Unlike the previous times he left the game, Zuke didn't wake up directly on his bed this time; instead, he found himself enveloped in darkness.
In the darkness, the world-selection option once again appeared before Zuke.
"Dear Zuke, please choose the mission world you wish to enter: 1. Dragon Ball; 2. JoJo's Bizarre Adventure."
"...So the second world is actually that one, huh."
Zuke was a bit surprised. He originally assumed the second world would be similar to Dragon Ball—likely a world with high combat power—but he hadn't expected it to be JoJo.
How to put it... the world in that series is vastly different from Dragon Ball.
Even in the early stages, Dragon Ball's storyline casually includes destroying the moon, and later, threats to blow up Earth become almost routine—just thinking about it sends chills down your spine.
Meanwhile, in JoJo, aside from the cosmic reset incident with Pucci in Part 6, it's mostly a supernatural series set in a city, with limits like demolishing a building or causing street damage.
Frankly, Zuke wouldn't even need his 4,000 power level from the Dragon Ball world; his current 40 power level from the real world...
Oh no, he realized—it's 40 now—would suffice for similar effects.
But there's something in this world that the Dragon Ball world can't quite offer, and that's the enhancement of spirit and soul.
Yes, JoJo's Bizarre Adventure features a power called the Stand, which is a manifestation of spiritual power and a symbol of the soul.
In Dragon Ball, it would be difficult for Zuke to improve his spirit and soul in a short time, but in the JoJo world, that could be easily achieved.
One way to awaken a Stand is to be struck by the special "Arrow" from the series, which instantly grants one a Stand without any complicated steps or high costs.
Though, if the Stand doesn't awaken, you might die.
Zuke wasn't too worried about that, though; even if he did die, he'd only lose access to that mission world, which he could afford.
After all, the biggest advantage of this world is that it offers him an opportunity for mental and spiritual evolution. In terms of raw power, Dragon Ball is still simpler and more direct.
"Well, let's try out this new mission world."
Thinking too much here wouldn't change anything, so Zuke decided to jump in and see the situation. He directly selected the second mission world.
Then the system immediately showed a message that made Zuke speechless.
"Dear Zuke, you have 0 plays left for today. Please try again tomorrow."
"So I can only enter one mission world per day?"
Zuke scratched his head. The message was clear enough—since he had already entered the Dragon Ball world today, he had used up his remaining entries and couldn't access the second mission world.
But since there was a set limit on play entries, there must be a way to increase it—though Zuke didn't know how yet.
This system claims to be a game, yet many of its mechanics require him to figure things out step-by-step without a tutorial or guide, which made Zuke want to vent a bit.
If this were in the real world and people saw this design, the developer would have been fired long ago.
Though he couldn't enter the second mission world, the system did present the main quest for JoJo, giving Qin Chuan some insight into the world ahead of time.
"Current World: JoJo's Bizarre Adventure
Main Quest: Defeat Dio
Player 'Zuke's' power synchronization: 0%
Please advance the main quest to unlock power synchronization."
Dio, the boss in the first and third parts of JoJo's Bizarre Adventure, is a key character across Parts 1 through 6.
Among fans, some jokingly call the series "Dio's Bizarre Social Life."
Zuke wasn't concerned with that, though. What he cared more about was… which version of Dio he'd encounter: the Dio from Part 1 or the Dio from Part 3?
There's a big difference between Parts 1 and 3. The Stand power that Zuke wanted only appears starting in Part 3.
In contrast, the protagonists of Parts 1 and 2 use "Ripple Breathing," a technique that enhances physical power through a unique breathing rhythm, generating solar-like energy.
Honestly, with 40 power level in reality, Zuke wasn't particularly interested in the Ripple Breathing technique.
Sure, it has anti-aging effects, but Zuke didn't urgently need that benefit right now.
As for its vampire-killing ability, he didn't need that either; there were no vampires in his world.
And he doubted it would work on the spirits seen by Miko Yotsuya—since Ripple Breathing mimics solar energy, and those spirits roam around in broad daylight without any issue.
Using a Stand would be much more effective against them.
"Defeat Dio... I hope it's the Dio from Part 3; otherwise, the Part 1 timeline is pretty much useless for me."
For now, Zuke could only hope that when he entered the mission world, he'd land in the timeline of Part 3, so he could obtain a Stand with minimal fuss.
Of course, there was also a worst-case scenario: that he would end up in the Part 2 timeline.
In that case, Dio wouldn't even be dead yet—he'd be locked in a coffin, sleeping at the bottom of the sea for decades until he's eventually dredged up.
If that happened, Zuke would have no way to kill him. He couldn't very well go diving into the ocean on the off chance of finding Dio's coffin, right?
"I'll have to wait until tomorrow to enter the JoJo world and make plans then."
Zuke thought his luck couldn't be that bad, and after hesitating a bit, he closed the system.
On a side note, he regretted naming himself "Zuke" when he created his account yesterday.
Now, every system message addressed him as "Zuke" and hearing it repeatedly was starting to feel like an insult.
It couldn't be helped; when the system first claimed to be an "Infinite Horror VR Game," the only thing that came to mind was a team-based PvP.
He thought he could obscure his identity a bit, hence the silly name, not knowing he'd end up being the sole player in the world, making his alias pointless.
Anyway, once he acquires a Stand in the JoJo world and enhances his spirit and soul, he'll be able to deal with the surrounding evil spirits.
Even though he couldn't see them yet, just knowing they existed made him feel uneasy.
To be continued…
It is a new story guys so please donate your power stones, I wish that the fic reaches to a maximum number of audience.
Author Notes: Tamiyama Shion is just an original side character, like Akagi, created to interact with the main female characters. I double-checked to ensure there's no overlap with characters from any obscure anime.
Although I'm a rookie, I'll avoid any divisive tropes like "shipping wars." Feel free to give suggestions—I'll strive to improve!