It was the dead of night out on the open sea.
A wooden ship plowed headfirst into terrifying, towering waves on its way to Dole Island. Seawater flooded into the hull, mixing with the vomit of seasick passengers to create a slush on the floor.
As the ship rocked violently, the mixture churned together, releasing a stench worse than a dumpster fire in a sewer.
In the corner sat Yuu Gojo, already dizzy and looking like he was about to pass out.
"What a godforsaken hellhole..."
The complaint came from a boy who looked about twelve years old. He had hair as white as snow and a pair of sky-blue eyes that seemed veiled in a strange, crystalline mist.
He looked at the miserable passengers scattered across the deck and noticed a mist-like white energy radiating from their bodies.
While fighting down the urge to retch, Yuu came to a calm conclusion:
He had been transported again.
---
Twelve years ago, he had gone through the same thing.
Thanks to a run-in with a speeding truck, his soul had been transported into a parallel version of the manga Jujutsu Kaisen. He was reborn into the Gojo clan—one of the three great sorcerer families—as an infant.
That was when he was named "Yuu Gojo."
Even though that world was dangerous and filled with supernatural horrors, there was a silver lining. After his rebirth, he discovered he was incredibly lucky. He shared the exact same abilities as the original "Strongest Sorcerer," Satoru Gojo.
He possessed the "Limitless" Cursed Technique and the "Six Eyes"—the celestial eyes capable of seeing the very fabric of cursed energy.
He was a prodigy, the first in hundreds of years to inherit both gifts. On top of that, Yuu possessed even more cursed energy than his predecessor. With enough time, reaching the status of the "Honored One" was inevitable.
It was a perfect start. A life that definitely deserved a champagne toast.
But now...
Years later, he opens his eyes only to find himself in this cramped, sensory nightmare of a cabin. The sights, the smells, the sounds—it was absolute torture.
---
Finally, Yuu processed the massive influx of information that had flooded his brain during the transport. He let out a long sigh.
"The noise in my head finally stopped..."
That "noise" was a data dump that had forcibly taught him this world's common language in about ten minutes. It had made his brain feel like a blast furnace, leaving him pale and grimacing in pain—pain that had nothing to do with the rocking ship.
Now that he had adapted, he could understand the chatter of the older men around him.
Nearby, a guy who had just finished emptying his stomach wiped his mouth and cursed, "Dammit! How much longer until we hit Dole Island? Once I become a 'Hunter,' I'm never riding a junk heap like this again!"
"Pfft, you?" another passenger laughed. "If a guy like you could be a Hunter, they'd be handing out licenses on street corners! Hahaha!"
"Yeah! They say no one has passed the Exam in three years! Doesn't matter who goes, nobody's passing this year either!"
While his brain cooled down, Yuu clutched his head in the corner. By eavesdropping, he confirmed exactly where he was.
This was the world of Hunter x Hunter.
And this boat was headed straight for the Hunter Exam venue on Dole Island.
"So, that white gas leaking out of everyone... that must be 'Nen'," Yuu thought.
He scanned the passengers again, noting the aura clouds of various sizes clinging to them.
"Most of them are just normal people."
Yuu wasn't surprised that he could see the "Nen." He remained calm. Controlling one's emotions without showing outward ripples was rule number one for a qualified Jujutsu Sorcerer.
But, more than the energy system...
There was a flamboyant figure sitting not far away that caught Yuu's attention.
It was a red-haired man with a star painted on one cheek and a teardrop on the other. His hair stood up in a defy-gravity style. He was handsome but dressed in a bizarre outfit covered in playing card suits, with a tapered waist wrapped in pink, bandage-like cloth.
This man, radiating a strange and eerie vibe, was quietly building a tower of playing cards. A faint, unreadable smile played on his lips.
He gave off a dangerous scent.
"Hisoka..."
Yuu recognized him immediately. That outfit, that specific brand of creepiness... you wouldn't find a second person like him in Hunter x Hunter, or any other anime for that matter.
Facing a man who oozed "deviant" from every pore, Yuu felt a sinking feeling in his gut.
"Just my luck. Running into this guy right at the start..."
Hisoka was jokingly known as the "Gardener." He loved finding talented people—his "unripe fruit"—and waiting for them to grow strong enough to be worth killing.
Once he set his sights on you, he would hunt you down eventually for a fight to the death. He was dangerous and high-maintenance.
Honestly, Yuu wanted nothing to do with him. He pretended not to notice and turned his head away.
But that brief glance... Hisoka had caught it.
Hisoka stopped his hands. He looked up, wearing a smile that looked deceptively friendly, and addressed the white-haired boy he hadn't noticed before.
"Do you know me... little one?"
The sudden question caught Yuu off guard. He paused for a moment before explaining, "I just thought your outfit was unique... so I looked a little longer than I should have."
"Is that so?" Hisoka's tone was flat. He didn't seem to care much about the excuse.
However, Hisoka didn't look away. Instead, his eyes narrowed, and he began to scrutinize this unusual-looking boy.
Strange...
Hisoka noticed there was no "aura" around the boy. No Nen leaking out at all.
It was common knowledge that all living things possessed Nen. Even normal people constantly leaked small amounts of life energy from their pores, which would drift up and dissipate.
There were usually only two explanations for this.
Either this white-haired kid was a master Nen user utilizing "Zetsu" to completely suppress his aura...
Or he had gone through some unique experience and, despite not being a Nen user, had instinctively learned how to hide his presence and was subconsciously maintaining it.
Either way, he was now on Hisoka's radar.
"Hey, kid~" Hisoka called out again, smiling. "What's your name?"
Feeling Hisoka's gaze—a look that didn't allow for refusal—Yuu realized the truth.
He's already targeted me.
Yuu sighed internally, lamenting his bad luck. After a brief hesitation, he decided to be honest.
"Gojo. Yuu Gojo."
He separated the family name and given name clearly.
"Strange name."
Hisoka chuckled lightly, returning to his card tower. He spoke casually, "I am the Magician, Hisoka. Pleasure to meet you~"
Since he already knew who the guy was, Yuu just gave a calm "Mhm" and didn't say anything else.
He looked down, tracing circles on the wooden floorboards with his eyes. He was slightly annoyed at his name being called strange.
Your name is the weird one here... he thought.
While he was thinking, Yuu suddenly felt the Cursed Energy inside him get stirred up by a "foreign object." It felt chaotic.
He lifted his hand and looked at his palm.
"Is this... Aura?"
A wisp of white, mist-like energy was leaking uncontrollably from his fingertips. It clung to his skin, slowly enveloping his entire body.
Yuu looked enlightened. "My body... it's actually starting to 'adapt' to this world's laws."
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