In the year 1484 of the Sea Circle Calendar, God Valley,
A group of people wearing white short-sleeved shirts with "target" patterns printed on their backs were running desperately through the forest. Every face was filled with terror and helplessness, as though some horrifying monster was chasing them.
"Run! They're catching up!"
"Damn it, don't block the way! I want to live!"
Bang! Bang!
"Ahhh!!!"
A barrage of gunfire rang out behind them. People kept falling with every shot, and the fleeing crowd descended into even greater chaos.
Amid the chaos, four figures stayed tightly clustered together. No matter how crowded the people around them became, the four never separated.
There were three boys and one girl. Though one of them was unbelievably large, his youthful face showed that, like the other three, he was still just a child.
His physical strength was clearly far greater than the other three children's, yet he remained behind them, using his body as their shield.
An arrow was deeply lodged in the target pattern on his back. Even wounded, he clenched his teeth tightly and refused to make a sound.
The only little girl among them turned around, and the moment she saw this, she burst into tears. She cried anxiously,
"Little Kuma! Get in front of us! You're too big—you'll get hurt too easily back there!"
Little Kuma forced a smile and shook his head.
"Ginny, don't worry about me. I'm fine. As long as none of you are hurt, that's all that matters."
That was what he said, but judging from his weak voice and pale face, he was clearly not doing well.
After all, he was still a child. Well, a child over two meters tall.
The other two boys turned to look at Little Kuma after hearing Ginny's voice.
The boy with the afro darkened when he saw the arrow in Kuma's back. He looked at the other boy beside him and said in a low voice,
"Gigue, we need to find somewhere safe to hide quickly. Kuma's badly hurt! Damn those scumbags!"
Unlike the others, the boy called Gigue was not wearing a white short-sleeved shirt with a target pattern. Instead, he had a long white coat draped over himself, one that looked to be of fine quality.
He had a messy head of short black hair and delicate features. His black eyes were calm and resolute, while his childish face carried a maturity that did not match his age.
Gigue's expression was grim as water. He slowly said,
"Nowhere is safe. We can't stop. Hang on a little longer. The sun's about to set, and those people will be heading back soon."
"But..."
"Run! Otherwise, there's only death waiting for us!"
Kuma spoke up at that moment as well.
"Ivan-chan, Gigue is right. We absolutely can't stop here. If I can't hold on later, please don't worry about me. Just run!"
Though he was only nine years old, he had already prepared himself for death. Ginny cried even harder upon hearing that.
"Waaah... Little Kuma, I'll never leave you behind!"
Though Gigue spoke firmly, his pace still slowed unconsciously.
That was obviously extremely dangerous, but fortunately, it was getting late. Perhaps their pursuers were tired as well, because they slowed down too.
Less than an hour later, the gunfire behind Gigue and the others gradually faded away before finally stopping.
To be safe, Gigue and the others continued running for a while longer before eventually stopping beside a small pool.
Thump! Thump!
The moment Ivan and the others stopped, they collapsed to the ground like deflated balloons. Kuma, whose back was wounded, fell flat on the ground with his limbs spread wide.
Gigue first scanned the surroundings vigilantly. After confirming that it was safe, he went to sit beside the pool, staring blankly at his reflection in the water.
It had already been a week since his escape began, in this world of the King of the Pirates...
Gigue had transmigrated.
In his previous life, he had been an orphan on Blue Star. He had only managed to graduate from university through years of work-study hardship.
And orphans had always been frequent candidates for transmigration.
On the night of graduation, he drank with his dorm mates all night until he was dead drunk. He only remembered staggering out to use the bathroom while leaning against the wall, only for his legs to give out beneath him. He fell down the stairwell and lost consciousness.
When he woke up, he had become a child and found himself on a deserted island.
As for the memories of this body's previous owner, all he knew was that the boy had also been called Gigue and was eight years old. He could not remember anything else, as though he had lost his memory.
As for how he knew he had transmigrated into the world of the King of the Pirates, it was because he had encountered Kuma and the others while exploring that deserted island.
Not to mention Ginny, Kuma and Ivan were two unmistakable characters from the King of the Pirates, people Gigue knew all too well from reading the manga.
After learning their names, seeing Ivan's afro and that eccentric air about him, along with Kuma being a nine-year-old over two meters tall, how could Gigue not recognize them?
Kuma and the other two were all famously good people in the Pirate World. Seeing Gigue, a child even younger than them, all alone and pitiful, they immediately took him in without another word. Their trio became a group of four from that day on.
Based on Kuma and the others' current ages and circumstances, Gigue had figured out where he was and what was happening.
God Valley, the Celestial Dragons' slave hunting ground!
The moment Gigue confirmed this, it felt as though ten thousand alpacas stampeded through his mind.
He knew only too well what would happen at God Valley. Before long, the Pirate World's strongest figures would gather here and engage in a fierce battle.
The Rocks Pirates, the Marines, and the Celestial Dragons' trump card, the Divine Knights—just thinking about it made his scalp tingle.
And he, Gigue, could be killed at any moment by even a Celestial Dragon with a gun.
What kind of hellish start was this?!
Where was the promised beginner's village?! He was facing a whole group of max-level bosses right from the start?!
Although Gigue knew that Kuma would later eat the Paw-Paw Fruit and use its power to take everyone away, that was when he had read the manga from a godlike perspective. Now, he was truly prey in this hunting ground!
What if some Celestial Dragon shot him dead halfway through?
What if, because of his arrival, they failed to find the Paw-Paw Fruit in the end? In the original manga, Kuma and Ivan had only stumbled across the fruit by sheer chance!
During the first few days, Gigue still held onto a sliver of hope. Since transmigration was real, surely he would get a Cheat/System too, right? Something like a system?
Gigue kept fantasizing about hearing a "Ding!" in his mind, followed by an electronic voice saying,
"XX conditions have been met. XX has been activated."
Yet even now, after becoming nearly numb to the daily gunfire and screams, that ding which sounded like heavenly music still had not appeared.
Thinking back on the past week of fleeing, Gigue finally snapped. He punched the water, forcing the words through clenched teeth.
"Celestial Dragons, if I make it out alive, none of you will get off easy!!!"
Before you continue