Heavens Arena.
One of the most famous landmarks in the Hunter world—and the holy land of combat on the human continent.
A total of 251 floors.
Akira sat inside a ferry, gazing through the window at the towering structure that pierced the clouds in the distance.
991 meters tall, reportedly the fourth-tallest building in the Hunter world, and a place that gathered countless combat enthusiasts.
The first 200 floors belonged to ordinary fighters.
Beyond the 200th floor, it had nothing to do with normal martial artists anymore—that realm belonged exclusively to Nen users.
For Akira, this was also the most well-known leveling hotspot on the Hunter server.
The Hunter server was different from the Naruto server.
In the Naruto server, most enemies were humanoid mobs. Every ninja village was essentially a farming zone—from bandits and rogue ninjas, to minor villages, then major villages. Later on, there were even world instances like the Fourth Shinobi World War, where White Zetsu could be farmed endlessly.
In-game, monsters respawned. Even the Fourth Great Ninja War ran on a cyclical system.
But in the real world, you only got one chance.
In contrast, the true farming zone of the Hunter server wasn't the human continent at all—it was the Dark Continent.
The Hunter continent itself had very few proper grinding locations, which was why Hunter characters tended to be weak early on. Only after entering the Dark Continent could they start catching up to other servers.
Akira was actually very interested in the Dark Continent. High-level equipment dropped there far more easily—no need to wait on timelines like in the Naruto server.
And while the Dark Set was top-tier, there were plenty of individual items there that were even stronger.
Unfortunately, getting there wasn't something he could decide himself. It would all depend on whether a Dark Continent instance scroll ever dropped.
The ferry slowly docked.
Akira stepped off, glanced once more at the sky-piercing tower, then headed straight toward it.
At the same time, two other figures emerged from the ferry terminal.
"So tall!"
Gon stared up at Heavens Arena, eyes wide with amazement.
"I heard it's the fourth-tallest building in the world," Killua shrugged. He'd been here before, so the sight didn't impress him much.
After splitting up with Kurapika and Leorio, the two of them had decided to come here to train.
Akira stood in a long line outside Heavens Arena, bored as he looked toward the registration counters.
"Why are there so many people?"
You even had to queue.
"That's normal," a burly, honest-looking fat man behind him said with a grin. "Fighters from all over the world come here every day. Today's actually not that crowded."
Akira turned to glance at him. "So you're here to fight too?"
The fat man stared blankly at Akira's pure white eyes.
"Bro… your eyes are really pretty."
"That's the kind of thing that gets misunderstood real fast," Akira said, the corner of his mouth twitching. His eyes really did draw attention—people had been sneaking looks at him the entire way here.
White pupils weren't exactly common.
"N-no, that's not what I meant!" The fat man snapped back to reality and scratched his head awkwardly. Then, testing the waters, he whispered, "Hey… if you ever want to sell those eyes, let me know. I can offer a really good price."
Eyes like that would fetch a high price on the black market—just like the Scarlet Eyes.
Of course, white eyes couldn't compare to one of the Seven Beauties of the World.
"If you don't want to live anymore," Akira said cheerfully, "just tell me. I guarantee you won't feel a thing."
A wave of malicious Nen erupted from him.
The fat man collapsed to the ground instantly, face pale with terror.
People in front of and behind him dropped as well.
Akira's eyes lit up.
Oh? That works too?
Ignoring the fat man, he continued releasing his hostile aura, causing everyone ahead of him to crumple—clearing a straight path forward.
In no time at all, he reached the registration counter.
The staff member's mouth twitched as she stared at the line of unconscious bodies behind him.
"…Does this count as cheating?"
"Don't use Nen while lining up!!!" a short-tempered woman yelled, flailing her arms.
As a Heavens Arena employee, she naturally knew about Nen.
Akira slapped the counter impatiently.
"Hurry up and register me. Why do you care so much?"
The woman forced an awkward smile. She still had a job to keep. Handing him a form, she said, "Please fill this out."
Akira completed it quickly and returned it.
The staff typed rapidly, then looked up.
"Hyūga Akira, you're Contestant No. 1888. All matches on the lower floors use number calls. Please proceed inside."
Gon and Killua had just reached this level of the registration area.
They stared in shock at the bodies scattered everywhere—and the lone boy about their age calmly walking inside.
"…Did he do all that?" Gon asked in disbelief.
Killua's expression darkened. "That guy's dangerous."
He felt the same kind of pressure he did when facing Illumi.
"Yeah. Even though he looks our age, he smells like blood," Gon said, wrinkling his nose. His instincts were screaming at him.
"And he feels… familiar somehow."
He scratched his head, puzzled. He was sure he'd never met him before.
Akira glanced back briefly.
"So it's them."
Gon and Killua—this was exactly when they came to Heavens Arena in the original timeline.
And then there was Wing, the Nen instructor the Hunter Association assigned to guide them.
Akira wondered if he could learn Hatsu through Wing ahead of time, without waiting until level 36.
If that worked, he'd gain a full Nen ability skill early.
Seeing that Gon and Killua hadn't connected with Wing yet, Akira decided not to get involved for now and continued inside.
Even before reaching the interior, deafening cheers echoed through the corridors.
Stepping into the central arena, he saw twelve rings, each hosting an ongoing match.
The audience wasn't especially large.
Akira picked an empty seat and waited.
Soon, a voice rang out:
"Contestants 1888 and 2014, please report to Ring A."
Akira yawned and lazily walked toward the ring.
He had zero interest in anything below the 200th floor.
Unfortunately, to reach the top, you had to climb from the bottom.
On the ring stood a massive, muscular man, grinning viciously.
"Bad luck, kid. You ran into me."
Akira ignored him and glanced at the referee.
The referee raised his hand.
"Begin!"
Bang.
In the next instant, Akira was already behind the brute.
The man's eyes rolled back as he collapsed face-first onto the floor.
[EXP +21]
"…I really shouldn't have expected anything."
The referee reacted quickly and shouted,
"Winner—Contestant 1888!"
Akira turned and walked off the ring.
This was going to take a while.
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