Chapter 2 – One Piece
Ryan's father, Louis, was a writer.
He collected scattered reports about Secret Realm exploration from newspapers and used them as inspiration to write wuxia-style Secret Realm adventure stories. His novels were immersive and vivid, earning him a certain level of fame even before Ryan was born. In fact, Ryan's mother, Susan, had once been one of his most devoted readers.
Over the past eighteen years, Ryan had never noticed anything unusual about his father. If anything, he felt that his mother's way of thinking was far more… unconventional.
She was clearly capable of cooking excellent meals, yet she loved to experiment recklessly, like the grape-stewed fish currently bubbling away in the kitchen. Ryan could practically guess her train of thought:
Stewed fish with beer tastes good →
Wine tastes better than beer →
So adding grapes directly must taste the best.
And yet, the most ordinary things were often the least ordinary of all.
It was the afternoon of the second day after the college entrance exam. Ryan's father received a phone call and hurriedly left the house. While alone at home, Ryan noticed a stack of manuscripts scattered across his father's desk.
He intended to help tidy them up and maybe take a look at what his father was writing lately, to see if he could offer some inspiration.
Instead, he found a letter hidden among the drafts.
The letter was very short and written in Demonic Script. With his excellent academic background, Ryan was able to roughly translate its meaning.
"To a certain sir: Your years of undercover service have been arduous. The time is nearly ripe. Please accelerate the completion of your mission."
What time?
What mission?
Ryan didn't know.
But Demonic Script was exceedingly rare. And the possibility that his seemingly ordinary father was actually part of the Demon Race shattered the eighteen years of his normal life beyond repair.
Report him?
After eighteen years of upbringing and a comfortable life, Ryan couldn't bring himself to do that.
Confront him?
That would likely lead to only two outcomes.
First, Louis was ruthless and silenced him permanently.
Second, Louis burst into laughter.
"So you found out? That's right, I'm a demon. And you're my little demon spawn too. Let's overthrow Tiger City together!"
Even though Ryan had never noticed anything unusual about himself.
A deadlock.
No solution.
Ryan tossed and turned all night. Studying hard could no longer change his circumstances. He likely wouldn't even be given four peaceful years to attend university.
He needed to become a Secret Sigil Warrior.
Before anything happened, he had to obtain enough power rise to a higher social tier, to face any possible future, no matter which path reality took.
And so, amid universal confusion and opposition, Ryan signed up to become a Secret Realm Exploration Volunteer.
But he wasn't acting without confidence.
Late at night, with everything silent, Ryan lay beneath the covers as his consciousness sank deep into his mind, gazing at the book quietly floating there.
Or rather, it was more like a document
"Secret Realm Changes Destiny, Support Brings Dreams to Life" Project Proposal.
In his previous life, Ryan had been a professional football player though not a particularly successful one.
Clinging to his dream of football, he struggled for years in an unforgiving environment, burdened by talent that was good but never truly top-tier. Gradually, his passion faded away.
Around that time, his team launched a program called "Football Changes Destiny, Support Brings Dreams to Life." Ryan volunteered to go to a small mountain town in Guizhou, where he provided football training to local youths, hoping to pass his unfulfilled dream on to the next generation.
Surprisingly, playing football with the village boys rekindled the pure joy he had once felt for the sport. He spent half a year there, happier than he had been in a long time.
Unfortunately, before those mountain kids could see their destinies change, Ryan encountered a landslide that changed his own fate forever.
After dying and being reborn in this world, aside from the memories of his past life, the only thing Ryan brought with him was this project proposal.
Compared to the original version from his football days, the meaning had shifted "football" had been replaced by "Secret Realms," and the ones receiving aid had changed from mountain village youths to Ryan himself.
Is this the reward for dedicating myself to football charity work?
Ryan opened the first page of the proposal.
[Aid Recipient: Ryan]
[Target Secret Realm: Not Activated]
[Supporting Secret Realm: Pending Match]
[Project Vision: Locked]
The following pages couldn't be opened.
Clearly, the proposal would only activate once he entered a Secret Realm. Its function was likely to use a more advanced Secret Realm to assist Ryan in clearing the "backward" one he would enter. As for how that assistance would work, Ryan had no idea yet.
"I'll find out tomorrow."
With this proposal in hand, Ryan had originally planned to enter a Secret Realm and become a Secret Sigil Warrior, but only after finishing four years of university, gaining a deeper understanding of Secret Realms, or even becoming something like a Secret Realm Strategy Planner.
Unfortunately, plans never kept up with change.
Looks like I was destined to be an athlete after all.
…
The next day, at the subway station.
Susan looked at her precious son with reluctance.
"Are you sure you don't want us to walk you a bit farther? At least let us go with you to the high-speed rail station."
"That's enough," Louis said, pulling his wife back. "The school already booked his ticket, and someone will be there to pick him up. If we go, his classmates will just laugh at him. It's only the neighboring city not far."
"What's there to laugh about?" Susan muttered. "Louis, you're so heartless."
"Mom, let me give you a hug," Ryan stepped forward and embraced her, cutting off her complaints and putting an end to her desire to escort him further.
"Love you, Mom. Once I'm allowed to use my phone, I'll call you right away. Uh Dad, the train's here. I should go."
Holding Susan tightly one last time, Ryan nodded at his father and said goodbye.
He couldn't let them see him off.
After all, he wasn't going to the high-speed rail station at all, nor was he even leaving Tiger City.
After a few stops, Ryan got off the subway and arrived at the Secret Realm Explorer Service Center. He found a staff member and checked in with his ID.
"Hmm… Ryan. You'll be exploring Purple Secret Realm No. 605. Follow me."
As expected, a purple-tier Secret Realm.
Over thousands of years of exploration, humanity had classified Secret Realms into multiple difficulty levels. The harder the realm, the higher the quality of Secret Sigils one could obtain, but the greater the risk.
White — Easy
Blue — Normal
Purple — Hard
Red — Hell
Gold — Legendary
And beyond those five existed the Rainbow Secret Realms, places so dangerous they were considered nearly impossible to conquer, with difficulty that defied measurement.
Secret Realms requiring volunteers were never easy ones. A realm with a survival rate above 95% was basically a blessing.
Most assignments were purple-tier, with early exploration survival rates hovering around 60%. A few lucky volunteers were sent to blue-tier realms, while an unfortunate handful were thrown straight into red-tier hellscapes.
Don't underestimate a purple-tier hard Secret Realm, even one ranked in the middle.
Being classified as purple meant that the realm was either ravaged by constant wars and plagues, or inhabited by powerful beings capable of shattering rocks and severing rivers, existences who could take lives with a flick of a finger if displeased.
The reason the survival rate still hovered around 60% was simple: many who entered these realms barely explored at all, prioritizing survival over progress.
Before long, Ryan was led into a waiting room by the receptionist. Three people were already seated inside, a lively young man full of energy, a strikingly beautiful young woman, and a weathered, middle-aged man.
They were clearly part of the same batch, teammates assigned to the same Secret Realm.
After exchanging a few words earlier, they all looked up in surprise when Ryan entered.
"You're also assigned to Purple 605?"
"So young, are you even an adult?"
"Baby face, but I'm actually twenty-eight," Ryan replied calmly, reporting his age from his previous life without missing a beat.
"Nonsense," the rugged man scoffed. "You've just barely come of age at most. Why would someone your age risk a Secret Realm? Not like me, I'm forty-six, alone, accomplished nothing in life. I signed up as a volunteer to take one last gamble."
Ryan glanced at the other two.
The man jerked his chin toward them. "Shin is here to chase the woman he loves. Sara signed up because her family's forcing her to marry into money."
"I haven't even graduated yet, and my mom already wants me engaged to her boss's son…" Sara brushed back her hair. The faint sadness on her delicate face only made her look more pitiful. "Honestly, I regretted it the moment I received the volunteer notice."
"Haah… what about you?" the man asked.
Ryan fell silent for two seconds, then shook his head with a sigh.
"I'm trapped by love as well."
Family love was still love.
The man chuckled hoarsely. Sara looked somewhat speechless. Only Shin the energetic youth snapped upright in excitement.
"Your childhood sweetheart got taken by a Secret Sigil Warrior too?! Those bastards!"
Childhood sweetheart?
Ryan's mind immediately conjured the image of Amanda, foul-mouthed and violently aggressive. He shuddered, then replied vaguely,
"Yeah… even worse. Her dad is a Secret Sigil Warrior. He looks down on me."
Shin's face filled with sympathy.
"These Secret Sigil Warriors always look down on us ordinary people! Once I become one, I swear I'll"
Ryan felt like he'd kicked a hornet's nest and could only exchange a few meaningless words with him until there was a knock on the door.
A young man in military uniform entered. His posture was straight and disciplined, though his hair was slightly disheveled.
"Ryan, Sara, Bruno, James, all present?"
"Yes," the four replied, standing up.
"Follow me."
The group followed him out through a side entrance of the Secret Realm Explorer Service Center and were soon led into a large, boxy, modified military vehicle.
The interior was spacious. Even with all four seated in the back, it didn't feel cramped. Aside from the driver and passenger seats, however, all windows were sealed shut. Lighting came from overhead lamps, and ventilation relied on a high-tech air circulation system.
"The location of Secret Realm entrances is classified," the soldier said, handing each of them a folder. "Don't look toward the front windshield unnecessarily it may cause misunderstandings. You have more important things to focus on."
"The Purple Secret Realm No. 605 has already undergone two exploration rounds. These documents contain intelligence gathered from those attempts top-secret materials."
"The trip to the entrance will take about two hours. Read through everything at least three times and commit it to memory."
They're only giving us the intel now?
So strict… what is this, counterintelligence training?
Oh, so this was to guard against cases like my old man.
Well then. No problem.
Ryan shifted his thoughts and turned his attention to the Secret Realm dossier, flipping it open and beginning to read.
[Secret Realm Name: Marines & Pirates]
[Clear Difficulty: Purple – Hard]
[Maximum Entries per Cycle: 100 explorers]
[Realm Cycle: Three months in reality; approximately nine years inside the realm]
[Realm Calendar: Seafaring Calendar (Year 1515 to early 1524)]
There was a crucial reason why these places were called Secret Realms rather than alternate worlds.
Before explorers completed certain key objectives, simply put, before the dungeon was fully cleared the realm had no future.
It would endlessly loop within a fixed span of time. Once it reached a specific point, all explorers would be forcibly expelled, and the realm would reset to its initial state.
It was as if a real world had a fragment of its history forcibly cut out.
The Secret Realm Ryan was about to enter only possessed nine years of historical progression before being conquered. Once the calendar reached Seafaring Year 1524, all explorers would be expelled, and the realm would reset back to Year 1515, ready for another round of exploration.
Due to the difference in time flow, those nine years amounted to just three months in the real world.
"Three months… That's manageable. I should be able to keep it from Mom. But Seafaring Calendar?"
That sounded familiar.
Hadn't he seen it somewhere before?
Ryan continued reading.
[Realm Background:]
This Secret Realm consists primarily of oceans and islands. The vast seas gave rise to a special profession - Pirates.
Sea raiders, or more accurately, maritime bandits, who sail the seas plundering for a living.
Those tasked with capturing pirates are known as the Marines.
In Seafaring Calendar Year 1498, the Pirate King, Gol D. Roger, was captured by the Marines and publicly executed…
Snap.
Ryan shut the folder in one sharp motion.
The sound drew the attention of the other three. Ryan blinked hard, as if his eyes were dry, rubbed them, and then slowly opened the file again.
[During his execution, Gol D. Roger openly declared the existence and location of his treasure, fame, wealth, power…
This single act ignited the Great Pirate Era!]
"..."
Damn it.
This wasn't a hallucination.
Am I… about to become a man aiming for the title of Pirate King?!