A splash of crimson mosaic splattered out, and the enormous lizard head rolled far away with a gurgling sound.
Swish—
A harsh metallic scraping sound came from not far away. The lizard head laboriously turned its remaining single eye, then its pupil sharply constricted!
It saw that the upper end of the lamppost, which it had previously snapped with its tail, had been sharpened into a keen point at some unknown time, shaped like a giant jousting lance used by medieval knights.
The cold light reflecting off the break seemed capable of cutting a person just by looking at it.
And this several-meter-long lamppost floated like a javelin above the terrifying human's right hand, slowly and steadily walking towards it with him.
Tap, tap, tap…
Hair-raising footsteps sounded, and an indescribable fear spread through the air.
"Ya, yamete!! Ah—"
Pinning the Lizard Monster to the road with its remaining single eye, Kaito felt in his pocket, pulled out a cigarette pack, and silently lit one for himself.
"Whew—"
From the exhaled smoke, a faint blue spiritual light rose, condensing into a snarling, clawing lizard, hissing with resentment at Kaito.
"Still arrogant?" Kaito snorted, and the spiritual lizard, still ascending in mid-air, froze.
"You can see me!?"
Stand ability activated. A blank card appeared between Kaito's fingers. The lizard spirit, which had been using all its limbs, even a frog-kick swimming motion, to accelerate its ascension, halted in mid-air. Like smoke caught by an extractor fan, it rapidly reversed, losing its original form and transforming into a spiritual vortex that plunged into the card below.
(Yamete—)
The next second, the blank card face outlined a terrified, upright lizard. As multiple nodes and patterns on the white card face lit up, the border color gradually changed to dark blue.
Tiger-level—Lizard Monster, defeated, sealing complete.
At the same time, the Stand also provided feedback information in Kaito's mind.
[Destiny Draw count +1.]
[Current Destiny Draw count: 9 times.]
Beep-boop, beep-boop, beep-boop…
Police sirens wailed in the distance. Kaito glanced at the Lizard Monster's mutilated corpse and retrieved his "tool"—that battle-hardened road roller—back into a card.
Moments later, the belated police and firefighters extinguished the large fire at the entrance with fire hoses and rushed into the pedestrian street. A familiar police officer recognized Kaito among them: "Kaito, you're here too!"
"Yes, I just arrived," Kaito wiped his intentionally smudged face and looked at the devastated pedestrian street, "Let's hurry and save people!"
"Yes, those damned Monsters!"
More and more police forces joined the search and rescue efforts.
Soon, the riot police advancing at the front discovered the massive Monster corpse.
"Huh?"
"The Monster has been killed!!"
"What? That's great!"
"Hiss… what kind of attack did this guy suffer?! A meteorite?"
On the other side.
A faint breathing sound came from under the collapsed wall. Kaito glanced left and right, then forcefully used both hands to flip over a large section of rubble. He carefully cradled a small, injured girl from a pile of blood-stained debris.
"Big brother, I saw it…"
Kaito was startled, then saw the little girl gently hug his arm.
"You defeated the Monster, you're a hero, right?"
A hero? Perhaps. Hearing the little girl's question, a bald figure in a red and yellow tight-fitting uniform with a flowing cape flashed across Kaito's mind.
He swept his gaze over the blood-soaked pile of rubble again. In his telekinetically formed vision, he saw two lifeless bodies, a man and a woman.
They were the little girl's parents.
Touched deep down, Kaito's voice softened: "Big brother is a police officer. Just sleep. You'll be fine when you wake up."
"Thank you… big brother…"
Telekinesis gently activated, soothing the little girl's fluctuating emotions. She tightly clutched Kaito's collar and fell into a deep sleep in his arms.
[Fantasy Cards: Road Roller by the Roadside]
[Card Type: Item Card]
[Rarity: N]
[Description: A scrapped road roller, just right in terms of weight, volume, and feel.]
[Effect 1: Road Roller Attack]
[Summon a road roller from the sky and shout: ROADA ROLLER DA!]
The next day, weekend.
Taking advantage of the special sale day, Kaito bought a refrigerator full of discounted ingredients and made himself a Sichuan-style hotpot at home. As the pot boiled and he put in the ingredients, he casually turned on the TV.
"Shocking! Z City attacked by Monster again, the truth is actually…"
"Follow our station's perspective to truly recreate the thrilling scene on Senmu Pedestrian Street…"
"Eliminate all Monsters, the world belongs to humans!"
"Hero recruitment is in full swing. If you are exceptionally strong, if you have a special skill, please contact inquiry number 18888888888 immediately. Repeating, 18888888888…"
"Our station's breaking news: Hero Association announces the establishment of branches in major cities…"
"Special Report…"
The Hero Association's advertisements gradually took over the screen. Kaito ate and watched, and a question popped into his mind.
Three years later, Saitama still doesn't know about the Hero Association.
'Does that guy not watch TV? Oh, he only watches a few free channels. Then it's fine.'
Watching the relentless propaganda on TV, Kaito ate with gusto and couldn't help but open another bottle of chilled 82-year-old cola. Gulp, gulp, gulp—Refreshing!
After tidying up, it was late at night. Walking onto the balcony, Kaito enjoyed the night breeze, quietly clearing his mind. Although he also has the surname Joestar, he is not a proper Joestar member. He merely inherited some traits of the Joestar members from a distance, such as…
One meter ninety-five.
Strength and Speed both A.
Golden Spirit.
Perhaps, becoming a part-time hero after work wouldn't be bad either.
As his thoughts drifted, a blue Monster Card appeared in Kaito's hand.
[Fantasy Cards: Lizard Monster]
[Card Type: Character Card (Monster)]
[Rarity: R]
[Description: A reptilian Monster mutated from a human. Disaster Level – Tiger.]
[Note: A shameful, ugly beast. Recommended for decomposition.]
[Effect 1: Night Vision]
[Vision is greatly enhanced in night or dim environments.]
[Effect 2: Ambush]
[Instantly approach prey for a pounce kill.]
Seeing the special note added to the card information, Kaito couldn't help but raise an eyebrow.
Lizard Monster: …Are you cursing me again?!
A Stand is essentially materialized spiritual power, so the content of the note is naturally the subconscious thought of the user. Unlike Item Cards, Character Cards seal the power of the Monster from their lifetime.
They can be used on the user or other humans, but only one can be equipped at a time. Upon equipping, the user gains the character's ability system and can also choose to overlay the skin. Correspondingly, the abilities gained will disappear upon uninstallation.
It's similar to pay-to-win skins in some games that come with attributes and skills. The advantage is immediate effect, while the drawback is that they cannot be stacked. Ability Cards like Spider Sense, however, have no quantity limit.
As for the decomposition mentioned in the note, it's a radical method of use. Specific Fantasy Cards can be decomposed as consumables to randomly extract some attributes or abilities as enhancement materials, used to strengthen the user.
As a seasoned card player with a month and a half of practice, Kaito knows that—Playing cards is just for fun; being strong yourself is what truly matters.