The time was 8:35 p.m.. Not many floors in the Hunter Association's Headquarters were lit up, and the 16th floor where Law was located happened to be one of them.
In the office area, only two or three lights were turned on. The distant areas were shrouded in darkness, while the nearby space was brightly illuminated.
Law sat alone in front of the computer, staring at the reply from [Pe] on the screen… just a single question mark. No other users had responded to the post.
"Three minutes."
Law glanced at the time displayed in the lower right corner of the computer screen. Three minutes had passed since Pe's reply, yet the thread remained silent.
Perhaps Pe had used some method to prevent other users from seeing the post or replying to it.
"Ging was right. If I post something like this, Pe will show up immediately."
Law muttered to himself, wondering why Pe had only left a question mark before going silent.
'What was the next move?'
Just as he was thinking this, a small yellow door, about the size of a palm, suddenly appeared on the blank desktop of his computer screen.
Seeing this, Law remained calm. After all, this was a hacker hunter whom even Elena and Eta couldn't defeat, so it wasn't surprising that his appearance would be unconventional.
The yellow door was composed of pixelated blocks and had materialized abruptly, like Doraemon's [Anywhere Door].
Creak.
The sound of a doorknob turning came from the computer monitor, and then the door slowly opened. A miniature person stepped out from inside.
This person had a peculiar appearance: a pair of Mickey Mouse-like ears, no hair, no eyebrows, no nose… just a pair of eyes that took up a third of his face and a mouth that stretched almost from one end of his face to the other.
On his forehead was a round stamp with the letters [Pe] in the middle. He wore a black short-sleeved shirt, white cropped pants, and a pair of black leather shoes.
His entire outfit was monochrome… only black and white. The ears and his irregularly twitching eyeballs gave off a robotic vibe.
'This is... Pe?'
After appearing, Pe casually conjured up a sign that read: "I checked. There's no record of you among the players who speedrun Super Mario."
Of course not. Law had only played the single-player mode and hadn't registered an ID on any dedicated website, so naturally, there was no record of his completion. But he wasn't worried… after all, he was a devoted cartridge gamer.
Law used the mouse to open a notepad and typed: "Ging referred me. I need your help."
Pe's oversized eyeballs rolled around in their sockets. The words on his sign were erased and replaced with: "Just speak directly. I can hear you."
Law froze for a moment but quickly realized that Pe was using the computer's built-in microphone to capture his voice.
"No matter who referred you, if I can't find your name in the speedrun records within ten minutes, there will be consequences." The words on Pe's sign changed again, this time carrying a threatening tone.
The phrase 'there will be consequences' was particularly menacing coming from him… at least as far as the Lawlin Museum was concerned.
Law didn't respond. Instead, he opened the Super Mario speedrun website. The fastest completion time was 4 minutes, 59 seconds, and 07 milliseconds, achieved by a player named [Ging]. The second-fastest time was 4 minutes, 59 seconds, and 08 milliseconds… almost negligible difference, held by a player named [Pe].
As for speedrunning Super Mario, Law had challenged it back on Earth. His personal best was 4 minutes and 59 seconds flat.
At the time, he had spent countless hours trying to set that record. The world record on Earth was 4 minutes, 57 seconds, and 69 milliseconds.
However, he had recently played a few rounds and managed to break his own record down to 4 minutes and 57 seconds flat. This was likely due to his enhanced physical coordination and instantaneous mental reflexes.
Pe watched as Law opened the Super Mario speedrun's site. The words on his sign had now turned into a countdown timer.
He had given Law ten minutes, meaning Law only had one chance to play the game. If he failed to break the record, Pe wouldn't care if Ging had referred him… he would mercilessly destroy the Lawlin Museum.
'Breaking the record would be a good start.'
Law silently thought to himself as he plugged in a controller and connected it to the computer. He then clicked on the game, and a dialog box popped up asking for an ID.
[Law]
After entering his ID, Law began playing Super Mario.
Super Mario was a side-scrolling game where the player avoided obstacles and enemies. The main objective was to run through various stages, defeat the final boss, and rescue the princess.
To clear the game in under five minutes, the chosen route and shortcuts had to be identical. Looking at the top 100 speedrun records, the difference between first and hundredth place was only about three seconds.
The shared traits among top players were: taking the same route and shortcuts, avoiding power-ups, dodging enemies, maintaining a sprinting speed throughout...
The entire run had only one point where a brief pause was necessary to avoid an enemy. The key to breaking the record lay in how this moment was handled.
The reason Ging held the fastest record was likely due to some unique trick he employed here.
"I'm starting."
Law gripped the controller firmly and said to Pe on the screen.
Pe remained silent, his eyeballs shifting to the side… clearly focusing on Law's gameplay.
Accompanied by the cheerful opening music, Law began controlling the game character, launching into a non-stop sprint. High jumps, crouch jumps, backward jumps… he executed various jumping techniques effortlessly, breezing through the first stage.
Watching Law's skills, Pe concluded that even if Law didn't break the world record, he could definitely finish within five seconds of it. This was evident from his precise jumps and impeccable timing.
Time ticked by. At the 3-minute and 32-second mark, Law had yet to make a single mistake, maintaining the fastest possible speed.
The most critical moment was approaching… the 3-minute and 45-second mark, where the flying turtle had to be bypassed without any pause.
Pe suspected that this was where Ging had pulled off some trick to surpass his record. So, what would Law do?
As the timer hit 3:45, Pe watched as Law maneuvered his character to jump onto a cannonball shot from behind. Using the extra bounce from that step, he cleared the flying turtle without needing to pause.
In that instant, two stars sparkled in Pe's oversized eyes.
'So that's how it's done…!'
4 minutes and 57 seconds flat… that was Law's final time. The moment the game ended, his record shot to first place, pushing Ging's down to second.
This was the fastest possible time. No matter how many more attempts Law made, he would never surpass 4 minutes and 57 seconds.
Pe excitedly raised his sign, now reading: "I'm Ickshonpe! Please come to my house as a guest!"
Law instinctively asked, "How do I get there?"
The words on the sign changed: [Yes or no.]
Realizing what was happening, Law murmured, "Yes."
In that instant, a surge of Nen erupted from the computer screen.
The rules of teleportation activated. The Nen carried no hostility… it simply wrapped around Law's body.
[My World]
These two words flashed through Law's mind. Then, his body transformed into a streak of white light and vanished into the computer.
His vision blurred in a flash of white light, lasting less than a second, before a world composed of pixelated blocks unfolded before his eyes.
And there, standing before him at chest height, was Ickshonake.