The cold sensation from beneath him, and the jolting feeling as the vehicle traversed the rugged road, all constantly reminded Moro—
This was reality.
He had clearly touched death, yet when he opened his eyes again, he was back one year ago.
Moro was somewhat dazed, unable to suppress the memories surging from the depths of his mind.
A year ago, he had woken up inside this carriage-cage.
The unfamiliar environment and the suffocating cage at that time naturally intertwined with the cold jolting to create extreme panic, dominating all his emotions then.
Now that his thoughts had returned to the present, Moro naturally couldn't shout and scream out of extreme panic as he had initially.
He quickly calmed down and once again scanned his surroundings.
Through the light shining in from a small hole in the carriage, he could see two rows of iron cages inside the long carriage, each containing a naked person.
Moro was among them, also completely naked.
His gaze swept over the people in the iron cages one by one; there were men and women, roughly his age, probably between 14 and 16 years old.
As he looked at these people confined in the iron cages, the images in Moro's memory gradually overlapped with their appearances.
Moro was observing the others in the iron cages, and the others, attracted by the commotion of Moro waking up, also looked towards him one after another.
Their gazes were mostly blank and indifferent.
Only two or three people showed expressions of doubt.
Moro ignored them, lowering his head to avoid the many gazes coming from around him.
What exactly... was going on?
In the fragments of his memory, Feitan's eyes, mixed with sinister rage, could almost reappear before him.
The sensation of the cold, sharp blade slicing through his face and life also lingered.
This feeling was like a venomous snake coiled in his heart, a chilling sensation that penetrated to his very bones.
But—
Placing his hand on his chest, he could still feel his heart beating fiercely.
He was alive!
Moro confirmed this fact, closed his eyes, and calmed himself as much as possible.
This peculiar way of escaping death made him appreciate the preciousness of being able to breathe.
A moment later.
Moro slowly opened his eyes, and as he lowered his head, he looked at the back of his right hand.
The annual ring tattoo was still there! This invigorated him.
He remembered clearly that the annual ring tattoo had only slowly formed an outline on the second day after he transmigrated, and then solidified within a few days.
But at this current point in time, the annual ring tattoo had already appeared, and it was complete.
This was the difference.
Moro focused his gaze and moved his right hand under the light to see more clearly.
Under the faint light, Moro quickly discovered a change in the annual ring tattoo.
The originally filled white annual rings had now turned jet black.
And the infinity symbol in the inner circle was gone, replaced by—
Lv.1.
Moro's expression shifted; judging from the blackened annual rings, he realized that all these changes were most likely caused by the annual ring tattoo.
As for the infinity symbol turning into Lv.1, he didn't know what that meant.
Was it 'Love Etude'...?
For some unknown reason, Molena's image flashed through Moro's mind.
Lv was a level symbol, and the level system was the most unique aspect of Molena's Nen ability.
So Moro couldn't help but make this association.
But was there any connection between the two?
If the effect of the annual ring was to return him to a year ago upon death, then what function did the level symbol, which replaced the infinity symbol, play in all of this?
Moro's eyelids drooped as he organized the many pieces of information he already knew.
While contemplating, he subconsciously raised his left hand and gently traced the annual ring tattoo on the back of his right hand.
"Hmm?"
It was then that Moro noticed a red 'X' symbol appearing on the back of his left hand. The edges of the symbol were an inky black, emitting an ominous aura.
"What is this...?"
Moro's pupils constricted slightly, his attention instantly focusing on the newly appeared 'X' symbol.
In an instant—
His consciousness was like a small boat engulfed by a whirlpool, experiencing a moment of blurring oscillation.
It was only for a breath.
Feitan's image reappeared before Moro's eyes.
This time, it was so clear that he could even see the cold killing intent beneath Feitan's furious expression.
Slish!
The sensation of the blade slicing his face, and the suffocating feeling of being choked by death, were returned manifold.
The next moment, endless darkness enveloped him.
Moro thus experienced an incredibly real death replay.
Immediately after, his consciousness blurred and oscillated again.
The scene before his eyes dissipated like weathering, replaced by a heart clutched by two pitch-black hands.
Moro stared at the heart, and an answer suddenly appeared in his consciousness.
The heart clutched by those hands was his.
This inexplicable realization was forcefully shoved into his head, like data transmission.
Along with it came information named "Death Node."
"Hmm?"
Suddenly, his consciousness returned to reality.
Moro was momentarily stunned, realizing he was still maintaining his original posture.
"Death Node?"
Moro murmured to himself in disbelief, then slowly raised his head, staring fixedly at the rusted iron bars in front of him.
He then sighed and leaned back, resting somewhat weakly against the iron bars on the other side.
Death Node—
It could also be called his time of death, which was June 23, 1997.
He died at Feitan's hands on this day.
Then he was reborn to the point in time when he first transmigrated, which was June 7, 1996.
Without a doubt, he had been given a chance to start over.
However, the Death Node branded upon him would not disappear with his rebirth.
If he couldn't destroy the "Death Node" before June 22, 1997, his heart would instantly turn to dust, and he would return to the embrace of death once again.
And the way to destroy the Death Node was to personally kill the person who created it before his original time of death arrived, to offset the 'X' symbol on the back of his left hand.
That is to say, he had to personally kill Feitan, who was completely unaware of this, within a year.
Only then could he resolve the curse from the Death Node.
"A year, huh..."
Moro let out a long breath, thinking of those black hands tightly clutching the heart, feeling as if Kurapika had pierced his heart with his Oath-Bound Sword.
Let it be a Death Node, then.
Whether he could destroy it or not, it was still better than just dying directly.
Besides...
Moro glanced at the level symbol in the very center of the annual ring tattoo.
Although he couldn't yet determine the specific function of this level symbol, it shouldn't be a bad thing.
Anyway, as long as he found a way to change Lv.1 to Lv.2, he would be able to put its effect into practice.
In any case, he should deal with the immediate problem first.
Moro collected his thoughts, his gaze sweeping over the rusted iron bars.
The truck carrying them would arrive at a mental hospital built on a mountain in a few hours.
Ostensibly a mental hospital, it secretly engaged in human and organ trafficking.
Yes.
From the moment they were confined in the cages, Moro and the others had been brutally labeled as livestock.
(End of chapter)
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