The sun blazed mercilessly overhead, casting shimmering heat waves over the endless stretch of asphalt. Alexander adjusted his aviator sunglasses, his trusty Naruto headband resting snugly around his neck. It was a badge of honor for the convention he was going to in Los Angeles.
His car, an aging red Corolla with peeling decals of his favorite anime characters hummed steadily along the highway, slicing through the desolate Mojave Desert.
The day had started like any typical fan's road trip: high-energy playlists, a trunk full of overpriced ramen cups, and the anticipation of meeting his online friends from the discord server. All of that is what had kept him motivated enough to cross this hot desert.
As the bleach soundtrack played Alexander continued to drink the coffee he had bought earlier that morning until it came back to bite him.
Nature's call couldn't be ignored. Pulling over to the barren shoulder, Alexander hopped out, leaving the engine idling. The desert stretched infinitely, silent except for the faint, whispering breeze. Relieved and and whistling Bink's Brew from one piece's soundtrack, he turned back—only to see his car's headlights flash ominously. Without warning, the Corolla's tires screeched against the cracked pavement as it peeled away, speeding off into the horizon, leaving a trail of dust and disbelief.
"What the—HEY!" Alexander sprinted after it, but hope was as fleeting as the car's silhouette vanishing beyond the dunes. Alone, stranded, and with nothing Alexander did the only thing he could—walk.
Hours passed under the unforgiving sun. His cosplay gear grew heavier with each step, the desert mocking him with its emptiness. Just as despair threatened to set in, a glint caught his eye amidst the sand—a strange, ornate lamp, partly buried. It didn't belong there. Curiosity overrode exhaustion. He stumbled toward it, brushing off the grains to reveal intricate carvings that seemed to shimmer unnaturally.
"Seriously? A lamp? " he muttered as he cleaned the dust off of it.
A burst of azure smoke spiraled into the sky with a sound like thunder wrapped in laughter. The ground trembled slightly, and standing before Alexander was—not the stereotypical genie—but a figure adorned in ethereal robes, eyes glowing like molten gold.
"Mortal," the being intoned, stretching languidly, "you have awakened me. State your theee wishes."
Alexander blinked, sweat dripping into his eyes. "Uh what the hell… am I some kind of protagonist? I mean I wish I was one that way I could have some kind of plot armor but I'm clearly just dehydrated.
The genie's grin widened. "Ahh plot armor, not a bad wish. Consider it Granted."
Before Alexander could say anything his words were cut off by the sound of thunder and the skies began to pour down rain. While getting rained on sucked any protest of a wasted wish was instantly silenced as his plot armor caused it to rain at a time he needed water most.
Alexander drank hand fulls of water that he managed to catch with his hands shaped as a makeshift bowl. He looked back up impressed at the genie who was looking at him impatiently. 'This might really be real. I should wish for something so I can test if the rain was a coincidence or not. What should I wish for though'
He thought about his life and feelings of unsatisfactory came to mind. He was a college drop out not because he failed but because he wasted money majoring in a subject he was unpasionate about. His family disowned him. His friends he grew up with distanced themselves away from him. The world for the most part turned its back to him. Maybe it's time he turned his back to the world.
While he could wish for world peace, to end world hunger, or a shield over the worlds environment to destroy pollution. There were many things he could do out of selflessness, but why should he? 'I don't care about anyone or anything why shouldn't I be a little selfish?'
"I wish that whenever I die I will be transmigrated into a world of fiction from a story that I like with a system that gives me an edge. It doesn't matter which world I go to as long as it's to one of the stories I like the most."
The genie had a smile that felt far from warm. It looked more malicious than pleasant. "A wish for adventure, very well wish granted. You may now speak your final wish."
"I wish that I will be able to travel anywhere I like to in the multiverse at any point."
The genies smile widened. "Very well young transmigrator enjoy your adventures."just as the genie began to dare into dust the visage of a red Corolla came back into sight as it narrated in going over 100 miles an hour right for him.
"No this can't be! Where is my plot armor? Is it actually working against me right now." It was in that brief moment that Alexander realized that plot armor doesn't always protect the protagonist if the protagonist being safe meant the story would stay stagnant. The show must go on but Alexander's life would need to end first.
SPLAT.