In a vast expanse of white, a humanoid figure whose body was like the representation of the infinite realities gazed at a young man with brown hair and blue eyes.
"I, ROB, will grant you one wish with no strings attached. What do you wish for, Kaiden?"
When ROB (Random Omnipotent Being) opened his mouth as he spoke, it merely blended with the rest of his body.
His body was like a silhouette of existence, mostly made up of the black color of reality's void and the myriad colors of the stars and worlds. Aside from his mouth, ROB had neither eyes nor a nose.
The young man with brown hair and blue eyes, Kaiden, blinked his eyes repeatedly in confusion as he looked around his surroundings.
"Where am I? I remembered sleeping before, so am I dreaming?"
Seeing that his surroundings were a vast expanse of white, Kaiden felt like it was indeed a dream as if it felt too surreal.
Hearing his question, ROB answered, "If you want, you can think of this as a dream. You can think of it as I entering your dream, and communicating with you in your dreamscape."
"Again, my offer remains. I'll grant you one wish with no strings attached, so what do you wish for, Kaiden?"
Faced with that question, Kaiden was unsure of what to wish for.
After all, he had prepared for a scenario where he would encounter a god who asked him for three wishes. But for a scenario with one wish only, he hadn't prepared for it yet.
'Hmm… One wish only… Maybe I can use that infamous wish.'
With the idea of giving it a try, Kaiden declared, "I wish for infinite wishes."
"Wish denied."
ROB instantly rejected Kaiden's absurd wish but Kaiden expected it so he insisted, "I wish for ten more wishes."
"Wish denied."
"You cannot wish for more wishes. The reason why I gave you one wish is for one reason. Granting you one wish only means that wish will be absolute with no strings attached."
After denying Kaiden's wish, ROB chuckled, "But if you really want to, I can grant you infinite wishes. However, you must bear the consequences of each wish going the way you didn't expect them to be."
Receiving ROB's reply, Kaiden thought, 'From the looks of it, I can only wish for one absolute wish. Wishing for infinite wishes but with strings attached seemed to be counterproductive for wanting to have a better life.'
Ultimately, Kaiden decided, "I wish for omnipotence above yours."
"Wish denied."
ROB explained, "I cannot grant power above mine. I also cannot grant power equal to mine as that would no longer be omnipotence. However, I can grant you nigh-omnipotence, power above anyone aside from I."
Hearing ROB's explanation, Kaiden contemplated, 'Nigh-omnipotence to the extent of being above everyone and below one entity doesn't seem to be that bad.'
'If I were to wish for a growth-type talent, I'd have to grind for trillions of years or even more and it's still not guaranteed I can surpass those old fossils in the omniverse. Even if I surpass them, it's not guaranteed I can surpass ROB.'
Thinking of that, Kaiden asked, "If I wish for a talent where my talent is the highest achievable and it's so high that as long as I don't die prematurely, I'll be able to surpass your power and supplant you, will you allow that wish?"
ROB nodded, "I can allow it. In fact, although it's extremely rare to the point of nigh impossibility, there have been existences whose talent far exceeds mine and had the potential to surpass me."
"But guess what? I'm still the strongest in the omniverse. Those prodigies died before they could surpass me."
Kaiden asked, "Did you perhaps kill them before they could become a threat to your title as the strongest?"
ROB shook his head, "Of course, not. Or more like, I don't have to. The omniverse houses infinite realities. Do you know how many old entities are there below I, who doesn't want those newcomers to surpass them?"
"It already hurts their pride that there are other entities above them. So of course, they wouldn't allow the growth of someone more talented than them."
Receiving ROB's response, Kaiden decided to question him more about the extent of his wishes.
Several minutes passed and soon, Kaiden realized the extent of his wishes.
'I can wish for a talent that will eventually surpass ROB in power, but I cannot include that he'd ensure I wouldn't be targeted by those old entities since that would be two wishes in one.'
'However, he did guarantee that if I manage to surpass those old entities and not die prematurely, he wouldn't kill me if I ever threaten to surpass him due to the wish not having any strings attached.'
'The time it would take to do that and the grind I have to do would be too much for a lazy couch potato like myself.'
After pondering for a while, Kaiden realized the best wish he could think of where his fantasies would be realized without having to grind for it.
"If I'm only granted one wish, can I get my personal sandbox world where I'm the omnipotent being, with its size being as huge and vast as your omniverse?"
"It will be independent of your omniverse. Meaning, if your omniverse gets destroyed, mine wouldn't be affected."
Listening to Kaiden's wish, ROB was intrigued as a grin crept up on his face, "You do know that indirectly grants you the wish of nigh-omnipotence?"
"Granting you the authority of an Omnipotent Being within your personal omniverse is essentially allowing you to become the second strongest in this omniverse. After all, you can still exit your personal omniverse, travel in this omniverse, and draw upon your personal omniverse's power, and that would equate to power below mine but above everyone."
Faced with ROB's reply, Kaiden was slightly worried that his wish would be rejected so he asked, "Can you grant that wish or not?"
ROB declared, "Your wish is…"