Chapter 10

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“......”

Just as you were about to leave, your name stabbed you sharply in the back, nearly causing you to spit out a mouthful of old blood.

This is unbearable. You must find out immediately how to change your name!

But does this place really have a name-changing system...? Your heart sank.

Shanks’ words earlier actually surprised you a bit. It turns out that the pirate crew founded by the cheap old man is so formidable, rivaling the middle-aged man from the promotional PV in presence. It seems that in the setting of this game, the protagonist (that is, you) starts out extraordinary.

Watching the red-haired youth walk away slowly, you calmed yourself and withdrew your gaze to look for a general store.

After selling off the “junk” and clearing your backpack to get some money, you planned to take a stroll to the so-called east side. After all, there was no rush to find Marco for a quest.

At the end of this street, you turned left, and soon a stall filled with all sorts of miscellaneous trinkets appeared by the roadside. You stepped forward and tapped on the dialogue box above the shopkeeper.

Option 1: Want to buy something
Option 2: I have something to sell you.
Option 3: About this island...
Option 4: Leave.

“I have something to sell you.”

“Hey, what do you want to sell? Let me see.”

The shopkeeper was a balding middle-aged man, dressed in a gaudy fashion. He took off his sunflower sunglasses chain and made a “yo~” rap gesture at you.

You didn’t bother paying attention to the unremarkable face of this NPC. Instead, you put down your backpack and began rummaging through your unwanted items, such as the “nearly broken coarse toothbrush” obtained on the deserted island, “half-used toothpaste,” and the straw sandals you just picked up...

“Hmm... Is that all?”

The shopkeeper took them one by one with a usual expression, not refusing these “junk” even a dog wouldn’t want.

You breathed a slight sigh of relief and continued to sift through your bag. You weren’t planning to sell the mushrooms and fruits yet; they could be saved for gifts or unlocking recipes later. Flint and rope also had their uses.

What else hadn’t you taken out...

Oh right, the toothpaste and pineapple-flavored toothpaste stolen from Marco’s ship!

You handed over the last two items.

“Uh, fine.” The shopkeeper’s eyebrows suddenly furrowed.

He carefully pinched the toothbrush and the cartoon pineapple-patterned toothpaste by their ends with two fingers, as if they were filthy, and tossed them into a rusty bucket beside the stall marked for cheap sale.

“Little girl, next time...”
“At least wash them before you sell.”

He curled his lip unwillingly, wiping his fingers on his colorful apron.

You were... rejected! Cheap older brother.

This guy, he didn’t have this expression when he accepted the “nearly broken coarse toothbrush” and “half-used toothpaste” just now, did he!?

You were furious, angry for Marco being despised, completely forgetting that you were the culprit who sold his toothpaste.

These items sold for a total of 1,000 Beli.

At least you made back the money you spent at the fruit stand. You took the receipt and noticed there was an option to ask for information on the shopkeeper. So you chose option 3: “About this island.”

“You really asked the right person! This is the New World of the Grand Line, Dashedu Kingdom on Wusente Island, famous for its herbal medicine production. Our town is world-renowned as a doctor’s town. The mayor is the most skilled doctor in the entire town and is said to be invited to the royal palace in the capital in a few days.”

Oh, so the mayor is the best doctor.

No wonder earlier there was an option to go to the mayor’s house — that must be the main storyline.

After finishing your conversation with the shopkeeper, you turned your head and found two unfamiliar NPC middle-aged men standing beside you. You were so startled you nearly fell flat on the ground... What the heck? These two appeared out of nowhere!?

“Hey, Rayleigh, did you hear that? This island might cure my incurable disease, hahahaha.”

“Yeah, hopefully this trip isn’t wasted.”

They began chatting to themselves, as if attracted by your discussion. In fact, you knew they hadn’t been there before.

Wait, what were their names?

You looked up sharply at their yellow names floating above their heads—

Gol D. Roger, Silvers Rayleigh.

Roger!!!?

You didn’t know Rayleigh, but this Blackbeard almost rivaling your cheap old man Whitebeard was familiar. You had been planning to go east and look for this group, and now, just as you were dozing off, someone brought them to you.

Gol D. Roger looked exactly like in the promotional video, only his aura was a bit more youthful — probably younger than in the PV. Combined with what Shanks said earlier, it seemed he wasn’t the so-called Pirate King yet.

Otherwise, how could a boss-level figure swagger around the streets like a street punk?

You wanted to approach them immediately, but no dialogue box with “[…]” popped up above their heads.

They seemed to be just ordinary NPCs.

Forget it, you decided to finish asking the information you wanted first.

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You turned back to the shopkeeper and asked the question that had been on your mind: “If I want to change my name, do you know how?”

“Change your name?”

The shopkeeper looked at you without making fun of you with something like “Go ask your parents if you want to change your name,” but instead spoke seriously: “It’s simple.”

“Just take the money to the World Government’s office stationed on the island. You should consider yourself lucky that Wusente Island is a member country.”

Great!

So it really was possible to change your name! You felt overjoyed, even finding the balding shopkeeper’s shiny scalp somewhat pleasing. “How much money do I need?”

“Not much. One hundred million Beli is enough.”

“……”

Was he kidding? One hundred million Beli—seriously? Where on earth would you get that much money!?

You stared in disbelief. The dream of changing your name suddenly seemed distant and unattainable. Thinking about how to make money, you recalled you still had five thick gold necklaces in your backpack. You took one out to show him.

“Do you buy gold necklaces?”

“Th-This is!?”

The shopkeeper’s tone changed instantly. He took a deep breath and sighed repeatedly: “This color and purity... I’ll buy it, of course. I’m willing to pay 50,000 Beli for it.”

“I’m offering a fair price; you’re making a good deal selling it to me.”

50,000 per necklace, five necklaces would be 250,000 Beli. Not bad. If you worked hard and collected 2,000 necklaces, one hundred million wouldn’t be so far-fetched.

Just as you were about to nod in agreement, the blond man standing nearby with the name “Silvers Rayleigh” above his head suddenly reacted. He stepped forward and reached out to stop your hand from handing over the gold.

“I didn’t want to meddle, but watching a seasoned adult deceive a young girl like this, I just can’t stand it.”

“De-ceive? I don’t understand what you’re saying. If there’s nothing else, please leave!”

“From what I can see, this gold necklace has very high purity and historical value. Even without detailed appraisal, it’s obvious. At this weight, one could easily sell it for 150,000. Offering such a low price isn’t fair. Don’t you think?”

“Hey! You... What are you meddling for? There’s no way it’s worth 150,000. Don’t waste others’ time doing business!”

Well.

You realized the balding shopkeeper was trying to take you for a big fool!?

You almost got swindled out of tens of thousands. Furious, you forgot to grab your dagger and instead raised your fist, infusing it with Armament Haki, jumping forward with a furious, Zhang Fei-like scowl: “How dare you cheat me? I’ll beat you to death!!”

“Wah!?”

The shopkeeper was so scared he covered his head and screamed as he ran away.

[System: Armament Haki practice failed.]
[System Notice: The player has scared away the general store vendor! Experience +15, Doctor Town reputation -5, current reputation: -15.]

“……”

Some NPCs just can’t be friendly no matter how hard you try, seriously.

The shopkeeper ran away like the fruit vendor before him, leaving the stall unattended. You had no interest in inspecting it, instead turning to look at the blond man who helped expose the crook.

Option 1: Thank you for your help.
Option 2: Mind your own business.
Option 3: Why aren’t you kneeling before me? I’m a Celestial Dragon!
Option 4: Leave.

Of course, you chose to thank him. You clicked option 1: “Thank you for your help!”

“No problem, little girl. If you really want to exchange gold, go to the jewelry shop.”

The man named Rayleigh had turned green in name color. Your previous actions seemed to have triggered new dialogue. He said in surprise, “But I was really startled to see Armament Haki here. Kids these days are so strong.”

“Rayleigh, you don’t know yet. Don’t underestimate young people nowadays. They are all future prospects!”

The once dull-looking Gol D. Roger also turned green in name color. He bent down and leaned close to you, cracking a friendly smile.

“Little girl, do you know where the mayor’s house is?”

...

You had accidentally triggered the storyline.

But awkwardly, you didn’t know where the mayor’s house was. You only vaguely remembered that when Marco took you flying, the choice mentioned it was to the west.

“To, to the far west.”

You said uncertainly.

“Oh, it’s there. That’s a big help!”

Roger reached out and patted your head.

[System: Gol D. Roger favorability +5, Silvers Rayleigh favorability +5.]

“Rayleigh, did you hear that? Before we go west, let’s buy some wine! My body might get healed; we have to celebrate!”

“I have no objections, but do you still have any pocket money? I’m not lending you any.”

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“Ah!!?”

Roger was greatly disheartened, stepping back a few paces and squatting in the corner, sadly drawing circles with his finger.

...This guy looked broad-shouldered but surprisingly lively in personality, unlike the impression from the promotional PV.

They stopped paying attention to you; probably the storyline had ended. It was a pity that such key characters didn’t trigger any side quests. You planned to give them some mushrooms to max out today’s favorability and then turn to leave, but when you peeked, a dialogue box with “[…]” appeared above Gol D. Roger.

Option 1: Uncle, I have wine, I can give it to you for free.
Option 2: Uncle, I have wine, but I want your autograph.
Option 3: Uncle, I have wine, but I want your autograph and nose hair.
Option 4: Leave.

A healing item!

You indeed had three and a half bottles of rum in your backpack, and even half a bottle could restore 50 HP. Being stingy, you didn’t want to give it away for free or even trade easily...

Forget it. The black-haired uncle was the Pirate King in the PV, destined to usher in a new era. His autograph would definitely fetch a sky-high price, so half a bottle of rum was nothing.

You made up your mind and chose decisively, taking out the half bottle and handing it to him: “Uncle, I have wine, it’s for you.”

“But I want your autograph…”

“And nose hair.”

Yes. Although you didn’t really want the latter, if you could get two things, you felt you might as well ask for both.

“Hoho?”

Gol D. Roger perked up when you handed over the wine. He took the bottle with delight but sounded puzzled: “Little girl, do you know me? Why do you want my autograph and nose hair?”

...Why does a certain word in his mouth get censored? Nose hair is nose hair—stop muting it in weird places!

Option 1: Because the sword at your waist is so cool, you must be a cool person.
Option 2: Because Edward Newgate is my father.
Option 3: Because everyone has hair on their body.
Option 4: Too much nonsense, I don’t want it!

Sword?

You realized that Roger indeed wore a majestic sword at his waist. You said option 1: “Because the sword at your waist is so cool, you must be a cool person.”

[System: Gol D. Roger favorability +1.]

“Haha! You have good taste. This sword is one of the twelve supreme blades, called Ace.”

“He’s my most precious treasure!”

Roger straightened his back proudly, clearly agreeing to your request.

Since you had no pen or paper in your bag, you looked around, and there happened to be a pen on the shopkeeper’s stall…

You decided to borrow it.

You said “borrow” rather than “take” because picking up clearly priced goods in the market seemed to reduce reputation.

Dropping to -25 reputation would cause villagers to sigh upon seeing you, all shop prices would increase by 10%, and you’d earn the title “Unwelcome Guy.”

You felt you wouldn’t waste 5 reputation points over some junk. If it were fruit, that would be different—Marco loved pineapples. But the stall had nothing good, even the “nearly broken toothbrush” you just sold the boss. Not worth it.

Wait...

The items on the stall and the iron bucket marked 10 Beli were clearly priced goods, but the wooden sign with numbers wasn’t merchandise!

Now you had “paper.” You quickly pulled the wooden sign from the stall, flipped to the blank side, and handed it along with the pen to Roger. A dialogue box appeared over him.

Option 1: Please write “To: Edward D. Ma-lou.”
Option 2: Please draw your sword.
Option 3: Just sign your name.
Option 4: I don’t want you to sign anymore.

...No way you’d write “To:.”

You had him draw a sword. The black-bearded uncle was very cooperative. You watched as he quickly sketched a few strokes on the wooden sign, then boldly plucked a hair from under his nose, grinning as he handed it to you.

“All done, take it. You got both my nose hair and autograph!”

...

Huh?

Why did he pull a hair from the “beard” area?