HxH: Ryomen... Satoru?

January 6, 1998, 9:00 PM.

The loudspeakers installed throughout the airship crackled to life simultaneously.

"All candidates on the airship, please report to the training room immediately."

"This is a repeat: all candidates, please report to the training room immediately."

The announcement repeated three times in total.

Cyr, who had just settled into bed, stormed out of his room with a dark expression, his backpack slung over his shoulder. He looked like he was ready to kill a hundred people on the spot.

Apparently, he was the only one who had decided to turn in early. By the time he reached the training room, the other candidates were already there, waiting. Cyr was the last to arrive.

The training room was filled with candidates but no examiners.

Once everyone had gathered, the loudspeaker crackled again.

"Ahem, this is Bindo…"

"It's currently 9:03 PM on January 6th. Please make sure to arrive at the venue on the 7th on time."

"And with that, goodbye for now." Bindo's voice was lighthearted and full of amusement.

As soon as his voice faded, the floor of the training room split apart and opened downward. The candidates, caught off guard, were unceremoniously dropped through the gap.

"AAAAHHHH—"

"HELP—"

"I CAN'T SWIM—"

Piercing screams echoed through the night as the candidates plummeted toward the open sea below.

The deep, uninhabited waters eagerly awaited their arrival. One after another, the candidates splashed into the ocean.

"Like dumplings being dropped into a pot," Cyr remarked, floating midair as he watched the scene with amusement.

Seeing everyone flail around so pathetically was almost enough to lift his sour mood from being disturbed.

Using his Six Eyes, Cyr scanned the surroundings.

The airship had dumped the candidates into the sea some distance from the Azian Continent. Based on the distance…

Swimming for two to three hours should be enough to reach the continent's edge.

Was the "7th" a reference to midnight in just over two hours? That was cutting it a bit close.

"The moonlight is lovely tonight, so give it your all. It'll illuminate your hard-working faces!" Cyr called cheerfully from above, waving down at the struggling candidates with a bright grin.

And as for himself, he used Blue for long-distance movement.

In just a few minutes, he reached the forested edge of the Azian Continent.

Eighty percent of the continent was covered in a deep green expanse—an endless sea of plants stretching as far as the eye could see.

Many of the plants radiated life energy stronger than most of the candidates.

Through the Six Eyes, the scene resembled a dense thermal imaging display.

Beyond the flora, there were also various moving lifeforms—likely forest animals.

Among them, Cyr spotted traces of human activity.

Hundreds of humans were already waiting in the forest at the edge of the continent.

Moving silently, Cyr perched on a branch of a tall tree, keeping a careful yet comfortable distance from the gathering. From this vantage point, he quietly observed everything below.

The atmosphere among the assembled individuals was tense and silent.

And the strongest source of life energy?

Cyr's gaze landed on a figure leaning against a tree. The man held a deck of cards in one hand, a star and a teardrop tattoo beneath each eye, earrings dangling from his ears, and vibrant red hair framing his sharp features.

Cyr's expression shifted into something complicated.

It's Hisoka…

Did this guy take part in the 286th Hunter Exam? Shouldn't he be taking the exam with Gon and Killua next year?

Observing him up close is far more engaging than watching him through a screen.

The martial arts outfit really accentuates his slim waist, and he's even wearing high heels. If he remember correctly, doesn't he walk like he's doing a catwalk too? Now that he thought about it, he's such a show-off.

Of course, he recognized and knew about him when he watched the anime. Although he know he's a creep, he don't actually dislike him. Cyr don't have any characters he dislike when watching anime. Even villains who commit heinous acts, as long as they have a good face, he can't bring himself to dislike them.

He don't really bring a lot of subjective emotions into his anime-watching. Doesn't particularly like any characters or particularly hate anyone. When characters fight and kill each other, he just find it fun. Otherwise, he probably wouldn't have been selected by the Fun System.

Having watched hundreds of anime and not being a fan of any particular character—it's gotta be a talent.

Now that they're in the same world, he doesn't mind Hisoka either. He doesn't care whether he's bad or not, since he's not exactly a good guy himself.

But mainly, Hisoka is a creep.

And as for him, he's young, good-looking, powerful, and have a high potential for the future.

From any angle, he's basically a walking Hisoka trap. A target for his particular interests…

If Hisoka sees him, he's definitely going to latch on.

Just thinking about some self-proclaimed fruit farmer calling him "the little green apple"…

Especially recalling the part in the anime where he stares at Gon's and Killua's behinds, or when he occasionally glows down there…

Not good. Just imagining it gives him the chills.

Cyr thought for a moment, then shook his head.

He's already looking forward to the scenes where he gets all creepy around Gon and Killua.

Those will be scenes worthy of world-renowned paintings.

If he's the one being targeted by a creep—can't accept it.

But if it's someone else getting targeted by a creep—I'm all for it.

In any case, he'll just keep his distance from Hisoka. As long as he don't touch that weird trigger of his, he should be fine.

But who knows how many strange triggers Hisoka has? So it's better to just avoid him altogether.

Anyway, there's no way he's an examiner. Wait a minute, thinking about it, he must've failed this round and is taking the exam next year.

With his skills, he shouldn't have failed. So what happened this year?

'I should've paid more attention when I watched the anime. Now I'm just floating around with half-baked knowledge of the plot.'

Cyr sighed and leaned against the tree trunk.

As for the other nen sources…

His gaze fell on two individuals standing incredibly close to each other, their outfits resembling couple or family clothes.

The style was bizarre, covered in goat heads and strange eye patterns, like they were cultists with some mysterious belief.

The slightly shorter girl held a pure white lamb in her arms, while the taller guy smiled happily. Both wore horns on their heads, resembling those of a ram.

Decorations? But those horns were real…

Are they… siblings? Wait… no, they're not even human.

With Six Eyes, he could tell right away. They looked like two lumps of dark, moving substance, totally not human in any way.

Non-humans have infiltrated the Hunter Exam?

The girl still had the appearance of a gentle, normal girl, but the guy—he was just weird and eye-catching.

Even he had to admit, their appearance drew far more attention than him.

So it's no surprise that Hisoka's focused on them.

He glanced at Hisoka, whose gaze was fixed on the two non-humans with a lecherous smile, then shifted his own gaze away in frustration.

The next strong life energy source among the candidates wasn't as powerful as Hisoka or the two non-humans, but still stronger than most. It was a man carrying two swords.

Hmm… this guy looks normal, but his power is a bit weak…

It's annoying that someone weaker than me can be an examiner while I'm still just a candidate.

I bet Hisoka must have thoughts like that too.

I swung my legs casually in the air.

Two hours later, a few drenched figures tumbled into the crowd, crawling and stumbling.

The man with two swords glanced at his watch and then said aloud, "It's now January 7th, 12:00 AM. Registration has closed."

"Those who missed it are disqualified."

°°°

If you want to read ahead and access 20 advanced chapters, check the patreon

Link: Patreon/Moziel