"Splash!"
The boundless Sea of Cognition surged with turbulent waves.
Several gates stood in a row upon the sea level. Some were fully formed, some were still taking shape, and others were merely faint specks of light stretching toward...
...the horizon where the sky met the water.
Roy rolled up his trouser legs, letting the waves wash over his feet. He paced slowly toward the Demon Slayer Gate, his back to the already closed Naruto Gate, and looked up...
...at the pitch-black Dark Continent Gate, which led directly to the world beyond—a place holding both his enemies and the answers he needed to survive.
Answers.
"Drip."
The [CURSE] on the back of his left hand stubbornly continued to count down his life.
The dream of his great-grandfather's national funeral felt like it was only yesterday. The young man took a deep breath and reached out a hand, tracing the intricate patterns on the gate until...
...a sudden flutter in his heart and two calls interrupted his thoughts.
Roy looked toward the source of the sensation: the dream passage leading back to reality.
[SYSTEM: Your humble and devout Potential Believer Vanessa Siren is grateful for your Gift of Music and prays to you respectfully, seeking to become a formal believer...]
[SYSTEM: Your humble and devout Potential Believer Kohler Spencer is grateful for your Gift of Method and prays to you respectfully, seeking to become a formal believer...]
The images of the Snake Woman and the Kobold formed in his mind. Though it had only been a short while since they last met, it felt as if several seasons had passed.
The boy took a deep breath. Instead of immediately entering the dream passage to return to reality as he usually did, he adjusted his fluctuating emotions...
...before manifesting the [Generalized Dream Gate]—obtained from Enmu and later fused into his own Nen ability—and stepping through. A portal appeared in the void, and he vanished into it.
A temple rose, and mist swirled. He stood atop the clouds with the sun overhead. He pointed two fingers toward the vast, ethereal cloud bed before him.
A dream vortex opened, and Roy's voice, devoid of humor and filled with infinite majesty, echoed through it...
On the eastern shore of the Dark Continent, in the Bathhouse Kingdom of Valentia—renowned as the Pure City—within an inconspicuous bathhouse on 7th Street of the Water Orchid District... and in the northern frontier, within the territory of the Howling Moon Wolf King, inside a remote village in the ancient river town of Bone-Crushing City...
A female snake and an old dog both froze. Suddenly, they heard...
"Tomorrow night at ten, you are permitted an audience."
Vanessa and Old Kohler snapped back to their senses. They placed their right hands over their hearts and bowed in unison. "Praise the Sun."
As they lowered their heads, they were filled with excitement and anticipation...
"Vroom..." The dream vortex opened and then closed, reflecting the strange yet familiar faces of Vanessa and Old Kohler.
Sitting beneath the sun, Roy saw that one had the toxins completely purged from her tail, while the other was robust, no longer showing his previous frailty. Contemplating this, he waved his hand to dismiss the [Generalized Dream Gate]...
...before stepping into the familiar dream passage and opening his eyes.
Having left the Naruto World and the Sea of Cognition, he returned to the Hunter World—to the familiar Zoldyck castle and his soft, familiar bed.
"Dong!" At 4:00 AM, the wooden clock in the corner chimed, signaling the time for the morning run.
Roy rolled out of bed, pulled on a tank top, put on his sneakers, and tied his laces. Just like every other day, he headed out for a run.
Pass the snoring of a certain chubby younger brother, who was already developing the "fat pig" physique from the original story...
And the obsession of a certain deadpan younger brother, who was grooming himself in front of a mirror, repeatedly disguising himself to look like his big brother...
The boy closed his door, rounded a corner, and traversed the mottled corridors of the castle. Passing the dim little room, he bowed slightly before continuing. He stepped through the main gate, greeted by the fresh breeze of early summer, and plunged into Kukuroo Mountain.
They say "slow is fast" and "fast is slow." With his [Constitution] nearly reaching the 1,000 mark, Roy could have finished his run up and down the mountain in less than five minutes if he wanted to.
However, he didn't do that.
He maintained his usual breathing rhythm and steady pace, partly for the exercise, partly to enjoy the view, but mostly for the first light of dawn appearing on the horizon...
It was the sun... the sun that gave people warmth. 'Child, are you ready to become the sun in the hearts of others?'
His great-grandfather's profound question still echoed in his ears.
As the lush green trees whipped past him...
Roy reached the summit, then headed down the mountain path. In an instant, he was halfway down. He saw the brightly lit butler's quarters, where butlers were already busy, chefs were preparing meals, and apprentice butlers were training. It was a scene full of life.
A smile played on Roy's lips. He quickened his pace. When he looked up again, he had reached the entrance of the mountain path. There, he saw a person with short, neat blonde hair holding a mountain-guarding staff.
It was Kurajing.
"Young Master." The girl, her blonde hair tied in a ponytail, bowed in greeting.
Straightening her back as the wind brushed past her shoulders, she shouted toward Roy's departing figure, "Young Master, I've awakened my Nen! I'm officially a Nen user now!"
Roy's steps faltered for a second before he resumed his pace, his smile widening.
"Congratulations," he said.
"Yes!" she replied.
Holding her staff, the girl watched him. The boy moved at a steady yet firm pace toward the mountain gate. The dawn light broke, draping him in a coat of crimson and stretching his shadow very, very long...
Until a gentle breeze blew a leaf between them, separating the master and servant into two different worlds.
As Kurajing watched him go, Roy thought about the tragic fate of the Kurta Clan. Those Scarlet Eyes were both a curse and a blessing. The curse was being hunted by others; the blessing was that once the Scarlet Eyes were active, one became a Specialist. They should have been able to produce many powerful Nen users, but sadly, by the time the clan was wiped out, only Kurapika and Pairo had emerged.
Now, of course, there was Kurajing.
The sound of footsteps echoed through the silent forest.
Leaving the mountain path, the massive gate was visible in the distance.
However, the gate seemed a bit more crowded than usual today.
Roy slowed his pace. He nodded to Zebro, who tipped his hat in greeting from afar, then turned his gaze entirely to the tall man standing nearby.
"Your mother is about to give birth. I've made an appointment with the doctor and will pick her up today." Silva, rarely seen at the Testing Gate, spoke to Roy without turning his head.
It was currently the year 1987 of the Hunter Calendar, the birth year of Gon and Killua in the original story. Roy had just heard from Gotoh yesterday that Killua's due date was only a few days away.
Since Gon was older than Killua, Ging had probably already held his child.
Roy's eyes flickered as he recalled the cold, unfamiliar woman he had seen in Ging's heart. He nodded silently. "It is safer for you to pick her up yourself, Father."
Kikyo clearly valued this child immensely—to a near-obsessive degree. If anything went wrong, Roy couldn't imagine what kind of monster she would become, given that she was already somewhat unstable.
"Mm," Silva grunted, saying nothing more.
He looked at the boy sideways, noting that he seemed to have grown taller even in just a day. Facing the massive Testing Gate, he eventually said softly, "I heard you can already push open the fifth gate."
One door was two tons, two doors were four tons, three were eight tons, four were sixteen tons, and five were thirty-two tons...
Roy looked up with Silva at the towering gate that symbolized the Zoldyck family's prominent status in the assassin world. He neither confirmed nor denied it, simply speaking the truth. "That was some time ago."
"I thought you would know, Father."
"And now?" Silva glanced at the boy. He stepped forward and pressed a palm against the Testing Gate. Then, with a loud boom, the sixth Testing Gate was pushed open effortlessly with just one hand!
A sliver of light suddenly expanded into a pillar, pouring in from outside and making Silva look imposing and majestic.
Holding the gate, the man looked back at the boy. "Want to try?"
Roy took a deep breath. Without a word, he stepped forward, rolled up his sleeves, and took over for Silva. He pressed both hands against the gate. As Silva let go, Roy felt as if a mountain were crushing him, making it almost impossible to breathe!
So heavy!
His bones groaned...
His muscles trembled.
His elbows threatened to buckle under the strain...
But since he had already taken over, Roy steeled his resolve and activated Sun Breathing!
'Sun Breathing: Total Concentration, Constant!'
Lifting his abdomen and twitching his nose, he took a deep, sharp breath of the dawn light pouring in from the gate!
With a dull thud, Roy's heart jolted. His body temperature skyrocketed, his aura shifted instantly, and his frame shook visibly!
"Open!" he growled.
Boom! The sixth Testing Gate, which had been about to close, was hit by a surge of massive force and swung wide open!
The gap widened further and further until it was large enough to fully accommodate both father and son!
Silva enjoyed the warmth of the dawn, looking at the boy with a glimmer of anticipation and fighting spirit in his eyes.
"Not bad," the man said, thrusting his hands into his pockets and strolling outside.
Boom! Without Roy's strength supporting it, the Testing Gate quickly swung back. Just before it shut, Silva slipped into a black sedan.
Steam rose slowly from Roy's head. He suddenly asked, "To what extent do I need to reach to surpass you?"
Vroom. The black sedan sped away as the driver hit the gas, leaving behind only exhaust fumes and a voice drifting in the wind...
"Talk to me when you can easily push open the seventh gate with one hand."
One hand, seven gates... that was far more complex than simply doubling his constitution. Roy deactivated his Constant state and let out a soft sigh. As the Testing Gate slammed shut, sealing out the last sliver of light, he turned around.
At some point, with his white hair swaying, Zeno emerged from the silent forest.
The old man, hunched over with his hands behind his back, walked down the mountain path. He used Dark Step like a ghost, flickering from one spot to another, covering hundreds of meters in a few breaths.
"Tell me, why did you have to provoke him back then?"
The eight characters on his chest—'One Kill a Day, Active for Life'—swayed in the breeze. Wearing black cloth shoes, the old man stood still and looked at Roy teasingly. "Will I really see you strike your father with a blade next year?"
"A year isn't very long..."
He had clearly overheard the "one-year promise" between father and son.
"Who knows?" Roy said honestly. "I certainly can't do it now."
"But in a year,"
The boy looked at Zeno seriously. "If I actually manage to wound Father then, you're not allowed to feel bad for him."
Hmm... wait, what?! Zeno: "..."
Zeno froze for two seconds, then looked at Roy strangely and laughed in a low voice.
"Ho ho ho! Hahaha!" His grey beard trembled.
Mimicking Silva, the old man lightly tapped the Testing Gate with one hand. Boom!
All seven Testing Gates swung wide open.
Then, like a drifting leaf, he flickered through the light and shadows outside the gate and vanished.
"If you're capable enough to actually kill him... well, maybe I'd stop you then. Ho ho ho..."
Boom! The Testing Gate slammed shut again, cutting off the laughter completely.
Zebro, who had been attending nearby, bowed. "Safe travels, Master."
Straightening his back, he stole a glance at Roy. The boy stood before the gate, carefully replaying the scene of his grandfather tapping the mountain gate in his mind. After a long moment of contemplation, Roy turned and began walking again.
His grandfather had someone to kill every day. He had people to kill too—whether it was in the Naruto Ninja War or Muzan from Demon Slayer. Even the Dark Continent, which was right in front of him, didn't seem as stable as he had imagined or as his father's records suggested.
"Busy... it's good to be busy. It's best if everyone is busy." A few minutes later, when Roy returned to the castle along the mountain path and passed the dim little room again, Maha was wearing a small white tank top and loose boxers. He was unceremoniously listening to a cartoon while rocking in his chair. He turned over, blew a bubble from his nose...
...muttered something softly, and went back to sleep.
A faint snore rose, accompanied by the distant sound of cicadas.
Roy returned to his bedroom before 5:00 AM, took a quick shower, and sat down at the dining table.
Clink! Gotoh arrived on time as usual, pushing a dining cart, and uncovered today's breakfast for him.
Fried bacon, eggs scrambled with butter, a large plate of salad, and a bowl of tomato and egg soup. This mix of Western and Chinese styles matched the current culinary style of the Zoldyck family—a style that originated from him.
"Young Master, Ging Freecss called."
"He said his son, Gon, was born just a short while ago."
Gotoh sliced the bacon for Roy while saying, "He asked when you would visit Greed Island for a gathering and to leave behind some... measures."
Roy put a spoonful of eggs into his mouth and summoned the game guide Silva had given him. He flipped through it carefully and said without looking up, "Tell him I don't have time."
Setting aside the fact that Killua was about to be born, he also had to spend time and energy on the Third Shinobi World War and the medicine for Tanjuro. Furthermore, exploring the Dark Continent would take years of effort before yielding any results.
"What about the Chairman?"
"Who?"
"Netero." Gotoh pushed up his glasses as he met Roy's surprised gaze. "I heard he is coming."