[52] JOJO! I Won't Behave!

"Iwamoto-san..." Kazuya, who received the call, asked, "Is there something urgent at this hour?"

"So, about the pen name..."

After hearing Iwamoto Yu's explanation, Kazuya put down the pen in his hand, leaned back in his chair, and pondered for a moment. "Alright, then let's use the name '[Kurokawa Kazuya].'"

After hanging up the phone, Kazuya checked the time, pushed his chair back, and stood up. "It's about time to sleep."

Although he had failed yesterday, he felt that success was not far away.

Now, it all depended on today.

Would he succeed today?

After freshening up and taking a deep breath with calm ripples, Kazuya lay down on the bed and quickly fell asleep.

And then—

With the previous experience, he already knew how to retrieve the Stone Mask as quickly as possible.

Next was a rapid experiment!

...

"The Stone Mask is gone?" Jonathan was quite puzzled. "What's going on? Who took the Stone Mask?"

The Stone Mask—

Five years ago, his own blood had splattered onto it during his fight with DIO in the room.

Afterward—

The Stone Mask underwent a transformation.

Bone spikes shot out!

After some research, he deduced that it must have been an ancient execution device. When a criminal wore it, the bone spikes would pierce directly into their brain, killing them.

Who could have taken it, and for what reason?

He didn't understand, not at all.

"Could it be DIO?"

It had been five years since that incident. Over the years, DIO had changed and was no longer as menacing as before. They had become friends.

However, Jonathan still couldn't shake off the feelings of doubt and fear when it came to him.

JOJO rested his head on the table, deep in thought.

He didn't understand, but one thing was certain: he had to retrieve the Stone Mask! It was a deadly weapon, and if someone were to use it for evil purposes, it would be disastrous.

Thinking about it, JOJO rushed out of the room. "Butler, have you seen DIO?"

"DIO-sama should have returned just recently."

"Is that so? Thank you." JOJO nodded, feeling relieved in his heart. Sure enough, not long after, he saw DIO approaching from the opposite direction.

"What's wrong, JOJO? You look quite anxious." DIO, with a smile, adjusted his collar and walked over. Seeing JOJO's anxious expression, his inner excitement grew.

"It's nothing, really. DIO, have you seen anyone entering my room recently?" JOJO thought about how to phrase it so that DIO wouldn't suspect him of doubting him. He hadn't hung the Stone Mask in the hallway; instead, he had kept it in his own room after the changes occurred five years ago.

"Hmm? Has something happened?"

"Well, yeah. It seems the Stone Mask has gone missing. Do you recall anything?"

"No, does it matter who took that thing?" DIO said nonchalantly, but inside, he was becoming increasingly furious. His entire demeanor changed.

'Damn it, JOJO! Is he suspecting me? He must be, suspecting that I, DIO, took the Stone Mask! Just wait... just wait! Two more years, and I'll reach the legal age to inherit the estate. At that time, JOJO, I will take everything from you! It's ironic... this person who has been plotting to seize the Joestar family's fortune, ignoring the law, has maintained the No. 1 rank in his law class!'

"Is... that so..." JOJO gritted his teeth. "It would be terrible if someone really took the Stone Mask!"

"Why don't you ask if anyone has been near the Joestar mansion during this time? That should provide an answer, right?"

"You're right! Thank you, DIO!"

"No problem. We're friends, aren't we? Shouldn't friends help each other?" DIO smiled and said, but inside, he thought, 'Go ahead and suspect me, JOJO. This time, I'll let you doubt me freely. You're someone who becomes more determined after setbacks, but this time, I'll leave you with feelings of guilt and help you find the Stone Mask. Then, next time... when I make my move against Sir Joestar, you won't be able to doubt me no matter what! By then, you'll remember everything that happened today—JOJO!!'

"That's great." JOJO expressed his gratitude, then looked outside. "Let's get to work quickly; the sun is about to set."

...

Hiss, hiss, hiss—

Light emanated from Kazuya's room.

The Stone Mask slowly detached from Kazuya's head.

Kazuya opened his eyes.

"It looks like it worked... heh heh... so, this amount of Ripple is enough, huh? But my five years of accumulated Ripple weren't in vain."

Indeed, Kazuya hadn't acted immediately. Instead, he had spent five years accumulating Ripple energy, and then he had meticulously distributed this Ripple energy throughout his brain. Finally, he had allowed the Stone Mask to unlock his potential and transform him into a vampire without being overtaken by malevolence.

Or rather...

There was still some malevolence.

Previously, it might have been 5 Good / 5 Evil.

Now, it was probably 4 Good / 6 Evil...

His accumulation of Ripple energy was still a bit lacking.

However, this was the body in his dream, and all the Ripple energy he possessed in reality was not significantly less than what he had stored for five years here. With some more refined manipulation, he was confident that there would be no adverse effects.

His room had been sealed off with windows covered except for a small hole that allowed sunlight to shine through, helping him gauge the time.

"It looks like the sun is about to set. Let's wait here a little longer until the sun is completely gone. It'll give me a chance to familiarize myself with my newfound power..."

If his calculations were correct, it wouldn't be long before the battle began.

The one coming wasn't anyone else; it should be JOJO!

Because—when he had stolen the Stone Mask, he had purposely left behind traces for JOJO to follow!

"Previously, I always fought as a Ripple user but this time, I want to experiment with how I, as a vampire, will battle and how I will face off against a Ripple user! And the effects of the Ripple hitting me... heh heh..."

Currently, JOJO's Part Two was still being serialized, and the collected volume of Part One was about to be released. Before that happened, he might be able to redraw JOJO with the experiences he had now. With the firsthand experience, he was certain he could create an even better JOJO!

"Excuse me, is this the home of Police Officer Jerry Copperdale?"

"Wow, that was fast." Hearing the familiar voice, Kazuya furrowed his brow slightly. "I didn't expect JOJO to act so quickly. The sun hasn't even set yet... it seems I'll need to wait a little longer."

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