...How on earth did I not notice? Was I just too excited over the fact that this was the HUNTER×HUNTER world? Over the past year and a half living here, I hadn't seen a single television, computer, or cell phone. In canon, those devices were widespread, so there was no way only this city lacked them.
To think this was over a hundred years before the original story...
Sure, an era before canon had its advantages—it meant more time to spend training. But 127 years before the start of the original story was completely out of the question! By the time canon kicked off, I'd be 145 years old. No matter how you looked at it, I'd have already died of old age. Thank you, and goodbye.
...Well, there were exceptions like Chairman Netero and Maha Zoldyck. If I became a Nen user, I should be able to maintain my youth longer than an ordinary human. Surviving was technically possible.
But no matter how well I maintained my youth, at 145 I'd still be a frail, wrinkled old fossil!
Dammit, my grand master plan (losing my virginity to a canon character) was foiled before it even started...!!!
...I felt like my priorities had completely derailed, but whatever. Even if I wanted to go home, it was impossible. By the time Greed Island was completed, I'd already be an old man, and I had no desire to return home in that state.
Creating a Nen ability to return on my own seemed totally out of reach, and even if I pulled it off, I'd probably still be a geezer by the time it was finished.
Developing a Nen ability capable of crossing dimensions would probably take decades of training, right? And that's assuming you had incredible talent. Without that, crossing the dimensional barrier would be practically impossible.
Though frankly, I crossed over without breaking a sweat.
...Yeah. Sure. Crossing dimensions is supposed to be nearly impossible, yet somehow I did it without even trying. What a joke.
Speaking of which, what Nen category would be required to return to my original world? Emission? Emission could handle teleportation and spatial movement. Or would it be Specialization? Crossing into another dimension sounded way too unique.
Come to think of it, what was my Nen affinity anyway? Personally, I hoped for Enhancement or Specialization. That way, my dream of becoming an overpowered powerhouse (Ore TUEEEEEE!) might actually come true.
...Alright! First step: learn Nen. Without knowing my affinity, there's nothing to discuss.
Once that was decided, daily meditation it was!
Hm? Forcible opening of aura nodes? Hell no, that's terrifying. Besides, I didn't know any Nen users to begin with.
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Hoping to sense aura, I sat down to meditate. Within roughly an hour, I vaguely grasped the sensation of aura. Coming from a world without any concept of Nen probably made it much easier to comprehend intuitively. At this rate, mastering Nen will be a piece of cake, ZE!
...Except there was no such plot convenience. Life isn't that sweet! I didn't have any isekai protagonist perks or plot armor...
...I quickly realized I had zero talent.
At the very least, my talent was far below Zushi's. Well, Zushi was hailed as a one-in-a-hundred-thousand prodigy anyway. Gon and Killua were just such complete anomalies that Zushi only looked untalented by comparison.
For all I knew, I might be sitting at Motarike-tier talent... not that I even knew how much talent Motarike had.
To get straight to the point: I eventually managed to awaken to Nen. That was great. Truly something to celebrate. The problem... yes, the problem was how long it took.
Gon and Killua took at most a week (if awakening through meditation), and Zushi took six months. The time it took me... was six years.
Yep, six whole years. Exactly how rare was my lack of talent? Some people in this world awakened without even realizing it, yet here I was, putting in conscious daily effort, and it took six years...
I had no choice but to accept that I was talentless.
And man, did I meditate every single day.
Waking up earlier than usual in the morning to meditate (often turning into sleeping in). Meditating during lunch breaks at work (often turning into naps). Meditating after work (often drinking at the tavern with coworkers). Meditating before bed to sense aura (and waking up to morning light).
After the first year passed, doubts began creeping in: Maybe because I'm from another world, I can't awaken to Nen? or Maybe this world is just similar to HUNTER×HUNTER and Nen doesn't actually exist here? I came close to giving up several times.
Well, it wasn't like I had anything else to do, and eventually it turned into a routine that didn't feel burdensome anymore.
By the way, my coworkers gave me some really bizarre looks. I mean, if someone who never meditated suddenly started doing it around the clock, anyone would look at them differently.
After about five years, I finally started feeling as though something was gently enveloping my body. Once I grasped the feeling of Is this aura?, progress moved quickly, and within a year after that, I successfully awakened to Nen.
I could only use Ten for now, but when I finally pulled it off, I was genuinely moved to tears. It felt like the entire world looked completely different.
So this is Ten... what an incredible feeling. To think an ordinary guy like me could do something straight out of a manga.
At this rate, maybe I can even shoot a Kamehameha... My heart was racing with excitement.
I immediately decided to test the effects of Ten. Ten was supposed to reinforce and strengthen the physical body. I stepped out of the quarters and into the coal mine. Then, facing the rock wall I usually chipped away at with a pickaxe, I threw a punch!!
WHAM!
With a dull thud, the rock wall crumbled slightly.
...Incredible. The crumbling rock was amazing, but what truly blew my mind was that my fist only stung a little bit.
Normally, punching rock with that kind of force would result in severe abrasions or outright broken bones... Thinking back, I can't believe I threw that punch with everything I had.
Well, regardless: Ten is amazing!!!
Carried away by my excitement, I kept punching the wall until the foreman caught me and yelled at me.
"No, really, it doesn't hurt at all... Yes, my fist isn't injured, I swear."
He seemed genuinely worried about me. Urgh! Boss, you really are a good guy...
"Huh? Is my head okay?"
Bastard, give me back my moment of triumph!
By the way, I heard later from the others that a guy smiling cheerfully while relentlessly beating a stone wall looked completely unhinged...
In any case, Ten was complete. All that remained was mastering Zetsu and Ren, and then the long-awaited Water Divination!
My hype levels were through the roof!
...No, really, I'm telling you, my head is completely fine!
Phew. Working while maintaining Ten definitely made me less fatigued than usual. Did it slightly boost my stamina too? However, when I tried applying Shu to my pickaxe—an advanced application of Nen—it didn't work at all.
As expected, attempting advanced techniques right off the bat was too much. I hadn't even mastered the foundational Four Major Principles yet. Well, whatever. Trying didn't cost a thing.
Once I get used to Ten, will I be able to maintain it in my sleep? For now, I'll try focusing on Ten as I drift off.
During breaks and after work, I meditated to train Zetsu. After six years, almost nobody looked at me weirdly for meditating anymore... I was glad, but at the same time a bit bittersweet. Complex feelings.
Zetsu was surprisingly tricky. The goal was to close all the aura nodes across the entire body, right? But while my shroud of aura diminished, it wouldn't disappear entirely.
Gon and Killua really were monsters of talent. Didn't they pull it off effortlessly? ...Well, their foundational background was on a completely different level. It wasn't just a matter of raw talent.
Better to practice than complain. Surely it won't take another six years this time.
Alright! Suppress your presence! I am a wall, I am a pebble, I am the air, I am... wow, this is getting depressing.
After about half a month, I finally managed to perform Zetsu. No leaking aura was visible anywhere on my body, and when I concealed myself with Zetsu in the shared room with my coworker, he didn't notice me at all. It seemed to be working...
I'm sure Zetsu has varying levels of mastery too. When I moved, my Zetsu sometimes slipped, and there were other aspects like concealing presence, speed of suppressing aura, and refining concealment techniques. More practice needed.
Next was Ren. Without this, there was no moving forward. Without Ren, Water Divination was impossible.
Ren was achieved by producing a significantly greater volume of aura than normal Ten, right? Maybe I could force it out with enough willpower?
HNNNGH!!
Oh? Did my aura volume increase slightly? But it was negligible—like going from a 10 to a 12. You couldn't call this Ren.
What was the trick again? There was definitely some kind of knack to it...
...Dammit. I forgot. My memory isn't good enough to remember the fine details of a manga I read over seven years ago.
I owned all the volumes back home, too... Damn it all! Why didn't I stuff the entire HUNTER×HUNTER manga into my backpack before coming to this world?! I'm such an idiot!
Well, time to stop wallowing in pointless regrets and get to practicing.
Whatever. It's just a matter of fighting spirit, right? It's way more straightforward than "suppressing your presence." What even is "presence" anyway?
I thought it would be simple, but things didn't go smoothly.
Pushing out more aura than usual took about three days of intense straining, but sustaining and containing that flared aura was unexpectedly difficult. In the end, it took nearly two months.
Am I better at Zetsu than Ren...? Well, being good at running away might be handy, but still, feels kind of lame...
Whatever. Ren was officially mastered. Which meant it was finally time for Water Divination.
I've waited so long for this day. The glass, the leaf, and the water were all prepared. Just in case, I picked a completely secluded spot where nobody was around.
Alright... Come to me, Specialization!!!