"Thank you for your interest in the Data Analyst position at Dike Inc. Unfortunately, we will not be moving forward with your application, but we appreciate your time and interest in us."
Thabo read the email on his phone, sitting in his cramped one-room rental. "Another decline. Damn, I can't catch a break," he muttered, frustration evident in his voice. His mind drifted back to the series of unfortunate events that had plagued his life recently.
Not long ago, his father had passed away. The loss was compounded by greedy relatives who kicked Thabo and his family out of his grandparents' house. They had never liked his mother and only tolerated Thabo, his siblings, and her because of his father. As soon as his father passed, they were out on the streets. Fortunately, they had funeral cover and his father's retirement money, which they used to build a house. Now, his mother, little brother, and sister lived there, and that money was keeping them stable.
His sister had finished her degree and was now employed, so that was good. Thabo had even heard she was offered a permanent position. Good for her. His little brother, on the other hand, was a tough one. Currently in matric, he kept going on about wanting to be a gamer. "Who's going to fund him for that?" Thabo thought. Just because his sister was working and their mom talked about sending him to a private institution didn't mean they had all the money in the world. Living expenses weren't a joke, and that money was supposed to last for years. His sister would have to move out and live alone at some point, and even if she didn't, it was her income. What about her life?
"It's not like I'm saying going to school will guarantee him a job," Thabo mused. "Look at me. But having a qualification will expand his options. I know that, and I don't want him to make any reckless decisions." Whenever they tried to sit down and have a proper conversation about his future, his brother got cranky and said he didn't know. Thabo had learned about his brother's plans to be a gamer from his friend. He didn't even bother to inquire with the family about it. If he could approach them reasonably and if his case and confidence were solid, Thabo didn't think they would object to his plans. He knew how important it was to have support when pursuing such a career, but he was at a loss.
"At least I still have six months on that contract," Thabo sighed, leaning back in his chair. Just then, his phone rang, interrupting his thoughts.
"Hello?" he answered.
"Dude, it's me. I'm just using a different number," a familiar voice said through the phone.
"Oh, KB, what's up?" Thabo's tone changed after realizing who it was.
"Blessing just got back. We're at his place right now. Hurry up, there's someone you gotta see," KB said before hanging up.
"Hey... What the, what's that all about? Someone I gotta see?" Riddled with questions, Thabo got up lazily and went to his car, heading to Blessing's place. "I remember they're having a welcome home party for his younger sister," Thabo thought while driving. As he came to a stop at a red light, he pondered the situation. When the light turned green, he drove forward, but suddenly, a truck crashed into his car from the driver's side.
In a moment, Thabo's vision went black. "What... What was that? Did a truck just hit me? They better have good insurance," he mumbled, holding his head as he tried to recall what had happened.
"That won't be necessary," a voice echoed in Thabo's head.
"Wha..." he responded, as a flash of light brought vision back to him. He found himself in a white room, with a man wearing a black three-piece suit standing in front of him.
"Just call me the manager," the man said. "And yes, you're dead. No, this is not heaven, and I'm not God nor any form of deity."
"Then what?" Thabo replied, confusion evident in his voice.
"All you need to know is that you won a death lotto, and now you will be transferred to another world. It may be a fiction from your world, one the same if not lesser than your current planet and its civilization, or one far beyond what you can imagine," the manager explained.
Thabo sat, filled with questions but not knowing what to ask. "If that's all, then select a ball from this box," the manager said, as a box appeared in front of Thabo. Though surprised, he was getting used to the strange occurrences. He placed his hand into the box and took out a small ball.
"It has something written on it. Okay. What's this suppose to mean?" Thabo muttered, squinting at the strange symbol on the ball he had just pulled from the box.
"Oh, lucky one, aren't you?" the manager commented with a sly smile.
"Huh? I don't get it. What does it say?" Thabo asked, confusion evident in his voice.
"Well, that sentence," the manager began to explain.
"Sentence? I thought it was a symbol of sorts," Thabo interrupted, his curiosity piqued.
"Ahem. As I was saying, that sentence means you will be given three wishes after you select the world you'll be transferred to at random with the box," the manager continued, unfazed by the interruption.
"What's with the boxe?" Thabo wondered silently.
"We had a roulette wheel, but it's currently under maintenance. Just now, someone broke it," the manager said, seemingly reading Thabo's thoughts. The box lit up but didn't seem to change.
"Now there are cubes inside. You can select one now," the manager instructed. Thabo reached into the box again, this time pulling out a green cube with yet another indescribable image.
"Okay, now that that is over with, we can proceed," the manager said.
"Wait, what does it say?" Thabo asked, eager to know his fate.
"Oh. The world you got is the Ben 10 universe," the manager revealed.
"The powers you select don't have to correspond with the universe you'll go to," the manager added.
"Hmm, I would've preferred One Piece or Beginning After the end, but it's cool. I mean, the survivability rate of this world is better than most," Thabo mused aloud. "Then my wish is going to be pretty simple. Similar to Albedo in Ultimate when he linked himself with Primus, allowing him to change into any alien without the Omnitrix. But for me, I want it so I can transform into any of all the aliens stored in Primus including the reboot Aliens, but not with a link to Primus. Kind of like how Beast Boy can turn into any animal and is not hooked to any server. Yeah, like that, if you understand what I mean," Thabo stated his first wish.
"I follow you," the manager replied, nodding.
"Next, I want to be able to transform parts of my body or combine my transformations as much as I want, similar to the Bi-omnitrix or how Osmosians do when absorbing multiple aliens," Thabo continued, watching the manager nod in agreement.
"Okay, lastly, hmm, I can supplement the other things I want... Okay, this one is more of a few changes or additions. Like being immune to power-absorbing types, the scanner of the Omnitrix, having my Ghostfreak form changed into a half-ghost like Danny Phantom, adding a Kryptonian, Wukong, Otsotsuki, Anos Voldigoad, , whatever race Whis is, a true dragon from Reincarnated as a Slime and little skeleton from Astral pet store. It'd be cool to turn into something like Veldora. Hmm, honestly, I want more, but it's fine. That and protection from transformations that would override my entire personality or hive mind species, being able to instinctively use my powers, ohh! The otsotsuki thing, I kinda want to have Ishiki's doujutsu but I also want the renningan as well, kinda like Urashiki" Thabo added his last wish.
"And before you say that's actually a lot of wishes, then give me a pen and a book so I can write," Thabo said, trying to ensure all his requests were fulfilled.
"Yeah, sure, it's cool. I'll make it work as three wishes," the manager said. "There was another guy who wished for similar abilities as yours, so I'm used to it. He went to One Piece, by the way," the manager added, causing Thabo to give a look of envy.
"Okay, if that's everything then I'll send you off. But for my entertainment, I'll add a small catch. Farewell," the manager said, waving his hand. Thabo's body lit up.
"Wait, what are you..." Thabo yelled as he disappeared. The last thing he saw was the manager's smirk.