

He thought, “This one’s no good. Too weak. Not worthy of being my opponent.”

He changed his mind soon enough.

Because Top! She bought a “Blade of Ruin”! (screaming)

She easily deflected his full-strength strike, and Mihawk admitted that the way she wielded that blade had dazzled him.

During those few seconds of apparent invincibility, he couldn’t figure out how it worked, no matter how long he thought about it. So they fought a second time, then a third… and countless times after that.

Every time, Top fought harder and more fiercely than before, swinging blades, raising swords, bringing down axes, thrusting spears, throwing punches, declaring “I am the sun,” and “I’ll shatter the darkness with thunder.”

Her style changed completely each time, as if she’d become an entirely different person.

Mihawk couldn’t help asking, “Got anything else?”

Triggered by her base code, Top grinned. “You bet, brother. A hero this strong comes in more than one variety.”

The entire roster of version 0.5’s most overpowered heroes and worst trash-tier picks rushed into battle. Skills came one after another, cooldowns got shorter and shorter, their economy snowballed, and the Summoner fought more fiercely with every clash!

The two gradually became evenly matched, recognized each other as worthy opponents, and couldn’t help feeling a kinship. Eventually, they reached the point where they’d put their arms around each other’s shoulders and have a few drinks and a chat after their fights.

Though Top was the only one putting an arm around Mihawk, he glanced at her a few times and didn’t push her away.

Even much, much later, even after their monthly duels had become a habit and he never missed one, he still couldn’t bring himself to push her away.

Then the Summit War clashed with the date of their regular monthly duel.

One was a Warlord summoned by force, the other was called away by her jungler with, “Group up, team fight incoming.” They both made excuses and, without even planning it, stood each other up.

“I… have something to do. I need to go on a long trip.”

“Ahaha, what a coincidence, I have something to do, too. Let’s meet next time.”

But when the two of them showed up to handle their business, one representing the Marines and the other the Pirates, they came face to face in opposing camps at Marineford.

“Cough, so we’re here for the same thing.” Top, who had a thicker skin, greeted him with a laugh, stacked her passive, and slashed at him with Starbreaker. “Thinking about defecting, brother?”

Mihawk, who’d been wearing an icy expression since the war began, smiled, too, and raised his sword to meet her attack. “We’ll talk after the fight.”

“I haven’t eaten yet. Mind if I come over to your place for dinner later?”

“…You cooking?”

“Sure. If you dare eat it, I dare cook it.”

“…I’d better cook, then.”

Her other teammates, still waiting for Top to join the fight: “Hey, boss lady, where are you? You’re supposed to start the team fight, not flirt over there!”

Their five-stack was a perfect deranking team. Their lineup was complete, their game sense was on point, their mechanics were top-notch, and their skills were beyond question.

Their only weakness was… apart, each was a king. Together, they were a scattered mess.

“System notification: Storm Dragon King has descended. The final battle begins!”

The game dragged into the very, very late stages. The Jungler was almost ready to burst after holding it in for the entire game, furiously spamming “Requesting backup.” “How come nobody’s behind me when I turn around? Why aren’t you joining the fight, are you picking lingzhi mushrooms?! If you mess around any longer, our base is gone!!”

The homecoming effect for Warm Winter Home flashed “ding ding ding” on the minimap. The Mage, lingering at the edge of the fight and doing nothing, pointed toward the Top lane. “Give her a minute. She’s still trying to outplay them.”

The Support glanced at the team’s economy, secretly sold her support item, and preordered a Guardian Angel. When she was caught, she whistled and turned away. “Full AP Da Qiao is viable, trust me.”

“You can’t team fight without the Marksman! Do you even know how to play?” After getting beaten up for forty straight minutes, the Marksman finally completed her six items and saved her teammates from disaster with a super-difficult 3333 combo. “Stop whining. Mom’s here.”

As for how they got into trouble in the first place… don’t worry about that.

“Jungler, can you please make something happen?”

“Didn’t she just call for a surrender?”

“Go take a Dragon already!”

“…The Dragon Kings are all either top generals or Marine heroes! Which one do you want me to take?!!”

“Blackbeard, maybe? His health bar looks a little thin. Does he still have his ultimate?”

“Let the Assassin find out.”

“You ******, you ********”

After an intense round of cursing each other’s family trees, the Assassin used a Flying Thunder God Z-shaped dash to appear behind Teach, her blade gleaming. “Fine, him it is. If you sell me out, you freaks are all dead.”

A whirlpool gate opened, and her teammates followed up in perfect sync. The louder they argued, the harder they fought.

“Stop swaying around! You know I get motion sick!”

“Thanks for the assist. I won’t let you down.”

“Tsk, completely busted. Needs a nerf. Did you laugh at yourself yet?”

“Damage from the left foot, then high damage from the right. Truly the Emperor of Jing.”

Teach, who hadn’t sensed anyone at all with his Observation Haki, suddenly found himself surrounded by all five of them: “?”

How is this any different from being haunted?

I have no idea! They were shouting something about starting a team fight and taking a Dragon, then came charging at me!

Short story available for advance bookmarking! Species Invading the New World

This story isn’t about power levels! It features powerful old monsters who use magic invading the low-magic One Piece world. Their strength is on a completely different level, so it’s purely a sweet romance. Romance takes up more of the story than the plot, so I want to make that clear in advance!

The female leads are dragons, elves, demon kings, snow women, and other fantastical, centuries- or millennia-old immortal beings from different worlds. The male leads are Marco, Shanks, and Ace (Beckman and Sanji appear in the other short stories). Each is a quick, self-contained read.

I think this is going to be so satisfying. If you’re okay with that, open wide and have some!

[First World: The Hero and the Demon King’s Final Rest] Hehe, inspired by watching Frieren

Part 1: Can a phoenix and an elf be pen pals?

The hero party’s backbone, top-tier mage and elf, Elleria x Marco

Elleria, an elf named “Eyes of the Stars” by the Oracle at birth, was prophesied to be the miracle that would end the Demon King’s rule, which had lasted tens of thousands of years.

She had a pen pal she’d been writing to for three thousand years.

Year after year, month after month, day and night, without fail, through wind and rain.

“He’s a human, yet he says he’s a phoenix… Is that some kind of charming custom or symbolic belief where he comes from?” Elleria thought with a smile, completely unaware that he had a similar theory about her.

“An elf? She’s probably a Devil Fruit user living in seclusion, writing some grand fantasy novel.” Marco, who could follow plenty of new chapters about “magic,” “monsters,” and the “Demon King’s army” every day, took them as an artistic transformation of her real-life hardships.

Somehow, out of a strange kind of consideration, neither of them ever called out the other’s story. Instead, they indulged each other and played along, calling each other Miss Elf and Mr. Phoenix.

Time passed differently in their worlds. Three thousand years and thirty years may seem like an enormous difference, but they spent the same proportion of their lives together. They truly accompanied each other through an incredibly long stretch of time.

Whether in the middle of studying magic or in the ruins after a battle with monsters, whenever a letter arrived, Elleria would immediately find a quiet corner and read every word slowly and carefully. It had become a habit she couldn’t give up.

The elders of her clan always warned her not to form deep bonds with short-lived races. But the young elf looked at the mountain of letters in her treehouse and stubbornly shook her head.

She thought that one day, when she had mastered spatial magic, she would go and meet Mr. Phoenix.

But the Summit War and the battle at the Demon King’s castle… shadows fell over both worlds almost at the same time. A Pirate crew facing the full strength of Marine Headquarters was surely a fight to the death, and the Demon King’s darkness might kill an elf who neither aged nor died.

Both of them sensed that this might be their last letter, and left their final words in time.

At last, the Demon King’s castle collapsed. The human hero burned through his soul and life, dying together with the Demon King. After breaking through their limits time and again and paying a terrible price, the hero’s party won. In the midst of the devastation, Elleria read a wish that had crossed the boundaries of time and space.

“We’re going into a tough fight. I hope we can bring my brother back. Elleria, if… if there really are miracles in this world, I hope one happens today.”

A miracle…

The elf, who had mastered spatial magic and was herself called a “miracle,” lifted her staff, unable to hide her worry.

“Didn’t you say you wanted a miracle, Marco?” She softly chanted a spell. A huge, intricate magic circle blotted out the sky, connecting the two worlds. “…All right.”

Don’t die, Mr. Phoenix.

A few minutes later, a silver-haired, silver-eyed elf stood at Marineford, staring at Marco in his phoenix form, utterly dumbfounded. He, too, stared blankly at her pointed ears and the magic circle.

The two incredible creatures, pen pals who were meeting in person for the first time, stared at each other and thought almost the exact same thing:

“Ah… so… so you were being serious?!”

Part 2: Huh? You’re saying my sister is the Demon King who’ll destroy the world?

Leader of the Demon King’s army, the greatest villain bent on destroying the world, Demon King Ilialan x Ace

A twenty-five-year serial! An epic spanning thousands of years! The fantasy novel Elf Era, starring elf mage Elleria and delivered to the World Economy News Paper by the Moby Dick, reached its finale after the miraculous arrival at the Summit War.

…So the “Eyes of the Stars” really existed…

Oh my god, so it wasn’t a fantasy novel at all. It was a true story…

Ace, who’d grown up listening to Elf Era, stared in shock at the enormous, living elf as she told him about the final battle at the Demon King’s castle.

Those monsters… had no feelings, only the instinct to survive… born for no discernible reason… rejected by the world…

None of them had a choice. They couldn’t choose what kind of environment they were born into or what original sin they had to bear.

Feeling a deep kinship, the boy his brothers called a “villain fan” abruptly looked up. “Then… what about the Demon King? Born as the embodiment of evil, destined from birth to be hunted by every living thing. Do you think she… ever felt that living like that was pointless?”

He wanted to know what the Demon King, who mastered all kinds of magic and could freeze time, the world’s strongest being, a terrifyingly overpowered force whose every appearance made despair seem inevitable, had been like before she died.

Elleria stared at Ace, sensing from him the dark aura that made elves feel sick.

This human… he…

Ace received a memory from Miss Elf. Staring in shock at the pale, lazy, weary Demon King in the scene, he couldn’t understand why her face looked so familiar.

She, wasn’t that Ilialan?!

Wasn’t she the one who called herself a “Shadow-Shadow Fruit user,” the one who’d been with him since childhood, combing his hair with her fingers, letting him lay his head on her lap, patiently telling him bedtime stories… his most important… big sister?!!

After hearing him say her name again and again until her head hurt, Ilialan, or rather the Demon King, slowly emerged from the shadow beneath Ace’s feet.

Heh. So now he was willing to call for her? Where had that stubborn streak gone back at Marineford, when he wouldn’t say a word to ask for help?

Tsk. Honestly… she couldn’t win against him.

Everyone aboard the Moby Dick went as quiet as a mouse. The legendary Demon King yawned and lazily flicked Ace on the forehead. “What is it this time, brat? You’re so noisy. Didn’t we already get a happy ending, with everyone together?”

“…So it really was you. Were you playing house? Toying with human feelings? How despicable.” Elleria sneered, stepping in front of Marco and raising her staff. “You used time-reversal magic on him, with a pain-numbing effect attached? Were you afraid he’d feel pain before he died? Did you want him to ‘be reborn’ at some critical point with all his memories intact?”

“How very considerate of you, Your Majesty.”

Ace listened, dumbstruck. Ilialan’s face visibly darkened. The warmth she’d shown only to one stupid little Fire Fist vanished completely, replaced by undisguised chill and murderous intent. “Do I have to explain myself to you, Elf?”

Ace, on the verge of witnessing the second Demon King’s Castle showdown, live and in person: “…W-wait, you, Ilialan! Wait!!”

Wait, so… she really is… the Demon King?! And what was that thing about rebirth magic just now?!

Part 3: The blasphemer plucked the moon down with his own hands

The Elves’ greatest treasure, the Oracle, a blind seer, elf, Celestia x Shanks

The Oracle, who could see the future and guide her people, was the only one unable to see her own fate, or the fate of Shanks, who came from another world.

Unable to see, Sera let Shanks take her hand and steady her, then carefully explored the calluses on his sword hand.

Why? This is the first time I can’t see anything… How strange. Who is this human?

Shanks took it well when the beautiful elf girl touched and felt his hand the first time they met. He watched Sera’s pointed ears twitch slightly as she concentrated and thought she looked rather cute.

What a clueless elf. She’s way too easy to fool.

After witnessing the power of her star magic, he learned that this was the all-knowing sage who always thought three moves ahead in Elf Era, a terrifying being who had lived tens of thousands of years and was practically a god.

But human beings are strange. First impressions often last a very, very long time, and later labels can never completely cover them up.

Stripped of those intimidating titles, in Shanks’s eyes, Sera was just an innocent, sheltered, easygoing, beautiful elf.

He swore he’d originally only wanted to be friends with her and keep unscrupulous people away from her. He really did.

…But later, ahem, he became the “unscrupulous person” who wanted to blaspheme against a god.

As her one and only best friend, Shanks patiently taught her.

“Friends can hug.” She hugged him.

“Friends can hold hands.” She held his hand.

“Friends can kiss.” …She kissed him.

“Friends can also…” Yes, that’s right. She did that, too.

Sera learned everything with care and did it with complete honesty.

For an elf used to knowing everything and being able to do anything, the “unknown” was the most fascinating thing in the world. Because Shanks was the only “blank spot” in her vision. She couldn’t see him, calculate his fate, or predict what he’d do. That was why she was always curious about him, always looking forward to seeing him, always happy to be with him.

She never resisted at all. She did whatever he asked, and would even tilt her head up slightly, the lines beneath her eyelids shining, silently asking, “Best friend, what should we do next?”

Who could resist an invitation like that? Shanks certainly couldn’t. He honestly found it thrilling.

They did everything intimate in the name of friendship. Even when the elven elders and her beloved student Elleria tried furiously to stop them, Sera remained unmoved.

The moon in his arms, the elf honestly told her best friend, “It’s okay. I like it when Shanks does this.”

Ahhhhh, Oracle! Please come to your senses! He’s only backing off to get you to make the first move! Friends don’t go all the way to bed together!!!

After she kissed him of her own accord, Shanks gave the pointed ears glaring at him an innocent smile. “See? She wanted to.”

Sera nodded and calmly agreed. “Yes. I wanted to.”

Elleria: “…”

The elves: “…”

The elves had never met a human so cunning and despicable. They were going insane.

[Second World: The Otherworldly]

Part 1: Can a phoenix and a dragon be pen pals?

Wood dragon Trist, a cold fish before meeting him and a carnivore afterward x Marco

Marco would go over it countless times later, wondering how things had ended up this way.

At first, they really were just pen pals: a scale that suddenly appeared, a woman who called herself a “dragon,” her drawings of dragon nests and dragon friends, his drawings of his home, the Moby Dick; she sent him glowing leaves, and he sent her delicious fruit he’d collected. When they couldn’t understand each other, they used clumsy doodles. Later, they started using broken Common. She learned quickly. It took just a few letters for her to go from choppy little sentences to long, fluent letters.

They shared their daily lives across time and space, without any pressure.

Later, they began talking with Tone Dials and Voice Stones. She taught him Dragon, and he taught her Common. Her pronunciation always had a strange accent. Through a Voice Stone, Marco heard Trist say his name for the first time.

“Mar-co.”

Her voice was slow, stretching out the syllables, rising at the end with a little trill and a peculiar rhythm.

He held the stone to his ear and listened to it over and over. Only belatedly did he realize he was grinning like an idiot. When Thatch asked what it was, he said it was a friend. Thatch gave him a knowing smile and asked when he’d introduce his “friend” to the rest of them. Marco pretended not to hear.

To be honest, Marco didn’t know what his pen pal looked like. He only knew she was a dragon, could use magic, and had recently started studying spatial magic. She’d laughingly told him that when they met, she’d make sure Mr. Phoenix got a good look at her dragon form.

That night came without warning.

An ambush, betrayal, death, blood. Thatch fell in a pool of blood, his heart stopping. Marco knelt there, pressing his hands mechanically to his brother’s chest, tears falling onto Thatch’s face and mixing with the blood.

And then, a dragon really did appear.

She stepped out of the pale moonlight. Dark green hair, emerald eyes with vertical pupils. She was taller than he’d imagined, more… He looked at her through his tears, his hands still mechanically pressing Thatch’s chest.

Then she covered his hands with hers.

“Marco… that’s enough. Don’t be afraid. Leave it to me.”

Trist’s hands were warm and steady. Magic that could create a miracle poured out, and Thatch’s heart started beating again. She wiped the blood and tears from Marco’s face, from his forehead to his cheeks, the bridge of his nose to his chin.

“It’s all right now.” At last, she gently brushed his face with the back of her hand. Her reassuring voice was soft, so soft. “See? He’s alive again. It’s all right, Marco.”

Marco opened his mouth, but no sound came out.

At that moment, only one thought filled his mind: She came. She really came.

He should have realized something was off.

The way Trist looked at him, the excessively focused, lingering gaze, her undisguised concern and tenderness… But he told himself it was a species thing. Dragons, you know. They expressed themselves differently from humans. It was normal.

Long hugs, hand-holding under all sorts of pretexts, pineapples she fed him herself, and the book about humans she always carried around, supposedly written by one of her friends.

Humans. Of course she needed to learn about them, since this was her first time in this world. Marco kept telling himself that.

Moonlight fell through the collapsed roof. She pinned him down in the ruins, lowered her head and took him into her mouth. When he couldn’t take it anymore and helplessly gave in, the phoenix’s mind went blank, and she gave him a kiss.

He tasted himself.

“Is it because you like pineapple?” The woman who’d devoured him again and again teased him, pressing her lips against his. “…Marco, you’re sweet.”

Something in Marco’s head exploded. “You… where did you learn…”

That book… all those things about “humans,” about their history and culture… it was about the weak spots of human men!

How long had she been studying it? When had she started? Was that why she kept taking notes while watching him? Was it all for this moment?!

The intensely lustful dragon admitted it without hesitation. “Mm. I wanted to learn.”

Learn what?

Learn about him.

After meeting him and first understanding the feeling of falling in love, Trist wiped the tears from the man she loved and realized she wanted to be the one who would wipe away every tear he shed for the rest of his life.

Devoured completely once again, Marco finally remembered.

He had never gotten involved with some gentle, level-headed pen pal from another world.

He had gotten involved with a dragon.

A dragon who had lived for who knew how many years, possessed tremendous power, was patient and persistent, and knew exactly how to make sure that the partner she’d set her sights on only had eyes for her…

Damn it, how had he forgotten that?

Part 2: Shapeshifter and playboy

Fun-loving, carnivorous shapeshifter Esilia x Beckman

Esilia was a shapeshifter.

Shapeshifters had no fixed form. They could look like anything and be any species. Her people used this ability to disguise themselves, steal, and infiltrate. She was the best at it, but had no interest in any of those things. What was the point of stealing information? It was much more fun to find something entertaining.

She loved interesting people and things more than anything.

So, following the coordinates her friend Trist had left behind, the shapeshifter regarded as an oddity ripped open a rift in space and came to this world.

She’d heard they had things called Devil Fruits here, and that eating one turned you into a landlubber. Supposedly they tasted awful, but just how awful? It sounded so interesting. She was curious.

In a tavern on some island, two pirate crews were having a party, talking and shouting over each other. Esilia sat in the corner, watching that lovestruck wood dragon and her partner fawn over each other with a smile. It was almost too much to look at.

Then she noticed a human.

The red-haired captain’s right-hand man, with silver-gray hair, a scar on his face, and a cigarette in his mouth. Her gaze drifted downward without thinking. Trist was always bragging about how delicious and fun to touch her partner’s waist was, so Esilia had waist on the brain, too. And this man did look pretty sturdy.

The man named Beckman noticed her watching almost immediately.

Realizing that in this world it was a kind of unspoken adult invitation, Esilia casually looked away.

A little while later, the man came over.

“Is this seat taken?”

“…No.”

Beckman sat down and smiled as he ordered her a drink. “Pretty boring, huh? They’re a bit unruly when they get going.”

Unexpectedly gentlemanly and good at reading the room. Esilia lazily thought, and chatted with him about nothing in particular until late at night, taking the conversation from their seats to the bed.

They slept together.

It was just a fling, and neither of them took it seriously. Leaning against her friend, she lazily commented, “Not bad. Just too eager. A common short-lived species problem.”

On the pirate ship opposite, Beckman heard every word. He raised an eyebrow, committing the rather fresh review to memory.

A little over half a month later, in a tavern on another island, she saw him again with a different face. Same opening line, same question. Did this man use the same lines on all women? What a clichéd human.

They slept together again.

The next morning, with his arm around her, he suddenly asked, “What score do I get this time?”

Esilia froze. A human who couldn’t use magic had recognized her.

He’d completely sparked her curiosity. So there was a third time, a fourth, a fifth, and a sixth. Every time, he recognized her, and it took him less and less time.

Why? Unable to find an answer, Esilia didn’t want to leave.

“Want to keep playing, Miss Long-Lived?”

“Sure.” She grinned at Beckman. “It’s not every day you meet such an interesting human. Why wouldn’t I?”

Part 3: Snow woman and Fire Fist

Cheerful, affectionate puppy of a snow woman, Greysill x Ace

Greysill was the youngest genius of the snow women.

Her world was covered in snow and ice, white and silent, so cold that even time seemed frozen. Her people were taciturn, each guarding their own territory. They never went near each other or spoke.

The cheerful little girl, who loved to laugh and talk, had never been like the rest of her people. They thought she was too loud and didn’t fit in. So she had no friends.

After watching the aurora alone for 137 years, Greysill finally met Trist.

The dragon from the Dragon Realm was as gentle as a spring breeze. She crouched on the ice and asked curiously, “What are you doing?”

Greysill looked up at the vertical pupils that didn’t belong to her world, and immediately smiled. From that day on, she had her first friend.

Later, Trist told her that she’d found a partner and was going to settle down in a low-magic world. She invited Greysill to visit. His ship was called the Moby Dick, and everyone aboard was friendly and warm, nothing like her people.

They couldn’t speak the same language, but they could share a smile, and the grinning snow woman soon made lots of friends.

Trist’s partner had an unruly younger brother named Ace.

Greysill fell from the sky and knocked away the fish Ace had just finished grilling. In the snow women’s language, she apologized in a small voice, saying, “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to, don’t be mad, I can make it up to you.”

Though he couldn’t understand her, he could probably guess what she was saying from the way she looked. Ace paused, cooled off, and helplessly grilled another fish. She ate ten of them in one go.

The way Fire Fist, who was a fire himself, looked at her changed from “Is this girl here to cause trouble?” to “Is she a bottomless pit?”

Ace was so, so warm. Greysill crouched beside him and gave him an ice sculpture of himself grilling fish, then smiled and said, “I like you.”

It was the phrase she’d learned most fluently.

Huh? Why? Ace’s face and ears turned red. Was he going to set himself on fire?

They went to many places together, ice and fire constantly clashing. Greysill didn’t understand the twists and turns of human relationships. If she liked someone, she said so. If she wanted to get closer, she did. If she wanted to hold hands, she reached for his. Her feelings were pure and clear as ice.

Ace blushed and burned up, but never pulled away.

“She doesn’t know anything.” He buried his face in her snow-white hair and heard his own sigh. “But I do.”

He knew what that heartbeat out of control meant, what it meant to cross the line, and what such a long hug meant in the human world.

Part 4: Mermaid and Red Hair

As a princess of the merfolk, Aruru could do everything: fight, spin thread, play the harp, and knock anything flying with her tail. There was only one thing she couldn’t do: sing.

She accidentally wandered into a temporal rift while trying to visit her friend in a low-magic world, and landed in East Blue more than twenty years earlier.

The mermaid sat on a reef and played her harp to calm the temporal currents. She was as beautiful as a legend, but when she opened her mouth, the entire Red Hair crew was struck as if by lightning. The musician Bonk Punch covered his ears and cried in despair, “It can’t be! I have to be having a nightmare…!”

Shanks stood at the bow, listened to the whole song, and laughed until he cried, nearly falling overboard.

He had the ship draw closer. He really wanted to meet this tone-deaf mermaid. “My name’s Shanks. What’s yours?”

“…Aruru.”

Shanks was probably the first person who thought she sang beautifully.

Or maybe he just thought she looked beautiful when she sang. Her tail swished back and forth, her brows furrowed tightly, and she sang with such earnest concentration.

“Aruru, sing another one!” The young red-haired captain demanded an encore, ignoring his crewmates’ expressions of utter horror and disbelief, their gritted teeth and averted eyes.

Aruru: “…”

She glared at him, her tail whipping back and forth. She decided to slap the kid before going to find her friend.

That was how they first met.

Aruru made a human friend with a bizarre sense of humor, and spent a whole year adventuring with him before leaving with Trist’s magic.

The laws of time erased every trace. Shanks forgot her, only vaguely remembering that he seemed to be searching for something: a mermaid whose tail slaps really hurt and who sang unbelievably badly. He couldn’t explain the details, but he searched for many years.

When he met Aruru again and she jumped up to smack him with her tail, Shanks immediately realized she was the one he’d been looking for, the mermaid.

She said he had a low bar for humor; he said she was cute. The two of them bickered, neither willing to admit they’d fallen for each other first. In the end, the mermaid princess couldn’t take it anymore. She looked at her reflection, her face bright red, and finally said, “You’re so damn screwed. You’ve fallen in love.”

Her voice was gritted through her teeth, her tail smacking against the ground. She looked so, so cute. Shanks, who’d meant to pretend he hadn’t heard, couldn’t keep from smiling.

He was a man who’d weathered countless storms, not some young boy. He knew when to play dumb and give them both a little room. In her current state, standing there, cursing herself at the sea, she clearly needed time to process it.

But he really couldn’t help himself. Smiling, he picked up the thread. “Hmm? Who? You?”

Aruru was stunned. She hadn’t expected anyone to be awake in the middle of the night, let alone eavesdropping. Her expression was so funny.

“I think I heard someone say, ”

“No.”

“Someone said, ”

“No!”

“Someone, ”

“Ahhh, shut the hell up!!”

Shanks dodged the powerful tail slap meant to make him forget everything and laughed so hard he cried all over again.

What an idiot.

She’d spent the whole day thinking about it just for this?

…Wasn’t it obvious?

[Third World: She Is a Dragon]

Part 1: Can a red-haired pirate and a little fire dragon be pen pals?

Part 2: Hey, Ace has a dragon, too

Theme: Life is a game