Joseph Joestar.
Although he had been on screen for some time, his appearances had been brief, leaving the audience outside the light curtain with one primary impression: "Joestar."
After all, among all the transmigrators introduced so far, everyone except the Pillar Men had a close connection to the Joestar name.
In just a few short moments, the light curtain had perfectly encapsulated the personality of Joseph Joestar.
Beneath his seemingly flippant exterior hid the heart of a true gentleman.
The vast majority of the audience, having witnessed Joseph's inner thoughts, had reached this conclusion.
---o---
[Light Curtain Commentary]
[Mai Sakurajima: "I'm sorry. It seems I misunderstood Joseph before. He was only acting that way to lure the snake out of its hole."]
[Erina Pendleton (Part 1): "Wait, Joseph just called me... Grandma? Could he be Jonathan's and my grandson? The time span is just... so vast."]
[Jotaro Kujo: "Ah, it's great-great-grandmother Erina. In terms of lineage, I'm the old man's grandson. This screen can link people from different timelines. There's nothing to be shocked about..."]
[King Arthur (Artoria Pendragon): "I don't know why, but even though I have no connection to Joseph, watching his flippant and frivolous personality gives me a feeling of hating iron for not becoming steel. I feel an urge to raise him like a child and mold him into a true knight."]
[Robert E. O. Speedwagon: "I must say, Joseph is nothing like his grandfather, Sir Jonathan. Where on earth did he inherit this flighty personality from..."]
[Joseph Joestar (Old): "Ah, what nostalgic youth. Back then, I truly feared nothing... except for Grandma Erina."]
This wasn't Joseph being arrogant. In his youth, he was no less of a handful than Jotaro Kujo.
With the reaction time and physical condition of his younger self, he could make even a weak Stand like Hermit Purple display power rivaling that of Star Platinum.
---o---
[On Screen]
The screen faded to black, indicating that some time had passed.
When the image returned, it was not Joseph's flamboyant, handsome face that greeted the viewers.
Instead, it was three beautiful women dressed as ninjas.
Clearly, these were the three who had previously informed Joseph about the demon hiding in Yoshiwara.
Although they were dressed as ninjas, the audience quickly guessed their affiliation with the Demon Slayer Corps.
After all, in the world of Demon Slayer, the only organization that stood against demons and continuously investigated them was the Demon Slayer Corps. They just didn't know what rank these three held.
Right now, the three kunoichi were staring with their mouths agape, wide enough to swallow an egg. The dark lines on their faces represented their current state of shock.
"Jo-Jo-Jo-Jo... Mr. Joestar...!!"
"What in the world are you doing?!"
Their voices trembled. They hardly dared to look at the person before them, covering their mouths with their hands as if trying to stifle laughter, or perhaps because they couldn't bear to watch.
At the same time, Joseph pinched his throat, deliberately raising his voice to a comical pitch.
"What's with those expressions? I know it must be infuriating that I, a man, surpass women in beauty, but you don't have to be that shocked."
On screen, an absolutely eye-searing vision of Joseph in drag made his grand entrance. He bit his lower lip coquettishly, held his fingers in a delicate pose, and shot a seductive glance at the three women.
Because of the size difference, the woman's dress on Joseph looked more like children's clothing. Fortunately, the traditional garments were relatively loose, able to accommodate Joseph's 195-centimeter height and powerful physique.
However, when this avant-garde work of art appeared before the audience and the three kunoichi, it was met with only silence.
The three women: ...
The light curtain audience: ...
How amusing. Did Joseph really think his cross-dressing would fool anyone?
The dumbfounded audience and the three ninja-clad women were at a loss for words.
Walking down the streets of Yoshiwara in such an obvious disguise... unless that Upper Rank demon was a complete idiot, there was no way she would feel any appetite for the Joseph before them.
"What's with those expressions? Don't I look the part?" Joseph's tone was exaggerated, as if he genuinely believed his cross-dressing attempt was brilliant.
"Ah, this is completely beyond a matter of 'looking the part'."
"I feel like you don't even need to fight. Just the sight of you in that outfit would be enough to scare the Upper Rank to death."
The lead ninja, Makio, gave her blunt assessment, resting her head on her hand with a pained expression.
Had she really misjudged him? This man used an unheard-of and bizarre breathing technique, and had easily defeated the three of them, all professionally trained kunoichi.
His usual flamboyance was one thing, but to be so... abstract... when faced with such a serious problem!
After thinking for a long time, "abstract" was the only word she could find. If they hadn't lost contact with their husband, the three of them would never have pinned their hopes of defeating an Upper Rank on such a thoroughly unreliable guy.
"Ehh... is it really that obvious?!" Joseph cried out, as if he'd been dealt a heavy blow. "And I even brought tequila to celebrate. Looks like that's useless now."
"However..." Joseph's tone shifted. "Since I've gone to the trouble of putting it on, wouldn't taking it off be a pain? I might as well take a stroll around the neighborhood like this. Who knows, I might get an unexpected reward."
A confident smile quickly returned to his face. Wearing the ill-fitting dress, Joseph promptly set off.
---o---
This is a gentleman?
This cringeworthy cross-dresser was a gentleman of the Joestar family.
If word of Joseph's actions got out, it would probably bring shame upon the entire Joestar name.
But... despite his flighty personality and his cross-dressing, for some reason... the audience was starting to like Joseph.
Perhaps this was his charm. His personality was completely different from his dignified, British-gentleman grandfather.
He was somewhat frivolous and impulsive, always looking for the path of least resistance to solve a problem, and also incredibly "proper" in his own way.
But he undoubtedly possessed the same soul, filled with a fiery sense of justice, as Jonathan.
[Light Curtain Commentary]
[Erina Pendleton: "Joseph... that boy is truly a handful."]
Erina, from the timeline of Phantom Blood, looked at her future grandson. Though his methods were completely different from Jonathan's, he possessed the same Golden Spirit.
[Kaguya Shinomiya: "So... so cringey. Is this the legendary 'trap' character?"]
[Yukino Yukinoshita: "Now that Upper Rank hiding in the shadows will be even less likely to show herself."]
[Otto Apocalypse: "No... she will definitely appear. There are many beautiful women in Yoshiwara, but not all of them can attract the demon's attention. A 'woman' like Joseph, on the other hand, will instantly catch her eye."]
Joseph was a clever man. He wouldn't do something so thankless. So Otto was convinced he wasn't cross-dressing for no reason. Just like Otto himself had done in the past, there had to be a special reason for it...
---o---
[On Screen]
Just as Otto predicted.
The moment Joseph appeared on the streets of Yoshiwara, he instantly captured the attention of all its citizens.
The beauty of the "Tequila Girl" was enough to make the world bow down.
Yes, this is it! The more attention I draw, the better my chances of finding that bastard's hiding place!
He struck an exaggerated pose. While all the men and women of Yoshiwara were captivated by the Tequila Girl's appearance, no one noticed... Joseph's breathing rhythm had changed.
A golden energy swirled around him. Hamon... appeared before the audience for the first time.
Like ripples spreading across water, Joseph's Hamon power scanned the surroundings like radar.
The noisy chatter of the outside world was automatically filtered out. If he couldn't attract the demon's attention after putting on such a shameful display, then he would have embarrassed himself for nothing.
With this thought, Joseph's Hamon enveloped the entire crowd on the street. The sheer scale of this Hamon power left the audience gobsmacked.
But it also confused those who knew Joseph well.
[Lisa Lisa: "Joseph! He may be a natural-born Hamon user, but he's never undergone proper Hamon training! But why... why is his Hamon so powerful? It's even surpassed that of the professionally trained Caesar!"]
[Robert E. O. Speedwagon: "Just as I thought. Something must have happened to Joseph. Hamon power on par with a master... If Jonathan had possessed such power back then, defeating DIO would have been a simple matter."]
Perhaps no one but Joseph himself knew how his Hamon power had improved so dramatically in such a short time.
The view returned to the screen. Still finding nothing, Joseph had to give up his large-scale search.
"Tsk. Even with the help of this evil spirit on my back, spreading my Hamon across all of Yoshiwara is no simple task."
Snapping out of his detection state, Joseph gritted his teeth. It seemed today was a total loss.
Not only had he failed to find the Upper Rank's location, but he had also made a fool of himself on the street. If no one here recognized him, he would have wanted to dig a hole and crawl into it.
If Grandma Erina ever saw him like this... shudder... the image was too horrifying to imagine.
"This is bad! It's all because of this evil spirit on my back! It can strengthen the Hamon in my body, but it can't even find a single person!"
He blamed his embarrassing failure entirely on his Stand. As expected of a Joestar. Upon first discovering his Stand, Joseph Joestar, just like Jotaro Kujo, had deemed it an evil spirit.
Because of the blood connection between himself, Jotaro Kujo, and Jonathan's body, which DIO possessed, this purple thing had appeared behind Joseph the moment he arrived in this world.
It looked like thorny vines, but because its power and speed were so weak, Joseph hadn't paid much attention to the evil spirit at first.
However, as the purple thing began to display its power, Joseph's indifferent attitude gradually changed.
Besides being able to bind and attack enemies like tentacles, this evil spirit also had the ability to amplify his Hamon.
As for the principle behind it, Joseph had no idea. But the Hamon amplified by the evil spirit was a full ten, even dozens of times stronger than his normal state.
"It would be even better if it could not only amplify my Hamon but also find people."
He muttered to the shadowy purple vines. Joseph had just been speaking his thoughts aloud, but who would have thought... the purple tentacles, as if they had a life of their own, began to grow continuously.
"Wh-What's happening?! The evil spirit... it's getting longer!"
The sudden change in his Stand flustered Joseph. For someone with no concept of Stands, this development was understandably nerve-wracking.
But soon, information transmitted from the Stand through his spirit and soul quickly calmed him down.
This wasn't simple lengthening. To be precise, this was evolution! Sensing Joseph's desire, his Stand had evolved once again.
It can evolve just from a thought? What a joke! If it keeps going like this, with the power of this evil spirit, couldn't I do whatever I want in this world?
Under Joseph's incredulous gaze, the Stand's evolution gradually completed. The color of the purple thorns deepened by a shade, as if it had settled into its final form.
"Whew—I don't know what just happened, but it seems I can now track that demon's movements without even leaving my house!"
Sensing the new change in his Stand, Joseph paid no mind to the stares of others and strode off in a specific direction.
Come to think of it, the evil spirit had helped him so much, but he still hadn't given it a name.
The purple thorns, and its invisibility to ordinary people, reminded Joseph of the 9th Tarot card, the purple Hermit. He decided. From now on, the evil spirit's name would be... [Hermit Purple]!
Having named his Stand, Joseph, who had gained a new power, began to test the limits of Hermit Purple's abilities like a child. In his hand, a color photograph drew attention.
As the camera zoomed in for a close-up, the woman in the color photograph, dressed as an oiran, was exceptionally striking.
Her beautiful face was worthy of the name oiran. However, the audience, having seen her in the previous Upper Rank meeting, quickly recognized her.
The twin demon, one half of Upper Rank Six—Daki!
---o---
Author's Note:
PS: As I said before, Hermit Purple will receive an epic buff. But its overall stats won't change much. Young Joseph will still mainly rely on Hamon for offense.