(Pun intended)
Morning light spilt across the bed, illuminating Yu Zhou's delicate face. However, the two dark circles beneath his eyes were impossible to miss.
Yu Zhou, an ordinary college student in his late teens, lived alone in a small rented room. Though modest in size, the room was just enough for his simple needs. And in the morning, the sunlight warming his bed was a small comfort.
"That dream last night was too strange," Yu Zhou muttered groggily, his dark-circled eyes betraying a poor night's sleep.
Indeed, the night before, he had a bizarre dream.
In the dream, a little girl in a red dress held a red ball and asked him:"Do you want to save the world?"
Save the world? What nonsense!
"Boy, you must wish for the power of a superhero, right? Now, I will grant you that power. The fate of this world will rest in your hands…"
"Hold on! I refuse!"
Seeing the little girl about to bestow him with some kind of superpower, Yu Zhou hastily raised his hand to decline.
"Boy, don't be so quick to refuse…"
But Yu Zhou cut her off again."I just want to study, eat, and live quietly. Saving the world? Leave that to someone else!"
His firm response left the little girl momentarily speechless.
"Also," Yu Zhou added, eyeing the red ball in her hands, "do you enjoy singing and dancing?"
"Huh?" The little girl blinked, caught off guard.
"Isn't singing, dancing, and playing with that red ball the kind of thing little girls your age are supposed to do?" Yu Zhou grinned.
"Boy, enough with this talk. The world needs you." The little girl didn't seem to understand his joke, but she stubbornly returned to her point.
"No, no, no—you're mistaken. The world doesn't need me. I just want to eat and live peacefully."
Yu Zhou waved his hands, bewildered by why a little girl, who should be doing homework at home, was trying to drag him into some heroic task.
All he wanted was happiness.
And what is happiness?
Cats eat fish. Dogs eat meat. Ultramen fight monsters.
"Hmm... you've finally seen the light, boy."
The little girl suddenly smiled, as if she had understood his thoughts—or misunderstood them.
"What light? What do you mean by 'seen the light'?" Yu Zhou was completely baffled. He hadn't said anything aloud. And was she really reading his mind?
"In any case, the world is entrusted to you!" she declared. "But before the world faces its crisis, you'll travel to various worlds to train and master your power."
With that, the little girl floated into the air, smiling down at the stunned Yu Zhou.
Then, she threw a crystal-clear rod toward him.
Yu Zhou instinctively reached out to catch it—but missed. The rod struck him squarely on the forehead.
"Ouch!" he yelped, rubbing his sore forehead. This girl has no manners—why couldn't she just hand it to me properly?
When he looked up, she had already vanished.
Looking down, Yu Zhou spotted the rod lying at his feet—the very thing that had just hit him.
Picking it up, Yu Zhou's eyes widened. It looked strangely familiar.
Wasn't this the transformation device used by Ultraman in the TV shows? The Spark Prism—or as fans called it, the Divine Light Rod?
So, pressing the button would transform him into Ultraman Tiga?
"How could a little girl appear out of nowhere, ask me to save the world, and then hand me an Ultraman transformation device?"
Yu Zhou frowned.
"This must be a dream!"
"How could I have such a ridiculous dream? They say dreams reflect what you think about during the day. Sure, I watched Ultraman Tiga as a kid—but surely my brain isn't that slow..."
…
And indeed, Yu Zhou was dreaming.
When he woke up, his sleep had been restless, and the dark circles under his eyes remained.
Out of habit, he rubbed his forehead—and winced. It still hurts.
"Wait—hit in a dream, and it still hurts when I'm awake?"
Yu Zhou sat bolt upright, startled. How could a dream injury cause real pain?
"If I were shot in a dream, would I die for real?"
"No… I must still be dreaming."
Determined, Yu Zhou lay back down.
An hour passed.
Yu Zhou rose again, still rubbing his sore forehead.
"Damn! Could I have entered some kind of dream space?" He couldn't believe it. It made no sense.
Just then, he felt something hard under his thigh.
"Wait… what's this?"
Lifting the blanket, Yu Zhou pulled out the Spark Prism.
…
Sweat beaded on his forehead, dripping onto the bed.
"Could this… really be real?"
Half-doubting, half-believing, Yu Zhou pinched his thigh hard.
"Damn, that hurts!"
The pain was sharp and unmistakable. This wasn't a dream.
Placing the Spark Prism on the bed, Yu Zhou sighed. Enough thinking for now. I need to calm down.
He went to wash his face with cold water.
"Stay calm, stay calm," he told himself. But… what is going on? How did I suddenly become Ultraman?
Returning to his bed, Yu Zhou carefully examined the Spark Prism.
It was exquisitely crafted—crystal clear, with golden patterns flowing naturally across its surface. In the morning light, it shimmered with a mysterious energy.
"If this is real… then what the little girl said must be real too…"
In the dream, she'd mentioned a coming crisis—and that he needed to save the world.
But why him? Out of all the people in the world—why him?
He was just an ordinary college student. No martial arts. No combat skills. He'd never even killed a chicken or stepped on a flower.
And now he was supposed to save the world?
It was absurd.
Still…
He recalled the girl's words: he would first be sent to various worlds to train and grow stronger.
"Other worlds? What kind of worlds?"
Yu Zhou stared at the Spark Prism in his hand, full of questions.
"At least tell me how I'm supposed to go there. Will I die in those worlds? What am I supposed to do?"
Right now, he felt like a headless… no, like a lost little bee, blindly bumping around.
"Besides," Yu Zhou thought, "with today's advanced technology, maybe those monsters wouldn't even be a threat. They might just become delicacies for some chef."
He chuckled at the thought.
Just then, the air in front of him shimmered and twisted. A powerful suction force enveloped him.
"Is this teleportation? Can't I at least have breakfast first?!"
Desperately clinging to the bedpost with two fingers, Yu Zhou was finally pulled into the swirling space.