"Are you misunderstanding something?"
Nianzi frowned at the high school boy before her, answering sharply, "There's no one here named Joestar. Do I or the boss look like we'd have that kind of name?"
Her warning was clear, and she gripped a knife behind her back, ready for whatever might happen next. However, Mr. Mikawa seemed exasperated, sighing as if plagued by a headache.
"Here we go again, another one of those..."
The boss shook his head dismissively. "These otaku kids these days are always like this. Back in my day, everyone watched Doraemon and at most fantasized about having a memory bread."
"..."
It seemed her words were just dismissed as chuunibyou nonsense!
Both the boy and Nianzi fell silent for a moment. The boy smirked, ignoring the boss as he continued confronting Nianzi. "Playing dumb won’t help. I know you bore the bloodline of Kujo Jotaro, a descendant of the Joestar family. And the Joestar blood is exactly what the great one needs. If I take you hostage, I can complete the mission entrusted to me. If you don’t want to get hurt, you’d better cooperate and come with me quietly."
He spoke with absolute confidence, running his fingers through his bangs as if Nianzi were beneath his notice, laying out his entire plan without hesitation.
"Oh."
Nianzi nodded thoughtfully. Even if her brain wasn’t at its best after her memory loss, she quickly pieced things together and turned to Mr. Mikawa. "Boss, could you step away for a moment? I need to talk to him alone."
"Fine by me. I should go deal with the leftover food anyway."
Mr. Mikawa agreed immediately, likely relieved to avoid further interaction with the "otaku fanatic," and retreated into the kitchen.
[System Notification: Mikawa Keito approves of this.]
So even ordinary people have favorability meters... Nianzi mused silently, checking the boss’s personal stats. His favorability toward her was actually "Friendly." Incidentally, his HP was 10/10—half of hers.
The boy, however, paid no mind. He merely sneered. "You’re holding a knife behind your back, aren’t you? It’s useless. Resisting will only make things worse for you."
"Hey, if you’re going to eavesdrop, at least do it properly," Nianzi replied coolly, keeping her hand behind her back as she watched Mr. Mikawa disappear into the kitchen. "Is your master DIO? That was his son. I just sent him back to his mother."
"What?! How did you know that?!"
The high schooler’s face twisted in shock. He leapt up from his seat, shouting in disbelief, "Wasn’t that Kujo Jotaro’s son?! Then why did you say it was his?!"
"None of your business."
"Wait, are the Joestars trying to mislead me...?"
Though people like him might not care about the truth, the instinct to seek answers was human nature. The moment his thoughts wandered, a spectral mage’s hand wielding a beer bottle materialized behind him and—BANG!—slammed into the back of his head.
[System Notification: Nianzi critically hits "???", dealing 20 damage.]
Silence fell. The boy collapsed face-first onto the floor, unmoving.
Success! A perfect ambush!
Did he really think she’d waste time chatting for no reason? It was all to take him out before he turned hostile and attacked.
"What happened?! What’s going on?!"
Hearing the commotion, Mr. Mikawa rushed out from the kitchen. Seeing the unconscious boy and the shattered beer bottle, his expression shifted from shock to grim resignation as he recalled Nianzi’s criminal record. With trembling hands, he lit a cigarette.
"Don’t worry, he’s still alive," Nianzi quickly clarified to avoid misunderstandings.
Lucky for him, the hit dropped his HP from 17/17 to 1/17. Whether due to a protection mechanic or sheer chance, his status changed to "Stunned," meaning she could freely loot his belongings.
On top of that—she leveled up!
[System Notification: Nianzi gains +34 EXP, 1 attribute point, max HP increased to 42/42. New skills available: Speak with Animals/Dancing Lights/Tasha’s Hideous Laughter.]
Fighting definitely leveled her up faster than working... Nianzi made a mental note. Now, she had to choose one of the three skills. Considering this was a romance game, gathering intel from animals might be useful, so she picked Speak with Animals without hesitation!
Then, she happily allocated her new attribute point to Strength.
Name: Nianzi
Class: Rogue
HP: 21/21↑42/42
STR: 13+1↑14
DEX: 14
CON: 10
INT: 9
WIS: 8
CHA: 16
Intelligence was good enough for now. The priority was rounding out her odd-numbered Strength for better modifiers!
But just as Nianzi was about to loot "???"’s gear, a favorability drop alert popped up above Mr. Mikawa’s head.
[System Notification: Someone disapproves of your actions. Be mindful of your behavior.]
???
Alright, so stealing in front of others—or getting caught—was a no-go.
She’d be more careful next time.
Nianzi mentally filed this rule away. Strangely, while inspecting "???", she also found a parasite in his inventory, but since he was still alive, she couldn’t take it.
Why would he have a parasite?
It reminded her of a recurring nightmare—a creature with an octopus-like head inserting larvae into her eyes. The infected would transform into monsters within days. Though she was healthy in reality, the dreams made her question whether they were just dreams or memories, fueling her anxiety.
"Now I see how you managed to injure a grown man before... But don’t go overboard again. If this kid decides to sue you..."
After confirming the boy was merely unconscious, Mr. Mikawa shook his head helplessly, clearly worried.
"It was self-defense. You’re a witness—he said he’d kidnap me to threaten someone named Kujo Jotaro. You heard him too, right?"
"Well, yes... Speaking of which, that Kujo Jotaro is quite the local legend, isn’t he? All the delinquents around here have been beaten up by him. He’s your senpai at school now, right?"
"Yeah. Turns out everyone knows where he lives. I just asked one of the contacts in my address book and got his home address."
The boss, Mr. Mikawa, watched with a hesitant expression as Nianzi took out a rope and tied up the unconscious high school boy, her movements so practiced it seemed like she did this often. Then, she dragged the bound boy up from the floor and prepared to leave the café.
"Hey, what are you planning to do now?" Mr. Mikawa couldn’t help but call out to her. "Are you going to the police? Wait for me a moment—I’ll drive you there."
The distant relative and café owner was clearly concerned for her, but Nianzi didn’t want to trouble him. She simply waved a hand dismissively and said, "No need. I’m taking this guy where he wants to go."
"Don’t do anything reckless," Mr. Mikawa muttered, silently smoking his cigarette. He didn’t interfere further, watching as Nianzi dragged the boy out the door before hanging a "Closed" sign on the café entrance.
...
Half an hour later, inside the Kujo residence.
"Dad, how could you do something like this?! Oh my god, I don’t even know how to explain this to Mom… I don’t want to talk to you right now!"
Holy Kujo, formerly Holy Joestar and the daughter of Joseph Joestar, was both furious and heartbroken after hearing what had happened earlier that day. She couldn’t stop reprimanding her father for his irresponsibility. Joseph Joestar kept his head down, taking the scolding, while Avdol wisely stayed silent. Even Kujo Jotaro seemed deeply irritated, especially since the old man had dragged him into the mess to divert attention.
"And you, Jotaro! How could you be so irresponsible? When are you bringing that girl home so we can figure this out together? You’re almost eighteen—old enough to get married. Ah, I can’t believe I’m already a grandmother… I’d love to meet my grandchild."
"......"
Having been falsely accused this whole time, with no one believing his denials, Jotaro had cycled through anger, forced calm, and then rage again. But instead of exploding—uncharacteristic for the usually stoic young man—he remained eerily silent.
"That’s right, Jotaro! A real man faces his problems—no running or denying!" Joseph Joestar chimed in, seizing the opportunity.
...Jotaro had long given up on pointless explanations.
He decided he’d confront that woman tomorrow and force her to explain what she was really after.
But just then, the doorbell rang, cutting through the tense atmosphere in the house.
"Huh? Who would visit so late at night…?" Holy blinked in surprise, momentarily halting her scolding as she moved to answer the door.
Joseph let out a relieved sigh, but his expression quickly turned serious. "Wait, Holy!"
Exchanging a glance with Jotaro, both men stood up from the tatami floor.
"I’ll go with Jotaro to check."
No normal person would visit at this hour.
It could only be one of DIO’s subordinates, sent to hunt down the Joestar bloodline. And that likely meant a brutal fight was coming.
