"Hm?"
Ryker, Gon, and Killua turned toward the approaching figure. The man stopped right in front of them, bowing deeply.
"Sir! I am Tsezguerra, the Hunter who accidentally offended you earlier. The three game consoles you just won have been paid for by my employer, Mr. Battera, as a gesture of goodwill," Tsezguerra said, his voice laced with absolute, rigid respect. He kept his head bowed, not daring to make eye contact with Ryker.
During their brief clash of aura, Tsezguerra realized a terrifying truth: he wasn't just outmatched; he was hopelessly outclassed. The boy standing before him was a monster.
Tsezguerra had immediately reported the encounter to his employer. He firmly advised Battera to cease all bidding against Ryker and instead spend 690 billion Jenny to buy the consoles for the boy as an apology.
"Oh? 690 billion Jenny just to say hello?" Ryker smiled faintly. "I can certainly appreciate that level of sincerity. Lead the way. Let's go meet your boss. Gon, Killua, come on."
Ryker was perfectly happy to accept a 690 billion Jenny freebie. The man had given him face, so Ryker would give him face in return.
The trio left the auction house and boarded a luxurious stretch limousine waiting outside. After a multi-hour drive, they pulled into a sprawling, hyper-luxurious estate.
Battera was infinitely richer than the Nostrade Family. Just driving up to the mansion, Ryker sensed dozens of powerful Nen users patrolling the grounds, many of whom were clearly licensed Pro Hunters.
"My Lord, the guests have arrived."
Tsezguerra led them through a maze of opulent corridors until they reached a grand, golden hall. An elderly man with gray hair, wearing a sharp suit with a rose pinned to his lapel, was waiting for them.
"Gentlemen, I am Battera. Please forgive the slight at the auction earlier. I hope you won't hold it against us," the multi-billionaire said, adopting an incredibly humble posture as he stepped forward to shake their hands.
"I'm Gon!"
"Killua."
"Ryker."
After the brief introductions, Battera quickly got down to business.
"Mr. Ryker, I invited you here because I have a desperate request regarding the game Greed Island..."
Battera sighed heavily, his face etched with exhaustion and sorrow. He explained his motivations—how he was spending his entire fortune to clear the game just to find a magical cure for his comatose lover.
"If you are willing to join my clearance team inside the game and assist Tsezguerra's squad, I will personally pay you 100 billion Jenny!" Battera pleaded, practically gritting his teeth.
His family fortune had been heavily depleted over the years buying the game consoles and hiring mercenaries. A hundred billion was essentially his absolute limit.
But Tsezguerra had pulled him aside and explicitly stated that Ryker was at least ten times stronger than him. In a city where true masters were incredibly rare, Battera couldn't afford to let an apex predator like Ryker slip away. His lover's time was running out.
"Oh? A hundred billion?" Ryker stroked his chin, genuinely amused.
Gon and Killua's jaws dropped.
Making money in this world was starting to feel like a fever dream. When they were grinding at the Heavens Arena, they were ecstatic to earn a few hundred million Jenny. They thought they were rich.
But after hanging around Ryker for the past few weeks, they realized just how vast the wealth gap in the Hunter world truly was. People threw around tens of billions like pocket change.
"Alright," Ryker said casually. "If we happen to cross paths inside Greed Island, and I'm in a good mood, I might lend your team a hand."
His nonchalant response immediately drew the ire of the other elite Hunters standing guard around the room.
They didn't understand why Tsezguerra, a Single-Star Hunter, was treating these kids with such reverence. To them, Ryker just looked like an arrogant teenager. Was the Captain going blind in his old age?
But instead of getting angry, Battera's face lit up with profound relief.
"Thank you! Your word is more than enough! Will you be entering the game from our hub here? My team has spent years compiling intel on the island. We will share all our data with you. However... to officially use our consoles, you still need to pass a brief screening test. We currently have over thirty consoles available," Battera explained earnestly.
"Sure," Ryker nodded.
Ryker accepted for two reasons. First, Battera was being incredibly polite, and Ryker firmly believed in the principle of "don't slap a smiling face." Second, the compiled intelligence data on Greed Island was invaluable. While Ryker knew the major plot points from his past life, having a detailed, player-made map and card index would save him a lot of tedious grinding.
"Excellent! Tsezguerra, set up the screening test for this afternoon! Mr. Ryker, I would be honored if you would help us evaluate the candidates," Battera said excitedly.
Later That Afternoon. The Screening Hall.
The turnout was hundreds of times larger than the Nostrade Family's bodyguard recruitment.
Battera had publicly promised a 50 billion Jenny bounty to anyone who successfully cleared the game. With 32 consoles available, he was hiring a small army. Even if players died during the run, the survivors stood to make billions. For a Hunter, it was the ultimate payday.
The promise of that much money drew out some of the most dangerous, unhinged, and skilled Nen users in the underworld.
"Fifty billion! Hahaha! Once I clear this game, I'm set for life!"
"Don't get cocky. People die in this game every day. And there are only 21 slots left!"
"If I don't make the cut, none of you have a chance."
The massive waiting hall was packed with heavily armed mercenaries, assassins, and Hunters.
"Look at those kids over there. Do they have a death wish?" a scarred mercenary sneered, pointing at Ryker, Gon, and Killua.
"Probably just here to make up the numbers."
"They won't even pass the first round. I'll throw them out myself to show the examiner what I can do."
Ryker ignored the murmurs. His eyes slowly scanned the massive crowd.
He had agreed to stay for the screening because he remembered a specific, incredibly valuable target who was supposed to be here: Biscuit Krueger. The Double-Star Stone Hunter and Wing's master.
But as he scanned the room with his System, a frown formed on his face.
She wasn't here.
Whether it was because his massive disruption of the Yorknew arc had caused a butterfly effect, or simply because she hadn't arrived yet, the Muscle Loli was nowhere to be seen.
What a shame, Ryker sighed internally. Copying Bisky's traits would have been a massive boost. She's at least a Gold-tier, maybe higher.
Still, Battera's recruitment drive had conveniently gathered hundreds of powerful Nen users into one room for him. It was a perfect farming opportunity.
He looked at the floating text boxes above the candidates' heads.
Most of them were complete garbage. Green and Blue traits. Utterly useless to his current scaling.
"Hey, kid! Who the hell are you staring at?!"
A massive, tattooed brute noticed Ryker's gaze and stomped over, cracking his knuckles. He figured beating up the smallest guy in the room was the easiest way to impress the examiners.
Before the brute could even finish his sentence, Ryker simply shifted his gaze to the man.
VWOOM.
A hyper-focused, invisible spike of aura slammed into the brute.
The man instantly collapsed face-first onto the floor, spreadeagled. The marble tiles beneath him shattered from the sheer pressure. He let out a pathetic croak and instantly lost consciousness.
The entire hall fell dead silent.
The surrounding mercenaries stared at the unconscious brute, then at Ryker, their jaws hitting the floor.
[DING! You defeated 'Cai Kun'. 10% Plunder chance activated...]
[Success! Acquired: {Overalls} (White).]
Absolute trash, Ryker cursed internally.
"Quiet!"
Suddenly, Tsezguerra walked onto the stage at the front of the hall. He immediately turned toward Ryker and bowed respectfully.
"Lord Ryker! We are about to begin the selection process. Would you care to offer any advice on how we should proceed?"
"Huh?!"
The entire hall collectively gasped.
The legendary Single-Star Hunter, the man running the multi-billion Jenny operation, was bowing to a teenager?! They had all assumed Ryker was just another applicant!
"No need for a process. I'll filter them for you," Ryker said dismissively.
Before anyone could react, Ryker unleashed his Ren.
BOOOOOOM!
A terrifying, suffocating tsunami of pure, oppressive Nen exploded from Ryker's body, washing over the entire hall.
It was like a physical blow. The air instantly turned to lead. The candidates didn't just feel fear; they felt a primal, instinctual terror, as if a demonic god had just stepped out of the abyss and was staring directly into their souls.
Tsezguerra, standing on the stage, felt the exact same, paralyzing dread he had felt at the auction house. It wasn't an illusion. The boy was a walking apocalypse. Tsezguerra knew with absolute certainty that if Ryker wanted to, he could slaughter every single person in this room in under three seconds.
Thud. Thud. Thud.
The weaker candidates instantly collapsed, their eyes rolling back into their heads.
One by one, like wheat falling to a scythe, the mercenaries and Hunters dropped to their knees, foaming at the mouth, completely unable to withstand the sheer density of Ryker's aura.
Within sixty seconds, the massive crowd of hundreds was reduced to just eighteen people still barely standing.
[DING! You defeated...]
[DING! You defeated...]
A cascade of notifications flooded Ryker's mind as the 10% auto-plunder triggered on the hundreds of unconscious bodies. Most were useless White or Green traits that automatically converted into EXP, though he kept a few interesting utility ones.
The surviving eighteen applicants were drenched in cold sweat, gasping for air as if they had just narrowly escaped drowning. They looked at Ryker with absolute, unadulterated terror.
Tsezguerra's shirt was soaked. He had never been so grateful that he had apologized at the auction. He honestly debated telling Battera to fire him and make Ryker the Captain of the expedition.
The multi-day, grueling screening process had been completed in under a minute.
Tsezguerra opened his mouth to officially announce the winners, but he paused.
Ryker wasn't looking at him. Ryker was walking slowly toward the back of the room, his eyes locked onto a specific target among the eighteen survivors.
Because hovering above that person's head... was a painfully rare, Gold-tier trait.
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