After dinner and a shower, Shin, as usual, sat in front of his computer and launched his favorite online game.
As expected, the moment he logged in, he received a message from "Healing Angel," the same person who was always online whenever he logged in.
To be honest, Shin had long been curious about what kind of person this "Healing Angel" really was.
Although this player often boasted about being a beautiful girl, her extremely reclusive behavior made her claims hard to believe, and even her teammates doubted her words.
Shin, of course, was skeptical as well. After all, behind the anonymity of the internet, who knows if you're talking to a person or a dog? Just because someone claims to be a girl doesn't mean it's true.
However, a thought suddenly struck him—he now had a way to confirm the true identity of "Healing Angel."
His Stand, "Blackbird," had inherited the abilities of "Red Hot Chili Pepper," allowing him to transform into electricity and travel freely through any electrically powered medium.
This meant he could theoretically send "Blackbird" through the internet to take a look at "Healing Angel" in person.
Even if the person was using wireless internet, wireless signals still rely on a router connected to wired networks, so at worst, he could locate the router they were using.
Although the abilities synchronized from the new JOJO task world were only at 1% strength, this percentage referred to the power intensity and didn't affect the nature of the ability.
"Blackbird" might only exert 1% of its electrical attack power, but its fundamental ability to transform into electricity and travel was unaffected.
Still, such an act would be somewhat impolite. While Shin acted without hesitation in task worlds, he was slightly more mindful in the real world.
After some thought, he typed a private message to "Healing Angel" in the game:
Zuke: "I'm planning to take a look at what you look like via the internet. Is that okay?"
Healing Angel: "Huh? Of course, no problem. If you can do that, go ahead."
Great, now he had the other party's consent.
Shin nodded in satisfaction. This way, even if he were caught, he could justify his actions—You gave me permission, so this doesn't count as invading your privacy!
Of course, he also knew that the other person couldn't see Stands and didn't know he had the ability to trace someone's real-world location through the internet.
That was an ability many keyboard warriors would kill for.
"Alright then... Blackbird: Red Hot Chili Pepper!"
Behind Shin, a dark figure emerged. On its pitch-black body, faint black electrical currents flickered.
Under Shin's control, Blackbird transformed into a streak of black lightning and darted into his computer, starting its journey.
Probably because of Blackbird's growing abilities, Shin's precision in controlling his Stand had also increased.
Technically, Red Hot Chili Pepper's precision rating was C, equivalent to an average person, meaning it shouldn't be capable of such intricate actions like infiltrating a network.
However, even in the original story, Red Hot Chili Pepper could effortlessly hack television signals and appear on TV screens, proving that its ability wasn't strictly tied to its precision rating.
Soon, Shin navigated through Neon's electrical grid and, via signal towers and other relay stations, successfully traced the signal to its source.
Zzzap—
A faint crackling sound accompanied Blackbird as it emerged from an electrical outlet in an ordinary apartment in Neon, resembling Red Hot Chili Pepper's attack on Nijimura Keicho in the original story.
Although some Stands in JOJO were jokingly referred to as blind, most of them could share their vision with their users.
For example, Koichi Hirose often used his Echoes ACT1 for long-distance surveillance.
Thus, although it was Blackbird entering the room, Shin could clearly see the surroundings through its eyes.
The room was dim and messy, with the ceiling light off and items scattered all over the floor.
"...This is messier than my old room," Shin couldn't help but comment.
When he used to live alone, he'd sometimes get lazy and leave items in corners. But compared to this room, his mess was nothing. He suddenly understood how parents felt seeing their kids' messy rooms.
Luckily, Sayu Ogiwara now helped him keep his place tidy.
The only light in the room came from a laptop in the corner, displaying none other than the online game Shin was currently playing.
This confirmed he had found the right place.
He then controlled Blackbird to look at the figure hunched over the laptop—and froze.
The good news: "Healing Angel" was indeed a girl and, in some sense, a rather pretty one.
The bad news: Shin recognized her—or rather, had known her from a work he'd encountered before his transmigration.
"Gabriel… Well, I didn't see this coming, but it fits her character."
Shin's lips twitched. Through Blackbird, he saw a petite blonde girl playing the game.
Her hair was messy, her expression lethargic—just as Shin had imagined a gaming addict to be.
Her full name was Gabriel White Tenma, an angel—albeit one corrupted into a gaming addict by earthly online games.
In one corner of the room, Shin spotted a darkened halo, the emblem of her angelic status.
Seeing an angel in a slice-of-life world felt out of place, but considering this world already had malicious spirits, it wasn't too shocking.
Besides, the so-called trumpet in Gabriel's original story, which could destroy Earth, might seem terrifying to ordinary people, but it was no big deal to Shin.
Destroying planets? Who couldn't do that? Once Shin synced more combat abilities—
"Wait a minute."
Just as Shin controlled Blackbird to observe Gabriel further, she suddenly sensed something and turned around.
Shin, noticing her movement first, quickly retreated Blackbird into the electrical outlet, disappearing from the room.
"…Just my imagination?"
Gabriel glanced at the empty room behind her, blinked, and stopped paying attention. She grabbed a potato chip from beside her and popped it into her mouth.
"Damn it, where did this Zuke find such a lucrative job? I've got to figure out how to get some info out of him..."
As an angel cut off from her allowance by Heaven, Gabriel was desperate for money to fund her gaming habits.
To be continued…
Zuke lands in the Dragonball world again!
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