With the rules of the game now settled, the Hokages prepared for the lottery. As Hashirama had proposed:
Everyone except Ryan would participate. The rankings would be based on the quality of rewards drawn. The lottery was purely for entertainment, with no additional rewards at stake.
It was a simple setup, just a casual game among Hokages. But beneath the surface, there was another layer of significance.
By participating in the lottery, they had a chance to gain new abilities, techniques, or enhancements. Even if they didn't win something remarkable, at the very least, they would earn points. And in this system, points were always useful. As long as luck wasn't completely against them, it was a risk-free opportunity.
Everyone understood this well. Many had originally planned to save their points for specific purchases, never even considering the lottery as a viable option. After all, the cost per draw was steep, and without a guarantee of getting something worthwhile, it had always seemed like too much of a gamble.
But this time was different.
After four rounds of cross-world experiences, they had accumulated an impressive stockpile of treasures and ranking rewards. Compared to before, their points were now abundant. With that in mind, the idea of using a small portion for some fun didn't seem so bad anymore.
And so, the Hokages made their way to the mall section of the system, ready to begin.
Naturally, the first to step up was Hashirama.
Since he had suggested this in the first place and as the First Hokage, it was only fitting that he went first. Of course, he also had zero hesitation about these kinds of things.
As he arrived at the lottery interface, a few system prompts appeared before him:
[Please select the prize pool you wish to draw from.]
Level 1 Prize Pool: Costs 5,000 points per draw.
Level 2 Prize Pool: Costs 50,000 points per draw.
Level 3 Prize Pool and above: Not yet available. Please wait patiently.
The moment these options appeared, the room fell silent.
Everyone exchanged glances.
"…Huh. I don't think we ever saw this before," Minato muttered, rubbing his chin.
"That's because every lottery we've had until now was pre-determined by the system," Tobirama noted, his sharp eyes scanning the screen. "The chat group usually fixed the reward pools ahead of time. This is the first time we could choose."
Now that they thought about it, it made sense.
Previously, they had never even considered that the lottery system points had been too valuable to waste on something uncertain. But now, after everything they had experienced, their perspective had changed.
They finally had enough points to entertain the idea.
Still, there was a noticeable difference in cost.
A single draw from the first-level prize pool was 5,000 points, while the second level required a whopping 50,000 points per attempt.
A steep price, no doubt.
Hashirama, however, didn't seem the least bit concerned. With an eager grin, he cracked his knuckles.
"Well, no point standing around! Let's see what I get!"
And with that, he pressed the button to begin the draw.
The cost of participation was no joke.
Five thousand points for a single draw, what did that even represent?
Back when they had first traveled to the Pirate World, completing a full mission had only rewarded them with a few thousand points. That alone was proof of just how valuable each draw was.
And then there was the fifty-thousand-point option.
It was a staggering amount. Even now, with their current wealth, it made them pause.
Last time, during their mission in the One Punch Man world, a full completion earned them around 50,000 points. That was the result of clearing an entire world, all for a single shot at the second-tier lottery.
It was only because each of them now held at least a million points that they could even begin to entertain the idea.
Had they still been in their earlier situation, scraping together every last point, not one of them would have dared to consider this. Even now, the sheer cost gave a few of them pause.
Tobirama crossed his arms, his sharp gaze scanning the prize pool options. "The secondary world prize pool… 50,000 points is a considerable amount," he stated, his voice level but firm. After a pause, he added, "Logically, the first-tier prize pool is the more efficient choice. There's no need to squander resources unnecessarily."
The room fell silent for a moment.
Then, almost in unison, everyone turned to him with varying degrees of exasperation.
"Are you serious, Second Grandpa?!" Naruto groaned, throwing his hands up. "You've got a ridiculous amount of points! Fifty thousand is nothing to you!"
Minato sighed, rubbing the back of his head. "I understand being cautious, but this is a bit much."
Hashirama grinned, clapping a heavy hand on his brother's shoulder. "Come on, Tobirama! It's not like we're gambling our village's budget here. Learn to enjoy life a little!"
"The second-tier pool has better rewards," Kakashi added dryly.
"Yeah! As long as your luck isn't complete garbage, you'll get something good," Naruto chimed in.
"And even if you don't," Sasuke said, arms crossed, "you can always sell back whatever you pull."
Tsunade smirked, arms resting lazily behind her head. "Basically, there's no way to actually lose here. Unless you somehow manage to be even unluckier than I am."
Tobirama sighed, scanning their faces. He had already done the calculations; 50,000 points wasn't a significant loss for him. It was just that throwing points at a luck-based system felt inefficient.
But seeing how insistent everyone was… and how much Hashirama looked like he was going to keep grinning at him until he agreed…
"Fine," he relented, closing his eyes for a brief moment. "We'll use the second-tier world prize pool."
The collective tension in the room broke instantly.
"Finally!" Naruto grinned.
"Now this is getting interesting," Kakashi mused.
Hashirama beamed. "That's the spirit!"
Tobirama just sighed. He was going to regret this, wasn't he?
Meanwhile, Ryan wasn't paying attention to their back-and-forth. He had noticed something else.
While the Level 1 and Level 2 prize pools were available, anything higher was still locked. It wasn't hard to figure out why.
No one in the group had yet reached the third-tier world level. The gap between them and that level was still too large.
In a way, it made sense. The system wasn't about to offer them third-tier world rewards when they weren't ready for them.
But Ryan had an interesting thought.
After all, his most recent reward, the defensive ability he had gained, clearly exceeded anything offered in the second-tier world prize pool.
That could only mean one thing.
"It seems this is one of the perks of special rewards," Ryan thought to himself. "If you're lucky enough, your reward might not be limited by the current prize pool."
Just now, when he had won his ability, he must have triggered a special exception, allowing him to pull from a much higher-tier world prize pool.
If that was the case, then this lottery wasn't entirely limited by the system's restrictions.
Which meant that there was still a chance for something even bigger.
---
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