Clinging to life

The Eastern Blue, Log Town Even the rain didn't stop Log Town from showing its activity. Despite the heavy rain, everyone wore their coats and headed somewhere, but in the middle of this street stood a thin boy who appeared to be about twelve years old.

Despite the rain, he wore simple clothes that didn't seem to warm him, and his black hair was soaked with water, falling on his forehead. His face was very pale, and it looked like he might die at any moment. He looked to the right and then to the left, filled with curiosity.

His name is Luka. About three hours ago, he was working in a wood factory. When lunchtime came, he went to take a short nap, and upon waking up, he found himself in this world, in the body of a small child. Luka sighed and said, "It seems this isn't a dream. I've crossed into the pirate world, in the body of a twelve-year-old."

The name of the owner of this body is also Luka, and he was twelve years old. It had been twelve years since the execution of the Pirate King Roger, which occurred ten years before the original story began.

Luka's biological parents died during the execution of Roger, when many pirates gathered on the island to witness the execution. This caused chaos, and many innocent lives were lost. After his parents' death, he was taken in by a neighbor and placed in an orphanage, where he lived until he was twelve. Typically, orphans are discharged at the age of fourteen, but due to the financial crisis, they were releasing older children to make space for younger ones.

After being discharged, the original body owner didn't know what to do, so he wandered aimlessly. Sometimes he ate well, sometimes he went to sleep with an empty stomach.

This continued until the last week when a storm hit the island. Getting food became a huge issue. For Luka, who had no home or money, finding a place to sleep in the alleys during this cold storm became difficult. His struggle lasted for seven days in the storm, and by the night before yesterday, Luka hadn't eaten anything for three days. He went to sleep in this condition and couldn't bear the suffering of both hunger and cold and passed away.

---

"Let's hurry, Mom, it's cold!"

"Close the shop, alok, we won't sell anything in this weather."

"The storm is very strong, my wife, let's go home and shop another day."

"..."

"..."

Luka heard the noise around him, waking from his stupor, realizing that he needed to do something to get food and find shelter from the rain.

Although his feelings were conflicted, he knew these things needed to be postponed because the most important thing right now was survival. He looked ahead and behind, searching for a destination. When he spotted a small staircase, he headed towards it.

He climbed up until he reached the fourth floor of a restaurant. Although the door was locked, he didn't care. He wasn't planning to enter since he had no money. His only reason for climbing was to get a good view to decide on his next move.

He saw the execution platform and the large, luxurious house behind it, so he headed there. After arriving, he started looking for an alley or passage to reach the back of the house. He succeeded, and now he stood behind the house searching through the trash.

His idea was simple: with such a large house, their garbage must have leftover food, worn clothes, or anything useful. In the midst of his search, to his luck, the door opened, and a man came out carrying three large trash bags. Due to the heavy rain, the man had no intention of taking the garbage to the dump, so after walking a little distance from the gate, he placed the bags by the side of the road and hurried back to avoid getting wet.

As soon as the man entered, Luka rushed towards the three bags and began searching through them. He opened the first bag but found only empty wine bottles, used cosmetics, and dirt. He moved to the second bag, where he found vegetable and fruit peels. After digging deeper, he found a small bag full of rice.

He smiled widely and started eating. In a short time, he had finished all the rice, despite its slightly sour smell, indicating that it was beginning to spoil. But he had no other choice. After finishing the rice, he still felt hungry and searched through the third bag, but found no food. He turned his attention to the peels and started eating them.

Someone passed by and looked at him with disgust before continuing on their way.

After eating, Luka stood up and began thinking about where he should sleep and where he could find some warmth.

He walked down the street aimlessly, searching for shelter. Passing by a house, he saw a piece of cloth hanging from a window. Without hesitation, he grabbed it and ran off.

After some time, he entered an alley, and it turned out that the piece of cloth was a brown blanket, which might be his only support for the night. As it became clear that finding shelter was difficult and darkness began to cover the island, Luka decided to sleep anywhere.

He took advantage of the strange shape of one building, which shielded him from the winter cold. He pulled the trash cans around him to block the cold a little and wrapped the blanket around his thin body, lying on the ground. Once lying down, he finally had the time to analyze the situation and what was happening to him.

First of all, he was now in a dangerous world where he could die at any moment, in the body of a weak child with no background or support. He didn't think anything worse could happen to him.

What should I do? What should I do? What should I do?

The original body owner tried to join the navy, but he was rejected because the camp was full. The truth was that the supervisor refused to let a homeless child in, fearing the displeasure of the other parents. So, the navy option was not available.

Pirates? He would die before even boarding a pirate ship.

So his only option was to make use of the mediocre carpentry skills he had acquired in his original life. Although he wasn't even close to mastering carpentry, his intermediate skills were enough for a craftsman to hire him as a simple assistant. Alright, let's leave that for tomorrow. My body is too exhausted.

--- Author's Note: This is my first work, so I welcome your feedback. ---