If you asked Kaien when he felt the most nervous, he would give you a clear answer—whenever he was about to do a summon draw.
[Would you like to perform a 10x draw?]
"Confirm!"
The panel's screen lit up with shimmering starlight, streams of it converging in the starry sky.
Kaien prayed in his heart, 'Gold! Gold! Gold!'
He cautiously opened one eye to peek at the animation on the screen. One glance—and his entire expression froze.
Not a single golden glow. Not even purple.
Seven blue cards. Three white ones.
Kaien thought he must be hallucinating. He shut his eyes, rubbed them, and looked again. By then, all ten character cards had already flipped over—every single one a no-name scrub he didn't recognize.
No gold. No purple. Just a pile of blue.
"System?! Why didn't I get any gold?!" Kaien demanded, furious.
[??? Host, what are you talking about? I don't quite understand.]
"I said—why didn't I get a gold card?!"
[Isn't not getting gold the most normal outcome? The pity rate is one gold every 100 draws—not every 10. The chance of drawing a gold per card is 1%, and the probability of getting at least one gold in a 10x draw is only 9.56%. Not getting a gold is actually more normal.]
"Then what about purple?! Why didn't I even get one of those?"
[Host, are you underestimating purple cards? The odds are slightly better than gold, but still not great. The chance to draw a purple per card is 5%. In a 10x draw, the chance of getting at least one purple is only 40.13%. So not getting one is also perfectly normal.]
"..."
Kaien had gotten into college, sure—but he was hopeless at math. He still counted money by breaking it into parts. Only now did he realize that the chance of getting a gold card in a 10x draw was barely one in ten.
[Host, your luck before this was insanely good. You got gold cards every time you did a 10x draw, and even scored purple cards with single pulls.]
[But that doesn't mean you'll always be this lucky. Gold and purple cards are exceptions—green and white cards are the norm. Honestly, getting seven blue cards out of ten is already decent.]
Kaien's face twitched. He suspected the system was being passive-aggressive. What good were a bunch of blue cards?
"I don't believe it! I'm a chosen transmigrator—one in a billion—and I awakened a system! There's no way my luck is bad! I even have the Goddess's Blessing! Add in the pity buffer from the last 10x draw—three stacked buffs! No way I don't get gold this time!"
[Would you like to perform a 10x draw?]
"Confirm!"
Once again, starlight flickered across the panel, gathering into constellations.
Kaien stared at the screen intently.
White. Blue. White. Green. Blue. White. Blue. Green.
Eight stars lit up—each representing the rarity of the cards.
Just when Kaien thought this pull was another bust—
Whoosh—!
A purple star burst into view.
"A purple card!!"
Kaien's face lit up in joy.
A purple character card might not be the most powerful in any given series, but it was still top-tier strength.
For example, one of his previous single pulls had given him Kisame Hoshigaki, whose overall combat strength was incredibly high. Even Might Guy had to open seven of the Eight Gates just to beat him.
And when Guy fully opened the eighth gate, even the Ten-Tails Jinchuriki Madara Uchiha acknowledged him: "I, Uchiha Madara, declare you the strongest."
So while purple cards might be slightly below gold in potential, their overall power was still elite.
Just as Kaien thought the summon was over, a brilliant golden star streaked down from the sky.
"A gold!!"
Kaien leapt to his feet, ecstatic.
"System—say something!!!"
He shouted arrogantly, practically jumping in excitement.
[...]
Even the system was speechless. It was starting to suspect that this host's luck was actually unnatural. Could he really be the so-called "chosen one"?
But then it dismissed the thought. A 10% chance wasn't that low—this idiot had just gotten lucky.
Kaien now stared intently at the interface as the cards began flipping one by one.
He didn't even bother looking at the white, green, or blue cards. Those were nothing more than EXP fodder—totally worthless.
What really mattered were the purple and gold.
Soon, the purple card flipped.
"It's him?!"
Kaien was stunned.
The character had black hair, normal skin tone, freckles across his cheeks, and wore an orange cowboy hat adorned with two emoticon badges—one smiling, one frowning—as well as a skull pin. A red bead necklace hung around his neck. He wore black shorts and shoes, with a bare chest that showed off a perfectly sculpted torso, and a dagger at his hip.
That's right. He was one of the most painful regrets for One Piece fans:
"Fire Fist" Ace.
His death triggered the most iconic arc in One Piece: the War of the Best.
In order to rescue him, Whitebeard led his entire fleet against Marineford.
In hindsight, it had been a suicide mission—but that man had to go. He was the strongest man in the world—Whitebeard.
Sadly, the hero was aging, and the Marineford lineup was far too powerful.
Although they eventually broke Ace free, the price was immense.
And in the end, to protect his younger brother, Ace was pierced through the chest by Akainu's magma fist—from the back.
Kaien had cried when he first read that scene in the manga. He never thought he'd actually draw Ace one day.
Ace's power needed no introduction. Even though Haki got heavily emphasized later in the series, Logia-type Devil Fruits were still some of the most powerful, and Ace's Flame-Flame Fruit was no joke.
The whole "Flame-Flame Fruit isn't worth eating" meme? Just a joke.
If someone actually offered that fruit to your face, who wouldn't want it?
Ace's only real weakness was appearing too early in the story, before Haki mechanics were fully developed.
Even if he had mastered Haki, he probably still wouldn't have withstood Akainu's punch. Akainu's one-hit burst damage was still among the highest in One Piece.
That's probably why Ace was only classified as a purple card—but within the purple tier, he was undoubtedly among the top.
Now Kaien turned his eyes to the last card—the golden one.
This was the main event.
As the card flipped to reveal the character, Kaien's eyes widened in shock.
"It's him?!"