Pirate: I Loaded the Game Panel

A tiny Ghost slowly emerged from Adrian's fingertip.

It was the most basic white Ghost, with no ability to inflict damage. Its round head and white body, which swayed without a breeze, made it look especially adorable.

White Ghost: Fair-Weather Doll!

This was the basic effect of Ghost Creation: producing a white Ghost with no ability to inflict damage and no other attributes. Its only advantages were immunity to physical attacks and the ability to pass through physical barriers.

Adrian released another Ghost. About the size of his palm, it had the same round body, but a faintly dangerous smile crossed its pale face.

He waved a hand, and the Ghost waved its arms before flying up into Kong.

At a command from Adrian, the Ghost suddenly swelled and burst like a bomb. A powerful shock wave spread outward, roughly as strong as a grenade.

Mini Hollow: Tempting Gift!

"I'll stop testing Ghost Creation here for now. Let's try Spirit Projection!"

Adrian activated the ability. His soul, identical in appearance to his body, slipped free, and the body it left behind immediately slumped to the floor.

"This is my first time seeing myself from this angle. I have to say, it feels pretty strange..."

Adrian looked at "himself" lying on the floor as though asleep, his expression turning odd.

The next moment, Adrian, now in soul form, passed straight through the inn room's wall and flew into the night Kong.

"Soul form works much like Ghost form. I can't touch anything in the physical world, which means I've lost my senses of smell and touch and can only rely on sight and hearing. At level one, Spirit Projection lets me travel about a hundred meters from my body. The hot spring...? I'm not afraid of water at all in soul form?"

Adrian instantly returned to his body.

"If water doesn't affect me in soul form, what about when I turn into a Ghost? Would it be the same...?"

Surprise, shock, and irrepressible delight mingled on Adrian's face as he went into the bathroom and filled the tub with water.

"I... can't move... glug, glug..."

Navigator Upgrade Quest

The next morning.

Adrian left the inn and returned to the Tree of Knowledge Library, where he borrowed a travel booklet titled Complete Guide to Ohara (Sea Circle Calendar 1497 Edition).

He also ran into Dr. Clover. After a night to think things over, the elderly doctor had somehow regained his confidence and was ready to lecture Adrian again.

Adrian promptly shut him down on the spot.

"Oh, right. I took a quick look at Basic Shipbuilding and Repair and Common Diseases of the Sea and Their Treatments last night. I think I've got a decent grasp of them. Why don't you test me?"

The result went without saying.

Adrian had raised both his Shipwright and Doctor secondary classes to level ten. That did not make him an expert, but he had thoroughly mastered those two books.

After putting him through a series of tests, Dr. Clover was crushed once again and sank into a dejected, Kong Yiji-like state.

It was worth noting that the level cap for a Secondary Profession was ten, but that didn't mean the profession itself had a level cap of ten. It simply meant that more advanced knowledge had not yet become available.

For instance, a level-ten Doctor's Simple Disease Treatment could only treat illnesses common at sea. More difficult cases required a more skilled physician.

The same applied to Navigators, Cooks, Shipwrights, and the other Secondary Professions.

After leaving the Tree of Knowledge Library, Adrian followed the travel booklet's directions to Ohara's shopping street.

"Dorothy's Tailor Shop, the most famous clothing store in all of Ohara. This is it!"

Adrian entered the shop. An elderly woman with graying hair and impeccably neat clothes sat behind the counter, surrounded by rows of assorted fabrics.

"Hello, customer. I'm Saville Dorothy, the owner of Dorothy's Tailor Shop. What can I do for you?" the old woman asked with a warm smile.

"I'd like some clothes made," Adrian said with a nod. "Two kendo training outfits, two everyday kimonos, and three suits."

Granny Dorothy asked kindly, "May I ask one small question?"

"Of course. Go ahead."

"You don't look eighteen yet, do you?"

Adrian was a little surprised. "Hm? You can tell?"

"Of course! Don't underestimate a professional tailor's eye!"

Her expression softened again the next instant. She showed no sign of looking down on him because of his age. "If you're still growing, ordering so many clothes at once means they may soon stop fitting."

"That's all right. If they don't fit anymore, I'll just come back and order new ones," Adrian said, spending money without a care.

"But Granny, could I ask you something?"

"Please do."

Adrian hesitated, looking a little embarrassed.

"How tall do you think I might grow?" he asked hopefully. "Could I reach three meters?"

Growing to three meters was Adrian's greatest wish right now!

Granny Dorothy came out from behind the counter and felt the bones in Adrian's arms and legs. She shook her head slightly. "Three meters is unlikely. If you train hard, you might reach two."

"Only two meters?" Adrian sounded disappointed.

"To most people, two meters is already remarkably tall!" Granny Dorothy said with a chuckle. There were no other customers in the shop, and she was happy to chat.

"Well, two meters it is..." Adrian shook his head and set his worries about his height aside. "Thank you, Granny Dorothy!"

"No trouble at all. Your clothes will be ready in three days. The total comes to..."

After leaving Dorothy's Tailor Shop, Adrian wandered the shopping street for a while longer. He bought a few things, then headed toward the edge of the island.

Before long, he arrived at Ohara Dock 37.

As mentioned before, the fishing boat Adrian had "borrowed" when he left Xilian Island had given up the ghost just as he reached Ohara after he had pushed it without regard for the damage.

Adrian had unlocked and leveled up his Shipwright Secondary Profession the night before. Building a boat fit for one person was well within his abilities.

He hammered and knocked away as time passed.

Adrian took off his mask, dusted off his hands, and returned the scattered tools to their toolbox. With that, he declared the boat finished.

A brand-new little speedboat rested quietly in Dock 37. It had off-white paint and a streamlined hull, with no figurehead at the bow. Its raised gray hemp sail was blank as well, marking it as an ordinary fishing boat rather than a pirate ship.

There was nothing to fault in its appearance. The only unfortunate thing was its propulsion system...

Ahem. Embarrassing as it was, the boat was powered entirely by hand...

Just as Adrian was about to test his new boat, a notification appeared on the panel.

[Detected: You have acquired ownership of a vessel.]

[Detected: Navigator is at maximum level; Basic Navigation is at maximum level.]

[Begin Secondary Profession upgrade quest?]

Did he even need to think about it?

Of course he would!

[You have triggered the B-rank class upgrade quest: Navigator!]

[Quest requirements: Sail a vessel across one of the four outer seas and chart the corresponding waters!]

[Quest rewards: Upgrade Navigator to Navigator; upgrade Basic Navigation to Advanced Navigation!]

Adrian read the requirements carefully. He did not have to travel across all four outer seas. Sailing across just one would do.

For example, since Adrian was in the West Blue, he only needed to complete a voyage across it and draw a system-approved chart of the entire sea to upgrade his Navigator Secondary Profession to Navigator!

"Is the quest rated B because I'll meet powerful opponents along the way, or just because it'll take a lot of time and effort? Probably the latter."

"Will there be another Secondary Profession upgrade after Navigator?"

"And if Navigator can be upgraded, can Cook and Shipwright be upgraded too? I wonder when I'll meet their requirements..."

Thoughts raced through Adrian's mind.

"Oh, right! Why didn't I trigger this quest before?"

"Because the last boat was stolen—ahem, borrowed—I didn't own it. But the money I 'borrowed' bought the wood I used to build this boat, so now it belongs to me?"

"What kind of logic is that?!"

"This is discrimination against pirates! Discrimination against Pirate King Roger! Back in the day, the virtuous and talented right-hand man—ahem, the Pirate King's right hand, Dark King Rayleigh—only went to sea because he stole Roger's boat and got roped into it!"

The cold, unfeeling system paid no attention to Adrian's rant.

Despite triggering the Navigator upgrade quest unexpectedly, Adrian had no plans to set sail immediately.

For the next two or three days, he stayed on Ohara. He kept up his daily sword training while continuing to explore the Hollow-Hollow Fruit's powers.

Three days later, a system notification finally arrived.

[Countdown: 0!]

[Player Forum unlocked!]

[Closed beta has officially begun!]

Closed Beta Begins

"Nickname: Cao Renqi!"

"Standard start selected. Character creation complete."

"Race: Human."

"Based on your questionnaire responses, your arrival region and island have been selected."

"You will arrive in: West Blue, Flower Country."

"Arriving..."

"Enjoy the game!"

On a deserted stretch of Flower Country's southeastern coast.

Cao Renqi's vision suddenly blurred. When it cleared, he found himself in an unfamiliar open space.

Rough, damp, yellow-brown sand lay beneath his feet, and a salty sea breeze filled his nose. Looking closer, he saw an endless expanse of blue sea nearby. White gulls cried as they wheeled freely overhead. It all looked astonishingly real.

Cao Renqi crouched and scooped up a handful of sand. Fine grains slipped between his fingers, feeling exactly like the sand he had touched on real beaches. He could only marvel.

Hundreds of other closed-beta players were packed around him. Most were curiously taking in the scenery, constantly exclaiming things like "Holy crap," "That's insane," and "Good heavens!"

The more goal-driven players were already preparing to leave the beach and explore the surrounding area.

A little clumsily, Cao Renqi brought up his system panel and checked his character's attributes.

Just as the information previously released on the official website had said, players with a standard start had only the Drifter main class, signifying that they had washed up here from another island.

He could leave levels, experience, and attributes alone for now. He would figure them out bit by bit once he started doing quests.

The only equipment he owned was the ubiquitous three-piece beginner set: a short-sleeved tunic, trousers, and straw sandals that could never be dropped. They had no attributes and served only to cover him up.

"Can't be dropped? Maybe the system just doesn't support that. But is everything still there?"

Cao Renqi instinctively reached down to check.

Yep. His little buddy was just as familiar as ever.

Then he noticed a guy nearby conducting a similar experiment, though with far fewer inhibitions. The man was actually trying to take his pants off right there!

Cao Renqi quietly edged away. Whether that guy managed to get his pants off or not, Cao Renqi did not want to see it, okay?

The grown-ups had said it would give him a stye!

"Even the closed beta has people like that? I thought everyone but me would be a pro gamer!"

Unlike most of the other Pirate King closed-beta players, Cao Renqi was neither an underground gaming legend nor a professional player. He was just an avid VR enthusiast. As for gaming...

Umm, his name gave it away. Aside from games of a certain adult variety, he was a complete newbie.

When Cao Renqi had happened to hear that Pirate King was about to be released, he had followed every bit of news. He desperately wanted to see what a fully immersive VR game was like!

To that end, Cao Renqi had even donated a kidney on a small forum—no, wait, he had shared a mysterious string of numbers he had treasured for years.

When the Pirate King closed-beta announcement went live, Cao Renqi's luck had been off the charts. Out of the countless people scrambling online, he had managed to snag a precious beta slot.

And when the beta finally opened today, Cao Renqi had logged in at the first opportunity to see it for himself.

Rather than seeking glory and fame in Pirate King, Cao Renqi simply wanted to see the sights of another world and maybe meet some of its beauties.

"I launched the VR game, and she and I walked into the cornfield. The next 372 words have been omitted..."