After all, the reason Netero kept Pariston around was precisely because he made things interesting, added a bit of spice to life, so to speak. As for the others, their thought process was much simpler.
Whatever Pariston was in favor of, they would do the opposite. That's all there was to it. Supporting Pariston? Not a chance.
"It looks like there's still one person who hasn't shown up yet," Pariston said with a smug smile. "I wonder what he thinks? Maybe he'll agree with me."
He didn't say any names, but it was obvious to everyone who he meant, Ging.
As if expecting this, President Netero calmly pulled out a phone from under the table and pressed play on a recording.
"Are we voting on whether Larry should be promoted to three-star hunter? Then I'll vote in favor."
That was it, just two short sentences. But it was unmistakably Ging's voice.
"Voting in favor, huh…" Pariston muttered under his breath, trying to piece things together.
Ging's tone wasn't just casual, it was confident, almost certain. It made Pariston start to reconsider. Had he underestimated Larry?
The other members of the Twelve Zodiacs began to murmur quietly among themselves. Ging's words had shifted the mood.
Originally, they would've voted in favor of the promotion just to spite Pariston. But now that Ging had spoken, things weren't so simple.
Supporting Pariston was off the table. But Ging? Ging was different. If they had to choose between the two, they'd lean toward Ging's opinion.
Larry's accomplishments were undeniable. Both logically and emotionally, he deserved the title.
"We now have one vote against, and one in favor," Netero announced, putting his phone away and glancing at Pariston, who was still deep in thought. "Next, those in favor of promoting Larry to a three-star hunter, please raise your hand."
More hands went up this time than before, five in total. Pyon, Gel, Cheadle, Botobai, and Mizai all voted in favor. With Ging's vote included, that made six for and one against.
The result was overwhelming.
"Well, looks like we've got our answer~" Netero said, scratching his ear casually.
The remaining members who didn't raise their hands were abstaining, which was common in meetings like this. The Twelve Zodiacs were rarely unified, some were aggressive, some were conservative, others somewhere in between. Three camps, three kinds of votes, it was practically tradition.
Unlike the one-star and two-star ranks, three-star hunters could be recognized in two ways. One was by specifying their field, like how Cheadle was a three-star medical hunter.
The other was a general designation, just "three-star hunter", usually reserved for top-tier individuals in the Hunter Association's leadership. Netero himself was one, and so was Pariston, though no field was listed for either of them.
Larry's achievements spanned multiple areas, food hunting, ruin exploration, bounty missions, making it hard to pin him to just one field. So he was given the broader title: a true three-star hunter.
Just like Netero. From this moment on, the world had a new three-star hunter, and Larry's name would echo even louder throughout the world of Nen users.
***
Dorias, also known as the Gambling City. Larry sat in front of a slot machine, casually pulling the lever. The reels began spinning wildly in front of him.
This place lived up to its name, there were casinos lining every street and filling every alley. It reminded him of Las Vegas back on the Earth, the resemblance uncanny.
Right now, Larry was inside the biggest casino in Dorias. The variety of games was mind-blowing, blackjack, poker, dice, roulette, you name it, they had it. But what caught his eye most was the simplest of them all: the slot machine.
There was no skill involved with slots. No strategy. Just pure luck.
Win or lose, it was all down to fate. Hit the jackpot, and you'd walk away rich. Get unlucky, and you'd burn through your chips in a flash.
They weren't gambling with real money, though. Instead, the currency was chips, exchanged at the front desk and marked with the initials "G.I." for Greed Island. Functionally the same as standard chips, but with a little extra flair.
As expected, Larry didn't win anything.
Losing was par for the course when it came to gambling, and Larry knew that. He hadn't come to Dorias just to throw money away, he had a different goal this time.
He wanted to test out a certain card, and maybe, if luck was on his side, make a little spending money along the way.
From his inventory, Larry pulled out a sleek, black twenty-sided die, which glinted under the lights of the casino.
[Risky Dice], a B-rank card.
Among B-ranks, this card wasn't too hard to get, but it was the rarest one within the infamous cards.
Nineteen sides represented great fortune, and only one side symbolized great misfortune. If you rolled well, amazing things would happen. But if you rolled that one unlucky side, all of your previous good luck would flip into disaster.
That's why Dorias, the gambling city, was littered with the wreckage of overconfident players who'd relied on the Risky Dice, and lost everything the moment that single misfortune side showed up.
It was the definition of a double-edged sword.
Earlier, Larry had already tested his normal luck with the slot machine and found it to be average at best. But what if he gave fate a little nudge?
With a flick of his wrist, he rolled the Risky Dice. The die spun, clattered across the metal surface of the machine, and gradually slowed until a symbol landed facing up, Great Fortune.
"It's Great Fortune," Menchi said, coolly announcing the result. She picked up the die and gently placed it on top of Larry's slot machine, a sign that the next spin would be blessed with good luck.
"Let's see what this can really do."
Something shifted in the air. Maybe it was just his imagination, but Larry felt a strange boost of confidence surge through him, like he could do no wrong.
With that feeling burning in his chest, he reached out and pulled the lever again. The reels began to spin rapidly. Then… they stopped.
7 - 7 - 7.
A loud sound burst from the machine as it began to shake violently, flashing colorful lights and shooting out celebratory sounds. People nearby all turned their heads at once, someone had hit the jackpot.
Then they saw the Risky Dice sitting on Larry's machine.
In an instant, envy turned to disdain. Any seasoned gambler in Dorias knew the deal.
They'd seen this play out too many times before. A big win with the Risky Dice was nothing to celebrate, it was the setup for a bigger fall.
Everyone understood the unspoken rule: the dice always took back what it gave. It was just a matter of time.