Battle! Battle! Battle!
Following the sprawling, maze-like corridors of the Uldaman dungeon, Allen relentlessly cleared out Elite mobs that were no higher than Level 40. Several times, he barely survived, winning with only a 'hair's breadth of health', almost getting wiped out, and only staying alive by relying on Feign Death and his Traps.
As he ventured deeper into the dungeon's latter half, the monsters' level increased, and their numbers grew, making combat extremely difficult. As for the bosses, since he couldn't exploit terrain features like ledges or walls to "kite" the mobs' pathing as in the actual game, he didn't dare attempt a single one. At least before learning Nen, trying to fight a boss was virtually indistinguishable from seeking death.
Once he confirmed the path ahead was beyond what he could handle at his current stage, he decisively chose to retrace his steps, passing directly through the swirling vortex at the dungeon entrance and returning to his hospital room.
"Phew... today's objective is finally complete!"
Hiding his gear and weapon once more, Allen immediately returned to the hospital bed to continue feigning illness, while silently summarizing the experience he had gained over the past few days.
First, as long as the Hunter Class Template's health bar wasn't depleted, he was basically invincible. He never tired and was immune to injury; even a critical blow to a vital spot would only result in a large loss of HP, as though taking a Critical Hit. However, once the HP reached zero, any further damage would immediately manifest on his physical body, and his HP would remain at zero for an hour. This meant that, compared to others, he essentially had two lives: one belonging to the Hunter character and the other belonging to his true self.
Second, the Shadow Wolf Alpha, Lupos, was not just a pet like in the game, a tool for the Hunter to achieve their goals that could be carelessly sent to its death. It possessed independent thought and consciousness, and could even communicate with him through the Spirit Bond, warning him of dangers and safe areas. If it accidentally died, even if revived, it would lose one level of Loyalty.
Third, because Allen's chosen race for his Hunter when he created the character was a Night Elf, his body had begun undergoing a series of changes. For example, his balance, reflexes, and movement speed had dramatically improved. Conversely, his height, hair, and nails, which should be rapidly growing during adolescence, had suddenly slowed down drastically.
The most noticeable changes were his violet eyes and the purple markings that trailed down both shoulders, extending along his arms to the back of his hands. When he activated the Shadowmeld racial talent, the markings would seem to come alive, releasing a mysterious energy around his body, causing him to merge completely with the shadows. Unless observed closely, it was nearly impossible to distinguish him with the naked eye.
This meant that, to some extent, he was no longer a human in the conventional sense, having acquired the talents, bloodline, and the potential multi-thousand-year lifespan of a Night Elf.
Finally, and most crucially.
Allen could teleport himself and his pet to any dungeon accessible to his current level in the game. Whether he could bring others remained unknown for now. Every dungeon would reset twenty-four hours after he left it in the real world. The time flow within the dungeon was approximately one-tenth of the real world's time, meaning ten hours passed in the dungeon for every one hour in the real world.
All potions, gear, materials, and gold acquired in the dungeon could be brought back to the real world, and none of it was soul bound; anyone could wear the equipment and receive the corresponding attribute bonuses.
Furthermore, the weapons, armor, necklaces, rings, and trinkets on his equipment panel could be either displayed or kept in a hidden state. If hidden, they would only provide attribute bonuses; they would only provide physical protection, or Armor Value, if fully displayed.
As for the arrows in his quiver, he could purchase them using the gold and silver coins acquired in the game through an unknown, mysterious interface in his mind. Not just arrows, most items sold by vendors in the game could be found there. He could also learn Class and Trade Skills and use it as a makeshift bank, essentially functioning as a special entity that combined the features of all NPCs.
Unfortunately, as a "spendthrift" who was obsessed with scouring the Auction House, Allen had already used up most of the money he saved from leveling. He didn't even have enough gold to buy a mount at Level 40 and had to rely on Aspect of the Cheetah for travel.
"Ugh... I wish I hadn't wasted money on random stuff. I wonder if the currency in this world can be exchanged for gold. If not, I'll have to honestly grind dungeons and sell vendor trash to save up."
As he said this, his entire face twisted in pain.
As a player who focused on exploration and casual gameplay, he absolutely detested non-stop, mindless grinding. Otherwise, he wouldn't have played for so long without reaching max level on a single character. In fact, upon opening the login screen, he didn't have a single character at Level 50; most were paused around Levels 30 to 40, and he had pretty much every class and race imaginable.
For Allen, playing the game was about the joy of discovery — finding hidden NPCs, completing various high-difficulty challenges solo, and revisiting the exquisitely designed and memorable quest storylines, not chasing after the so-called best equipment or raw power.
But now, fate had played an enormous joke on him.
Although the Hunter x Hunter World was generally safe, the presence of an illogical and magical power like Nen meant that without basic self-defense capabilities, getting accidentally caught up in major events would inevitably lead to certain death.
Grow strong!
At least strong enough to confront a maniac like Hisoka head-on!
This was the minimum requirement he had set for himself.
Thinking this, Allen closed his eyes and began sharing memories with Lupos through the Spirit Bond, repeatedly reliving every detail of the battle with Hisoka, especially the feeling of the Nen-infused fists hitting his body, hoping to awaken Nen this way.
After all, the anime had clearly explained the few ways to acquire Nen, and forcibly stimulating the body through combat with a Nen user to open all the Aura Nodes was undoubtedly the fastest method.
Lupos, possessing powerful primal strength, was already vaguely touching the threshold. The instant its Aura Nodes opened, Allen would immediately gain the same effect through the Spirit Bond.
Just as the boy and the wolf were hovering at the doorstep of Nen, a chilling wave of malice suddenly swept through the entire room.
Allen felt goosebumps instantly spread across his body and tried to open his eyes to see who had intruded.
But in the very next second…
Lupos's silver mane suddenly erupted with a massive burst of life energy!
The Aura Nodes had opened!
Using the Spirit Bond talent from the Beast Mastery tree, Allen's body immediately followed suit, exploding with an astonishing amount of life energy.
Without time to think, the boy and the wolf quickly forced themselves into a calm and relaxed state, slowly gathering the ceaselessly escaping life energy and stabilizing it around their bodies, forming the first of the Four Major Principles of Nen: Ten.
As Ten formed, Allen quickly felt the life energy emanating from his Aura Nodes stop escaping. He decisively opened his eyes and immediately saw a familiar figure perched on the window, a sickly, almost pathological smile on his face.
Hisoka!
It was clear that the malicious Nen presence just moments ago came from him!
And standing beside the deviant was a tiny woman, who, judging by her appearance and clothing, was most likely a member of the Phantom Troupe — Machi.