Chapter Text
As a child living in an orphanage, I didn't know who my parents were, and I didn't know why I was abandoned when I was barely three months old, but I knew I wasn't an ordinary child. I was different from others. I didn't talk to anyone, and I didn't cry or laugh like everyone else. No, I rarely felt like talking to people. Families tried to adopt me, but after the first time I was adopted, the families that came later and learned about what happened to me didn't want to take responsibility for a child like me, who had a lot of problems (likely because I didn't talk to people). When I learned that I was not wanted by anyone, I don't know why, but I think the problem was with the first adoptive family. Maybe if I had let my father—or the person who was supposed to be my father—hit me so hard that I couldn't breathe, and my mother—or the woman who was supposed to be my mother—put bleach in my food, I would still be desirable. I could still tell everyone that I had a family. I would have learned then the meaning of the word "family."
I still remember the first time I felt like I could be accepted and maybe make someone proud of me. This was when I was in school. I found something I was good at—studying. The first time I entered the school library, I knew this was what I was good at. I was weak and always sick, but I had been extremely beautiful since I was a child, so when I picked up a book in a strange language that I could not read, I felt that I wanted to learn. I wanted to become more than a beautiful face and a weak body, so I studied hard and mastered more than twenty languages. I excelled at everything I did, and I felt that I could make those around me see that I was here. But no matter what I did, when they looked at me, I saw nothing but pity in their eyes. I was nothing more than a broken child. No matter how much I studied or how many awards or medals I won, I was nothing more than a child who had been abandoned. And when everyone thought I had a family, it turned out they were nothing more than monsters. The situation remained like this until one day when I was on my way to school, I found a store with a picture of one of the comic books posted. I was not the type of person who searched for comic books or cared about them, but when I saw a smiling face and a straw hat, the picture caught my attention, and I could not stop staring. The man in the store saw me, walked up to me, and asked, “Hey, do you want the new chapter? I just got it. You will be the first to buy it.” I was surprised, then I said, “What chapter?” He said, "One Piece, what do you think?"
One Piece, the name sounded good. I wanted to read it. I entered the store and saw the man heading to the cashier. I went to the section dedicated to comic books. I didn't have to search; I found the story of the boy with the straw hat under the name One Piece. I found many chapters and was surprised by the size of the story, so I looked for the first chapter. Once I found it, I bought it and two others and went to the cashier to pay. The man looked at the stories, then at me, and said, "Oh my God, you've never read One Piece before, have you?" I said, "Yes?" He said, "Yes? Yes? I just introduced you to the best manga in history. I can't believe I finally said that to someone. Welcome to the world of One Piece, you won't regret it, girl, and when you get your favorite character, come and tell me." I was surprised why he was so excited to offer me a comic, but I smiled and replied, “I will, and I will come back for more.” And this is how it all started.
I read the first chapter, and after that, I could not stop reading. I kept coming back for more, and Luffy became my favorite, as they say. I loved the time when I escaped to the roof of the orphanage building and sat all night reading. I loved the pictures and words inside the manga. I continued to study as I was, learning and always being first in my class, but at night, I was reading manga, and I was saving my money to buy the chapters. I continued like this until one day, while I was reading one of the chapters, the chapter was about Thalark Berk, and I knew that the story had progressed much more than this. The arc in which the story is now is called the Wano arc, and I knew the big events that would happen in the next chapters because I heard a lot of people talking about them, such as that the crew would separate, Zoro would get hurt, Ace would die, and more. But I did not know the details of what would happen in order not to spoil the events. When I was sitting and reading, I felt dizzy and wanted to sleep, but I could not stay awake. I was accustomed to getting sick because of my physical weakness, because of what happened when I was a kid, so it was okay. I did not think that there was a problem, so I thought that I would complete the chapter and sleep.
Wait, wait, wait, I forgot. I haven't introduced myself yet. Right, yes, I haven't. Hello, my name is Rosie, and the last thing I remember is reading a manga chapter. Then there was nothing...darkness all around me, no sound, no air, nothing. Just me falling into the darkness that has no end. Then I opened my eyes to an intense light. No, this is the sun, and I am outside. No, I am in a square, and I cannot move. My hands and my legs are tied to some kind of cross...Wait, I know this scene...What on earth is happening? Am I dreaming? Yes, I am dreaming. I fell asleep while reading one of the manga chapters, so I must be dreaming. I mean, right? This must be a dream because if this isn't a dream, then I'm really here. I'm in my favorite manga. I'm in One Piece, and not only am I in One Piece, but I'm also in the first chapters, and not only that, I'm Roronoa Zoro. How on earth did that happen?