Chapter 1: 1 The Morning Star Resides Within You

"Question: In a fire, you can only save one: the dog you've raised for six years or a stranger's child. Who do you choose?"

The phone by the desk vibrated; Zhihu had pushed this question.

"I choose to save the fire," Qi Ming answered, then continued yawning under the desk lamp, flipping through his roommate's notes.

It was already 2:30 AM.

This semester, he had been obsessed with his side hustle, living a life of "skipping required courses, always skipping elective courses."

With finals approaching, Qi Ming chose to burn the midnight oil to make his grades look presentable.

"Ding." The phone vibrated again; this time, it was QQ Kan Dian pushing news.

The drowsy Qi Ming glanced at the content—a blue luminous body had descended upon the Pacific Ocean, the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force went to investigate, and as a result, a deep-sea submersible lost contact...

Seeing this, his exhausted mind finally gave out; he closed his eyes and fell into a deep sleep.

…………………………

When Qi Ming woke up, what met his eyes was an unfamiliar ceiling.

Where was the peeling, water-stained ceiling with the blue ceiling fan? This wasn't his dorm!

Where is this... a bookstore?

Shouldn't I be in the dorm? Who brought me here?

And this strangely designed watch—when was it put on my wrist?

Qi Ming sat up, looking around at the strange environment in astonishment.

The warm yellow light created a cozy atmosphere, the air was filled with a faint scent of ink, and the books displayed in the wooden cabinets mostly had Japanese covers.

Out of interest, Qi Ming had spent some time as a "hero" in a scanlation group, so he could read Japanese.

He pulled out a book with an eye-catching title nearby—"Paying Tribute to GUTS, the Defenders of Peace."

GUTS? Could it be the one I'm thinking of, the Victory Team commonly known from "Ultraman Tiga"?

He flipped to the first page—it was an introduction to Captain Moroboshi Dan.

【Moroboshi Dan】 【Captain】—these two words put together made one's scalp tingle.

Qi Ming's gaze moved down to the accompanying photo; it really was him!

It was that cane-wielding tyrant who primarily used "cane strikes and slaps" in action and "idiot, shut up" in words toward Ohtori Gen!

The logic genius who, after Gen had risked his life several times to protect Earth, said, "Earthlings are risking their lives to protect Earth; as an alien, what effort have you made?"

He wasn't a member of UG or the Captain of MAC—what kind of development is him being the Captain of the Victory Team?

Qi Ming flipped to the next page in shock—Deputy Captain Nagi Saijo.

This one was also a "source of golden quotes."

After seeing Nexus save humans from Space Beasts and move them out of the danger zone, her assessment was—"Two Space Beasts are just fighting over food."

After being saved from a Space Beast encirclement by Himeya Jun, she gritted her teeth—"I will kill him with my own hands!"

Qi Ming continued flipping—Officer Kishida.

Judging from the photo, his tense face was exactly the same as Officer Kishida of the MAT team in "Ultraman Jack."

This guy was also a stress-inducing monster from the start; in the episode where Gudon and Twin Tail attacked Tokyo, he found a rock suspected to be a monster egg and decided it was fine after firing two shots.

Because Go Hideki wanted to double-check and didn't follow the opinion of his senior, he started getting agitated.

Later, when the monster egg hatched and five people were trapped underground, he chose to support his uncle, Commander Kishida's plan, believing they could use bombs regardless of the five lives underground.

Next page—Officer Soldier Shan Zhong.

This one was even more of a heavyweight.

In "Ultraman Ace," he acted like he had split personality disorder; basically, in every episode, he would start by using some reason to confront Hokuto, then switch to the opposite reason to continue confronting Hokuto later.

In the episode where Hipporito Alien invaded, he even advocated handing Ultraman Ace over to the invaders.

Captain Moroboshi Dan, Deputy Captain Nagi Saijo, Officers Soldier Shan Zhong and Kishida... what kind of "Great Gathering Team" is this?

I'm really curious how they get along... forget it, as long as they don't fall into my hands, it's fine.

Last page—Officer Emi.

Emi from "Ultraman Blazar"?

Although she was a problematic girl who once invaded a national network system, compared to the previous ones, she was quite normal.

So, what is the situation with Moroboshi Dan from "Leo," Nagi Saijo from "Nexus," Kishida from "Jack," Soldier Shan Zhong from "Ace," and Emi from "Blazar" all gathered in the Victory Team from "Tiga"?

Am I dreaming? Am I awake?

Qi Ming pinched his face; the pain that came from it made him accept the terrible fact.

He had transmigrated, transmigrated into an Ultraman world that "gathered the strengths of many" and was a "gathering of heroes."

According to Qi Ming's kindergarten teacher, back when he was in kindergarten, other kids would just wet the bed randomly, but he would wet a Spark Lens one day and a Blue Stone Cone the next; others had a connection with Buddha, he had a connection with Ultra.

Now it seems, this is definitely a twisted fate!

After fumbling around for a while, Qi Ming sat on the walnut floor, forcing himself to analyze calmly.

"Since transmigration has already happened, then no matter what happens next, it's not surprising."

Soon, he locked his gaze on his right hand.

This inexplicable transmigration is highly likely related to this watch that appeared with it; it could bring him here, so it should be able to send him back.

This watch consisted of a soft base shaped like a wrist guard and the movement. At the top of the movement was a rotatable dial, with four glowing buttons distributed to form a square.

But Qi Ming fiddled with it for a long time, and it had no reaction at all.

Nothing was displayed on the screen; he couldn't even see the time, looking like it hadn't been turned on yet.

He wanted to check the back of the watch, but he couldn't take it off no matter what.

Bound?

Qi Ming didn't dwell on it; he turned on the TV on the bookstore counter, wanting to understand the real-time news of this world so he wouldn't be completely in the dark.

The TV was playing an emergency notice: three monsters were gathering toward a place called 【Tiga Land】, and the Victory Team had already dispatched to intercept them.

No wonder this bookstore had no customers or staff; it turned out they had all evacuated in an emergency.

Qi Ming recognized the origin of these three monsters at first glance: Golza and Melba from the first episode of "Ultraman Tiga," and Galactron from episode 39—all were super-ancient monsters.

What concerned him more was this combination; Golza and Melba dispatched together to dismantle the stone statues in the pyramid—this was the content of the first episode of "Ultraman Tiga."

But with an extra Galactron, Moroboshi Dan would likely have to face three enemies in a moment... it made one feel uneasy.

What to do? The monsters are arriving soon; should I follow the evacuation to the safe zone, or...

Qi Ming's father was once a narcotics officer who never left the front line despite being shot; under his influence, Qi Ming was never one to be timid.

Hesitation and waiting for death were not options; he wanted to go to the front line to see what this world was really about.

Thinking of this, Qi Ming pulled open the bookstore door and walked into the scorching sunlight outside.

(End of chapter)