[Hunter x Hunter] Scamming My Way to the Top

[Deidalous]

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.

Click to shrink...

I'm not implying that he should not struggle, I'm criticizing the way the Gacha was handled.

Rather than giving him nothing, it should just give straight up worthless items like a half-eaten apple or an torn plastic bag.

-It'd be ten time funnier that way.

 

[Boumargood]

• ────────── ◆ ────────── •

Chapter 29: A Belated Reward

• ────────── ◆ ────────── •


​

[The Host has obtained a Skill.]

Most of Tonpa's anger vanished immediately.

He straightened on the bed and fixed his eyes on the new window. After seven unwanted messages thanking him, he was prepared to accept almost anything—a weapon, a technique, an artifact, or even a mysterious pill, as long as it did not come with the words "Thank You for Trying."

A silver card slowly formed before him, and the name of his reward appeared upon it.

[Oh, Is That You?]

Tonpa's eyes widened.

'...What?'

He read the name once.

Then he read it again, hoping exhaustion had somehow distorted his vision.

Nothing changed.

"Of course."

His first Skill was called [Is That Your Mother?], and now he had received [Oh, Is That You?]. Apparently, the System did not collect its abilities from the treasures of countless worlds. It gathered them from conversations between strangers who happened to meet in crowded markets.

'My next Skill will be: Where have you been all this time?'

The remaining details appeared beneath the name.

[Type: Consumable Skill.]

[Remaining Uses: 3.]

Tonpa's small smile froze.

"Consumable?"

He leaned closer to the window, as though reducing the distance between them might force the words to improve.

[Description: Allows the user to make anything appear to be something else for one minute.]

He waited for another line to appear.

None did.

Tonpa reread the description slowly.

Anything.

The word was broad enough to sound powerful and vague enough to get him killed if he relied upon it incorrectly. Could he make a stone look like a piece of gold? Could he disguise one card as another? Did the Skill work on people? And did it alter only the target's appearance, or its apparent size and texture as well?

He directed each question toward the System.

It gave him no answer.

'Naturally. Why would the System answer a question that might save my life?'

Tonpa looked toward the cup on the table. He could use the Skill now and make it resemble a knife, a Hunter License, or anything else, but he pulled his hand back before touching it.

Only three uses.

After spending eight hundred points to obtain the Skill, he was not prepared to waste a third of his reward merely to confirm that it worked. It was enough that he had tested his previous Skill on a weak applicant, only to later use it against Netero without understanding its actual limits.

'Learning from your mistakes is a virtue. Especially when every mistake costs at least a hundred points.'

He read the description again.

The Skill was not entirely useless. A professional con artist could accomplish a great deal with one minute of false appearances. He could make a worthless object look valuable, conceal a dangerous tool beneath an innocent appearance, or create a temporary visual copy of something whose appearance he needed to imitate.

In the right situation, one minute might be enough to deceive someone and open a path of escape.

In the wrong situation, that minute would expire while he was still explaining the lie.

As for the three available uses, they turned the ability from a reliable tool into three emergency cards he would be afraid to expend.

Tonpa sighed and dismissed the Skill's description.

"I spent eight hundred points on a trial version."

The System showed no concern for his objection.

He summoned his balance despite already knowing the number.

[Nen Points: 96]

Tonpa stared at it until the number began to resemble a personal insult.

If he had spent one thousand points from the beginning, he could have upgraded Strength, Speed, or Flexibility from Rank D to Rank C and would have been left with exactly the same balance. Instead, he had upgraded Endurance and Intelligence to Rank D, then burned the rest of his points inside a wheel that had thanked him seven times and awarded him a Skill that could not last longer than a minute.

He had not lost everything. His body was now more balanced, and the new Skill might prove invaluable at a decisive moment.

Seeing the number did not help him appreciate the positive side.

'My Speed could have been Rank C.'

He imagined himself moving faster, perhaps drawing slightly closer to Gon and Killua's level instead of always arriving after the important part of an attack had already ended.

Then he imagined the wheel stopping on an empty segment seven times.

His fingers tightened around the edge of the bed.

"I'm never using the Lottery again."

He knew he was lying before the sentence had even ended, but at least the System did not reward him for it.

Tonpa dismissed his Nen Points, and the main status panel returned. His eyes moved across his newly balanced Stats—Strength, Speed, Flexibility, Endurance, and Intelligence. All five were now at Rank D.

Above them, one option had continued blinking since the end of the ball game.

[Level Advancement Available.]

Tonpa paused.

He had nearly forgotten about it while discovering just how many ways he could ruin a simple decision. He had deliberately saved it for last, but he had not expected the end to find him a full one thousand points poorer.

Still, advancing his Level did not require Nen Points. He had already surpassed the necessary amount of Experience Points. All he needed to do was confirm it.

His previous Level Advancement had not directly made him stronger, but it had made his body capable of learning Nen and unlocked a new part of the System.

Perhaps the next advancement would provide something similar.

Or perhaps it would change the number from two to three and then thank him for trying.

He focused on the option.

[Level Advancement Requirements Met.]

[Would the Host like to advance to Level 3?]

"Yes."

The window disappeared for a moment.

Tonpa waited for the warmth he had experienced while upgrading his Stats, or the strange sensation that had accompanied his advancement to Level 2.

Nothing happened.

He remained seated on the bed with both hands resting on his knees while the airship's engines vibrated steadily behind the walls.

Several seconds passed.

He moved his fingers.

Then he rolled his shoulders, took a deep breath, and carefully tested his legs.

He did not feel stronger or faster. His awareness had not become sharper, and no Nen aura had appeared around his body. Even the faint pain in his back remained exactly where it had been.

A single message appeared before him.

[The Host has advanced to Level 3.]

Tonpa waited for whatever came next.

Nothing did.

"That's it?"

The status panel appeared again. The number beside his Level had changed from two to three, and the Experience Points required for the next advancement had increased.

[Level: 3]

[Experience Points: 1,536/1,800]

His Experience Points had not been consumed. They were now being measured toward the new requirement. His body, however, showed no difference whatsoever.

Tonpa stared at the new number.

"I spent more than a thousand points today, risked attracting Netero's attention, and now own a Skill that will function for three minutes over its entire lifespan... and my Level reward is a larger number?"

The System remained silent.

Tonpa slowly rose from the bed.

"I should have known. Anything you give away for free has to be useless."

He clenched his teeth and pointed at the window as though addressing someone standing behind it.

"You damned System, if you consider changing a number a reward, I'll show you exactly where you can put—"

Ding!

The System's chime pierced his skull before he could finish the insult. His shoulders stiffened, and his finger remained pointed toward empty air.

Golden light gathered before him, forming a window unlike the System's ordinary messages.

[Reward for reaching Level 3 has been calculated.]

Tonpa's eyes widened slightly.

'Wait... it's going to give me something?'

The rest of the message appeared.

[The Host has received one free Stat Upgrade.]

[One Stat may be upgraded to the next Rank without consuming Nen Points.]

Tonpa froze.

His eyes moved across his five Stats, all of which were at Rank D. Upgrading any one of them to Rank C would cost one thousand Nen Points.

A full thousand points.

The same amount he had been regretting not spending only moments earlier.

The corners of his mouth began to rise, and his earlier anger nearly transformed into satisfaction.

Ding!

Another chime pierced his skull before he could enjoy the moment. His smile stopped halfway, and he regarded the empty air before him with renewed caution.

A second window appeared beneath the reward.

[Requirements for unlocking an Additional Feature have been met.]

Tonpa blinked slowly.

'This generosity is starting to frighten me.'

The final line appeared.

[Skill Upgrade System Unlocked.]

The remainder of the curse he had been preparing vanished from his mind.

Tonpa stared at the two golden windows, then slowly sat back down on the bed.

'All right... perhaps we can negotiate.'



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[Deidalous]

Got his ass apologizing.

 

[Boumargood]

• ────────── ◆ ────────── •

Chapter 30: A Free Choice

• ────────── ◆ ────────── •
​

Tonpa continued staring at the two golden windows, all the curses he had prepared for the System temporarily gone from his mind.

One free Stat Upgrade.

And a Feature that allowed him to upgrade his Skills.

Since arriving in this world, Tonpa had grown accustomed to receiving the System's demands wrapped in threats of death or compulsory expeditions to the Dark Continent. Being given something without a punishment written beneath it was rare enough to make him suspicious.

'Either Level Three is genuinely generous, or the bill will arrive later.'

He temporarily dismissed the reward window and focused on the newly unlocked Feature.

[Skill Upgrade System.]

The window expanded, displaying the two Skills he possessed.

[Is That Your Mother?]

[Level: 1]

[Upgrade]

Beneath it appeared his newest prize.

[Oh, Is That You?]

[Type: Consumable Skill.]

[Remaining Uses: 3.]

The Level displayed beside his first Skill was something new. When he had obtained it, the System had never mentioned that it could be upgraded. Tonpa had assumed he would simply have to live with an ability that forced weak targets to turn around and made powerful ones experience an unexplained disturbance.

He focused on the Upgrade option.

[Skill Upgrade: Is That Your Mother?]

[Level 1 → Level 2]

[Cost: 200 Nen Points.]

Tonpa's eyes moved slowly toward his balance.

[Nen Points: 96]

Silence returned to the room.

"Two hundred?"

The System did not respond.

"You unlocked this Feature after making sure I couldn't use it?"

The window remained before him with perfect indifference, displaying the same price.

'Opportunist.'

The accusation was somewhat ironic coming from a man who had spent years selling people things they did not need, but Tonpa could think of no more accurate description. The System had waited until he had spent nearly everything he possessed before revealing a new shop he could not afford to use.

He tried to learn what the upgrade would change, but the window offered no description of Level Two. Would the Skill become more difficult to resist? Would Netero actually turn around the next time instead of merely feeling an unexplained pressure? Or would Tonpa gain the ability to shout about two people's mothers at once?

No answer appeared.

Tonpa dismissed the Skill window before the Upgrade option irritated him any further.

Only the other reward remained.

[One Free Stat Upgrade.]

[One Stat may be upgraded to the next Rank without consuming Nen Points.]

His enthusiasm quickly returned.

All five of his Stats were now at Rank D. Whichever one he selected would rise to Rank C, saving him a full one thousand Nen Points. The decision could not be reversed once confirmed, so he refused to choose with the same enthusiasm that had transformed three Lottery draws into eight.

Still seated on the edge of the bed, Tonpa folded his arms.

Strength was the most obvious choice for any fighter. Raising it to Rank C would make his blows more powerful and might give him a genuine chance against ordinary applicants. But Tonpa was not a fighter, and he had no desire to discover how much Strength his face needed to withstand a punch from someone stronger than him.

Flexibility had already proven useful during the ball game. It had helped him change direction and recover his balance, but improving it alone would not keep him alive if he could not move out of an attack's path in the first place.

Endurance would help him survive lengthy trials, but it had already reached Rank D. His body no longer behaved as though it wanted to retire after every short distance.

Intelligence was tempting for an entirely different reason. Every plan and deception he created depended upon it, and improving it might prove more valuable than adding muscle. Yet upgrading it from Rank E to Rank D had not transformed him into a genius. It had merely made his thoughts clearer and more orderly. There was no guarantee that Rank C would provide an immediate advantage he could actually use.

That left Speed.

His thoughts moved toward the Third Phase and everything that would follow it. He did not remember every detail of the Hunter Exam, but he remembered enough to know that the coming phases would involve movement, fighting, and escape.

After Trick Tower would come the badge hunt on Zevil Island, where every applicant would become both hunter and prey.

There, a single step could mean the difference between stealing someone's badge and being forced to fight its owner.

More importantly, his first Skill could steal a fraction of a second from an opponent's attention. That moment would be worthless if Tonpa remained too slow to exploit it.

Strength would allow him to confront danger.

Speed would allow him to decide whether to confront it at all.

For Tonpa, the comparison was hardly fair.

He focused on Speed.

[Would you like to use the Free Stat Upgrade?]

[Speed: D → C]

He hesitated for one final moment before answering.

"Yes."

The golden reward window disappeared.

In the next instant, the muscles in his legs contracted sharply. Heat spread from his thighs to his ankles before climbing through his back and shoulders. The sensation was not painful, but it was far more distinct than his previous upgrades, forcing him to press both hands against the bed.

His body felt lighter.

His weight had not actually changed, but the distance between his desire to move and his limbs responding seemed to have narrowed.

Tonpa carefully stood and stepped forward.

He reached the other side of the room faster than expected.

His shoulder nearly struck the wall. He twisted his torso at the last moment and planted one hand against it to stop himself. Remaining still for a second, he looked back at the distance he had crossed.

The room was not large, but he had not pushed himself to full speed either.

A slow smile spread across his face.

'Finally, a Stat suited to my survival instincts.'

He tested two more short steps, then stopped before breaking something or accidentally launching himself through the doorway. Controlling his new Speed would require practice, but the difference from Rank D was unmistakable.

Tonpa summoned his status panel.

[Level: 3]

[Experience Points: 1,536/1,800]

[Strength: D]

[Speed: C]

[Flexibility: D]

[Endurance: D]

[Intelligence: D]

[Talent: E]

[Nen Points: 96]

Tonpa smiled at the sight of his Speed, then focused on the cost of its next upgrade.

[Speed: C]

[Upgrade to Rank B: 10,000 Nen Points.]

His smile vanished.

Ten thousand points.

Only hours ago, one thousand had seemed like a fortune. Now the System was informing him that the next step would cost ten times as much.

'Wonderful. I reached the middle of the ladder only to discover that the remaining steps are made of money.'

His eyes moved toward his Experience Points.

[1,536/1,800]

Reaching Level Three had required six hundred Experience Points. Reaching Level Four would require one thousand eight hundred.

The requirement had tripled in a single jump.

Tonpa did not have enough information to know whether that pattern would continue, but the System had shown no tendency to make his life less expensive over time.

At least his previous Experience Points had not disappeared when he advanced. Only two hundred and sixty-four more Experience Points stood between him and Level Four. One good deception or another Side Quest might earn them faster than expected.

He had no desire to calculate what would come afterward.

If the requirement continued tripling, the numbers would quickly become large enough to demand deceiving an entire city rather than a handful of applicants.

Tonpa dismissed the status panel and stretched out on the bed.

He needed to sleep. The Third Phase would begin in the morning, and Rank C Speed would be of little use if he entered it with eyes that could barely remain open.

The steady vibration of the airship's engines continued behind the walls. Tonpa tried to review what he remembered about the next phase, but exhaustion gradually overcame him.

A tall tower. A route leading downward. Prisoners. And terrible decisions made by committee.

Most importantly, he remembered the role the original Tonpa had played there.

'Wonderful. Now I have to convince them I won't do the one thing I'm famous for doing.'

He closed his eyes.

For the first time since awakening inside Tonpa's body, sleep came quickly, without frogs, clowns, or the Chairman of the Hunter Association demanding anything from him.

He awoke to a burst of static from a speaker mounted near the ceiling.

Tonpa opened his eyes and pushed himself halfway upright, trying to identify the source. A member of the airship's crew spoke through the intercom, their voice carrying clearly through every corridor.

"Attention, all applicants. We have arrived at the site of the Third Phase of the Hunter Exam. Please prepare yourselves and proceed to the assembly area."

The announcement ended, leaving only

the hum of the engines.

Tonpa sat on the bed and looked toward the door.

They had reached Trick Tower.

________________________________

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[Ggcosti]

Noce fic so far

Is there a reason he didn't keep the stat upgrade for now? He couldve upgraded one of his stats to C normally and the use the upgrade. Did I miss something?

 

[Lewdhandholding]

Noce fic so far

Is there a reason he didn't keep the stat upgrade for now? He couldve upgraded one of his stats to C normally and the use the upgrade. Did I miss something?

Click to shrink...

He needs it now to help him pass the Hunter Exam.

 

[Boumargood]

• ────────── ◆ ────────── •

Chapter 31: Doors Beneath Their Feet

• ────────── ◆ ────────── •
​

The crew member's voice faded from the airship's speakers after announcing their arrival at the site of the Third Phase.

Tonpa remained seated on the edge of the bed for several moments, staring at the door as he tried to convince his body that sleep was over. It was not exhaustion that kept him there, but the fact that the Hunter Exam had awakened before him and already prepared another way for him to die.

He planted his feet on the floor. His body responded with greater lightness than he was accustomed to, reminding him of the Speed he had upgraded to Rank C before going to sleep.

The improvement was unmistakable, but the cost of the next upgrade immediately surfaced in his mind.

'Ten thousand Nen Points. Apparently, Rank B is reserved for the wealthy.'

Tonpa rose with a frown.

'At that price, hiring Netero himself might be cheaper.'

He entered the washroom and splashed cold water over his face, then straightened his clothes and left the room. The smell of food led him toward the section of the main hall that the crew had converted into a temporary assembly area while the airship completed its descent.

There, he found Gon, Killua, Kurapika, and Leorio gathered around the same table.

Gon was eating as though the next phase would be a competition to finish breakfast, while Killua had taken enough food to feed two people. Kurapika sat quietly, and Leorio held a steaming cup with an expression suggesting that mornings were a form of assault the law had inexplicably failed to criminalize.

Tonpa stopped beside the empty seat.

"Is this taken?"

Gon answered immediately.

"No. Sit down."

Tonpa sat without anyone objecting or moving their drink farther away from him. A few days ago, his approach alone would have been enough to trigger a state of emergency. Now, his presence among them had become almost natural.

'No objections and no wary looks. Familiarity is cheaper than trust, but it serves its purpose.'

Killua looked at him.

"If we need a plan today, try to choose one that doesn't involve the Chairman's mother."

Leorio stopped drinking.

"What is he talking about?"

Gon eagerly explained how they had forced Netero to use all four of his limbs. When he reached the part involving Tonpa's shout, Leorio's eyes moved between Tonpa and Killua, searching for some indication that they were joking.

"You confronted the Chairman of the Hunter Association by asking about his mother?"

Tonpa picked up a piece of bread.

"I distracted him at the right moment. The wording was a technical detail."

Kurapika asked:

"But it worked?"

Gon nodded.

"He had to use his other hand and leg."

Leorio studied Tonpa for a moment before shaking his head.

"The more I learn about you, the less I understand you."

Tonpa answered solemnly:

"That is a sign of depth."

A short laugh escaped Killua.

Their conversation continued until the airship shuddered, signaling the beginning of its final descent. The others tried to guess what form the next phase might take, while Tonpa contented himself with listening. He knew what awaited them, yet that knowledge brought him little comfort.

During the conversation, he noticed that Gon now directed questions toward him without hesitation, and Leorio no longer interrupted every answer with an accusation. Even Kurapika, despite the caution that remained in his eyes, listened instead of treating Tonpa like noise to be ignored.

As for Killua, he now mocked him the way he would mock someone whose presence he had grown accustomed to—not an enemy waiting for him to turn his back.

It was not complete trust, or anything close to it, but it was considerably better than the suspicion with which they had first greeted him.

'A few more days, and they might even let me pour the juice myself.'

Unfortunately, his knowledge of future events was no longer complete.

In the original course of events, forty-two applicants had passed the Second Phase, but only forty had reached Trick Tower. Killua had killed two applicants aboard the airship after leaving the ball game.

This time, Killua had remained until their game with Netero ended, leaving those two applicants alive. On top of that, six additional applicants had survived the Second Phase.

Forty-eight applicants were now approaching the tower—eight more than the number that should have reached it.

'Eight variables walking on two legs, and my memory is the only plan. Reassuring.'

The airship landed upon a vast stone surface. The applicants descended one after another, and the moment Tonpa moved away from the stairs, he saw the edge of the platform and the clouds gathered beneath it.

They stood atop an enormous tower whose sheer walls plunged downward until they vanished inside the mist.

'Trick Tower.'

Beans stood before them and announced that the Third Phase required them to reach the base of the tower alive within seventy-two hours. A large timer began counting down while the applicants looked around for an entrance that did not appear to exist.

A man near the edge spoke confidently.

"We don't need an entrance. We can climb down from the outside."

He lowered himself over the edge and began descending, using the gaps between the stones as handholds. He moved quickly enough that several applicants began to believe he had found the solution.

Then came the sound of wings beating beneath the clouds.

Winged creatures with long claws emerged from the mist. One of them swooped toward the man and tore him away from the wall.

His scream did not last long.

The creatures converged upon him before disappearing back into the mist with their prey.

Everyone retreated from the edge.

Tonpa took two additional steps out of respect for his survival instincts.

He remembered the scene, but a screen had not conveyed the weight of the man's scream or the drops of blood falling into the void.

'Forty-seven applicants left searching for a way down, and one confirmed way to become breakfast.'

The applicants spread across the roof and began examining the floor and its edges. Tonpa studied the stone tiles while trying to reconstruct the scene from the anime, but his memory offered him little more than an image of Gon standing upon gray stones indistinguishable from the thousands surrounding them.

One applicant suddenly disappeared on the other side of the roof.

Two more vanished shortly afterward.

Amid all the movement, not everyone noticed, but the number of people remaining on the surface was clearly decreasing.

A faint headache began pulsing behind Tonpa's eyes.

He knew that the entrances were hidden trapdoors, but he could not remember which ones led to the majority-rule route. If one of the additional applicants claimed the required door before him, he might find himself separated from the other four and trapped inside a route that had never appeared in the anime.

Tonpa looked toward Gon, then Killua, Kurapika, and Leorio.

Remaining with them was not merely a matter of convenience. The success of his Trust Quest depended upon them, and his knowledge of the tower's events was tied specifically to their route. Being separated from them now would mean losing his human shields, his guide to future events, and his four best sources of Nen Points at the same time.

'The moment I lose the route I know, my knowledge of the future becomes a collection of useless memories.'

He approached the group before they could disperse.

"Don't search for a path along the walls. Watch the applicants."

Kurapika looked around before answering:

"Their numbers are decreasing."

Tonpa nodded, pleased by how quickly he had noticed.

"And we haven't seen any of them reach the edge. That means they're descending from here—from beneath the roof. There must be hidden doors between the tiles."

Gon crouched and began running his fingers along the gaps in the stone. Killua did the same.

Leorio looked at Tonpa.

"How did you know where to search?"

Tonpa gestured toward the center of the roof, adopting the expression of a man who had completed a brilliant analysis rather than one following a blurred image from his memory.

"The central area is less exposed to those creatures. Most of the applicants who disappeared were also standing away from the edge."

The first half was a guess. The second was a genuine observation.

It was an appropriate mixture for convincing intelligent people without making his answer appear suspiciously prepared.

The five of them moved toward the center while remaining close to one another.

Several minutes later, Gon stopped over a tile and crouched to examine a thin line surrounding it.

"I found a door."

Killua discovered a second one nearby. Kurapika and Leorio soon found two more.

Tonpa continued searching as the tension inside him steadily grew. At last, a stone sank slightly beneath his foot, revealing a rectangular outline around it.

Five adjacent doors.

He breathed a quiet sigh of relief before remembering that he had no proof they still led to the same place.

Gon smiled.

"We'll meet below."

He pressed down on his door. The stone slab flipped open, dropping him into the darkness before closing again.

Killua followed, then Kurapika and Leorio. Each trapdoor closed after swallowing its occupant.

Tonpa remained alone above the final door.

In the original course of events, the other four had spent nearly two hours waiting for Tonpa to fall into the same room. This time, he had found his door immediately.

That should have reassured him.

It did not.

He could only trust that the five adjacent doors still led to the same chamber and that the additional applicants had not altered the routes inside the tower.

'After eight draws, this door is no longer the most dangerous decision I've made today.'

Tonpa pressed his foot against the stone.

'Betting my life on a door seems like a natural extension of my decisions.'

The slab opened beneath him, and he plunged into the darkness.

Only one hope remained inside his mind.

'Please... don't invent any new events before I hit the floor.'



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[Pollyamorous]

He could only trust that the five adjacent doors still led to the same chamber and that the additional applicants had not altered the routes inside the tower.

Click to shrink...

Hm, in the original they found 4 doors close together and got lucky, but in reality there's only so much space on the top platform. There must be other doors close together, possibly other team adventures as well.

It'd be super awkward if they ended up on a different path, or on a more funny note the main four entered the same one but Tonpa ended up falling through a conveniently placed sixth door that led away. We don't know which door he actually entered after all.

 

[Boumargood]

• ────────── ◆ ────────── •

Chapter 32: The Voice of the Majority

• ────────── ◆ ────────── •
​

Tonpa's fall did not last long.

The opening swallowed him, and his feet struck a sloping passage that sent him sliding through the darkness too quickly to assume a position that might preserve what remained of his dignity. He emerged from the other end shoulder-first, rolled across the stone floor, and finally came to rest on his back.

He remained still for a moment, making sure every part of his body was still where it belonged.

Tonpa tried to push himself upright too quickly, only for the room to tilt before his eyes and force his palm back against the floor. Apparently, Rank C Speed did not include the ability to land gracefully inside a dark hole.

The upgrade had improved his body's responsiveness, but it had not granted him a new agreement with gravity. He slowly sat upright and decided to reserve his experiments with speed for places where the ground could be trusted.

"Tonpa!"

He raised his head and saw Gon approaching. Killua, Kurapika, and Leorio were also inside the room, each having arrived through a different opening in the ceiling.

A long breath escaped Tonpa's chest.

'So my knowledge of the future hasn't become obsolete information just yet.'

Reaching the same room was far more important than it appeared. If his door had led him to an individual route, he would have been forced to face tests he did not remember with the strength of an applicant far better at escaping fights than winning them.

The presence of the other four meant the story had not broken yet—and that he still had four people to hide behind whenever necessary.

That, in Tonpa's opinion, was the true value of friendship.

Gon took his arm and helped him to his feet.

"You were right about the doors. I didn't expect you to be that observant."

Tonpa brushed the dust from his clothes and tried not to look too pleased.

"The disappearing applicants told me the doors existed. The difference in the echo near the center of the roof told me where to look."

Killua regarded him with narrowed eyes.

"I thought you were pretending to know what you were talking about again, but your analysis was right."

Tonpa raised an eyebrow.

"A person can pretend to know what they're talking about and still be correct. It requires talent."

Gon laughed while Killua shook his head. Neither of them realized that the statement was the closest thing to an honest confession they were likely to receive.

Kurapika added while examining the openings in the ceiling:

"Keeping us close together was also a good decision. It appears the adjacent doors led to the same place."

Leorio folded his arms.

"Well, you managed to do something useful without being swallowed by an animal this time. That's progress."

Ding!

A single notification appeared before Tonpa.

[Group Deception Registered.]

[Number of Targets: 4.]

[Nen Points +20]

[Experience Points +20]

[Total Nen Points: 116]

[Experience Points: 1,556/1,800]

Tonpa dismissed the window and maintained a modest expression.

His analysis had not been entirely false. The number of applicants had genuinely been decreasing, and the doors had indeed been hidden beneath the stone tiles.

The difference in the echo, however, had existed nowhere except inside the lie he had invented moments earlier.

They believed his ears had helped him locate the doors, and that was enough for the System.

'Twenty Nen Points for a sound I never heard. My Intelligence Stat is finally beginning to repay its debts.'

Tonpa turned to examine the room.

It was small and circular, with stone walls and no windows. A single metal door stood before them, but it had no visible handle or lock. A short pedestal rose from the center of the room, with five broad black wristwatches resting upon it.

Tonpa's mocking smile slowly faded.

The five watches. The sealed room. The single door.

Everything was where it belonged.

'Good. Don't change now.'

The sight of the five watches was reassuring and unsettling in equal measure. Reassuring because this was the route he remembered, and unsettling because they had reached this point almost two hours earlier than the original group.

He did not know whether the tower merely measured time or adjusted its tests according to when the applicants entered. The idea sounded ridiculous, but eight additional applicants had taught him to treat ridiculous possibilities with more respect than they deserved.

He had no desire to discover the answer while trapped inside a mountain of stone that doubled as a prison filled with professional killers.

Tonpa approached the pedestal with the others.

'I've forgiven you for the eight additional applicants and the way Netero looked at me. Just let this part happen the way I remember it.'

Gon picked up one of the watches. A small screen above the pedestal lit up, and glowing words appeared across it.

[Majority Rules Path.]

[The Path cannot begin unless five applicants are present.]

[All decisions will be determined by majority vote using the O and X buttons.]

The screen continued displaying the instructions. No single applicant could make a decision alone. Any choice that received at least three votes would become binding upon everyone, whether they agreed with it or not.

Tonpa read the lines without allowing his unease to appear on his face. He possessed advance knowledge of the tests, but the path was no longer subject to his will alone. If three people voted against him, even a perfect memory could not open the correct door.

'Wonderful. A system designed specifically to let four people control my chances of survival.'

Then he remembered that the original Tonpa had been exactly the sort of problem the majority-rule system appeared designed to contain.

'Perhaps justice really exists in this world. That's the worst news I've heard today.'

Killua turned one of the watches between his fingers.

"So we have to agree every time."

Leorio replied:

"Or three of us have to agree."

He looked at Tonpa as he spoke, and no one needed to ask whom he expected to become the source of their problems.

Tonpa raised his watch with an injured expression.

"That look hurts me."

"You'll recover," Killua said. "You have a protective layer."

Each of them put on a watch. The band automatically tightened around Tonpa's wrist, and two large buttons appeared on its screen: an O and an X.

He ran his thumb over the buttons without pressing either one. In his previous life, he would have loved a system like this—five people, two choices, and only three votes required to sell a decision as the will of the majority.

He would only need to persuade two people, then leave the others believing they had been defeated by logic.

The problem was that the four people around him were not customers sitting behind screens, and at least one of them could break his arm if he realized Tonpa was manipulating the vote.

The screen above the door lit up.

[Would you like to open the door?]

[O: Yes.]

[X: No.]

Tonpa stared at the two buttons.

In the original story, the old Tonpa had pressed X simply to annoy the group and test the system. It had not stopped the door from opening because the other four had chosen O, but it had immediately revealed that he had no intention of making their journey easy.

The current Tonpa needed their trust and their success. Before either of those things, he needed to avoid being punched by Leorio inside a locked room.

He pressed O.

Five circles lit up above the door.

[O: Five Votes.]

[Majority Decision Confirmed.]

The metal door rose, revealing a narrow stone passage.

Leorio looked at Tonpa with mild surprise, as though he had expected him to choose X.

"What?" Tonpa asked. "I like open doors."

They entered the passage, with Tonpa walking among them and feeling slightly lighter. His vote had changed, but the result had remained the same. Not every minor difference was a disaster, provided the next landmark remained where it belonged.

The unanimous decision even seemed better than the original outcome. Leorio had not glared at him, Killua had not begun watching his fingers, and Tonpa had not needed to invent an excuse for his vote.

He had gained another small step toward earning their trust, this time through an honest decision that required neither an additional lie nor a journey through an animal's stomach.

'Personal growth is suspiciously convenient.'

After a short distance, they reached a fork blocked by two doors, one on the right and the other on the left. Their watches lit up again.

[Choose a Path.]

[O: Right.]

[X: Left.]

Tonpa froze for a moment.

He remembered this decision.

In the anime, the group had chosen the right-hand path by three votes to two. That route had taken them to the trial whose details he knew.

This time, he did not need to guess or rely upon a faded image from his memory.

He only needed to choose the right-hand path and allow the others to repeat the same decision.

Gon approached the doors.

"I can feel a faint draft coming from the right."

Killua placed his palm near the seam in the stone, then narrowed his eyes.

"You're right, but it's a little too obvious. It could be bait."

"I agree," Leorio said. "They might have placed a fan behind it to make us think it's the correct path. I'm choosing left."

Kurapika studied the two doors without announcing his opinion.

Tonpa made no attempt to influence them. Offering too much explanation might arouse Kurapika's suspicion, and he was confident the original result would repeat itself.

He already knew the path. There was no need to persuade anyone as long as two others chose it with him.

Tonpa pressed O.

He watched the others' fingers hover above their buttons. He could not see their choices before they were confirmed, but every small movement appeared to contain ten different possible meanings.

Killua's thumb moved first, followed by Leorio's. Kurapika remained still for another second, as though reconsidering a decision whose contents Tonpa could not know.

For the first time, pressing a button felt easier than waiting for four other people to do the same.

The votes appeared above the doors one after another.

[O: Two Votes.]

[X: Three Votes.]

Tonpa's eyes widened.

He looked at the faces around him and understood how the votes had been divided. Gon had selected the right-hand path with him, while Killua, Kurapika, and Leorio had chosen the left.

Three against two.

A clean majority he could not challenge without revealing that he possessed an unnatural reason for knowing which path they should take.

A deep rumble came from the wall. The door on the left began to rise while the right-hand door remained closed.

Tonpa did not move.

'Left?'

Gon and Killua entered the new passage, followed by Kurapika and Leorio. Tonpa remained where he was, staring at the door on the right as though waiting for it to apologize and open.

It did not.

This had not happened in the anime.

They were supposed to take the right-hand path.

Had he remembered incorrectly?

No. He was certain about this moment. Three votes had sent them to the right, and then they had reached the prisoners' chamber.

So why had the decision changed?

Had his early arrival altered the way they thought? Had the draft existed in the original scene, only for him to forget it? Or had the presence of the additional applicants changed something within the tower's mechanisms?

He remembered the decision he had made after the Cooking Trial diverged from the original events: he would not alter anything important unless absolutely necessary.

But he had done nothing significant this time. All he had done was refrain from pressing a stupid button to irritate the group, yet the tower had opened its mouth in the opposite direction.

'So good behavior is dangerous to the timeline as well.'

Possibilities accumulated inside his mind, and none of them were comforting.

If the left-hand path led to a different trial, then his knowledge of future events had become worthless from the very first moment inside the tower.

Ding!

[Warning.]

[Major Events have diverged from their original course.]



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