1988 - A new year in which everyone around him is starting with a newfound optimism, whilst Jotaro's life has been turned upside down after the events of last month. Classmates are making New Year's resolutions to be more active, learn a new skill or get higher grades, Jotaro finds difficulty thinking about any of those things right now or even doing anything. Getting out of bed seems like a chore, and eating is the last thing on his mind whilst his thoughts are plagued by the horrors and grief he has experienced over the last month. The psychological dissonance between the high-stakes battles and his seemingly ordinary existence creates an unsettling feeling of detachment, as though the intense bonds and losses he experienced during his journey were almost surreal, like a life he couldn’t fully reconcile with his everyday reality.

Nowadays, Jotaro spends most of his days locked inside his room, smoking, drinking, or sleeping away the days. He rarely leaves his room, let alone the house, but if he does it's to buy more cigarettes or alcohol. Even if he tries to conceal himself behind the usual stoicism, he's clearly down in the slumps and doesn't even try to get himself out of it. His mother feels helpless seeing her son shut himself out, but any of her attempts to help him have been futile. Though, on good days he tries to go to school, even if he ditches most classes to smoke on the rooftop. Though, surprisingly to all his teachers, he is keeping up with schoolwork - unknowingly to them he is fulfilling a promise he made to a friend he lost. Often times Jotaro finds himself mulling over why this all happened. Why him? Why did this happen to him, he was only 17, and yet he feels like he's already lived a lifetime, and he knows this is just the beginning of it all. He feels cursed, but life goes on even for the damned.