Macho Beast!

After examining his newly awakened fourth ability, Josen shifted his gaze to the panel data above.

First came "Destructive power."

This was the attribute Josen had casually selected last night, and it had leaped from its original D rank to A, the pinnacle of a Stand's stats.

For now, though, he had no idea how much that A rank on paper was actually worth.

After all, ordinary Stands had A-ranked power because that was all they could achieve, while Platinum the Ape had A-ranked power because the panel only went up to A.

The difference between the two was worlds apart.

Aside from "Destructive power," which had skyrocketed under the effect of "Controlled breakthrough," every other panel attribute had grown to varying degrees, except for "Range," which remained unchanged.

Who knows what a lousy deck of cards needs stats for, but at least this triple-A panel looks a whole lot better than that pathetic old one, with its five stats all over the place... Holy shit!

What the hell is that?

Just as Josen was enthusiastically critiquing his Stand's stats, a pale purple, translucent figure appeared out of thin air beside him, bare-chested and wearing armored skirts around his waist. His entire body was even wreathed in the same azure flames as Josen's psychic power!

Wait, this creepy thing is floating like a ghost right in my face, so why isn't Spider-Sense sounding the alarm?

Breaking into a cold sweat, Josen reflexively stepped back and braced himself. His toothpaste-covered toothbrush became a dagger, ready to stab the figure at any moment.

Who would have thought that, a second later, the half-naked man beside him would follow him like his shadow!

Halfway through thrusting the toothbrush, now incredibly hard thanks to its coating of psychic power, Josen suddenly realized that the translucent figure looked inexplicably familiar. The man wore a slightly aggrieved expression and had crossed his hands in a "nope" gesture.

Sharp brows, bright eyes, a handsome yet resolute face, a tall frame, and powerful muscles.

Josen whipped his head around. The man looked just like his own reflection in the bathroom mirror-

Exactly the same!

It was as though a bolt of lightning had pierced the darkness in his mind. Looking at the strange armored skirts woven entirely from Fantasy Cards, Josen ruled out every impossibility and spat out a mouthful of toothpaste foam.

"Fan-ta-see Car-do!?"

The half-naked man floating beside him nodded in agreement, seemingly relieved, and spoke: "YES!"

Josen: "..."

Short, clear, and perfectly enunciated.

Josen grabbed the towel from the wall and wiped the foam from the corners of his mouth, then rubbed his eyes in disbelief.

When he opened them again, the figure beside him remained perfectly calm. He hadn't disappeared because of Josen's actions.

Josen patted his bewildered forehead and finally accepted the staggering shock his own Stand had delivered.

After completing his second evolution, he had gone from a palm-sized card to a full-fledged Qiao Family muscleman. Who wouldn't be thrown for a loop by that?

Josen's apartment was fairly large, and its bathroom was much more spacious than some cramped studio apartments. But with two hulking men standing six foot five suddenly crowded in front of the sink, one of them floating in midair with a calm expression and his arms folded...

The whole room suddenly felt cramped.

Come to think of it, getting along with a humanoid Stand really was outside Josen's area of expertise.

Josen: (￢_￢)

Fantasy Card: (._.)

In front of the sink, the two Josens stared at each other in silence.

That was only natural, though. Anyone who suddenly found a half-naked muscleman following them everywhere would feel a little strange about it.

Puri-Puri Prisoner: You mean I could get that lucky?

(￣ε(#￣)☆╰╮o(￣皿￣///)

Leaving aside a certain S-Class hero with questionable tastes, hadn't even the Qiao Family's god of war mistaken Platinum the Ape for a ghost when he first awakened his Stand, guarding against him day and night? He had even pulled the legendary stunt of shooting himself, permanently reducing Platinum the Ape's range to C rank.

By comparison, Josen's instinctive decision to defend himself with a toothbrush was already quite restrained.

Fortunately, after evolving into humanoid form, Fantasy Card was the same type of Stand as Platinum the Ape, normally sporting the cool, stern demeanor of a muscleman.

That made Josen breathe a sigh of relief. At least his other self wasn't a chatterbox.

Thinking of it that way, he felt considerably more at ease. Now that his Stand had evolved into humanoid form, his functionality was bound to receive an epic upgrade.

He just needed a chance to max out his slightly lackluster "Speed." Imagine both the user and Stand joining the fight with A-ranked power and speed...

Josen was already prepared to ask Saitama about the secrets behind Consecutive Normal Punches.

As for the side effect of having another person appear beside him out of thin air, he could just treat it as looking in a mirror.

After cleaning up the sink, Josen headed to the kitchen to make himself breakfast.

Ham and bread, with eggs fried in butter.

While brewing coffee, he thoughtfully asked, "Want a cup?"

Fantasy Card glanced at him as though he were an idiot, then silently shook his head.

"Oh, right..."

Josen realized it, too. Stands had no physical bodies, and the food and water humans needed were utterly meaningless to a spiritual entity.

"Then how about trying your hand at making breakfast?"

Faced with his user's unreasonable request, Fantasy Card, who had only just acquired a humanoid body, hesitated briefly before stepping forward and taking the frying pan, cup, and saucer being controlled by psychic power.

Watching his Stand earnestly prepare breakfast, Josen's eyes brimmed with tears. More than half a year after crossing into this world, he was finally free from cooking. Should he get Saitama and the others together to celebrate?

Though, to everyone else, there was no fundamental difference between cooking with a Stand and cooking with psychic power.

Once the piping-hot breakfast was served, Josen eagerly took a bite. How should he describe the taste?

Whether it was the proportions of the seasonings or the control of the heat, it was exactly like his own cooking. It felt just like eating breakfast he had made himself.

But that wasn't the point.

He beckoned his Stand, who was floating beside him after finishing his work, to sit across the table.

As he ate, Josen asked, "We've got a mental link, but why don't you give yourself a name? Calling you by your full name all the time is a bit of a hassle-mostly because using a four-character Stand name every time will get all the handsome readers accusing me of padding the word count."

Fantasy Card froze at the question, then nodded solemnly and sank into thought.

Before long, he seemed to have made his decision. Calmly but seriously, he said, "F."

"F? Taking the first letter? Isn't that a little too simple..." Josen popped the last piece of fried egg into his mouth. "Then let's go with 'F-kid.' It's a simple yet affectionate nickname, sounds nice, and has a little playful flair. That settles it."

F-kid: "..." (Whatever makes you happy.)

Breakfast ended in a harmonious atmosphere. Without needing a reminder from Josen, F-kid appeared on his own to clear everything away, then headed into the kitchen with practiced ease to run the water and wash the dishes. Only after making sure the cleaned dishes had not a speck of grime or a single water stain did he silently float back to his user's side and disappear.

See? What does professionalism look like?

This is professionalism!

If the sight of a muscular hunk in a black-and-white apron hadn't been a little too adult-only, Josen would absolutely have found a housekeeping outfit like Genos's for his Stand to wear.