The word "Hunter" doesn't leave his head.
Hunters. Jenny. The Association symbol on the old poster outside.
His brain finally stops pretending and just accepts it:
This is the Hunter x Hunter world.
In his old life, that meant anime, power-scaling, and stupid internet quizzes like "what Nen type are you."Here, it means something completely different: licenses, exams that can kill you, and people who can erase you without anyone asking questions.
For a nameless, underfed orphan?
That's a perfect place to disappear.
He presses his tongue against his teeth and forces his breathing to stay calm.
Okay. You wanted a challenge. You got one.
His mind starts listing what he knows.
Nen.
Aura. Life energy. Whatever you want to call it.Basic theory from the anime:
Ten: keep your aura around your body
Zetsu: stop it, hide it
Ren: push more out, strengthen it
Hatsu: your personal ability
And the six main types:
Enhancement, Emission, Manipulation, Transmutation, Conjuration, Specialization.
He doesn't know every detail, but he knows the basics better than he ever knew school math.
So of course, his brain suggests something stupid.
Try it.
He closes his eyes.
He focuses on his skin, his breath, and the space just around his body. He tries to imagine something flowing out from inside him and staying close, like a thin invisible layer.
He feels:
Cold air.Rough fabric against his shoulders.A tiny breeze.Someone arguing out on the street.
That's it.
No warmth, no pressure, no "something different."
Just a skinny kid leaning near a wall, pretending.
He opens his eyes again and lets out a slow breath.
"Good," he mutters under his breath. "If that had worked, I'd have trusted this world even less."
Nen doesn't just appear because you remember it from an anime. That would be cheap. And dangerous.
In this world, aura nodes are closed. To use Nen, you need:
A teacher
Or a near-death situation
Or someone to force your aura open
He has none of that.
Just knowledge. No application.
He leans back, shoulders touching the orphanage wall under the Hunter poster, and tries to think like a sane person instead of a fanboy.
What does he have right now?
Knowledge of the rules (kinda).
A weak body that gets tired from running in circles.
No money.
No family.
No connections.
No idea where he is on the HxH timeline.
No idea where on the map he is either.
Great.
So:
Don't die from something boring: disease, starvation, random stabbing.
Make the body stronger, quietly. Not by shadowboxing in the yard like a lunatic, but with work, walking, and simple training.
Learn the city: streets, districts, where the Hunter office is, who has power.
Only then think about finding a Nen user. And not in a way that gets him killed as an "interesting test subject."
Nen goes into the "future plan" folder. Right now, it's just a reminder of how weak he is.
His thoughts drift.
He sees a black coat in his mind. Long, torn, moving like it's alive. Dark cloth twisting into a monster shape, cutting through everything. Rashōmon. Akutagawa's ability from Bungou Stray Dogs.
It was always one of his favorites. Violent, precise, and wrapped around the user like a personal demon.
He doesn't swear out loud to copy it. That would be ridiculous when he can barely jog without collapsing.
He just notes it.
He likes that kind of ability. That style. That feeling of being wrapped in something deadly that obeys you.
Nen reacts to obsession. If he survives long enough to have a Hatsu, this taste will matter.
"Why are you staring at that old thing?" someone asks behind him.
He turns.
It's the shaved-head boy from earlier. Same too-big shirt. Same permanent frown.
"Trying to decide if the wall or the poster is more depressing," Ryu says.
The boy snorts. "You talk weird."
"So I've been told," Ryu says.
The boy looks past him, through the fence, at the street. People walk by in better clothes, proper shoes, carrying bags that aren't falling apart.
"Sister says we're not allowed outside without her," the boy says. "Kids who sneak out get smacked."
"Good to know," Ryu says. That's useful information. Less freedom than he hoped, but not unexpected.
The boy jerks his chin uphill.
"Town's bigger up there," he says. "Shops, train station, offices. Sister goes there sometimes. She said there's even a Hunter office somewhere."
He says "Hunter office" like it's a fairy tale, not a boring building full of paperwork.
Ryu silently tags the info: uphill = center of town. Train station = connection to the rest of the world. Hunter office = small Association presence.
"Sounds busy," Ryu says. "You memorized all that just from listening?"
The boy shrugs. "Nothing else to do." He pauses. "Name's Daro."
"Ryu," he says.
Daro's gaze flicks to the poster again. "You like Hunters?" he asks. Not excited. Careful. Like admitting you like something too much is dangerous.
Ryu thinks about the real version of Hunters: killers, lunatics, geniuses, monsters. Exam halls where people die. Families like the Zoldycks. Creatures like Chimera Ants.
Then he thinks about access. Information. Freedom to travel. That license that opens doors.
"I like having options," he says. "Hunters have more options than most people."
Daro frowns at the answer, can't quite process it, and gives up.
He grunts and walks away.
A voice cuts across the yard.
"Ryu! Since you're walking, you can work. Come here."
The nun. Same stained apron, same tired eyes.
He steps away from the poster.
She hands him a broom. "Hallways first. Then kitchen. Slowly. If you fall, you can mop the floor from down there."
"Scary management style," he says.
She raises an eyebrow. "Less talking, more sweeping."
Fair.
Sweeping is boring.
Which makes it perfect for thinking.
He moves the broom along the orphanage hallway, dust scratching against the floor. Whenever someone passes, he looks down and just looks like another quiet kid doing chores.
Whenever no one's there, his eyes move.
Old posters on corkboards. Notices about charity events. A handwritten sign about "light work – warehouse help wanted (must be over 12)."
A faded flyer with the Hunter Association emblem on it catches his eye. It says:
"Hunter Lecture – Introduction to the Hunter Profession"
Someone scribbled over the date months ago and wrote "POSTPONED."
So the Association does send people here sometimes. PR. Recruitment. Whatever.
He memorizes:
City name from a donation certificate on the wall.
The country's symbol from a government form.
A few street names from old letters pinned up.
It's not much, but it's the start of a mental map.
Later, in the kitchen, he scrub-destroys whatever mystery food was cooked in the big pot. His arms ache. Warm water, metal, and stubborn crust. Boring. Necessary.
By the time he's done, his head feels heavy and his body feels used in a way that's… good, actually. Real work. Real fatigue.
That night, he lies in bed and looks at the ceiling again.
Cracks. Stains. Darkness.
He goes over what he knows now:
Age: around seven.
Name: Ryu.
Status: orphan in a cheap part of a city built on a slope.
City: has a train station uphill, normal shops, offices, and somewhere a small Hunter office.
World: Hunter x Hunter. Nen is real.
His Nen progress: absolute zero.
No idea what year it is. Gon might be a toddler, or already off doing who knows what. Kurapika might still be home. Or not. Too many unknowns.
He breathes out.
He didn't ask to be dumped here, but in his old life, he did think stuff like "seeing the HxH world in real life would be cool."
Well. Congratulations.
It's real. And it can kill him in a lot of ways that weren't shown on-screen.
"Fine," he whispers to the darkness. "Then I treat it like a real place, not an anime."
Nen can wait. The Hunter Exam can wait. Rashōmon fantasies definitely can wait.
Tomorrow will be the same: terrible porridge, chores, maybe a tiny bit more information.
It's not exciting.
But he'd rather be alive and boring now, so he can be strong and dangerous later.
He closes his eyes and lets sleep drag him down.
The story can start slow. He's not planning to die as a background extra.