Check In at the Start: Roger Had Just Died, and I Was Already Invincible

Sea Circle Calendar, Year 1500.

Loguetown, Central Square.

The sky was gloomy, like an overturned bottle of ink. Heavy leaden clouds hung low overhead, making everyone there feel as though their chests were being crushed.

The air reeked of sweat, cheap rum, fish, and an indescribable fervor, fermenting into a bizarre stench that made their temples throb.

"Damn, this smell is way too intense..."

Five-year-old Lei En was squeezed between the towering bodies around him like the cream filling in an Oreo. His little face was scrunched up, and he was nearly rolling his eyes.

His eyes, far too mature for his age and carrying a hint of irritation, were fixed on the towering execution platform built from rough boulders not far away.

On the platform, a man in a red captain's coat with a pair of arrogant handlebar mustaches was being held firmly beneath the blade by two fully armed Marines.

Gol D. Roger.

The legendary man who had conquered the entire Grand Line alone and was revered by the world as the "Pirate King."

Of all people to transmigrate into, I had to become a five-year-old orphan in Loguetown. Starting on nightmare difficulty, huh?

Lei En ranted inwardly as his tiny body desperately fought to keep its balance amid the crowd, afraid that some burly man's ass would flatten him if he slipped up.

As a transmigrator who retained memories of his previous life, he knew better than anyone what earth-shattering event was about to happen.

Roger would die.

Then, his dying words would become a spark that ignited an era of great piracy—an era of utter chaos, where human lives were worth less than dogs.

And he, an unarmed five-year-old brat, would not merely struggle to achieve anything in this coming age of madness. One slightly larger wave might smash him so thoroughly that not even his bones remained.

No. I have to find a way to survive—and live better than anyone else!

Lei En clenched his tiny fist, his eyes gleaming with a ferocity and resolve that many adults lacked.

A pirate reeking of alcohol beside him let out a belch. His cloudy eyes slanted toward Lei En, and he bared a mouthful of yellow teeth.

"Hey, brat, why're you squeezing so far up front? When things get messy, little runts like you are the first to get trampled into meat paste!"

Lei En ignored him and silently edged away, putting more distance between himself and that suffocating stench of booze.

Just then, the executioner raised his hand high and shouted himself hoarse at Roger. His voice carried through a Den Den Mushi loudspeaker across the entire square.

"Pirate King Gol D. Roger! Your great treasure, One Piece—where exactly did you hide it?!"

The entire square fell dead silent.

It was as though an invisible hand had pressed a mute button. Everyone's breathing stopped in that instant, and tens of thousands of gazes focused like searchlights on the man about to die.

Roger lowered his head, his broad shoulders trembling slightly, as though gathering his final strength.

A few seconds later, he abruptly raised his head. Not only was there no fear of death on his face, but he wore an exceedingly bold, almost teasingly wild grin.

"Want my treasure?"

His voice was not loud, yet it clearly reached every ear.

"If you want it... you can have it all!"

Boom!

The crowd exploded.

Completely exploded.

The square, silent only a moment ago, instantly became an ocean of frenzy. Countless people's eyes reddened as they raised their arms and shouted, as though the legendary great treasure was already within reach.

"Go find it!"

Roger used the last of his strength to unleash a roar that resounded through the heavens.

"I left all the treasure in the world there!"

The executioner's face turned deathly pale. He screamed in terror and issued his final command to the soldiers beside him.

"Quick! Execute him!!"

The cold blade fell violently, slicing through the air with a piercing howl!

A dull, wet sound of flesh being cut rang out.

The Pirate King's head rolled onto the ground, but that wildly laughing face was forever etched into the world's memory.

At the very instant the blade fell, a cold, emotionless mechanical voice suddenly exploded in Lei En's mind like thunder from beyond the heavens!

[Ding! The host's soul strength has met the requirements. The Divine Check-In System has officially bound itself!]

It was here!

The cheat every transmigrator needed had finally arrived!

Lei En was ecstatic, nearly laughing aloud on the spot, but the system's next notification froze the smile on his face.

[Novice mission issued: Reach within ten meters of the "Land Where the Legend Began"—Roger's execution platform—and complete your first check-in!]

[Mission reward: One novice gift pack!]

[Countdown: 60 seconds.]

"Fuck! You useless system, did you do this on purpose?!"

Lei En's face turned green as he watched the crowd, utterly thrown into chaos by Roger's death, begin to stampede and flee in every direction.

The square was now a gigantic meat grinder!

Forget rushing within ten meters—if those lunatics did not stomp him into a two-dimensional diagram, it would already be a blessing from heaven!

"Move! Don't block my path to the sea!"

The drunken brute from earlier now had bloodshot eyes. He shoved aside the people in front of him and charged toward the harbor like a mad bull.

"One Piece is mine! It's all mine!"

Countless people surged in every direction like floodwaters bursting through a collapsed dam. All order completely crumbled in that instant.

Lei En's five-year-old body was like a tiny boat in the human tide, pitifully small and liable to be swallowed by the raging waves at any moment.

No, I have to get over there!

Lei En gritted his teeth and stared at the execution platform, which seemed increasingly distant amid the chaos. A madness utterly unfitting for his age flashed through his eyes.

He did not choose to fight against the crowd. That would have been like a mantis trying to stop a chariot.

He took a deep breath, suddenly crouched down, and darted madly between the legs of the tall adults like a slick loach.

His left foot sank into someone's vomit. The sticky sensation made his stomach churn.

A heavy boot caked in black mud slammed down beside the tip of his nose. The gust it kicked up stung his cheeks. One inch closer, and his head would have burst like a rotten watermelon!

"Fuck!"

Lei En cursed under his breath. Not caring about the filth anymore, he dropped to all fours and crawled and rolled across the ground.

There was only one thought in his mind.

Get there!

This was the only opportunity he had since transmigrating—the only chance to change his fate!

[Countdown: 30 seconds... 20 seconds... 10 seconds...]

The system's countdown jumped wildly through his mind like Death's summons, pounding against his fragile nerves.

He saw it!

The execution platform was right in front of him!

Because everyone was desperately fleeing this troublesome place, the heavily guarded space around the execution platform had instead become a vacuum zone more than ten meters wide.

Only a dozen or so steps remained!

"Get the hell out of my way!"

Lei En used the last of his strength to scramble through the legs of a merchant as fat as a mountain of flesh. Rolling and crawling, he rushed into that safe zone.

His little feet, covered in mud, landed firmly about nine meters away from the execution platform.

At that exact moment, the last light in Roger's eyes finally went out.

Lei En screamed inwardly with every last ounce of strength.

"Check in!"

[Ding! Check-in successful! Location: Land Where the Legend Began!]

[Special environmental bonus detected: the moment an era's founder fell... Reward quality is receiving an enormous boost...]

[Issuing the novice gift pack to the host...]

[Novice gift pack successfully opened!]

Huff... huff...

Lei En panted heavily, his entire body limp as he collapsed onto the cold stone pavement. His heart felt as though it were about to leap from his throat.

The noise and howls around him seemed to fade away at that moment. In his world, only the system's cold yet pleasant notification remained.

"Novice gift pack... max-level reward... don't you dare give me some 'better luck next time' crap..."

Just as he became so tense that he nearly forgot how to breathe, the mechanical voice sounded again, carrying a supreme majesty that seemed capable of piercing the soul.

"Congratulations, Host! You have obtained the max-level reward—Roger's Peak Swordsmanship (Passive)!"

Boom!

The instant the words fell, Lei En felt as though a nuclear bomb had been dropped into his mind!

Vast, majestic swordsmanship insights, combat techniques, muscle memory, methods of using Haki—everything as boundless as the stars of the universe—poured madly into the depths of his soul!

His body was still that of a five-year-old, but his soul had transformed at that moment into a supreme king who truly stood at the pinnacle of swordsmanship!

He could even clearly "see" the faint crack in a piece of broken stone nearby, a flaw invisible to the naked eye and its weakest point!

So this was... the world of a peak swordsman?

Lei En slowly lowered his head and looked at his still tender little hands, which even retained a bit of baby fat. He could not help muttering to himself.

"Roger's peak swordsmanship? With these tiny hands... seriously?"