Over twenty years have passed since I first arrived in this world.
I'm now approaching forty...
Days spent training relentlessly, without experiencing what ordinary people would call "youth." Yet, I don't consider myself unfortunate in the slightest. If anything, I'd say I'm genuinely happy. I'm doing exactly what I want to do. How could that ever be a misfortune?
It's not that my desire to return home has vanished completely, but right now, my training takes priority. Besides, this world is far better suited for training anyway.
However, there was a major miscalculation.
I never expected that [Original Knowledge / Protagonist Perk] would become unusable.
It happened when I thought about re-reading the original manga in my head to see if there was anything else useful for my Nen training. No matter how many times I activated Hatsu, [Original Knowledge / Protagonist Perk] simply refused to trigger.
Unlike [Absolute Obedience / Geass], this ability had no usage limits, and I hadn't broken any vows. I puzzled over it for a long time until the realization suddenly hit me.
Both [Original Knowledge / Protagonist Perk] and [Absolute Obedience / Geass] are Manipulation abilities that target myself.
And right now, I am actively being controlled by the effect of [Absolute Obedience / Geass].
In the rules of Nen, Manipulation abilities operate on a strict first-come, first-served basis...
And [Absolute Obedience / Geass] will not expire until my heart stops or someone exorcises the Nen from me...
Congratulations, I've created a completely dead skill.
My precious aura memory capacity... RIP.
I'm not going to lie, that depressed me for quite a while...
That wasn't the only miscalculation, either.
My baseline physical growth ground to a near-total halt—and at a fairly early stage, too.
Gon and Killua managed to push open multi-ton Testing Gates in less than a month, but no matter how much I work out, the absolute ceiling for my physical strength is bench-pressing a 200 kg barbell.
Granted, that's pretty impressive back in my original world.
When I first arrived here, my muscle development was astonishingly rapid, but it seems my genetic limit is still anchored to the standards of an ordinary Earth human. Thinking about it, that makes complete sense. My body doesn't belong to a human born of this world. Honestly, I should just be grateful I was able to learn Nen at all.
However, even my Nen training has hit a brick wall...
I've mastered the fundamentals and advanced techniques. The duration I can maintain Ken is night and day compared to when I first started, and it's still gradually increasing even now.
The real problem lies in category-specific Nen training.
In the original series, the only category-specific training shown was Enhancer Level 1, Emitter Levels 1 and 5, and Transmuter Level 1.
Ideally, category training is supposed to be structured in a pyramid shape centered on your primary affinity (excluding Specialization).
In my case as a Manipulator, the ideal routine would be a rotation of Manipulator → Emitter → Manipulator → Conjurer → Manipulator, practicing one category per day...
...Except how on earth are you supposed to train Manipulation and Conjuration by levels?
Even for the other affinities, the manga only revealed exercises up to Level 5 at most.
For Manipulation, Bisky did mention an exercise that involves moving aura inside your body, which might be what it is, but with no detailed manual, I have no choice but to improvise my own method.
So, out of necessity, I came up with my own Manipulation training.
The hint came from Transmutation training. Level 1 Transmutation is shape transformation—manipulating the shape of your aura to form numbers from 0 to 9 within one minute (with a target goal of under 5 seconds).
This alters the form of aura rather than its fundamental physical properties. Altering properties entirely would cross into developing a specific Hatsu ability (e.g., Hisoka's Bungee Gum, which adopts the properties of both rubber and gum).
Following that logic, wouldn't manipulating the movement of pure aura itself count as Manipulation category training?
After all, manipulating external objects, animals, or people would cross into creating a specific Hatsu ability.
Thus, my training method became gathering aura into one specific part of my body, then actively guiding and shifting that cluster all across my anatomy.
For the record, this is not Ryu. Ryu is an application of Gyo and Ken used to adjust offensive and defensive aura ratios in the heat of battle; it doesn't involve actively steering and mobilizing a free-floating mass of aura inside you.
Using this theory, I formulated my own category training routine.
My daily rotation became: Manipulator → Emitter → Manipulator → Enhancer → Manipulator → Emitter → Manipulator → Transmuter.
As for Conjuration... I gave up on it entirely.
I simply couldn't think of a single generic training exercise. What was I supposed to do? Conjure raw aura so normal people can see it? Someone please teach me!
Still, I can't shake the feeling that Manipulators got the short end of the stick.
Both defensively and offensively, we lag behind the other types. Enhancers go without saying. Transmuters and Emitters are adjacent to Enhancement, giving them 80% efficiency. Conjurers have the same 60% Enhancement efficiency as Manipulators on paper, but they can imbue special rules and effects into physical objects to gain tremendous combat utility. As for Specialists, thinking about them is just a waste of brain cells.
Compared to that, Manipulation is just rough...
Even if I wanted to manipulate something, I'm already permanently manipulating myself. While manipulating external objects isn't impossible, it feels like an inefficient waste of my aura memory capacity.
If my Manipulation level is 10, my Enhancement ceiling is 60%, meaning Level 6.
Furthermore, the accuracy and potency of my Nen scales down at that same 60% ratio.
60% potency at Level 6 means my Enhancement output is effectively equivalent to a pure Enhancer at Level 3.6.
In a straightforward slugfest, the math says I'd lose to a pure Enhancer at Level 4.
Of course, fighting an actual Level 4 Enhancer doesn't guarantee a loss. If my Manipulation reached Level 20, my Enhancement could hit Level 12; plus, differences in physical stats, martial arts, technical finesse, aura reserves, output rate, and ability matchups all influence the outcome of a battle.
I understand the theory logically... but understanding it intellectually doesn't make it any easier to swallow emotionally.
In any case, my Nen training has plateaued outside of raw fundamentals. My physical stats have maxed out.
So what's the solution? The answer is obvious.
If you lack raw power, you just need to polish your technique!
◆
After agonizing and agonizing over the absolute limits of my flesh and Nen... the ultimate conclusion I arrived at was gratitude.
...Yeah, right. Who am I kidding?
I hadn't hit a wall in martial arts because I had never learned any martial arts to begin with!
All I had done was spend two decades hammering away at raw aura and physical workouts... though it was pretty fun, honestly.
Right now, I am in Japon, the island nation modeled after my homeland, Japan.
I finally resigned from my mining job in Golche. My coworkers were sad to see me go, and I felt a pang of loneliness myself, but nothing could overcome the irresistible allure of training.
They even pooled together a generous farewell gift for me. I had saved up plenty of money over the years, but you can never have too much cash.
Naturally, I arrived here by ship. Even for the sake of training, I had zero desire to swim across the ocean. That's a one-way ticket to the afterlife.
The reason I came to this country is because I believed I might find my ideal martial art here: "soft" martial arts like Jujutsu, Judo, and Aikido.
Originally, I thought about joining the Shingen-ryu Kung Fu school, but that seemed predominantly like a "hard" martial art. Compared to the natives of this world, my baseline physical strength is abysmally low. I'd literally lose a test of strength to a well-trained 12-year-old boy...
Learning a hard, strength-based martial art would offer diminishing returns.
On the other hand, soft martial arts don't rely heavily on raw brute force. Once you master the underlying principles, muscle becomes secondary. As a certain legendary Martial Emperor from another franchise once said: When you master the principle, power is unnecessary.
Aim for Master Shibukawa or Grandmaster Kaku!
And so, my dojo-hopping tour across Japon began.
Before that, though, allow me one comment:
RICE IS SO DAMN DELICIOUS!!!
◆
Two whole years have passed as I toured across Japon.
Finally... at long last, I found the exact dojo I was searching for.
Its name: Kazama-ryu Aiki Dojo (風間流合気道場)!
I visited countless dojos over the past two years, but the vast majority were underwhelming. Their technical skill was undoubtedly leagues above mine, but not a single one could withstand my Nen.
It's common sense that a non-Nen user stands no chance against a Nen user, but what I sought was the pinnacle of the "soft" principle. If a master couldn't handle an amateur who only had Nen, it was pointless.
A few dojos actually had Nen users, but the result didn't change... It seems my overall aura capacity has grown remarkably large over the years. None of them could match my foundational Nen proficiency, either.
The first time I squared off against a genuine Nen user, I was sweating bullets, but the moment I saw his flimsy Ren, all my tension evaporated instantly. It was so pathetic I almost laughed out loud.
I never had anyone to measure myself against before, so I had no reference point, but 18 straight years of relentless foundational training clearly paid off in spades. Viva training! Naturally, I kept up my daily routine even while traveling.
Do I really have no choice but to seek out Shingen-ryu after all?
Just as that thought began to take hold, I refused to give up, checked out a few more places, and stumbled upon the Kazama-ryu Aiki Dojo.
There were about ten disciples and a dojo master who looked well over sixty years old. He didn't appear to be maintaining Ten, and he showed zero reaction to my Ren.
Thinking this was yet another dud, I requested a sparring match anyway.
And right there... I came face-to-face with the real deal.
No matter how many times I attacked, I found myself effortlessly rolling across the floor before I could even process what happened. Even with Ken fully active, the shockwaves rattled my brain so violently that I could barely keep my balance.
My strength... my raw power was completely and utterly useless...!
When I came to, I was lying in a corner of the dojo. Apparently, I had been knocked unconscious.
The students were still diligently practicing their forms. The master's martial art was the absolute embodiment of "stillness." To what heights his skill extended was something my current self couldn't even begin to fathom.
This is the man! This is the true martial artist I've been searching for! I want to study martial arts under this master!!
Challenging a dojo only to immediately flip flop and beg to become a student might get me yelled at, but I was fully prepared for that! I would bow and plead as many times as necessary until he accepted me!!
I instantly scrambled to the master's side and dropped into a full dogeza.
Summoning every ounce of soul in my lungs, I roared:
—PLEASE ACCEPT ME AS YOUR DISCIPLE!!!—
—"Sure. No admission fee is required. Monthly tuition is 5,000 yen."—
...The anticlimax was so intense it completely deflated all my dramatic resolve. I was enrolled without breaking a sweat.