Mystery: When the Fool Meets the Masked Fool

Chapter 320 The Clown Without Self? Not a Stand User
Klein was already up when it was still barely dawn.

I glanced at the cuckoo clock on the wall; it was not yet five o'clock.

Klein closed his eyes, feeling rather speechless, unsure of what to say.

Although the boss levels in the simulated universe are usually a major force in the universe, or something similar to an elite monster in a game.

But the one who hit him last night, Klein was certain that it was definitely not someone from this world.

He was fighting Yoshikage Kira.

It's Yoshikage Kira from "JoJo's Bizarre Adventure".

Or something else... Yoshikage Kira, who suffers from severe depression; if you can't defeat him instantly, he'll restart time.

Moreover, each map is the size of a city, and they even banned Klein's time-stop pistol.

Klein felt that Yoshikage Kira had definitely been enhanced.

Take two steps and restart.

Sometimes, before you even see the person or know what you've encountered, the game restarts.

If it weren't for his spiritual intuition, Klein wouldn't have known that time had restarted so many times.

People with severe depression don't know why they suddenly feel hopeless.

Then the Loser's Food of Dust restart time is triggered.

It wasn't hard to beat, but it was disgusting. It took him over an hour to grind it.

In the end, it was the combination of divination, the lock of the head, and the seven thunderbolts of purification that killed him from a great distance, across half a city.

The reward was quite generous; he received a mask.

"So why did the mask reappear when fighting Yoshikage Kira? The Stone Mask? That doesn't make sense either," Klein questioned.

"Is it because Boss Serres has no work to do and is forcing a connection?" Padmon suggested.

“Possibly.” Klein thought it made a lot of sense.

“However, it’s also possible that Serres meant the Masked Fool needed a mask, so he gave me one.” Klein examined the mask in his hand.

The next second, the mask turned into specks of light and merged into the "relic".

"Hmm...that's good. At least it won't clash with the design of the glasses from the head artifact." Padmon wagged its tail. "So what's the effect?"

“I haven’t tried it yet, let me see.” Klein said, rubbing his face with his hand, and a mask appeared on his face.

It was a clown mask with bold, colorful paint.

A clown mask with rosy cheeks, bright red lips, a wide-open mouth, a red nose, and dark blue eyeshadow.

"It's a bit creepy," Padmo commented.

“Like the Joker in Batman.” Klein recalled a mirror and looked at himself.

Then, Klein began to sense his abilities.

"Hmm...it allows me to use the ability of the sequence after the one before that, even if I'm skipping a sequence."

"Shouldn't it be 'next sequence'? Why is it skipped by one?" Padmo twitched its ears.

"I don't know," Klein shook his head.

"Is it because Boss Serres has been firing too many cannons lately and is always thinking of jumping around to fire?" Padmon wondered.

"Pado!"

"We're talking about chess!" Padmon immediately clarified before Klein could accuse her.

Then he muttered under his breath, "You're meddling in this? We're tens of thousands of years older than you..."

Klein then realized that Padma seemed innocent and guileless, but she was actually an old fox.

Yes, it's a common type of "gap moe" (a Japanese term for a character's unexpected charm or vulnerability) in Japanese anime. These kinds of characters are usually very powerful.

Klein glanced at Padmo again and began to comprehend his newly acquired ability, which had skipped a sequence.

He gained the extraordinary abilities of [The Trickster] and [The Selfless Jester].

"Trickster, hmm, the main ability of this sequence is to enhance the abilities of the previous sequences. The primary target for this enhancement is [Master of Puppets] of sequence five." Klein muttered the ability to himself, while also speaking to Padmon.

"Add a blue bar?" Padmon asked.

"Hmm...no." Klein assessed the situation and replied.

"Brother Nak, what's the difference between having this ability and not having it?"

“Hmm…” Klein thought for a moment, “The air bullets have been enhanced…”

"But Brother K, are you really relying on air bullets for your damage output right now?" Padmon questioned. "Hmm..."

The cat is not responding. Should I turn it off?

Close the application.

wait.

Padma tilted her head.

Did it crash?
This domestically produced cat is called Kaho.

I heard that clicking the little bell can restart...

After thinking for a long time, Klein shook his head, wondering what use the [Trickster] ability was to him now.

“There’s also the [Selfless Jester],” Klein continued, dissuading Padmon from his plan to restart the game, “whose main ability is…”

Klein waved his hand, and a semi-transparent, illusory figure appeared behind him.

"Oh, so that's why we were fighting Kira Yoshikage. We were waiting for this." Padmon suddenly realized.

Is this the selfless clown?

No, they're Stand users!

“This is a special effect,” Klein explained. “It’s roughly a manifestation of the [Selfless Jester].

Klein tried to describe the characteristics: "Somewhat like another me...like a shadow, a spiritual clone, unable to see without spiritual vision..."

"Isn't that just a stand-in?"

"Hey, it really is." Klein also thought it was a stand-in.

Is this considered plagiarism?

It's probably a tribute.

After all, he's a masked fool; it would be strange if he didn't steal or rob.

"The main ability is basically to enhance the first few sequences," Klein sensed.

"As for abilities, aside from enhancing Sequence 5 which I can't use, it can imbue candies with thoughts and life, and can temporarily turn [reality] into [falsehood]. The [Recollection Artist] ability has also risen from manipulating illusions to manipulating 'spirits'."

"So, to give life to the Candy Knight..." Padmon asked subconsciously.

"..."

"Yes, that's right. It's like extracting someone else's spirit, formatting it, and then putting it into the Candy Knight."

"Oh...that's a bit weird." Padmon didn't think it was cruel, just a little disgusting. "It feels a bit like a villain."

"It's alright." Klein felt that it was actually not bad. "After all, pleasure itself is something that is very vague in terms of its definition of good and evil."

Doesn't the Star God of Joy often appear as a villain?

If I round it up, I'm the God of Joy.

Won Ma.

"Brother Ke, your way of thinking is becoming more and more like Boss Serres," Pado Meow reminded him.

"Huh?" Klein was taken aback and immediately waved his hand to remove the mask.

My previously active mind suddenly calmed down.

He blinked and let out a long breath.

A bit...

"The negative effect is probably that it will lead to a higher rank, right?" Padmon speculated.

“Not quite.” Klein shook his head. “More like… divinity? Yes. The divinity of the pathway itself.”

"After all, it is a demigod, and should rightfully possess divinity. But because it is fake, it has created a certain degree of confusion. And the way of thinking just now was probably influenced by the divinity of the [Pleasure] pathway itself."

"Then why isn't there any divine manifestation of the [diviner]?" Padmo asked again.

“Perhaps… he was crushed to death?” Klein speculated. “It was probably the result of two divine forces elbowing each other, just like how Aha overtook the Celestial in the end.”

"Brother Ke, I feel like you haven't recovered yet," Pado Miao said with certainty.

“I think so too…” Klein slapped his head a few times.

It's time to use the amazing wisdom of repairing objects from the very ancient times.

(End of this chapter)