One piece: Without a system, I have to survive!

The next morning, we set sail. The sun had barely risen, its golden light shimmering across the endless blue horizon. The salty sea breeze was cool against my skin, but beneath the beauty of the morning, an unsettling tension lingered in the air.

Smoker stood at the helm, gripping the wheel, his eyes locked on the empty spot on the map. The worn parchment fluttered slightly in the wind, displaying nothing but water where we were heading.

Shira stood beside me, arms crossed tightly over her chest.

"This still feels like a trap," she muttered under her breath, her sharp green eyes scanning the ocean ahead.

I didn't disagree.

An island that didn't exist on any map.

A Marine ship that had disappeared without a trace.

And now, we were sailing straight toward it—blindly.

If I was a smarter man, I might have turned back.

But deep down, something about this place called to me.

Like a whisper in the back of my mind.

Like a forgotten memory begging to be remembered.

And I wasn't sure I was ready to face it.

The Storm That Shouldn't Exist

Hours passed. The waves were calm, the sky clear. For a moment, I thought Smoker had been wrong—That maybe this place really was just an empty stretch of ocean.

But then—

The sky changed.

It happened in an instant.

One second, the sun was shining. The next—Everything turned black.

A wall of dark clouds swallowed the sky, stretching across the horizon like an abyss. The winds howled, whistling through the sails. The sea churned violently beneath us, waves slamming against the ship with terrifying force.

Shira cursed.

"What the hell is this?!" she shouted over the roar of the wind.

Smoker gritted his teeth, gripping the wheel tighter as he fought against the storm.

"This storm— It wasn't on the forecast," he muttered, voice laced with frustration.

Of course, it wasn't.

Because this wasn't a natural storm.

Something wanted to keep us out.

Lightning split the sky, illuminating the darkness for a brief moment—

And that's when we saw it.

A massive shadow in the distance.

It loomed over the sea, its jagged cliffs stretching toward the sky like skeletal fingers. A dense mist surrounded the landmass, shifting unnaturally, as if it were alive.

And then—It appeared.

An island.

Appearing out of nowhere, as if it had been hiding in the fog, waiting for us.

My chest tightened.

My body felt strange.

A rush of déjà vu slammed into me like a tidal wave.

I had never been here before.

And yet—Something deep inside me screamed otherwise.

This place... I knew it.

Somewhere, buried in the locked corridors of my mind—

I had been here before.

And now, I was coming back.