Chapter 136: Grandpa, Save Me! x I Have to Fight Nanika?
[Notification: You are being watched by an unknown existence. A countdown on your life has begun!]
9 years, 9 months, 9 hours, 9 minutes, 9 seconds...
9 years, 9 months, 9 hours, 9 minutes, 8 seconds...
9 years, 9 months, 9 hours, 9 minutes, 7 seconds...
The circular mark on the back of his hand was counting down like a stopwatch.
Roy's brow furrowed. He opened the aura nodes on his hand and blasted it with [Searing Essence]. The mark didn't budge, continuing its countdown... 6 seconds... 5 seconds... 4...
Next, he tried scraping it with a knife... disrupting it with [Magnetism]... The mark seemed fused to Roy himself, silently calculating his remaining life. After trying various methods, Roy forced himself to calm down.
Drip... drip... He let the shower water run over his head, evening out his breathing, carefully reviewing the past... From leaving home, to boarding the ship, to the exam site, everything had been fine. It was only after he absorbed the "Life Energy" from Sagin, Gordan, and Dathos that the mark suddenly appeared. It was clearly connected to the "Pigmen"... to Grandpa Zzigg... and to the Dark Continent.
'The panel warned I was being watched by an unknown existence. Maybe it's because I 'ate' Sagin and the others, leaving a trace on the Dark Continent, which drew its attention. This also proves that Grandpa Zzigg's memory isn't just an illusion, but possesses a degree of reality.'
His thoughts raced. Roy suddenly remembered what his grandfather Zeno had just told him: "If you want answers, you must seek them in Zzigg's memory." A hypothesis began to form...
First: That "unknown existence" is on a completely different level, the kind that could make you explode just by looking at it. It could cast its gaze from the Dark Continent, through a memory that was neither real nor fake, and successfully place a curse on him. Its "Calamity Level" was likely no lower than the "Five Great Calamities" currently known to the human world. (Gaseous Lifeform Ai... Weapon Brion... Twin-Tailed Snake Hellbell... Brood-rearing Beast Pap... the Immortal Disease Zobae.)
Second: For some reason, it couldn't "physically" descend across space-time and could only use a "mark" as a [Mechanism] to curse him.
Third: Exorcist!
If fire couldn't burn it and a knife couldn't cut it, then he needed a Nen Exorcist. And if an Exorcist couldn't solve it... then his only option was to find the answer in Grandpa Zzigg's memory, or... the Dark Continent itself.
Nine years and nine months. Not long, but not short. Before then... "I'll search for an Exorcist while getting as strong as I can. At the very least... before time runs out, I must have the power to survive on the Dark Continent!"
Squeak— Roy turned off the shower, wrapped a towel around his waist, and stepped out. He dried off and changed into loose pajamas. He sat cross-legged on the bed, spread open Zzigg's notebook, and began to read, searching for any clue about the "mark." Unfortunately, the entire notebook was filled with Zzigg's training insights from before he went to the Dark Continent. It was no surprise he found nothing.
"Gotoh, come in!"
Creeak... The door opened. "Young Master, what is it?"
"Call my grandfather."
"Which one?"
"My grandfather."
"Yes, sir." The call connected. Gotoh pushed up his glasses and cautiously handed the phone over.
Roy took it and got straight to the point. "Grandpa, save me! I've been cursed!"
BOOM! On the other end of the line, the sound of a volleyball exploding echoed.
FWOOM! Zeno, his white hair flying, erupted with pale white Ren. The Hunter Association airship trembled. Netero, sitting nearby, narrowed his old eyes, sharply detecting a trace of worry and panic in Zeno's aura. He instantly dropped his playful demeanor.
"Stay right where you are! I'm coming!" I tried to be so careful, but I still couldn't prevent this. Zeno hung up, his face dark, opened the cabin door, and leaped out into the open sky.
Amidst the shocked screams of Bean and the flight crew, he plummeted to the ground. Before they could even react, Netero followed, diving after him, leaving them all to stare blankly in the wind.
Vroom... The propellers churned. Zeno and Netero, one after the other, landed and vanished. About ten minutes later, they arrived at the riverside hotel.
"Tick... tock..." The "mark" ticked away like a death timer. From the moment Roy discovered it, forty minutes had passed. The "dial" had counted down from "9 years, 9 months, 9 hours, 9 minutes, 9 seconds" to "9 years, 9 months, 8 hours, 21 minutes, 9 seconds."
The boy omitted the "panel" part, but explained truthfully, "It appeared not long after I came out of the illusion."
Zeno and Netero grabbed his hand, examining the mark. They both fell silent. Fire couldn't burn it, a knife couldn't cut it. It was like Nen, but contained something... more. It was, without a doubt, a curse.
Tick... tock... A few more seconds passed.
Gotoh, having returned with ointment and bandages, knelt to re-dress Roy's wounds. The boy broke the silence, looking directly at Netero. "I know the Association has an Exorcist. Is it possible to ask him to remove this for me?"
In the original story, after Gon's transformation, the Hunter Association had brought an Exorcist to see him. Although he couldn't help and was only on-screen for five seconds, an Exorcist recognized by the Association had to have some skill. Roy had thought of this the moment he called his grandfather.
"Useless," Zeno cut in before Netero could speak, flatly refusing. "Exorcists must also abide by the 'Law of Equivalent Exchange'," the old man said gravely. "'High reward' means 'high risk'."
"No one is willing to risk 'shortening their own lifespan' to remove a curse for you." Just like in the Greed Island arc, Abengane summoned a Nen beast to "devour" Nen, but had to stay with the ugly, dangerous creature until the exorcism was complete. Or the Chimera Ant girl, whose stomach would swell after every exorcism, with a chance it might never shrink back.
"The 'stronger' the curse, the higher the risk, and the greater the price... especially a 'mark' like this, that directly affects 'lifespan'!"
Roy fell silent.
Gotoh, seeing this, flashed a cold, deadly glint in his eyes. "If he's unwilling, then we'll kill him," he snapped. "No Exorcist, no matter how rare, is more precious than the Young Master!"
"Also true," Zeno actually nodded in agreement.
The two of them completely ignored the fact that the Chairman of the Hunter Association was right there. Roy gave Netero an apologetic smile.
The old man stroked his beard, pretending not to hear. He mused for a moment, then said, "Exorcists are few, and most can't 'remove' a curse, only 'transfer' it. As I see it, there is only one solution..."
What solution? Zeno and Gotoh looked over.
Netero looked up at Roy. "You go kill the thing that cursed you," he said in a heavy voice.
"It dies, you live. Or... you die, it lives. It's that simple."
Simple? You want me to kill a Calamity on par with Nanika within nine years?
☆☆☆
-> 20 Advanced chapters Now Available on Patreon!!
-> https://www.pat-reon.co-m/c/Inkshaper
(Just remove the hyphen (-) to access patreon normally)
If you like this novel please consider leaving a review that's help the story a lot Thank you