My day had been perfectly normal. Well, as normal as any day can be when your head is full of thoughts about magical worlds and overpowered slimes. I was just crossing the street, thinking about how cool it would be to have a skill like [Great Sage], when my world suddenly became very loud, very heavy, and then very… quiet.
The last thing I saw was a giant grille. The last thing I heard was a screech of tires. The last thing I thought was, 'Bruh. Truck-kun? Seriously?'
Then, nothing.
Then, not nothing.
I was standing in a place that was… white. It wasn't bright and it wasn't dark. It was just white, everywhere, forever. And standing in front of me was… well, a guy. He looked like a manager who had just found out the coffee machine was broken. Again. He was wearing a simple white robe and had a face that seemed both ancient and tired.
He wasn't looking at me, though. He was glaring at something behind me.
I slowly turned around.
Parked right there in the endless white was the truck that had just hit me. And leaning against it, looking incredibly sheepish, was a handsome young man in a crisp driver's uniform. He was nervously twisting a cap in his hands.
"—and what part of 'isekai delivery schedule' did you not understand?" the robed man—let's call him God—said, his voice echoing with a weird mix of infinite power and pure frustration. "This one wasn't on the list! His time wasn't for another six decades! Natural causes! A very standard, very easy liver failure! Do you have any idea the paperwork you've just created?"
"Look, Big G, sir, I am so sorry," the driver—Truck-sama—said, bowing deeply. "The route was packed! I had a hero summoning, a villainess recall, and a 'slow life' farm assignment all backed up! I was taking a shortcut through the mortal plane and this one just… appeared! I didn't even have time to honk!"
"I don't want your excuses!" God snapped, massaging his temples. "I want a clean, paperwork-free existence! Now I have to explain a premature, non-standard, vehicle-based transmigration! The cosmic council is going to have a field day!"
Truck-sama looked like he was about to cry.
God sighed a sigh that seemed to carry the weight of a thousand missed coffee breaks. He finally turned to look at me. I probably had a pretty stupid look on my face.
"You. Okay. Listen. My associate here has made a… a mess," God said, gesturing vaguely at Truck-sama. "As an apology for the whole… well, the whole 'splattering you across the pavement' thing, I am authorized to offer you a standard otherworldly reincarnation package. One world. One wish. Let's make this quick, I have a backlog of souls to process."
My brain, which had been stuck on 'wait, what?', finally kicked into gear. This was it. The dream. But… one wish? After that kind of unprofessionalism? I had to negotiate. I channeled every bit of my inner fanboy knowledge.
"One wish?" I asked, trying to sound calm and not like my soul was still vibrating. "Big G, sir, with all due respect, your employee turned me into a street pancake. That's got to be worth a little more, don't you think? I was thinking more along the lines of… six wishes?"
God stared at me. Truck-sama made a choking sound.
"SIX?" God's voice made the white void shimmer. "Do you have any idea what that would do? The cosmic balance? The power creep? The sheer administrative nightmare of integrating six divine-level boons into a single soul? Absolutely not! Out of the question!"
"Okay, okay, hear me out," I said, holding up my hands. "I'll make it super easy for you. I'll pick a world that's already built. One that's already full of crazy power levels so me showing up won't even make a ripple. And!" I added, seeing him hesitate, "I promise I won't pick any skills that anyone in that world already has or will ever get. Totally original stuff. Your system won't have to work hard at all. It'll be like… adding new DLC to a game that's already running."
Truck-sama started nodding so fast I thought his head would fall off. "He's got a point, boss! It's efficient! Think of the efficiency!"
God's eyes glazed over at the word 'efficient.' I had him.
"A pre-established world…" he muttered, a look of bureaucratic temptation on his face. "No new assets… original skills only… it would save me from having to design a whole new fantasy setting from scratch…"
He looked back at me, a new light in his eyes. "You drive a hard bargain, mortal. Very well. Six wishes. But they must adhere to your restrictions! The moment you try to wish for 'The Power of the Void Dragon' or something, the deal is off!"
"Deal!" I said, a massive grin spreading across my face.
"Excellent. World and wishes. Now."
I didn't even have to think. "The world: That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime. I want to go there."
"The Tensuraverse?" God said, looking intrigued. "A good choice. Lots of activity there lately. The Storm Dragon's been sealed, things are getting interesting. When do you want to arrive? A few years after the sealing? During the Orc Lord incident?"
I shook my head. "No. I want to arrive exactly… one year before a Japanese salaryman named Satoru Mikami is reincarnated as a slime in that cave."
God blinked. "A year before? That's a very specific and… quiet point in the timeline. Nothing much is happening. Are you sure you don't want to be right in the middle of the action?"
"I'm sure," I said. A year would give me time to get set up. To prepare.
"Very well," God said. A holographic screen, looking suspiciously like a spreadsheet, appeared in front of him. "Now, for your six wishes. And remember, original skills only."
I took a deep breath. It was time to break the game.
"Wish Number One: I wish for the Ultimate Skill [Arkhē: The Primordial Principle]. I want the admin access to the world's system. The power to see, copy, modify, and create any Skill I want. The authority to grant them, take them away, or seal them. And the ability to set my own local rules in an area, overriding the normal laws of physics and magic."
God's face went pale. "You… you can't ask for that! That's a core system function! That's like asking for the master key to the universe!"
"Compensation," I said sweetly. "For wrongful death. You agreed to six."
He looked like he was going to be sick, but with trembling hands, he typed on his holographic keyboard. "…Fine. Approved. But it's going to be heavily logged!"
"Wish Number Two: I wish for the Ultimate Skill [Khaos: The Primordial Void]. I want to generate my own Turn Null, infinitely. I want a defense that breaks down anything that touches me into energy and absorbs it. And I want a sub-skill, [Genesis Forge], that lets me shape that raw energy into any material, substance, or object I can imagine."
"Unlimited energy… and creation…" God muttered, looking ill. He typed again. "Approved."
"Wish Number Three: I wish for my mind and soul to be protected. I want to be immune to all analysis, all mind reading, all soul corruption, all time manipulation, all fate manipulation, and all reality warping that I don't explicitly allow. I want my very existence to be an unchangeable fact. Call it [The Unbound Ego]."
"You're making yourself an error code! A glitch!" he protested.
"Exactly. Approved?"
He sighed, defeated. "…Approved."
"Wish Number Four: I wish to see everything. I want to know everything. I want the Ultimate Perception [Panoptēs: The All-Seeing]. I want to perceive all dimensions, all timelines, every thought, every action, everywhere, all at once, and my mind should be able to understand it all perfectly. Nothing can be hidden from me."
The terminal in front of God flickered dangerously. "The data stream… it's too much… it'll… fine! Approved!"
"Wish Number Five: I wish for my voice to be law. I want the Divine Authority [Kyrios: The Sovereign]. When I speak a command, it becomes a reality that cannot be resisted. If I tell someone to 'be loyal,' they will be. If I tell a rock to 'be a sword,' it will be. I want to be able to shape stories and assign roles to people."
"Absolute Command…" God whispered, horrified. "You'll be a tyrant…"
"A king," I corrected. "Approved?"
He just nodded weakly.
"Wish Number Six: I wish for my new body and my new home. I don't want to be human. I want to be a [Dragon of Genesis], a being made from the power of creation and nothingness itself. And when I arrive, I don't want to appear in a forest. I want my arrival to reshape the land. I want a giant, unmissable plateau to erupt from the ground, and on top of it, a perfect, unbreakable city to form from nothing. That city will be my capital, Aethelgard."
Truck-sama had fainted. God just looked at me with a mixture of terror and something like respect.
"You're not asking for power," he breathed. "You're asking to be a fundamental part of the system. A new pillar of reality. Approved."
He pointed a finger at me. The white space began to dissolve. "Now, get out of my office. And try not to break everything."
He didn't snap. He didn't wave. He just pressed a giant, red button on his terminal that had the word 'YEET' written on it in bold letters.
And I was gone.
The feeling wasn't like falling. It was like… unfolding. I felt concepts being written into my soul. I felt infinite power with no limit. I felt my mind expand until I could see… everything.
But only for a second.
Then, it was like I was being squeezed through a straw at the speed of light. The white void was gone, replaced by a blinding, screaming tunnel of color and light.
I was on my way.
I didn't know exactly where I would land, but I knew the when. One year. I had one year before a certain slime would change the world.
And I was going to use it.