"Ugh…"
A groan slipped from Ryan Quinn's lips as he stirred awake.
Warm grains of sand pressed against his skin, golden and soft beneath the blinding sunlight. When his eyes fluttered open, the dazzling blue of the ocean greeted him vast, endless, and impossibly beautiful.
The sky above was clear and pure, like polished sapphire. Not a cloud in sight. The gentle hiss of waves rolled onto the beach, and beyond the shimmering water, tiny fish leapt playfully through the surf. Inland, lush green trees stretched high, whispering in the ocean breeze.
It looked like paradise.
If not for one small detail there wasn't a single sign of civilization anywhere.
Ryan sat up slowly, brushing the sand from his clothes, his expression flickering between confusion and disbelief.
"Where… am I? Didn't I die?"
The last thing he remembered was stepping outside for the first time in months. He'd spent years as a proud homebody an elite-level shut-in and the one day he decided to brave the outside world, fate decided to body-slam him.
He still remembered it vividly.
He had been crossing the street, earbuds in, lost in his thoughts. Then
Duang!
Screech!
Bam!
He flew.
Like, actually flew.
The truck hit him so hard he might as well have taken a direct ticket to orbit. He swore he saw the sun wink at him on his way up.
Even more surreal was what came after. As his consciousness faded, he vaguely heard panicked voices
"Crap! Wrong person! This isn't the one scheduled for transfer!"
"Oh no, oh no there goes my paycheck this month!"
"I can't believe this how do you mess up a reincarnation job?!"
And then… nothing. Just darkness.
Now, here he was on a pristine tropical island with no memory of how he got here.
Ryan let out a nervous laugh. "So… I didn't actually die? Or did I, and this is some kind of compensation package?"
He glanced around at the untouched beach and sighed. "Looks like I've been… transmigrated, huh?"
A strange sense of acceptance settled in. After all, the air here was impossibly clean, the sky brighter than anything he'd seen on Earth. This clearly wasn't the polluted, overworked world he knew.
"Great," he muttered. "So what now? Live like Robinson Crusoe? Hunt coconuts and talk to volleyballs?"
He rubbed his temple. "No, wait if this really is a transmigration, then where's my cheat? Every protagonist gets a system, right?"
He looked up at the sky dramatically. "Hey! System? Hello? Are you there, or did the admin forget to install you properly?"
As if on cue, a crisp, mechanical chime echoed in his mind.
[Ding!]
[Activating the Invincible Pay-to-Win Transformation System!]
[Host: Ryan Quinn]
[Character Transformation Cards: None]
[Companions: None]
Ryan froze. "Oh no… oh no. That name sounds way too suspicious."
"'Pay-to-Win Transformation System'? Are you kidding me?!"
He groaned. "Why do I feel like I just got scammed by a gacha game developer?"
Still, curiosity got the better of him. "Alright, system, enlighten me. What exactly do you do?"
The same ethereal voice replied smoothly:
[This system allows the host to transform into characters from any world across the multiverse.]
[The host can enhance the transformed character's power by investing money because power, naturally, comes from spending.]
Ryan blinked. "...So basically, the more I spend, the stronger I get."
[Affirmative.]
He sighed. "Figures. Even across dimensions, capitalism finds a way."
"Alright, then how do I get these 'Transformation Cards' you mentioned?"
[Transformation Cards can be obtained through paid draws.]
[Each draw costs ten billion Berries, based on this world's currency exchange rate.]
Ryan's eyes twitched. "Berries? Wait. Berries?!"
"Hold on this is the One Piece world?"
A chill ran down his spine. "Great. I just had to land in a place where people can blow up mountains by sneezing."
Still, he couldn't help but feel a thrill of excitement. "Alright, fine. Dangerous, sure. But interesting."
"System, tell me there's at least a newbie package or something. You can't just drop me here with nothing."
[Newbie Gift Pack Unlocked!]
[Reward: One free character transformation draw and 20% of the original character's power.]
Ryan exhaled in relief. "Okay, okay, that's something. Twenty percent power isn't bad… unless I pull some random weakling."
He rubbed his chin, already spiraling into anxiety. "What if I get, like, some side character who dies in episode one? How am I supposed to survive Kaido sneezing in my direction with that?"
But he shook his head quickly. "No, no! Negative thoughts attract bad RNG. I believe in my luck. I'm a certified gacha whale!"
He clasped his hands together and whispered like a desperate gambler at a slot machine.
"Heaven, Earth, and RNGesus above bless my roll!"
"I draw!"
In his mind's eye, a faint glow appeared an ethereal card spinning in the air before shattering into motes of blue light.
A magic circle formed, lines of azure energy connecting ten smaller orbs that rotated around a central sphere. The circle pulsed, energy building until the small orbs fused into one radiant light.
Then boom! the entire formation erupted in brilliance, a blinding blue flare cutting across his vision.
When the glow faded, a golden card floated before him, slowly spinning in the air.
On it was the image of a knight a woman with flowing golden hair tied back, her skin pale, eyes sharp and amber like molten gold. She wore dark armor etched with crimson veins, and in her hand, a sword black as night burned faintly with red light.
Information poured into Ryan's mind.
[Character Acquired: Artoria Pendragon (Alter)]
Ryan's jaw dropped. "Wait wait are you serious?!"
"Artoria Pendragon Alter? The blackened King of Knights?!"
He threw his fists in the air, laughing in disbelief. "YES! Let's go! RNGesus loves me after all!"
Artoria Pendragon (Alter) the corrupted, darker version of the legendary King Arthur. Unlike her noble counterpart, this version was merciless, pragmatic, and ruled with cold efficiency. A queen forged not by ideals, but by necessity.
Ryan's grin widened. "Perfect. Ruthless, efficient, powerful and, let's be honest, kind of hot. She's totally my type."
He chuckled to himself, shaking his head. "I can't believe it. My first pull and I hit her. If this isn't divine luck, I don't know what is."
A flicker of energy surged through him then, dark and commanding, as if the world itself bowed under an unseen authority.
He clenched his fist and smirked. "Alright, One Piece world… let's see how you handle a blackened king."
As the ocean breeze swept over the island, Ryan Quinn stood tall against the glimmering sea, a spark of adventure lighting in his chest.
He wasn't sure what awaited him out there pirates, Marines, monsters, gods but one thing was certain:
He wasn't just a lost soul anymore.
He was about to rewrite the rules of this world, one paid transformation at a time.