[Hunter x Hunter] Scamming My Way to the Top

[Boumargood]

Disclaimer: I do not own Hunter × Hunter or any of its original characters. They belong to Yoshihiro Togashi and their respective rights holders. This is a non-commercial fan work.



Chapter 1: A Bad Deal


The first thing that alarmed him was his hand.

It remained raised before his face for several seconds, plump and short-fingered, with faint wrinkles crossing the knuckles—wrinkles that did not exist in his memory. He slowly turned it over, then moved each finger one at a time, as though expecting an exquisitely crafted glove to slip off and reveal his real hand underneath.

Nothing happened.

A broad-shouldered man bumped into his back as he passed, then turned with an irritated glare.

"If you're going to sleep standing up, do it somewhere out of the way."

He opened his mouth, but the man had already disappeared into the crowd before he could respond. He remained where he was as his awareness finally began taking in his surroundings.

He was standing inside a long tunnel whose walls were washed in pale white light. Hundreds of people crowded the place. Some were stretching in preparation for whatever lay ahead, others exchanged nervous glances, and a few stood in silence as though the sight of a man carrying an axe or a child riding a skateboard through an underground tunnel was perfectly normal.

His unfamiliar hand dropped to his chest, then descended to his stomach.

It stopped there.

He pressed his fingers into the soft mass bulging beneath his shirt, and his face gradually tightened. He had not been thin in his previous life, but he certainly had not possessed a belly like this. He felt his face next, discovering a broader nose, fuller cheeks, and an entirely different jaw.

His breathing quickened.

'Calm down.'

It was good advice—simple, rational, and precisely the kind he used to offer people before convincing them to transfer their savings into a bank account that did not exist.

His body, however, did not seem interested in rational advice.

'Calm down? I'm wearing someone else's body, and the first thing you suggest is calming down?'

His name was Asnos. Or at least that was the name people knew him by; the truth had never mattered much in his line of work. He had spent years behind computer screens creating fraudulent stores, investment opportunities that possessed everything except actual investments, and online personas more convincing than most real people. He had deceived thousands and learned long ago that fear made people stupid.

He was now discovering that the rule applied to con artists as well.

He tried to retrieve his final memory, but found only scattered images: the glow of a screen, a furious message from a victim who had realized the truth far too late, and then a black void without beginning or end.

He remembered no accident, no illness—not even falling asleep.

'I must be dreaming... right?'

He pinched his forearm hard.

Pain immediately pierced his skin, sharp and distinct enough to make him curse under his breath. He tried again, this time digging his nails into the back of his hand, then closed his eyes and counted to five before opening them.

The tunnel remained.

So did the unfamiliar body.

'Either this isn't a dream, or my mind has finally decided to punish its owner.'

He retreated toward the wall, searching for somewhere that would give him a little space. The smell of sweat, metal, and damp stone was far too real, as was the wall's rough surface beneath his fingers. The sounds were neither distant nor dreamlike. He heard shoes scraping across the ground, someone cracking their knuckles, and a man boasting that he would finish the exam before noon.

Exam?

Asnos slowly raised his head.

Until that moment, his preoccupation with his new body had prevented him from considering how strange the people around him looked. Their clothing did not belong to the same country—or even the same period. A man in leather armor stood beside a young man wearing a formal suit, while a woman carrying a staff taller than herself spoke to someone whose face was concealed behind a metal mask.

'Have I been abducted into some second-rate television show?'

The thought almost brought him comfort, until a loud voice reached him from the other side of the tunnel.

"I'm not shouting! This is how I talk!"

He turned toward it instinctively.

The speaker was a tall man wearing a suit and carrying a small briefcase. Beside him stood a blond youth in traditional blue clothing, watching him with a calm expression that barely concealed his impatience. A few steps ahead of them was a young boy wearing a green jacket, a fishing rod strapped across his back.

Asnos's heart stopped for a beat.

He stared at the boy's black hair with its green-tinted tips, then shifted his gaze to the blond youth and the man in the suit.

'No.'

A silver-haired boy rode a skateboard between the applicants, weaving effortlessly around them before stopping a short distance away.

Asnos's mouth went dry.

'Don't tell me they're...'

Gon.

Kurapika.

Leorio.

Killua.

He did not need a fifth piece of evidence, but the world was generous enough to provide one anyway. On the other side of the tunnel, a tall red-haired man leaned against the wall, turning a playing card between his fingers. His faint smile alone was enough to send a slow chill crawling down Asnos's spine.

Hisoka.

Asnos immediately looked away.

The place was no longer merely strange.

It was something far worse.

He was inside the world of Hunter × Hunter.

His mind tried to reject the conclusion, but the characters stood before him in every recognizable detail. They were not drawings or actors wearing cheap costumes. They were living, breathing people—and the real Hisoka was not someone any sane person wanted to catch them staring.

That realization left him with an even more disturbing question.

If he was here... then who was he?

His eyes dropped to a small bag hanging at his side. He reached inside and pulled out a plastic bottle filled with orange liquid, followed by a second and then a third. They were all identical, and their presence stirred an old scene from the anime in his memory.

The juice.

The rookies.

The laxatives.

Something cold settled in his stomach.

"What's wrong with you, Tonpa?"

The question came from a thin man passing nearby. He glanced at the bottle in Asnos's hand, then smiled contemptuously.

"Couldn't find a new rookie to poison yet?"

The man walked away laughing, leaving Asnos frozen in place.

Tonpa.

He lowered his gaze to his stomach, then to his short fingers and the bottles of orange liquid. His faint reflection stared back at him from a metal panel fixed to the wall: a round face, broad nose, and coarse dark hair.

There was no longer any room for denial.

He had become Tonpa, the Rookie Crusher—the man who had spent dozens of Hunter Exams sabotaging other applicants because he could never become a Hunter himself.

He stared at his reflection for several seconds before the corner of his mouth twitched.

'Wonderful... It seems the entity that dragged me here read my résumé very carefully.'

At least he could not accuse the mysterious entity of miscasting him.

His smile quickly vanished. In the novels he had read, transmigration was never free. There was always a reason, some mysterious power, or an absurd mission demanding that the protagonist kill a god within a week using a wooden spoon.

Considering his current luck, the spoon probably would not be included.

A clear sound suddenly rang inside his head.

[Ding!]

Tonpa flinched so violently that he nearly dropped the bottle. He quickly looked around, but no one reacted. The applicants continued talking as they waited for the exam to begin.

A line of glowing text appeared before his eyes.

[...Synchronization between soul and body completed successfully.]

A second line followed.

[Compatible host detected.]

[Welcome to the Con Artist System.]

He read the name twice, then closed his eyes for a moment.

'Even the system decided to insult me immediately. No introduction, no "Supreme Ruler System" or "Heir of Legends." Just Con Artist.'

A new window appeared.

[Do you agree to activate the system?]

[Yes/No]

Tonpa hesitated. He had built a considerable portion of his former wealth from people who agreed to terms they had never read. Pressing "Yes" without knowing the details was precisely the kind of stupidity he had spent years exploiting.

However, refusing the only thing that might explain why he was here seemed even more foolish.

He focused on Yes and selected it.

[Consent confirmed.]

[Activation initiated.]

A translucent panel appeared before him.

[Host: Tonpa]

[Level: 1]

[Experience: 0/100]

[Strength: F]

[Speed: F]

[Endurance: E]

[Talent: E]

[Nen Points: 0]

[Nen Status: Unawakened]

[Locked Features: ???]

He inspected the numbers, then glanced down at his stomach again.

'Strength: F? That isn't a stat. It's a condolence message.'

'At least they aren't all F... Apparently, carrying this belly around raised my endurance to E.'

He dismissed the panel and surveyed the tunnel again. He spotted a bald man dressed like a ninja, a tall figure with pins driven through his face, and several applicants he remembered would die before the exam ended.

He was no longer watching an anime from behind a screen. The pain here was real, and death was probably permanent.

The thought of returning to his own world suddenly struck him.

His old world had not been good, but at least it had made sense. Its dangers came in the form of police officers, furious victims, or frozen bank accounts—things he could escape with a new identity. Here, people like Hisoka could kill him simply because the way he walked annoyed them.

'How do I return?'

The system did not answer.

'Open the return option. Log out. Cancel synchronization.'

Silence persisted.

Then another notification rang.

[Main Quest generated.]

Tonpa felt his chest tighten before he even read it.

[Time Limit: Five years.]

[Objective One: Become the strongest Hunter in the world.]

He stopped breathing for a moment.

[Objective Two: Conquer the Dark Continent and bring it under your control.]

He stared at the words, waiting for them to change or for another line to appear and inform him that this was merely a terrible welcoming joke.

Instead, the final line appeared.

[Failure Penalty: Death.]

Immediately afterward, a red countdown began ticking.

Tonpa slowly raised his eyes toward Hisoka, then returned his gaze to the m
ission.

For the first time since awakening inside the tunnel, the card-wielding magician was no longer the most terrifying thing in the room.

'Five years?'

His lips trembled, but no sound emerged.

'This system is joking with me... right?'

 

[Boumargood]

Tonpa received no answer.




The red countdown continued ticking before his eyes, indifferent to his stare and to the last shred of hope he had placed in the possibility that the mission was merely a bad joke. Five years to become the strongest Hunter in the world, then conquer and rule the Dark Continent—two feats that had eluded people capable of killing him with a single move.




Meanwhile, his greatest qualifications were a large belly, a bag full of poisoned juice, and a criminal record that had unfortunately failed to make the trip with him.




He closed his eyes, drew in a slow breath, and released it just as carefully. The mission did not disappear, but the trembling in his fingers eased.




'Panicking won't send me back, and it won't make this body any thinner. Think now. Fall apart when the schedule allows it.'




He dismissed the mission timer and summoned his status panel. The translucent interface reappeared, displaying the same information as before.




[Host: Tonpa]




[Level: 1] [Experience: 0/100]




[Talent: E]




[Stats:]




[Strength: F] [Upgrade Cost: 10 Nen]




[Speed: F] [Upgrade Cost: 10 Nen]




[Flexibility: F] [Upgrade Cost: 10 Nen]




[Endurance: E] [Upgrade Cost: 100 Nen]




[Intelligence: E] [Upgrade Cost: 100 Nen]




[Nen Points: 0]




[Nen Status: Unawakened]




[Additional Features:]




[???: Locked]




[???: Locked]




[???: Locked]




Tonpa stared at Strength, Speed, and Flexibility. Ten points were enough to raise any one of them to the next rank. The problem was that he did not possess a single point, nor did he know how to earn one.




The three F grades stood beside one another like a collective assessment of his new life.




Talent, meanwhile, was separate from the rest of his stats, with no upgrade option beside it. Whatever an E-ranked talent meant, it appeared he would simply have to live with it.




'So all I've received so far is neatly organized ignorance inside an elegant panel.'




He studied the interface for another moment.




'Even my victims used to hesitate longer than I did.'




Then he remembered that he had already selected "Yes."




He decided not to pursue that line of thought.




Instead, he focused on the Nen Points entry.




'How do I obtain them?'




The system remained silent for a moment, long enough for him to wonder whether he was expected to discover the answer himself. Then a new notification appeared.




[Nen Points can be acquired by deceiving or persuading others.]




Tonpa's eyebrows rose.




A second notification followed.




[Rewards increase according to the target's strength, intelligence, and resistance to influence.]




He stared at the words, then slowly turned his gaze toward the surrounding crowd. For the first time since his arrival, it seemed that life had not abandoned him entirely.




He had spent years doing precisely this. He could not shatter a wall with his fist or outrun a car, but he had once convinced a rational man that an investment company registered three days earlier would double his savings within a week.




'Finally, an ability based on my actual qualifications.'




He could not decide whether to thank the system or feel insulted that it had assessed his character so accurately.




Before he could investigate further, a sudden disturbance spread through the applicants. Conversations died away one after another as every face turned toward the front of the tunnel.




A tall, slender man had appeared, dressed in an unusual purple suit, with a thin mustache extending along both sides of his face. Tonpa had not heard his footsteps or noticed the moment he arrived, but he recognized him immediately.




Satotz.




The man stood before the crowd and calmly swept his gaze over the applicants. He did not raise his voice by much, yet his words reached all the way to the back of the tunnel.




He introduced himself as the examiner for the First Phase, then told them that their only task was to follow him to the site of the Second Phase. He gave them neither a distance nor an estimated arrival time. He merely warned that anyone unable to keep up would be eliminated from the exam.




Uneasy murmurs spread through the crowd.




"That's all? We only have to follow him?" asked a man near Tonpa.




Another tightened the belt around his waist. "It can't possibly be that easy."




'For the first time today, someone said something that justified keeping his head attached.'




Satotz turned and began walking without another word. His calm steps gradually became a steady jog, and after a brief hesitation, the applicants surged after him.




The entire crowd moved at once.




Tonpa found himself running with them before consciously deciding to do so. The body seemed to understand what it was doing better than he did. His feet settled into a stable rhythm, and his breathing became controlled in a way that contradicted his heavy appearance.




Perhaps his E-ranked Endurance was not merely the result of carrying that belly around for years.




The original Tonpa had participated in more than thirty Hunter Exams. Even if he had never passed, repeatedly fleeing dangerous phases still counted as physical training.




'Apparently, regular retreat is a certified fitness program.'




Gon, Kurapika, and Leorio moved through the middle of the group, while Killua glided between the applicants on his skateboard as though he were out for a leisurely ride. At the front, Satotz maintained his pace without showing the slightest effort.




Tonpa chose a position near the center of the crowd. Staying close to the front would waste his energy, while falling behind would make him one of the first to be eliminated if the pace increased. The middle was safer, and it placed a comforting number of bodies between him and Hisoka.




Using strangers as human shields was not particularly noble, but he could not recall the system asking him to be noble.




A notification chimed inside his head as he ran.




[Side Quest Generated.]




Tonpa's expression tightened.




'Of course. The first mission left far too much room for hope in my life.'




He opened the notification.




[Side Quest: Pass the Hunter Exam.]




[Reward: Determined according to performance.]




[Penalty for Failure: Forced transfer to the Dark Continent.]




His stride faltered, and he nearly collided with the applicant ahead of him. He recovered his balance with difficulty, then stared at the message, hoping he had somehow misread it.




The penalty was not death this time.




It was death after a very long journey.




Blurred images of the Dark Continent surfaced in his memory: colossal creatures, unnatural diseases, and calamities that had wiped out entire expeditions. Even the finest fighters currently inside the tunnel were not prepared to enter it yet.




So what chance did Tonpa have when his Strength was ranked F and his finest weapon was a bottle of laxatives?




'The main mission pretended to be merciful and gave me five years. This one didn't even give me five minutes.'




He cursed his luck, the system, and whatever entity had sent him here before forcing himself to focus on his breathing. He had no choice but to pass the Hunter Exam—something the original Tonpa had failed to accomplish after dozens of attempts.




But the original Tonpa had not possessed a system.




Nor had he been Asnos.




Several minutes passed, and some applicants' breathing began to grow heavier. The pace was not particularly fast yet, but anxiety was already causing many of them to waste their energy.




Tonpa approached a thin young man running with both hands clenched around the straps of his bag. The youth kept staring at Satotz's back as if expecting the examiner to vanish and abandon them inside the tunnel.




Frightened, nervous, and unfamiliar with Tonpa.




A suitable beginning.




Tonpa slowed slightly until he was running beside him.




"This is your first attempt, isn't it?"




The young man gave him a wary look, then nodded.




"Is it that obvious?"




"You're watching the examiner more than the road. Every rookie does that."




The young man's expression shifted. His suspicion did not disappear entirely, but interest entered his eyes.




"Have you taken the exam before?"




Tonpa offered a small smile, careful not to make it look condescending.




"More times than I care to admit."




That was true, even if the experiences did not personally belong to him. Truth was the best wrapping for a lie. It saved a con artist the trouble of inventing everything from nothing and gave him something solid to stand on when the rest began to collapse.




The young man swallowed.




"Do you know how long this phase is?"




Tonpa could have told him the truth: the phase was absurdly long and could continue for hours. But aside from being discouraging, the truth would earn him nothing.




He pointed toward a distant bend in the tunnel.




"This section is shorter than it looks. We'll reach a rest point after a few kilometers, so maintain this pace and you'll be fine."




Relief immediately appeared on the young man's face. His shoulders loosened, and his breathing became steadier.




"Really? Thank you. I thought we might be running for hours."




"Don't worry. The examiners are harsh, but they're not insane."




Tonpa nearly choked on the sheer audacity of the lie. He knew perfectly well that the examiners were insane, and some of them carried sharpened playing cards to prove it.




A notification appeared before him.




[Deception registered.]




[Nen Points +1]




[Experience +1]




Tonpa blinked, then stopped his smile from widening.




It had worked.




This was no theory or vague promise from the system. One simple deception had earned him a real point, and ten similar lies could raise his Strength, Speed, or Flexibility to the next rank.




He looked at the young man beside him and felt something close to professional gratitude.




'My first customer in this world. He'll only lose some stamina and hope, so this is still the most ethical transaction I've ever conducted.'




Tonpa gradually fell back, then summoned the system interface while continuing to run. His first point had appeared in the deception record, and the experience counter had changed as well.




[Nen Points: 1]




[Experience: 1/100]




The additional features, however, remained concealed behind gray question marks.




[???: Locked]




[???: Locked]




[???: Locked]




He focused on one of them, but all he received was a brief notification.




[Unlock conditions have not been met.]




'Wonderful. Even the system meant to save my life hides its conditions in the fine print.'




He closed the interface and began searching for another target.




He avoided anyone who recognized Tonpa or openly stared at the number sixteen on his chest with disgust. His body's old reputation would make deceiving veterans difficult, but most rookies had never heard of him—and there were plenty of them nearby.




He told two applicants that Satotz was watching anyone who moved too close to the front and that crossing a certain point would be considered a challenge to the examiner. The pair exchanged nervous glances before dropping behind Tonpa.




[Deception registered.]




[Target Count: 2]




[Nen Points +2]




[Experience +2]




Both of his balances rose to three.




'Even lies come with bulk discounts.'




Next, he approached a muscular applicant who was forcing his way toward the front by shoving aside anyone in his path. Tonpa told him that Satotz might suddenly reverse direction to test their reaction speed, and that conserving his strength was more important than gaining ground now.




The man was not easily convinced.




He looked at Tonpa's belly, then at his face, as though Tonpa's physique alone were reason enough to reject any advice he offered about running. Tonpa had to mention how many times he had participated in the exam, describe several previous trials, and add small, useless details whose only purpose was to make the rest of his story sound true.




The man finally hesitated, then reduced his pace.




[Deception registered.]




[Target Difficulty: Moderate.]




[Nen Points +3]




[Experience +3]




Both totals reached six.




'So the system doesn't care only about the number of lies. The quality of the victim matters more than the quantity of words.'




That made sense. Deceiving someone frightened was not equal to deceiving someone strong or intelligent, just as persuading an old man to transfer ten dollars was not the same as convincing a company to hand over its entire budget.




Tonpa continued running as pain gradually began to spread through his legs. He did not allow it to interrupt his work. Poverty was an excellent motivator, and the threat of forced transfer to the Dark Continent was even better.




He selected four rookies running near one another, then approached them in a confidential tone that suggested he was sharing information no one else was meant to hear.




He told them that this phase secretly evaluated teamwork and that applicants who maintained a stable formation would receive an advantage in the next stage.




They did not believe him immediately.




Tonpa had to cite the number of exams he had taken, describe several previous trials, and point toward other small groups while claiming they had already discovered the hidden rule.




The four rookies looked toward the groups he had indicated.




Those applicants had no idea they had just become supporting evidence in an unrelated scam, but the fact that they happened to be standing close together was enough.




After a brief discussion, the four rookies were convinced and fell into formation behind Tonpa.




A new window appeared.




[Group deception registered.]




[Target Count: 4]




[Nen Points +4]




[Experience +4]




[Total Nen Points: 10]




[Experience: 10/100]




A small thrill ran through Tonpa, reminiscent of the feeling he used to get whenever a successful bank transfer notification appeared on his screen.




Ten points, gathered near the beginning of the First Phase alone.




If he maintained this pace, he might be able to improve his body before they reached the end of the tunnel. In a world where a child could tear a man's heart out with his bare hand, advancing from "humiliatingly weak" to "acceptably weak" was no minor achievement.




'The first round of capital has been raised.'




He glanced back at the four applicants behind him and found them working hard to maintain their imaginary formation.




'And no successful enterprise can exist without investors.'




Before he could open the Stats section, the system interface suddenly trembled. The first unknown slot lit up, and its question marks slowly began to fade.




[Unlock condition for the first feature fulfilled.]




[Unlocking new feature...]

 

[Lewdhandholding]

Definitely an interesting premise.

 

[Boumargood]

Definitely an interesting premise.

Click to shrink...

Thank you! I'm glad the premise caught your interest. Since you're the first person to comment on the story, I'll post the next chapter early as a small thank-you. Hope you enjoy it!

 

[Boumargood]

Chapter 3: The Pauper's Lottery


[Total Nen Points: 10]



[Condition for revealing the first feature has been met.]



[Revealing new feature...]



Tonpa watched the final line flicker before his eyes. His irritation with the endless running quickly gave way to curiosity. Ten points was hardly a fortune, but it was the first thing he had earned since arriving in this world—and the first proof that the system might offer him a genuine means of survival.



A new window appeared.



[New Feature Revealed: Hunter Lottery.]



[Feature Locked.]



[Unlock Cost: 10 Nen Points.]



[Would you like to unlock this feature?]



[Yes/No]



Tonpa nearly stopped running from sheer indignation.



'You're making me pay after announcing that I met the requirement?'



His objection received no response, naturally.



Satotz continued running at the front of the crowd without changing his steady pace. The gaps between the applicants were gradually widening. Some still spoke with confidence, but others had already begun panting heavily. Tonpa did not have the luxury of standing around and arguing with a window no one else could see.



He looked at the two options again.



His ten points were enough to raise his Strength, Speed, or Flexibility from Rank F, but he had no idea how significant the improvement would be. The new feature, on the other hand, might offer him something mere statistics could not.



It could also be a trap designed by a system bearing the name "Scammer."



That particular detail made the offer feel strangely familiar.



'The worst purchase is the one that leaves you wondering what you might have received if you had paid.'



He selected Yes.



[10 Nen Points deducted.]



[Current Balance: 0]



Seeing the zero caused him genuine pain, even though he had possessed those points for only a few minutes.



[Feature Unlocked: Hunter Lottery.]



A dark wheel appeared before him, surrounded by small silver symbols. Blurred images were scattered across its surface: a sword, a book, a mask, a bottle, and several shapes he could not identify. A golden pointer rested at the center, with a single button beneath it.



[Spin]



The corner of Tonpa's mouth rose.



Skills, techniques, weapons, and strange items... If he obtained something powerful from the beginning, his chances could change completely. Perhaps he would not have to spend the next five years fleeing from monsters and Nen users. One fortunate result might give him exactly what he needed to turn everything around.



Then he read the line beneath the button.



[Cost per Spin: 100 Nen Points.]



His smile disappeared.



'One hundred?'



He had deceived seven people, pushed his lungs to the brink of collapse, and earned only ten points. Now the system had calmly informed him that all of that was not enough to purchase even a single spin.



He opened the feature description, hoping the rewards would justify the cost.



[The Hunter Lottery grants the host a chance to obtain random rewards, including skills, techniques, weapons, tools, materials, and items of unknown origin.]



His hope began to return.



[Rewards vary in value and rarity.]



[Probability of receiving a high-value reward: Extremely low.]



[Results may include common items or items of limited utility.]



Tonpa stared at the final line.



'So I pay one hundred points and might end up with a spoon.'



The system did not deny the possibility.



He closed the lottery interface in annoyance, causing the abbreviated feature panel to reappear.



[Nen Points: 0]



[Additional Features:]



[Hunter Lottery: Unlocked]



[???: Locked]



[???: Locked]



Tonpa dismissed the panel and focused on the tunnel. The question was no longer whether he would try the lottery, but how he was supposed to collect one hundred points without dropping dead before the exam ended.



The method was obvious.



Deception and persuasion.



He scanned the applicants around him, searching for a suitable target. Exhausted faces were not difficult to find, and fear had begun showing even among those attempting to conceal it. This should have been easy. All he needed was someone who did not recognize Tonpa and a lie they wanted to believe.



He approached a young man wearing a red headband and noticed that his breathing was becoming irregular.



"Don't exhaust yourself this early," Tonpa said in a friendly tone as he matched the young man's pace. "Satotz will give us a break at the first gate."



The young man turned toward him, then looked at the orange bottles hanging from Tonpa's bag.



"And will you be serving us juice during the break?"



A mocking smile appeared on his face before he accelerated and pulled away.



No notification appeared.



Tonpa watched him for a moment, then slowly exhaled.



'All right... perhaps he wasn't as new as he looked.'



He did not give up. He spotted two young applicants running beside each other and approached them.



"A word of advice from a veteran applicant: the running isn't the real test. There's a side passage after several kilometers, and anyone who misses it—"



"Don't listen to him."



The voice came from behind them.



Its owner was a short-bearded man who ran alongside the pair before pointing at Tonpa with contempt.



"That's Tonpa. He comes here every year to ruin the rookies' chances. If he offers you food or a drink, throw it in his face."



The two young men immediately moved away, whispering to each other as they glanced back at Tonpa suspiciously.



Tonpa pressed his lips together.



He was beginning to understand the real problem.



Asnos had not created this reputation, but he had inherited its full cost. The original Tonpa had spent years deceiving applicants, poisoning them, and sabotaging their chances until his face became well known among the veterans. Worse, they did not merely avoid him—they warned the newcomers as well.



In his previous life, Asnos had changed his name, picture, and accent whenever one of his identities became compromised. Now he was trapped inside a face whose reputation had been ruined before he ever arrived.



'I inherited a weak body, a heavy stomach, and the reputation of a low-rent criminal... What a generous welcome package.'



He tried a third time.



He chose a large man who appeared preoccupied with watching Satotz and told him that the examiner was deliberately keeping the pace low to lure the applicants into relaxing. The man gave him nothing more than a sideways glance.



"Get away from me."



His tone was enough to convince Tonpa that insisting might cost him several teeth.



He immediately retreated.



Nearly ten minutes passed before he found another target. It was a young applicant running on the far side of the crowd, away from most of the veterans.



Tonpa approached him carefully.



"Conserve your strength. There's a short rest stop after the next three turns."



The young man looked at him doubtfully.



"Are you sure?"



"I reached it during a previous exam."



The young man hesitated, then slowed slightly and began regulating his breathing.



A notification appeared.



[Deception Registered.]



[Nen Points +1]



[Experience Points +1]



Tonpa felt a measure of relief.



'One.'



Before he could move away, a voice called out from behind them.



"Don't believe him! That's Tonpa!"



The young man turned sharply, but Tonpa had already slipped into the crowd.



Finding his second victim took more than ten minutes. She was a woman who kept looking around anxiously while panting. Tonpa approached and told her that several assistants to the examiner were running among the applicants in disguise, recording the names of anyone who complained or asked to stop.



She immediately closed her mouth and straightened her back despite her exhaustion.



[Deception Registered.]



[Nen Points +1]



[Experience Points +1]



'At this rate, I'll afford a spin after the exam is over.'



After that, he could not approach anyone without attracting suspicious looks. His movements had become obvious. He would slow down beside an unfamiliar face, speak with them for a few minutes, and then move on to someone else. It did not take the veterans long to understand what he was doing.



"Watch out for number sixteen!"



"Don't take anything from him!"



"And don't believe his advice!"



The warnings spread through the crowd faster than Tonpa could move through it.



He hid the juice bottles inside his bag and crossed to the other side of the tunnel. Instead of approaching the first unfamiliar face he saw, he waited. After roughly fifteen minutes, he found a short man who seemed more focused on his feet than on the people around him.



Tonpa told him that Satotz would change their route at the next gate and that remaining near the left side would grant him an advantage.



The man studied the other applicants, then gradually moved toward the left.



[Deception Registered.]



[Nen Points +1]



[Experience Points +1]



Tonpa's satisfaction did not last long.



A veteran applicant approached the man and whispered something to him. Both of them turned toward Tonpa, so he moved away before their stares could develop into a direct confrontation.



His next four attempts failed.



The first person ignored him. The second laughed in his face. The third threatened to break his nose, while the fourth merely pointed at Tonpa's stomach and asked whether he truly looked like someone qualified to offer advice about passing a physical examination.



Tonpa had no suitable response to the last one.



It took even longer to obtain his fourth point. He selected an exhausted applicant who had fallen behind his group and told him that the numbers pinned to their chests recorded their running pace, and that changing speed too often could result in disqualification.



The man looked at his number nervously, then forced himself to maintain a steady pace.



[Deception Registered.]



[Nen Points +1]



[Experience Points +1]



'Four.'



The fifth was the most difficult.



By then, most of the rookies knew his face. Some moved away before he could even open his mouth. He had to keep running for nearly twenty more minutes before finding someone who had worked his way up from the rear of the crowd and had not heard the warnings.



Tonpa told him that the first one hundred applicants to reach the end of the tunnel would receive an advantage in the next phase.



The man's eyes widened.



"Really?"



Tonpa nodded confidently.



"Satotz didn't announce it because it's part of the test."



The man gritted his teeth and surged forward, spending what remained of his strength.



The notification rang for the fifth time.



[Deception Registered.]



[Nen Points +1]



[Experience Points +1]



Tonpa quickly opened his status.



[Nen Points: 5]



[Experience: 15/100]



Nearly an hour had passed since he unlocked the lottery.



An entire hour of searching, maneuvering, and enduring insults had earned him only five points. Worse, the situation grew more difficult with every attempt. Each person he deceived became another source of warning, while every veteran applicant spread his reputation among the rookies faster than he could reach them.



He dismissed the interface irritably.



'This method isn't practical.'



The situation was becoming clear, and he did not like it.



Weak targets were easy to deceive, but they offered very little. Stronger and more intelligent targets could provide more points, yet deceiving them was far more difficult—and the consequences of failure could be painful. If he relied on deceiving one person for every point, he would need one hundred victims for a single spin that might reward him with nothing more than an "item of limited utility."



This was not a plan.



It was a full-time job where the employee paid the employer.



'Collecting points this way will take forever. With Tonpa's reputation, the exam might end before I even reach twenty.'



He needed a better method—either a deception that did not target only one person at a time or a high-value target from whom he could extract a large number of points in one go. However, executing a larger deception in the middle of the Hunter Exam would require preparation, information, and the right opportunity.



More importantly, it required him to stay alive.



Tonpa forced his body to keep running as some of the applicants at the rear began slowing down. Ahead of him, Satotz continued moving as if the distance meant nothing, while Gon and Killua ran with an ease that was frankly irritating.



Tonpa was considering alternative targets when a sharp sound rang inside his head.



[Warning!]



His carefully maintained smile froze.



[Potential Hostile Interest Detected.]



[A high-threat individual is observing the host.]



Cold sweat gathered at the back of his neck.



He did not turn immediately. He continued running, maintaining his pace and expression as best he could while his eyes slowly moved toward the edge of his vision.



Someone really was watching him.



And before Tonpa even knew who it was, he felt certain that the worst thing he could do now was let them notice his fear.

 

[Lewdhandholding]

Surprised he went for the gacha immediately. Also, thanks for the early chapter, OP.

 

[Boumargood]

Chapter 4 : Four Impossible Targets

Someone really was watching him.

Tonpa didn't need to turn around to know where the gaze was coming from. He could feel it over his left shoulder, steady amid the movement of hundreds of applicants, as though its owner wasn't watching him so much as waiting for him to do something interesting.

He maintained his pace and kept his breathing as steady as he could. Ahead of him, part of the crowd was reflected in a metal panel bolted to the tunnel wall. Scratches warped the image, but it revealed enough.

Red hair.

A pale face.

And a playing card spinning between long fingers.

Tonpa's stomach clenched.

'Hisoka.'

The magician ran effortlessly, completely unaffected by the distance the group had covered. His usual wide grin was absent, replaced by a slight curl at the corner of his lips. His eyes, however, were fixed directly on Tonpa.

For a moment, their gazes met through the reflection.

Hisoka's smile widened slightly.

Tonpa looked away at once, but he neither accelerated nor slowed down. Any sudden change might confirm that he had noticed the scrutiny, and showing fear in front of a predator wasn't much different from bleeding in the middle of the ocean.

'Why is he looking at me?'

He reviewed everything he had done over the past few minutes. He had approached several applicants, moved between groups, and whispered different pieces of advice until people either drove him away or warned others about him. Perhaps his movements had looked suspicious, or perhaps Hisoka had sensed that something about Tonpa had changed.

The worst possibility was that the magician hadn't needed a reason at all.

Hisoka was the kind of person who might kill you because he found you interesting—and might kill you because he decided you weren't interesting enough. There was no correct answer when dealing with him. The game was already lost from the moment he chose to look at you.

Tonpa gradually drifted toward the right side of the tunnel, using the jostling applicants as cover. He didn't immediately plunge into the thick of the crowd. Instead, he moved from one opening to another until two burly men and a cluster of runners stood between him and Hisoka.

Nearly a minute passed before he dared to check the next metal panel.

He could no longer see the magician.

That offered little comfort. Hisoka disappearing from view didn't mean he had stopped watching. It only meant Tonpa no longer knew where he was.

'Wonderful. Out of hundreds of applicants, I've managed to catch the attention of the one man who can turn boredom into a funeral.'

Tonpa continued running within the crowd, keeping his head slightly lowered. He had to stop behaving as though he were searching for victims. Nen points wouldn't help him if his head ended up separated from his body before he had the chance to spend them.

Easy targets had become scarce, and Tonpa's reputation was spreading among the applicants faster than he could run. Persisting with the same tricks wouldn't be ambition. It would be stupidity.

And a con man who reused an exposed trick didn't even deserve to be caught.

'I need to watch more and move less. No random lies, and no drawing attention I don't need.'

A familiar chime rang inside his head.

[Ding!]

Tonpa nearly cursed aloud, but settled for clenching his jaw.

'What now? Has Hisoka decided to kill me, and the system is giving me three minutes to write my will?'

A blue window appeared at the edge of his vision.

[A new side quest has been generated.]

The system's timing did not bode well. So far, it had never sent him a notification that ended with good news.

He opened the quest cautiously.

[Side Quest: The Protagonists' Trust.]

[Description: Earn the trust of the main characters during the Hunter Exam.]

[Required Objectives:]

[Gon Freecss: Required Trust Level — 20%]

[Killua Zoldyck: Required Trust Level — 20%]

[Kurapika: Required Trust Level — 20%]

[Leorio: Required Trust Level — 20%]

[Time Limit: Before the end of the Hunter Exam.]

[Penalty for Failure: Forced transportation to the Dark Continent.]

Tonpa lost his rhythm for a moment, and his foot nearly clipped the heel of the man ahead of him. He quickly regained his balance, then read the quest again, hoping that oxygen deprivation had somehow tampered with his eyesight.

The words remained unchanged.

He raised his gaze toward the front of the crowd. The four of them weren't difficult to find. Gon and Killua ran lightly, as though they were out for a casual stroll, while Kurapika maintained a steady pace beside them. Leorio, meanwhile, was putting far more effort into concealing his exhaustion.

Four targets.

And he had to make every one of them trust him.

'This isn't a test. It's a demand to rebuild a house after its owner burned it down and handed the ashes out to the neighbors.'

Asnos had arrived in Tonpa's body immediately after the juice incident. The Rookie Crusher had offered the group cans of juice laced with laxatives, only for Killua to see through the trick effortlessly.

So Tonpa wasn't starting from zero with them.

He was starting below zero, with the rest of the evidence still sitting inside his bag.

His gaze settled on Gon's name.

The boy was friendly by nature, but he possessed an irritatingly sharp instinct when it came to other people's intentions. He might be the most willing of the four to forgive a former enemy, but gaining his trust through deception would not be simple.

Then his eyes moved to Killua.

A child of the Zoldyck family. A trained assassin who had identified the laxatives by taste and remained completely unaffected by them.

Trying to deceive him directly would be like attempting to steal someone's wallet while they held a knife against your wrist.

Kurapika was calm, highly observant, and unwilling to give his trust easily. He would analyze any sudden change in Tonpa's behavior and likely conclude that there was an ulterior motive behind it—even if he couldn't determine what that motive was.

As for Leorio...

Tonpa remembered his short temper and the look he had given him after the juice trick was exposed.

'At least I won't have to guess whether he hates me. He'll tell the entire tunnel.'

Another window appeared.

[Current Trust Levels:]

[Gon Freecss: 0%]

[Killua Zoldyck: 0%]

[Kurapika: 0%]

[Leorio: 0%]

Tonpa stared at the four zeros.

The result wasn't surprising, but seeing the system display it so bluntly still felt insulting. Surely, by sheer accident, at least one random lunatic should have trusted him by one percent.

He tried to dismiss the window, but it remained in front of him.

'And what exactly counts as trust? Is it enough that they don't expect me to poison them?'

[Trust reflects the extent to which the target relies upon the host and believes the host's intentions to be genuine.]

It was the first direct answer the system had given him, and it only made him hate the quest even more.

Believing his intentions?

Even Tonpa didn't trust his own intentions until he knew what he stood to gain from them.

'And why these four specifically?'

The system offered no answer.

'What happens if one of them dies before I reach twenty percent?'

Silence persisted.

The question probably didn't matter. His knowledge of the original events told him that all four would survive, but his presence here could change the details. Simply being forced to approach them might create consequences that had never occurred in the anime.

And being forcibly transported to the Dark Continent wasn't some vague threat he could afford to ignore. He knew enough about that place to understand that appearing there in his current condition wouldn't be called transportation.

It would be food delivery.

Frustration began building behind Tonpa's eyes. A short while ago, his greatest problem had been gathering one hundred Nen points for a single draw. Before that, he had needed to pass the Hunter Exam to avoid being thrown into the Dark Continent. Above all of that, the main countdown still demanded that he become the strongest Hunter and conquer the continent itself within five years.

Every time he began to understand one of his problems, the system dropped another on top of it.

Even so, he didn't allow his frustration to turn into panic. The quest didn't demand genuine friendship. It only required twenty percent.

That was a relatively low number, and it could be manufactured if he chose the right moment. Trust wasn't some sacred emotion. It was an impression shaped by carefully chosen words, assistance offered at the perfect time, and danger that appeared to be shared.

He didn't need to become a better person.

He only needed to convince them that he had.

But first, he needed to understand what each of them wanted, what they feared, and what kind of image of Tonpa they might be willing to accept. Apologizing now would appear cheap, while approaching them immediately after his other scams had failed would only make them more suspicious.

He needed a crisis.

Something that would allow him to offer help they couldn't ignore, then convert that usefulness into trust.

Tonpa moved slightly farther ahead among the runners, making sure several bodies remained between him and Hisoka. In the distance, he saw Gon laughing at something Killua had said while Leorio protested loudly.

Four targets who already knew he was a con man.

A mysterious predator watching him from behind.

And a system that threatened him with the Dark Continent whenever it decided his life wasn't miserable enough.

Tonpa's old, friendly smile spread across his face, while his eyes remained cold.

'This system isn't trying to help me survive.'

He watched the group ahead and began searching for the first opening he could exploit.

'It's trying to find the most entertaining way to kill me.'

 

[Boumargood]

Chapter 5 : Zero Percent


Tonpa watched the group ahead of him and began considering the first opening he could exploit.

He did not expect his first attempt to succeed. In fact, he was certain that a sudden apology after trying to poison them would look like yet another trick. But keeping his distance would teach him nothing. He needed to find out just how bad his position was and how each of them responded to words they did not trust.

A failed attempt was not a loss if he learned something from it.

'Let's start with the easiest one.'

He chose Gon.

Of the four, the boy was the most willing to speak with strangers and probably the most likely to give someone a second chance. The problem was that his simplicity was not stupidity. Gon possessed an almost animalistic instinct for malicious intent, and it was difficult to deceive someone who did not need to understand a lie to sense that something about it was wrong.

Tonpa gradually increased his pace until he caught up with the group. He did not approach Gon directly. Instead, he ran beside them for several seconds, pretending that his presence nearby was nothing more than a coincidence.

Killua was the first to notice him. His blue eyes moved to the bag of juice, then to Tonpa's face, before a faint smile appeared on his lips.

It was not a welcoming smile.

Gon turned next and said, "Hello, Tonpa."

Tonpa heard no hostility in his voice, but the small window that appeared before his eyes ruined any optimism he might have felt.

[Gon Freecss — Trust: 0%]

He maintained his friendly smile.

"About what happened at the beginning of the exam... I think you misunderstood the situation."

Killua fell silent, and his smile widened.

Tonpa recognized his mistake the moment the words left his mouth. It was a terrible opening. An apology that began by accusing the other person of misunderstanding was not an apology. It was merely a polite attempt to sell the same lie again.

Still, he continued the performance.

"I admit the joke went a little too far. I've spent years testing new applicants, and sometimes I forget that it can look worse than I intend. In any case, I've decided to stop doing it."

Gon looked at him as they ran, his expression free of anger. That was better than Tonpa had expected—until the boy tilted his head and asked, "Are you really sorry?"

"Of course."

A short chime rang out.

[Persuasion Failed.]

[Gon Freecss does not believe you.]

Another notification followed, this one more specific.

[Gon Freecss knows you are lying about your remorse.]

Tonpa's smile nearly stiffened.

Gon could not have produced any proof that he was lying, but he did not need any. The boy stared at him for a few moments before speaking with an honesty devoid of accusation.

"I don't know... Your words sound right, but you don't look sorry."

'What an irritating talent.'

Tonpa could imitate a remorseful expression and use the proper tone, but Gon did not judge the performance the way an adult would. He seemed to sense the contradiction between the words and what lay behind them directly.

Tonpa offered him a regretful smile.

"I understand your doubts. I only wanted to clear things up."

He dropped back slightly, committing the result to memory. Gon was not hostile, but he had not accepted the claim. Pressing him any further would make him wary rather than earn Tonpa any trust.

He moved on to the second target.

Killua was still watching him with open amusement, as though he were waiting for his turn in the show.

Tonpa said, "I have to admit, you surprised me. No one has ever drunk that juice without being affected."

"I drank five bottles."

"That's exactly what I mean. You figured out the trick quickly and ruined it before the others could drink too much. I didn't expect that."

The compliment was genuine. Killua was strong and intelligent, and acknowledging his ability might make him more willing to listen.

The window appeared.

[Persuasion Attempt in Progress...]

Killua raised an eyebrow, then pointed at the bag hanging from Tonpa's side.

"You said you'd turned over a new leaf, right?"

"That's right."

"Then why are you still carrying the juice?"

Gon's gaze shifted to the bag as well.

Tonpa suddenly felt the bottles grow heavier. He could throw them away, but discarding a useful tool merely to improve a performance that had already failed would be wasteful. He might need the liquid later, whether to use against another applicant or for some purpose that had yet to present itself.

After a moment, he answered, "Littering inside the tunnel would be irresponsible."

Killua burst out laughing.

"You were ready to make hundreds of people take turns in the bathroom, but littering is where you draw the line?"

[Persuasion Failed.]

[Killua Zoldyck does not believe you.]

[Killua Zoldyck believes you are choosing your words to conceal your true objective.]

'At least it didn't say I'm bad at lying.'

Another message appeared.

[Killua Zoldyck finds your attempt amusing.]

[Trust Level: 0%]

Any small comfort the report might have offered vanished. Killua was enjoying his failure, not him.

Tonpa turned toward Kurapika. He needed to change his approach. Pretending to be remorseful had failed, and his attempt at flattery had been recognized immediately. So he chose partial honesty instead.

"I'm not asking you to forget about the juice. I only want us to put it behind us. This exam will be long, and having an experienced applicant on your side could prove useful."

Kurapika regarded him calmly. There was none of Killua's mockery on his face, which did little to reassure Tonpa. Quiet people forced you to keep talking, and every additional sentence gave them something else to analyze.

Tonpa continued, "I've taken the Hunter Exam many times, and I'm familiar with all kinds of examiners and applicants. I can warn you about certain dangers in exchange for a fresh start."

"Then your apology wasn't an apology."

Kurapika maintained his pace as he spoke, never raising his voice.

"You approached Gon first because you believed he would be the most receptive. Then you tried to win Killua over with praise. When that failed, you offered us information in exchange for overlooking your actions. You're not trying to make amends. You're testing which approach might work on us."

Tonpa's expression did not change, but something inside him shrank.

[Purpose of the Conversation Detected.]

[Persuasion Failed.]

[Kurapika does not trust you.]

[Kurapika has become more wary of your motives.]

The third attempt was worse than a failure. Kurapika had not merely remained at zero; he had become more alert to Tonpa's actions.

'Wonderful. A few more sentences and he'll write a complete psychological profile on me.'

Tonpa did not argue. Arguing with an accurate conclusion would only confirm it. He nodded as though he respected Kurapika's opinion, then turned his attention to the final person.

Leorio was running a few steps away and had heard the entire conversation. Fatigue showed on his face, but it did not stop him from directing a sharp glare at Tonpa when he approached.

Tonpa opened his mouth.

"Listen, Leorio—"

"No."

Tonpa waited a moment.

"I haven't said anything yet."

"And I'm saving you the effort."

Leorio pointed at the bag while panting.

"Stay away from me—and keep your juice with you. If you try to trick us again, I'll make you drink every last bottle."

[Persuasion Failed.]

[Leorio does not trust you.]

Tonpa did not need the System to interpret that one. Leorio had made sure half the tunnel heard his opinion.

Tonpa dropped back from the group, ignoring Killua's quiet laughter. None of them followed or tried to continue the conversation, allowing him to return to his previous position between them and the rest of the crowd.

He summoned the quest interface.

[Gon Freecss: 0%/20%]

[Killua Zoldyck: 0%/20%]

[Kurapika: 0%/20%]

[Leorio: 0%/20%]

Four perfect zeroes.

'If these were exam scores, I'd at least earn full marks for consistency.'

The result was not unexpected, but it proved that the quest was harder than it had appeared. He did not merely need to accumulate eighty percent trust. He had to build it on top of a reputation that had been cultivated for years specifically to prevent that from happening.

He looked toward the distant end of the tunnel, but saw nothing except more pale light and moving backs. Somewhere beyond that path, the rest of the Hunter Exam awaited him. If he reached its end without completing the quest, the System would transport him to the Dark Continent.

A body with F- and E-rank stats, unawakened Nen, and a destination whose outskirts were filled with creatures that treated even the strongest Hunters as prey.

'I wouldn't survive long enough to regret it.'

He dismissed the quest interface and forced himself to think calmly. His failed apology was not the problem; he had expected it to fail. What mattered was why.

They did not believe him because his words cost him nothing. Apologies were free. Promises were free. Even the information he had offered could have been false. No matter how convincing his performance became, every sentence that left Tonpa's mouth would remain suspect.

Trust was not built through what a con artist said about himself.

It was built through what the target witnessed and concluded on their own.

He needed an action that benefited them, appeared costly to him, and left no simple explanation for his motives. If that action occurred amid genuine danger, it would carry more weight than dozens of apologies.

A faint smile began to form on his face.

He did not need to wait for danger to appear at random. He knew the events of the Hunter Exam—or at least the important ones. He remembered some of its traps, creatures, and the situations the main characters would encounter.

All he needed was to choose the right moment and place himself where it would look as though he had risked himself for them.

'I won't convince them that I've changed.'

He raised his eyes toward the four figures ahead and began rearranging everything he remembered about the exam.

'I'll give them evidence that makes doubting me harder than believing me.'

He did not need to create the danger.

It was already coming for them.

All he had to do was receive it the right way.

 

[Lewdhandholding]

'I'll give them evidence that makes doubting me harder than believing me.'

Click to shrink...

There you go. Give them tidbits of truth of immediate future events to rebuild the rep.

 

[Boumargood]

Chapter 6: A Calculated Sacrifice


He did not need to create the danger.

It was already coming for them.

All he had to do was receive it the right way.

Tonpa went over everything he remembered about the Hunter Exam, trying to arrange the events he had watched years ago. His memory was far from perfect, but he knew the major developments, the characters who would appear, and several of the traps awaiting them.

He possessed advance knowledge of the future, yet he had spent the first few hours after his transmigration handing out lies to random applicants in exchange for one or two points at a time.

'I had been holding a treasure map and using it as a fan.'

He did not need to deceive people stronger than him directly. He could choose the place, the timing, and the danger involved, then arrange his actions so that the others reached the conclusion he wanted on their own.

Trust did not require honesty.

It only required convincing evidence.

He continued running as he rebuilt his plan, but the growing pain in his legs forced him to postpone the details. His chest rose and fell violently, and beads of sweat ran from his temples down his neck. Despite that, his body maintained a steady rhythm that surprised him.

He was far from comfortable, but he was not on the verge of collapse either.

Tonpa glanced down at his stomach as it bounced with every step, then called up the relevant stat in his mind.

[Endurance: E]

He had mocked the rank at first, but he was beginning to reconsider its value. The original Tonpa had attempted the Hunter Exam more than thirty times and reached the later phases during several of those attempts. He had never passed, but repeating the exam for so many years had clearly left its mark on his body.

'He never learned how to win, but he mastered surviving long enough to ruin everyone else's victory.'

It was a strange kind of competence, but it was still more than Asnos had possessed in his previous life. Years spent working behind a screen had not prepared him to run dozens of kilometers, while Tonpa had devoted his life to chasing rookies through exams designed to break ordinary humans.

Time crawled inside the tunnel, and the thunder of footsteps gradually thinned. Some applicants slowed until they disappeared behind the group. Others sat against the walls after losing the strength to continue. Satotz never looked back or adjusted his pace for anyone.

Gon and Killua remained near the front as though the distance meant nothing to them. Kurapika and Leorio had fallen back slightly, though they had not become completely separated from the others.

Tonpa made sure to remain in the middle of the pack. He did not approach the group again, nor did he attempt to deceive anyone else. After his previous failure and Hisoka's attention, pretending to be an ordinary applicant seemed like the safest investment available.

After an amount of time he could no longer estimate, a faint change appeared at the end of the tunnel.

Several applicants raised their heads as a thin gray strip stretched out before them. The light gradually widened until it revealed a massive exit, prompting cries of relief from the runners. Their footsteps quickened, as if merely seeing the end had breathed life back into their exhausted bodies.

Tonpa did not share their enthusiasm.

He knew the tunnel had only been the safe part.

He passed through the exit with the remaining applicants, and damp air struck his face. A vast expanse of shallow water and dense grass stretched out before him, broken by twisted trees and exposed roots. White fog covered the edges of the wetlands, hiding everything beyond the first few layers of vegetation.

Satotz finally stopped.

The applicants spread out behind him. Some bent over with their hands on their knees, while others dropped into the mud without caring where they landed. Tonpa remained standing despite his legs' strong desire to join the second group.

Satotz turned toward them and spoke in his usual calm voice.

"The region ahead is known as the Numere Wetlands. Veteran applicants often call it the Swindlers' Swamp."

Uneasy murmurs passed through the crowd.

Satotz gestured toward the fog behind him.

"The creatures living here rely on deception to hunt. Some imitate human voices, while others mislead their prey about their appearance or location. If you become separated from me and blindly trust what you see or hear, you will not leave these wetlands alive."

Tonpa felt several people glance in his direction at the mention of swindlers.

He ignored them.

'Finally, a place with a respectable name.'

Satotz continued his warning, instructing them to remain close and not allow themselves to be lured away by any voices they heard. He was about to resume moving when a rough voice came from the rear of the crowd.

"Don't believe him!"

Everyone turned.

An injured man forced his way between the applicants, dragging the body of a long-limbed black creature behind him. Scratches covered his face and arms, and his breathing came in ragged gasps. Nevertheless, he pointed at Satotz with absolute confidence.

"That man isn't the real examiner. He's one of the creatures from the wetlands!"

Whispers spread rapidly. The man lifted the creature's corpse for everyone to see, revealing a distorted face that looked like a grotesque mixture of ape and human.

"This is a Man-Faced Ape. They can imitate human appearances and voices, then lure applicants into the wetlands so the other creatures can devour them. This one attacked me when I discovered their plan."

Several applicants' eyes widened, while others began backing away from Satotz.

"If he's telling the truth, where's the real examiner?" someone asked.

The injured man answered immediately.

"I'm the examiner assigned to the first phase."

Doubt stirred throughout the crowd. Satotz made no attempt to defend himself and merely regarded the man in silence.

Tonpa, however, was watching neither of them.

He was searching for Hisoka.

Tonpa found him a short distance to the right, standing among the applicants with an uninterested expression. Several playing cards had appeared between his fingers, though Tonpa had not seen him draw them.

'Here we go.'

Hisoka flicked his wrist.

Almost no one noticed the motion before the cards sliced through the air with a sharp whistle. Half flew toward Satotz, while the others shot toward the injured man.

Satotz raised his hands and caught the cards between his fingers before they touched his face.

The other man failed to do the same.

The cards pierced his neck and face. His voice died in his throat, turning into a strangled gasp. He stumbled backward two steps before collapsing onto his back as terrified cries erupted from the applicants around him.

A moment later, the corpse he had been dragging twitched.

The black creature sprang to its feet and rushed toward its fallen companion. As the deception faded, the dead man's features began to distort, revealing another face similar to those of the apes inhabiting the wetlands.

The surviving creature released a shrill cry, lifted its companion, and disappeared into the fog.

A heavy silence followed.

Hisoka turned toward Satotz, ignoring the fear surrounding him.

"It seems you're the real examiner after all."

Satotz held up one of the cards he had caught.

"And what led you to that conclusion?"

A faint smile touched Hisoka's lips.

"The examiners are Hunters chosen by the Association. It would be difficult to believe that a real Hunter couldn't stop a simple attack like that."

His voice remained calm, as if he had not killed a creature disguised as a human only moments earlier.

Satotz studied him for a long moment before allowing the cards to fall from his hands.

"I'll regard what you did as a method of verification this time. But if you direct another attack at me, I'll consider it an assault on an examiner, and you'll be disqualified immediately."

Hisoka raised his hands in lazy surrender.

"Understood."

Tonpa watched the body disappear into the fog and felt a sense of relief he had not expected. In any sane world, watching someone get killed with playing cards should have made him more anxious.

Here, it served as reassuring proof that events were still following the course he remembered.

'Wonderful. The murder happened right on schedule.'

It did not guarantee that the future would remain unchanged, but it meant his presence had not destroyed the sequence yet. As long as the major events stayed the same, his knowledge would retain its value.

Satotz turned toward the wetlands.

"We will now resume the first phase. Stay close to me."

He set off once more, and the remaining applicants followed him into the dense vegetation.

The fog did not take long to swallow them. The distant trees vanished first, followed by the edges of the crowd. The sound of footsteps became distorted, seeming to come from several directions at once, while the cries of unseen creatures rose from among the branches.

Tonpa accelerated until he caught up with Gon and Killua.

Killua noticed him immediately and glanced at him from the corner of his eye.

"You're following us."

Tonpa tried to steady his breathing before answering.

"The examiner told us not to get separated. You two happen to be the fastest people ahead of me."

"You could run beside someone else."

"I could, but most of them don't know where they're going."

Gon looked at the surrounding fog, then back at Tonpa.

"Do you know?"

"No. That's why I'm following you."

The answer was honest enough that Gon did not object, while Killua made a quiet sound that still carried plenty of suspicion.

"Keep the juice inside your bag."

"I wasn't planning to offer you any."

'Not in the usual way, at least.'

The three continued running. Every so often, Gon guided them using Satotz's voice or scent, while Tonpa made sure to remain close. The sounds of the other applicants gradually scattered, and he could no longer see Kurapika or Leorio behind them.

Then he noticed the sign he had been waiting for.

A circular patch of ground lay slightly lower than its surroundings, covered by a thin layer of mud and grass. It was not an actual pit. It was the mouth of a massive creature that had buried itself beneath the wetlands and left its jaws open while waiting for prey.

Gon and Killua were heading directly toward it.

Tonpa slipped one hand into his bag and closed his fingers around one of the orange bottles.

'There you are.'

His timing needed to be precise. If he warned them too early, they would simply leap over the trap, and his actions would look like nothing more than another piece of advice. If he moved too late, all three of them would end up inside the creature's stomach without anyone witnessing him save them.

Gon stepped onto the edge of the circular patch.

The ground trembled beneath him.

Killua's eyes widened as he recognized the danger at the same moment, but the buried jaws had already begun to close. The mud split apart, revealing a dark maw beneath it and a broad tongue surging toward them.

Tonpa moved.

He could have pushed them away in silence, but what was the value of a sacrifice if the people involved did not hear about it?

"Waaatch ooout!"

His shout came out louder and more terrified than the situation strictly required. It was hardly the right moment for a polished performance, but volume was free, and good impressions were rare.

Tonpa drove his exhausted body forward with everything he had left. His shoulder slammed into Gon's back while his other arm reached for Killua. The two boys were knocked away from the trap's edge, one to the right and the other to the left.

Tonpa's momentum carried him forward.

Gon twisted around in midair, shock written across his face.

"Tonpa!"

Tonpa watched the jaws rise around him and smelled the foul, damp odor pouring from the creature's throat. For one brief moment, he wondered whether he had placed too much faith in his memory.

'Trust needed a price.'

His fingers tightened around the bottle of juice.

'Fortunately, I intend to get it back.'

The frog closed its mouth around him, and Tonpa vanished between its jaws before the creature sank beneath the mud once more.

He slid down a slimy throat before dropping into a warm, foul-smelling darkness that made his eyes water. The muscular walls shifted around him, and burning liquid began gathering beneath his feet.

Tonpa raised the orange bottle he had managed to bring with him and felt for its cap with his thumb.

'All right...'

He began unscrewing it as the frog's stomach contracted around him.

'Let's see how well you handle laxatives.'

 

[Lewdhandholding]

Very ballsy.

 

[Boumargood]

Chapter 7: Heroism for Hire

The walls of the stomach convulsed around Tonpa, and the burning fluid rose until it covered the soles of his shoes. He was about to open the bottle when a blue light appeared before his eyes.

[A change has been detected in the emotions of a quest target.]

[Gon Freecss is worried about the host.]

A second notification followed.

[Killua Zoldyck is confused by the host's actions.]

Tonpa tucked the bottle beneath his arm and wiped the slime from his eyes. The word "worried" sounded far better than he had expected, especially after the four perfect zeroes the system had given him following his previous attempts.

The corner of his mouth rose.

'The plan is starting to work.'

The stomach suddenly contracted, slamming a mass of wet flesh into his back and nearly knocking him into the fluid.

His smile vanished.

'We can celebrate after I leave the digestive system.'

A muffled voice reached him from outside, barely recognizable.

"Tonpa!"

It was Gon calling him.

Another disturbance followed, along with a few broken words from Killua that Tonpa couldn't make out. Perhaps Killua was stopping Gon from approaching the trap, or trying to figure out how to get him out. Either way, they needed to remain outside and witness what happened next.

Tonpa twisted the cap open with his teeth, then poured the orange liquid into the stomach. He didn't stop with one bottle. He pulled out a second and emptied that as well.

The amount had been prepared to ruin the day of an entire group of applicants.

It was time to find out what it would do to one very large digestive system.

Nothing happened during the first few seconds.

Tonpa stared at the two empty bottles while the burning fluid began seeping through his trousers and biting into his skin.

'Don't tell me I threw myself into a frog that's immune to laxatives.'

A deep rumble came from somewhere beneath him.

The floor of the stomach spasmed, then contracted so violently that the walls pressed against his body. Tonpa lost his balance and dropped to his knees before a powerful muscular convulsion hurled him backward.

The rumbling grew louder, turning into a violent roar. The frog's entire body shook, and the fluid around Tonpa rushed in a single direction. He felt himself being lifted and dragged back through the narrow passage he had fallen through.

His shoulder struck the wall of its throat.

Then he shot outside in a wave of slime and orange digestive fluid.

He saw nothing but fog before hitting the ground and rolling across the mud. He came to a stop on his back, coughing violently as his lungs tried to remember that air was not supposed to smell like the inside of a frog's stomach.

Violent retching erupted behind him. The enormous creature leaped out of its hiding place, its swollen body convulsing before it vomited out everything left in its stomach. It then bounded away through the grass in a panic, as though it had decided that certain prey simply wasn't worth the trouble.

Rapid footsteps approached.

"Tonpa!"

Gon appeared above him, then dropped to one knee and reached for his shoulder. The concern in his eyes was obvious, and he looked ready to carry Tonpa himself if he couldn't stand.

Killua remained a short distance behind him. His concern wasn't as visible as Gon's, but his narrowed blue eyes moved between Tonpa and the empty bottles scattered nearby.

Tonpa remained on the ground and made no immediate attempt to rise.

His shoulder genuinely hurt, his skin burned, and his breathing was still uneven. The injury he intended to show them wasn't entirely fabricated. He only needed to give the right parts a little more attention.

He slowly opened his eyes.

"I'm... fine."

His voice came out hoarse from the digestive fluid that had entered his throat, sparing him the effort of acting out that part.

Gon spoke quickly.

"You don't look fine. Can you move?"

Tonpa tried to push himself up on one elbow. He allowed his arm to tremble before collapsing again.

He could probably stand, but succeeding now would be terrible stage management.

"I'll need a minute."

Gon looked toward the place where the frog had disappeared, then turned back to him.

"Why did you do that? You could've died!"

Tonpa didn't answer immediately. He lowered his eyes as though he found it difficult to face the boy, then spoke.

"After what I did to you at the beginning of the exam... I couldn't just stand there and watch the two of you fall."

Gon watched him silently, so Tonpa continued in a halting voice.

"I know my apology wasn't convincing. Maybe because words don't mean much after everything I've done over the years. I just thought... this might be my chance to atone for some of it."

The performance was carefully measured. He didn't exaggerate his remorse or claim to have become a completely different person overnight. Gon had rejected his previous apology because he hadn't sensed any sincerity behind it, so this time Tonpa gave him something stronger than words: real danger, visible pain, and a simple explanation the boy could believe.

A chime rang inside his head.

[Deception Registered.]

[Gon Freecss believed that the host risked his life out of remorse.]

[Gon Freecss — Trust Level increased from 0% to 3%.]

Tonpa nearly let his expression betray him.

'Only three percent?'

He had entered the stomach of a giant frog, covered himself in its digestive fluids, and sacrificed two bottles from his supply—all for three points out of twenty.

'At this rate, I'll need to be digested twice.'

He concealed his dissatisfaction behind a violent coughing fit, but Killua never took his eyes off him.

"You already had the juice in your hand before it swallowed you," the white-haired boy said.

Gon paused, then looked at the empty bottles.

Killua continued.

"You didn't jump in without a plan. You knew the laxative would make the frog throw you up, didn't you?"

Tonpa didn't deny it. Denying a detail Killua had clearly noticed would only turn suspicion into certainty.

"I noticed the trap a moment before it closed and remembered the juice. I wasn't sure it would work, but it was the only chance I had."

"And you still decided to be the one who got swallowed?"

Tonpa looked up at him. Killua's tone wasn't mocking this time. It was cautious, as though he were trying to fit together two pieces that didn't belong in the same picture.

"One of us was going to end up in its mouth. I preferred it to be the person who had a way out."

The window flashed again.

[Killua Zoldyck did not fully believe the host's explanation.]

[Trust Level unchanged.]

[Killua Zoldyck — Trust Level: 0%.]

An additional line appeared a moment later.

[Target State: Confusion.]

'That's fine.'

Confusion wasn't trust, but it was better than certainty that Tonpa was nothing more than a con artist. He had forced Killua to reconsider his previous judgment, and the first step in any successful con was making the mark question what he thought he knew.

Another notification appeared.

[A main character has been successfully deceived.]

[The target's strength, importance, and the difficulty of the deception have been factored in.]

[Reward: 30 Nen Points.]

[30 Experience Points gained.]

Tonpa felt his pulse quicken.

Thirty points from a single deception.

Previously, he had needed an entire group of rookies just to gather ten points. Convincing Gon of one false motive had earned him three times that amount, along with an equal amount of experience.

[Nen Points: 30]

[Experience: 30/100]

'Finally, a payout worth the smell.'

He didn't allow his delight to show. He tightened his expression as though the pain had worsened, then sat up with Gon's help.

"You should come with us," Gon said. "We can help you until we catch up with Satotz."

Tonpa slowly shook his head.

"You'll only slow down because of me."

"That's fine. We're not leaving you here."

Gon's insistence was useful, but staying with them now might weaken the impression he had created. Tonpa needed to cement the image of a man who had risked his life and then refused to become a burden. He also needed a few moments away from them so he could spend his points without being watched.

He looked into the fog behind them.

"Kurapika and Leorio were behind us when we entered the swamp. They may have become separated from the group."

Gon's expression changed immediately.

Tonpa seized the opportunity.

"Go and look for them. I know which direction Satotz went, and I'll catch up after I've caught my breath."

Killua cut in.

"A moment ago, you said you didn't know the way. That was why you were following us."

The boy caught contradictions the way other people picked up stones.

Tonpa answered without hesitation.

"I couldn't see anything earlier because of the crowd. But Satotz is leaving clear tracks in the mud now, and most of the applicants went in the same direction."

Killua glanced down. The dense trail of footprints was indeed visible, even if the fog concealed where it led.

The suspicion remained on his face, but he didn't object.

"Are you sure you can walk?" Gon asked.

Tonpa pushed himself to his feet, deliberately staggering on his first step before regaining his balance.

"I've faced worse in previous exams. Go before they get any farther away."

Gon hesitated for a moment, then nodded.

"All right. I'll look for Leorio, and Killua will search for Kurapika. If we can't find them, we'll head to the site of the Second Phase. They may have already reached it before us. Don't be late."

Gon and Killua moved into the fog. After several steps, they split up and headed in different directions. Killua glanced back once before disappearing and found Tonpa still standing where they had left him, one hand pressed against his shoulder.

Tonpa waited until the sound of their footsteps had completely faded.

Only then did he straighten and wipe the exhausted expression from his face. The pain wasn't fake, but it became far more tolerable once there was no longer an audience to convince.

He opened his status window.

[Strength: F] [Upgrade Cost: 10 Nen Points]

[Speed: F] [Upgrade Cost: 10 Nen Points]

[Flexibility: F] [Upgrade Cost: 10 Nen Points]

[Endurance: E] [Upgrade Cost: 100 Nen Points]

[Intelligence: E] [Upgrade Cost: 100 Nen Points]

He couldn't raise his Endurance or Intelligence, and he didn't have enough points for a draw from the Hunter Lottery. The three weaker stats, however, would cost exactly his current balance.

'Upgrade three weaknesses to an acceptable level, or save the money until something faster than me kills me.'

The decision didn't take long.

He selected Strength, Speed, and Flexibility.

[Would you like to spend 30 Nen Points to upgrade the selected stats?]

[Yes/No]

He selected Yes.

[30 Nen Points deducted.]

[Strength: F → E]

[Speed: F → E]

[Flexibility: F → E]

A sudden heat swept through his muscles. Pain tightened around his arms and legs before spreading through his joints and spine. Tonpa bent forward, gritting his teeth, only for the sensation to vanish as quickly as it had appeared.

He cautiously moved his injured shoulder. The pain remained, but his body responded more easily. He bent his knees, then dashed two steps through the mud. He hadn't transformed into a superhuman fighter, but his movements were lighter, his balance had improved, and the strength in his legs was noticeably greater.

He summoned his updated stats.

[Strength: E] [Upgrade Cost: 100 Nen Points]

[Speed: E] [Upgrade Cost: 100 Nen Points]

[Flexibility: E] [Upgrade Cost: 100 Nen Points]

[Endurance: E] [Upgrade Cost: 100 Nen Points]

[Intelligence: E] [Upgrade Cost: 100 Nen Points]

[Nen Points: 0]

[Experience: 30/100]

For the first time, none of his physical stats were ranked F.

'Wonderful. I've advanced from a walking funeral to an average man.'

Even so, the improvement was real. A single deception had raised three stats and given him nearly a third of the experience needed for his next level. If deceiving the main characters was this valuable, gathering a hundred points for the Hunter Lottery no longer seemed impossible.

He closed the window, then looked at the footprints Gon and Killua had left in the mud. He could follow Satotz directly as he had promised, but that would waste a far more valuable opportunity.

Gon had given him his first three percent.

Killua had begun to question his earlier judgment.

And the plan wasn't finished yet.

He waited a few more seconds, then set off after their tracks from a safe distance. His newly enhanced steps were quicker and lighter, while the fog helped conceal his presence.

A devious smile spread across his face as he disappeared between the trees.

'I bought the first three percent with my body.'

He secured his bag and continued following Gon's trail.

'Now it's time to make the others pay for the rest.'

 

[Lewdhandholding]

I thought laxatives exit through the other hole?

 

[Boumargood]

I thought laxatives exit through the other hole?

Click to shrink...

Fair point Tonpa was extremely lucky the frog chose the front exit.

 

[bambache]

If he leans into the persuasion aspect, he might gain an amazing amount of points by getting the knuckleheads to knuckle down and make some sushi before the local ninja cranks the cooking challenge difficulty up to impossible!

 

[Boumargood]

If he leans into the persuasion aspect, he might gain an amazing amount of points by getting the knuckleheads to knuckle down and make some sushi before the local ninja cranks the cooking challenge difficulty up to impossible!

Click to shrink...

You're thinking dangerously close to Tonpa's wavelength A crowd of desperate applicants could be a gold mine for the persuasion side of his System... assuming he can survive Menchi's standards first. Thanks for reading!

 

[Boumargood]

Chapter 8: Right on Schedule

Tonpa's smile did not fade as he followed the path Gon had taken.

The boy's footsteps had disappeared into the fog long ago, but that did not worry him much. He did not need to see Gon when he already knew where the boy was headed, and Gon did not need to see Leorio to find him.

'With that nose, the kid could find a needle in a haystack... provided the needle had sweated a little.'

Tonpa moved cautiously between the trees, benefiting from the upgrades to his Strength, Speed, and Flexibility. He had not suddenly transformed into a superhuman fighter, but his legs felt lighter, and his body responded to sharp turns more smoothly. Even his belly seemed less determined to arrive everywhere before the rest of him.

The improvement was noticeable enough to please him, yet modest enough to remind him that he was still Tonpa.

Out of the hundreds of bodies available in this world, he had somehow started with this one.

Several minutes later, he caught sight of Gon's small figure between the trees. The boy moved quickly, occasionally stopping to inspect the ground or sniff the air before changing direction.

Tonpa watched him from a safe distance.

'He's really doing it.'

He could not decide whether he should admire Gon's sense of smell or be deeply concerned by its existence. In his previous world, the police had needed bank records and surveillance footage to track him down. This child might only need to smell his shirt once.

'Better not make an enemy of him. A fake identity won't fool a nose like that.'

Gon continued forward while Tonpa maintained the distance between them. He did not want the boy to see him yet. Arriving at the wrong moment might ruin the scene he was waiting for—and worse, his presence could attract the attention of the other person at the end of this trail.

Hisoka.

The moment sounds of fighting began drifting through the trees, Tonpa slowed down. He ducked behind a thick trunk, then crept through the undergrowth until he could see part of a small clearing whose edges were swallowed by fog.

Leorio stood there, gripping his wooden staff with both hands, his face tight with anger. Hisoka stood across from him with perfect calm, as though the man waving a weapon in his face were merely demanding repayment for an overdue loan.

Gon was approaching from the opposite side, unnoticed by either of them.

Tonpa retreated farther behind the tree.

He did not know whether Hisoka was using En at that moment or simply possessed some sixth sense unique to psychopaths. He had no intention of getting closer to discover the difference.

'My plan is to earn the main characters' trust, not attend my own funeral.'

He peered around the trunk with half his face.

Hisoka was speaking calmly to the survivors, as though the bodies scattered around him had nothing to do with him. He told them he would give them a chance to escape. Once he gave the signal, they were to run in different directions.

Leorio kept a tight grip on his staff, anger clear across his features, while Kurapika silently studied their opponent. He appeared to understand the difference between their strength and Hisoka's, which was why he made no attempt at pointless heroics.

When the signal came, the applicants scattered in different directions.

Kurapika fled into the trees without hesitation.

Leorio initially ran with him, but he did not get far. His pace slowed before he came to a complete stop.

Tonpa closed his eyes for a moment.

'And there goes his survival instinct.'

Leorio turned back toward Hisoka and tightened his grip on his staff before marching back with furious steps.

He could have escaped and survived, but his pride would not allow him to leave the man who had humiliated them standing behind him. Or perhaps he simply could not resist the urge to strike that smiling face.

Tonpa could not entirely blame him.

Hisoka's face possessed a rare talent for inviting punches. Being capable of accepting that invitation was another matter entirely.

Gon noticed Leorio turning back and shifted inside his hiding place, but he did not reveal himself yet.

Leorio stopped in front of Hisoka and raised his staff, declaring that he had returned to finish their fight. The magician greeted him with a slightly wider smile, as though he had been waiting for someone to make precisely that terrible decision.

Leorio charged and swung his staff with all his strength.

Hisoka leaned aside and avoided the blow with ease, then slipped past him before Leorio could recover his balance.

At that exact moment, Gon emerged from hiding.

He planted his feet firmly against the ground and swung his fishing rod with all his strength. The line shot across the clearing, its weighted lure tearing through the fog at high speed.

It did not wrap around Hisoka's hand.

It struck him directly in the face.

A dull impact rang out, and the magician's head snapped sideways from the force of the blow. Leorio's eyes widened while the lure rebounded and dropped to the ground.

Tonpa's mouth fell slightly open despite knowing exactly what would happen.

'He actually caught Hisoka's face.'

Hisoka slowly raised his head. A mark from the impact had appeared on his cheek, but his smile had not disappeared.

If anything, it had become more pronounced, as though being unexpectedly struck in the face had delighted him.

He looked at Gon and praised his accuracy before turning his attention back to Leorio.

Leorio seized the opportunity and rushed at him again, raising his staff. Hisoka, however, closed the distance between them in a flash and struck him with tremendous force.

Tonpa could not even follow the movement of his fist.

He only saw Leorio's body lift off the ground before being thrown backward and crashing into the grass. He rolled once, then lay motionless, completely unconscious.

"Leorio!"

Gon tightened his grip on his fishing rod and charged toward him.

But Hisoka was faster.

He appeared in front of Gon in an instant, circled behind him, and closed one hand around his throat. Gon's feet rose slightly off the ground, and his fishing rod slipped from his grasp.

Tonpa's fingers dug into the tree bark.

He knew Hisoka would not kill Gon. He had watched this scene before and remembered how it ended, but that knowledge did little to make the sight of the magician's fingers around the boy's throat less terrifying.

On a screen, Hisoka had been an interesting character.

From this distance, he was a compelling reason to choose a profession that did not involve meeting other human beings.

Hisoka studied the boy for several moments before asking whether he had come to save his friend. Gon did not answer, but his defiant stare remained firm despite the obvious difference between them.

Hisoka told him that he would not kill Leorio because the man had proven himself worthy of further observation. He added that Gon had passed as well, then loosened his grip.

Gon dropped to the ground and rubbed his throat while catching his breath.

Hisoka walked over to Leorio and effortlessly hoisted him onto his shoulder. He pulled out a small communication device, listened to the directions leading to the site of the Second Phase, then told Gon they would meet again there.

After that, he disappeared among the trees with Leorio over his shoulder.

Tonpa remained inside his hiding place.

He waited ten seconds after Hisoka vanished.

Then another ten.

He added five more out of respect for his survival instinct.

Once he could no longer hear the magician's footsteps, a slow breath escaped his chest. Everything had happened exactly as he remembered. Kurapika had escaped, Leorio had returned, Gon had struck Hisoka, and the magician had carried Leorio toward the site of the Second Phase.

His earlier interference had not altered the course of the story.

His knowledge of the future remained useful.

'Excellent. The script hasn't caught fire yet.'

Tonpa stepped out from behind the tree and began adjusting his expression as he ran. He relaxed his eyebrows, widened his eyes, and forced his breathing to emerge in broken gasps.

The scene required visible concern.

"Gooon!"

His voice echoed between the trees.

Gon turned toward him in surprise.

Tonpa charged through the bushes and nearly tripped over an exposed root, but he recovered his balance and turned the awkward step into a convincing part of his performance.

"Gon! Are you all right?!"

He stopped in front of the boy and bent over with both hands on his knees, pretending to struggle for breath. Not all of the panting was fake, which granted his performance some free credibility.

Gon blinked several times.

"Tonpa? What are you doing here?"

Tonpa raised his head and examined him from top to bottom, then looked around at the traces of battle.

"I was searching for all of you. I heard fighting coming from this direction." He swept his worried gaze across the clearing. "Where's Leorio? And what happened to Kurapika?"

"I'm fine," Gon said. "Hisoka took Leorio with him to the site of the Second Phase."

Tonpa's eyes widened as though he were hearing the news for the first time.

"Hisoka took him?"

Gon nodded, then began explaining what had happened. He told Tonpa how Hisoka had allowed Kurapika and Leorio to escape, how Leorio had returned to confront him, and how Gon had intervened and struck Hisoka with his fishing rod.

Tonpa maintained his astonishment throughout the explanation.

"Is Leorio alive?"

"Yes. Hisoka said he wouldn't kill him and that we passed."

Tonpa looked toward the path where the magician had disappeared, then released a relieved sigh.

"That's good... or at least as good as being carried around unconscious by Hisoka can possibly be."

That was not entirely an act.

His expression changed a moment later, as though he had suddenly remembered something important.

"What about Kurapika? You said he escaped, but where is he now? Did you make sure he was safe?"

Gon shook his head.

"I don't know. He ran in a different direction and hasn't come back yet."

Tonpa furrowed his brow and stared into the trees. His concern appeared genuine, but the truth was that he knew exactly what would happen.

Kurapika would return to Gon.

He had escaped from Hisoka, but concern for his companions would compel him to turn back. The question was not whether he would return, but how much longer it would take him to arrive.

'Probably a few seconds.'

A faint chime sounded inside Tonpa's head.

[Deception Registered.]

[Gon Freecss has been convinced that the Host's concern for him and his companions is genuine.]

[Nen Points +10]

[Experience Points +10]

A smile nearly appeared on Tonpa's face, but he concealed it behind a worried look toward the fog.

'Only ten points?'

Last time, he had received thirty Nen Points and thirty Experience Points. This time, he had run, shouted, and produced the most concerned expression Tonpa's face was capable of, yet he had earned only a third as much.

The reason was not difficult to understand.

Previously, he had allowed himself to be swallowed and deceived both Gon and Killua. This time, he had waited until the danger was over before appearing to play the concerned friend.

'Thirty points for entering a frog's stomach, and ten for a bit of shouting.'

The pricing seemed fair in a way that irritated him.

Another window appeared.

[Gon Freecss's Trust Level has increased.]

[3% → 5%]

Tonpa's thoughts froze on the final number.

Five percent.

He had not even reached half the amount required from Gon, while the Trust Levels of the other three main characters remained close to nothing. Even so, genuine satisfaction spread through his chest.

Only a few hours ago, Gon had viewed him as the man who had tried to poison him with laxatives. Now, the boy trusted him by a full five percent.

For an ordinary person, that would hardly qualify as an achievement.

But a good con artist never underestimated the first crack in his target's defenses.

The sound of branches shifting came from behind him.

Tonpa knew who the footsteps belonged to before their owner appeared, but he spun around and pretended to brace himself. Gon grabbed his fishing rod and watched the fog cautiously.

A human figure emerged between the trees.

Kurapika stepped out of the mist, dirt staining the edge of his clothes, but otherwise unharmed. The moment he saw Gon, the tension on his face gave way to relief.

"Gon!"

The boy's face lit up.

"Kurapika!"

Tonpa concealed a small smile as he watched him approach.

He had returned right on schedule.

'Good... It seems the world is still following the script.'

 

[bambache]

Think Hisoka got into combat because so many people wanted to punch him, or did he cultivate a punchable face to help with his combat?