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

"Stop arguing, escaping is the priority!"

A huge oak display case stood in the second-floor corridor, originally displaying some weighty school records and trophies. Duan Zilian let out a low growl, veins bulging on his forehead, and with all his might, he shoved the display case towards the stairwell.

Rumble, rumble, rumble—!!!

The heavy, massive cabinet collapsed with a crash, accompanied by the crisp sound of shattering glass. The display case had perfectly fulfilled its purpose, wedged itself tightly at the narrow stairwell entrance, barely keeping the mannequins and sculptures below out.

The massive tremor caused dust to fall from the ceiling. Duan Zilian, supporting herself on her knees, gasped for breath in the thin air.

It's blocked.

It's temporarily blocked.

Chapter 28 A Grand Escape Under the Sunlight

He glanced back at Yukinoshita. The girl was leaning against the wall, her high ponytail slightly disheveled, and her usually cool face was flushed with an unusual blush from running so fast.

"minister……"

Duan Zilian wiped away a bead of sweat with a wry smile, “Welcome to… the so-called ‘extraordinary’ scene.”

The screeching sound of fingernails scratching at the cabinets came from below the stairs, as if to declare that this Sunday's "battle royale" was only just beginning to reach its climax.

In the darkness at the end of the corridor, a series of rapid "clattering" sounds rang out again. The models who had been blocked on the first floor seemed to have found another way and were surging up to the second floor through the side emergency exit.

Yukino Yukinoshita lowered her head, looking at her left wrist, where a ring of red finger marks had been roughly squeezed by Tanji Rei. In the darkness, this pain became a kind of most important mark.

She looked at Duan Zilian, whose usually lazy and frivolous figure had become so reliable and reassuring.

“Duan Jun…” she called softly.

"Hmm?" Duan Zilian, who was watching the direction of the emergency exit warily, replied casually.

"Thank you... just now."

She was somewhat flustered. The flashlight she had been clutching tightly had fallen into the ground during the chaos; it was her only remaining tool of reason.

This usually invincible girl is experiencing her first loss of balance in her life; she has never encountered such a scene before.

Duan Zilian paused for a moment, then grinned: "Why are you being so polite with me, Minister? Protecting our lovely Minister from harm is the duty of every member."

His tone still sounded frivolous, but to Xue Shita's ears, it was more solid than any grand pronouncement.

“But we need to hurry now.” Duan Zilian sensed the malice approaching in the air. “They’re coming up soon.”

Yukinoshita forcefully suppressed the excitement in her heart and pointed to the ceiling: "The third floor is a terrace where large sculptures are stored, and there is an exit leading to the rooftop from there."

"Then let's go." Duan Zilian generously extended her hand, palm up.

Looking at the warm, calloused hand, Yukinoshita smiled slightly and reached out her slender fingers to gently touch it.

The two ran again down the shadowy corridor, like a never-ending wind.

"Duan-kun." Yukinoshita suddenly spoke softly, her voice sounding somewhat thin in the eerily quiet corridor.

"Ok?"

Why... do you seem completely unafraid?

Duan Zilian didn't turn her head, chuckled lightly, and asked in return, "And you, Minister? Are you scared?"

There was a two-second silence.

"...A little."

The sound beneath the snow was barely audible; this time, she didn't use her sharp tongue to mask it.

Duan Zilian turned his head to look at her with some surprise. In the dim light, he saw that the usually invincible "Iceberg Minister" was now tightly pursing his lips. He immediately smiled even more brightly: "It's rare to see you so frank, Minister."

Yukino turned her face away, somewhat embarrassed and annoyed, her ponytail brushing against her shoulder to avoid his gaze.

She said somewhat stiffly, "You haven't answered my question yet... Shouldn't a normal high school student scream or collapse to the ground when encountering such a supernatural and bizarre event?"

"Minister, don't forget, my house was bombed by a monster once." Duan Zilian's tone became somewhat casual, carrying a sense of relief after surviving a disaster.

Yukinoshita's body trembled slightly. Yes, in that storm, Duan Zilian was the one who was caught in the eye of the storm.

“I escaped death back then, and almost went to see my grandfather. Having experienced that kind of despair, these wooden blocks and plaster statues don’t seem so horrifying anymore. Once you’ve died once, you can see things much more clearly. Anyway, the world has already gone crazy, hasn’t it?”

As Duan Zilian spoke, she looked at the dark corridor behind her, her tone relaxed and calm, as if they were not on the run, but strolling in the garden behind their own house.

Yukinoshita's heart tightened as she looked at the boy beside her, imagining his lonely figure in the rain.

In this world, how many people have matured at the cost of ruins and ashes? She didn't speak, but unconsciously tightened her grip on Duan Zilian's hand.

As the two turned the corner, a sculpture of a human head lying by the roadside suddenly opened its eyes, staring intently at the snow, and uttered frantic murmurs: "So beautiful, so beautiful, so beautiful... Let me devour you, and you will belong to me forever..."

"Eat your grandpa!"

Duan Zilian didn't even stop walking. As she passed the sculpture, she delivered a fierce side kick directly to the plaster head.

boom!

Fragments flew everywhere, and that lecherous face shattered into a puddle of white foam under the snow.

"Tsk, these guys are so clueless. Why don't they say I'm handsome?" Duan Zilian said, somewhat annoyed. "Could it be that my charm can't even attract a plaster statue?"

Yukino chuckled at his illogical remarks, and her tense nerves relaxed a little.

"Crack! Crack!"

Behind the classroom door in front, more than a dozen mannequins had stumbled out from the side door, completely blocking the way.

"Go upstairs!"

Duan Zilian, carrying Xue Zhi, rushed towards the last set of stairs, bypassing the rigid barriers, and finally reached the top floor of the art museum.

At the end is a trapdoor leading to the rooftop, from which sunlight pours down, forming a beam of light.

They ran toward the light, but when they reached the bottom of the trapdoor, their hearts sank.

The folding ladder leading to the rooftop got stuck halfway down due to years of disrepair, standing a full three meters above the ground.

“I can’t reach it.” Yukinoshita looked at the suspended ladder, her face pale.

"Damn it..." Duan Zilian glanced behind her; the models' footsteps had already reached the corner of the stairs.

"Step on my shoulders! I'll lift you up!" Duan Zilian didn't hesitate at all, immediately assuming a horse stance under the door, her hands clasped in front of her thighs. "Hurry up, Minister! Show me the same kind of authority you usually have when you're disciplining me!"

"Then how did you..."

"Stop talking, there's no time! If we drag this out any longer, we'll both be dead here."

Yukino glanced at the approaching black shadow behind her, gritted her teeth, and without any hesitation, took two steps forward and precisely stepped on Dan Zilian's palm.

"rise!"

Duan Zilian let out a low roar, and the explosive power she had been training for many days exploded instantly. She lifted her hands up sharply, and Xue Zhixia used this force to leap up as lightly as a swift, her hands gripping the edge of the folding ladder tightly.

She deftly pushed herself up, slipped through the trapdoor, and landed lightly on the rooftop. She immediately turned around and tried her best to move the folding ladder, hoping to loosen it and push the remaining section to the ground, but it wouldn't budge.

As she turned around, kneeling on the edge of the trapdoor and looking down, her heart skipped a beat.

The models below had already rushed forward, and the sharp claws of the model at the front were almost grabbing Duan Zilian's trouser leg.

"Duan Jun! Come up here quickly!"

Yukinoshita called out urgently, but looking at the height, her palms were sweating uncontrollably. It was too high. Even if she leaned over the trapdoor and stretched her hand to the limit, there was still a hopeless distance between them.

"Minister, stand back a bit, don't get hit on the teeth! I've been working out lately."

Suddenly, a loud shout came from below.

The next second, Duan Zilian jumped up and grabbed the folding ladder tightly at the highest point.

"What amazing jumping power..."

Yukinoshita's pupils suddenly contracted, and she immediately snapped back to her senses, reaching her slender, pale hand downwards. "Duan Jun, quick!"

Duan Zilian hung on the ladder with one hand and grabbed Xue Zhixia's hand with the other, using her body to climb upwards.

Click!

Suddenly, a cold hand gripped Duan Zilian's ankle tightly, the chilling force almost pulling him down from mid-air.

"Duan-kun!!" Yukinoshita's pupils suddenly contracted, and she used all her strength to pull upwards desperately.

"Fuck you." Duan Zilian kicked the mannequin's head hard with his other foot, smashing it. He then leaped over the trapdoor.

Bang! Duan Zilian turned around and kicked the trapdoor shut, then pulled down the heavy, rusty iron bolt.

Bang-!

The scratching and banging sounds coming from under the door became muffled and distant the moment the iron bolt closed.

The wind was strong outside, and a gentle breeze swept across the empty rooftop, instantly taking away the heat from the two of them.

A long silence fell on the rooftop. Duan Zilian and Xue Shizhi collapsed to the ground almost simultaneously, panting heavily, their chests heaving violently.

However, Yukinoshita still didn't let go of the hand that was holding onto Dan Zilian's wrist. She could even feel the other person's pulse beating, and Dan Zilian was still holding her hand tightly. Neither of them let go first.

Chapter 29 A Youthful Twilight

The wind on the rooftop was more turbulent than I had imagined, with a fierce force that seemed to suck all the remaining air from my lungs.

Silence flowed through the air, broken only by the occasional dull thud from below.

"Duan-kun..." Yukinoshita turned her head slightly, a few strands of hair still clinging to her face, her cheeks slightly flushed, and asked with some doubt, "Are you... really human?"

“A genuine primitive creature, Minister.” Duan Zilian weakly raised one hand, feeling the wind. “That jump just now probably exhausted all the exercise I’ll need for the rest of my life.”

The two exchanged a glance. In the lingering feeling of surviving the ordeal, Duan Zilian suddenly noticed that Xue Zhixia's eyes had lost some of their usual sharpness and gained a gentle, watery warmth.

He looked at the sky and suddenly felt that the color of the sky was a little strange. He sat up to look around, but froze the moment his eyes touched the horizon.

Seeing the stunned expression on Tanji Rei's face, Yukino Yukinoshita also propped herself up and sat up from the ground.

"Minister...look over there."

Following his gaze, Yukinoshita's pupils suddenly contracted.

The sky at this moment was no longer the bright morning it had been when they entered the art museum.

A rich orange-red hue spread across half the sky, and the crimson sunset hung on the distant horizon. The streetlights on the streets were gradually turning on, their lights twinkling in the thin mist.

"Dusk?" Yukinoshita murmured to herself, then glanced sharply at her watch. "How is this possible... We've only been inside for half an hour at most, why has the sun already set?"

"It looks like time... has been stretched out? The spacetime here should be different from the spacetime outside." Duan Zilian stood up, holding onto the railing, the wind ruffling his short hair.

The entire city of Chiba was breathtakingly beautiful in the twilight. The distant building outlines were gilded with an ethereal golden edge by the setting sun, while in the direction of Yokohama, the purple crack appeared so alluring in the dim sunset.

“I still find it hard to accept.” Yukino Yukinoshita stood beside him, holding onto the railing. “Logic, common sense, and the laws that support the operation of this world… are crumbling before my eyes.”

"Duan Jun, this feeling... is really awful."

“You’ll get used to it.” Duan Zilian looked at the lights in the distance, her eyes deep. “This world is becoming more and more incomprehensible, so we weak little kittens can only feel safe by huddling together with other kittens in this chaotic world.”

Yukino turned her head to look at Duan Zilian's profile. The dim light outlined his soft jawline, and he exuded a quiet and aloof aura.

As if sensing her gaze, Duan Zilian slowly turned her head, her deep eyes softening instantly, and a faint smile appeared on her lips.

Yukinoshita paused slightly, a faint blush rising to her cheeks. She abruptly turned her head away, no longer looking at Duan Zilian.

Just as Duan Zilian was thinking of saying something lighthearted to tease her icy minister and ease the tension—

"Hey—! Mr. Duan—!"

"You brat—! Are you still alive—?!"

Just then, several loud shouts suddenly came from the open lawn below the art museum.

Duan Zilian was startled and suddenly leaned out to look down.

At the entrance to the art museum's desolate garden, two familiar figures were lingering under a streetlamp.

Hibino Mirai was covering her mouth and looking around, while Kai Kurenai next to her was nonchalantly holding the back of his head with his hands, looking every bit the idle loafer.

"Future-san! Kai-san!"

Duan Zilian waved her arms frantically, as if she had seen a long-lost relative, shouting, "I'm here! Help me!"

Hearing the sound, Hong Kai below looked up sharply. He squinted and carefully observed the situation on the rooftop, then suddenly let out a meaningful laugh that carried far through the silent forest.

"Wow! Look at the future, that brat is having a date with a girl on the rooftop! No wonder he wasn't replying to my messages, he was enjoying his time alone with a girl in this kind of atmosphere!"