JOHN KAISEN'S POV
I couldn't see shit.
Everything in this damn wooden labyrinth was a blurry, out-of-focus ss.
After the sheer, heart-stopping realization that I had been wearing a GDA tracking beacon right on my face, I'd imdiately ordered Naki to open a door to the ocean.
The second the harsh, salty wind hit my skin, I crushed those highly expensive, traitorous lenses in my grip and chucked the plastic remains straight into the churning Pacific.
Good riddance.
I stood there in the dim hall, ntally cursing my own stupidity, when a cold, pale hand gently set itself on top of my head.
Pat. Pat.
"There, there," Naki muttered, her voice soft. "You must have been surprised, Master. Please, calm down."
My brain stalled out.
I stood there, derailed by the absurdity of the situation.
"Naki..." I croaked, my voice cracking like a teenager's. "What are you doing?"
The poor woman tilted her head innocently, her single eye blinking in confusion, as she took her hand off my head.
"Was this not what you did to ease my tension last night? I thought it would make you feel better. Should I not have done it? Did... did I make a mistake?"
I swallowed hard.
I reached up, grabbed her wrist, and placed her hand right back onto my scalp.
"No," I said, my face burning as I aggressively avoided eye contact. "It felt good. Keep doing it, please."
Look, it wasn't my fault that my toxically dysfunctional family gave severe intimacy issues.
I wasn't about to turn down a genuine mont of comfort, even if it ca from a flesh-eating demon from the Taisho era.
After about five more minutes of her softly humming and patting my head, my anxiety flatlined.
But I still had to pull away.
Even after abducting and negotiating with the Director of the GDA, we were still missing our number one priority.
My stomach let out a violent, echoing gurgle.
"I'm starving," I groaned.
Naki imdiately reached deep into the folds of her kimono.
"No!" I snapped, grabbing her arm before she could pull out whatever bloody chunk of Immortal jerky she had stashed in there. "Human food. I need regular, not Super at."
It hit then.
'Immortal = Jobber: Right.'
'Immortal = Paedophile: Right.'
'Immortal = Hero = Secret Identity! Jackpot!'
"Fuck, I'm an idiot!" I cursed.
I slotted in Gradual Transformation in an active slot.
I didn't have the patience to wait three hours to change my body mass by 500%, but shifting my facial structure and hair pignt? That took maybe half an hour.
By the ti the skill finished doing its creepy, bone-altering work, I was a completely different person.
Gone were the blonde hair, replaced by a pitch-black crew cut.
My facial structure shifted entirely, cheekbones higher, jawline sharper and nose bridge more pronounced.
[Image Here]
'I look like a completely different person!' I thought.
'...Well, I can't confirm it due to my lack of spyware glasses.'
"How do I look?" I asked, turning to my roommate.
Naki stared at for a bit too long.
"You look like a young master from a Noble Clan."
A phantom tingle of pure dread ran down my spine.
"Yeah, please never say that again. Young masters and reincarnations never mix well. I really don't feel like getting face-slapped by so protagonist today."
Tired and too hungry, I let out a whiny, pathetic noise.
"Just open a gate to the mall already..."
Naki nodded.
She placed her biwa in her lap and struck the strings.
TWANG.
A tatami door slid open.
I pulled Soul Solid from my item storage, gripping the cane tight just in case so GDA kill-squad was waiting on the other side.
Nothing happened for a few minutes.
The coast was clear.
I stepped through the door, imdiately bombarded by the blinding neon signs of the local mall.
I stumbled blindly through the crowds, bumping into shoulders and muttering apologies until a security guard took pity on and pointed toward an optotry kiosk.
"How may I help you today?" a pleasant voice asked.
"Please, ma'am," I sighed, gripping the edge of the glass counter. "You gotta help . I lost my glasses and I can't see for shit."
I heard a light giggle as a hand grabbed my arm, gently leading to a padded seat.
"Don't worry, sir. It's not the first ti soone has co to us with this exact problem."
She ran through a couple of quick vision tests.
A minute later, she slid a pair of test fras onto my face.
Like a switch being flipped, my vision snapped from a blurry ss of colors to crisp clarity.
I blinked against the sudden sharpness of my vision and as I opened my mouth to thank her, only to freeze completely.
Standing right in front of , wearing a normal retail uniform, was a girl with a sharp bob cut and distinct Asian features.
It was Dupli-Kate.
One of the mbers of the Teen Team was fitting my prescription.
My heart tried to jump straight out of my throat, but the Iron Nerves trait clamped down instantly.
The sheer panic evaporated, locking my composure into place before I could blurt out her hero na and get branded as a superhuman stalker.
I leaned back in the chair, projecting total ease.
"Wow. I didn't know my helper was such a beauty."
She giggled, playfully punching my shoulder.
"Boy, you play too much."
She went back to work, pulling different fras from the display walls.
We went through modern sleek designs, bedazzled nightmares, and giant, thick-rimd Edna spectacles.
Every ti she swapped a pair, she leaned in close.
"You really have beautiful eyes, mister...?" she trailed off, leaving the opening.
Taking the clue, I said, "Joestar... Joseph Joestar. But my friends call Jojo."
"Wow, now that's a unique na!" she smiled, adjusting the bridge of a new fra. "By the way, you can call Kate."
I smiled back. "What can I say? My parents had unique taste, Kate."
She picked up the final fra, leaning in so close I could feel the warmth radiating off her.
She slipped the glasses onto my face and didn't pull back imdiately.
"You sll really good, Joseph," she murmured. "What's your secret?"
I sent a silent prayer of thanks to RNGesus for the Musk trait.
"It's just getting nervous from standing next to such a pretty lady."
Kate finally blushed, giggling as she stepped back.
I checked the mirror.
The Teashades style with slightly tinted lenses looked perfect.
It completed the whole enigmatic-bastard aesthetic I was going for.
"You really know your glasses, Kate. I'll take a dozen of these, please."
I pulled Cecil's sleek black GDA card from my pocket, half expecting the card to be blocked or worse, the terminal to explode when I swiped it.
The transaction approved perfectly.
She printed the receipt, bagging up the remaining eleven pairs.
"You're one remarkable custor, Mr. Joestar. Here. Call ."
She slipped a piece of paper with her number scribbled on it directly into my hand.
"You bet I will, Kate."
As we were in the middle of our flirting I heard a coughing sound co from my connection with Naki.
'Are you sick, Naki?' I asked internally. 'Is that even possible for demons?'
'I am perfectly fine, Master,' her voice replied, sharp and devoid of its usual warmth. 'It is simply that there are a lot of pests buzzing around.'
'Weird,' I thought. 'Guess I need to buy bug spray.'
As I walked away from Kate's kiosk, I wondered why the hell a teenage superhero needed a part-ti retail job.
Did the GDA not pay these kids? That's ssed up.
Whatever. I had bigger priorities.
The Food Court.
I hit the buffet harder than Nolan hit Immortal.
I piled one of everything onto my plate, forming a structural hazard of at, carbs, and grease.
The other custors stared at in open disgust, but the staff didn't even blink.
'Poor staff must've seen so shit.'
Given the sheer amount of superpowers in this universe, a guy eating five tis his body weight probably didn't even crack the top ten weirdest things they'd seen this week.
I abandoned every single table manner I had ever learned.
I ate like a mukbang YouTuber doing a speedrun.
My mother would have literally passed out from the shock of seeing it.
Fully satiated, I paid the bill and wandered over to the clothing store.
I needed to find sothing for Naki. She'd been wearing the sa kimono for days now.
I was browsing the racks when the massive TV array mounted above the registers flared red.
[BREAKING NEWS]
The anchor looked devastated.
[With a heavy heart, Channel 9 must report the unthinkable. The Guardians of the Globe... have been killed.]
The entire store went dead silent.
Shoppers froze in the aisles.
[They were martyred in the field of battle,] the anchor continued, her voice shaking. [Furthermore, Omni-Man, who was seen briefly during the Flaxan invasion, is currently missing in action. Reports indicate he was abducted and thrown into the alien portal, stranding our greatest hero far from ho.]
I just stared at the screen.
Say what you will, Cecil really knew his propaganda when it ca down to it.
[We have received verified information from governnt sources regarding the identity of the man who committed this heinous act,] the anchor announced, her expression hardening. [The man who struck our Guardians in their own base when they were most vulnerable. The man who stranded Omni-Man and left our world defenseless.]
A massive, high-definition photo flashed across the broadcast.
It was .
Laughing cockily, riding on the back of the Blue-Eyes White Dragon.
[This man is John Kaisen! I repeat, the barbaric terrorist responsible is John Kaisen! The governnt has announced an unprecedented global bounty for his capture:
One Billion Dollars.
DEAD OR ALIVE.]
The screen shifted to show a wanted poster.
It looked like sothing straight out of One Piece.
'Damn,' I thought, adjusting my new glasses. 'They really caught my good side. I wonder if I can ask Cecil to get that frad for the castle?'
'Master... you seem awfully calm, given that you have painted a target on yourself for the entire planet.' Naki's voice echoed through our connection, thick with worry.
'You can't win big unless you risk big, my dear Naki.'
And then, right on cue.
TING—
The crisp, blissful chi of the gacha interface booted up in my mind.
I took a slow, deep breath.
[Feat Achieved! Kidnap the Director of GDA]
[Reward: 1x Gold Random Gacha Ticket]
[Feat Achieved! Make a deal with GDA]
[Reward: 1x Gold Random Gacha Ticket]
[Feat Achieved! Flirting with a Hero]
[Reward: 1x Bronze Random Gacha Ticket]
[Feat Achieved! Beco the Most Wanted Man in the world]
[Reward: 1x Diamond Random Gacha Ticket]
I ignore the notifications, turning back to the changing room mirrors, holding up a bright floral sundress in my left hand and a comfortable pink tracksuit in my right.
"So," I said out loud to the empty aisle. "Which one would Naki like?"
I just grabbed both.
Naki deserved options.
[A/N]: Any Idea why this is happening and that too such a big drop?
[Image Here]
Also, gim them Stones unless you want a bounty on your head!!
Support my work and get early access to advance chapters, exclusive content, and bonus material at my P@treon - Max_Striker.
User Comments
0 comments from readers