The Game Merchant Who Started from the Ninja World

Chapter 31: Pirate World

The silver-haired loli tilted her head. "Master, why go through all this trouble? What's your goal?"

"To earn more reward points, of course."

Fang Yi smiled contentedly as he looked at his growing pile of points.

But the loli didn't buy it.

She knew her master too well. There was no way he would go out of his way to set up a trial ground and explain everything himself just for a few extra points.

"I'll give you fried chicken, now stop being mysterious!"

Reluctantly, she pulled out a greasy paper bag and handed the steaming fried chicken to her master.

Seeing the expectant look on her face, Fang Yi relented. "It's because I need to suppress the two alliances in the Novice Village. The last batch of five hundred players was split between the Kirigakure and Kumogakure alliances the moment they entered. If I don't intervene, this batch will be taken just as fast."

The loli's confusion deepened. "But those two alliances spend way more than regular solo players. Shouldn't we be supporting them?"

Fang Yi shook his head. "Supporting them might give us high short-term gains, but over time, activity will drop. If new players feel forced to join one alliance or be excluded, it kills growth. No fresh blood, no competition."

"And the trial ground can fix that?"

Fang Yi nodded. "The starter packs I give as rewards in the trials act as seed funding for players who are ambitious and strong enough to stand on their own."

"That way, new players can survive on their own early on and form factions to balance the old powers."

"The more competition, the more reward points we make."

The loli kind of understood, kind of didn't.

It was always like this. She never really followed the logic, but every time Fang Yi made a move, someone somewhere ended up suffering for it.

Watching players compete to hunt Wraiths and team up against Wraith Guards,

Fang Yi nodded in satisfaction. "Now I can focus on setting up in the Pirate World."

A crude system panel—like something from a knock-off web game—floated into view.

Thanks to the contributions from the trial ground, he now had 270,000 reward points.

In an instant,

100,000 of them vanished.

Right beside the ninja players' Novice Village, a new space appeared.

The architecture was strange and varied—grand marine bases, harbors, pirate ships, and uniquely styled buildings.

Between the two villages, a thick fog formed a barrier.

Fang Yi left a neutral area in the middle, reserved for future use.

Then, an announcement popped up on the Ninja World bulletin board:

[To encourage shared growth among players, a new server—Pirate Novice Village—is now open.]

As soon as the message appeared,

players busy hunting Wraiths fell silent—then burst into heated discussion.

Samui wiped some lingering Wraith blood off her thigh and asked, "Pirate Novice Village? Is that a new kind of corrupted monster?"

Mabui sighed. "You're always thinking about fighting. It sounds like players just like us. Not from the Shinobi World—another world entirely."

"Is that so?"

Samui didn't care. She spotted a retreating group of Wraiths up ahead, drew her short blade, and charged in.

She was powerful now.

Once, as a standard jōnin, she couldn't even lay a hand on the Raikage. Now, she could stand her ground against him, even trade a few blows with his Lightning Armor active before losing.

In a short time, she had become one of Kumo's elite.

If things kept going well,

maybe she'd become the first female Raikage in history.

Whish!

A Wraith soldier lunged with a spear.

Samui twisted her body, her chest lightly brushing the shaft as she bent backward and dodged.

Two minutes later, she had wiped out the entire squad—remnants left behind by the fallen Wraith General.

Elsewhere,

the Kirigakure Alliance, busy clearing out gargoyles, saw the same announcement.

"A pirate server… players from another world?"

Terumi Mei frowned, clearly troubled.

The announcement said the two villages would remain isolated for now,

which meant contact was inevitable later.

If it was just in-game, that would be fine.

But if it affected the real world, who knew what chaos would follow in the already-tense Shinobi World?

…

Pirate World.

In the East Blue—known as the weakest of the seas—

a towering black structure suddenly rose from the ocean like a lighthouse, its presence unwavering amidst the waves.

At that moment, two ships approached at high speed.

The first was a large merchant vessel, flying a trade flag.

Its hull was damaged and riddled with cannonball holes, on the verge of sinking.

Chasing close behind was a pirate ship, black skull and bones on its sails.

Onboard were pirates waving curved swords and a sinister-looking captain grinning with triumph.

"Get out of my way!"

A girl with orange hair in a red evening dress—who looked like a delicate noble lady—shoved aside the helmsman.

She gripped the wheel with both hands, spinning it expertly.

Boom boom boom—

Cannonballs rained down behind them—but she dodged them all.

"Damn it! The merchant ship's too big—we can't outrun them!"

Nami's face was tense as she tried to maneuver.

She had top-tier sailing skills, but the ship was unwieldy.

The pirate vessel kept closing in.

They were already close enough to throw grappling hooks and latch on.

Suddenly, a tall black tower appeared in their path.

Before she could steer away, the merchant ship slammed straight into it.

In that moment, everyone—slaves, nobles, pirates—vanished.

When Nami regained consciousness, she found herself on a vast trial field.

Black rocky shores. Dense forests...

"Captured by pirates?"

That was her first thought.

She had disguised herself and boarded the merchant ship, planning to steal a rare Ocean's Heart gemstone.

She'd succeeded—only to be attacked by pirates.

She tried to escape in a small boat, but a storm had tossed her into the sea.

She had to find a way out—fast.

But then, she noticed the nobles from the ship also waking up nearby.

Even the pirates were groggily getting to their feet.

"Help! Damn pirates! We already paid our toll to the navy—why are they still attacking us?!"

A furious noble in a suit screamed.

He was Oteluk III, a top-tier noble of the Goa Kingdom.

Those filthy navy grunts had dared let pirates attack him?

He knew all about the secret deals between East Blue marines and pirates.

When he got back, he'd make sure the press exposed every last one of those thugs.

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