Late at night, a torrential downpour raged.
Yorknew City, Sewer Street.
Raindrops like strings of pearls converged into streams, flowing along the veins of the city streets.
The streetlights flickered uncertainly, yet one antique shop remained brightly lit.
Above the shop hung a common electronic display, its red text scrolling slowly:
[Buying Antiques and Handcrafted Art—June 22, 1997]
Inside the shop, display cases lined the walls.
Bathed in amber light, rows of antique artworks stood on display, their true worth obscured.
At the back of the shop, a solid wood table stood against the wall, a desk lamp perched at its corner.
Under the focused beam of light, a roughly fifty-centimeter-tall red wooden doll statue stood silently.
Suddenly, a pair of hands reached into the light, enveloping the unremarkable wooden doll.
The hands belonged to a young man dressed in casual clothes, with neatly cut black hair and handsome features.
Crack.
With a slight exertion of his fingers, fissures appeared on the doll's surface, and faint white light—distinct from the lamp's glow—seeped through the cracks.
Then, the wooden shell shattered and fell away, revealing a jade figurine enveloped in the soft glow of aura.
The translucent surface of the jade figurine bore shallow green patterns resembling fish scales, shimmering brilliantly under the light—clearly a priceless treasure.
Breaking the wooden shell to reveal the treasure within.
This scene was witnessed by a burly man wearing a dog-head mask near the shop's entrance.
Yet the man seemed familiar with the boy's abilities, showing no surprise.
Crossing his arms, he fixed his gaze on the boy, his voice steady and firm:
"Morrow, why did you refuse the gift Morena prepared for you?"
"Gift?"
The boy called Morrow suddenly looked up, meeting the dog-headed man's eyes with a helpless smile.
"Dog bro, you call it a gift to ask me to kill twenty-one complete strangers…?"
"Of course it's a gift. Kill them, and you'll immediately rise to Level 21. After that, barring any surprises, you should gain another Nen ability tailored to your needs. Even if the outcome differs, you'll at least increase your aura amount."
The dog-headed man's voice remained steady and resolute. After a pause, he continued:
"Morrow, Morena needs feedback on her Nen ability's effects as soon as possible. Don't disappoint her. Besides… killing a few random people to grow stronger—there's no downside for you."
"..."
Morrow fell silent.
Just killing a few random people…
That's the way of the mafia.
Or perhaps, in this world, disregarding lives and trampling on individual existence wasn't anything unusual.
This was something Morrow had learned firsthand when he crossed over a year ago…
He stared silently at Dogman.
As a transmigrator, he was intimately familiar with the plot and characters of Hunter × Hunter.
Dogman before him, as well as Morena—who had saved him a year ago—were both characters from the mafia family introduced in the Kakin Empire Succession War arc.
Setting aside Morena's identity as an illegitimate child of the Kakin royal family and her future role as the boss of the Heil-Ly Family mafia, what left the deepest impression on Morrow…
Was always the Nen ability she displayed in the original story. It was a Nen ability that allowed others to grow stronger by killing...
Kill to grow stronger—sounds easy enough.
Morrow suppressed the thought rising in his mind, a faint, inscrutable smile playing at his lips, though his eyes remained eerily calm, devoid of any ripples.
"Dog bro, Nen abilities are never so shallow. With the system of Vows and Limitations in place... Though I don't know how Morena unearthed this ability, one thing is certain."
At this point, Morrow suddenly averted his gaze, lowering his eyes to the jade figurine on the table as he remarked coolly, "And that's the risk—immense and unknown."
"..."
Hearing Morrow's words, Dogman fell silent this time.
Silence could sometimes be taken as tacit agreement.
But he hadn't forgotten his stance. Breaking free from the silence soon after, he cut straight to the point: "So your answer is refusal?"
"Not at all... This worthless life of mine was given by Morena."
Morrow's eyelids drooped slightly as he let out a self-deprecating chuckle, though his mind flashed with the image of Morena's pitch-black, bottomless eyes.
After a pause, he looked up at Dogman again and said softly, "Give me a day."
"Fine. I'll let Morena know."
Dogman nodded at Morrow, then turned and left without another word.
Just as he was about to push open the door and step out of the antique shop, he suddenly halted, as if remembering something.
"Oh, Morena said she hasn't decided on a name for the Nen ability yet. She wants you to come up with one."
"..."
Morrow froze for a moment, involuntary fragments from the original work surfacing in his mind.
Etude of Love
That was the name of Morena's Nen ability in the original.
As for why such a destructive Nen ability bore such a name...
Morrow had no idea.
With that in mind, Morrow didn't hesitate or deliberate. He answered directly based on the original information: "Call it Etude of Love... if Morena doesn't dislike it."
"Huh?"
Dogman was taken aback. He hadn't expected Morrow to suggest a name with such a style.
But he didn't dwell on it. Waving a hand at Morrow, he pushed open the door and strode into the rainy night.
Morrow watched him leave with an unreadable expression.
Creak—
The door shut behind him.
Several minutes later, Morrow finally withdrew his gaze, turning instead to the translucent jade figurine standing amidst a pile of wooden shell fragments on the table.
Guess I'll have to run...
There were things he refused to do, with no room for negotiation. And so, Morrow decided to leave Morena's circle then and there.
It wasn't that he was averse to the idea of killing in itself—it was just that among the twenty-one people Morena had sent over, there were infants and children.
That crossed a line.
Moreover, he understood Morena's true, hidden intentions better than anyone.
The destruction of Kakin, the destruction of humanity, the destruction of the world, the destruction of everything...
That was what Morena sought.
So Morrow had always known he would leave eventually. He just hadn't expected the day to come so soon.
Over the past half-year, the antique shop he ran had brought Morena considerable profits.
Had nothing changed, he would have preferred to repay Morena's life-saving debt this way.
But this should be enough...
Morrow thought silently to himself before raising his right hand and gazing at the back of it. There was a tattoo pattern resembling tree rings, composed of six hollow rings of different colors.
The colors of the rings, from the innermost to the outermost, smallest to largest, were white, green, blue, purple, red, and gold.
At the very center of the Tree Rings was a tiny black infinity symbol.
Morrow didn't know the origin or purpose of the Tree Rings tattoo.
Only a few days after his transmigration did he notice the outline of the rings gradually appearing on the back of his hand, growing from faint to distinct before finally settling into place.
The confirmed information so far was that others couldn't see the Tree Rings tattoo on his hand, and the area of his hand covered by the tattoo seemed to possess the Vow effect of being indestructible.
Additionally, he could fill the hollow sections of the Tree Rings by absorbing aura from antiques.
This was the fundamental reason he chose to run an antique shop in Yorknew.
Over the past several months, he had absorbed faint traces of aura from numerous antiques and handmade artworks. Now, the innermost white ring was almost completely filled.
For the time being, Morrow set aside thoughts of leaving Morena and focused on the jade figurine wrapped in faint aura.
Absorbing the aura from the jade figurine should be enough to fill the white ring completely.
Even if it didn't, the employees he had sent out would bring back some antiques that might carry traces of aura tonight.
In the silent antique shop, Morrow placed his hand over the jade figurine.
There was no visible movement, but the faint aura on the figurine rapidly merged into the back of his hand at a speed discernible to the naked eye.
The small gap in the white ring was filled, making it relatively complete.
It seemed he wouldn't have to wait for his incompetent employees to return.
As Morrow thought this, his gaze remained fixed on the white ring on his hand. After months of effort, he felt a flicker of anticipation.
In his view, the Tree Rings tattoo was likely the so-called golden finger often mentioned in transmigration stories.
If it could provide assistance now, he would have even more confidence in breaking free from the Heil-Ly Family.
Morrow waited patiently for a change, but as time passed minute by minute, the fully charged white ring—like an energy bar—showed no unusual phenomena.
The worst-case scenario has come true.
Seeing the motionless tattoo, Morrow shook his head slightly.
At this point, there were likely only three possibilities.
One: All the rings needed to be filled before the still-unknown ability could be revealed.
Two: The filled rings required some specific condition to unlock the ability.
Three: The Tree Rings tattoo wasn't the golden finger he had hoped for.
Morrow was somewhat disappointed but not overly concerned.
Even if he had gained the golden finger's ability now, it would have been nothing more than a pleasant surprise for him.
His true confidence lay in the Emission-type Nen ability he had painstakingly honed since his transmigration.
—--
Night deepened, and the rain showed no signs of letting up.
A dog-headed man moved through the heavy downpour, arriving beside a black car parked on the roadside.
The window of the black car's rear seat rolled down, revealing an elegant and refined woman.
Her eyebrows were like willow leaves, her eyes like phoenix feathers.
Yet, her beautiful face bore two parallel, gruesome scars.
The scars ran from her hairline, through her left eyelid, all the way down to her cheek—almost spanning half her face, a truly shocking sight.
"Morena."
The dog-headed man bent down to look at the woman inside the car.
Morena lifted her gaze: "Dogman, what did he say?"
"Morrow asked for one more day."
Dogman replied truthfully.
Morena lowered her gaze, as if sensing something.
Dogman waited for Morena's response, letting the heavy rain pour over his body.
After a while.
Morena habitually reached up to touch the scar on her cheek.
"Forget it."
She murmured softly.
Dogman was slightly taken aback.
Morena lowered her hand, her gaze extending past Dogman toward the antique shop.
"Dogman, do you know... there's something about little Morrow that I really dislike."
"What?"
Dogman followed up naturally.
Morena's eyes grew profound, her tone gradually turning cold.
"A bottom line."
"…"
Dogman didn't know how to respond.
Morena said coldly, "My people can't have such things."
Dogman understood Morena's meaning. For a moment, he considered persuasion but held back, instead asking:
"Morena, the Phantom Troupe seems to be investigating someone—several gangs have been caught in the crossfire and slaughtered. Shouldn't we at least inform Morrow—"
"No need."
Morena withdrew her gaze. "This is his own choice."
"Understood."
Dogman sighed inwardly, then mentioned the name of the Nen ability Morrow had helped create.
Etude of Love…
Hearing the name, a ripple of emotion flickered in Morena's eyes—it was still incomplete after all…
Even if she could feel little Morrow's loyalty in their deep kisses, it meant nothing if their purposes were fundamentally different.
"Let's go."
Morena lowered her head slightly. Though she couldn't receive feedback, she had still discovered the flaw in the ability.
Dogman glanced at Morena, detecting a trace of melancholy in her tone...