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The First Day of Survival: Can You Become My Companion?…
The sky was clear as washed jade, sunlight filtering through the trees to cast dappled patterns on the ground. A golden-haired girl who appeared no older than fourteen or fifteen, wearing a pink bubble-sleeved dress with a blooming pink flower in her hair, moved tirelessly through the forest. Upon closer observation, her pace remained consistently steady, showing no signs of fatigue.
Only after gathering all the nearby berries did the girl finally stop. She lifted a hand to wipe nonexistent sweat from her forehead, let out a long sigh, and began stuffing entire clusters of berries from her pouch into her mouth, consuming one bunch per bite.
After several mouthfuls, she paused with a relieved expression. “That was close… I worked so hard I nearly starved to death. Dying at a time like this would mean no revival.”
Her mention of starvation wasn’t exaggeration – she meant it literally.
Because… she was bound to the “Hunger” system.
The girl’s name was Wendy, and she had arrived in this world after registering for the “Hunger Holo-Simulation Public Test.”
Back then, after selecting her character and skin, Wendy was first presented with four options: [Pirate], [Cursed Arts], [Supernatural], and [Warring States].
Wendy pondered for a long time.
First, she eliminated Warring States.
No matter which version, the Warring States period seemed like a difficult game mode. Especially with the prefix [Hunger]… Hunger during the Warring States, or the Warring States during famine – however you arranged it, it sounded like something you wouldn’t survive past the first day, feeling like you’d starve daily.
Next, she ruled out Cursed Arts and Supernatural.
Although as a Wendy player she came with a ghost twin sister, she could only summon her sister for fights… Cursed Arts sounded like it involved many spirits, giving her the feeling someone might capture her sister to use as a bound spirit. The term Supernatural sounded cool, but if her power was “Wait here, I’ll call my sister to beat you up,” it seemed rather unimpressive.
Plus, these two appeared to be similar types, with a whiff of desperately clinging to trends that seemed nearly outdated but still lingering.
In comparison, Pirate appeared much more normal.
It seemed like just farming on an island while guarding against occasional pirate raids! She knew this – defending against sea monkeys!
Thus, Wendy chose [Pirate].
After watching a confusing opening animation, she arrived in this world through the Radiant Gate.
The Radiant Gate was the spawn point, also known as the teleportation portal.
After her arrival, she saw prompts from the game system:
[Note: In the Pirate world, revival through the Radiant Gate is unavailable. Quickly find your companion to deliver the Telltale Heart~]
[Note: Companions possessing the Telltale Heart are recognized as your partners. Your death will affect them, causing a decrease in Sanity value. Choose your companions carefully~]
[Radiant Gate Location: East Blue – Goa Kingdom – Mt. Colubo]
Wendy was horrified by this notice—What the hell?! If you can’t even respawn at the starting point, what happens when you die? She had come to the game to start a second life precisely because her real-world body couldn’t survive, so if she died in the game, would she just kick the bucket too?! The disclaimer before playing didn’t mention this! She wanted to complain about this crappy game!
But after searching for a long time, she couldn’t find a complaint window and had no choice but to silently prioritize “finding a companion.”
Since she was already playing, what else could she do? Others could just quit the game, but if she quit, she’d be done for.
After walking through the forest for three days and three nights, her inventory stuffed with wood, thatch, twigs, berries, and other forest byproducts, Wendy finally reached the edge and saw a small town.
Her large, lifeless eyes couldn’t help but shed tears of excitement—she’d finally changed maps! If she hadn’t found any signs of human activity soon, she would have started to think her only companions would have to be chosen from monkeys!
The new map was a port town called Windmill Village. It was right by the sea, with many ships coming and going.
When Wendy entered the local tavern, she chatted with the owner and learned that pirates often docked there.
She then found out that this world had little and scattered land, mostly islands, with vast oceans, so pirates were rampant. And because it was so vast, the government’s navy couldn’t arrive promptly, and not all countries were under naval protection—those that didn’t pay taxes were ignored. However, Windmill Village was relatively safe, so there was no need to worry.
Wendy understood—so that’s why this world mode was called Pirates!
But this information wasn’t very useful to her yet, as she hadn’t planned to set sail. After all, the ocean tech section in her crafting menu was still locked; she needed to build a science machine to unlock science skills.
But there was no rush. Before officially building a home, she had to find a companion first. Otherwise, she couldn’t even decide on a base location.
There were plenty of kids in the village, but after screening them, Wendy felt none were reliable. They all seemed like background NPCs, none with a main character vibe. Specifically, she felt she could beat any of them in a fight.
The only one who seemed reliable was a middle-aged man who called himself Garp.
When he saw her, his expression was subtle, and he came over to ask, “Little girl, where is your home?””
Wendy blinked and answered truthfully, “I don’t have a home yet.”Garp choked up, his eyes growing complicated, and after a long silence, he asked in a heavy tone, ‘Then do you have any other family members?””
Wendy remained an honest little girl: “I have a twin sister.”
Garp, looking at this girl who appeared no older than fourteen, urgently pressed, “Then where is your sister?”
At that, Wendy pulled out a flower identical to the one pinned in her hair and said with a grave expression, “My sister is right here! It’s not good for her to appear during the day, so I won’t introduce her to you.”
Wendy was indeed an honest girl. What she held in her hand was Abigail’s Flower, the dwelling place of her twin sister Abigail’s spirit. She could usually summon her sister’s soul to protect herself and fight monsters. Moreover, daytime was indeed when Abigail’s combat ability was at its lowest.
Of course, after Wendy gave this answer, Garp’s gaze became sympathetic.
Wendy felt that this NPC either thought she was a homeless orphan or a homeless orphan with mental issues. Sullenly, she stuffed Abigail’s Flower back into her inventory.
Fortunately, NPC Uncle Garp wouldn’t abandon an orphan regardless of whether they had mental issues or not. He even offered his own home for Wendy to stay in temporarily without asking for anything in return.
“This is my home. Usually, it’s just me and my son living here, but after my son left the navy, I don’t know where he went… Anyway, I’m often out on missions and rarely come back. You can stay here for now!” Uncle Garp changed into his navy uniform, spoke to Wendy in his hearty manner, and boarded the ship.
Wendy happily moved into her new home.
Then, one month later, Uncle Garp’s son returned.
Uncle Garp’s son was rather stunned when he saw Wendy.
Seeing the young man frozen at the doorway, Wendy understood and thoughtfully explained, “Don’t worry, I’m not Uncle Garp’s illegitimate daughter. I’m just staying here temporarily.”
“…I wasn’t worried about that.” The black-haired young man at the door fell silent for a moment before asking, “Who are you?”
“My name is Wendy. Wendy Carter. And you?”
“Dragon,” the young man replied after a pause. “Monkey D. Dragon.”
As he spoke, Dragon showed some hesitation, but after standing there for a long while, he finally stepped inside.
Monkey D. Dragon was Garp’s son. He felt somewhat uncomfortable about there being a young girl in his home, but he couldn’t just kick her out, nor could he go question his father about why his own room had been given away too.
He could only silently move his already meager belongings to the living area, giving up most of the space to this previously homeless, now nest-occupying little girl.
After all, he wouldn’t be staying home for more than a few days anyway… Still, he wondered where his father had found this girl who looked very much like nobility.
The two coexisted peacefully under the same roof for several days, with Wendy even kindly sharing the food she prepared with him.
Dragon noticed that she ate meatballs every day and thought her diet was too monotonous for a growing girl like her – not very healthy. But after trying the meatballs himself, he found they provided strong satiety and boosted his energy levels, so he kept his thoughts to himself.
He began to think Wendy was a secretly skilled master chef and even developed some respect for her.
Had he asked about it, Wendy would have told him: Because these are meatballs from the game recipe – they restore 3 health, 62 hunger points, and 5 sanity.
Originally, their interactions remained at this superficial level.
One viewed their relationship as between two people who’d just met and happened to share a house, while the other saw it as between a player and an NPC who seemed likely to have plot significance.
Then, an accident occurred.
While gathering on Corbo Mountain, Wendy encountered bandits. Noticing her running up the mountain alone, Dragon thought it seemed dangerous and followed behind… Just as Dragon was about to step in to rescue her, the next scene made his eyes widen in astonishment.
A pink lotus-like flower appeared in Wendy’s hand. She lowered her gaze and whispered like a sigh: “Abigail, I know you’re tired, but I need you…”
After a dazzling white light emanated from the flower held by the golden-haired girl adorned with floral accessories, the flower vanished from her hand. Emerging from the brilliant glow was a white ghost wearing an identical flower on its head.
The white ghost happily narrowed its eyes and circled around Wendy once.
Then, its expression suddenly turned fierce. Together with Wendy—who had materialized a spear out of thin air—they proceeded to gang up on the dozen or so bandits. Of course, the white ghost dealt most of the damage, while Wendy seemed to merely scratch their health bars from the sidelines. Her spear never actually managed to pierce through and cause any wounds.
In less than five minutes, all the bandits had fallen. Wendy retrieved the flower and recalled the white ghost, then took out several ointment-like containers and consumed them directly.
After her complexion regained its rosy hue, she didn’t leave. Instead, she circled the bandits, continuously prodding their bodies with her spear while muttering to herself: “Why aren’t they dropping anything yet? Aren’t they dead?”
Dragon hesitated momentarily—he believed the bandits deserved their fate, but this might actually kill them… Still, why did this girl seem so practiced at this? And what was that white ghost just now?
Fortunately, Wendy eventually tired herself out from all the poking, plopping down to catch her breath before starting to rummage through the bandits’ belongings. She didn’t overlook anything, from gold coins to straw paper.
This level of proficiency suddenly made Dragon understand how this seemingly delicate girl had managed to survive until now.
Wendy continued her muttered complaints: “Seriously, do I have to manually loot everything? Can’t they just drop items automatically? Hmm… would they drop meat if I killed them?”
Hearing this dialogue sent chills down Dragon’s spine, and he quickly stepped forward.
Thankfully, Wendy stopped what she was doing after he appeared. When he explained that these were bandits and wouldn’t drop meat even if killed, Wendy nodded with sudden understanding: “So that’s how it is!”
Dragon’s intuition told him not to ask what she had originally been wondering about. After secretly sighing in relief, he asked with a serious expression: “Wendy… are you a Devil Fruit user?”
That method of summoning ghosts to fight, along with the ability to materialize and dematerialize objects from thin air—it all looked like special abilities. He just couldn’t figure out what kind of Devil Fruit this was… but with such complex abilities, it had to be Paramecia type, right?
Upon hearing this, Wendy blinked innocently with a clueless expression, her tone naive: “What fruit?”
“I mean Devil Fruits,” Dragon patiently explained. “Devil Fruits can grant people superpowers, and the abilities are divided into many types. The only side effect is that it makes you unable to swim.”
After listening, Wendy lowered her head thoughtfully: “I really can’t swim…”
She even had a sudden moment of clarity—special abilities, inability to swim… it all matched up! She really was one! This was probably the world automatically fixing logical bugs—all player abilities were Devil Fruit powers! Could the earlier “Find a Companion” prompt have been telling her to look for someone who could swim?!
Thinking this, Wendy’s eyes lit up, and her gaze toward Dragon became sparkling: “So Dragon, are you a Devil Fruit user too?”
Under her expectant gaze, Dragon silently nodded.
“Great!” Wendy happily hopped in place, cupping her face with her hands, and continued with eager anticipation, “Then Dragon, can you become my companion?”
Hearing this question, Dragon was momentarily taken aback. His gaze softened slightly, and the corners of his mouth unconsciously curved into a faint smile, revealing a hint of amusement.
In his view, Wendy was a resilient little girl who had become a Devil Fruit user without knowing anything about it, then suffered misfortune leaving her as the sole survivor of her family, yet still striving to live on.
Her strong desire for a companion showed that she must often feel lonely and wanted to be with others like herself…
With a touch of affection, Dragon nodded.
Then, he saw this resilient little girl happily… materialize a heart out of thin air.
Her face instantly turned pale, as if her physical condition had sharply deteriorated.
Under Dragon’s stunned gaze, the golden-haired girl coughed a few times and handed the heart in her hand over to him, still wearing a smile and speaking sincerely: “This is the Telltale Heart, equivalent to my own heart. I can only entrust it to a companion I acknowledge. If I die someday, only you can revive me.”
Wendy was quite satisfied with how things had developed internally: Grass x3, Gland x1, 40 of her health points—crafting one Telltale Heart, and she’d never have to fear accidental death again~!
Monkey D. Dragon was abruptly handed a living, fresh heart, feeling its pulsations in his palm. His pupils trembled violently, and the hand holding the heart shook slightly.
—He had been in the navy for several years and had wandered abroad for many more, encountering numerous Devil Fruit users and having eaten one himself… but this ability was definitely the most devilish he had ever seen!
Author’s Note:
Starting this story!!! After putting it off for so long, I finally got it out! My stable update record is verifiable—even during thesis deadlines, I guarantee updates, so feel free to jump in. Since both One Piece and Don’t Starve aren’t very popular on JJ (especially Don’t Starve, it’s so niche!), please follow and support to motivate me! (wiping tears)
Check out my authentic Don’t Starve-style beautiful cover! Isn’t it nice? A friend drew it!
Note ①: Wendy’s original line from Don’t Starve.
Regarding whether Abigail is an older or younger sister, the original only says “sister.” In Japan, she’s directly referred to as a younger sister, while in domestic settings, she’s called an older sister. I’m used to calling her the older sister, so here she’s set as the older sister!
Note 1: The female protagonist is a Don’t Starve player, but there will be no descriptions of her real-world self. Wendy’s mentality will also have a bit of that “fourth-wall-breaking disaster” vibe 😜. Her in-game appearance is set to ten years old, but of course this will be adjusted here. There will be an adult appearance mod coming later XD.
Note 2: Because the game is merging with reality, and to avoid logical conflicts while keeping it fun even for those unfamiliar with the game, many Don’t Starve settings will be adapted into alternate interpretations with some personal twists 😊.
Note 3: The final canonical pairing in the main story is Hawkeye, but there will be many rotating companion experiences earlier on. From Wendy’s perspective, those are all just “mold-breaking flings” 🐶 though there will likely be branching endings 😎.