After finishing two sets of ten thousand practice swings filled with gratitude,
In the training room, watching the morning glow rise and the setting sun fall, Roy finished his day of sword training. His face wasn't flushed, he wasn't panting, his stamina wasn't exhausted, and his Nen aura was abundant.
Without a trace of fatigue, he flipped his hand and stored [Yukibashiri] into his unconscious domain using reverse conjuration.
Hearing the sharp "1" from the panel's notification sound, he closed his eyes and entered a meditative state. Leaning against the floor-to-ceiling window and letting the mountain breeze blow over him, he thought carefully for a moment and suddenly realized something.
As his strength gradually increased and the levels of some skills rose, it was almost impossible to gain the same amount of experience points through the same training volume as before.
As the saying goes, a tiny deviation leads to a massive difference. The higher one climbs, the harder it gets. This was exactly the case.
His thoughts surged, and Roy let out a long breath. When he opened his eyes again, two flashes of divine light suddenly burst from his amber pupils. His intuition told him that between Lv4 and Lv5 lay an almost insurmountable chasm...
Just like the gap between a regular Sharingan and a Mangekyou, a Mangekyou and a Rinnegan, or a Byakugan and a Tenseigan—possessing the power of destruction and creation. Roy casually pinched a ray of the setting sun, faintly sensing that once his swordsmanship reached Lv5, it would bring him unimaginable surprises...
Therefore, the essence of Nen was idealistic. Even though there were laws of equivalent exchange and risk and reward emphasizing specific internal logic as constraints,
just how strong a person could become internally—aside from the limitations of their aptitude as a [Human]—depended entirely on imagination. That is... a person's [Visualization] and cognition...
Just like Kurapika with his chains of revenge.
Hisoka with his Texture Surprise and Bungee Gum.
Netero, borrowing Buddhist maxims to create the Shingen-ryu school, uniquely condensed the martial arts avatar 100-Type Guanyin, breaking the shackles of the Enhancement category. His Zero Hand emission attack nearly slapped Meruem to death...
Roy looked up and saw Kikyo pushing Killua for a walk in the garden. He understood himself clearly. Compared to the natives of this world, his most important and only advantage was his reincarnation.
Because of this, he possessed insight and cognition that no one else could even imagine.
*Buzz—* The Door of Cognition trembled, seemingly harmonizing with Roy, or perhaps responding to him. At that moment, Tsubone pushed a dining cart in. Seeing him sheathe his sword, she called out softly, "Young Master, it is time to eat."
Roy gave a noncommittal hum. His gaze swept over Kikyo and Killua, then to Illumi buried in a pit, and finally to Milluki collapsed on the lawn, before pulling his attention back. He turned around and began eating his dinner right there in the training room.
"Young Master, I have also prepared a portion for Gotoh," Tsubone said, standing to the side with her hands down, asking tentatively. "I just don't know if I should feed it to him."
"That's very thoughtful of you," Roy smiled at the old butler who had dedicated her life to the Zoldyck family. "Don't worry about him."
"He is doing just fine."
The young man forked a piece of steak into his mouth. With a thought, he summoned Gotoh's Believer panel...
[Constitution +1+1+1+1...]
Top-tier Squadron Leaders like Leol the lion who fought Morel, Kazan the scorpion, or peak-level fighters like Feitan and Uvogin. And today was only the first day; there were still six days left... Roy silently felt the thread of karma connecting him to Gotoh growing thicker and stronger. His gaze then swept downward to the very bottom of the panel—
A sudden flash of insight hit Roy. He knew deeply that as long as he wanted to, he could completely replicate how Muzan treated other demons, determining their life and death with a single word, and possessing the ability to view, browse, and delete their memories at any time.
Good fortune and misfortune are two sides of the same coin; everything has its contradictions.
Although [First Embrace] was powerful, it could not escape the laws of nature and the grand Dao.
Roy took one last look, focusing specifically on the [First Embrace Nen Ability] column. He was curious and expectant... wondering what kind of new Nen ability the young butler would awaken after [Coin Guessing].
He quietly closed the panel and swallowed the rest of the steak in one bite...
Approaching seven in the evening, the last trace of the setting sun was reluctantly dragged below the horizon. Having finished dinner, Roy took the tissue Tsubone handed him, wiped his mouth, and gave her a slight nod. "Thank you for your hard work."
He then stood up, leaving the old butler to clean up the dining cart, and walked out of the training room. Just like any other day, he headed straight for the basement.
*Tap, tap...* Footsteps echoed in the mottled corridor, thick with the aura of time...
The young man's silver hair fluttered. Passing by the garden, he saw a cluster of white chrysanthemums blooming beneath the window sill. Roy suddenly remembered Yoriichi Tsugikuni telling him to wait until the spider lilies were in full bloom before paying respects to Uta and his child, who had died at the hands of a demon before turning one. He paused, reached out, and plucked a few flowers, dirt and all.
Stepping forward again, he appeared at the basement entrance, right in front of Scarface and One-Eye.
"Young Master,"
"Young Master,"
"This one is for Grandpa Zigg..." Roy separated a yellow chrysanthemum and handed it to Scarface.
"Yes," Scarface took it with both hands. Glancing at the three remaining flowers in Roy's hand, he kindly offered to help Roy plant them. However,
Roy flatly refused.
The young man stopped in front of the iron grated door. Facing the portal to the Dark Continent, he said deeply, "These remaining ones are for Old Mark, Little Marty, and Mrs. Nora..."
Scarface was taken aback. He exchanged a glance with One-Eye, then lowered his head in acknowledgment. Without asking another word, he reached out and pulled the door open for Roy.
"Young Master, please."
The door opened, revealing the gloomy, dark underground corridor. Just like always, pale green lights were lit along the sides, stretching endlessly into the unknown...
Roy took a step, crossing the iron grated door. With his back to Scarface and One-Eye, he stayed silent for a moment before saying, "If the family asks about Old Mark, Little Marty, and Mrs. Nora... just tell them the truth."
"I am paying my respects to the silent majority among the masses..."
With that, Roy slightly lowered his eyelids, hiding the longing and reminiscence in his eyes from Scarface and One-Eye. He silently added in his heart, *'And to my past self.'*
Then, his figure flashed, blending into the pale green candlelight and disappearing from their sight.
The basement was cold and gloomy, while just a corridor away lay the sweltering heat of a midsummer night. Scarface and One-Eye stood stunned for a long time, repeatedly reciting that sentence in their hearts. For some reason, a rare warmth welled up from the depths of their souls...
"Someone remembers the Old Master, and someone remembers us... One-Eye," Scarface smiled at his companion. "When you die, maybe there will be a chrysanthemum sent by the Young Master on your grave..."
"Hehehe..." One-Eye laughed, suppressing his volume.
After a long while, he glanced toward the dark corridor and sighed wistfully, "If there's one for me, there's one for you. Although I really don't want to admit it, after Master Zigg, he is the second person to say he would miss us."
One-Eye's tone was mixed with deep emotion...
"It's just that I never expected this person... to be Young Master Roy..."
"Perhaps, soon enough, we'll be calling him... Master," Scarface pointed at One-Eye meaningfully. "Don't forget, he has silver hair now too!"
One-Eye froze slightly, then fell into a long silence. It wasn't until... they could faintly hear the airtight door opening deep within the corridor, accompanied by the distinct scraping sound of tentacles rubbing against the door frame, that he slowly and firmly shook his head after some thought. "No. I feel that Young Master Roy's ambitions are vast. He won't be confined to just one family or one place."
"Vaster than Master Zigg's?"
"It's hard to compare. But since you're asking," One-Eye looked at Scarface quietly, "it means you already have the answer in your heart."
Scarface: "..."
For a moment, he was left speechless.
On this falling night, alongside One-Eye, he once again sank into a long silence.
*Whoosh—* Entering summer, the mountain breeze no longer carried the winter's chill.
Deep in the corridor, the airtight door opened. Seeing the tentacles again, Roy crushed the chrysanthemums in his hand, using reverse conjuration to manifest them into his cognitive world ahead of time. He looked up and made eye contact with the [Demon Eye]. This time, as his consciousness grew hazy and was about to sink, he seemed to see a figure in its massive pupil...
At first glance, the person looked a bit dull, but his silver hair, standing straight up like a hedgehog's, spoke of his unruliness and stubbornness.
As Roy looked on in shock, the figure grinned at him:
"The silent majority. Well said, child..."
The person in the Demon Eye's pupil said with immense gratification, "With this level of awareness, you won't lose your way like your grandpa did..."
Lose his way... "Is that you, Grandpa Zigg?" Roy's pupils shrank as he blurted out. A beep sounded by his ear...
His vision went black, and the world spun wildly. When he finally caught his breath, stopped, and opened his eyes again... he was already standing in a lush forest of towering trees.
At his feet lay the remains of Old Mark and Mrs. Nora, emitting a faint stench of decay. Their bodies had been completely devoured by scavenging monsters, leaving behind only two skeletons.
[Innate Nen Ability: Corrosion. Saliva is rich in "Nen" poison. Speculated to be similar to Lower Rank Five "Rui"'s innate Blood Demon Art "Spider Poison". Extraction can improve the host's poison resistance and poison application ability.]
Roy's heart tightened silently, further confirming a fact—
This wasn't just a game; it was... reality.
The so-called [Save] was merely Grandpa Zigg using some method to teleport him back to the location where he last appeared... just like the card Ging had set up in Greed Island—[Accompany].
It could teleport the spell user to a specified target... Roy frowned and looked to the side. Under the tall tree where he had killed Andrew Cooper and the owner of [Counter], Longergon, there was unexpectedly...
No trace of their corpses!
According to the dietary habits of the carrion vultures, since they hadn't carried away the skeletons of Old Mark and Mrs. Nora, there was no reason for them to carry away Andrew Cooper and Longergon's.
*'Then, there's only one possibility left,'* Roy narrowed his eyes, suddenly emitting a cold glint. *'Someone collected the two of them together!'*
Thinking back to... Grandpa Zigg, whom he had just seen in the [Demon Eye], and the cryptic words he had spoken...
Roy immediately concluded—
[re; The Game of the Dead] only had teleportation, not time-freezing. Or rather, just for him... time wasn't frozen!
*'In other words... I've been exposed!'*
The young man's silver hair swayed in the wind. He looked up at the sky, took a deep breath, and rolled his neck. With a flick of his wrist, he shot a high-temperature Nen bullet condensed with Scorching True Intent straight at a cypress-like tree a hundred meters behind him...
*Swish!* A piercing sound rang out!
The Nen bullet pierced right through the tree, leaving a finger-sized hole. Through it, one could clearly see... a dark brown top hat with its brim flipped up!
"Clap, clap, clap... Emitter?"
"What a sharp Nen bullet!"
"Friend, don't misunderstand... we're on the same side!"
The sound of clapping echoed from beside the hole. Roy kept his finger pointed and turned his head... From behind the towering cypress-like tree, a man strolled out. He looked to be around forty years old, wearing a gentleman's hat and a flashy, exaggerated trench coat. The coat was patched and branded with playing cards, from 2 to Ace, with the Joker cards printed on his left and right chest... Two thick, pitch-black mustaches curled upward like hooks... He looked exactly like the Joker from a deck of cards...
For a moment, Roy mistakenly thought someone's playing cards had come to life and walked straight out of the Joker card!
"I don't recall having a friend like you." Roy's silver hair swayed in the wind as he stared at the man expressionlessly.
The man smiled and winked at Roy. He reached into his coat and pulled out a leather flask, saying in a deep voice, "Although doing this is disrespectful to the dead, I think my friend here should recognize this."
How could he not recognize it? How could he dare to forget?
Roy looked indifferently at the flask in the man's hand, which was made from Little Marty's skin, and said, "You are indeed disrespectful. She is not a flask. She is... three living... lives."
"You see, didn't I say we were friends?" The man smiled faintly. He put his hands behind his back and pointed to an uneven patch of grass not far behind him. "I believe you are looking for them."
Just as the poker man's finger stopped, a gust of wind howled past his ear. Immediately after... he was shocked to see a flash of light!
A human-shaped light blended into the sunlight, passed right through his body, and appeared on the uneven patch of grass he had just pointed to!
"Gosh!"
"What kind of speed is this?!"