Chapter 1: The Hunter's Notebook
"Am I… alive?"
Maud's eyes flew open, and he sat bolt upright, shocked to find himself lying on a simple wooden bed.
Before he could examine his surroundings, a sharp pain shot through his head. A series of images, with fine, scar-like lines, flashed through his mind like a carousel of memories. They were strange. They were clear. They were blurry. All these memories swirled together, seemingly the cause of the pain in his head.
"Clearly, I had…"
Despite the pain, Maud's eyes were filled with confusion. He clearly remembered that, during the chaos at the Hunter's Association hall, he was unlucky enough to be affected by the power of the Zoldyck family's "wish machine."
He wasn't the only one; the group of main characters and many of the strongest hunters were also not spared. In the face of such an irrational power, one that seemed capable of tearing through dimensional walls, he hadn't done anything, yet it still reached him.
In an instant, without even a chance to defend himself, his body had been twisted like a rope. The change was fast and sudden, but the intense pain lingered, casting a shadow of death over his thoughts. Even now, he could still feel the tearing pain emanating from his skin.
After a long while, the negative feeling caused by that shadow of death gradually disappeared. He was alive. That was enough.
Only then did Maud have time to observe his surroundings.
It was a wooden room less than 10 square meters, and the air smelled faintly of mold. There were visible cracks on both the walls and the floor. The room's decor was exceptionally simple. Apart from the bed Maud was on, the only furnishings were an unadorned wooden table and chair, and a mirror hanging on the wall. A low-wattage incandescent bulb hung from the ceiling, providing dim light. Other than that, there was nothing else in the room—not even a window.
His gaze slid slowly over the dusty table and chair, stopping at the mirror that was also covered by a thin layer of dust. Through the reflection, Maud saw an unfamiliar young man with black hair.
The young man in the mirror looked to be about fifteen or sixteen years old. His face wasn't handsome but was pleasant to look at. On his forehead, the young man had blood-stained bandages, and his skin was pale, looking sickly. He appeared fragile.
Maud stared intently at the "himself" in the mirror, as the unknown memories in his mind became clearer. Under the brief "purification" of these strange memories, Maud endured the sharp pain, and his astonishment became even more apparent.
"So that's why..."
He had crossed worlds again. But this time, it wasn't a physical journey; instead, his soul had occupied another body.
And just like that, he had managed to survive.
Letting out a long sigh, Maud didn't rush to get out of bed to further investigate his location. Instead, he closed his eyes and slowly accepted the remaining memories in the body, trying to extract useful information.
After a good while, Maud opened his eyes, with fine beads of sweat on his pale face.
"Slave ships and pirate ships...?"
Wiping the sweat from his cheek with his index finger, Maud whispered to himself, his head bowed. He had understood the origin of this body.
The young man came from a merchant family, and during a trade route, they were unlucky enough to be attacked by pirates. With the exception of the young people like him, all the adults on the merchant ship were massacred by the pirates, including his parents.
Afterward, the young man was sold to a slave ship and locked up with other young people in a room with straw on the floor.
A few days later, the slave ship was suddenly attacked, and a cannonball blew open the room where the young man was.
The recent memories ended there.
And then...
Maud touched the bandages on his forehead; the wound didn't hurt much. He had no idea how he had gotten to this room. But the fact that he had escaped like this filled him with joy and relief.
"Pirates... pirates... could it be the world of One Piece?"
Maud pondered. He wasn't entirely sure. But what he was sure of was that he had to start all over again.
"If only my abilities were still here, how good that would be."
Maud thought to himself.
At that moment, without any warning, a thin black notebook appeared out of thin air in his hands. On the notebook's cover, a single word was stamped in silver: Hunter.
Below the word Hunter, there were four parallel, blank silver lines. And on the spine of the notebook, an inkless quill was tied.
Looking at the materialized black notebook and the quill, Maud's eyes widened. Despite no longer having his Nen, his ability had activated.
Furthermore...
Maud looked at the blank spaces above the parallel silver lines. Those lines should have held four words reflecting his "requirements," but now they were blank.
Maud opened the notebook. What he saw was a blank page.
Shh, shhh...
He flipped the second page, the third... It was still blank!
The original pages had recorded the results of his discreet "hunts" over four years in the hunter world, and now everything was gone.
"Did it reset? No wonder I don't feel any 'gain'."
Although the hunting results had been erased due to the reset, the fact that his ability still existed was enough for Maud to feel euphoric.
The Hunter's Notebook was an ability that Maud had meticulously developed in the world of Hunter x Hunter to maximize the information advantage he had as a transmigrator. His ability allowed him to transform information into power.
To activate the ability, he had to complete five steps:
1. Establish the hunting requirements.
2. Find the hunting target.
3. Prepare the hunt.
4. Complete the act of hunting.
5. Receive the hunting rewards.
The first step was to record four different requirements on the silver lines, according to his own needs. The four requirements Maud had registered at the time were the Nen techniques: Ten, Zetsu, Ren, and Hatsu.
But in the world of One Piece, these requirements obviously wouldn't work.
However, some requirements could be universal.
For example: fighting techniques, swordsmanship techniques, physical strength, experience with Devil Fruit abilities, experience with Haki...
After registering the requirements, the next step was to write the target's name on a page of the notebook and generate a mental image of them to complete the second step.
The third step, preparing the hunt, was to record the correct information about the target's various abilities. The more detailed the information recorded, the richer the reward would be after hunting the target with his own hands.
His ability was still active, which meant that even if he had to start over, he could grow at the fastest possible speed.
Maud was excited but soon calmed down. He realized a problem.
Although the Hunter's Notebook was still there, he wasn't sure if it would apply to the current world. If it didn't work, all his joy would be in vain.
Slowly closing the notebook, Maud said to himself, "At least it's a good start, but for now, I have to figure out my current situation."
Just as he finished speaking, a gunshot was heard outside.
Maud's eyes narrowed. By reflex, he threw himself to the floor next to the bed and cautiously stared at the closed door.
Then, the gunshots became more frequent, like the sound of fireworks exploding in the distance. They were some distance away.
Although he knew the source of the shots wasn't inside the house, but somewhere outside, Maud didn't lower his guard and unconsciously tightened his grip on the Hunter's Notebook.
In his current physical state, if he faced an emergency, he would be like a fish on a chopping block, at anyone's mercy.
The gunshots outside continued for a full five minutes before gradually subsiding. Maud had also been staring intently at the door for more than five minutes.
The sound of the shots had given him an idea of the chaos in this world. He gripped the Hunter's Notebook tightly, but it didn't give him any sense of security.
This was because the notebook was, in its current state, as if it didn't exist. Only after successfully completing a hunt could he get tangible benefits.
Thump, thump...
Shortly after the gunshots stopped, Maud heard approaching footsteps from outside the door. His pupils contracted, and he let go of the notebook.
Then, he quickly got up, walking silently, and leaned against the wall to the right of the door.
Without knowing the situation, being next to the door was more advantageous than crouching by the empty bed.
Soon, the footsteps got closer. Maud tilted his head, staring intently to his right, and held his breath.
Click...
The wooden door opened, emitting a nasty, creaking sound.
But no one entered the room. Instead, the barrel of a gun came through and, at a strange angle, pointed directly at Maud.
In that instant, Maud's heart skipped a beat. With the body he had now, a single shot would mean the end.