A splash of crimson pixels erupted as the massive lizard head rolled away, tumbling across the ground.
Screech—
A piercing metallic scrape came from nearby. The lizard head strained to turn its remaining eye, its pupil constricting in terror!
The fallen lamp post had been transformed into a deadly weapon, its top sharpened to a point like a medieval knight's lance. Its gleaming edge seemed sharp enough to cut by sight alone.
The several-meter-long post now floated above the terrifying human's right hand like a javelin as he approached with unhurried steps.
Tap, Tap, Tap...
His bone-chilling footsteps echoed as waves of dread filled the air.
"Ple-please!! Ah—"
After pinning the Lizard Monster to the ground through its remaining eye, Johnson retrieved a cigarette case from his pocket and silently lit one.
"Huff—"
From the exhaled smoke rose a pale blue spiritual light, condensing into a snarling lizard that hissed at him with hatred.
"Still acting tough?" Johnson snorted coldly, and the rising spiritual lizard froze in place.
You can see me!?
The Stand ability activated, and a blank card materialized between his fingers.
The lizard spirit, thrashing with all four limbs in desperate swimming motions to ascend faster, halted mid-air. Like smoke drawn into a range hood, it rapidly reversed direction, losing its form as it transformed into a spiritual vortex that was pulled into the card below.
'Yamete kudasai!'
In an instant, the blank card's surface sketched out a terrified upright lizard, and as intricate nodal patterns illuminated the white surface, its border slowly deepened to blue.
Demon-level — Lizard Monster, defeated, sealing complete.
At the same time, the Stand also provided feedback in Johnson's mind.
╔══════════════════════╗
║ Destiny Draw Count: +1 ║
║ Current Destiny Draw Count: 9 Times ║
╚══════════════════════╝
Wee-Woo Wee-Woo Wee-Woo...
Police sirens wailed in the distance. Johnson glanced at the Lizard Monster's mutilated corpse and transformed his weapon — the battle-hardened road roller — back into card form.
Minutes later, police and firefighters arrived, directing their hoses at the flames by the entrance before rushing into the pedestrian street.
A familiar officer spotted Johnson among them, "Johnson, you're here too!"
"Yeah, I just arrived." Johnson said, wiping his deliberately soot-blackened face as he surveyed the devastated street, "Let's hurry and save people!"
"Right, those damn monsters!"
More police forces streamed in to join the rescue effort.
The riot police at the front soon discovered the massive monster corpse.
"Hm?"
"The monster's already dead!"
"What? That's great!"
"Good grief... what hit this thing? A meteor?"
✱✱✱✱✱✱✱✱✱✱
Meanwhile.
A faint breathing sound emerged from beneath a collapsed wall. Johnson glanced around before hefting the massive piece of rubble aside with one mighty effort. Carefully, he pulled out a badly injured little girl from the blood-stained debris.
"Onii-san, I saw..."
Johnson froze as the little girl weakly gripped his arm.
"You defeated the monster, are you a Hero?"
A Hero? Maybe.
At the little girl's question, Johnson's mind flashed to an image of a bald man wearing red and yellow tight-fitting clothes, his cape billowing behind him.
His Psychic Vision revealed the grim truth in the blood-soaked rubble — two lifeless bodies, a man and a woman. The little girl's parents.
Something stirred in his heart, and Johnson's voice softened, "Onii-san is a police officer. Get some sleep now, everything will be better when you wake up."
"Thank you... Onii..."
Using his psychic power, he gently calmed the little girl's turbulent emotions. She gripped his collar tightly and drifted into deep sleep in his arms.
✱✱✱✱✱✱✱✱✱✱
╔══════════════════════╗
FANTASY CARD: Roadside Road Roller
CARD TYPE: Item Card
RARITY: N
┌─ SYSTEM DESCRIPTION ─┐
A scrapped road roller, perfect in weight, size, and feel.
┌─ PRIMARY FUNCTION — ROAAD ROLLER ATTACK ─┐
Summon a road roller falling from the sky while shouting: Get Rolled, Bitch!
╚══════════════════════╝
✱✱✱✱✱✱✱✱✱✱
The next day, weekend.
Taking advantage of a sale, Johnson bought a fridge full of discounted ingredients and made himself a Brazilian-style barbecue at home.
As meat sizzled on the grill with flavorful oil dripping into the fire, he added more skewers of cheese and chicken while casually turning on the TV.
[Shocking! Z-City attacked by monsters again, the truth is...]
[Follow our coverage for a true account of the thrilling incident at Moriki Shopping Street...]
[Eliminate all monsters, the world belongs to humans!]
[Hero recruitment is in full swing! If you have extraordinary abilities or special skills, contact us now at 4002-8922, again that's 4002-8922...]
[Breaking news: Hero Association announces branch offices in major cities...]
[Special report...]
...
As Hero Association advertisements increasingly dominated the screen, Johnson ate while watching and couldn't help but wonder.
How could Saitama not know about the Hero Association three years later, doesn't he watch TV?
Oh right, that guy only has access to a few free channels, never mind then.
Watching the relentless promotion on TV, he enjoyed his meal heartily and couldn't resist opening an ice-cold '82 Cola.
Glug Glug Glug—
Nice!
After cleaning up, it was already late at night.
Walking onto the balcony, Johnson enjoyed the night breeze, his mind wandering.
Though he shared the common initial name of Jo-something, he wasn't truly part of the Joestar family. He had only inherited some of their traits across space — being 195cm tall, Double A in strength and speed, and the Stand.
Perhaps becoming a part-time Hero alongside work wouldn't be bad.
As these thoughts crossed his mind, the blue monster card appeared in Johnson's hand.
╔══════════════════════╗
FANTASY CARD: Lizard Monster
CARD TYPE: Character Card — Monster
RARITY: R
┌─ SYSTEM DESCRIPTION ─┐
A reptilian monster mutated from a human, Disaster Level — Demon.
┌─ NOTE ─┐
Disgusting ugly beast, recommended for decomposition.
┌─ PRIMARY FUNCTION — NIGHT VISION ─┐
Greatly enhanced vision in night or dark environments.
┌─ SECONDARY FUNCTION — AMBUSH ─┐
Instantly close in on prey for the kill.
╚══════════════════════╝
Seeing the special note added to the card information, Johnson raised an eyebrow.
Lizard Monster: ...You dare mock me again?!
Since a Stand is essentially materialized spiritual energy, the notes naturally reflect the user's subconscious thoughts.
Unlike Item Cards, Character Cards contain the sealed power of monsters from when they were alive. These can be used on the user or other humans, though only one can be equipped at a time.
When equipped, you gain that Character's ability system and can even choose to overlay their appearance. Once unequipped, all gained abilities vanish.
Like premium skins with built-in attributes and skills in games, the advantage is immediate effect — but the downside is they can't be stacked. Ability Cards like Spider-Sense, however, have no quantity limits.
As for the decomposition mentioned in the note? It's a method of drawing from the bottom.
Specific Fantasy Cards can be broken down as consumables, randomly extracting attributes or abilities as enhancement materials to strengthen the user.
As a veteran card player with one and a half months of experience, Johnson knew well—
Playing cards is just for fun; true strength comes from enhancing oneself.