Chapter 16
[System: Bucky’s favorability +10.]
The game immediately popped up a notification panel, and the blue-haired boy’s originally negative favorability instantly flipped to positive.
Unexpectedly a bit innocent...
To be honest, you’re genuinely curious whether this guy’s nose is even a normal human physiological structure. After all, it’s so round and abstract that you can’t even tell where the nostrils are.
Could it be that this world actually has a so-called “Red Nose Clan” or something similar?
The more you look, the itchier your curiosity grows. You feel like his nose would be as soft as a small ball to the touch—definitely bouncy and springy.
It’s so rare. If you had to choose between touching the nose of a young boy like this or admiring the abs of a young boy, the ubiquitous abs online would lose hands down!
But unfortunately, something disappointing happened.
The boy in the red hat named Bucky had no intention of buying your act. His face flushed bright red, and he finally responded, stammering as he shouted, “D-damn it... Are you looking down on me!?”
“There’s no way I’m letting you touch it. Go away!”
[System notification: Bucky rejected your request; increase favorability before trying again.]
“...”
They set a threshold for this too??
You glanced at the level above his head—only Lv.8. If it came to a fight, this guy definitely couldn’t beat your Lv.16 self, so forcibly making a move would let you touch it.
But there’s no need to enter battle mode over something so trivial. You’re not some pervert who has to force someone to agree while crying over touching a sensitive part.
Forget it.
You dropped the topic of the nose and clicked the dialogue box on him again, noticing the previous options were still available. You directly read out the fourth option from before: “Are you here to rob the gold shop?”
“I’m going to tell others.”
“W-what... No!”
Bucky’s hat twisted into a cross shape as he instinctively covered your mouth: “Hey hey hey, who’s going to rob such a shabby gold shop!”
“Don’t you see my bag is already full? These are all spoils I worked hard to snatch... Yes! I got them myself, and it’s only right that I kept some instead of handing everything over to Captain Roger...”
His latter words were almost muttered to himself, beads of sweat forming on his forehead. Although he murmured softly, you clearly heard the familiar name.
Roger?
In your memory, there was a black-haired man with thick hair named Roger...
Could this guy also be a junior pirate from Roger’s crew, like that red-haired boy named Shanks?
Because he raised both hands to cover your mouth, the sack behind the blue-haired boy accidentally lost balance; the opening loosened, and a jewel-encrusted necklace along with several gold coins tumbled out, settling firmly at your feet.
“Uh! Th-this is...”
Bucky immediately panicked, quickly letting go of your mouth and kneeling awkwardly, scrambling to stuff the treasure back into the sack. His red knit hat slipped to the side.
“I found this at the dock! Yes, I just found it...!”
Afraid to shout loudly, Bucky lowered his voice and threatened fiercely: “By the way, who exactly are you? What business do you have with me exchanging treasure at the gold shop!?”
Choice 1: My name is Edward D. Marlowe, daughter of Whitebeard.
Choice 2: I’m Shanks’ girlfriend.
Choice 3: I am a reflection of your perception and a projection in your dream.
Choice 4: Scum, do you know who you’re talking to? Kneel down now! I am a Celestial Dragon.
First choice—pass.
You really don’t want to say that name again. Choice two is nonsensical—you never formed a romantic relationship with that red-haired boy.
Try choice three first.
You say deliberately in a profound tone: “I am a reflection of your cognition and a projection of your dream.”
“......”
After a long silence, Bucky blinked, tilted his head, and uttered one word: “Huh?”
He scratched the back of his head with a confused expression.
[System: You just gave a profound philosophical answer, plunging Bucky into an existential crisis.]
[Current progress: 1/6.]
[System notification: Make five different NPCs question their existence to unlock the hidden title: “Philosopher.” Equipping it increases intelligence by +66.]
What the heck.
Such a bizarre choice triggered a hidden title prompt—what else could you say...
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You can pay attention to this in future conversations with others.
It seems there’s no more plot with Bucky. Rarely encountering the fourth NPC from Roger’s pirate crew, you thought for a moment and pulled out a mushroom from your backpack to give him as a gift—performing the usual gift-giving ritual before leaving.
“What’s this? For me? Uh... okay.”
Bucky accepted the mushroom somewhat reluctantly.
[System: Bucky’s favorability +0.8.]
He’s picky...!?
You stared speechlessly at the favorability prompt, then rummaged out a plain apple and handed it to him.
“Oh, thanks.”
[System: Bucky’s favorability +1.]
Give him another.
“Whoa, this one’s for me? You’re thoughtful.”
[System: Bucky’s favorability +1.]
After accepting two apples, he bit into one immediately, and the apple vanished—just like when the cheap old guy accepted pineapples. You don’t know if Bucky ate it or if it went into some kind of dimensional bug.
As for the first mushroom you gave, it was treated completely differently—he didn’t even look at it and tossed it into the sack.
Such a stingy guy.
Since he’s so picky, you got curious about his reaction to other items and pulled out a rotten apple from your backpack, offering it to him.
“For you.”
“Ah, this again? Tha... bah! Isn’t this apple rotten!?”
[System: Bucky’s favorability -1.]
Hehe, fun.
Unapologetically, you watched the blue-haired boy spit out the apple after biting it, his face contorted in pain. Feeling good, you handed him a plain banana without any attribute.
“This is for me? Got it.”
[System: Bucky’s favorability +1.]
So stingy...
Back when it was Shanks, you could get +2 favorability points.
You searched through your backpack for other useless junk and found an unknown captain’s badge in the next slot.
You remembered the note said it was useless, so you casually handed it to the boy standing opposite you.
“This, this is!”
Bucky’s expression suddenly changed; he widened his eyes staring at the badge and said incredulously, “Isn’t this Captain John’s badge!?”
“I’m absolutely sure. The fancy writing on it should be John’s signature...”
“You’re really giving it to me?”
Hmm?
Captain John? You suddenly became alert, afraid you might have mistakenly given away an important item, and quickly stopped yourself from handing it over.
Choice 1: Who is Captain John?
Choice 2: Leave.
“Who is Captain John?”
“You don’t know Captain John!”
“He’s a great pirate who owns countless treasures!”
Bucky jumped up excitedly, gesturing wildly: “I heard he drew a treasure map, and whoever gets it will own all his wealth. That treasure hoard is rich enough to buy an entire country...”
What?
Sounds pretty good. Such an amazing treasure must be worth more than 100 million Berries. Your heart instantly raced.
But despite the excitement, the system’s appraisal clearly said it was useless, just a replica. The material was ordinary, with obvious rust marks on the edges.
You asked doubtfully, “Does having this mean I can find Captain John’s treasure?”
The system didn’t trigger any treasure-hunting side quest, so it didn’t seem like a condition to unlock anything.
“Uh, not really... It’s just a simple badge.”
Bucky scratched his nose, voice deflated like a punctured ball: “But there’s a pattern on it, so maybe I can identify things with it in the future. It’s at least a clue.”
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“Hey, are you going to give it to me or not?”
You: “...”
Taking someone’s stuff and acting all righteous—well, this badge does sound pretty useless, just a replica. You just need to remember what it looks like; your 99-slot backpack is always dangerously full, so no need to keep it.
After hesitating between selling it at the general store or gifting it to him to boost favorability, you decided to give it to Bucky.
The reason is simple: because of the badge, he triggered new dialogue. Maybe there’s some plot tied to him later. If you kept it, selling it would be final, and you’d be investigating alone.
Giving it as a gift is different—you raise favorability and can keep tabs on Bucky’s activities. If he finds clues, you can swoop in and “borrow” them... cough, just join in. It’s a long-term strategy.
“Hey, since you want it so badly, how could I say no?”
You said with a teasing tone, ignoring Bucky’s stiff and awkward demeanor. You bit your lip lightly and blinked your bright eyes as you handed over the badge completely.
“I really like it too, you’ll take good care of it, right? I specially saved it for you.”
“Ah... yeah.”
Bucky accepted the item in a dry tone: “I’ll keep it.”
[System: Bucky’s favorability +50.]
How much???
It actually increased by so much, equivalent to giving him 50 apples!?
How badly does this guy want it? It’s just a replica.
“But I have a condition.” You took a step closer, uncertain if it would trigger dialogue, so you cautiously said, “I want your contact info. Can you give it to me?”
“Contact info?”
Bucky had no idea about your ulterior motive. He treasured the badge in his hands and even bit the material, admiring it for a long time before considering your question: “Oh, you mean a Den Den Mushi?”
Perhaps because his favorability climbed so much, breaking through 60, he didn’t refuse and quickly gave a string of numbers: “083***75.”
[System: Friend “Bucky” recorded.]
[System notification: You have not obtained a Den Den Mushi. Friend list functionality is temporarily unavailable. Please catch one in the wild.]
What is that?
You noticed the last sentence on the prompt panel, instantly entering a state of contemplation. Den Den Mushi sounds like a cell phone in modern society... but why is it a snail?
And you have to catch one alive!
You had killed plenty of bugs on that deserted island before—mostly common ants, ticks, and caterpillars—unlocking up to level 6 in the bug compendium, but you never saw any Den Den Mushi. You can’t imagine how a soft-bodied creature could make calls.
Forget it.
At least you know how to get it. You’ll probably encounter one in the wild eventually... maybe.
This conversation went perfectly. You successfully got Bucky’s contact info, no need to worry about the so-called great treasure, and boosted favorability with an NPC.
Now there’s nothing else. Bucky stayed admiring the badge without moving. Feeling good, you left him behind and turned to leave.
Time to check out the general store.
“Wait, wait!”
Just as you stepped down the three stairs at the gold shop’s entrance, heading back to the bustling market, Bucky suddenly called out, hesitating and uneasy: “Um...”
“You... you’re not really going to tell on me, are you?”
“I still don’t know your name.”
A dialogue box with “[…]” appeared above him.
Choice 1: I’m Edward D. Marlowe.
Choice 2: Worried I’ll snitch? Bucky, you don’t want Shanks to find out about this, do you...
Choice 3: My name is Luffy Wang, the man who will become the Pirate King!
Choice 4: Leave.
“...”
Never expected a final conversation before leaving.
Yet you don’t want to pick any of these!