Hunter x Hunter: The Sun Breathing Zoldyck - 139

Chapter 139: Grandpa, Save Me × Am I Supposed to Fight Nanika?

[Prompt: You have fallen under the gaze of an unknown existence. Your life has entered a countdown.]

9 years, 9 months, 9 hours, 9 minutes, 9 seconds…

9 years, 9 months, 9 hours, 9 minutes, 8 seconds…

9 years, 9 months, 9 hours, 9 minutes, 7 seconds…

The disc-shaped mark on the back of Roy’s hand was like a stopwatch, beginning to tick down.

He frowned. The pores on the back of his hand opened as he wrapped it in Scorching Truth and tried to burn it away.

The mark did not budge. It kept counting. Six seconds. Five. Four.

He tried slicing it off with a blade. Then disturbing it with Magnetism. The mark clung to Roy as a person, quietly tallying up his remaining time.

After running through every method he could think of, Roy forced himself to calm down.

The shower hissed on.

He let the spray drum down over his head.

Once his breathing had settled, he carefully retraced everything that had happened. From leaving home and boarding the ship to arriving at the venue and taking the exam, everything had been normal. The mark had only appeared after he absorbed the Life Energy from Sagin, Gul'dan, Dassault and the others. It was clearly tied to the Pig-Headed Men, to Grandfather Zigg, and to the Dark Continent.

The interface had warned that an unknown existence was watching him. Maybe because he had "eaten" Sagin and the rest, he had left a trace of himself on the Dark Continent, which drew that gaze. That in turn proved that Zigg’s memories were not just empty illusions, but had a certain degree of reality to them.

His thoughts spun. Roy suddenly recalled what Zeno had just told him: "If you want answers, you have to look in Zigg’s memories."

A vague guess took shape.

First: that "unknown existence" was on a level so high that one glance could make him explode on the spot. Even separated by a layer of "neither-quite-real-nor-quite-false" memories, it could still project its gaze from the Dark Continent, lock onto him, and successfully lay a curse. In terms of calamity level, it was likely no weaker than the Five Threats humanity already knew.

The Gaseous Life-Form Ai. Brion, the autonomous weapon. The Twin-Tailed Hell Bell. The Nurturing Beast Pap. The Unknown Disease, Zobae Disease.

Second: for some reason, it could not cross time and space to descend in person. It could only use a "mark" and some kind of mechanism to lay a curse on him.

Third: Exorcists.

If fire could not destroy it, and blades and Magnetism could not erase it, then an Exorcist was the only option. If even an Exorcist could not resolve it, then he would have to seek answers in Zigg’s memories, or even on the Dark Continent itself.

Nine years and nine months. Not long, not short. Before that…

"I have to track down an Exorcist while I train and grow stronger. At the very least…"

"I need to have enough strength to stand on the Dark Continent before the timer hits zero."

The shower clicked off. Roy wrapped his wounds in a towel, dried himself, and changed into loose sleepwear before coming out.

He sat cross-legged at the head of the bed and opened Grandfather Zigg’s notebook, reading it carefully in hopes of finding some clue about the mark. No luck. The notebook, from beginning to end, recorded Zigg’s cultivation notes. It was only the first volume, from before his journey to the Dark Continent. Finding anything useful in there would have been stranger than not.

"Gotoh, come in."

The door creaked open. "Young Master, what is it?"

"Call the old master."

"Which one?"

"My grandfather."

"Yes, sir."

Gotoh dialed. He pushed his glasses up his nose and passed the phone over with care.

Roy took it. "Grandpa, save me. I have been cursed."

Boom. Something on the other end—probably a volleyball—exploded under a punch.

A roar of Aura followed. Zeno’s white hair whipped around his head as pale Ren erupted from him at the center. In this world, Nen was the technique that let people control their own life energy, known as Aura, and that power was now surging around him like a storm. The airship bearing the giant Hunter Association logo shuddered. Netero’s old eyes narrowed. In that flood of Nen, he caught a thread of anxiety, of helpless bewilderment, and stilled his playful hand.​

"Stay put. I am on my way."

All the precautions in the world had still not been enough.

Zeno hung up, face dark. He opened the hatch and jumped.

Beans and the crew screamed. Before they could even react, Netero followed him out, leaping into the air and leaving everyone behind staring in stunned silence.

The rotors shredded the air with a rising whine.

Zeno and Netero landed one after the other, then vanished from sight. Ten minutes or so later, they arrived at the riverside inn and finally saw the curse.

Tick. Tick.

The mark was like a death warrant, its numbers marching on.

Forty minutes had passed since Roy first noticed it. The numbers on the "dial" had already shrunk from "9 years, 9 months, 9 hours, 9 minutes, 9 seconds" to "9 years, 9 months, 8 hours, 21 minutes, 9 seconds."

Roy left out the part about the interface and said simply, "It appeared not long after I came out of the illusion."

Zeno and Netero each took one of his hands and studied the mark in silence.

It could not be burned. It could not be cut away. It resembled Nen, yet contained something beyond Nen. No question—it was a curse.

Tick. Tick.

Seconds slipped away.

Gotoh came back from the pharmacy with ointment and bandages. He crouched and rewrapped Roy’s wounds. The boy finally broke the silence. Looking straight at Netero, he asked bluntly, "I know the Association has an Exorcist. Could we ask them to come help remove this?"

After Gon’s breakdown in the original story, the Association had once brought an Exorcist to examine him. The Exorcist had not been able to do much and had barely been on-page for five seconds, but if the Association recognized them, they had to be capable.

That thought was why Roy had called his grandfather. He had suddenly remembered that person.

"It is useless." Zeno shot him down before Netero could even open his mouth.

The old man’s expression was heavy. "Exorcists still have to abide by equivalent exchange."

"High return means high risk."

"No one will risk shaving years off their life to remove your curse."

On Greed Island, the "Forest Exorcist" Abengane summoned a Forest Spirit with an incantation to devour Nen. He had to live with that ugly, dangerous spirit until the curse was broken. If he removed it halfway, the Spirit would turn on him.

Then there was the Chimera Ant girl Exorcist. Every time she lifted a curse, her belly swelled. Sometimes, it never shrank back.

The more powerful the curse, the greater the risk in lifting it. The steeper the price. Especially for a mark like this, one that worked directly on a person’s lifespan.

Roy fell silent.

A cold light flashed through Gotoh’s eyes. "If they refuse, we kill them."

"However rare Exorcists are, they are not worth more than the Young Master."

"True," Zeno said with a nod.

The two of them seemed to forget that the Chairman of the Hunter Association was standing right there. Roy gave Netero an apologetic smile.

The old man stroked his beard and pretended not to hear. After a moment of thought, he said, "Leaving that aside, Exorcists are few, and most of them cannot erase things outright. They mainly transfer curses. So, in this old man’s view, there is only one way."

What way?

Zeno and Gotoh both turned to look at him.

Netero met Roy’s gaze. "You have to kill whoever cursed you."

"If it dies, you live. Or…"

"You die, it lives. That is all."

Simple? You want me to take down a calamity on Nanika’s level in under ten years?