A tall, burly man transformed from smoke wearing clothing resembling Arabic style couldn't help but make Michael suspicious of the other party.
"What's a genie? Never heard of it."
He had also heard a little about famous deities in the world. In those stories it seemed they never mentioned an existence inside an oil lamp.
"A genie is a deity inside an oil lamp who grants wishes. As long as you wish, I can make it come true. Of course there's no price to pay, I grant wishes for free."
Of course he didn't say everything. It's true he could grant a wish for free but that wish had to follow the rules.
"Anything at all?"
Michael frowned, this feeling of a delicious pie falling from the sky like this wasn't believable at all. He'd rather believe this was a trap than believe he was that lucky.
Moreover, an oil lamp with a genie inside... Taking it to sell would surely fetch a good price, right?
Thinking of that, his gaze looking at the genie gradually became feverish. Some wish or other, he now felt, wasn't that necessary.
The genie's face darkened, and though he didn't have the power to read what the other was thinking, that treasure-hunting gaze wasn't good at all.
"Hey, what are you thinking? If you give up the wish, I will leave. Just a mortal, don't dream of keeping me here."
The words were like a bucket of cold water dousing Michael's dream of taking a deity to sell. The budding dream had withered, indeed, it was a bit regrettable.
"You haven't answered my question yet."
"Of course you can wish for anything. You just say it out loud, but only one wish."
Michael thought for a moment, he felt he needed to understand more about the genie and the wish before making a decision.
"So, my asking won't count as a wish, right?"
"Of course, but only questions related to myself. You can't take advantage of asking to get wishes related to infinite information and knowledge."
"Fine, then tell me, what exactly is a genie's job?"
"Huh???"
Hearing this question, the genie was dumbfounded. He vaguely had a feeling that he was about to be free. But I wasn't too sure because maybe Michael was just simply curious about a strange deity.
"I travel everywhere to grant wishes. Basically, the people who get wishes are all people who deserve to wish. This belongs to the arrangement of fate, I can't interfere."
This vague explanation made Michael feel a bit suspicious. Fate's arrangement... what did this vague concept mean?
Though he also wanted to ask, this answer definitely fell outside the scope of the genie's personal matters, so he didn't want to waste that wish either.
"You say you travel everywhere, what does that mean? I don't remember ever hearing any legends about a genie. Although there are some legends about wish-granting deities, I've never seen one about a genie."
"Traveling everywhere, in my meaning, is traveling to all worlds."
"You mean there are many other worlds besides the one I live in?" Michael asked curiously.
"That question is outside myself. If this is a wish, I will answer." The genie shook his head and replied.
"Forget it, it's not that necessary. Let me think for a bit."
Michael fell into deep thought, he was weighing the benefits of becoming a genie. The man before him looked like he showed no signs of aging. From this, he deduced he was immortal.
Immortal, able to travel to all worlds, possessing great power even though he couldn't use it for himself.
Thinking it over, becoming a genie was also not a bad wish. Moreover, if he himself could live forever, then one day when he got tired of this job, he would have plenty of time to find another job.
"You're immortal?"
The genie's eyes were slightly unusual. As soon as he heard this question, he guessed what Michael's wish was.
"Of course, if not, what would I rely on to travel everywhere granting wishes?" the genie affirmed firmly, showing no loophole.
Of course, he only told half the truth, the other half he didn't say. Basically, he really was immortal, it's just that it wasn't as good as the immortality Michael was imagining.
"Good, then I wish to become a genie."
As soon as Michael finished speaking, the genie's body suddenly emitted a fierce light that filled the entire room. Immediately, he felt his body become lighter, as if turning into mist and smoke. He also felt himself suddenly having a deep connection with that oil lamp.
"Hahaha, thanks for wishing for that. I'm tired of being a genie anyway."
The genie's laughter echoed in the room, and at the same time his body turned into shimmering dust particles slowly dissolving into the void.
"Damn it! That bastard didn't explain it clearly to me."
Michael shouted and cursed, he felt at this moment he couldn't control anything at all and could only let the oil lamp suck him inside.
At the same time, from the moment he became the new genie, his mind was imprinted with the rules and abilities of a genie.
The genie really could grant wishes but there were conditions. Evil wishes were not allowed. Moreover, except for the wish Michael just made, for all other wishes the genie had to personally fulfill them.
If someone else wished for something, Michael would appear in the outside world in a human body to help the other party fulfill their desire. The damn thing here was the genie didn't have access to all the knowledge of the universe. This meant he had to learn everything himself each time he went to fulfill a wish.
The genie really was immortal, but the body used when fulfilling wishes was not. If that body died, it would immediately be revived inside the oil lamp but would be imprisoned there for a thousand years as punishment.
Putting everything together, the genie, aside from living long and being able to go to many places, had nothing else. Moreover, he always had to live for others because the genie's job was fulfilling wishes.