Anime Crossover: My Part-Time Job as a Giant of Light While Studying Abroad in Chiba

"You little rascal...you're quite energetic."

……

When Duan Zilian walked into the classroom, the previously noisy space fell silent for a moment.

Perhaps because the news about his "house being blown up" was so shocking, people now look at him with a subtle sense of looking at a "rare and protected animal".

"Hey, isn't this our 'Ruins Survival Master'?"

The first to break the silence was Sakuta Azusagawa on the right, his tone full of teasing.

"I heard your neighborhood was bombed into the surface of the moon? How was it? Did you find any alien technology in those rubble? Like a pocket watch that can stop time or something?"

"That's something from a movie that can't be talked about." Duan Zilian rolled her eyes, slammed her backpack on the table with a dull thud.

"That's such a shame."

Sakuta shrugged. "Mai-senpai was worried that you might end up homeless and even planned to send you the leftover lunches from the film crew. Looks like you're not so lucky."

"Please thank my senior for her kindness."

Duan Zilian pulled out a chair and sat down. The injury on his back made his movements slightly stiff. "I'm currently working at a coffee shop to pay off my debts. Although I'm poor, at least I won't starve."

"A coffee shop?" Yui Yuigahama leaned closer, her eyes sparkling. "Is it that legendary 'CREW GUYS' with the handsome male staff? Hey, Duan, is that staff member named Mirai really that handsome?"

"...It's just average." Duan Zilian said against her will. She was joking; wouldn't it be embarrassing to admit that the future man would be more handsome than her?

"Besides, the coffee at that shop is terribly bitter, I don't recommend you go there."

"Eh—really?" Yui looked disappointed.

“Don’t listen to his nonsense, Yui.” Miura Yumiko curled her hair and glanced at Tanzi Rei. “This guy is obviously jealous of her good looks. But speaking of which…” She paused, her tone becoming slightly more serious:

"...It's good that you came back alive. Although you usually have a sharp tongue, it's still quite troublesome if there's one less person in the class."

"Yumiko, that's just being a tsundere!" Hubu shouted from behind.

"Shut up! Ministry of Revenue!"

Looking at this noisy group of guys, Duan Zilian felt much more at ease.

His protection only seems meaningful because everyone is still making a fuss here. What he wants to do isn't so noble; he just wants to protect the people around him.

"Good morning."

A cool, distant greeting came from the left.

Yukino Yukinoshita was sitting there, holding a new paperback book in her hand, without looking up.

"Good morning, Yukinoshita-kun. Thank you for the notes and the medicine. Thanks to you, I feel like I can fight for another five hundred years." Duan Zilian looked at the girl in front of her with great gratitude.

"If the primitive creature next to me can't come to school just because its body is broken, I, as its deskmate, will also be very distressed." Yukino turned a page of her book, a very faint smile curving her lips: "Since you can still talk back, it seems your brain hasn't been damaged by the typhoon."

"Of course, my brain has been tested for wind resistance."

Just then.

Click! Click!

A series of camera shutter clicks suddenly sounded at the classroom door.

The whole class's attention was drawn to a boy wearing black-rimmed glasses standing at the door, snapping photos of Duan Zilian with a DSLR camera.

The boy's hair was messy, and his school uniform buttons were all buttoned up wrong. He looked like a tech-obsessed nerd, but his eyes, hidden behind his glasses, were surprisingly bright, radiating a fanatical light.

“You are…” Duan Zilian instinctively covered her face.

"Ah! Sorry, sorry! It's just a professional habit!" The boy put down his camera, revealed a simple and honest smile, and walked in quickly, heading straight for Duan Zilian's seat.

"I am Mitsuo Itabashi, the head of the news department!"

He reached out his hand, his gesture so enthusiastic it was almost overwhelming.

"Duan Zilian! I heard your apartment was less than 200 meters from the epicenter of the explosion! How did you survive? Did you see that monster? Did you see that giant of light? Did you feel a miracle?!"

A barrage of questions came out like a machine gun.

"Uh... um, Banqiao-kun?" Duan Zilian shrank back, overwhelmed by the enthusiasm. "Can you calm down first? You're spitting in my face."

"Oh! I'm sorry!"

Mitsuo Itabashi quickly wiped his mouth and adjusted his glasses, but the fervor in his eyes remained undiminished. "I'm so excited! You know what? That giant! Ultraman Tiga! He's definitely a messenger sent by God! I'm doing a feature on him and I need firsthand information! Please! Please grant me this interview!"

"Interview?"

Duan Zilian looked resistant, "I was so scared I fainted, I didn't see anything. Really."

"Impossible!" Itabashi Mitsuo exclaimed in shock, just about to press for more information—

"Hey, four-eyed guy." Sakuta Azusagawa suddenly turned around and tapped Itabashi's camera lens with his pen. "Didn't you see the look on his face that said he didn't want to talk to you? If you keep bothering him, you might get mistaken for a pervert and called the police."

"Ah... Azusagawa-kun."

Mitsuo Itabashi shrank back, seemingly a little afraid of someone with Sakuta's imposing presence.

"I... I'm just pursuing the truth! To let everyone know the greatness of that giant!"

“We’ll talk about how great it is later.” Sakuta pointed to the door. “Class is about to start. If you don’t want to be seen as a time-waster by Mr. Teino, you’d better disappear now.”

Upon hearing the name Susumu Teino, Mitsuo Itabashi's expression changed, clearly indicating that he had also heard of his reputation.

"Okay... I'll come find you after school! I'll come find you after school!"

Itabashi Mitsuo glanced at Duan Zilian with resentment, then left a business card. "This is my contact information! If you remember any details about the Titans, feel free to contact me! For the glory of the Titans of Light!"

After saying that, he grabbed his camera and ran off in a flash.

“…What weirdo?” Duan Zilian looked at the business card in her hand, which read: [Head of the News Department of Soubu High School & President of the Ultraman Tiga Supporters Association: Mitsuo Itabashi].

"A fanatic of the news department."

Yukinoshita, standing nearby, commented casually, "He's been spreading strange rumors about giants around the school lately. Apparently, he even created a forum specifically to discuss the prophecy of 'angelic descent.' I suggest you stay away from him; that kind of fanaticism often comes with a loss of reason."

"An angel descended..." Duan Zilian frowned. For some reason, he had an instinctive aversion to this phrase.

Just then, the school bell rang.

At the end of the corridor, the sound of those terrifying leather shoes echoed once more.

Although Di Yejin hadn't entered the room yet, his madness had already overflowed.

Duan Zilian sighed, stuffed the business card into her backpack. It seemed that the first day after the resumption of classes was destined to be anything but peaceful.

Chapter 20 He is not a god, he is a warrior

Di Ye walked in.

Today, he changed into an even more outrageous outfit: a deep purple silk shirt, the collar open to below his chest, a thick gold chain around his neck, and several gold bracelets on his wrists. He didn't look like he was coming to class; he looked more like a nouveau riche who had just won a fortune at a Las Vegas casino.

He strode onto the podium, not carrying a lesson plan, but instead holding... a huge watermelon?!

"Good morning, everyone! On this morning filled with both disaster and rebirth!"

Di Yejin placed the watermelon on the podium with a dull thud.

"Gentlemen! How have you been these past few days? Were you terrified by that storm that destroyed the city like building blocks? Did you tremble like a caveman on nights when the power went out?"

No one in the class dared to speak. Everyone stared at the watermelon, wondering what kind of trouble the teacher was up to this time.

"Hmph, weak and poor."

Di Yejin pushed up his glasses, a mocking smile playing on his lips: "When I was doing archaeological work in Egypt, I encountered a sandstorm far worse than this! I was buried thirty meters underground in a pyramid tomb, without food or water for three days and three nights!"

"But I survived! How?"

He slapped the watermelon hard.

"Is it water? Is it food? Of course not!"

Di Yejin raised his index finger and shook it: "It's domination! It's absolute domination over one's own body! I command my cells to stop metabolizing! I command my heart to slow its beating! I have conquered time!"

"...Teacher, isn't that called hibernation?" Hayama Hayato in the front row couldn't help but mutter under his breath.

"That's a survival art that transcends human limits!"

Ignoring the complaints, Di Yejin suddenly pulled out a fruit knife from under the podium, and the whole class tensed up instantly.

“These past few days, I’ve heard many people talking about that glowing giant.”

As Di Yejin elegantly sliced ​​a watermelon, he casually remarked, "Some say he's a god, some say he's a savior. It's utterly foolish!"

Snap! The watermelon was cut open, and bright red juice flowed out.

"Nothing in this world comes out of thin air—not God!"

Di Yejin picked up a slice of watermelon, took a bite, and bright red juice dripped down his chin, making him look even more like a vampire.

“Power comes at a price! That giant… I don’t think he’s having an easy time.”

Di Ye Jin suddenly looked at Duan Zi Lian, his eyes sharp as knives, "Hey, transfer student over there! You look even worse than last time! Did you also feel that feeling of exhaustion after being overwhelmed by a huge force?"

Duan Zilian's heart skipped a beat. Did this guy... figure it out?

"Uh... Teacher, I just didn't eat breakfast," Duan Zilian replied, forcing a smile.

"Didn't have breakfast? Then have this!"

Di Yejin cut off another slice of watermelon, and with a wave of his hand, it flew precisely towards Duan Zilian.

Duan Zilian instinctively reached out and caught it—snap!

"Excellent! Quick reaction!"

Di Yejin nodded in satisfaction: "Remember this feeling! In this world full of unknowns, only those who remain vigilant at all times can survive! The same goes for that giant! He is not a god; he is just a warrior struggling in the storm!"

The whole class erupted in an uproar.

Everyone was discussing the divinity of the giants, but only this crazy teacher pulled him back to the level of a warrior.

“However—” Di Yejin’s tone suddenly changed, and his aura suddenly turned cold.

"I'd rather talk about something else than that giant struggling in the storm."

His tone was full of sarcasm, disdain, and a hint of anger.

“In the past few days, I have seen many interesting scenes—the Self-Defense Forces' armored vehicles were parked outside the blockade for a full four hours before they began search and rescue operations. It took two days for the government's shelter supplies to be delivered for the first batch. In the news, officials bowed and apologized to the camera, saying, ‘We deeply regret this.’”

He paused, then glanced around the now quiet classroom.

“Those pretty words are for the dead.” Di Yejin didn’t continue speaking, but picked up another slice of watermelon, took a bite, slowly chewed it, swallowed it, and then smiled.

"However, this is also a traditional skill of Japan. More than a hundred years have passed since the Great Kanto Earthquake, and the speed of progress of bureaucrats is still impressive."

"The government is busy holding meetings, the media is busy creating idols, and conglomerates are busy with public relations—as for those who are really trapped under the rubble? Let them crawl out on their own."

After he finished speaking, he wiped the watermelon juice from the corner of his mouth, casually placed the watermelon rind on the podium, and clapped his hands.

"However, fortunately there are still people in this world who don't wait for orders, rescue, or anyone to tell them 'what to do.' They know the importance of 'time'! They take matters into their own hands, move the stones, pull up the trapped people, and then continue on their way."

He swallowed the last bite of watermelon, casually tossed the rind aside, and it flew precisely into the trash can in the corner.

"This kind of person is far more useful than ten thousand useless people who only know how to kowtow to giants."

Then he clapped his hands, as if nothing had happened, and said loudly:

Alright! Time to stop watching the drama!

The classroom was silent for a full three seconds.

No one moved. No one turned the pages of the book. No one picked up a pen.

The first to break the silence was Hayato Hayama.

He gave a wry smile and whispered in a voice only those around him could hear, "...The teacher is really angry today."

Keibu Sho, standing next to him, shrank back: "It's more than just a bad temper... I feel like if what he just said gets posted online, he'll be going to the police station to give a statement tomorrow..."

"What are you spreading?" Miura Yumiko rolled her eyes at him, unusually without her usual impatient tone. "Did he say something wrong? Think about it yourself, how many of those officials in the news these past few days were truly apologizing?"

The Ministry of Revenue was taken aback and didn't dare to reply.

"that……"

A soft voice broke the silence. Totsuka Ayaka, sitting in the front row, weakly raised her hand, her voice trembling slightly: "Teacher Tono…the kind of person you were talking about…are you yourself?"

Di Yejin pushed up his glasses, a smile playing on his lips: "Guess?"