If that's true, then I was shaped by disappointment.
My name was Ainz—
well, that's what I preferred to be called.
My real name didn't matter.
Nothing in my old world ever really belonged to me anyway.
I grew up in a house that felt less like a home
and more like a battlefield.
Mom and Dad argued like it was an Olympic sport—
and if shouting paid bills, we would've been rich.
But in reality?
We were broke… emotionally and financially.
I learned early that no one was coming to save me.
So I saved myself.
Part-time jobs, school, sleepless nights—
I pushed, clawed, dragged myself forward.
Hoping tomorrow would be better.
But tomorrow never came.
Still… I kept going.
Maybe I was stubborn.
Maybe too stupid to quit.
Or maybe I refused to let my story end as
"some kid who never got a chance."
It was raining—
the dramatic, cinematic kind.
I'd just finished a late shift at a convenience store.
My back ached, my shoes squished with every step,
and I was starving.
Pretty normal for me.
As I crossed the street, I sighed.
"Is this really all life has for me?"
Then—
A loud honk.
Blinding headlights.
Metal screaming.
"…You've got to be kidding me."
Truck-kun, destroyer of lives, giver of isekai,
had finally selected me as today's lucky winner.
My body flew.
Pain exploded.
Then—
Darkness.
When I opened my eyes, it wasn't a hospital room.
It was a blank, glowing void.
Like I woke up inside someone's cosmic screensaver.
A table appeared.
A chair appeared.
And then He appeared.
A man sipping tea, dressed in clothes too old to be modern
yet too perfect to be ancient.
"Welcome, Ainz," he said softly.
"…Did I die?"
"Yes," he replied casually. "Quite painfully, too."
"Figures."
He chuckled.
"You lived a life harder than most. No support, no guidance…
yet you never gave up. You never turned bitter. You kept trying."
I froze.
No one had ever acknowledged me like that.
"…So what now?"
"I'm offering you a second life," he said.
"A world where you can live for yourself.
One full of danger… and meaning."
The white void rippled—
turning into an endless blue ocean.
One Piece.
My heart stopped.
"No way. You're sending me there?"
He nodded.
"You will start with nothing but yourself.
And a gift… fitting for your determination."
A golden panel materialized before me.
[ REWARD SYSTEM: ONE PIECE EDITION INSTALLED ]
— Leveling
— Shop
— Gacha
— System Points
— Quests
My jaw dropped.
"You're serious?"
"Yes," he smiled.
"This time… live for you."
I breathed out slowly.
A second chance.
A new world.
"Alright," I said, a grin forming.
"Send me in."
He snapped his fingers—
and the void shattered.