Joey opened his eyes to a bizarre pink face.
The face's owner had erect, cat-like ears, pink skin, and pink eyes with vertical white pupils, making him look anything but normal.
But Joey wasn't surprised.
After all, he had coexisted with this strange person's master in soul form for years.
Joey knew the strange person's name and abilities intimately.
Stand!
Killer Queen!
Coupled with his master, Kira Yoshikage, whose soul Joey had spent years devouring, everything became clear.
Years ago, Joey fell asleep feeling a pull from his soul and a melodious shrill cry. When he opened his eyes again, he found himself in a soul state.
He couldn't explain what a soul state was, but he knew that if he couldn't eliminate the other soul sharing his body, permanent death awaited him.
So, he and the spirit attacked each other almost simultaneously.
However, unlike Joey's leaping motion, another figure quickly appeared beside the opponent.
A figure with pink skin, muscular build, and a champion's belt around his waist.
Upon seeing the pink-skinned monster, and combining it with the face of the man with the black and white frilly hairstyle behind him, Joey recognized the other's identity in his leap.
Kira Yoshikage!
A character from his favorite anime, JoJo's Bizarre Adventure, and the main antagonist in Part 4, the salaryman Kira Yoshikage who yearned for a peaceful life but always "held back" his abilities, along with his Stand, Killer Queen.
The moment Joey realized the other's identity, he panicked.
As an ordinary person, he was no match for a Stand user.
But he had no time to think.
His leaping motion didn't stop; Joey even clearly saw Killer Queen's hand rise, aimed at his. Joey knew that with Killer Queen's abilities, the outcome would be decided the instant they made contact.
And the loser would definitely be him!
His brain raced, but to no avail.
Just as despair filled his heart, the figure of Killer Queen blocking his way suddenly vanished! He lunged forward and crashed into Kira Yoshikage, who was standing behind his Stand, equally astonished.
The next second, Joey felt Kira Yoshikage's weakness beneath him.
In an instant, Joey made a judgment: his complete soul, in terms of both power and solidity, was incomparable to Kira Yoshikage's Stand.
Under these circumstances, Joey felt power being continuously drawn from the suppressed Kira Yoshikage and injected into his own soul.
In just a moment, when the chirping of insects that had resounded throughout the unknown space since his appearance abruptly stopped, he suddenly felt his eyelids grow heavy, and then slowly succumbed to unconsciousness.
Before losing consciousness, the figure of Killer Queen flashed before his eyes again, but this time Killer Queen was standing on a grassy field, confronting a hungry wolf.
The next time Joey opened his eyes, the scene before him had changed. The wolves, the Killer Queen, and the meadow had all vanished, leaving only a simple house and his own hands busily cooking.
In a daze, Joey fell unconscious again.
He awoke several times in this way, but each time he only saw a brief glimpse before falling back asleep.
However, during these brief moments of clarity, he understood his current state.
His soul was still continuously absorbing Kira Yoshikage's soul power. In fact, besides Kira Yoshikage, another soul power was being absorbed from the location of his soul. Joey guessed that this soul was the original owner of the body he was currently in.
However, this soul was far weaker than both his and Kira Yoshikage's.
Unlike his unconscious state, the Kira Yoshikage soul, whose power he was absorbing, continued to control the body and act as if Kira Yoshikage was unaware that his soul was gradually fading away.
This state of absorption lasted for about five years. Finally, today, when Joey opened his eyes and found himself completely adapted to his current body, he realized that Kira Yoshikage's soul had been completely devoured.
From this moment on, this unknown world would no longer contain Kira Yoshikage; only Joey would remain!
Surprisingly, Killer Queen did not disappear with Kira Yoshikage's soul. Instead, she remained and was inherited by Joey, who had absorbed Kira Yoshikage's soul.
Unfortunately, Joey, having absorbed Kira Yoshikage's soul, did not gain Kira Yoshikage's memories.
This left him wondering if Kira Yoshikage, like him, had heard a scream before appearing in this body.
He also didn't know how much information Kira Yoshikage had gathered about this world over the years.
However, through several clear observations, Joey had gained a general understanding of his surroundings.
It seemed to be a rather primitive and remote mountain village. In his several awakenings, he hadn't seen any technological products. Both the village where Kira Yoshikage lived and the items in his home were filled with a primitive style.
Moreover, Joey's mind was filled with a multitude of inexplicable pieces of knowledge and images.
Most of this knowledge concerned the language of this world, basic survival skills, the conditions around the village, and even memories of some of the villagers.
Joey guessed that this information, knowledge, and experience were likely left behind by the soul of the original owner of this body.
However, he couldn't understand why the information from this soul could be transmitted, while the information from Kira Yoshikage's soul had vanished without a trace.
Joey shook his head; none of this mattered to him now.
The first thing he needed to figure out upon waking was the situation he was facing.
For example, there was a slender, white woman's severed hand on the table in front of him.
What a beautiful severed hand it was!
The delicate fingers were deathly pale from blood loss, but this, combined with the water droplets sprinkled by Kira Yoshikage, made it look even more tender and delicate, like a freshly peeled scallion.
Joey swallowed hard and reached out to touch the cold severed hand.
The cold touch and withered skin suggested the severed hand felt unpleasant to the touch, likely due to the prolonged death of its owner; it seemed somewhat unworthy of him.
Thinking this, Joey shuddered and threw the severed hand, which was almost touching his face, away.
The hand rolled several times on the ground before coming to a stop.
Joey's face paled.
Before he could think further, a loud knocking on the door interrupted his thoughts. After quickly glancing at the severed hand, Joey immediately commanded the Killer Queen to touch it and activate her ability.
After the Killer Queen touched the hand with her index finger and then pressed her thumb, the pale hand vanished silently in a flash of light.
This was one of the Killer Queen's abilities, or perhaps a way of using the First Bomb.
Joey felt slightly relieved after the Killer Queen demonstrated her ability; at least her power remained, giving him some means of self-defense.
"Kira Yoshikage, I know you're home! Open the door, or we'll storm in!" Before Joey could even get close to the door, a man's angry roar echoed from outside.