⎰Earth - 2023⎱

It was a typical spring day in Canada, where the lingering chill of winter was finally giving way to the warmth of new beginnings. Flower buds tentatively pushed through the thawing earth, and people emerged from their cozy homes, eager to enjoy the parks and witness the season's first bloom.

Among the crowd was Matthew, a well-known martial arts instructor at the Dragon Fist School. His Gi (a traditional martial artist's attire) clung to his tall, muscular frame, a testament to the years of dedication he had poured into his craft—not to mention the medals and trophies that filled his dojo, earned during his competitive years before he chose to dedicate himself fully to teaching.

But today, the peaceful spring day did little to ease his growing frustration. The distant honking of geese only seemed to mock his mood. "Damn it, I want a refund," he muttered, his steps quickening with irritation. "The description clearly said the dragon balls would light up, and Shenron's hologram would appear when I made a wish. I yelled so loud my neighbors probably thought I've lost my mind from all the training. And still, nothing! This thing doesn't even work."

~Flashback Start~

Just hours earlier, Matthew had returned from his usual martial arts session at the dojo. His day had followed the disciplined routine he cherished: guiding his students in morning training, refining their skills while sharpening his own.

Yet today, something new added excitement to his day—something he'd been eagerly anticipating for weeks.

He had ordered a set of limited-edition dragon balls from Japan, advertised as a collector's dream. But these weren't just decorative replicas; they promised a special feature, one that would bring a piece of his childhood fantasy to life. According to the product description, arranging them together and making a wish would trigger a holographic projection of Shenron, the Eternal Dragon.

As he hurried home, memories of his childhood flooded his mind. The Dragon Ball series hadn't just been entertainment for him—it was his inspiration, the catalyst that led him to become a martial artist. Even now, as an adult, his apartment was a shrine to his fandom. Figurines of Goku and Vegeta stood proudly on his shelves, their dynamic poses frozen in time, serving as reminders of his favorite childhood heroes.

These figurines held sentimental value for him, tangible representations of his enduring love for the Dragon Ball franchise and its iconic characters.

When he reached the doorstep, his heart skipped a beat. A small package adorned with Amazon's familiar logo sat waiting for him. He scooped it up, barely able to contain his excitement, and quickly unlocked the door to his modest two-bedroom apartment.

Inside, the walls were adorned with vibrant posters of the Z Fighters, their legendary battles immortalized in stunning artwork. A cable ran from his computer to the television, part of a setup he used to stream episodes of Dragon Ball Super. Canadian broadcasts never quite scratched his itch for quality anime. Instead, they opted for cartoons, which became boring after a while, especially when you're older, so he had devised this workaround long ago.

Setting the package reverently on the table, Matthew forced himself to pause. First, a shower. The anticipation was almost unbearable, but he wanted to savor the moment, free of distractions.

Refreshed and eager, he returned to the table. His hands trembled slightly as he opened the package, revealing the dragon balls nestled inside. They were larger than the ones depicted in the series, about 1.5 times the size, and as the sunlight streamed through the window, they seemed to glow with a life of their own. For a moment, he was transfixed.

"Finally, I have them from Japan; they took so long to arrive, even though I specifically requested expedited shipping," he exclaimed with pure delight, holding the special dragon balls in his hands. His excitement as a devoted fan was evident, and he celebrated the long-awaited moment with a sense of fulfillment and joy.

"Excellent, at least the quality is good. Now let's test these babes' functions," he exclaimed with excitement, gathering all the dragon balls together. He couldn't help but grin as he imagined the scene that would soon unfold.

Wasting no time, Matthew arranged the seven dragon balls in a circle on his table. Their yellow glow intensified as they aligned, casting a warm, otherworldly light across the room. The excitement within him was palpable. Matthew took a deep breath, clasped his hands together, mimicked the iconic pose from the anime, and shouted with all the passion he could muster, "Rise, Shenron, and grant my wish!"

For a moment, time seemed to stand still. The room was filled with an expectant silence, broken only by the hum of the refrigerator in the corner. But nothing happened. The dragon balls sat there, glowing but otherwise inert.

He tried again, his voice louder, more desperate, but the result was the same. Frustration quickly replaced his initial excitement. He spent the next several minutes repeating the process, trying different phrases, and altering his tone, but the outcome remained unchanged.

Eventually, he conceded defeat and reached for his phone. A call to Amazon's customer service yielded little more than apologies and empty promises. His anger simmered, threatening to boil over. Needing an outlet, he decided to take a walk to the nearby park, hoping the fresh air would cool his temper before he potentially acted out of frustration and broke something.

~Flashback End~

As the geese's honking grew louder, a visible tick mark formed on Matthew's forehead. Determined to confront the bothersome birds, he started marching toward them, his irritation palpable.

The geese, engrossed in their own quarrel, seemed oblivious to Matthew's presence. Their heads were held high as they continued to shout at each other. In the distance, a female goose basked in the attention of two male geese, who were vying for her affection.

"Enough already! First, those cheap, broken dragon balls from Amazon. Now, to add more insult to injury, these obnoxious geese are honking at each other so loudly!" He yelled, letting loose the wave of frustration that had built up inside him.

As Matthew approached, the geese grew irritated by his presence. They responded with loud honks, like car horns, warning him to back off. Instead of calming him, this defiance only fueled his rage further. He began shouting back, hoping to scare them away.

His aggressive tactics worked—especially on the female goose, who grew frightened and began whimpering. The two male geese, seeing her distress, set their differences aside and formed a temporary truce to deal with Matthew.

Enraged, the male geese launched a relentless attack, nipping and pecking at Matthew's head. Despite his martial arts expertise, Matthew found himself in a bizarre and evenly matched battle against the birds. He fought them off with skill, but the stalemate seemed to drag on.

The situation quickly escalated when reinforcements from the rest of the geese's clan arrived. Overwhelmed by their sheer numbers and aggression, Matthew struggled to defend himself. Despite his decade of martial arts training, he found himself at a disadvantage against the coordinated onslaught of the geese.

In the end, the geese's collective strength proved too much for Matthew. Overpowered and outnumbered, he succumbed to their relentless attack, a stark reminder of nature's unpredictability and the tenacity of even the most unassuming creatures.

"I demand a refund, God..." In his weakened state, Matthew managed to express his final frustration and disappointment before succumbing to his injuries, overwhelmed by the relentless geese.

...

⎰Spiritual Realm⎱

'I was really looking forward to those dragon balls working like they did in the anime. I'm a huge fan, after all. I even became a martial artist in Canada of all places because of the series I watched as a kid and through my teens,' Matthew mused, now a ghost, as he floated above his lifeless body, which was still gushing blood from multiple wounds.

'Those bAstArds sold me a broken piece of garbage,' he thought bitterly. 'I was so frustrated that I called their office, but they just told me that sometimes things get damaged during shipping and refused to offer a refund. And as if that wasn't bad enough, I ended up crossing paths with the country's most ferocious enemies—geese. And not just any geese, but the young master's geese! I insulted them, and now here I am, executed by their father, grandpa, and the entire clan.'

Matthew sighed deeply, consumed by regret. 'I shouldn't have sought death by provoking those geese. Despite my pride as a martial artist, I should've knelt and begged for mercy.'

He reflected on how his pride had clouded his judgment. Confronting the geese was a foolish move, especially knowing how powerful their clan was and the overwhelming support they had from the government.

Even if he had survived, he knew his chances of winning in court were nonexistent in a society that prioritized animal welfare over human lives, especially when it came to endangered species like the geese. The government's stance was clear—geese were more valuable than humans due to their scarcity.

Matthew stood there, seemingly oblivious to his own lifeless body lying nearby, as a nurse and emergency personnel rushed to help the injured geese. The irony wasn't lost on him. Resigned, he realized that the geese had indeed been formidable opponents, outmatching him in martial arts and leading to his ultimate defeat.

As the reality of his death set in, Matthew went through a brief period of mourning for the life he had lost. But then, something strange happened—he noticed his body becoming more transparent, and he felt lighter. He had transformed into a ghost.

The realization brought a mix of emotions, but one thing was clear: he was no longer bound by the physical constraints of the world he once knew. He could fly, untethered, in this new existence.

Matthew sat in a meditative pose like a sage, trying to make sense of his current situation. "Is this where my fate begins?" he wondered aloud.

A deep, resonant voice suddenly echoed through the spiritual realm, cutting through his thoughts. "Sorry to burst your bubble, but no. You will either go to hell or heaven, depending on your karma, or your soul will dissipate into nothingness and you will die because it is no longer bound by your physical body. If you stay here, you'll only have about a day. Now, if you would kindly tell me your three wishes so we can conclude this."

"Aww, that's kind of a sad fate..." Matthew said, turning around to face the source of the voice.

To his astonishment, Matthew was greeted by a sight he could hardly believe. Before him stood a majestic and imposing Chinese dragon, like something straight out of a legend. The dragon had green antlers, sharp teeth, golden scales that shimmered in the ethereal light, and piercing red eyes. Its long, serpentine body seemed to stretch endlessly, and it possessed flowing golden hair on its cheeks, much like the Dragon God from Dragon Ball Super.

Matthew was completely taken aback, unable to comprehend what he was seeing. 'What the hell is a dragon doing here, asking me about my wishes?' he wondered, his mind racing to make sense of the situation.

As he stared at the magnificent creature, a mixture of awe and fear welled up within him. Even in his spectral state, he felt the dragon's overwhelming presence. "W-who are you?" he asked tentatively, hoping the dragon wasn't some malevolent spirit.

"Are those your wishes?" the dragon replied, its voice tinged with indifference, as if nothing in the world could disturb its tranquility.

"No, no, I just wanted to know," Matthew hurriedly responded, trying to sound as polite as possible. After all, he was conversing with a dragon, and this was way beyond anything he could have imagined.

"I am the Eternal Dragon Azure, and I am here to grant your wish as a result of you summoning me with the dragon balls. The reason you can see me now is because we are in the spiritual realm—the world of the dead—you must die before you can see or hear me. As Divine beings like myself cannot interfere with primal Earth." Azure replied proudly, though a little annoyed with his last sentence.

Matthew listened intently, absorbing the dragon's words. The revelation that he had summoned a divine being left him both amazed and terrified. As he processed the information, he slowly accepted the reality that he was indeed in the spiritual realm, having passed on from the physical world.

"Thank you for answering my question, and I'm glad those dragon balls were legitimate," Matthew exclaimed, overjoyed that the dragon balls had actually worked. He had more questions about divine entities and primal Earth, but he decided not to ask. Time was limited, and he didn't want to waste his wishes on mere curiosities.

"There are no problems. Now, tell me what you desire, and I'll grant it," Azure offered.

Matthew took a moment to consider his wishes carefully, aware of the weight they carried. "My first wish is to be reincarnated in the Dragon Ball Super timeline as Goku. My second wish is for a custom gamer system like the one I envision, and my final wish is..." He began, but Azure quickly interrupted him.

"Those wishes count as three, therefore no more," Azure clarified. "The first two wishes require immense power and complexity, so they count as three in total."

Matthew initially felt a pang of disappointment but quickly gathered himself and expressed his gratitude. "Thank you, that's still way better than the life I had lived up until now."

Azure reassured him, "Your wishes shall be granted; may your life be better in the new world."

"I will do everything in my power to make sure that happens," Matthew vowed, determined never to be defeated by something as ridiculous as a goose again. Suddenly, he felt an excruciating pain as a black hole opened within him, pulling him in. The pain was unlike anything he had ever experienced—far worse than the bite of any goose.

"No one said it was going to hurt this bad!" Matthew's scream echoed into the void until it was no longer audible.

Azure, witnessing Matthew's pain, couldn't help but mock him. "That's what they all say, thinking reincarnation into another world is a simple matter." The dragon recalled countless other individuals who had summoned him, often with unrealistic expectations of what the world owed them without having accomplished anything extraordinary in return. Rather it was all either fate bringing the balls to them or them receiving them from the internet without any exciting adventures.

"Whatever, it's no longer my problem," Azure muttered as he flew off, leaving Matthew to his fate. "Besides, I still have other human desires to fulfill."

"I understand how you feel, Azure," another voice echoed through the spiritual realm. Azure turned to see a handsome and holy figure with angelic wings beside him. It was his best friend, Gabriel, an angel, who had appeared out of nowhere after Matthew's transportation.

"But you can't just ignore your responsibilities like that, especially since you know what God will do once he finds out we've been skipping work," Gabriel gently reminded him.

Azure let out a sigh, clearly burdened by his thoughts. "I understand, Gabriel. But sometimes, it feels like I'm the only one doing anything around here. In addition, I have my own desires and needs to pursue."

Understanding his friend's frustrations, Gabriel replied sympathetically, "I get it, my friend. But think of all the good you've done so far. You've helped countless souls find peace and salvation. Don't let your frustrations make you forget the impact of your efforts."

Azure gave a thoughtful nod. "You're right, Gabriel. I won't neglect my duties, but I do need to take better care of myself. Maybe I'll take a break and spend some time exploring the mortal world. That might help me recharge and come back stronger than ever."

"I think that's a fantastic idea," Gabriel said with a warm smile. "Just be careful out there. Mortals can be unpredictable, and you never know what kind of trouble you might run into."

Azure grinned mischievously. "That's the fun part, isn't it?" With that, he spread his mighty wings and flew off, ready to explore the mortal world and see what adventures awaited him.

As he soared through the skies, Azure couldn't help but voice his desire for some relaxation. "I never have time to relax or have fun! Hey, God, I'd also like a refund or maybe a vacation now and then like this guy," he called out playfully.

An ethereal voice responded in Azure's mind, chuckling softly. "Nope, there's still paperwork to be done, which will take millennia to complete before you can even think about a vacation. Unfortunately, the job of overseeing reality is never-ending. There is always something to be done."

Azure's frustration grew as he sighed deeply. "But can't someone else do it for a while?"

God's voice, filled with a sense of understanding, replied, "Nobody else possesses the knowledge and power that you do, Azure. You are uniquely qualified for this position, and it is your responsibility to put your talents to good use."

Azure let out a heavy sigh, his frustration and exhaustion evident. "I understand, but it sometimes feels like I'm trapped in an endless cycle of work and responsibility. I never have time for myself," he expressed, his voice tinged with weariness.

God responded in a nonchalant manner, "I understand, my child. However, keep in mind that your work is more important than your personal desires, so you'll have to forget about the need for a break."

"Noooooooooo," Azure roared across the spirit realm, though his cries went unheard by others, for they were in the world of the dead, where souls would dissipate if left alone.

Azure flew away, feeling even more stressed and burdened than before. He understood the importance of his job, but he wished for some breaks in between, especially given the ruthlessness and domineering nature of his boss—God.