"Where… am I?"
Fang Yi slowly opened his eyes, glancing around at his surroundings. All around him were wooden walls and floors—it looked like the inside of a ship's cabin.
"Where exactly am I?" Sitting up on the only bed in the room, Fang Yi instinctively touched his body in disbelief.
He remembered falling asleep on his sofa after playing video games for too long. Why had he woken up in this strange place?
"What… happened to me?" Looking at his hands, Fang Yi became certain—this wasn't his body. He was clearly over thirty, a successful middle-aged man. But the hands and body he now saw were those of an eight or nine-year-old child.
Creak…
Just as Fang Yi was lost in confusion, the wooden door suddenly swung open. A man with a straw hat and a small mustache, looking to be in his thirties, walked in with a bright, friendly smile.
"Yo! Kid, you're awake?" The man casually greeted him, grinning widely.
His smile was so infectious that Fang Yi, despite meeting him for the first time, instinctively felt this man wasn't a bad person.
"Uh… who are you? And… where is this?" Fang Yi asked hesitantly.
"I'm Gol D. Roger! The man who will become the Pirate King! As for this place… well, it's my ship!" the man—no, Roger—grinned as he spoke.
Fang Yi almost wanted to laugh. Become the Pirate King? What, did he think he was that rubber guy, Luffy?
Of course, Fang Yi knew that line—it was one of the most iconic quotes from One Piece.
Though he was a successful businessman, Fang Yi enjoyed anime and video games in his spare time to relax. As one of the "Big Three" anime, One Piece was something he had watched.
He figured this man was probably just some delusional fan imitating anime characters.
"Right, uh… why am I here?" Fang Yi took a sip of water that Roger handed him, curious.
"Huh? You don't remember?" Roger looked even more surprised. "Three days ago, we found you floating out at sea. We thought you were a goner for sure, but somehow, you managed to survive!"
"So… you saved me?" Fang Yi frowned slightly.
It wasn't that he was ungrateful—he just had the nagging feeling that he was forgetting something important.
"Well, I guess you could say we saved you. But it was mostly your luck!" Roger casually waved it off, munching on an apple he'd grabbed from who knows where.
Creak…
As they were chatting, the door opened again, and in walked a man with short blond hair.
"Hey, kid, you're awake?" The blond man greeted Fang Yi first before turning to Roger. "Captain, we've spotted a Navy ship ahead. Should we try to avoid them?"
"The Navy? Already? Don't tell me it's that damn Garp again?" Roger's face immediately soured.
"Navy? Garp?" It was like Fang Yi had been struck by lightning. He stared blankly at the two men in front of him—the more he looked, the more familiar they seemed.
Gulp… Fang Yi swallowed hard, looking back and forth between the blond man and Roger. His voice trembled, "W-what did you say your name was again?"
Roger gave him a puzzled look—hadn't he just said it?
"Roger. Gol D. Roger!" Roger introduced himself again, then pointed to the blond man. "This is my crewmate, Rayleigh! We're pirates!"
Fang Yi's expression twisted into something even uglier than a crying face. "It… really is you guys…"
Now he was sure—Gol D. Roger, the man who would one day become the Pirate King!
Why "would become," and not "is"? Simple. Roger, right now, looked far younger than he did when he became Pirate King in the original story. No wonder Fang Yi hadn't recognized him at first.
"Wahahaha! Don't worry, we'll drop you off at the next island!" Roger laughed heartily, thinking Fang Yi didn't want to get involved with pirates.
Of course, Fang Yi understood Roger had misunderstood him, but before he could explain, explosions suddenly rang out from outside.
"Looks like they've caught up," Roger said, patting Fang Yi's shoulder with a reassuring smile. "Stay here and rest, kid. Don't worry—we've got this." With that, he and Rayleigh left the cabin.
But at the exact moment Roger touched Fang Yi's shoulder, a mechanical voice suddenly echoed in his mind:
"Successfully tagged Gol D. Roger. System activated!"
"Congratulations, Host! System initialized. Inventory interface unlocked… Lottery interface unlocked…"
"Beginner's Gift Pack has been delivered to your inventory. Please check!"
"Congratulations, Host! You've successfully tagged Gol D. Roger and earned one free spin on the lottery wheel!"
The rapid string of robotic announcements left Fang Yi completely stunned.
"So it came… the classic 'golden finger' of transmigration stories!" Fang Yi let out a bitter laugh and sat back down on the bed.
Forcing himself to calm down, he decided to check out his newly activated system.
First, he noticed three icons constantly displayed in the lower-right corner of his vision. The first was a little person icon—when opened, it only showed his name and nothing else.
The second icon looked like a backpack, clearly the inventory that the system mentioned. The third icon resembled a spinning wheel, clearly the lottery feature.
He opened the backpack first. A transparent inventory grid appeared in front of him—36 slots in total, arranged in a 6x6 layout. Only the first slot contained an item: a gift-wrapped box.
Without hesitation, Fang Yi selected it.
"You have used the Beginner's Gift Pack. Reward: Ten-Draw Lottery Voucher!"
"A ten-draw?" Fang Yi blinked. It felt just like a gacha game—but he knew full well this wasn't a game. This was the real world.
Suppressing his excitement, he closed the backpack and opened the lottery interface.
The interface was simple—just a large spinning wheel. Below, it was a countdown timer showing just over two hours remaining. Judging by the timer, it would reset at midnight.
The wheel itself was packed with prizes. Fang Yi took a deep breath and clicked the button to spin.
"Congratulations, Host! You have obtained: One Bottle of Pure Water!"
"…Hah, that's normal. No one wins the jackpot on their first try. Stay calm… stay calm!" Fang Yi comforted himself, not too discouraged. After all, he still had that ten-draw voucher.
Putting his hands together and muttering under his breath, Fang Yi activated the ten-draw.
"Congratulations, Host! You have obtained: Common Weapon Voucher!"
"Congratulations, Host! You have obtained: One Bottle of Pure Water!"
"Congratulations, Host! You have obtained: Small Portion of Bread!"
"Congratulations, Host! You have obtained: Standard Longsword!"
"Congratulations, Host! You have obtained: Single-Tube Telescope!"
"Congratulations, Host! You have obtained: Skill – Precision!"
"Congratulations, Host! You have obtained: Small Portion of Bread!"
"Congratulations, Host! You have obtained: Casual Outfit!"
"Congratulations, Host! You have obtained: One Bottle of Pure Water!"
"Congratulations, Host! You have obtained: Substitute Doll!"
Ten draws, ten items. To his surprise, among them was even a skill that made Fang Yi's heart race. He quickly checked its description.
Precision (Lv. 1): 10% chance to guarantee a 100% hit on the target!
Fang Yi froze in shock.
A guaranteed hit? Even with just a 10% chance, that was insane!
In One Piece, characters with Logia-type Devil Fruits were almost untouchable unless the attacker had Haki.
Though he wasn't sure exactly what "guaranteed hit" meant in practice, no matter how he looked at it, this was an incredible skill.
He also checked the item called the Substitute Doll, and his heart skipped a beat again.
Substitute Doll: Automatically absorbs one fatal attack on behalf of the Host. (Works as long as it's in your inventory.)
A life-saving item!
With this system, Fang Yi finally felt a bit more at ease. At least now, he had a fighting chance of surviving in this world.
He then recalled that his system had activated when Roger patted his shoulder.
"Do I need to make contact with people from the One Piece world to unlock rewards? Or does it only work with famous characters?" Fang Yi pondered. After all, earning those lottery draws could be a matter of life or death.
Before he could think further, the sounds of battle outside dragged him back to reality. Curious about this real-world One Piece experience, Fang Yi decided to take a look.
Creak… He cautiously pushed open the cabin door. The shouting and clashing of battle were even louder outside. Most of the fighting was happening on a nearby Marine warship—only a few minor skirmishes were taking place aboard Roger's ship.
Looking around, Fang Yi spotted a mop in the corner. Steeling himself, he crept up behind a distracted Marine soldier and shoved him off the ship into the sea.
However, he used too much force, and the mop went flying after the man. He nearly fell overboard himself, narrowly catching his balance.
"Hahaha! Kid, you're the one the Captain saved, right?" A pirate wearing a floral headscarf laughed heartily.
"Yep! I don't know what's going on yet, but you guys saved me, so of course, I'm on your side!" Fang Yi grinned widely.
Now that he had his "golden finger," staying on the future Pirate King's ship didn't seem like a bad idea at all.
With this, Fang Yi had officially chosen his side.