HxH: Ryomen... Satoru?

A Hunter Association airship had been parked in a remote part of the forest the entire time.

Compared to the earlier chaos, the atmosphere was now much calmer.

Only Cyr, Maro, and the auxiliary examiner boarded the airship. Of course, the barely-breathing Hoshou was also dragged aboard.

As the airship ascended into the sky, the forest below shrank in size.

Sitting by the window, Cyr gazed down and noticed the two non-human siblings standing at the edge of the continent. Without hesitation, they dove into the sea.

Their bodies floated on the water's surface as the waves carried them away.

"Sir, here you go." Maro handed Cyr a cup of medicine and a large plate of desserts.

Having Maro around had visibly improved Cyr's quality of life.

Especially since Maro had the uncanny ability to produce gold coins.

200 Million Jenny was already a lot.

A personal assistant who didn't ask for a salary but instead handed over that money? It sounded like something no one would believe.

"Speaking of money..." Cyr pulled out his phone and scrolled through his contact list, which had a grand total of two numbers. He called one of them.

The call was answered almost instantly.

"What's this? Missing us already after being gone for such a short time?" The voice on the other end had a teasing tone.

Cyr ignored the remark and casually said, "Hey, Pampas, lend me 10.8 billion Jenny. I'll pay you back in a while."

There was a brief silence on the other end.

"Uh… what did you just say? Weird, the signal here in Meteor City is as bad as ever…" The man's voice trailed off, feigning confusion.

Beep beep.

The call ended abruptly.

"…Hah, I guess Pampas doesn't have that kind of money either," Cyr sighed as he stared at the disconnected call screen.

It made sense. Asking someone to lend you that much money would probably have them questioning your sanity.

"What a hassle… If I can't get 10.8 billion, even 8 billion would be fine…" Cyr pocketed his phone and leaned back against the sofa, tilting his head to rest.

At the very least, he needed to buy Storage Curse first.

Sure, that curse looked like an oversized purple-and-black caterpillar, but it was useful.

How much could he get if he used his Hunter License as collateral for a loan?

---

Some time after the airship left, Hisoka regained consciousness.

Surveying the severely damaged surroundings, his expression showed a hint of innocent confusion.

Hmm? This… was his doing?

What happened after that fight with the little apple with those stunning eyes?

Oh, right. It was his opponent's Nen ability. Not only could it attack, but it could also cause a complete loss of rationality.

"...Already gone, huh…" Hisoka's tone lacked any trace of disappointment—or anger, for that matter. Instead, it was unusually calm.

Yet beneath that calm exterior, something seemed to simmer just below the surface.

Inside Hisoka's mind, a massive toy box held a collection of dolls in various shapes and sizes. Among them was a doll marked with a cross on its forehead.

Now, a new doll had been added—a white-haired, blue-eyed figure with black tattoos.

He smiled, a glint of anticipation in his eyes.

Looking forward to next time, my delicious little apple. Do your best to ripen into an even tastier fruit. Just don't rot.

"…Come pick me up at the forest in Azian," Hisoka said as he took out his phone and made a call, giving instructions to the person on the other end.

He took a few steps forward, his body finally experiencing a rare sense of fatigue. Muscles sore, and his mind somewhat sluggish, he appeared unusually subdued.

This exhaustion gave him a blank expression, making him look more like an ordinary person for once.

After walking a little further, he paused and fixed his gaze on a tree.

Carved into its trunk was the following message:

"Keep pushing yourself! Strive to become someone more powerful and valuable. Don't turn into a rotten failure!"

Hisoka stared at the inscription, his expression frozen in stunned silence: …

---

"I wonder when Hisoka will notice the message I left for him…"

"The look on his face must be priceless."

Sitting on the airship, Cyr's voice carried a trace of regret, though his expression brimmed with mischievous glee.

All this time, Hisoka had been telling others, "Become a more delicious fruit." Now Cyr had turned the tables with a dose of poetic justice: "Strive to become a better person."

"What's the saying again? Return a man's trick right back at him, right?" Cyr remarked lazily.

"Did you really leave a message for that guy?" Maro, the blonde figure standing behind Cyr, asked curiously. Though there were empty seats available, he stubbornly chose to remain standing.

"Of course," Cyr replied in a relaxed tone.

In this world, Cyr was most familiar with the characters that appeared in the original series. As someone who'd only watched the older version (and hadn't even finished it) but consumed a ton of fanfiction, Hisoka, Killua, Gon, Kurapika, and Illumi had left the deepest impressions on him.

After all, these characters had the highest presence across countless fanworks.

As for others? Having not seen the later parts of the series and with their lower frequency in fanfics, Cyr's familiarity with them was limited to a few videos he'd seen.

This familiarity made his attitude toward these characters warmer than toward strangers. Meeting these characters in person, after all, was a once-in-a-lifetime chance for any hardcore otaku. Imagine the envy of fellow anime fans if he ever told this story.

Even the Phantom Troupe members, whom Cyr had seen briefly in videos, only elicited lukewarm feelings.

---

It took another week for the airship to reach the continent where the final exam venue was located. The days onboard were uneventful and dull.

So the moment the airship landed, Cyr eagerly disembarked.

The final exam venue was a hotel leased by the Hunter Association.

Waiting at the hotel entrance were an elderly man with long eyebrows, a sparse ponytail, and an abundance of facial hair; a golden-haired man in a suit with a constant smile; and a short, egg-shaped man also wearing a suit.

Cyr's first impressions of the trio?

A robust old man, a perpetually smiling schemer who seemed ready to usurp power at any moment, and… a mascot?

He quickly recognized the old man as Netero, the chairman of the Hunter Association. The egg-shaped man seemed to be one of the examiners, while the golden-haired man's persistent smile gave off vibes similar to Pampas.

Another Manipulation-type personality, perhaps? Either way, he didn't seem trustworthy.

"This is Chairman Netero of the Hunter Association, and this is Vice Chairman Pariston Hill," explained Riddy, who had followed Cyr off the airship, feeling compelled to introduce them for some reason.

"Welcome to the final venue. I've heard that some unexpected incidents occurred during the exam, but it's wonderful to see someone has still managed to pass."

"Moreover, both of you are first-time candidates—how surprising and delightful!"

Chairman Netero's cheerful demeanor gave the impression of a kind and gentle grandfather. But Cyr knew better—this man was the chairman of the Hunter Association, after all.

And… with his Six Eyes, Cyr could see that the old man's life energy was so vibrant it overshadowed everyone else around him.

"What exactly happened during the exam?" Pariston, the golden-haired vice chairman, asked with a gentle smile. "I heard one of you was directly involved in the incident. Could you tell us more about it in detail?"

"No idea," Cyr replied, shaking his head with an air of detachment. "It was just this and that, and then, well… almost everyone ended up dead. Life is such a fragile thing, isn't it?"

Cyr sounded wistful, but in truth, he had left the scene early and hadn't actually witnessed Hisoka's killing spree.

°°°

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