[One Piece] Emperor Simulator

I am an honest man who has lived three lives.

In my first life, I was born into a lowly position, starting out as a slave.

In a world where gods are as numerous as loaves of bread, I was neither a subject protected by the gods nor a god who ruled over the life and death of countless people. I was that loaf of bread, the sacrificial offering people presented when they prayed to the gods.

An honest man like me would never fight back unless pushed to the brink. But I was about to become bread, so to stay alive, I had no choice but to find a way to climb to the position of a god. After becoming a god, I dutifully kept a low profile as an insignificant deity. Unfortunately, even though I was so honest, I was inexplicably branded an evil god and eventually devoured.

In my second life, I wasn't bread, but I was still just as much of a workhorse.

At least workhorses get a little grass, so I dutifully worked myself to the bone, hoping to get through this life as an ordinary person, and then...

I inexplicably died again.

And so I got a third life.

Perhaps the Creator God also felt that an honest man like me shouldn't always be bullied, so in my third life, I got to experience what it was like to be one of the privileged.

I started out as one of the Celestial Dragons.

A Celestial Dragon among Celestial Dragons.

The only king in the world.

However, just as I was preparing to lie flat and enjoy life as a happy Celestial Dragon, I suddenly heard a voice...

[Ding! You are the biggest villain, destined to be defeated by the true protagonist of this world. Fourteen years remain until you are deposed.]

Me, suddenly saddled with the title of villain: ???

Who’s the big villain?

Me?

But it doesn't matter. At worst, I'll voluntarily abdicate in fourteen years and ask the protagonist to...

[The day you are deposed will also be the day you die. The death countdown has begun.]

???

Wait, what kind of setup is this, where I have to die even if I don't play the villain role???

[To stay alive, you must earn recognition from the will of this world. The only way to earn this world's recognition is to become a king acknowledged by all.]

?

Become a wise king?

Me?

How could an honest man like me be an emperor? I once tried to be an insignificant god who kept his head down, and still got branded an evil god. If I start ruling, won't I get deposed even faster? Die sooner?

To enjoy the life of wealth and privilege that I finally got, I still wanted to struggle a little. I decided to put together a government team to do the work for me. As for where to find the workhorses...

As it happens, there are plenty of suitable candidates in my harem (wearing an honest, sincere expression).

The pirates, Marines, knights, and passersby who were inexplicably kidnapped and sent into the harem, then put to work like beasts of burden: ???

An honest man? You?

A workhorse? Me???

[Note: The original story was a free short-story collection of One Piece romance stories. While organizing my reserved story ideas, I found it overlapped with another short-story collection, so I might combine them. If I write any more One Piece BG short stories later, I'll put them all in that collection. This reserved slot will still be for a One Piece story, but with a different premise, still focused on nation-building, and with a playboy version of the protagonist.]

Premise

Theme: Power is a woman's best beauty treatment.