Canon Fodder

CHAPTER 322 A NEW ME

A small room illuminated around me. I hadn’t noticed Hancock and I releasing one another’s hands. I assumed she was in her own body in the version of her that grew up in Second Life Ranker. Looking around, the room I was in was in a state of disarray. Plates stacked on a desk, dirty bedsheets under me, piles of crap littering the floor. If I was in my room, then I appeared to be a shut-in. 

Bringing my hands up I noticed a big difference from before. Instead of the skinny and weak hands I was used to, they were actually chunky and weak. 

“Crap,” I mumbled as I got up. No mirrors in the room. I settled on a window covered by a curtain. Moving the curtain to the side I angled my face until I could see my reflection. I was chubby, for the first time in a long time I wasn’t the strong and skinny kid I had gotten used to. Quickly the memories began to flood in. 

My name was Weston Woon. I just turned 19. No prospects for school. I was an only child and lived with my parents. They were good people, but always trying to get me out of the house. When I was in school I was bullied pretty relentlessly. So bad that I just stopped leaving my room. I lived in Seoul, South Korea and had pushed off my military service due to an ‘illness’. There was not much to know about the life besides my obsession with trolling people online. I felt 1st hand embarrassment for the me of the world of Second Life Ranker. 

“Fucking idiot,” I mumbled. My Status Screen up I noted that Hancock’s summon was still an hour from being able to be used. Smelling something awful I looked around to the mess all around me. Everything but a path between my bed and computer. All other surfaces were littered with some sort of trash. 

“Might as well clean up before I bring a girl over,” I said. Annoyed with my overweight body I stepped out of my room. My mom working in the kitchen I nodded to her as I dug through the pantry. 

“D-Do you need something?” She asked nervously. 

“Trash bags,” I mumbled. Reaching past the junk food I took the whole box of bags. 

Without another word I began cleaning up my room. Throwing everything away there were more than a few scantily clad dolls/action figures that went in the trash too. Video games, consoles, small clothes that hadn’t fit me in years, everything I didn’t need went into the bags.

Once 7 bags were filled I finished up with the vacuum. Taking my trash to the chute in the hall of the apartment building everything was gone and out of my way soon enough. 

I could practically taste the hope from my mom as I walked back into the apartment. “You want something to eat?” She asked, her voice almost a squeak. 

“No thanks, going on a diet,” I said as I left her to her stunned silence. 

In the restroom I stood in front of the mirror. A few fat rolls I was my full height of 6 foot. About 300 pounds I had a long way to slim down. This was my first world for the Manhwa Hall. With no World Lasting Physique I would have to start from scratch until I received the skill for the hall. It was a little weird to not be assailed by pain as soon as I entered a world.

Cleaning myself up in the shower I would have to start training right away. Cleaning under rolls of fat, I was going to have to focus hard to get as strong as possible. 

I wished there had been a way to get my arm and leg weights from the Manga Hall, but I hadn’t had the Challenger slot, and with the Manga door closed there was no way to get them. I would have trouble with my own weight for the time being. There was no need to add extra restraints. 

After a long shower I felt a lot better. It was weird to have my 7 inch dick again, but I’d get used to it. I grew up with the thing originally and had pleased more than a few women. Not near as much as with the Chikyugi, but that was life. 

There was now a Handicap Skill in my Status screen. Using my inner eye I felt my chakra. If I didn’t have the skill I would have the same amount of chakra, nen, and Haki, that the body I used in my Challenges had. I judged the power of my Chakra, Nen, and Haki in this Handicapped body to be about that of any normal person. 

I had raised chakra a lot with quest rewards. Nen was your lifeforce. A set amount for most everyone it was weaker as well. My Haki was Conqueror’s Haki, but a fraction of my original strength. 

The more I thought about it. The more I liked the Handicap option. Like wearing weights for my skills, this would be a good opportunity to train all of them from the ground up. I had been rather lax with both Haki and Nen. I felt there were a lot of opportunities and skills to bring out with them as I tried harder to understand and use my abilities. 

I had cleaned the impurities from my Chakra and Haki so they were still potent, but I would have to figure out what my limits were. Doing a quick shadow clone my chakra plummeted. A fat version of me appeared then he released himself, the chakra of his fake body disintegrating in the open air. Judging from how much it took to make the clone I was far weaker than I imagined. This was going to be a challenge.

Making some water-chakra I was able to form enough for one of my discs, but that was about it. I went into Kame Mode, replenishing my stores and kept playing around with it. I at least had the Lust Element. Playing with the chakra the Lust was not near as potent as it had been with the Chikyugi. I could do the first 2 stages of the Lust skills. So a weaker Lust Aura, Pleasure Touch, Endurance, Mark, Love, and the most important my Epitome skill. 

Back in my room I pulled the chakra out. Pushing it all over my body the Lust was far weaker but there. Where I could grow almost a quarter inch a day with the Chikyugi, I estimated I would only manage a quarter of that with my current amount of chakra. 

Many of my cousins in the Naruto world had worked in brothels. They were able to survive with these skills, so I knew I would be fine. The Chikyugi merely granted more chakra, more potent Lust Element, and allowed control of my Makuramoto. Though I could use Genjutsu, I wouldn’t have near the control I had in the Manga Hall.

Settling down I jumped on the computer. Everything in English to me, the Korean internet was easy to navigate. The year was early 2018. I couldn’t remember when Second Life Ranker took place, but based off my experience in other worlds I was sure I was around the start of the manhwa.

I checked out some current pop-culture and the One Piece manga was for sale in this world. Funnily enough, the story was around chapter 800, right after Doflamingo. Right when I had left the place. So I wouldn’t be able to read the manga to get a better idea what to do to help the crew. But it appeared that all the other mangas I had traveled to were in the Second Life Ranker world as well. 

Hancock would be able to read mangas, comics, and books of halls that I assumed I took. Potentially learning about the worlds before we traveled to them. I put that on the backburner for now though. I had to focus on the world at hand. It was time to try to figure out how to become a part of the main story. 

There were some conspiracy theories about a Tower on chat sites, but nothing concrete. Most people sounded like they were pulling stuff out of their asses, so I decided to work on another plan. 

Starting a workout I settled on pushups. Unable to do 1 real push-up I did girlie-pushups. On my knees instead of feet, it was less strain, but still hard for my current body. Breaking out into a sweat I did all the exercises I could think of until the timer had run out. Letting out a sigh I pushed the Summon button. 

A white light appeared in front of me. As the light dimmed a tall and gorgeous woman materialized. Long black hair, big eyes, wearing a red and white 2-piece bikini she looked around confused for a moment. When her eyes landed on me they widened further somehow. I smirked at her, waiting for it.

“Weston?” She whispered. I nodded. Hancock’s face turned red, a smile slowly moving across her face until she burst out laughing. Loud giggles at first which turned into full on laughing, then dry heaving. She struggled to breath as she kept looking at me and laughing harder. 

It took time, but she eventually stopped. Sitting on my very stained bed she took in deep breaths. “You can’t be serious,” she said, pretending to look around for someone else. 

“I don’t choose the bodies I get,” I said, rolling my eyes. “What the hell were you doing? Swimming? It’s like March.” 

“I was actually in a photo shoot,” she said, taking a sexy pose as she crossed her legs and flipped her long hair behind her ear. “The me of this world is a model.” 

“Of course you are,” I said, letting out a defeated sigh. “I get attacked by zombies my first go around and you roll a 20 on your backstory.” I shook my head, laughing. “Everything work alright? Get memories from your body?”

“Yep, I looked in a mirror and it all came to me. My name is Byuen Hancock. I am 19 years old. I started modeling and voice acting last year. I am the hot new thing in town apparently.”

“Yeah, I’m starting to remember the me of this world really liked your work,” I said. I didn’t say how much he liked it though. I wasn’t too in the mood to jump on her with my current body, and I doubted she would be up for it anyway. Hancock and I still had to work on some personal things till we got there. With no Chikyugi I didn’t have a monstrous sex drive so I wasn’t too hurt. 

It was time for the hard question. “What do you know about One Piece?” I asked. 

“It’s a-” She stopped speaking. Her voice lost to her for a moment as she focused on the memories her current body knew of the manga. “Entertainment?” She asked, her voice hurt. 

“Kind of,” I said, frowning as I studied the various expressions that went across her face. “It’s entertainment to us in this world. But still a real place.” 

“But how?” 

“I don’t know. It was explained to me that there are infinite possible worlds. There is literally no end. So if someone can think it up, chances are it really exists.” 

“So you don’t have access to knowledge of other worlds?” She asked, her mind shattering a little. I felt the sadness wafting off of her.

“Technically we do,” I said. “But we didn’t know they were real worlds. I thought they were fictional. But you read a lot of books that were written in your world. I am sure the fantasy books from there are also real worlds.”

“That…actually makes me feel a little better,” she admitted. But it didn’t make her feel much better. I could sense the confusion and fear from her Spiritual Energy. It was a long time until she was ready to go on. 

“What’s so special about this world anyway?” She asked, forcing her many questions away. She tried to relax on the bed as I sat in my computer chair. “Everything is kind of normal. There are no devil fruits or anything. God it’s weird to think of a world without those.”

“I bet. I know we just talked about this but you’ve been through a lot. Don’t hesitate to ask questions. In this world there is a sort of doorway. It takes you to a tower. The tower is pretty much its own dimension. Each floor is a huge area where there are tests and monsters. You’re awarded things like strength and magic for passing the tests.”

“Are there elves and stuff?” Hancock asked excitedly. Sitting forward I was drawn to her cleavage but forced my eyes up. 

“Pretty sure there are. Whole groups of people live in the tower and their kids have to climb it to prove themselves as well.”

“So if the Straw Hats are the main people in One Piece. Who are the main people here?”

“The Marine I talked about. Just one guy. He knows all these tips and tricks to pass the tower easily. I remember a lot…I think. Our main goal is going to be finding this tower. We might end up in the same group he does. If things go right we can steal all of his cheats.”

“Fun,” Hancock said, a wide smile on her lips. 

“You’re awfully chipper,” I said. 

“It’s just, this is like some grand adventure. I don’t have responsibilities, people to worry about. It’s like you and I get a second chance. Do it right. The old me of this world has seen so many romance movies. Back in my world it was normal to sleep with a man to get pregnant. You and I really did have a weird courtship. I want to do everything from the movies this time.” 

“Oh god, K-dramas?” I asked, rolling my eyes. 

Hancock nodded excitedly. “Yes, sir. Our first date was nice, but we got married and had kids before we had a real date. This time I want to date and do it right.”

“That’s fine,” I said, letting out a sigh. “You’re worth it.” 

I could feel the immense joy from her Haki. She did me the favor of leaning forward to show me more of her ample cleavage. Apparently her boobs kept growing in life, currently she was D-Cup. I looked forward to seeing her’s grow more…and my chest shrink. 

“I know so many things now. Like computers are amazing. And my phone.” She looked around but it wasn’t in her skimpy swimsuit. “Damn, it’s probably going off like crazy. Either way, it’s so fun.”

“You’re telling me. But it can be dangerous. The only reason I’ve been able to focus on training is because I limit using phones,” I reminded. “We will need to work hard. We have to find this tower. I looked online. There may be a few leads. But nothing concrete. Do you have any money?”

“No. I live in a huge apartment. All my money is controlled by my parents,” she admitted. 

“That’s a little…worrying,” I noted. 

“Not really. The me before spent way more than she earned. My parents stepped in, but I’m starting to think that my mom lives her past modeling career through me. She’s probably freaking out that I disappeared. My dad is some big shot at a big company, but he has a drinking problem,” she said with a frown. 

“That’s sucky?” I asked confused since her Haki wasn’t too heartbroken. 

“I guess. I don’t know. Kind of nice to have parents again,” she said. “I never had a dad before. It’s so weird to think back and have memories of being taught how to ride a bike. Things that are normal here weren’t normal for me.”

“Very true,” I said. “I grew up in a place a lot like this. Maybe not as populated. But there were no risks of pirates or getting killed by some super powered psycho with a devil fruit. Just some idiot with a gun, but that was pretty rare.”

“Yes, I don’t understand that. How are people so weak here that they need guns? My body can barely lift 40 pounds,” she admitted. 

“Everyone’s normal. Your world is what’s weird. Lifting a building that fell on you is not common. But probably wouldn’t be impossible after we start in the Tower.”

I studied her for a moment. At home in a swimsuit in my less than spacious room I couldn’t help but ask, “you’re with me, right?”

“What do you mean?”

“I mean, you want to get stronger, don’t you? You don’t want to live your current life as a model, do you?”

“No, husband, I am with you. All the way. The old me has nice memories but this life leads nowhere. My parents were actual parents to me when I was younger. But a few years back they changed. My dad focuses on business. My mother focuses on me. This is not the life I want. Besides, I think you need me. Otherwise you could give up again,” she said. 

“Good. I’m glad you’re joining me on my adventure,” I said truthfully. I had so many conversations with myself working through my plan. It was nice to be open up for once. “We are going to need some seed money,” I said. “Money talks everywhere. And information can be bought with the right connections.” 

“How do we get money?” 

“How do you think?” I asked, giving her my best chunky evil grin. “I’m guessing you’re not against robbing banks.”  

A mischievous smile split her lips. “You forget, husband. I was a pirate long before we met.”

“I did forget,” I admitted. “Your swimsuit is very distracting.” She lifted the straps of her top, making her chest jiggle. 

“What’s underneath is far more distracting,” she said, giving me a wink. I felt the love from her, and couldn’t help but mentally thank her. Though I wasn’t the muscular man she was used to she still accepted me. Fat and unappealing in my eyes, she somehow saw past it. I loved her more for it. 

A small knock at the door took our attention. Before I could unsummon Hancock she got up and opened the door revealing my mom. My mother’s face turned pale white as she looked the beautiful model up and down. 

“You must be Weston’s mother,” Hancock said, reaching her hand out to the older woman. 

“I-yes,” my mother squeaked. “I am sorry. I thought it was his computer. W-How did you get in?” 

“Just now. I am Hancock, Weston’s girlfriend,” she said with a smile. 

“Girl?” My mother asked, more shocked. 

“Hancock,” I said, annoyed by her game. “How can I help you, mom?” 

“I-uh-I am going to…lie down,” my mom said. Giving Hancock another once over she shut the door and walked away. 

“Why would you do that?” I asked my wife. 

“Of course I have to meet your parents,” Hancock said, all smiles as she looked around the room. “You’ll have to meet mine. They’re going to hate you so much.” Clapping, she appeared rather excited by the news. Rubbing my hand over my face I could tell she was going to be a handful. But her good mood was contagious. I got her address and de-summoned her as soon as possible.