Now, Time Begins to Flow!

『The World』, a Stand from Hirohiko Araki's manga JoJo's Bizarre Adventure and its衍生 works, was a muscular humanoid Stand resembling its user, DIO. It wore a headpiece that covered the bottom of its nose, with a face resembling an inverted triangle, reminiscent of Egypt's Red Crown.

Its back featured a small, simple dual diving tank connected to the mask via a short, ridged tube. Thick, ribbed belts ran from its waist to its shoulders. Heart-shaped decorations adorned its chin, abdomen, and knees.

Normally, Pingxin should have been overjoyed at receiving such a late-game power-up. But in the anime, 『The World』 had gray skin, green heart patterns, and gold clothing, closely resembling DIO's outfit.

"Why does this 『The World』 have red hearts, like some cheap knockoff? Is that you, Dio?"

As if responding to Pingxin's muttering, 『The World』 turned to look at him.

The压迫力 of such a humanoid yet inhuman "superhuman entity" was unimaginable, like a civilian who had never experienced war trying to comprehend the stress soldiers endured. It was like someone who had only seen caged zoo animals trying to imagine facing a wild tiger—utterly unprepared.

What should he do? Run or fight?

Running was out of the question against a time-stopping cheat. Fighting? A 16-year-old sickly student stood no chance against 『The World』, which could punch through steel plates. He'd be reduced to a cheap stepping stone or boneless chicken tenders in seconds.

But if 『The World』 wasn't his Stand, why could he move during the time stop? Unless...

"Could my ability actually be 『Star Platinum』?"

Clearly, someone was daydreaming about绑定 a top-tier Stand and leveling up effortlessly.

Fortunately, time moved differently during explanations. By the second standard second, 『The World』 picked up the frozen phone and placed it in Pingxin's hand, even helping him up from the stairs—during a time stop, only Stand users (or ability users) of the same type could move.

"Th... thanks?"

As the疑似 『The World』 knockoff vanished, Pingxin fell deep into thought...

By the third standard second, time resumed.

Outside, the birds continued to soar, the pedestrians hurried along, and the clouds drifted lazily. Clearly, only Pingxin had been able to move freely during the time stop and retain his memories. If not for the lingering pain in his palms from catching his fall, he might have dismissed it all as a hallucination. But overthinking wouldn't help.

"...Whatever, let's go."

Deciding to embrace his usual laid-back attitude, Pingxin chose to let it go. If worrying only brought more烦恼, why bother? The少年 who had unknowingly spread this "bad habit" to others continued to live as he always had.

Consistent, from start to finish.

"Muda muda muda muda!"

"Too slow, too slow."

"Wryyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy!"

"The ruler of the world is none other than I, DIO!"

But he couldn't help feeling excited. In his past life, Pingxin had loved拳拳到肉 combat manga and mind-game-filled智斗 manga, and JoJo was undoubtedly a masterpiece among them, a timeless classic.

The虚弱少年 adjusted his breathing and headed for the door, completely unaware of the复杂 expressions of the maids in the mansion's shadows or the unusually human-like expression on the Stand 『The World』 floating behind him—something never seen in the manga or anime.

"Hey, my employer seems to have lost his mind. What do I do?"

"Hey, my master's acting like he's high without even drinking vampire blood. What do I do?"

After some thought,代号[Alpha] decided to report to her superiors. The higher the position, the greater the responsibility. Let the big shots deal with this.

Meanwhile, 『The World』 floated silently behind Pingxin, observing without acting, much like its master.

Procrastination doesn't disappear—it just spreads.

The unexpected awakening of 『The World』 had pushed all of Pingxin's worries to the back of his mind. Being late for school? Facing his sister's wrath later? Staring at a blank document all night? Dreaming of falling from grace with his dream girl? None of that mattered compared to his 『The World』.

"I, Pingxin, will single-handedly take on the entire world!"—the mentally unstable少年, having bottled up too much压力, began to ramble, revealing his love for Hong Kong comics.

But who could blame him? It was 『The World』, after all. Anyone would go a little crazy.

Lost in his thoughts, Pingxin nearly got hit by a bicycle while crossing the street, only to be saved by 『The World』 moving him out of harm's way. But after the brief excitement, he hit an emotional low. Like any ordinary person feeling powerless, he was swept up in the morning rush hour in Tokyo, a relentless and overwhelming force.

After failing to summon 『The World』 again, he was挤上了 a packed train, one so full it required professional pushers to cram people in. For an introvert, there was no greater torture—unless it was performing in public.

Tokyo's public transportation was highly developed, and with such massive人流, countless items were lost on the trains every day. You could find everything from sandbags to game consoles and other inexplicable objects.

Now, Pingxin felt like a used rag left behind on the train. Disoriented and nauseous, he checked the time on his phone and realized he was彻底 late.

After surviving the morning rush, he got off at the nearest station and rushed to the restroom, vomiting until he emptied his stomach of bile and what looked like dark blood clots. After cleaning up, he pulled out a baseball cap, sunglasses, and a mask—the classic可疑人士三件套—and felt somewhat better. By the time he paid the exorbitant taxi fare, he was officially late.

"...[Delta], next time you see me heading for public transport, remind me. I'm not in the right state today and might make poor decisions. Hand over my tasks to[Hour]... Oh, she's at school too. Then pass them to[Gamma]."

Though he was speaking, there was no one around, making him look like a patient muttering to himself—the kind who might qualify for a stay at Arkham.

Since contracting an unknown illness, Pingxin had developed an insatiable appetite alongside his extreme physical weakness. Eating enough food for dozens of people daily wasn't unheard of in this world, but consuming that much in one sitting was astonishing. Even though Eastern Country's meal portions were smaller than Yan Country's, the total amount far exceeded his stomach's capacity—or even his entire body's volume.

Right now, Pingxin just wanted to find a restaurant and eat. His daily hunger was like a woman's menstrual cycle—inevitable and often torturous—but today was especially bad. Despite having just vomited and feeling空空的, he felt stronger than usual.

For some reason, he knew he had to eat now. Whether it was a premonition or a warning from his brain, the only place within reach that could provide the nutrients he needed was—