Chapter 1: Prologue: The death of your average guy

Prologue: The death of your average guy

...

"Sigh... What time is it...?"

A young man could be seen seated right in front of his computer while glancing at the clock with a bored look in his eyes.

[14:00 PM] 

"What the heck I'm supposed to do for the rest of the day? I've already read everything that was on my reading list today... Maybe I should play something for the rest of the day... Maybe Terraria, I heard it got updated recently..."

After contemplating what to do to for the rest of the day, he started opening and closing many pages while glancing at every one of them briefly before sighing in exasperation.

"Not even one interesting manga today? Let's hope something appears later, or else I will die from boredom..."

*Click*

*Click*

*Click*

The young man continued opening and closing different pages for a while, letting out an annoyed grunt from his mouth after he finished checking all his favorite pages and saw that none had any new manga, anime, novel, or fanfiction chapters for him to entertain himself.

Or that was until he reloaded the same page for the 14th time...

"Hmm? One piece released a chapter? Right, today is Friday! Perfect... Now I can appease this boredom for at least twenty minutes more"

*Click*

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"Sigh that was good while it lasted... now to continue closing and opening pages with the hope that something new will appear"

"Sid, Could you please go outside and buy some groceries? Please!" A sudden voice came from outside his room

"Alright!" The youngman stopped his endless cycle and stood up to leave the room, not before taking a bit of money from his savings to go and buy a few snacks as well.

'Anything is better than continue reloading pages anyways... Besides, maybe when I come back there will be a new chapter to read on my reading list!'

'Though I'm kinda hungry...'

"I might as well buy a coke or something..." Muttered the young man while looking absentmindedly at the air.

"Don't take too much time, I need to prepare the salad soon" A voice came from the kitchen right when he was about to leave.

"Alright mom..."

This young man was Sid Ansel, an average human like any other with black hair and reddish-brown eyes that somehow emphasized his strange permanent grumpy expression, that made everyone that saw him for the first time think he is angry. A young man like many others that had nothing more to do on their free time than reading and playing anything that appeases their everyday increasing boredom. Be it reading fanfiction, mangas, manhwas, and sometimes even manhuas.

At first when he entered the world of reading, he was marveled by the incredible amount of stories he had to read every day. However, as time passed he soon found himself with nothing more to read, as everything in his reading list was already completed, dropped, or needed more time to release chapters.

As Sid made his way into the groceries store, a big man with a bald head appeared from inside to greet him.

"Hey Sid! Nice to see you again, still grumpy as ever huh?"

"I'm not grumpy Mr. Saleir, that's just my natural expression..."

"Yeah sure, what are you gonna buy anyways?"

"I need a lettuce and five tomatoes"

"Incoming!" Mr. Saleir said before collecting a few vegetables from his stock.

"Here you go!"

"Thanks, see you later" Sid paid for the vegetables with a small smile on his face before leaving the store while humming a song in a low voice.

As soon as Sid was walking towards the convenience store, he heard a few people talking in the distance. When he turned to catch a glimpse of what was happening he saw what seemed to be a cameraman recording two other guys standing next to a par of anvils.

"Strange..."

Sid shrugged and decided to leave, maybe they are trying to make a documentary about anvils. Not that it concerned him anyway.

*BOOOOOOOOOM!!*

"What the-?!"

When he turned back to see what happened, he saw the three guys running away while leaving behind an anvil on the charred ground where an explosion seemed to have happened.

"Wasn't there two anvils? Where's the other one...?"

*SPLAT!*

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-Sid POV

You are reading story One Piece: To be a Power in the Depths at novel35.com

...

When I opened my eyes, I noticed that I wasn't in my bed.

"Where... is this...?" I tried to stand up to recognize my surroundings, however, I was stopped by what seemed to be the most strange feeling I've had in all my life...

I couldn't feel anything besides my own thoughts. No sight, no hearing, no touch. It was like the only thing that remained was my own mind.

Yet... even though I couldn't see my surroundings, I could still somehow 'feel' them... It was truly a foreign sensation to me... I was seeing... but not with my eyes...

A seemingly infinite starry sky stood above me, with thousands of constellations and falling stars passing through the sky, and what seemed to be a flat surface made of some strange metal with a golden color.

Sigh... I don't understand what is happening anymore... was I drugged and then kidnapped?... If that's the case then why am I still so calm about it?... And why the hell does it feel so cool...?

"Amazing..."

While lost in the beauty of this place, an ethereal voice suddenly filled my consciousness and brought me back into reality.

[You have woken up I see... Then I won't prolong this matter any further, Your life in the mortal realm has ended]

...You mean I died? But when did it happen? I can't remember anything that could have killed me...

[Your death was too quick for you to notice it, or feel any pain from it]

Damn... Yet, why am I so calm right now...? I should at least panic a bit right?

[It's your own soul disposing of your mortal shackles, responsabilities, and problems aside, as it recognizes its own death. Leaving only calmness and relief for your consciousness to feel.]

I see... so that's why I feel that I don't really care that much about it... Anyways, what am I doing here? Is this some kind of trial for me to be judged, or am I maybe being reincarnated?

[Like those many stories you have read in your mortal time, this is indeed like those situations where you receive three wishes and get reincarnated into fictional worlds]

Why me though...? Any special reason for selecting me? Or maybe this is standard for every human after death?

[No, you have been randomly selected between the infinite numbers of sentient beings in the universe that could get this job done correctly. So there were no special reasons except that you were deemed capable of completing successfully the mission]

So there's a price to pay in exchange for the wishes huh? Could you tell me what world will I be reincarnated into? Or at least a description of the said world? I don't want to be a brute who lacks common sense when I arrive at that world...

[The selected world is known by you as One piece in your previous life. Your mission is to search and destroy a certain anomaly that entered that world and it's planning to absorb the life force of the whole planet. Fortunately, it entered into a dormant state for now as it needs to replenish energies before beginning its plan. So, as long as you don't take that much time to complete the mission, you will be able to become strong enough to defeat it.]

Can I refuse?

[No, it has already been decided that you will be the selected for this mission, but don't worry, as long as you complete the mission you will be able to do anything you please inside that world. As the only thing that we care about is the destruction of the anomaly]

Fine... Not like I being dead anyways... It's there any limitations of what I can wish for?

[There are indeed rules, however, as long as your wishes don't go too far from what is possible on the mortal realm then they can be granted]

As long as It's not that much... 

Then can I be immortal?

[Perfect Immortality it's not something truly achievable. Even I am not completely immortal, But I can grant you the ability to go back in time whenever you die, however, this ability will have a limited amount of uses, and there's the small possibility that the anomaly may be able to detect the disturbance in time and will attack you before you are properly prepared. Which may turn into a repetitive cycle until the ability reaches its limit and you die for real.]

It's better than anything, at least I have an insurance in case I'm about to die. I don't really trust my own luck when it comes to surviving in a world like that...

What more do I need...? What do I desire...?

At that moment a certain man from a manga came into my mind.

Sid Kagenoh, a man with the dream of being the existence that controls everything from behind. Not the Hero, not the villain, but the one behind those two, acting secretly in the shadows and increasing its power to a terrifying degree without anyone of noticing, thinking of him as nothing but a side character.

That is something I desire as well. As chuunibyou as it may be, there's no one to judge me anyways. So why not? To become an existence that fights in the shadows a greater danger than anything seen before in history. The thing that matters is that I become strong enough to defeat the anomaly. So I don't think this path is wrong anyways.

But how strong is the anomaly to the standards of that world?

[Hmm... The anomaly could kill a Yonkō with just a flick of his fingers]

Damn... this is ultra hardcore mode...

Alright, my second wish is to get my comprehensive abilities and talent enhanced to the extreme. So that I'm able to master and learn almost anything pretty easily. Something indispensable to be a power in the shadows.

[Easily done]

And lastly... Hmm... What more could a Power in the shadows need...?

I'll need to hide my identity as a mob character when I do something important to the plot... And I will need to have other identities when it comes to being a side character and an important figure at the same time.

So I wish to be able to change mine and anyone's appearance at will.

Maybe a bit of a waste, but meh... I think I can manage somehow with just these whishes...

[If that's your wish then you will only be able to change the appearance of humans and sub human species, Animals and other creatures will be beyond your reach. Also, if you change your appearance to that of a wounded individual, you will feel the same pain from the wound you are assimilating.]

Fine by me.

[Very well, I wish you luck in your mission]

Before I could even say bye, my mind went blank and I entered into a dormant state.

What does the future hold for me?

No one knows.

...

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