In a room inside the temporary Hunter Exam facility building.
Sion squatted in front of a game console and fiddled with it for a while, inserting a game cartridge from his pocket into the console's slot.
He turned his head to glance at Kisho beside him and slowly raised his hand.
A vine extended upward along his finger, climbing onto Kisho.
His aura spread along the vine and flowed into Kisho's body.
Sion then stretched out his other hand toward the console, releasing his aura.
A flash of light flickered, and the two people in the room vanished without warning.
After multicolored lights flashed before their eyes and the world spun around them, Sion and Kisho appeared together inside a room filled with an advanced technological atmosphere.
Inside the room, a young man wearing a gray-blue scarf cap was talking to a girl seated behind a machine.
Hearing the sound, both of them turned to look toward Sion.
"Yo, long time no see, Ging."
Sion smiled and raised his hand in greeting, then looked at the girl.
"It's only been a few months since we last met, and Elena has already changed. You're getting more and more beautiful."
"Oh, spare me—where's that kid?"
Before the girl called Elena could speak, Ging rolled his eyes and cut Sion off.
"There, lying down."
Sion pointed to the ground beside him.
"What happened?"
Seeing the unconscious Kisho, Ging frowned and asked.
"The chairman got interested in the kid too. He tested him a little with [Guanyin], and he ended up like this."
Sion briefly explained what had happened a little more than ten minutes earlier.
After hearing it, Ging clicked his tongue. When it came to being unreliable, even he had to admit that in front of the chairman, he himself had to step aside.
"For an ordinary person without Nen, those injuries are pretty serious. But the reason I brought him here to you isn't just to use [Angel's Breath] to heal him."
Sion paused and frowned.
"I also want to determine the reason why the kid was forced into a state of Zetsu."
Ging nodded and looked at Elena beside him.
"Take out the card."
Elena nodded, raised her hand, and took out a card with an angel drawn on it before handing it to Ging.
"Luckily, this card still has unused capacity before being turned into a card. Otherwise, you two would have had to obtain it yourselves by playing the game."
After handing the card to Ging, Elena pressed a button on the machine in front of her and looked up.
"Then I'll go guide the new players. You two can chat."
"Bye."
Sion waved his hand, watching Elena disappear before turning to Ging with a smile.
"Does this count as the game's GM embezzling resources?"
"And you still have the nerve to say that?!"
Apparently one of Sion's remarks had ignited another fuse. Ging glared viciously at him.
"You're the one who's done it the most. Once the kid wakes up, get the hell out of my game immediately."
While stabbing Sion with dagger-like glances, Ging held the card and slowly said:
"Gain."
The next moment, despite there not being the slightest breeze inside the empty room, a gentle wind suddenly arose.
A massive angelic phantom abruptly appeared before them.
She lowered her eyes slightly and gazed at everyone with compassion.
Then, at Ging's signal, she slowly blew a breath toward Kisho, who was lying on the ground.
When the breath dissipated, the injuries across Kisho's body healed at a speed visible to the naked eye.
The card in Ging's hand, along with the angel's phantom, dissolved into countless specks of light and vanished.
"The kid's forced Zetsu state still hasn't recovered."
Sion frowned again.
"If even the Angel can't heal it, then it can only be the backlash caused by a Nen ability's restriction."
Ging stared at Kisho.
"According to what you said, the kid managed to defeat the chairman. He must've used some kind of forbidden power. Didn't you just mention a harp?"
"That's right."
Sion nodded.
"It's exactly what you're thinking of. A forbidden movement—Sonata of Darkness."
"As far as I know, no matter how powerful a Nen ability is, it can't resist the power of Sonata of Darkness."
Ging muttered thoughtfully.
"So how did this kid turn that forbidden movement into a power he can use without paying with his life?"
"And besides, the Voyage Agency keeps extremely tight control over anything coming from that place. Even if the kid has some connection to that continent, how did he get here?"
Sion paused slightly before saying the place name word by word.
"Black Calamity Island."
After hearing the name, Ging stared at him.
"The place you've been investigating all this time?"
"Yeah."
Sion nodded.
"According to what I've found, the place called Black Calamity Island may very well be a secret research site being prepared by one of the V5. Even if it isn't on that continent, it's definitely very close."
"Since it's something arranged in secret, even if an accident happens, they can't allow it to surface publicly."
A glint flashed in Sion's eyes.
"If we want to bypass the V5 and head to that continent, this might be a good opportunity. Starting with this kid—"
"Hey…"
A weak voice drifted over.
"You're making plans about me right in front of me. Isn't that a bit much?"
Kisho slowly pushed himself up from the ground and sat up. Then he curiously straightened his arms and shook them.
"It doesn't even hurt."
"Of course it doesn't hurt. We healed you."
Sion snorted with a grin.
"It healed instantly?"
Kisho looked surprised and glanced around.
"Mr. Ging, you're here too—wait, where is this place?"
"Greed Island."
Ging answered with his arms crossed.
"More precisely, it's a game designed for Nen users."
"Oh—but you don't have Nen right now, so you can come play after you recover."
"I'll interrupt for a moment."
Sion looked at Kisho seriously.
"Your Nen ability… I have no intention of probing your secrets, but I want to know—after using the power of Sonata of Darkness, can your Nen recover?"
After a moment of silence, Kisho answered.
"Sixty days."
There was actually another method that could remove the sealed Nen faster, but Kisho had no intention of mentioning it.
If he were willing to exchange one day of his lifespan for twelve days of sealed Nen, he could recover immediately.
After hearing his answer, both Sion and Ging visibly relaxed.
As long as it wasn't permanent, that was fine.
Putting the kid's secrets aside, they didn't want a promising junior to lose the ability to continue training just because of one exam.
"The last time we met, you mentioned Black Calamity Island. I didn't ask much then, but thinking about it now, you also want to go to the island to investigate Silver Blue, right?"
Sion looked at Kisho and asked seriously.
Kisho's pupils shrank.
He clenched his fists, staring at Sion as if he had found the key to solving a mystery. Even his voice became excited.
"You know how to get onto the island?!"
Just as Sion was about to say something, Ging stopped him.
"Hey—"
"It's too early to talk about that with the kid. Even if he has Nen, he might not survive over there."
Ging shifted his stance, examining Kisho with a measuring gaze and shrugging.
"If Black Calamity Island really has something to do with the Dark Continent, even if you and I go there, we probably won't have time to look after anyone else."
Kisho glanced at Ging, then at Sion, offering the two riddle-speakers a friendly "greeting" with his eyes.
Sion spread his hands helplessly.
"Then what should we do? The two of us only know the place name. Without the kid to guide the way, we can't get there at all."
"At least in his current state and strength, it's absolutely impossible."
Ging thought for a moment before speaking.
"Let's set a limit of six months. If the kid can clear my game within six months, I'll agree to take him there."
He looked at Kisho.
"But I won't provide the console or the cartridge. How you obtain them and how you clear the game will all depend on you."
Kisho silently memorized the name "Greed Island" in his mind and nodded.
Ging then looked seriously at Sion and warned him.
"Don't try anything funny. No helping, and absolutely no stealing cards from me again!"
Sion raised his hands in surrender, passing the pressure down layer by layer as he threatened Kisho.
"You heard that, kid. If you still want to investigate that strange thing inside your body—"
At this point, he noticed Kisho's expression darken.
Since he needed something from the kid, he immediately changed his wording.
"I mean… the matter concerning that little brother of yours. You'd better work hard."
Kisho rolled his eyes.
"I would do that even if you didn't say anything—let's go out."
Sion nodded.
He raised his hand and used a vine to grab the kid who currently had no Nen ability.
A flash of white light appeared, and Kisho's voice echoed through the room.
"Mr. Ging, see you again in six months."
"At that time, I definitely won't let you say no."
Ging chuckled softly and lowered the brim of his hat.
"Alright, kid. I'll be waiting."