"…I see."
Hearing the little girl's answer, Yuzhou wasn't particularly disappointed. He had only asked on a whim. If she didn't know, then she didn't know.
The girl then turned to Komian, speaking gently:
"If you use this red sphere to rebuild the city, you can still make even greater wishes."
Her words stirred Yuzhou's heart. To say he had no interest in the red sphere would be a lie. Who wouldn't want an object that could grant any wish?
But this red sphere was also terrifying. It could warp people's minds, dragging out their darkest impulses. Just look at these children—the sphere had driven them to the unthinkable idea of destroying the world.
Komian shook his head firmly.
"If we keep relying on this ball, I think one day it will destroy the world. This thing… it should never have existed!"
He raised the sphere, ready to make it vanish forever.
"Wait!" Yuzhou called out, stopping him in alarm.
Everyone turned toward him with puzzled expressions.
"Little sister," Yuzhou looked at the girl intently, "this sphere… it's your true body, isn't it?"
"Yes." The girl, unsurprised that he had seen through her identity, nodded calmly.
"Then if this red sphere disappears… you'll disappear too?"
"Yes."
"What?!" Komian froze. He hadn't expected his friend—the girl who had been with them all this time—to actually be the sphere. The revelation made him hesitate.
Seeing his reaction, Yuzhou offered an alternative.
"Actually, preventing endless wishes from destroying the world is simple."
"Big brother, do you have an idea?" Komian looked up at him with hopeful eyes.
Though he didn't fully understand why Yuzhou could become Tiga, he still trusted the words of an Ultraman.
"Hmm…" Yuzhou thought for a moment. "You can make a wish so that in every world, the red sphere can only grant a limited number of wishes. That way, endless desires won't ruin everything."
"That… does make sense," Gamu agreed with a nod.
The girl tilted her head. The suggestion sounded rather stupid, but in truth, it wasn't a bad solution.
"In that case, I'll make this wish: From now on, the red sphere can grant only one wish per world. And that wish can never be overturned." Komian declared firmly.
"…Are you kidding me?" Yuzhou nearly cursed aloud. One wish total? That's it?
The light in the sphere flared, then dimmed—the wish was set in stone.
"I want a lollipop," Komian said suddenly, testing it out.
The sphere flashed red, and a lollipop materialized in his hand.
"Huh? It still works?" He blinked, then raised the sphere again. "I want another lollipop!"
This time, nothing happened.
"Looks like it worked." Komian grinned, waving the candy at the girl.
Yuzhou just stared, dumbfounded. The only chance left… and he wasted it on a lollipop?
"You… your mom's groceries are definitely going to cost extra tonight," Yuzhou muttered under his breath.
"You could have at least wished for the city to be rebuilt," he scolded, rubbing his forehead.
"…Oh." Komian froze, then scratched his head awkwardly. "You're right, big brother. That makes a lot more sense."
"Then can I change it? Make it two wishes instead?" he asked hopefully.
The girl only smiled and shook her head.
"No. You already wished that this rule cannot be overturned. It cannot be changed."
"…I see." Komian finally understood the weight of what he had done. A wish that could not be overturned meant no one—not even he—could alter it afterward.
"Maybe this is for the best," Gamu spoke up. "Rebuilding should be left to the people themselves."
With the sphere's power sealed, the children ran up to Daigo and Asuka, excitedly asking for autographs.
The two men were baffled.
"How do you know our names?"
"Because you're characters from TV shows, of course! The red sphere summoned you here," one child answered cheerfully.
"What?!" The group was stunned. The children were saying their lives existed… inside a television show?
"Wait, you mean everything we do shows up on screen?" Masaki asked.
"Mm… Daigo does, but not you." The boy shook his head. "You're Evil Tiga. All I know is you were defeated by Tiga early on."
"Evil Tiga…?" Masaki blinked. He could understand why others might mistake him for one, given how much he resembled Tiga. But "defeated by Tiga early on"… That must have referred to his first rampage.
"Looks like the show doesn't exactly match the reality we've lived," Masaki murmured.
"Y-yeah!" Yuzhou stammered, suddenly nervous. After all, the "plot" had been heavily altered—by him. If they figured that out, he'd have a lot of explaining to do.
"…What if we brought recordings of our own shows back with us?" Daigo suggested. "We might learn something from them."
"My house has the full DVD set!" Komian shouted enthusiastically. "Daigo, wait here—I'll grab them for you!"
But before he could run off, everyone suddenly felt their bodies grow light and hazy.
Looking down, they saw themselves turning transparent.
"It seems… with no more power of desire, the things the sphere created are disappearing—returning to their own worlds." Yuzhou muttered as his form grew faint.
In the original story, Gamu had vanished the same way, only to later return by traveling through time with the Adventure ship.
The children quickly realized what was happening and rushed to say their goodbyes.
"Figures. I'm not even important enough to get a farewell scene," Yuzhou sighed bitterly.
A flash of dizziness—then when he came to, he was back at the ruins of R'lyeh.
Daigo and the others stood beside him, dazed and clutching their heads.
"What just happened?" Daigo asked, confused. "I… don't remember a thing."
"Me neither," Masaki admitted. "My mind's completely blank."
Camearra, Hudra, and Darramb all said the same.
"…Huh?" Yuzhou frowned. Of course—that was right. In the original plot, Gamu had also lost all memory after being sent back.
"Well, maybe that's for the best." He exhaled, a touch of relief in his voice. They don't need to know they're characters in a show.
"…But then why do I still remember everything?"
Patting his head, Yuzhou realized.
The sphere… Damn it, I never even got to touch it. Not even one wish. That brat wasted it all on a lollipop!