Chapter 1: Awakening in a Doomed Land
A dull ache spread through my body as I slowly opened my eyes. My limbs felt weak, as if drained of all strength. The rough texture of a futon beneath me was unfamiliar, and a strange scent of wood and incense filled the air.
Faint voices echoed around me, muffled yet urgent. My head throbbed, my vision hazy, but I could make out a blurry figure standing over me.
"I will defeat Kaido… and I will protect Wano!"
His voice was resolute, filled with unwavering determination. My mind struggled to process the words. Kaido? Wano? My sluggish thoughts barely registered the meaning.
The man reached down, his large, calloused hand gently resting on my forehead for a brief moment before he turned and strode away with purpose.
And then—
Ding!
A sharp, clear chime echoed inside my mind, sending a shiver down my spine. The world around me suddenly blurred as if reality itself was being rewritten. My head felt like it was being split open as an overwhelming flood of memories surged into my brain—memories that weren't mine.
The feeling was unbearable. Images flashed before my eyes—training with a sword under my father's watchful gaze, playing with my sister Hiyori, watching my mother smile warmly at me, and most terrifying of all, Kaido's monstrous form looming over my father in battle.
I let out a strangled gasp as the memories crashed into me like an unrelenting tidal wave. My vision darkened, my body tensed, and then—
I blacked out.
When I woke again, the room was dimly lit, shadows flickering against the walls from a single candle burning nearby. My body still felt weak, but my mind was no longer drowning in chaos. Instead, clarity settled in.
I knew who I was.
I was Momonosuke. The heir of the Kozuki Clan, son of Kozuki Oden, the rightful shogun of Wano.
And yesterday, my father had gone to battle against Kaido.
And he had lost.
A deep, suffocating grief settled in my chest. I remembered the last time I had seen him—standing tall, fearless, preparing for a battle he had no intention of losing. But history had already played out its tragic script. Oden had fallen.
I should have been more devastated. Should have broken down in tears, mourning the father I barely knew yet held close in my heart. But something was off—my emotions were tangled, torn between two identities. Because I was not just Momonosuke.
I was also the man from Earth.
The man who had fallen asleep after reading One Piece's latest chapter about the Straw Hats heading toward Elbaph. The man who had woken up in the body of a frightened child in the worst possible moment of Wano's history.
Before I could even begin to process what this meant, something even more shocking happened.
A soft glow appeared in front of me, like a screen floating in midair. My breath hitched. It wasn't a trick of the candlelight—there was a panel, translucent yet solid, hovering before my eyes.
[Copy System Activated]
My heart pounded. My body froze as the panel shifted, displaying a list of skills. At the very top of the list, one name stood out like a beacon in the darkness:
Kozuki Oden (1 Skill Available for Copying)
My throat went dry. I didn't dare blink, afraid the vision would disappear. The system was real. It wasn't a delusion.
And it was giving me a choice.
I sucked in a shaky breath and focused on the panel. More text materialized before me, listing Oden's skills in clear, bold letters:
Oden Two-Sword StyleAdvanced Conqueror's HakiRyou (Advanced Armament Haki)Monstrous Physical StrengthBattle Instincts & Experience
My hands clenched into fists, my mind racing. I could copy one of these skills. Just one.