Chapter 396: I Am Dio!
[Game Expert Activated—]
[You have successfully loaded the enhanced villain template from the blueprint of "JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: Heritage for the Future"—"Stand User / Dio Brando."]
[Stand User / Dio Brando: Enhanced villain template. The template blueprint is based on the significant evil villain who permeates the entirety of "JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: Heritage for the Future." He cruelly murdered his adoptive father and used the Stone Mask to become a terrifying vampire. His Stand is named "The World," a power-type Stand capable of stopping time and close-range attacks, and it still has the potential to evolve further.
When you choose to load the "Stand User / Dio Brando" template—
You will simultaneously gain the template-exclusive skills: 'Stand The World', 'Checkmate! (Knife Barrage)', 'Call of Blood', 'Eat This Road Roller! (ROAD ROLLER DA!)', 'ZA! WARUDO! (THE! WORLD!)'.
Loading and unloading this character template each require 60 minutes.]
"JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: Heritage for the Future" was a 2D fighting game developed by Capcom, the action game master of its time, on the Motorola CPS-3 arcade board. It was an enhanced version of the previous "JoJo's Bizarre Adventure" and one of only six games on that board. It now has a history of 26 years.
Because Capcom's developers back then were almost all JoJo fans, the game's combat system was not only deep but also exceptionally well-balanced. It was not merely a game designed to capitalize on fan sentiment, especially regarding the "Stand" system, which was highly adaptable and never felt out of place.
The template Cheng Tian loaded was that of the ultimate evil villain, who permeated the original work and had the strongest presence, contributing famous lines such as "I reject my humanity, JoJo!", "Do you remember how many loaves of bread you have eaten in your life?", "Muda Muda!", and "Wryyyy!", while also successfully causing a meme-level infection in the English language module of all JoJo fans worldwide regarding the pronunciation of the words "THE" and "WORLD" when linked together—
Dio Brando.
Just as Cheng Tian said, he still wasn't good at close-quarters combat, and this hadn't changed… but he could let The World fight in his stead!
Of course, some rules were modified due to the instance's influence. For example, the setting that "Stands," as spiritual aggregations, could originally only be seen by other "Stand Users" was changed so that everyone could see it normally as long as Cheng Tian released it.
Cameras could also record it completely.
If it couldn't be seen, then a fighting match would have no entertainment value, only showing empty fists continuously striking a target.
Additionally, because it was an enhanced template, the weaknesses Dio Brando, as a vampire, should have had were also removed from Cheng Tian, basically retaining only the abilities and moves Dio displayed in the fighting game.
"Is this a new familiar?"
Not only was the person who was sent flying surprised, but Cheng's own teammates were also full of curiosity. Irene couldn't help but ask.
"You could say that, but my connection with it is much closer."
After a moment of thought, Cheng Tian gave this reply.
And The World just floated silently behind Cheng Tian, its sharp gaze fixed on the enemy who had just dared to attack its master.
[Stand The World: Template skill, active skill. Originally a close-range power-type Stand with time-stopping ability, condensed from Dio Brando's spiritual power. Its name comes from the 21st Tarot card, "The World." However, after the template is loaded and synchronized with your spiritual power, The World, which extracts the master's spirit, has undergone partial changes in appearance and attributes.
You can summon and recall the Stand at will, without casting time. You and the Stand share a health bar and hit detection. When the Stand takes damage, you, as the master, will also suffer corresponding damage.
The World's base stats—Destructive Power B (originally A), Speed B (originally A), Range A (originally C), Durability A, Precision A (originally B), Developmental Potential A (originally B).
When you, as the master, are in high spiritual unity with Stand The World and possess at least 300 MP, you can unleash the super special move—'ZA! WARUDO! (THE! WORLD!)']
[Additional comment: It is I, Dio!!! (Frustrated pointing.jpg)]
Compared to Dio's original appearance, Cheng Tian's The World wore armor that was noticeably more orange, a type of orange with gold accents.
And the heart-shaped markings on its belt and knees had all turned into crosses… No, they weren't crosses, but the D-pad buttons on a controller!
It was unclear if it was mourning the unfortunate controllers that died at Bazett's hands.
Because the current Stand The World was born from Cheng Tian's spiritual power and soul resonance, its power and speed were inevitably reduced due to the master's hindering, but in return, its range, precision, and developmental potential were enhanced.
Especially its range. The original The World officially had an activity radius of only 10 meters, meaning it couldn't move more than ten meters away from its master.
But when this stat surged to A-rank, the orange The World's maximum activity range directly expanded from 10 meters to kilometer-level!
Summoning The World felt quite peculiar. From the perspective of controlling a familiar, Cheng Tian would normally have to contend with overlapping vision caused by multiple viewpoints, but The World offered a completely different experience.
Even though he was controlling a familiar, it was as if he had dual channels and dual displays; the two sides would not interfere with each other at all, and The World would provide the most precise behavioral feedback to every one of Cheng Tian's thoughts.
This sense of control already surpassed that of the Tank Matrix controlling tanks.
Of course, The World's existence was not entirely beneficial. It also had a negative effect that wasn't too easy to notice, an effect that became apparent during the "Ys Origin" instance when fighting the giant centipede "Infinite Man-Eating Centipede"—
That is, when The World is summoned, one must be careful of multi-hit area-of-effect attacks.
Normally, whether Cheng Tian or The World takes a hit, it only registers once and health drops once. But if Cheng Tian and The World both take area damage, it effectively doubles the damage.
Cheng Tian had already noticed this when he saw the panel, as he had used this rule to defeat the giant centipede.
"My fists do not kill nameless nobodies! Speak your name!"
Cheng, who had openly tucked the invitation back into his arms, stood with his arms crossed and knowingly asked the helmeted man nearby, who had tried to sneak attack during the chaos but was sent flying by The World's punch.
Similar to the grunt who had just been taken down, the man's attire was very post-apocalyptic and punk-rock, and he wore a modified football helmet on his head.
But as soon as Cheng Tian spoke, the other side was stunned, then somewhat exasperatedly ripped open his tattered vest, revealing solid abdominal muscles and a total of seven distinct scars on his chest and abdomen, while shouting at Cheng Tian.
"You've seen the scars on my chest, and you still don't know who I am!?"