What Kind of Bullying Is This?

Early morning, downtown Chiba Prefecture, a luxury apartment.

Sunlight streamed through the floor-to-ceiling windows onto the soft bed. Accompanied by a faint glow invisible to the naked eye, Lin Xiao suddenly appeared in the room.

"Whew... I'm stuffed."

Lin Xiao rubbed his stomach and let out a satisfied burp.

After pulling an all-nighter in Fuyuki City, he had stubbornly stayed behind to finish the extraordinarily lavish "happy reunion breakfast" Emiya Shirou had made.

Along the way, he had also enjoyed Saber's astonishing appetite, as bottomless as a pit, and Rin Tohsaka's tearful expression as she stared at her shriveled wallet.

Only after confirming that everyone had settled down did he choose to return.

[Ding! Myriad Worlds Chat Group notification:]

[Group member "The Boy Who Wants to Be a Hero" uploaded a photo to the group album!]

Lin Xiao opened his phone, and a freshly taken photo popped up in the group chat.

The photo showed a long dining table packed with people. Saber was stuffing rice balls into her mouth with puffed cheeks, while Sakura and Rider carried soup out from the kitchen.

Illya was sitting on Berserker B's shoulders, snatching tempura, while Rin Tohsaka had Red Archer by the throat and was shouting something at him.

In the very corner of the photo, Emiya Shirou wore an apron and flashed a huge peace sign at the camera, his smile brilliant and full of hope.

[The Boy Who Wants to Be a Hero]: "Mr. Lin Xiao! Everyone! You're always welcome to visit Fuyuki City!"

[The Underdog Who Wants to Be Hokage]: "Wow! It looks even more extravagant than Ichiraku Ramen! Big Brother Lin Xiao is amazing—you really turned such a terrifying war into a dinner party!"

[Smile Under the Wisteria Flowers]: "That's wonderful. You saved them."

Lin Xiao closed the group chat and glanced at the clock on the wall. It was seven-thirty in the morning.

"Tch. I save the world, and I still have to go to class. That's way too much like being a corporate drone." Lin Xiao stretched, changed into Sobu High's uniform, washed up, and pushed open the door to leave the apartment.

On an early summer morning, the streets of Chiba Prefecture were filled with a quiet, peaceful air.

There were no blond guys constantly calling people "mongrels," nor were there bugs crawling all over the ground.

There were only students carrying schoolbags and office workers hurrying along on bicycles.

For Lin Xiao, who had just experienced a night of slaughter—even if it had been entirely one-sided—such an ordinary daily life was the best possible cure.

Tap, tap. Just as Lin Xiao reached the shoe lockers outside Sobu High's school building and prepared to change into his indoor shoes, light footsteps sounded beside him.

"Judging by those dark circles, it seems you stayed up a little late having fun last night."

A cool, pleasant voice with its trademark hint of sharp sarcasm sounded beside him.

Yukino Yukinoshita stood nearby, carrying an exquisite lunchbox in her hand. Her smooth black hair draped over her shoulders, and her clear spring-like eyes were fixed on him.

"It was fine. Mostly because that King of Knights over there ate too much, so breakfast took a little longer." As Lin Xiao changed shoes, he casually fired back, "But Mrs. Landlady, are you actually concerned about your tenant's sleep quality?"

At the title "Mrs. Landlady," Yukino's eye twitched slightly. But she did not argue. Instead, she gracefully brushed a stray lock of hair behind her ear.

"As the landlady, I am merely worried that a certain God who has just saved a parallel universe will fall asleep and snore during first-period math due to lack of sleep, thereby damaging the reputation of my apartment building."

Yukino tilted her head slightly. Though her tone remained cold, an almost imperceptible gentleness flickered in her eyes. "In any case... welcome back, Lin Xiao."

"Oh? Are you worried about me?" Lin Xiao raised an eyebrow.

"It is merely basic courtesy... Wait, what are you doing?" Before Yukino could finish, she saw Lin Xiao suddenly ignore her, staring fixedly behind her as he quietly began backing away.

"Shh! Cover for me." Lin Xiao lowered his voice, as if facing a formidable enemy.

Yukino turned in the direction of Lin Xiao's gaze.

At the end of the shoe-locker corridor, Miko Yotsuya stood with two dark circles that had not yet faded from beneath her eyes. She held an outrageously extravagant three-tier lunchbox and swept her gaze around with shining eyes like a radar that had locked onto its prey.

The moment Miko's Yin-Yang Eyes caught the layer of Light of Gaia surrounding Lin Xiao, her entire body jolted as if electrocuted, and she erupted into an incredibly fervent cheer!

"Lord Lin Xiao!!!"

Clutching the lavish lunchbox, enough to feed three grown adults, Miko charged straight toward Lin Xiao at a hundred-meter sprint, bringing a gust of wind with her.

Bang! Before Lin Xiao could even refuse, Miko performed an impeccably standard ninety-degree bow, raising the lunchbox high over her head with both hands. Her tone was as devout as if she were worshipping a God at a shrine.

"Ordinary Student Lin Xiao! I woke up at five this morning and poured my entire heart into preparing this premium imperial meal for you! Please, you must accept this insignificant offering!!!"

Silence. Deathly silence.

The students changing shoes around them all stopped moving and stared at Lin Xiao with the bizarre expressions people reserved for cult leaders.

A pretty female transfer student had come over first thing in the morning, bowed ninety degrees, offered him an extravagant lunchbox, and kept calling it an "offering" while addressing him as "my lord"?! What kind of new bullying was this? Or some shady underground master-and-servant game?!

Feeling the murderous gazes all around him, Lin Xiao covered his face in despair.

"Yotsuya... I really ate my fill last night." Lin Xiao ground his teeth and lowered his voice. "And could you please stop using words like 'offering' that make people misunderstand?!"

"No! I can never repay the kindness of a God!" Miko stubbornly pushed the lunchbox closer, clearly determined not to put it away unless he accepted it.

Just as Lin Xiao's headache was growing unbearable—

"Heh." An extremely cold snort, carrying even a trace of killing intent, suddenly came from beside him.

Yukino Yukinoshita looked at the transfer student who was practically pressed against Lin Xiao, then at the absurdly extravagant lunchbox.

She lowered her gaze to the small lunchbox in her own hand, which she had originally intended to give him under the excuse of "I happened to make an extra one, so you can have it," and naturally hid it behind her back.

"It seems that the God who saves worlds is not only busy in parallel universes, but also enjoys a fulfilling life beloved by young ladies here at school."

"Since someone has already provided an 'offering,' I shall not disturb Student Lin Xiao while he enjoys this lavish sacrificial feast."

With that, the Queen of Yukinoshita strode toward the stairs with crisp, icy steps, never once looking back. Even her retreating figure radiated an aura of utter displeasure.

"No, Yukinoshita, listen to me explain..." Lin Xiao reached out helplessly.

"Lord Lin Xiao! I added double cheese to this wagyu hamburger steak!" Miko continued enthusiastically pitching it beside him.

"..."

Watching the growing crowd of spectators around him and Yukino's increasingly distant figure, Lin Xiao—the Light Giant and administrator of the Myriad Worlds Chat Group—felt a pressure more terrifying than fighting monsters for the first time in his life.