[Hunter x Hunter] Scamming My Way to the Top

[Boumargood]

Chapter 14: A Con Artist's Luck


His eyes had not deceived him.

The number remained exactly where it was, no matter how many times he reread the panel.

[Host: Tonpa]

[Level: 1]

[Experience Points: 345/100]

[Level Up]

[Talent: E]

[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: 305]

[Nen Status: Unawakened]

Three hundred and five Nen Points.

Three hundred and forty-five Experience Points.

The forty-point difference was not a mistake. Ten Nen Points had gone into unlocking the Hunter's Lottery, and another thirty into raising his first three stats. Experience, unlike Nen Points, had remained untouched.

Only a few hours ago, he had been chasing rookies through the tunnel for a single point, often needing several attempts to find someone Tonpa's reputation had not reached before him. Now, he had enough Nen Points to raise three entire stats to D—or waste it all on three draws from the lottery.

The second option was worryingly tempting.

"Tonpa?"

He raised his eyes and found Killua still watching him.

"I asked what's wrong with you."

Tonpa loosened his grip on the edge of the table and restored a normal expression to his face.

"Nothing. I just remembered that I'm rich."

Killua looked at his clothes, then at the cheap bag lying beside his feet.

"You don't look rich."

"That's why I said remembered, not noticed."

Killua narrowed his eyes but did not press the question. Tonpa returned his attention to the panel and opened the point log. A long list of notifications appeared before him, arranged according to when he had received them.

Most of the entries were clustered around a single moment.

His speech.

He scrolled through them quickly, then slowed when he realized just how many there were. One point from an applicant convinced by his remorse, two from another who believed his protest, and three from someone who knew his reputation but had begun questioning their previous judgment. The entries continued until he lost count and had to rely on the difference between his old and current balance.

Two hundred and ninety Nen Points—and the same amount of Experience—had come from that lie alone.

More than ninety-five percent of the Nen Points he currently possessed.

'Hours of scraping together points left me with fifteen. One minute of talking gave me two hundred and ninety.'

He had been trying to deceive people one at a time when the answer had been in front of him all along. He did not need to search for a hundred separate victims if he could make a hundred people listen to the same lie.

'I should have lied to everyone from the beginning.'

He closed the log before anyone noticed his smile.

Now he had to decide what to do with his balance. Three guaranteed upgrades were the sensible choice. The Hunter's Lottery, on the other hand, cost one hundred Nen Points per draw, with a high chance of giving him something he did not need.

He knew how systems like this worked. The hope of winning the grand prize was what kept people paying after every loss. In his previous life, he had been the one profiting from that hope—not the one handing over his money because of it.

Even so, the image of the wheel returned to his mind.

'Just one draw.'

He did not believe the words even as he thought them.

Still, he made his decision. He would reserve one hundred points for the lottery and spend two hundred on guaranteed upgrades. Even if the draw gave him something completely useless, he would not lose everything he had earned.

As for the Level Up button, he left it alone for now. He did not know what the upgrade would do, and he wanted to test the changes one at a time. Pressing options without thinking was what had left him with a lottery he could no longer resist.

He rose from his seat.

Gon looked at him. "Where are you going?"

"To stretch my legs."

Leorio glanced at his stomach. "You're starting to care about your fitness now?"

"Regret changes a man."

Tonpa did not give them time to respond. He walked away from the tables and rounded the side of the building until the walls concealed him from the other applicants. Several crew members were working near the airship on the opposite side, and no one paid any attention to a man standing alone near the trees.

He summoned his stats again.

Endurance would be useful, and Flexibility might save him in confined spaces. Even Intelligence tempted him for a moment, for reasons he refused to examine too closely. But right now, he needed two clear advantages.

Speed, so he could run away from a fight.

Strength, for when running away failed.

He focused on Speed.

[Would you like to upgrade Speed from E to D?]

[Upgrade Cost: 100 Nen Points]

[Yes/No]

He selected Yes.

[Upgrade Successful.]

[Speed: D]

[Remaining Nen Points: 205]

A sudden warmth spread through his legs before climbing through his back and arms. His muscles contracted so sharply that he had to brace one hand against the wall, but it was not painful. The sensation was closer to parts of his body waking up—parts he had never known were asleep.

He waited until his breathing steadied, then selected Strength.

[Would you like to upgrade Strength from E to D?]

[Upgrade Cost: 100 Nen Points]

He confirmed the choice.

The warmth returned, heavier this time. He felt his shoulders and arms tighten, and his fists clenched with a force he had not intended. His muscles did not visibly grow, but the body itself was no longer the same one he had possessed moments ago.

[Upgrade Successful.]

[Strength: D]

[Remaining Nen Points: 105]

Tonpa moved his fingers, then stepped forward.

His foot carried him farther than expected, forcing him to correct his balance at once. His body felt lighter and responded to his commands before his mind could prepare for the result. For a moment, it felt as though he had been transported into another body for the second time.

This body, however, was considerably better.

He bent down and picked up a small stone. Placing it in his palm, he squeezed, expecting the pressure to hurt his fingertips.

A faint crack sounded.

Fractures spread across the stone before it split into several pieces between his fingers.

Tonpa opened his hand and stared at them.

'This is only D-rank?'

He raised his fist and threw an experimental punch into the air. His arm shot forward faster than expected, vanishing from his field of vision for an instant before stopping in front of him. He quickly pulled it back and glanced around to make sure no one had noticed.

The strength was real.

So was the speed.

He still did not know how to fight, but that had become a problem he could solve later instead of a death sentence decided in advance.

He had one hundred and five Nen Points remaining.

Tonpa opened the Hunter's Lottery.

The silver wheel appeared before him, surrounded by indistinct symbols and images. A golden pointer rested above it, while the Draw button appeared at its center.

[Draw Cost: 100 Nen Points]

[Would you like to proceed?]

[Yes/No]

Tonpa hesitated. This was his last chance to return to the tables with one hundred points still in his possession—points he could spend on Endurance or Flexibility instead. Nothing guaranteed that the wheel would give him anything better.

'Anything useful. A skill, a weapon, even a decent pair of shoes.'

He remembered the description mentioning items of limited usefulness.

'Just don't give me a spoon.'

He selected Yes.

[100 Nen Points deducted.]

[Remaining Nen Points: 5]

The wheel began to spin.

The images blurred together, transforming into continuous silver streaks. The pointer passed over a sword, then a book, then a blue vial as the wheel accelerated. Tonpa watched in silence, holding his breath despite knowing that staring would not change the result.

The wheel began to slow.

The pointer passed over a black mask and continued onward. It approached an image resembling a scroll, only to slip past it at the last moment. The wheel completed another half turn at an agonizing pace before finally stopping over a strange silhouette whose shape Tonpa could not identify.

The pointer remained still.

Nothing happened for two seconds.

Then a chime rang inside his head.

[Result Confirmed.]

[Congratulations!]

[You have obtained—]

 

[Dacraun]

Aaaaafkzvflfbzlfbzke.
I just found this story earlier today. Enjoyed it and watched it.
New chapter comes out and I'm excited.
Another cliffhanger to keep me hooked. Aaaaaaaaaaaah.
Hope you drop them chapters friendo.

 

[Despacitoleo]

You have obtained—]

Click to shrink...

Neferpitou

 

[Boumargood]

Chapter 15: The Grand Prize


[You have obtained—]

[A Special Skill!]

Tonpa kept staring at the two lines, waiting for a third to appear and inform him that there had been some mistake.

Nothing appeared.

He had actually obtained a skill on his very first draw.

It wasn't an ordinary item, an unknown material, or one of those prizes of "limited usefulness" the description had warned him about. Skills were among the best rewards the Hunter's Lottery could grant, and he had landed one after approaching the wheel with no ambition beyond avoiding a spoon.

He glanced at his remaining balance, then back at the result.

'Maybe being transferred into Tonpa's body used up my entire allotment of bad luck.'

He refused to trust that thought for long. Luck willing to hand him something this easily might simply be planning a more creative way to humiliate him.

A new window appeared.

[Would you like to acquire this skill?]

[Yes/No]

There was no reason to refuse. He had already paid a hundred Nen Points, and the skill was theoretically his. Even if it turned out to be useless, leaving it suspended inside the system wouldn't improve the result.

He selected Yes.

[Skill successfully acquired.]

A strange sensation seeped into his mind, far gentler than the heat that had accompanied his stat upgrades. No new information entered his memory, yet he instinctively understood how to select a target and activate the skill. It felt like recalling a movement he had practiced for years, despite being certain he had never performed it once.

Tonpa waited for the name of the ability luck had finally seen fit to grant him.

[Skill Name: Is That Your Mother?]

The smile froze on his face.

He blinked slowly, then read the name again. His gaze lingered on the final word, expecting the rest of the sentence to appear once the window made room for it.

Nothing appeared.

"Shit."

The word escaped before he could stop it. He stared at the wheel as it vanished, then returned his attention to the name as though objecting hard enough might force the system to reconsider.

'Is That Your Mother? That's the skill I spent a hundred Nen Points on?'

For a moment, he suspected the prize itself was a scam—something he might have respected if he weren't the victim.

He opened the description, most of his earlier excitement already gone.

[Type: Mental Distraction Skill]

[Cost: None]

[Uses: Unlimited]

[Activation Condition: Ask the designated target, "Is that your mother?" aloud.]

[Effect: Upon successful activation, the target will instinctively turn and search their surroundings for their mother.]

[The target's resistance increases according to their strength and willpower relative to the Host.]

[The effect may partially or completely fail against targets with high resistance.]

Tonpa reread the description, hoping he had somehow misunderstood it.

He hadn't. Again.

His grand prize was the power to make someone look for their mother.

'Who designed this system? A seven-year-old?'

The Con Artist System, the Hunter's Lottery, and now "Is That Your Mother?" He was supposed to become the strongest Hunter in the world and conquer the Dark Continent, while his secret weapon sounded like something children shouted before stealing one another's seats.

Still, he didn't close the description.

The skill cost no Nen, had no daily limit, and came with no cooldown. The only problem was that stronger targets could resist it, but he had no idea what "high resistance" meant in practice. Perhaps the target would ignore the question entirely. Perhaps they would turn for only a fraction of a second.

He needed to test it.

Tonpa stepped away from the wall and headed back toward the front of the building, but he didn't approach the table where Gon and the others were sitting. Instead, he stopped at the corner and studied the applicants, searching for someone weak enough for the skill to work and unimportant enough not to remember him afterward.

He found a thin young man sitting alone on a low stone, rubbing his exhausted leg while drinking water. He looked younger than most of the applicants and carried no visible weapon.

More importantly, he wasn't watching Tonpa with suspicion.

'The perfect candidate for an involuntary search for his mother.'

Tonpa approached at an easy pace.

The young man looked up.

"Do you want something?"

Tonpa stopped a short distance away and selected him as the target, just as the system had taught him.

"Is that your mother?"

The young man turned immediately.

He didn't merely glance over his shoulder. He raised his head and searched between the tables, then swept his gaze across the applicants standing near the building. It lasted less than two seconds, but the effect was unmistakable.

His body had moved before his mind could question the command.

"Where?" he asked, still searching.

Tonpa watched him closely.

"I thought I saw her."

The young man looked back at him, confusion seeping into his expression.

"Wait... Why did I turn around in the first place?"

He glanced once more toward the place he had searched, then frowned.

"My mother isn't here. I know she isn't here, so why did I believe that nonsense?"

Tonpa raised an eyebrow.

"Good question."

He walked away before the young man could come up with a response and returned behind the corner. He had to admit the skill had worked better than expected. The target hadn't hesitated when it activated. He had turned first, and only after the effect ended had his mind begun objecting and asking questions.

Tonpa waited for the familiar notification.

Nothing came.

He opened the system log. His balance remained at five Nen Points, and no Experience had been added.

'He believed his mother was there. Where are my points?'

As if responding to his objection, a message appeared.

[No qualifying deception detected.]

[A response produced by the coercive effect of a System Skill does not qualify as deception or persuasion.]

A small hope he had refused to admit existed quietly withered away. For a moment, he had imagined asking every applicant the same question until the points piled up without end.

Apparently, the system had found the loophole and closed it before he could exploit it.

After reconsidering the scene, Tonpa understood why. The young man had never truly believed his mother was among the applicants. The confusion had remained in his eyes even while he turned. The skill had forced his body to respond before his mind could judge the question.

The system rewarded Tonpa for changing what a target believed, not for forcibly rotating their neck.

'At least it knows how to protect itself from con artists.'

He dismissed the log and peered at the young man from behind the wall. The applicant was still staring at him strangely, but after a few moments, he returned to drinking his water.

The experiment hadn't earned Tonpa any points, but it had changed his opinion of the skill. Forcing someone to turn wasn't impressive during an ordinary conversation, but in a fight, it could make a very real difference.

One second was enough to escape, land a blow, or tear something from an opponent's hand.

And in the Fourth Phase of the exam, when badges became targets, a single moment of distraction might be worth the entire phase.

The name was ridiculous.

The effect wasn't.

The real problem remained the target's resistance. Success against one exhausted applicant didn't mean it would work against someone with powerful will or someone capable of using Nen. Tonpa needed to test it gradually against stronger targets until he understood its limits.

He considered trying it on Gon, then discarded the idea. He had spent far too long raising Gon's Trust Level by five miserable percentage points. He had no desire to waste that progress by suddenly asking the boy about his mother.

Killua would notice that something unnatural had happened. Kurapika would add it to his growing list of reasons to remain suspicious. As for Leorio, he might turn around and then come back swinging.

Tonpa needed someone strong whose reaction he didn't fear.

Unfortunately, that condition disqualified nearly every strong person present.

His gaze drifted toward the crowd on its own.

He didn't have to search for long. Hisoka sat apart from the others, idly turning a playing card between his fingers as he waited for the maintenance work to end without showing the slightest sign of boredom.

The thought entered Tonpa's mind before he could stop it.

'Is that your mother?'

He imagined himself saying it and waiting for the result. If it worked, he would know the skill could affect even someone powerful. If it failed, he would learn where its limits began.

A single test could give him an important answer.

Then he pictured Hisoka turning toward him instead of searching for anyone else.

Tonpa slowly retreated behind the wall.

'Excellent idea—if I was looking for a faster way to die.'

He wasn't in that much of a hurry to discover the skill's limits. He would begin with people who could turn around without removing his head afterward.

As for Hisoka, he could continue searching for his mother on his own.

 

[Boumargood]

Chapter 16: The Red Ceiling

Tonpa waited until Hisoka had disappeared from sight before stepping out from behind the wall and heading back toward the tables.

He didn't hurry.

Running immediately after hiding was an excellent way to announce that he had been doing something suspicious, and Tonpa had spent enough effort over the past several hours presenting himself as a decent man. He wasn't about to ruin that work because of a skill named after a ridiculous family-related question.

He found Gon, Killua, Kurapika, and Leorio where he had left them. Killua looked up as Tonpa approached, then glanced toward the direction he had come from.

"Where did you go?"

"To take a walk."

"Behind the building?"

"Walking doesn't become a crime just because you dislike the location."

Killua watched him for another moment, then gave him a small smile that did absolutely nothing to reassure Tonpa.

Tonpa sat down and moved the bag of juice away from his feet. The man he had tested the skill on was still at the other end of the hall, occasionally glancing around with an irritated expression, as though expecting his mother to actually appear and explain why he had obeyed a complete stranger.

Tonpa suppressed a smile.

'At least the hundred Nen Points weren't completely wasted.'

He summoned the Status Window to check his balance. The translucent panel appeared before him, and his eyes settled on the five Nen Points he had left.

The number hurt, but he didn't regret his purchases yet. He now possessed Rank D Strength and Speed, along with a skill that might create one opportunity in a situation where he would otherwise have none.

He was about to close the window when he noticed a small button flashing beneath the Experience field.

[Level Up]

Tonpa stared at it.

Then he closed his eyes for a moment.

'I almost forgot.'

He had spent three hundred Nen Points, tested his new strength, tried the Hunter's Lottery, and then wandered off to ask a stranger whether his mother was standing behind him. Somewhere in the middle of all that, he had forgotten the only reward that hadn't demanded payment.

He focused on the button.

[Experience: 345/100]

[Level-up requirements met.]

[Would you like to level up?]

[Level 1 → Level 2]

[Yes/No]

Tonpa read the message twice, searching for a hidden fee or a penalty written in smaller letters.

He found nothing.

'That alone makes it suspicious.'

Still, he had no reason to refuse.

He selected Yes.

A soft chime rang inside his head.

[Level Up successful.]

[Current Level: 2]

[Experience: 345/600]

Tonpa waited for something to change.

His muscles didn't suddenly grow, nor did a new power surge through his body. He remained seated on the same bench, with the same stomach and the same Leorio staring at him as though his prolonged silence was further proof that he was planning something unpleasant.

Then another message appeared.

[Nen Path unlock condition met.]

Tonpa stopped breathing.

[The Host's body is now capable of learning Nen.]

[Nen Stats unlocked.]

For a moment, every other sound around him disappeared.

Nen.

This wasn't a minor increase in strength or a skill that made someone turn their head. Nen was the true divide between those who could survive in this world and those who died without ever understanding what had killed them.

Every dangerous person Tonpa remembered possessed it. Every objective the system had placed before him was impossible without it.

The corner of his mouth lifted before he could stop it.

'Finally.'

He no longer had to wait for a teacher simply to discover whether Tonpa's body was capable of learning Nen at all. Reaching Level 2 had opened the path for him.

Five years was still an insane deadline, but it no longer felt like a death sentence passed on a man who couldn't even see his opponent's weapon.

Tonpa opened the new section immediately.

Four fields appeared beneath a single heading.

[Nen Stats:]

[Ten: 0%] [10%]

[Zetsu: 0%] [10%]

[Ren: 0%] [10%]

[Hatsu: 0%] [10%]

[Hatsu Type: Undetermined]

His smile faded slightly.

The first values made sense. He had never trained in Nen, so he hadn't expected the level increase to hand him mastery for free.

What caught his attention was the second number repeated beside every field.

Ten percent.

All four numbers were red, unlike the rest of the white text on the interface.

Tonpa focused on Ten.

[Technique not acquired.]

[Development option unavailable.]

He tried Ren.

[Technique not acquired.]

[Development option unavailable.]

He moved on to Zetsu and then Hatsu, only to receive the same answer. No cost appeared, no learning button became available, and there were no instructions explaining what he needed to do.

'So it unlocked the Stats just so I could monitor my zeroes professionally.'

He tried selecting the red number beside Ten.

[No additional information available.]

He did the same with the others.

[No additional information available.]

His brows drew together.

He knew the four basic principles from the anime. Ten kept the aura surrounding the body. Zetsu shut it off. Ren released a greater quantity of aura, while Hatsu expressed the user's individual nature and ability.

Knowing their names didn't mean he knew how to perform any of them.

Watching someone swim didn't teach a drowning man how to breathe underwater.

He needed to open his aura nodes and train under someone who understood Nen. Trying to force them open by himself could injure him, and if his memory was accurate, it might even kill him.

That explained the zeroes.

It did not explain the red tens.

Tonpa reopened his full Status Window and compared the lines one by one. There was no development option beside the Nen techniques. The same percentage appeared four times. The number was red, and the system refused to explain it.

Then his gaze stopped on a line that had bothered him ever since he woke up in this world.

[Talent: E]

He remained perfectly still for several seconds.

A cold sensation began to spread through his stomach.

'No.'

He returned to the Nen Stats.

[Ten: 0%] [10%]

[Zetsu: 0%] [10%]

[Ren: 0%] [10%]

[Hatsu: 0%] [10%]

The system had never said the red number represented a maximum. It hadn't provided a single word explaining what the percentage meant.

But placing the same fixed number in red beside every technique, while his Talent remained at Rank E with no development option, did not leave him many comforting interpretations.

What if ten percent was the highest this body could ever reach?

The elation of leveling up vanished completely.

Tonpa was supposed to become the strongest Hunter in the world. The system hadn't merely demanded that he pass the Hunter Exam or learn Nen. It expected him to surpass monsters like Netero, then conquer the Dark Continent and bring it under his control.

With ten percent.

Even Gon and Killua, with their terrifying potential, needed teachers, training, and time. Tonpa might have started the race with a ceiling that didn't even reach one-tenth of the path.

He focused on the Talent field, trying to summon some option the system might have hidden from him.

[Talent: E]

[Talent cannot be developed through the Status Window.]

Tonpa felt his chest tighten.

'It allowed me to learn Nen, then told me I was destined to fail at it.'

"Tonpa?"

Gon's voice came from the other side of the table.

Tonpa looked up and found all four of them watching him. His expression must have changed more than he had realized.

"Are you all right?" Gon asked.

Tonpa forced his fingers to release the edge of the bench.

"I'm fine. I just remembered something unpleasant."

Leorio frowned. "You've been staring into empty space ever since you sat down."

"Thinking is a useful habit. You should try it sometime."

Leorio straightened, but Kurapika caught his arm before another argument could begin.

Tonpa didn't care.

His attention returned to the numbers no one else could see.

Perhaps his conclusion was wrong. The percentage might represent his current compatibility, or an initial value that would rise after he acquired each technique.

The system had offered no conclusive evidence.

But fear didn't need conclusive evidence.

It needed only one reasonable possibility, and that possibility hung before him four times in red.

Tonpa cursed the system in silence.

Then he cursed the body he had inherited, the mission that had never suited him, and the entity that had combined all three and decided to call it an opportunity.

'How am I supposed to become the strongest Hunter with ten percent?'

The system gave him no answer.

In the corner of the interface, the five-year countdown continued to fall.

And before his eyes, the red numbers remained unchanged.

Ten percent.

 

[Boumargood]

━━━━━━━《 ◇ 》━━━━━━━



Chapter 17: The Right Bait



━━━━━━━《 ◇ 》━━━━━━━


​

The four red ten-percent figures remained suspended before Tonpa until he closed the Nen Stats section.

The unease did not disappear with them, but there was little point in staring at a problem whose meaning he did not understand and for which he had no solution. Perhaps his conclusion was wrong. Perhaps it was not. Either way, neither the table nor Leorio's vigilant glances would tell him how to raise his Talent.

'I'll worry about my future after I survive today.'

He filed the problem under Later, where he had already placed most of the troubles he had accumulated since arriving in this world. The list was becoming crowded, but it was still preferable to the Dark Continent.

Before closing the interface completely, Tonpa shifted his attention to his physical Stats.

[Strength: D] [Upgrade: 1,000 Nen]

[Speed: D] [Upgrade: 1,000 Nen]

[Flexibility: E] [Upgrade: 100 Nen]

[Endurance: E] [Upgrade: 100 Nen]

[Intelligence: E] [Upgrade: 100 Nen]

[Nen Points: 5]

He could not learn Nen by himself, but that did not mean he had to wait for a teacher while walking around with a half-finished body. The coming phases of the Hunter Exam would demand more than running or cooking. There would be direct confrontations, the Trick Tower, and Zevil Island, where every applicant would become both hunter and prey.

With his new Strength and Speed, Tonpa was no longer completely helpless. But his Flexibility, Endurance, and Intelligence remained at E, and the five Nen Points he possessed were not enough to improve so much as a finger.

He needed another two hundred and ninety-five points to raise all three remaining Stats to D.

'So I need one more successful con—preferably one believed by a large number of idiots.'

The speech before the crowd had been an exceptional opportunity. He could not deliver an impassioned address about justice every time he needed points. If he tried it again tomorrow, the applicants would probably tell him to shut up before he reached his second sentence.

The main characters, however, had already proven more valuable to deceive than ordinary applicants. Earning their trust would also advance his Side Quest.

Two profits from a single lie.

Tonpa considered targeting Gon first, then discarded the idea. The boy's Trust Level had already risen slightly, and one poorly judged move might erase everything he had gained. Killua examined details for his own amusement and would notice the line before Tonpa brought the bait anywhere near him. Kurapika had taken apart Tonpa's previous attempt within minutes.

That left the person who announced his suspicions aloud before he had even finished examining them.

Tonpa's gaze moved across the four people seated with him and settled on Leorio.

The man still glanced at him every so often, as though expecting Tonpa to pull another bottle of juice from his bag and finish what he had started in the tunnel. The speech about justice had not changed Leorio's judgment of him, nor had it made him forget the juice. Even helping Gon had not been enough to earn Tonpa a chance.

On the other hand, Leorio was direct, quick to anger, and the easiest among them to push into action whenever he believed someone was in danger.

'Not the easiest to deceive... but the easiest to steer toward the reaction I want.'

Tonpa did not need to convince him face-to-face. He had already tried that, and the result had been a threat to force every last bottle in his bag down his throat.

What he needed was for Leorio to hear something he had never been meant to hear.

Words spoken directly to you could be lies.

Words you believed you had stolen were much harder to question.

The idea formed gradually, its details settling into place one after another. Tonpa needed people who knew the old Tonpa, a place secluded enough to appear private, and a reason for Leorio to follow him of his own accord.

He rose from the table.

Leorio immediately looked up.

"Where are you going?"

Tonpa gave him a look of feigned surprise.

"Do I need to submit a written request?"

"I don't care where you go."

"Then this has been a productive conversation."

Tonpa walked away before Leorio could answer. He heard the man mutter something behind him while Killua laughed quietly. Tonpa did not turn around. Leorio's irritation was even better than he had expected.

An angry person watched you more closely than a calm one.

He wandered between the tables, allowing the body's memories to guide him. The old Tonpa's memories were neither complete nor orderly. Sometimes they surfaced as a sense of familiarity, a name that entered his mind when he saw a particular face, or a sudden dislike whose cause he could not immediately recall.

He found the men he was looking for near the rear wall.

They were three veteran applicants who had participated in previous Hunter Exams alongside Tonpa. He remembered that one of them had spent an entire night playing cards with him, another had once helped him switch road signs, and the third had lent him money before spending the next two years trying to get it back.

Friends, by the flexible standards the original Tonpa had lived by.

Tonpa stopped before them.

The man with the hooked nose looked at him and gave a short laugh.

"Here comes the champion of justice."

The man beside him added, "Are you going to give us a speech too?"

Their mockery did not disturb Tonpa. He placed both hands on the table and leaned slightly toward them.

"I have something important to tell you, but not here."

The three exchanged glances.

The hooked-nosed man asked, "What kind of something?"

"The kind I don't want half the applicants to hear."

Their mockery gave way to interest. A terrible reputation was not entirely useless. Whenever Tonpa told men like these that he had a secret, they naturally assumed it was profitable or illegal.

Usually both.

He gestured toward a small table on the far side of the hall, partially concealed from the rest of the room by several pillars.

"Wait for me over there. I'll join you in a minute."

The third man—the one whose missing money still lingered in the body's memories—frowned.

"Why don't you tell us now?"

"Because I'm getting the juice first."

All three pairs of eyes dropped toward the bag hanging at his side.

The hooked-nosed man smiled.

"So you're finally back to normal. I was beginning to think you really had hit your head."

"Just sit down and wait for me."

Tonpa left before they could ask more questions. He did not need to convince them of anything yet. Curiosity and their memories of the old Tonpa would keep them at the table.

Now he needed a witness.

He headed back toward Gon and the others, but did not approach their table directly. Instead, he stopped beside one of the nearby tables and began studying the surrounding faces. He looked behind a pillar, then toward the passage leading to the rear of the building, behaving like someone searching for a person while trying not to attract attention.

He deliberately avoided looking at Leorio.

Tonpa passed their table a second time, now carrying three bottles of juice. As he drew close, he slipped them into his bag with a motion obvious enough for someone watching him to notice, yet casual enough to make that person believe they had spotted it by accident.

"What is he doing?" Leorio's voice came from behind him.

Tonpa slowed slightly, pretending to examine one of the nearby tables.

Gon answered, "Maybe he's looking for someone."

"He has passed us twice," Kurapika said quietly. "And he hid those bottles as soon as he came near. That did not look accidental."

"Maybe he found a new group to test the juice on," Killua suggested.

"That's what I'm worried about," Leorio said. "Or maybe he's planning something against us. Every attempt he's made to get close to us since the tunnel could have been a way to lure us somewhere or make us lower our guard."

"But he saved me and Killua," Gon objected.

"That's the part I don't understand. Tonpa doesn't risk himself without a reason. Maybe he wants us to trust him now so he can trick us with something worse later."

"That is possible," Kurapika said. "But following him alone may be exactly what he wants."

A chair scraped against the floor.

"I'm not going to confront him. I'll only watch," Leorio said. "Stay here. If he is trying to lure us into something, I'm not letting him drag all of you into the trap."

"I'll come with you," Gon said.

"I said stay here. I'll be back in a minute."

Tonpa continued toward the distant table without changing his pace. Part of the hall was reflected in the glass of a window near the wall, allowing him to observe the group without turning his head.

Gon remained seated reluctantly, with Kurapika beside him. Killua's eyes stayed fixed on Tonpa's back, a faint smile resting on his lips. Tonpa could not tell whether the boy was simply not curious enough to follow or whether he had already noticed more than he should have.

Leorio rose and moved after him, leaving what he believed was enough distance to avoid being noticed.

Tonpa's steps did not change, and he never looked back.

But once he passed beyond the group's line of sight, a small smile appeared on his face.

'The fish swallowed the bait.'


━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
Want to keep reading?

6 chapters ahead are available here:

www (dot) pa tre on (dot) com (slash) Boumargood

Your support directly helps keep the story going.

Thanks for reading!

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

 

[juicedmark]

Just finished binging the story so far, really loving it!

 

[Deidalous]

His lack of talent forces him to be reliant on the System and it's features.

Still, with each of Rank being ten times stronger than the previous, at a high enough point his Stat should compensate nicely for his lack of Nen talent.

-There might still be more to Level-ups though.

 

[Boumargood]

• ────────── ◆ ────────── •



Chapter 18: Stolen Confession



• ────────── ◆ ────────── •


​

Tonpa did not look back.

He maintained the same pace, the bag at his side swaying lightly with every step. The same window he had used moments earlier caught enough of the hall behind him for Tonpa to see Leorio emerge from behind a pillar—then stop abruptly when Tonpa slowed.

Tonpa waited for a heartbeat before resuming his walk.

Leorio was trying to be stealthy, and that alone made the effort worth watching. A man of his height, wearing a suit and displaying every thought that passed through his mind on his face, was not ideally suited for covert surveillance.

But he was the right target.

Tonpa moved between the tables until he reached the far side of the hall. The three veteran applicants he had recognized through the body's memories were already waiting for him: the hooked-nosed man who had once spent an entire night playing cards with him, the man who had helped him switch road signs during a previous exam, and the third man, who had lent Tonpa money and spent the following two years trying to get it back.

The hooked-nosed man raised a hand when he saw him.

"Finally. You said you had something important."

Tonpa sat down, pulled the three juice bottles from his bag, and placed them on the table.

The third man glanced at the bottles.

"If you brought my money with those, I might forgive you for taking so long."

"I brought something more important than money."

"So you didn't bring my money."

Tonpa did not answer. He cast a brief glance toward the passage he had come from, as though checking that no one had followed him, then leaned forward and lowered his voice.

In the curved, polished side of a metal pitcher, he caught a warped reflection of Leorio stopping behind a nearby pillar.

The performance began.

"We need to stop."

The three men looked at one another.

The hooked-nosed man frowned.

"Stop what?"

"All of it. The juice, deceiving rookies, sabotaging their exams. We need to leave this behind and find another way to live."

A brief silence followed.

Then the man who had helped switch the road signs burst out laughing.

"Did you finally drink your own juice?"

Tonpa did not smile. He kept his eyes lowered and tightened his jaw by exactly the right amount—not enough to make it look like a performance, but not so little that the words appeared meaningless to him.

"How many times have we done this?" he asked. "How many applicants have we driven out of the Hunter Exam? And how many times has doing that helped any of us pass?"

The man's laughter gradually faded.

No one answered.

Tonpa continued.

"I started taking the Hunter Exam because I needed money. My mother was sick, and I couldn't afford the treatment she needed. I thought a Hunter License would solve everything."

He paused as if the next words were harder to say.

'A sick mother. Old, but still reliable.'

He had not chosen the story at random. Tonpa knew why Leorio wanted to become a Hunter. He knew that illness and money formed the shortest path to the part of the man hidden beneath his loud voice and quick temper.

"I failed the first time, then the second. After a while, every rookie who succeeded started to look like someone stealing my chance. I convinced myself that reducing the number of applicants would improve my odds. It began with the juice. Then I started enjoying the sight of other people failing, until I forgot why I had entered the exam in the first place."

The third man raised an eyebrow.

"You never mentioned your mother during all those years."

Tonpa looked at him, letting the weariness enter his eyes before it reached his voice.

"Because I didn't want to turn her into a story you could laugh about."

The man's eyebrow lowered slightly, though he still did not look convinced. The mockery, however, had disappeared from the other two men's faces.

Tonpa might have believed himself if he had not been present when the story was invented.

His voice grew firmer.

"Today, I risked my life for a child I tried to trick with laxative-laced juice only hours earlier. When I saw him worried about me, I realized I had become worse than the people I blamed for my failures. If we cannot become Hunters, then the least we can do is stop making certain that everyone else fails with us."

A window appeared before his eyes.

[Group Deception Registered.]

[Targets Affected: 2]

[Nen Points +4]

[Experience Points +4]

Tonpa's expression did not change. He continued watching the two men as though their answer mattered more than anything else in the hall, while the faint scrape of a shoe reached him from behind the pillar.

Then came the second chime.

[Deception Registered.]

[Target Difficulty: High]

[Nen Points +15]

[Experience Points +15]

[Leorio's Trust Level: 0% → 3%]

Tonpa needed every year of experience he possessed to keep himself from smiling.

The important part had worked. Leorio had not heard an apology intended for him. He believed he had stolen a truth Tonpa had never wanted him to know.

After a moment of hesitation, the hooked-nosed man asked, "What do you want us to do?"

"Start by leaving the applicants alone during this exam. Afterward... find another way to live."

The man who had switched the road signs nodded slowly. The third man reached across the table, picked up one of the juice bottles, and turned it between his fingers.

"Beautiful story," he said. "I'll believe you've changed when you return my money and throw these away."

'One of them still has a functioning brain. Unfortunate.'

Tonpa took the bottle back from him.

"I said I had changed. I didn't say I had become wasteful."

A quick footstep reached him, followed by another.

Leorio was leaving.

Tonpa remained where he was and did not look behind him. He ended the conversation with a few terse words. The hooked-nosed man rose first, followed by the man who had helped him switch the signs. Their skeptical companion gave Tonpa one last look before joining them.

Within moments, all three had disappeared between the tables.

Tonpa stayed behind, arranging the juice bottles with unnecessary care as he waited.

Only several pillars and a short stretch of floor separated his table from the one where Gon and the others were sitting. The pillars blocked the view, but they did little to stop sound—especially when the speaker was Leorio, a man seemingly incapable of whispering without informing half the building.

"I heard him myself," Leorio said. "He was talking to his old crew and telling them to stop deceiving the applicants."

Killua's voice followed.

"And you were eavesdropping on him?"

"I was investigating his plan. That's different."

Gon asked, "What else did he say?"

Leorio hesitated before answering.

"He said he started doing this because of his mother. She was sick, and he needed money for her treatment. After failing the exam so many times, he began reducing the number of applicants to improve his chances. Eventually, he forgot why he started and turned it into a habit."

A brief silence followed.

Then Gon said simply, "So he really does regret it. I knew he had changed."

A notification appeared before Tonpa.

[Gon Freecss's Trust Level: 5% → 6%]

"Or he wanted you to hear that exact story," Kurapika said.

"He didn't know I was there," Leorio replied immediately. "I hid well."

Killua made a short sound that Tonpa could not identify as laughter or disagreement.

"I'm not saying I trust him completely," Leorio continued. "But what I heard wasn't meant for us. Even his friends were surprised. It really does look like he's trying to change."

Kurapika answered after a moment.

"Asking them to stop does not benefit him directly. That gives his words some credibility, but it proves nothing by itself."

"I still think he's suspicious," Killua said. "And that's assuming he didn't know you were listening. Still, dragging three other people into the performance just to deceive you would be a lot of trouble, even for him."

The notifications arrived one after another.

[Kurapika's Trust Level: 0% → 0.5%]

[Killua Zoldyck's Trust Level: 0% → 0.5%]

[Total Nen Points: 24]

[Experience Points: 364/600]

Tonpa waited, expecting another chime.

None came.

Apparently, the System did not count people who received a lie in someone else's voice, even when it influenced their judgment. It was only an inference, but his unchanged balance made it a convincing one.

'It accepts free advertising, but refuses to pay commission.'

Tonpa kept his expression solemn in case Leorio glanced back through the pillars. Only when he lowered his head toward one of the juice bottles did the corner of his mouth begin to rise.

He had not needed to convince all four of them individually.

He only needed to deceive the loudest one and let him sell the lie to the rest for free.



━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

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6 chapters ahead are available here:

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Thanks for reading!

 

[Deidalous]

He technically has no recollection of what he's Tonpa's done, which makes his speech therefore insincere and technically deception.

 

[bambache]

Hm, Tonpa did risk his life on a regular basis, and if seeing prospective Hunters fail was the ultimate goal, it would really make more sense for him to work to become an examiner.

 

[Boumargood]

• ────────── ◆ ────────── •

Chapter 19: Investing in the Weak

• ────────── ◆ ────────── •
​

Tonpa had barely concealed his smile when the hall door opened and a member of the airship crew appeared in the doorway.

"Maintenance is complete. We can depart now. Please board in an orderly manner and follow the crew's instructions."

The applicants moved all at once, shoving their seats back amid a wave of overlapping noise. Tonpa returned the juice bottles to his bag, rose, and merged with the crowd heading toward the door.

As he crossed the hall, he spotted the man who had lent him money among the applicants. The man was still watching him with suspicion.

'Annoying. I'll need a better lie... or I could repay him, which is clearly the worse option.'

The applicants boarded through the metal passage leading into the airship. Seats lined both sides of the cabin, and wide windows revealed the forest below. As soon as the door closed, the hull trembled, and the airship slowly rose away from the examination grounds.

Tonpa found Gon and the others seated near one of the windows. Gon waved the moment he saw him, while Leorio merely gave him a brief look that lacked some of its former hostility. The effect of Tonpa's deception was obvious. Keeping his distance now would waste all the effort he had put into the performance.

He approached and sat across from them.

Killua looked at him.

"Finished with your secret meeting?"

"It wasn't secret."

Killua glanced toward Leorio.

"Of course."

Leorio cleared his throat and turned toward the window. Tonpa decided to let him preserve what little dignity he had left.

"When we arrive, don't rush toward the edge. The mountain isn't dangerous because of its height alone. The winds inside it are powerful and unpredictable. One careless shove could send someone over before the test even begins."

Leorio regarded him suspiciously, but he did not dismiss the warning as he would have a few hours earlier.

"Are you sure?"

"I'm certain that falling off a mountain is bad for your health. Menchi can explain the rest."

The corner of Killua's mouth twitched, while Leorio reluctantly nodded.

'Three percent didn't make him my friend. It merely made him ask questions before insulting me. A respectable beginning.'

Curiosity lit Gon's face.

"Do you know how we're supposed to get the eggs?"

"I know Spider Eagles build their nests between the two sides of the mountain and suspend their eggs over the ravine to protect them from predators. If the collection method is the same one I heard about years ago, we'll have to jump, catch the nesting threads, and wait for an updraft to carry us back to the top. Menchi will explain the details."

Gon continued staring at him before asking the question Tonpa had been expecting ever since his speech in front of Netero.

"How did you know about the split mountain and the Spider Eagle eggs in the first place? You suggested this test before Menchi told us about them."

The other three turned toward him.

Tonpa did not answer immediately. He gazed through the window at the trees passing beneath them, as though recalling an old memory instead of constructing a new one on the spot.

"During my twenty-third attempt, the Hunter Exam passed through this region as well. I failed before reaching the Second Phase, but the pickup point for the failed applicants was near the examiners' camp. Our transport didn't arrive until morning."

Leorio raised an eyebrow.

"What did you do all night?"

"I pretended to be part of the service staff so I could get dinner."

The answer suited him so well that it required no acting. Even Killua did not question it.

Tonpa continued.

"One of the workers made me help carry supply crates in exchange for food. One of them contained Spider Eagle eggs. The man spent half the night bragging about how difficult they were to obtain and how much a high-end restaurant would pay for a single egg. He told me about the mountain, the nesting threads, and the updrafts that pass between its walls."

"If they were so expensive," Gon asked, "why didn't you collect some and sell them?"

Tonpa looked at him seriously.

"Because I love money, but not enough to jump into a mountain for it."

Leorio laughed, and Gon smiled as though the answer had settled the matter.

Kurapika did not.

"So you never saw the nests yourself. Everything you know came from a worker whose name you didn't even know."

"That's right. When I saw that the examiner was a Gourmet Hunter, I remembered the most valuable ingredient in the area. I wasn't certain she would accept my proposal, but the alternative was allowing everyone to fail."

Killua narrowed his eyes.

"And this worker told someone he had just met all those details?"

"He thought I was a new employee. I saw no reason to correct him."

Killua remained silent. He clearly did not believe the entire story, but objecting now required him to assume Tonpa had invented a worker, several supply crates, and an old Hunter Exam merely to explain information that had turned out to be correct.

A chime sounded inside Tonpa's head.

[Deception Registered.]

[Target: Gon Freecss]

[Nen Points +10]

[Experience Points +10]

[Deception Registered.]

[Target: Leorio]

[Nen Points +5]

[Experience Points +5]

Two smaller windows followed.

[Deception Registered.]

[Target: Kurapika]

[Nen Points +1]

[Experience Points +1]

[Deception Registered.]

[Target: Killua Zoldyck]

[Nen Points +1]

[Experience Points +1]

'They swallowed just enough of the story for the System to count it. Stingy even when falling for a lie.'

Tonpa dismissed the notifications before they obscured Gon's face. Their Trust Levels had not risen, but seventeen points for a story that had taken only a few minutes was still a good result.

[Total Nen Points: 41]

[Experience Points: 381/600]

The airship began to slow shortly afterward. The forest below ended at a massive mountain split in half by a straight ravine, as though a single blow had cleaved the stone from its summit to its base. Wind rushed between the two walls, producing a whistle that reached them even through the thick windows.

The airship landed near the edge, and the applicants followed Menchi, Netero, and Buhara outside. Several approached the ravine, only to retreat the moment they saw the darkness swallowing the depths beneath their feet.

Menchi pointed toward the thick white threads stretching between the rocky walls. Clusters of eggs hung beneath them, suspended over a void whose bottom could not be seen.

She explained that Spider Eagles chose places like this to protect their eggs from predators. Their task was to descend, retrieve one egg, and return to boil it. Anyone who refused to attempt the descent or returned without an egg would be eliminated.

Several applicants immediately protested. One asked whether jumping into a ravine truly belonged in a cooking test.

Menchi replied that a Gourmet Hunter incapable of reaching an ingredient did not deserve the title.

Her answer did nothing to restore the color to their faces.

Then she stepped onto the edge and jumped without hesitation.

Shouts erupted behind her.

Menchi caught one of the threads as she fell and remained suspended over the ravine. She reached toward a hanging cluster and pulled one of the eggs free, then waited until an updraft surged between the mountain walls.

She released the thread at exactly the right moment, allowing the wind to carry her back to the top.

She made it look simple.

The applicants' faces made it clear that no one believed it was.

Tonpa stood a full step back from the edge, watching the current tug at their clothes and hair. He knew what would happen if he allowed events to follow the course he remembered. A limited number would succeed, while the rest would be eliminated by fear or poor timing.

If he explained the timing of the updraft, more applicants might pass. That would alter the story again and could raise the divergence rate beyond 0.1%.

He could remain silent and preserve the path he knew. Knowledge of the future was his greatest advantage, and deliberately damaging it would be like tearing apart his only map because he disliked the road drawn on it.

However, the additional survivors would not all be strong.

In the coming phases, having weaker competitors around would be better than leaving the field to Hisoka, Hanzo, and the applicants with their strange beasts. Every weak person who passed now could later become an easier opponent, a target for deception, or simply a body standing between Tonpa and something trying to kill him.

'Preserve the future, and I face the strong applicants alone. Change it, and I get more weak ones.'

The decision did not take long.

The first applicant approached the edge, apparently prepared to jump without understanding what the current had done.

Tonpa stepped forward and raised his voice.

"Wait! There's something you didn't notice during Menchi's jump."



━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

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[bambache]

This is a massed opportunity to get major points while changing the road on the map!
Not like divergence is avoidable, I think the last time Tonpa showed up in canon was the exam after this one, when Killua clobbered everyone in the first round.

 

[Boumargood]

This is a massed opportunity to get major points while changing the road on the map!
Not like divergence is avoidable, I think the last time Tonpa showed up in canon was the exam after this one, when Killua clobbered everyone in the first round.

Click to shrink...

That's one way to look at it , but opportunities have consequences, and maps don't always stay reliable once Tonpa starts touching them.

 

[Despacitoleo]

maps don't always stay reliable once Tonpa starts touching them.

Click to shrink...

yeah they start squirming when you touch them

 

[Boumargood]

• ────────── ◆ ────────── •

Chapter 20: Don't Mess with the Future

• ────────── ◆ ────────── •
​

"Wait! There's something you didn't notice during Menchi's jump."

Movement near the edge came to a halt, and dozens of faces turned toward him. Even Menchi folded her arms and waited to hear what he had to say.

Tonpa opened his mouth, the words already prepared. He would explain the timing of the updraft and allow as many applicants as possible to succeed. In the later phases, having more competitors would give him more room to avoid the stronger ones while filling the exam with weaker targets he could deceive or use.

Then an image of the Final Phase surfaced in his mind.

The number of participants was not some meaningless detail. The interviews Netero would conduct, the arrangement of the matches, and the people chosen to face one another... all of it depended on who reached the end.

If more applicants survived here, the entire bracket might change. Perhaps Illumi would never face Killua. Perhaps Killua would not collapse under his brother's pressure or kill Bodoro. He might receive his Hunter License instead of returning home.

And if Killua did not return to his family's estate, Gon, Kurapika, and Leorio would never go after him.

The entire Zoldyck Family Arc would disappear.

The problem was not merely losing events Tonpa already knew. Every change would create more changes until the future preserved in his memory became worthless. Then he would be nothing more than Tonpa, cursed with Rank E Talent, in a world where a child could tear out a man's heart before the body even hit the ground.

'Knowledge is the only weapon I have that doesn't require Nen Points.'

Coldness crept into his stomach.

He would not alter another major event unless his life depended on it. He could slip through the smaller details, deceive people, and raise their Trust Levels, but the main course of events had to remain intact whenever possible.

The problem was that everyone was still waiting for him to finish his sentence.

Tonpa pointed toward the threads stretching across the ravine.

"Menchi chose a thread away from the others. Don't all jump from the same place, or you'll block one another's way back."

It was useful advice, but it revealed nothing about the timing of the updraft and would not save anyone who had failed to understand the demonstration. Menchi appeared satisfied, while several applicants spread out along the edge.

'An elegant retreat. I didn't save anyone, and I didn't make a complete fool of myself.'

Three men did not wait long. They jumped together, each catching a different thread. Cheers rose behind them, but one released his grip too early while trying to reach the eggs.

There was no current to carry him.

He vanished into the darkness.

The second man panicked and let go after him, disappearing as well. The third attempted to climb back up, but his grip slipped before he could reach the edge.

The voices surrounding the ravine faded.

Tonpa's stomach tightened, yet a cold part of him felt relieved. He was not proud of it, but their fall made him believe that the exam's overall result was still close to the one he remembered.

The applicants retreated from the edge and began studying the wind instead of rushing forward. Gon waited until the commotion subsided, then approached with Killua, Kurapika, and Leorio.

Leorio leaned toward the others and whispered in a voice that could probably have reached the opposite side of the mountain.

"Should we trust what Tonpa told us? He knew about the eggs, but he also knew far more than he should."

Kurapika replied, "What he told us about the nests and the currents was true. That doesn't prove his story, but it does prove that his information is useful."

"Useful information can still be part of a trap," Killua added.

Gon looked into the ravine.

"He didn't try to make us jump. He only warned us."

Tonpa was standing only a few steps away. He waited a moment before speaking.

"You can raise your voice a little more, Leorio. I don't think the bottom of the ravine heard you."

Leorio straightened abruptly.

"We weren't talking about you."

"Of course. You were discussing another Tonpa who happens to know the test's secret."

Kurapika sighed, while Killua smiled without attempting to hide his amusement.

Tonpa approached the edge and looked at the threads below.

"If you don't trust what I told you, I'll jump with you. We won't release the threads until Gon gives us the signal."

Gon blinked.

"Me?"

"You've sensed things that no one else noticed since the exam began. Trust your instincts. When you feel the updraft coming, tell us."

Killua studied him.

"You trust him that much?"

"I trust him more than I trust myself near a ravine."

It was not a complete lie. Tonpa trusted Gon to succeed because he had already done so in the original course of events. The deep faith in Gon's instincts—and Tonpa's supposed willingness to risk his life because of it—was merely the wrapping he used to sell them the truth.

Gon jumped first, followed by Killua and Kurapika. Leorio hesitated at the edge, released a curse, and then jumped after them.

Tonpa remained alone at the top.

He looked into the void and then at the faces turning toward him.

'I could have stopped at the speech.'

Leorio raised his head from below and shouted, "Aren't you coming? You're the one who said you would jump with us!"

"I was leaving some distance between us. I don't want to collide with one of you on the way down."

Killua called back, "You were waiting to see whether the threads could hold us."

Tonpa did not deny the accusation. That was precisely what he had been doing. Seeing four people hanging safely below made the ravine slightly less hostile to his plan.

"The result is the same."

He took a breath and jumped.

Air surged around him, and his heart leaped into his throat before his fingers closed around one of the threads. His body jerked violently, and the impact nearly tore his grip open, but his arms held his weight thanks to his Rank D Strength. Before the upgrade, his fingers would have slipped before he had the chance to worry about whether the thread could support him.

They hung over the darkness as the eggs swayed beneath them in the wind. Several long seconds passed without anything happening.

Leorio spoke through clenched teeth.

"Gon... I hope your instincts are fast."

Gon closed his eyes. The threads remained still for several seconds before he suddenly raised his head.

One heartbeat later, Tonpa felt a cold current rising from the depths of the ravine.

Gon opened his eyes.

"Now!"

They released the threads together. Tonpa reached out and snatched an egg as he fell, and then the updraft struck them from below. His body spun through the air as the current carried them upward, lifting them past the edge before they crashed onto the rocky ground.

Tonpa hugged the egg to his chest and drew a trembling breath.

'I knew I wasn't going to die. My body could have shown that information a little respect.'

Gon laughed happily, and Leorio slapped him hard on the shoulder.

"Well done! If you had been one second late, we'd be at the bottom by now."

"Your timing was precise," Kurapika said.

Killua merely gave Gon a small smile.

"Your instincts aren't bad."

Menchi approached while carrying her own egg and looked down at the group sprawled across the ground.

"Celebrate after you boil the eggs," she said. "If you break one now, you'll have to jump again."

Leorio immediately pulled his egg against his chest, making Gon laugh. Tonpa tightened his grip around his own egg with considerably more care. He had no desire to repeat a jump whose outcome he knew, much less attempt one that no longer existed anywhere in his memory.

Notifications appeared before him.

[Gon Freecss's Trust Level: 6% → 10%]

[Leorio's Trust Level: 3% → 6%]

[Kurapika's Trust Level: 0.5% → 2%]

[Killua Zoldyck's Trust Level: 0.5% → 2%]

Four similar notifications followed. Each of them believed Tonpa had jumped because he trusted Gon and genuinely wanted to help them. They did not know he had been relying on an outcome preserved in his memory, making the leap seem far less dangerous to him than he had allowed them to believe.

[Deception Registered.]

[Target: Gon Freecss]

[Nen Points +30] [Experience Points +30]

[Deception Registered.]

[Target: Leorio]

[Nen Points +30] [Experience Points +30]

[Deception Registered.]

[Target: Kurapika]

[Nen Points +30] [Experience Points +30]

[Deception Registered.]

[Target: Killua Zoldyck]

[Nen Points +30] [Experience Points +30]

[Total Nen Points: 161]

[Experience Points: 501/600]

Tonpa lowered his head toward the egg to conceal his smile.

He had preserved the future, earned their trust, and received one hundred and twenty points in a single stroke.

Knowledge truly was a weapon.

Better yet, he could sell it to other people in the form of courage.



________________________________

Want to keep reading?

Advance chapters (up to 6 ahead) are available here:

pa tre on .com (slash) Boumargood

Your support directly keeps the story going.

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[UnbegottenProxy]

This is fantastic. Finally, after 20 years of reading fanfiction every day for hours, something (relatively) new appears. Thank you for your hard work in writing!!!

 

[Boumargood]

This is fantastic. Finally, after 20 years of reading fanfiction every day for hours, something (relatively) new appears. Thank you for your hard work in writing!!!

Click to shrink...

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[Boumargood]

• ────────── ◆ ────────── •

Chapter 21: Six Survivors Too Many

• ────────── ◆ ────────── •
​

Spider Eagle eggs were not worth jumping into a ravine.

That had been Tonpa's opinion before he tasted one.

The applicants gathered around the pots prepared near the mountain and lowered their eggs into the boiling water. No real cooking skill was required this time. Even Tonpa managed to wait without ruining anything, which was a clear improvement over the pig he had nearly burned into charcoal.

Once the eggs were ready, Menchi inspected the pots and announced that everyone who had returned with an egg and prepared it as instructed had passed.

Cheers of relief spread through the applicants. Gon raised his boiled egg as though he had won a prize, while Leorio sat on the ground and repeatedly declared that he would never approach the edge of a mountain again.

When Menchi allowed them to taste the eggs, Tonpa peeled his own. A thin cloud of steam rose from it. He took a cautious bite, then stopped as he chewed.

The flavor was annoyingly rich and tender.

'Damn. It's actually delicious.'

Tonpa looked at the group.

"Well done. We passed the Second Phase."

Leorio stared at him.

"You say that as if you watched us from somewhere safe. You jumped with us."

"That's why the congratulations include me."

Gon laughed, while Killua merely shook his head. No Trust notification appeared, and Tonpa did not expect one. Not every friendly conversation was a deception. Trying to turn every sentence into an investment would make him look like a salesman chasing customers even across mountaintops.

They returned to the airship shortly afterward. The successful applicants climbed the metal stairs and spread throughout the main hall, where Netero waited with his hands clasped behind his back. Beside him stood a short, green-skinned creature in a formal suit, holding a stack of papers.

Netero formally addressed them as Chairman of the Hunter Exam Committee, then introduced his secretary, Beans, who bowed politely to the applicants. He explained that the airship would transport them to the site of the Third Phase and that they had several hours to rest or explore, provided they stayed away from restricted areas and did not interfere with the crew's equipment.

Tonpa listened with only half his attention until Beans began reviewing the list of successful applicants.

His eyes moved across the rows, then slowly narrowed.

Something was wrong.

He counted again from the beginning. Once, then a second time, expecting exhaustion to have made him count one of the faces twice.

The number did not change.

Forty-eight applicants.

Beans raised the list and announced the number clearly. Netero then congratulated them on passing the first two phases. Celebratory voices rose around Tonpa, and no one else appeared to see a problem.

To them, six additional survivors meant six stories of people escaping elimination.

To Tonpa, they meant six new variables whose consequences could appear anywhere.

There were supposed to be forty-two.

Tonpa swept his gaze across all forty-eight faces, unable to identify which six had not existed in the original course of events. Perhaps some had survived because his warning prevented them from crowding onto the same thread. Perhaps the airship's delay had given them more time to calm down.

He could not determine the precise cause.

He knew who was responsible.

'I saved six people while trying not to look like an idiot.'

It had been a minor piece of advice. He had not even revealed the secret of the updraft, yet the number had still changed. Six additional applicants might mean nothing now, but they could alter how the applicants were distributed inside Trick Tower, change the order of later matches, or push someone onto a path they had never taken before.

The future did not require a powerful blow to change.

It only needed to be touched.

Tonpa looked away from them. He could not throw the six applicants out of the airship to correct the number—at least not without creating far greater problems.

All he could do was watch for further changes and stop giving away advice for free.

As soon as the instructions ended, Leorio announced that he was going to sleep before one of the examiners decided to force them into another race. Kurapika agreed, though he expressed the thought more politely, and the two headed toward the resting quarters.

Gon continued looking around with open excitement.

"I want to see the inside of the airship."

"So do I," Killua said. "There has to be an engine room somewhere below us."

They headed toward the corridor, and Tonpa followed them.

"I'll come with you."

Killua immediately turned toward him.

"No."

Gon intervened.

"It's fine. The airship is huge. We can explore together."

Killua looked at Gon, then at Tonpa, as though trying to determine which of them had made the worse decision. In the end, he placed both hands behind his head and continued walking.

Tonpa had no interest in the engines. He merely wanted Killua to become accustomed to his presence. Suspicion did not disappear quickly, but a face seen often enough gradually stopped looking like a new threat.

'Trust is slow. Familiarity is cheaper.'

The three wandered through the corridors, with Gon stopping at nearly every window and open doorway. They never reached the engine room. The smell of food led them instead to a small dining hall the crew had prepared for the applicants.

Gon quickly filled his plate, while Killua selected several desserts before touching the main course. Tonpa gathered enough food for two people and sat across from them.

Killua examined his plate.

"Are you hungry, or are you preparing for winter?"

Tonpa answered with complete seriousness.

"During an exam, the food in front of you doesn't belong only to the present. Every bite you eat now might prevent hunger from making a stupid decision for you later."

Gon stopped chewing and nodded, visibly impressed by the wisdom.

Killua looked at Tonpa.

"So you're hungry."

Tonpa remained silent for a moment.

"That too."

He continued eating with dignity, ignoring Killua's smile. His philosophy was not entirely wrong, which was a generous enough standard for any philosophy invented by a man sitting in front of enough food for two people.

After dinner, they continued exploring until they reached a quiet lounge along the side of the airship. Wide windows stretched before the seats, revealing dark clouds drifting below them as moonlight reflected across the glass.

The place seemed familiar to Tonpa.

He stopped in the doorway. If his memory had not betrayed him, this was where Killua had told Gon about his family in the original course of events.

The conversation he remembered had not begun yet.

Gon sat beside the window and pressed his face against the glass, fascinated by the clouds passing beneath the airship. Killua chose the seat beside him, while Tonpa sat across from them.

"We're higher than the mountains now," Gon said.

"That's what an airship is supposed to do," Killua replied.

"I know. Seeing it is different."

Killua rested his head against the seat, but his eyes continued moving around the lounge, watching the doors, corridors, and reflections in the glass. Even while relaxing, he never stopped paying attention to his surroundings.

Tonpa watched him in silence.

He knew what Killua was supposed to tell Gon if the conversation followed the course he remembered.

In the original scene, Tonpa had no place here.

Now he was sitting directly across from him.

Tonpa fixed his gaze on Killua's reflection in the window.

An ugly idea began to form in his mind.

It should have made him feel ashamed.

It did not.

He did not need to invent a story from nothing. The right story was already sitting in front of him, and its owner had not told it yet. Tonpa only needed to borrow a few pieces and change enough of them to make the story appear to be his.

A small smile appeared at the corner of his mouth.

Gon noticed.

"Why are you smiling?"

The smile disappeared. Tonpa lowered his eyes as though the question had pulled him back into a painful memory.

"I remembered something sad."

Killua's gaze shifted toward him.

Tonpa took a slow breath and prepared to begin the story.

'I'll return it after I'm done using it.'



________________________________

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[Boumargood]

• ────────── ◆ ────────── •

Chapter 22: A Stolen Story

• ────────── ◆ ────────── •
​

Tonpa did not begin immediately.

He kept his eyes on Killua's reflection in the window while rearranging the lie inside his head. He did not want it to be perfect. Perfect stories sounded rehearsed, and tragedies delivered without hesitation inspired more suspicion than sympathy.

He needed a little silence, hesitation in the right places, and a story that resembled Killua's life without matching it too closely.

The assassins would become thieves.

As for the illness and the Hunter License, he would leave them where he had placed them in the lie Leorio had overheard.

Tonpa allowed the silence to stretch a little longer before speaking.

"There's a reason I believe everyone should be allowed to choose their own path."

Gon pulled away from the window and turned toward him. Killua shifted his gaze in Tonpa's direction without changing his position.

"What is it?" Gon asked.

Tonpa lowered his eyes to his hands.

"I grew up in a family of professional thieves."

The faint amusement disappeared from Killua's face. Gon leaned forward with interest.

Tonpa continued.

"To them, stealing wasn't a crime or a choice. It was the family business—a profession passed from parents to their children, whether the children wanted it or not."

He let his shoulders sag slightly.

"They began training me when I was a child. They taught me how to pick locks, watch people, and invent excuses quickly. They would send me into markets and tell me to return with a specific item without paying for it."

"What happened if you failed?" Gon asked.

Tonpa's fingers went still against each other.

"They repeated the training until I succeeded."

He added nothing else. He allowed his tone to explain the part he had left unsaid.

Killua's eyes moved from the window to Tonpa. His expression no longer held the lazy detachment it had only minutes earlier. He was listening now—not merely searching for a flaw, but because something in the story had become familiar to him.

'I found the way in.'

Tonpa kept his expression composed and continued.

"My mother wasn't one of them. She hated what they did, but she had nowhere else to go. When she became ill and needed someone to care for her, they decided she had become a burden."

The last trace of a smile disappeared from Gon's face.

"What did they do?"

"They left her in an old house and moved to another city. To them, she was like a broken tool—once she stopped being useful, there was no reason to keep her."

He paused, then added:

"I stayed with her."

Gon did not look entirely surprised by the mention of her illness. Tonpa had expected as much. He had personally heard Leorio repeat what he had overheard from behind the pillar, in a voice loud enough to inform half the hall.

That was why Tonpa had preserved the foundation of the story: a sick mother, money he did not possess, and a Hunter License he had believed could save her. All he was doing now was constructing a new past on top of a lie they already believed.

"Did you try to treat her?" Gon asked.

Tonpa nodded.

"We had no money. I knew how to steal and deceive people, but I wasn't good enough to obtain what we needed without getting caught. Then I heard about the Hunter License."

He raised his eyes slightly.

"A Hunter License can open doors that remain closed to ordinary people. High-paying work, loans, access to restricted places... I thought passing the Hunter Exam would give me enough money to pay for her treatment."

Gon looked at the bag of juice bottles hanging beside Tonpa's seat.

Tonpa noticed, but he did not avoid the boy's gaze.

"I failed my first attempt, then my second. With every failure, I began seeing the other applicants as people stealing an opportunity that should have belonged to me. I convinced myself that reducing their numbers would improve my chances."

Killua spoke for the first time since the story began.

"That's why you started poisoning rookies?"

Tonpa slowly nodded.

"It began with the juice. At first, I told myself I was doing it for her. After that, it became easier every time. The deception became a habit, and the habit became the only thing I thought I was good at."

After a moment of hesitation, Gon asked:

"What happened to your mother?"

Tonpa did not answer immediately.

He tightened his jaw and forced himself not to blink. After several seconds, moisture began gathering in his eyes. He did not need an actual tear. Fighting the urge to cry was more convincing than allowing the tears to fall.

"She died years ago."

He allowed his voice to crack on the final word, then turned toward the window.

Silence settled over them.

The airship's engines produced a low, steady hum while clouds drifted slowly beyond the glass. Tonpa gave his words enough time to settle, but he did not remain silent long enough to appear as though he were waiting for comfort.

He quickly wiped the corner of his eye.

"After she died, I had no real reason to continue. But I had already spent years trying to pass, and I couldn't stop and admit that everything I had done had been meaningless."

He looked at the bottles inside his bag.

"I kept entering the exam, and I kept ruining other people's chances. After a while, I forgot why I had started in the first place."

Gon was watching him with open sympathy. Killua remained silent, but his gaze was no longer searching for the deception in quite the same way. He appeared to be comparing Tonpa's words to something he knew intimately—something he had not told either of them yet.

"I'm not telling you this because I expect either of you to forgive me," Tonpa said. "What I did was my choice, even if the beginning wasn't."

He kept his eyes forward, careful not to direct the words solely toward Killua.

"But no one has the right to decide what you will do with your lives. Not your family, not your past, and not anyone claiming to know what is best for you."

Then he looked at them.

"You're both free to choose what you want."

Gon nodded immediately, as though the idea required no consideration.

Killua turned his gaze back toward the clouds.

A chime sounded inside Tonpa's head.

[Killua Zoldyck's Trust: 2% → 5%]

Another notification appeared.

[Deception Registered.]

[Target: Killua Zoldyck]

[Nen Points +20]

[Experience Points +20]

A third notification followed, bearing Gon's name.

[Deception Registered.]

[Target: Gon Freecss]

[Nen Points +10]

[Experience Points +10]

[Total Nen Points: 191]

[Experience Points: 531/600]

Tonpa dismissed the windows before they could ruin his expression, then lowered his head as though he were still trapped in painful memories.

Internally, he regarded the new points with almost as much admiration as he felt for his own performance.

He had invented an entire family, nearly cried over an illness and death that had never happened, and made Killua reconsider him because the boy had seen a piece of himself inside the story.

'Even I almost believed myself.'

The ease with which he had summoned grief unsettled him for a moment.

Then he remembered the reward and felt better.

Killua remained silent, his eyes fixed on the clouds beyond the window. His gaze no longer held the same suspicion as before. In its place was something closer to hesitation.

Finally, he spoke.

"What you said about families not having the right to choose our lives..."

Tonpa raised his eyes.

"What about it?"

Killua lowered his gaze to his hands and sighed.

"I understand what you meant."

Gon waited for him to continue, while Tonpa remained silent.

Killua's eyes settled on Gon. He did not ask Tonpa to leave, but he did not direct the confession toward him either.

"Because my family decided what I would become before I was old enough to choose."



________________________________

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[Boumargood]

• ────────── ◆ ────────── •

Chapter 23: One Hour

• ────────── ◆ ────────── •
​

"Because my family decided what I would become before I was old enough to choose."

Tonpa slowly raised his eyes to Killua.

This was the response his lie had been designed to draw out. He had borrowed pieces of Killua's past, turned assassins into thieves, and waited for the boy to recognize himself inside the story.

Now, the bait had taken hold.

Tonpa let none of that reach his face. He left the silence to Gon, who asked:

"What profession did they choose for you?"

Killua shifted his gaze from Gon to the window.

"Assassination."

Tonpa allowed his breath to catch. His eyes widened before he straightened in his seat. He did not recoil dramatically or gape like an idiot. Restrained shock was far more convincing than theatrical panic.

"Assassination?"

Killua glanced at him from the corner of his eye.

"My family consists of professional assassins. Almost all of them are in the same line of work, and I was supposed to carry it on after them."

None of this was new to Tonpa, but hearing it from Killua himself gave the information a weight it had never possessed on a screen.

The boy seated across from him looked like an ordinary child and could still kill most of the people aboard the airship with his bare hands.

Gon leaned forward.

"Did they start training you when you were little?"

"Almost from the day I was born."

Killua raised one hand and examined it.

"They taught me how to kill, how to resist poison, and other things an assassin needs. They wanted me to become the heir to the family, but I didn't want them deciding everything about my life."

Gon asked:

"Is that why you left home?"

Killua nodded.

"I wounded my mother and brother when they tried to stop me, then ran away. I heard the Hunter Exam was difficult, so I decided to try it. It sounded better than going home."

Gon blinked twice, but Killua delivered the words in the same tone someone else might use to describe an ordinary argument.

Tonpa lowered his gaze slightly, as though the story had dragged him back into memories of his nonexistent family.

"Then you got out before the profession they chose became your entire life."

Killua turned toward him.

Tonpa continued:

"It doesn't matter what they trained you to do. What you choose to do with that training from now on is up to you."

Killua did not answer immediately.

Gon said:

"You can look for something you want to do after the exam."

Killua looked at him, and a small smile appeared on his face.

"Maybe."

Tonpa added:

"But you should give your parents at least a little credit."

The smile vanished.

"Credit for what, exactly?"

"They made you strong enough to leave them."

Killua stared at him.

"They used to electrocute me during training."

Tonpa paused, then nodded with manufactured wisdom.

"Then appreciate the results from a safe distance. I don't think a thank-you visit will be necessary."

A laugh escaped Gon, and one corner of Killua's mouth rose before he hid it. Tonpa turned toward the window to conceal his satisfaction.

He had used Killua's stolen story to coax a confession out of him, then used that same confession to offer advice about independence.

'Even the advice wasn't mine.'

The conversation quieted after that, but none of them left their seats.

Gon and Killua exchanged occasional comments about the exam while Tonpa watched the corridor reflected in the window glass. He had not remained because he enjoyed the conversation, nor because he wanted to spend the night in the company of a child assassin.

He was waiting for Netero.

In the original course of events, the Chairman had encountered Gon and Killua aboard the airship after their conversation, then offered them a game of taking the ball from him. Tonpa could not remember exactly how much time had passed between Killua's confession and Netero's appearance, but the meeting was supposed to happen tonight.

He needed to see it.

The Second Phase now had forty-eight survivors instead of forty-two, and the system had already warned him that events were diverging. Perhaps the changes remained limited. Or perhaps his knowledge of the future had already begun crumbling without him realizing it.

If Netero appeared and the ball game took place, Tonpa would at least have proof that the main course of events remained intact.

If he did not...

'Then I'll start panicking.'

Some time passed.

Clouds drifted beyond the glass, and the lights of one city below gradually gave way to another. A crew member walked through the corridor before disappearing behind a metal door.

Netero did not come.

Tonpa could not ask for the time without looking as though he were waiting for an appointment. He settled for moving his leg as it began to go numb while Gon talked about Whale Island.

Another stretch of time passed, and frustration slowly crept in.

Perhaps his presence alone had been enough to change the meeting. Perhaps the additional applicants had given Netero something else to deal with. Neither possibility would have seemed important before, but minor changes no longer looked harmless.

'Don't tell me I ruined the future by occupying an empty seat.'

He was considering giving up and going to sleep when a sudden pressure descended over the lounge.

Every muscle in his body locked.

He saw nothing, but the air grew heavier, and his chest tightened as though a predator had appeared directly behind him. Gon stopped speaking, while Killua shifted into a ready stance without rising from his seat.

The pressure came from the far end of the corridor to their right.

All three turned toward it.

The corridor was empty.

The pressure vanished a moment later, and a calm voice reached them from the opposite direction.

"Good reaction."

They spun around.

Netero stood to the left of the seats with both hands behind his back. He had not been there before they turned, and Tonpa had not seen him cross from one side to the other.

Tonpa could think of only one explanation. The Chairman must have noticed them first, sent the pressure of his aura from the right, then moved to the opposite side before they completed their turn.

Gon's eyes widened. Killua's gaze moved between Netero and both ends of the corridor.

Tonpa nearly smiled from sheer relief.

'He came.'

At least this landmark remained where it belonged. The entire course of events had not collapsed yet.

Netero approached them and produced a striped ball from behind his back.

"You don't seem interested in sleeping. Would you like to join me in a little game?"

Gon and Killua looked at the ball.

Gon asked:

"What kind of game?"

Netero raised the ball above his palm.

"You try to take this from me."

Gon immediately rose from his seat.

"I'm in."

Killua stood after him.

"So am I."

Tonpa placed a hand over his stomach and slowly got to his feet.

"I'm sorry, Chairman. I've been feeling unwell since we left Swindlers' Swamp. I think I should rest."

He had not waited this long because he wanted to participate. He had only wanted to confirm that the event still existed.

'I saw it. This landmark survived. That's enough for tonight.'

Besides, Gon and Killua had no idea what they had just agreed to. They saw a short old man holding a ball. Tonpa knew that even Meruem had been unable to interrupt the motion of Netero's prayer before it was completed.

This was not a game.

It was a polite way for the two boys to discover exactly how weak they were.

Tonpa turned to leave.

Ding!

The system's chime pierced his skull before his foot could complete the step.

His expression went cold.

'No.'

He did not need to see the window to know that the system had found a way to ruin his retreat.

[New Side Quest Created.]

Tonpa closed his eyes for a moment.

'Of course.'

The presence of one of the strongest Hunters in the world was an opportunity a system calling itself the Con Artist System could not possibly leave alone.

'What is it this time? Steal the ball? Defeat Netero?'

The rest of the quest appeared.

[Side Quest: Four Limbs.]

[Objective: Help Gon Freecss and Killua Zoldyck force Netero to use all four limbs during the game.]

Tonpa read the objective again.

It was not impossible, but neither was it a simple repetition of what he remembered.

In the original course of events, Gon had only managed to force Netero to use his right hand after hours of trying. The system wanted a greater result in a fraction of the time.

The next condition appeared.

[Time Limit: One Hour.]

Tonpa felt as though the system had immediately withdrawn the reasonable part of the quest.

One hour instead of the entire night.

'I knew the kindness wouldn't last.'

They had a starting point, not a complete plan. They would need to push Netero to the same point quickly, then force an additional movement that had never occurred in the original course of events.

The rewards appeared.

[Reward: 1,000 Nen Points.]

[Reward: 1,000 Experience Points.]

Tonpa's hand fell away from his stomach.

One thousand points.

A single reward could push his abilities into an entirely new tier, while the experience might raise his level more than once if the system allowed it.

He waited for the penalty, expecting death or another threat of forced transportation to the Dark Continent.

[Penalty for Failure: None.]

Tonpa stared at the line.

'None?'

He read it again, searching for some small word the system might have hidden at the end.

Nothing appeared.

This was the first quest the system had ever given him without placing a knife against his throat. That alone made him more suspicious, not less.

Perhaps the system considered facing Netero punishment enough.

Tonpa released a quiet breath, then turned back toward the three of them.

Killua raised an eyebrow.

"Weren't you sick?"

Tonpa removed his hand from his stomach and gave the time-limit line one final glance.

"I remembered that inactivity is bad for circulation."



________________________________

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[Boumargood]

• ────────── ◆ ────────── •

Chapter 24: The Slowest Person in the Room

• ────────── ◆ ────────── •
​

A glint of amusement appeared in Netero's eyes, but he made no comment on Tonpa's supposed recovery. He motioned for them to follow, then led them through one of the airship's corridors and into a spacious room. It was empty except for several seats bolted to the wall. The floor was level and solid, with enough open space for them to move freely.

Gon and Killua entered first. Tonpa followed while watching the timer at the edge of his vision.

[Time Remaining: 00:57:21]

Nearly three minutes had disappeared before the game even began.

Netero stood in the center of the room and tossed the striped ball from one hand to the other.

"The rules are simple. If any one of you manages to take the ball from me before the airship reaches the site of the Third Phase, I'll consider that person to have passed the Hunter Exam."

Gon's eyes widened.

"Does that mean we wouldn't have to complete the remaining phases?"

"That's correct."

Tonpa's gaze shifted to the ball. His main quest required him to pass the Hunter Exam, and the penalty for failure was forced transportation to the Dark Continent. If he took the ball and Netero honored his promise, he could clear that quest without facing any of the remaining phases.

This was not the thousand-point quest.

This was the quest that would keep him away from the Dark Continent.

'All I have to do is take a ball from Netero.'

He raised his eyes toward the old man.

'Dying immediately sounds less complicated.'

Netero had not made the offer because he expected to lose. As far as Tonpa could tell, the three of them were little more than a way for the old man to pass the time before the airship arrived.

Tonpa also knew how Netero would move once the game began. At the start of the original game, he had evaded Gon and Killua while using only one hand and one leg. He had never told them about the restriction, instead allowing them to discover the insult for themselves.

The system's quest required them to force him to use all four limbs within one hour.

Tonpa still had no idea how they were supposed to accomplish that. Repeating the same attacks would accomplish nothing, and relying on Gon's stubbornness would take until dawn. He first needed to see how Netero handled three opponents instead of two. After that, he might find something they could exploit.

Gon began rotating his arms and stretching his shoulders. Killua bent down to stretch his legs, then bounced lightly several times.

Tonpa copied them. He lifted one leg and tried to pull it toward his chest, but it stopped halfway as the muscles in his thigh objected. He lowered it before anyone noticed.

'That's enough. I don't need to defeat myself before the game starts.'

The three of them stood before Netero, the ball resting in one of his hands.

"Begin whenever you're ready."

Killua moved first.

He became a white blur rushing toward Netero from the right. Gon moved at the same moment from the opposite side, while Tonpa charged forward to block the old man's retreat.

Killua reached him first. His hand shot toward the ball, but Netero turned his body slightly, allowing the boy's fingers to sweep past it. Gon arrived from the other side, only for the ball to drop out of his reach and rise above his head.

Tonpa arrived last.

He extended both arms toward Netero, but the old man pivoted on one foot and slipped past him. Tonpa saw nothing but the edge of his clothes before finding himself rushing directly toward Gon.

Their shoulders collided, sending both of them stumbling.

Netero was already standing behind them, flipping the ball in the same hand.

Exactly as Tonpa remembered.

One hand. One leg.

And the three of them had not come close to forcing him to change that.

"Good attempt," Netero said.

Tonpa regained his balance and stared at him. It had not been good. He had expected Netero and Killua to be fast, but even Gon had clearly outrun him despite Tonpa having raised his Speed to Rank D.

He looked down at his legs.

[Speed: D]

'Wonderful. I paid one hundred Nen Points to come in last with greater confidence.'

Perhaps Gon and Killua belonged to a higher rank, or perhaps the gap within a single rank was wider than Tonpa had assumed. He had no accurate way to judge. All he knew was that he had been staring at their backs from the moment they moved.

As for Netero, Tonpa preferred not to guess his rank at all.

Killua attacked again. He dropped low, then abruptly changed direction in an attempt to reach Netero's back. Gon attacked from the front while Tonpa moved left to cut off the old man's escape.

Netero did not retreat. He leaned away from Gon, then pivoted on the same foot. Killua's hand passed close to the ball, while Tonpa arrived only after it had already changed position.

Tonpa was not surprised that Netero maintained his self-imposed restriction. What surprised him was how effortlessly he did it. Even with a third opponent, the old man had no need for his other hand or leg.

The attempts continued. They attacked from three directions, then Gon and Killua tried alternating their movements instead of rushing him together. Tonpa attempted to drive Netero toward the wall, but the old man escaped their encirclement before it could fully form.

During one attempt, Tonpa correctly predicted his direction and lunged to block his path. Netero changed his rhythm at the last instant, sending Tonpa rushing into empty space. He nearly fell when he tried to turn after him.

The air began burning inside his chest. Improved Stats had not given him combat experience, nor had they taught him how to change direction as easily as Gon and Killua could.

He made one more attempt, then stopped with his hands resting on his knees.

"I need a break."

Killua looked at him with open disapproval.

"We just started."

Tonpa raised his head.

"I'm still feeling unwell, remember?"

He walked toward the seats and sat down. Exhaustion was not his only reason for stopping. Continuing to chase Netero would earn him nothing except more failures. He needed to observe from outside the chaos.

Tonpa summoned his status panel.

[Nen Points: 191]

[Strength: D] [Upgrade Cost: 1,000 Nen Points]

[Speed: D] [Upgrade Cost: 1,000 Nen Points]

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

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

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

He had enough to raise one Stat to Rank D.

Strength would be useless if his hand never reached the target, and Endurance would merely allow him to continue failing for longer. Any opening they created would not last. He needed a body capable of exploiting it.

He focused on Flexibility.

[Would you like to spend 100 Nen Points to upgrade Flexibility?]

[Yes/No]

He selected Yes.

[100 Nen Points deducted.]

[Flexibility: E → D]

[Remaining Nen Points: 91]

Warmth spread through his joints before extending into his back and legs. The tension restricting his movements receded, making it easier to rotate his shoulders and bend his knees.

He did not stand.

Tonpa raised his eyes toward Netero and began watching. He focused on the foot the old man relied upon, the direction he leaned whenever Gon approached, and the way he used Killua's momentum to carry him away from the ball.

Netero's movements were not random. He guided their attacks into the paths he wanted, then escaped using the smallest movement possible.

Tonpa's task was not to take the ball. It was to force Netero to use the two limbs he had not needed so far. The difference between those objectives seemed small, but it completely changed how Tonpa needed to approach the problem.

He continued watching. With each failed attempt, several details began fitting together inside his mind.

He did not have a complete plan yet.

But he knew what he needed to wait for.

The timer appeared at the edge of his vision.

[Time Remaining: 00:42:18]

After two more attempts, Killua finally backed away. The irritation on his face was obvious. His breathing had quickened slightly, but he did not look exhausted.

He sat in the seat beside Tonpa and continued staring at Netero and the ball as though they had personally insulted him.

Tonpa turned toward him, one corner of his mouth rising in amusement.

"Weren't you going to take the ball?"

Killua wiped the sweat from his forehead without looking at him.

"Weren't you sick?"



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• ────────── ◆ ────────── •

Chapter 25: A Different Kind of Victory

• ────────── ◆ ────────── •
​

Tonpa looked at Killua, then at the seat the boy had taken after spending more than ten minutes chasing the ball.

"I recover quickly when seats are available."

Killua narrowed his eyes but did not answer. He turned back toward the center of the room, where Gon was still trying to take the ball from Netero by himself.

Gon rushed him from the front. Netero leaned aside and let him pass. The boy turned quickly and tried to seize his arm, but the old man drew the ball away and hopped sideways on the same leg, carrying it beyond Gon's reach.

Gon passed him again without his fingers touching so much as Netero's clothes.

Killua watched with obvious irritation. Sweat had plastered several strands of hair to his forehead, and his fingers moved against his knee as though he were resisting the urge to rejoin the game immediately.

He did not seem accustomed to failure. From the way his eyes followed every one of Netero's movements, Tonpa guessed that not understanding why he was failing bothered him even more than the failure itself.

Tonpa saw an opportunity. He straightened in his seat, folded his arms, and lowered his eyelids slightly. It was the expression he used whenever he wanted to convince a victim that he understood the market better than the experts did.

The expression of a man who understood everything, even if he had only understood half of it.

He spoke calmly.

"Neither of you is going to take that ball from him."

Killua turned toward him.

"What did you say?"

"I said neither of you will take it. Not like this."

Killua gave him a narrow look.

"Since when are you an expert? You're the slowest person in the room."

The observation was irritatingly accurate.

Tonpa chose to ignore it and gestured toward Netero with his chin.

"Watch him carefully."

Killua returned his attention to the game.

Gon attacked from the left. Netero moved away with a short hop on the leg he had been using. The boy tried to change direction in the middle of his rush, but the old man raised the ball above his head and pivoted around him on the same foot.

The attempt ended with Gon landing on his hands while Netero remained where he was, smiling.

Killua asked:

"What am I supposed to see?"

Tonpa waited until Gon rose and began another attempt.

"Since we started, he has only used one hand and one leg."

Killua's fingers went still against his knee.

He continued watching Netero, but this time he did not focus on the ball. His gaze moved between the old man's shoulders and feet, following every hop and evasion.

Gon charged again.

Netero avoided him with the same leg.

When the boy approached the ball, he moved it away with the same hand.

He had not used the other two limbs at all.

Killua's expression slowly changed.

"He's..."

"Playing with us," Tonpa finished. "He hasn't been using all his strength to stop us. He placed a restriction on himself and didn't even bother telling us about it."

Killua did not answer immediately. He kept watching Netero, his jaw tightening as Tonpa's observation proved itself.

His inability to take the ball did not seem to be the only thing bothering him. Realizing that Netero was treating him like a child appeared to have struck somewhere more sensitive.

After a moment, he asked:

"How did you notice?"

Tonpa raised his chin slightly.

That was the question he had been waiting for.

"Experience."

Killua looked at his stomach, then at his dirty clothes, before returning his gaze to Tonpa's face.

"You?"

"I've taken the Hunter Exam more than thirty times. Don't look at the results. We're discussing experience, not success."

"Thirty failed attempts don't make you an expert."

"They make me an expert at understanding why people fail."

Killua did not immediately find an answer to that.

Tonpa took advantage of the silence and continued in a confident tone.

"I simply never trained seriously over the years. If I had, I would be the strongest applicant in this exam."

Killua stared at him for two seconds.

Then he gave a short laugh.

"You? The strongest?"

"The talent is there."

Killua looked at his stomach again.

"Where?"

"Under a layer of protection."

Another laugh escaped Killua before he returned his attention to Gon. Judging from that laugh, he had not believed a word of Tonpa's boasting, but his mockery lacked the wariness that had once accompanied every conversation between them.

Ding!

The system's chime pierced Tonpa's thoughts.

[Killua Zoldyck's Trust: 5% → 6%]

Tonpa blinked once and dismissed the window.

He guessed that the increase had not occurred because Killua believed he was a neglected genius. The reason was simpler. Tonpa's presence had become familiar enough for the boy to trade insults with him without searching every sentence for a trap.

'One percent in exchange for an insult to my stomach.'

It was an acceptable trade.

Gon failed another attempt, but immediately got back up and prepared to attack again.

Killua watched him and said:

"Even if he's only using half his limbs, that doesn't mean we can't take the ball. We just need to move faster."

"Forget the ball."

Killua turned sharply toward him.

"Why?"

"Because you don't know who the man in front of you is."

Killua raised an eyebrow.

"He's Netero, Chairman of the Hunter Association. He introduced himself earlier."

"That's only his name and position. I didn't say you couldn't read a name tag."

Killua fell silent and waited for him to continue.

Tonpa lowered his voice as though he were about to share information an ordinary applicant had no right to know.

"During one of my previous attempts, I overheard two examiners talking about him. They said he had been considered the strongest fighter in the Hunter Association for decades."

That part was not far from the truth.

What Tonpa added next was entirely his own.

"Once, several professional Hunters wagered that at least one of them could touch his clothes within an hour. They all attacked him. In the end, not only had they failed to touch him, but he had also taken their Hunter Licenses from their pockets during the fight."

Killua regarded him with suspicion.

"And you happened to overhear this?"

"I was eavesdropping."

"Why?"

"I have educational hobbies."

The suspicion remained on Killua's face, but he returned his attention to Netero. Gon was attacking the old man with everything he had, while Netero continued smiling and evading him on one leg.

Tonpa did not know how much of the story Killua had accepted, but the boy no longer appeared to regard the incident with the stolen licenses as an obvious lie. Netero's effortless movements made it plausible enough for him to accept it for the moment.

Ding!

Another system chime sounded inside Tonpa's head.

[Deception Registered.]

[Target: Killua Zoldyck]

[Nen Points +5]

[Experience Points +5]

[Total Nen Points: 96]

[Experience Points: 536/600]

Tonpa dismissed the notifications without disturbing his serious expression.

'Five points for a story I invented while sitting down.'

That was better than running after the ball.

Killua said:

"So you think taking the ball is impossible?"

"The way we're attacking him now? Yes."

'And within the hour the system gave me? Definitely.'

Killua's narrowed eyes and tightening fingers made his displeasure with the answer obvious.

Tonpa understood people like him. Telling him that something was impossible would not make him retreat. It would only make him want it more. Tonpa therefore made no attempt to stop him from returning to the game.

He only needed to change what counted as victory.

Tonpa rose from his seat and brushed the dust from his clothes, then looked at Netero with an irritated expression. This time, not all of the irritation was an act. Watching the old man evade them while using only half his limbs was unpleasant, particularly after Tonpa had spent two hundred Nen Points on Speed and Flexibility and remained the slowest person in the room.

He said:

"But that doesn't mean we have to accept his mockery."

Killua looked at him.

"What do you mean?"

"I don't like losing."

Killua raised an eyebrow.

"You've taken the Hunter Exam more than thirty times without passing it."

"I said I don't like losing, not that I lack experience with it."

Tonpa gestured toward Netero.

"Taking the ball is the victory Netero defined. Our victory will be forcing him to abandon the restriction he placed on himself."

Interest began replacing the irritation in Killua's eyes.

Tonpa continued:

"If he's confident enough to stop us from taking the ball with one hand and one leg, then we'll force him to use the other two."

Killua looked at the two limbs Netero had not used, then back at Tonpa.

A small smile appeared on Tonpa's face, concealing the timer counting down before his eyes.

"We don't need to take the ball."

He fixed his gaze on the old man.

"We only need to make him use all four limbs."



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• ────────── ◆ ────────── •

Chapter 26: Three Minutes

• ────────── ◆ ────────── •


​

Killua continued staring at Netero for a moment. Then a small smile formed on his face, devoid of any real amusement. It was the smile of someone who had finally found another way to consider himself the winner.

"All right," he said as he rose. "I like the idea. How are we going to do it?"

Tonpa had an answer—or at least the part of it he could say aloud.

"You and Gon keep him under constant pressure. Attack together and don't let his attention settle on either of you. Once he's occupied, I'll disrupt his concentration."

Killua's smile stopped at the final words.

"You're going to disrupt his concentration?"

"I know the division of labor sounds unfair, but try not to be jealous."

Killua examined him from head to toe.

"I was trying to think of a polite way to ask what you can actually do."

"Save it for next time."

Before Killua could respond, Gon broke away from Netero and approached them with heavy steps. He was breathing quickly, his face had reddened, and damp strands of hair clung to his forehead. Even as he sat on the edge of the seat, however, his eyes remained fixed on the ball.

"I'm only resting for a little while," he said. "Then I'll try again."

Killua gave him the short version of the idea. Tonpa added only the details that could safely be said aloud: attack from different directions, keep Netero moving, and exploit any momentary imbalance to force him to use the right hand and left leg he had deliberately been holding back.

Gon did not ask why Tonpa had withheld the final part of his plan. He simply looked toward Netero and smiled.

"Even if we don't take the ball, we'll still win something from him."

Tonpa nodded solemnly.

'More importantly, I'll win a thousand points from all of you.'

A few minutes later, the three of them stood before Netero once again.

The old man smiled and rolled the ball between the fingers of his left hand.

"Finished resting?"

"We were giving you time to prepare," Tonpa said.

Netero chuckled. Tonpa could not tell whether he had appreciated the joke or merely enjoyed the audacity behind it.

Killua moved first.

He rushed Netero's right side while Gon attacked from the front. Tonpa ran toward the remaining angle, attempting to close off the old man's retreat.

Netero dipped beneath Gon's arm, pivoted on his right foot, and drew the ball away from Killua's fingers with his left hand, all in one motion.

Then he abruptly changed direction and passed close to Tonpa.

Tonpa braced for the collision, but his body bent more quickly than he expected. His shoulder dropped, his waist twisted, and one foot slid aside as Netero passed within inches of him.

He regained his balance without falling.

Tonpa blinked and glanced down at his feet.

His Rank D Flexibility had not made him anyone's equal in this room, but his body had finally stopped resisting his decisions. Changing direction felt lighter, bending was faster, and recovering his balance had become almost natural.

'Wonderful. Now I can avoid the humiliation instead of falling down after it.'

Netero gave him no more time to appreciate his investment. The ball passed before Tonpa's face for an instant, and his hand shot toward it.

His fingers closed around empty air.

Netero was already behind him.

The attempts continued.

Gon attacked relentlessly, changing his height and direction after every failure. Killua began using short bursts and body feints, pretending to retreat before returning from another angle. Tonpa tried to predict the opening Netero would leave behind, sometimes blocking it with his body and sometimes reaching for the ball himself.

None of it worked.

During their next attempt, Killua signaled to Gon with his eyes before springing high. Gon understood and attacked Netero's supporting leg from below. Tonpa stepped forward to cut off the retreat, briefly convinced that they had finally trapped him.

Netero sprang over Gon using only his right leg, passed the ball behind his back with his left hand, and landed on the same foot in the narrow gap between Tonpa and Killua before it could close.

His left foot never touched the floor.

He turned toward them with a smile.

"Good teamwork."

It almost sounded encouraging, until Tonpa noticed that the old man's breathing had not changed.

'Complimenting someone after humiliating them should qualify as psychological warfare.'

They switched roles. Gon hung back to observe while Killua rushed in directly. Tonpa pretended to stumble, dropped toward the floor, and reached for the ball from below.

Netero was not fooled. He drew the ball away before Tonpa's fingers came close, but the obstacle forced him to vault over Tonpa rather than pass beside him. Once again, he launched himself from his right leg and landed on the same foot without allowing the left one to touch the floor.

"I almost touched it!" Tonpa said as he rose.

"You were an entire arm's length away," Killua replied.

"Compared to my earlier attempts, that qualifies as scientific progress."

Netero retreated whenever they expected him to advance and moved toward them whenever they prepared for another evasion. The ball remained in his left hand. His right hand stayed close to his body, while his left foot never bore any of his weight. Using only his left hand and right leg, he continued guiding them exactly where he wanted them.

After another attempt ended with Tonpa colliding with Gon, Killua stepped back and wiped the sweat from his chin.

"Where's your plan?"

Tonpa raised his head from the floor.

"Which part?"

"The part where you do something."

Tonpa climbed to his feet and brushed off his sleeve. The question was reasonable, which only made it more irritating.

"The right moment hasn't arrived yet."

"Or you don't have a plan at all?"

"Keep pressing him. The opening will come."

Killua regarded him with obvious suspicion, but returned to his position when Gon signaled that he was ready.

Tonpa watched Netero receive their next attack.

He was not delaying for the sake of appearing mysterious. The old man simply refused to give him a genuine opportunity.

Every placement of his right foot was brief and calculated. His weight remained perfectly controlled regardless of how the attacks changed. Even when Killua's hand approached the ball, Netero's left shoulder was already prepared to turn, while the distance between him and Gon remained sufficient for an escape.

'Of course. Why would the strongest man in the room make one convenient mistake out of respect for my future?'

If Tonpa acted at the wrong moment, Netero might resist the effect or recover his concentration before being forced to abandon his restriction. The surprise would be lost, leaving Tonpa to explain why he had shouted a question entirely unrelated to the ball in the face of the Hunter Association Chairman.

That was not the sort of memory he wanted to carry with him to the Dark Continent.

"Keep going," he said as he fought for breath. "Don't give him time to settle."

The minutes passed.

Their attempts became an exhausting rhythm: a rush, an evasion, a shoe sliding across the floor, and then a short chuckle from Netero.

Gon's breathing grew louder. Killua's steps lost a little of their sharpness, while Tonpa's chest burned with every breath.

Killua began understanding Gon's movements before they were complete, and Gon adjusted his course the instant he saw Killua move. Tonpa still needed an extra half-second to follow them, but he used that delay to approach through the angle Netero left after avoiding the other two.

Their coordination genuinely improved.

The gap between them and the old man remained too wide for a plan and a little enthusiasm to close.

Every time they believed they had narrowed the available space, Netero found an exit they had failed to see. Every time someone's fingers approached the ball, his smile widened slightly, as though he were granting them precisely enough hope to keep them running.

More than half an hour disappeared into those failed attempts. Their collisions began to blend together in Tonpa's memory, but he never stopped watching.

The countdown continued decreasing at the edge of his vision, cruel in its regularity. Every minute that vanished was a thousand points coming closer to becoming nothing.

He focused on it.

[Time Remaining: 00:02:57]

'Three minutes left to deceive an old monster.'

Killua lunged toward the ball, forcing Netero to twist his left shoulder away. Gon closed in from the opposite side instead of attacking directly.

For the first time, the old man raised the ball high above his left shoulder while his weight rolled onto the outer edge of his right foot. His torso had already committed to turning away from both boys.

Tonpa saw it.

It was not a complete mistake. Against anyone else, it would not have qualified as an opening at all. But Netero's left shoulder was turned toward Killua, Gon had closed the opposite route, and his right foot was already committed to the pivot.

He could still evade the two boys without breaking his restriction.

Changing direction again would require his unused limbs.

It was either now, or Tonpa could return to collecting points from applicants who believed stories about rest stops.

"From both sides!" Tonpa shouted. "Now!"

Gon and Killua moved immediately.

Gon dropped low toward Netero's supporting right leg, cutting off the pivot, while Killua sprang from the opposite side and reached for the ball above his shoulder.

Netero pushed against his right foot and began turning, keeping the ball beyond Killua's reach while his left foot remained clear of the floor.

Tonpa charged through the final open angle.

The distance vanished rapidly.

Three meters.

Two.

One step.

Netero raised his eyes toward him. Curiosity glimmered inside them, as though he had been waiting all this time to see the part of the plan Tonpa had concealed.

'Now!'

Tonpa opened his mouth and shouted at the top of his lungs:

"Is that your mother?!"



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[Lewdhandholding]

Nice cliffhanger, OP. Honestly left it at a good point.

 

[Boumargood]

• ────────── ◆ ────────── •

Chapter 27: A Fraction of a Second

• ────────── ◆ ────────── •
​

"Is that your mother?!"

The shout rebounded off the walls of the room.

Killua's outstretched hand faltered, his eyes widening while he was still suspended in the air. Gon, already diving toward Netero's right leg, glanced at Tonpa even as his body continued forward.

Even Netero, who had met every attack since the beginning of the game with a calm smile, fixed his eyes on Tonpa for a fraction of a second.

But his head did not turn.

He did not search behind himself. His eyes did not move toward the door, nor did the idiotic confusion that had seized the weak applicant Tonpa first tested the skill on appear anywhere on his face.

Tonpa's heart sank into his stomach.

'It didn't work.'

Ding!

The system's chime cut through the fading echo inside his head, and two notifications appeared before his eyes at the worst possible moment.

[Killua Zoldyck's Status: Internally Cursing the Host.]

[Gon Freecss's Status: Confused.]

'Even the system has started documenting the insults.'

Killua's hand slowed, and Gon's attention shifted away from Netero's leg. Tonpa's plan was about to collapse because of its creator before it even affected its target.

Then something changed.

Tonpa saw no flash of light, nor did the air ripple before him, but the effect was unmistakable on Netero's face. The old man's eyebrows rose slightly, his smile vanished, and his shoulders tightened for an instant, as though an unseen pressure had knocked against his awareness from an angle he had not anticipated.

The skill had not forced him to turn.

But it had startled him.

For one infinitesimal moment, the perfect rhythm he had maintained throughout the game broke.

Gon was the first to recover.

He returned his attention to Netero's right leg and reached for the old man's ankle, continuing the attack he had already begun. From the opposite side, Killua stretched through the air and extended his fingers toward the ball above Netero's left shoulder.

Tonpa did not stop either.

He completed his charge through the final angle, lowering his shoulder as he reached forward with both arms. He was not fast enough to take the ball, but his body blocked Netero's last available escape route.

The old man no longer had time to evade them in the same way.

His left hand was lifting the ball beyond Killua's fingertips. Gon's hand was closing in on his supporting right leg, and Tonpa was approaching from the front to seal the final opening.

Netero's body moved on instinct before his smile returned.

His right hand descended for the first time since the game began and caught Gon's wrist before the boy's fingers could reach his ankle. He redirected Gon's arm, carrying the boy's momentum away from his supporting leg.

At the same moment, Netero's left foot touched the floor.

His weight shifted onto it, and he pushed himself into a sharp sideways pivot, slipping through the narrow gap before Tonpa's arms could close around him.

Tonpa grasped nothing but air.

Killua's fingertips passed within a hair's breadth of the ball before he landed, one foot sliding half a step across the floor.

Tonpa continued forward for another two steps before managing to stop. He turned quickly, expecting to find Netero balanced on one leg as usual.

The old man stood several paces away.

His left hand still held the ball. His right remained extended after releasing Gon's wrist. Both feet rested on the floor for a moment before he calmly redistributed his weight.

The position did not last long, but it was already too late.

Gon backed away while rubbing his wrist, staring in astonishment at the right hand that had stopped him. Killua raised his head and looked between Netero's legs. He had seen the old man's left foot touch the floor and propel him away.

Tonpa was not looking at the ball at all.

He stared at Netero's right hand, then at his left foot.

The two limbs the old man had refused to use throughout the previous minutes had moved together before his eyes.

'We did it.'

Ding!

The system's chime exploded inside his head.

[Side Quest Completed: Four Limbs.]

[Netero has been forced to use all four limbs.]

[Nen Points +1,000]

[Experience Points +1,000]

[Total Nen Points: 1,096]

[Experience Points: 1,536/600]

[Level Advancement Requirements Met.]

[Level Advancement Available.]

Pure joy surged through Tonpa so intensely that it almost hurt.

One thousand Nen Points. One thousand Experience Points. All in exchange for nearly an hour of running, several collisions, and a shout that would probably haunt his dreams for years.

The Level Advancement option appeared at the edge of his vision, but he dismissed it along with the other windows. This was not the time to discover what Level Three would give him, especially in front of a man who might notice a change in Tonpa's breathing before Tonpa noticed it himself.

'Finally, a deal that respects a con artist's dignity.'

He nearly raised a fist in celebration, but then remembered the man standing in front of him and kept both arms still.

The surprise had not entirely disappeared from Netero's face.

The old man rolled the ball between the fingers of his left hand once, then twice, while keeping his eyes fixed on Tonpa.

His gaze was not angry, but the amusement it had held earlier was gone. It moved between Tonpa's face, hands, and feet, weighing his stance and breathing as though the ridiculous shout concealed something worth examining.

Ding!

The system chimed for the third time, and a red window appeared before Tonpa.

[Warning.]

[A person whose strength exceeds the current measurement range is evaluating the Host.]

[Target suspects the Host used Nen.]

[Target is confused: No Nen aura was detected from the Host.]

Tonpa's joy disappeared as quickly as it had come.

Coldness spread down the back of his neck. He struggled to maintain the expression of a man who had merely shouted the first piece of nonsense that entered his head—not someone who had used an unknown ability on the Chairman of the Hunter Association.

'Wonderful. I gained a thousand points and attracted the attention of someone the system can't even measure.'

He wished he could return the points and leave, then remembered that he did not possess that degree of integrity even when it would be useful.

Netero's silence lasted only two seconds, but to Tonpa, it felt much longer.

Then the old man closed his eyes and laughed.

His usual smile returned. He raised the ball above his shoulder.

"It seems you've tired me more than I expected. I think we'll stop here."

Gon took half a step toward him.

"But we haven't taken the ball yet."

"That's true."

Netero opened one eye and looked from Gon to Killua before settling his gaze on Tonpa.

"And yet, it seems you achieved the goal you set for yourselves."

Gon looked at Netero's right hand, then at his left foot. A small smile appeared on his face, and he withdrew the step he had taken.

They had not taken the ball.

But they had forced Netero to abandon the restriction he had placed upon himself.

Netero turned and walked toward the door at an unhurried pace. He did not ask Tonpa about the shout or mention the effect he had felt, as though nothing unusual had occurred.

He stopped at the door and gave Tonpa one final glance before stepping through and closing it behind him.

That was worse than being questioned.

Tonpa waited until the sound of his footsteps faded, then released the breath he had not realized he was holding.

"You idiot!"

Killua's voice came from beside him.

Tonpa turned and found the boy staring at him, his expression caught somewhere between anger and disbelief. Gon continued looking between the door and Tonpa, presumably still trying to locate the mother no one else had seen.

Killua spoke first.

"Your plan was to run up to him and shout about his mother?"

Tonpa adjusted his collar, attempting to recover some of his dignity.

"My plan was to disrupt his concentration at the right moment. The words were a secondary detail."

"You disrupted our concentration too!"

"And yet, you almost took the ball and forced him to use his right hand and left leg."

Killua opened his mouth, then closed it again. He clearly disliked the answer, but he could not deny the result.

Gon asked seriously:

"Did you really think his mother was there?"

"No."

"Then why did you say it?"

"Because shouting about his father wouldn't have produced the same effect."

Gon's confusion deepened, while Killua covered his face with one hand.

Tonpa left them to argue over the logic of his plan and headed toward the seats. He sat down, feeling the pain in his legs, then summoned the skill's description in his mind.

[Is That Your Mother?]

[The stronger the target, the greater their resistance to the command.]

The sentence had been clear from the beginning, but Tonpa had not understood the size of that difference until now. The weak applicant had turned immediately and lost control of his reaction.

Netero's head had not moved a single inch.

Even so, the skill had not been useless.

The old man had felt something—a pressure, a warning, or some force he could not identify. That had been enough to break his concentration for a fraction of a second.

Against someone as powerful as Netero, stealing even that much time was not an achievement Tonpa could dismiss.

Only one question remained.

Did the skill depend entirely on the target's resistance, or would its effect grow as Tonpa became stronger?

The system did not answer, as usual whenever he asked a useful question.

Tonpa looked down at his hands, then toward the door through which Netero had left.

'Perhaps the skill wasn't weak.'

He slowly moved his fingers.

'Perhaps its user was the cheap part.'

________________________________

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[UnbegottenProxy]

I forgot about his 'is that your mother' skill. That was pretty funny.

 

[Boumargood]

• ────────── ◆ ────────── •

Chapter 28: Thanks for Trying

• ────────── ◆ ────────── •
​

Tonpa remained seated after Netero's departure, staring at his palms as his final thought settled inside his mind.

When he raised his head, Gon was still looking toward the door through which the old man had left. Killua stood beside him with both hands in his pockets. They both looked exhausted, but that did not stop Killua from giving Tonpa a look that made one thing clear: the shout of "Is that your mother?!" would not be forgotten anytime soon.

Tonpa stood and brushed off his clothes.

"I'm going to get some rest. I suggest you two do the same."

Killua replied:

"After that brilliant plan of yours, I suggest you sleep for a very long time."

"I rescued your dignity in front of the Chairman of the Hunter Association. A little gratitude wouldn't hurt."

Gon looked down at his hands.

"But we didn't take the ball."

"I said your dignity, not the ball."

Gon smiled, while Killua rolled his eyes.

Tonpa did not wait for another response. He bid them goodnight and headed toward the room assigned to him aboard the airship, keeping his pace calm until he was out of sight. The moment he rounded the corner at the end of the corridor, his steps quickened on their own.

Exhaustion weighed upon his legs, while the repeated collisions with the floor had left his shoulders and back aching. Yet something far more powerful drove him forward.

One thousand and ninety-six Nen Points.

Only minutes before their plan succeeded, his balance had been a mere ninety-six points—not even enough to purchase a respectable disappointment from the Lottery. Now, he possessed enough to genuinely change his body.

Tonpa closed the door behind him and made sure it was secure before sitting on the edge of the bed. The room was not spacious. It contained a narrow bed, a small cabinet, and a table fixed to the wall so it would not become a flying weapon whenever the airship shook.

For a man hoping to conceal his advancement from the Chairman, privacy mattered far more than decoration.

Tonpa took a slow breath and summoned his status panel.

[Host: Tonpa]

[Level: 2]

[Experience Points: 1,536/600]

[Level Advancement: Available]

[Strength: D]

[Speed: D]

[Flexibility: D]

[Endurance: E]

[Intelligence: E]

[Talent: E]

[Nen Points: 1,096]

His eyes settled first on the Level Advancement option.

He could select it now. In fact, part of him wanted to do so immediately and discover what it would give him. His previous advancement had made his body capable of learning Nen. Perhaps the next one would carry an even greater reward.

Or a new window informing him that his Talent was somehow worse than he had believed.

'I'll save the good news for last.'

He set the Level Advancement option aside for the moment and focused on his Stats.

Two clear paths lay before him.

He could spend the full one thousand points to upgrade Strength, Speed, or Flexibility from Rank D to Rank C. One enormous leap might bring him closer to the level of genuine fighters, rather than leaving him as the man who joined two children in an attack and arrived after everything was already over.

Speed was the most tempting option. Strength was useful in a fight, but Speed was useful for avoiding fights altogether, and Tonpa had long believed that a successful escape was simply a more refined form of victory.

Flexibility had proven its value only moments ago, but it was hardly the first choice that came to mind for a man attempting to survive an exam filled with killers.

The problem was that upgrading one of those Stats would leave him with only ninety-six points, while his Endurance and Intelligence remained at Rank E.

He stared at the options for a long time.

He could become considerably faster, or he could stop possessing a body that grew tired before his plans did and a mind that needed rest after every two lies.

Then his thoughts drifted toward the Hunter's Lottery.

He recalled the image of the shining wheel, like a shop that knew its customer was carrying money and therefore had no need to call out to him.

Tonpa dismissed the thought immediately.

'Only three draws.'

The decision was reasonable. He would upgrade Endurance and Intelligence to Rank D for two hundred points, then try the Lottery three times. That would leave him with five hundred and ninety-six points. He could add more later until he reached one thousand and upgrade one of his remaining Stats to Rank C.

A balanced and conservative plan.

Two descriptions no one had ever used immediately before losing money to gambling.

Tonpa focused on Endurance.

[Would you like to upgrade Endurance from E to D?]

[Cost: 100 Nen Points.]

"Yes."

[Endurance: E → D]

A slow warmth spread from his chest into his limbs. The pain from the past hour did not disappear, but it gradually receded, as though his body had suddenly remembered that it did not need to complain about every movement. His breathing deepened, and the faint trembling in his legs subsided.

He tightened his fist, then relaxed it.

He did not feel stronger. Instead, he felt capable of continuing to use what strength he possessed without collapsing as quickly.

He moved to the next Stat.

[Would you like to upgrade Intelligence from E to D?]

[Cost: 100 Nen Points.]

He confirmed the upgrade.

[Intelligence: E → D]

His head did not suddenly fill with wisdom, nor did the secrets of the universe reveal themselves. He merely felt the faint haze caused by exhaustion recede. His thoughts became more orderly, and the details of the game he had just played grew easier to recall.

The improvement was subtle, but unmistakable.

'Wonderful. I'm now qualified to make bad decisions with greater efficiency.'

His remaining balance appeared.

[Nen Points: 896]

Tonpa summoned the Hunter's Lottery.

The dark wheel formed before him, unknown symbols surrounding its surface while the golden pointer rested above it. It looked exactly as he remembered from his first draw, when he had received a ridiculous Skill that had somehow managed to startle Netero himself.

That alone was reason enough to test his luck again.

[Draw Cost: 100 Nen Points.]

[Would you like to proceed?]

"Yes."

The wheel began spinning rapidly. Its symbols blurred together until they became a ring of light. Tonpa watched while holding his breath as it gradually began to slow.

The pointer passed a sword, then a bottle, followed by a human silhouette, before stopping upon an empty gray segment.

[Thank You for Trying.]

Tonpa waited for another message.

None came.

"That's it?"

The wheel remained silent.

He paid for a second draw.

It spun, slowed, and stopped.

[Thank You for Trying.]

During his third attempt, the pointer approached a symbol resembling a book, only to pass it at the final instant and settle upon another empty space.

[Thank You for Trying.]

Tonpa stared at the message.

His three attempts were over.

He should close the Lottery, preserve his remaining points, and return to the Level Advancement option as he had planned.

He knew that perfectly well. In his previous life, he had built entire webpages designed to make people ignore their previous losses and pay again. Flashing effects, a prize that almost appeared, and a message encouraging the victim to make one more attempt.

He recognized the trick because he had used it himself.

'Which is precisely why it won't work on me.'

He paid for a fourth draw.

[Thank You for Trying.]

'I was only testing the odds.'

The fifth draw was empty.

Then the sixth.

When the wheel stopped for the seventh time, the same message appeared with infuriating indifference.

[Thank You for Trying.]

Tonpa's finger remained suspended before the window.

He slowly summoned his balance.

[Nen Points: 196]

He read the number twice.

He had intended to make three draws. Through a process understood only by those who lost money while attempting to recover what they had already lost, three draws had somehow become seven.

Tonpa dismissed the wheel with a violent gesture and rose from the bed. He paced to the table and back, cursing the Lottery, the System, and the old man who had given him the points. Then he cursed himself, since he was the only one among the four who truly deserved it.

One hundred and ninety-six points.

He could no longer upgrade a Stat to Rank C, and he had no physical Stat at Rank E remaining that could be raised for one hundred points. The rational choice was to preserve what remained and begin collecting points again.

He looked toward the closed Lottery.

Then he summoned it once more.

'I've already ruined the plan.'

He had enough for one final draw. Afterward, his balance would fall to ninety-six points, and he would be unable to draw again even if he wanted to.

That meant the System would prevent him when he had failed to prevent himself.

"One last time."

[Draw Cost: 100 Nen Points.]

[Would you like to proceed?]

Tonpa confirmed immediately, before his remaining dignity could seize his wrist.

The wheel began spinning for the eighth time.

He did not watch it. He leaned against the wall and folded his arms with manufactured indifference, like a man who had not just spent eight hundred points because he was incapable of understanding the meaning of "one last time."

He was merely waiting for the eighth thank-you message.

The wheel slowed.

Click.

Then another.

It stopped.

No message appeared.

Tonpa waited for a moment, then frowned.

'What? Did you get tired of thanking me?'

He raised his eyes toward the wheel. The pointer stood motionless above a segment radiating a golden light that had not appeared during any of his previous draws.

The mockery vanished from his face.

He stared at it, then leaned forward without realizing it.

Ding!

An unfamiliar chime pierced his skull, snapping his attention toward the window that opened before him.

[Congratulations!]

Tonpa blinked twice.

'This... is for me?'

Another line formed beneath it.

[The Host has obtained a Skill.]



________________________________

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[Deidalous]

Not showing the Gacha odds make the 7 consecutive failures feel forced.

Most people are under the assumption that there is ALWAYS a prize to be won from a Gacha roll, no matter how bad it is.

 

[Kazumaa23]

Not showing the Gacha odds make the 7 consecutive failures feel forced.

Most people are under the assumption that there is ALWAYS a prize to be won from a Gacha roll, no matter how bad it is.

Click to shrink...

The MC is a conman, swindler and serial liar and the kind of guy that has stole the lifetime savings of grannies. He totally deserves getting fucked over by his own system.

Also it wouldn't be as fun if his system was the kind that gave ultimate power easily. This guy should struggle at every step of the way.