One day.
In a completely dark labyrinth.
Oboro stood alone. He could see nothing, only darkness.
Even his soul abilities couldn't be sensed.
To be precise, his abilities had 'disappeared.'
Temporarily suppressed by some rule-based power.
This was the terrifying nature of rules. Once triggered, they would act without reason or warning, like a bug... forcing you to play by their 'established rules.'
A few minutes ago, he had encountered a magical beast, very similar to those in the human world, a small life form.
More importantly, after years of travel, this was the second intelligent creature he had met, besides the skeleton in the city within the house. This one could even speak human language. It approached him proactively, asking where he wanted to go and offering to guide him.
Oboro sensed something unusual at the time, but he... still engaged in conversation.
If he hadn't responded, the rule wouldn't have been triggered, and he wouldn't have been drawn into the game.
The moment they exchanged words, the 'game' was set. The next second, everything around them vanished. The scene changed like a mirage. Several high walls seemed to close in from the void, converging. Then, a magnificent structure was formed. As his soul abilities were 'erased,' in the last moment before falling into darkness, Oboro saw stairs and corridors built layer upon layer inside the structure, resembling a labyrinth.
With that thought, Oboro looked up. In the dark space above, a single golden clock appeared. Its hands began to move, as if timing something.
"Made by humans..."
Oboro smiled faintly.
Throughout his journey, he had encountered too many rule-based life forms, and their rule-playbooks were incredibly diverse.
There were those who had to calculate numbers and jump squares to enter safe zones, and those that involved judging genuine and fake items, causing danger levels to fluctuate up and down, growing and shrinking... countless examples.
He was now quite adept at dealing with rule-based power.
"So... what kind of game is this?"
Oboro stared at the golden clock.
No need to think, this thing couldn't be destroyed; it was merely a hint for the participants within the game.
The best way to break rules was to understand them and find loopholes in how they operated.
Alluka's wishes were like this... as was the Pot of the Kakin Empire, and even Oboro's own game back then.
"I'm here."
"Don't you want to know where that door is? Catch me... and I'll tell you."
From all directions in the darkness, a voice echoed, confusing the senses.
Unfortunately, Oboro couldn't see. He was now left with only his physical strength.
"Hide-and-seek?"
Oboro seemed to understand, yet not fully.
The next second, he lunged forward like an arrow towards a sound source.
His body collided with a hard object, its immense force causing it to collapse, like a wall.
Creating a real-life labyrinth out of thin air using energy, using a method similar to Conjuration, was something unimaginable in the human world. The Nen consumption alone would be endless. But in the Dark Continent, this level of energy... was commonplace.
"It's not empty in the darkness; there are actual obstacles, which makes catching the target even harder," Oboro nodded.
He could have killed the instigator, the beast that spoke human language, before this rule-based domain even fully unfolded.
The premise was not to engage in conversation.
That beast could likely sense his desires, drawn to him by the source of his yearning for the 'door.'
This was also the creature's hunting method. Even if it wasn't him it encountered today, but another creature, it likely had the ability to communicate with its target, offering the item or information the target desired.
"Let's play for a bit."
Then, Oboro began his pursuit. As long as there was the slightest disturbance in the dark space, he could instantly charge towards it with pure explosive force. However, firstly, he couldn't see anything, with walls and corridors interfering. Secondly, the opponent was extremely agile. Its originally weak power seemed to be amplified by the rules, leaving Oboro constantly on the defensive, his strength steadily depleting.
After an hour passed, the golden clock suspended above suddenly chimed, deafeningly loud.
As Oboro looked up, he frowned. His sense of smell had disappeared.
"Deprivation of the five senses?"
Oboro chuckled.
He continued the game.
Every hour, the clock would chime again.
First, the sense of smell, then taste, touch, sight, and hearing.
As time went on, the senses being deprived became increasingly critical. When hearing was erased, it meant Oboro had failed.
Because in this dark space, his most crucial sense for catching the target was hearing.
With the loss of hearing, the beast, hidden in the darkness all along, appeared provocatively, loitering around Oboro, even flicking his human forehead with a finger, yet Oboro remained completely unresponsive.
Like a stone statue.
The golden clock had not disappeared, indicating the game was still ongoing.
But Oboro could no longer act. At this moment, he could feel nothing but his own thoughts.
Another hour passed, and Oboro's arm was suddenly dismembered with the chime of the clock. His sense of pain had not disappeared, so Oboro knew he had lost an arm.
A beast with white fur, sharp fangs, and rabbit ears hopped back and forth in front of Oboro, lying on the ground, laughing heartily, rolling around.
It seemed to find the scene unfolding before its eyes highly entertaining.
Another arm, then his legs...
Oboro was left with only half his body lying flat on the dark ground. The beast looked on in surprise, amazed that this human was still alive. His flesh and blood life force was terrifyingly strong, his body seemingly capable of controlling cells to such an extent that... as long as he contracted the muscles around his wounds, he could still cling to life.
Of course, such a miraculous sight was not considered heaven-defying in the Dark Continent.
The beast yawned, feeling sleepy, and lay down beside Oboro, wanting to see how long the human could last.
It became increasingly relaxed, believing the human had no means of resistance left... The latter couldn't perceive the 'outside world' at all, let alone its existence.
After a long time, blood began to flow from Oboro's nose and mouth. His internal organs showed severe damage as time passed.
"It's about time."
Oboro's mind stirred.
Then, in the darkness.
The beast, which had been sitting with its legs crossed, resting on its toes like a human, was about to lie down for the night, intending to open its eyes later to collect Oboro's corpse.
Suddenly, it was observed that the human, with only half its body remaining, erupted with a torrent of blood from its pores, spraying out densely.
In an instant, it formed a rain of bullets in the surroundings.
Terrifyingly, although these blood droplets didn't splatter far, they destroyed all cover within several kilometers in the darkness.
Even the beast, which was close by, was instantly pierced through like a sieve.
This rule-based life form, unable to escape, looked at Oboro with extreme fear in its eyes before death.
This was its... first failed hunt!
As the beast died, the entire dark space dissipated like a torn piece of cloth, scattering with the wind. The golden clock also shattered like broken glass.
The surroundings returned to their original appearance.
Clear skies, trees, and grass reappeared one by one.
The 'beast's' soul entered Oboro's body, and all his senses returned. The blood that had flown out was collected after a brief moment in the air and re-entered his body. Then, new flesh began to sprout from the wounds on his body, and limbs grew. In just a few minutes, he was completely healed.
Standing in place.
Oboro walked forward, kicked a piece of shattered meat, and said faintly, "Too simple..."
This place was not yet close to the core region of the Dark Continent, and intelligent life forms were rarely encountered. Therefore... this 'beast' had likely never dealt with intelligent beings before. Its hunting experience was based on other simple-minded life forms. How could it understand the cunning of humans?
First the five senses, then the limbs, then the internal organs...
Oboro judged that this rule-based game lasted twenty-four hours. Only at the very end would the 'brain' be destroyed.
The life form imposing the rules knew the rules, and the rule-based power would certainly benefit it.
But it was not absolute.
As a participant, although one was active and the other passive, there was always some 'potential' balance hidden within.
Upon entering the labyrinth, not all abilities disappeared, but rather the 'strongest' ability was judged and suppressed. Therefore, he temporarily lost only his soul power, but Seina's and Eik's additional abilities, such as area attacks and time reversal, were still available.
The rules were the opponent's home ground. After playing for a few hours, Oboro knew that catching it was, in a sense, impossible!
So, rather than wasting energy in vain, it was better to create a false impression and lure the target into a trap.
The rules of hide-and-seek, through the interaction between the two parties, his blood... was also a part of himself.
Oboro guessed that after he lost his threat, the beast would definitely lower its guard. It might approach, or it might keep its distance... but it wouldn't be too far. Seina's area attack range was still effective. Even with blood droplets, Oboro could still apply his abilities.
The attack range he could create in the blink of an eye was extremely wide.
The opponent wanted to observe him, so it couldn't escape.
Perceiving the rules, familiarizing himself with the rules, and breaking the rules... that was all there was to it.
Of course, the first step was the most crucial.
This was a rule, not a pure battle. Simply releasing blood droplets wouldn't kill the beast... While he still had hearing, the beast kept shouting, "Come catch me." It wasn't saying it voluntarily but was forced to do so by the rules.
Therefore, when delivering the killing blow, Oboro had to silently chant, "I caught you."
Otherwise, the beast might have resurrected at this moment, and the dark space would not have been dispelled.
"There are clear signs."
Oboro opened his palm, and a mass of Nen floated up like a bubble. He felt it for a moment and murmured.
He wasn't deliberately falling into the trap out of playfulness; he didn't have the time or inclination... nor could he afford to take risks.
It was because he had long discovered that absorbing the souls of rule-based life forms seemed to... allow him to possess a trace of 'rule power.'
But it was very subtle.
It required accumulation.
Currently, among all the life forms he had encountered, whether supernatural or bizarre, the strongest... was still rules.
"Other creatures are born from the environment, various elements, flesh and blood... only rule-based life forms seem to be born from being imbued with 'rule power'... Their energy transmission and compatibility in spacetime, and the resulting changes, are far beyond other life forms. Various energy changes, like Nen attributes, manifestation, transformation, enhancement, and specialization, can all be achieved effortlessly... They are closer to the origin of heaven and earth, acting more like a primal medium."
Oboro slowly bent down and reached out.
The energy containing rule power in his palm enveloped a small blade of grass before him.
Then, he extended his fingertip, intending to snap the grass stem.
But he couldn't do it no matter how hard he tried.
The rule he applied was extremely simple and pure.
"Only fire element can destroy it."
Indeed, it was just like that.
"Because it's just a blade of grass, the rule effect applied is not complicated, so it was easily successful... But if it were a living organism, the difficulty would undoubtedly increase. The stronger the external factors, the more profound the rule power required. Simply put, it's no different from Nen; it also needs to include personal will."
"Nen... a 'power system' higher up than life energy?"
Rule-based power is also a form of energy.
"In that case, Alluka's ability to make a spaceship suddenly appear above the Zoldyck family's base and shower large amounts of cash... involves too many factors. First is the range of energy influence. Due to the special nature of rule-based power, the area of the human world is actually not large. Even if she can't cover everything, at least a third is no problem. Then, first find the target carrying large amounts of cash, or directly turn other substances into money, then manipulate the minds and affairs of related individuals, change according to 'trajectory,' traverse space, alter the flow of time, so that a series of actions are completed simultaneously with the wish fulfillment, involving abilities like Manipulation, Transformation, and Specialization."
"It seems that the emergence of Nen in the human world is not without reason."
Oboro said, then stood up again.
He would accumulate it first... The rule power he currently possessed was still relatively weak.
Thinking of Alluka, Oboro's eyes flickered.
Although he didn't remember very clearly, he vaguely calculated the passage of time.
It should have been over a decade since Menchi and the other two left...
Even with his current strength, he had only managed to cross a few volcanoes on the map from the initial sinkhole. Further ahead, there was another area with buildings and three human statues as tall as the sky!
Because his physical vitality was too strong, his lifespan had been constantly increasing. He had eaten countless 'fruits of hope' over the years, so his appearance had not changed.
He had grown accustomed to life in the Dark Continent.
The only thing that felt uncomfortable...
Perhaps it was time.
Here... time seemed to be irrelevant.
It felt like being in a mountain for a thousand years without knowing the year.
"Clear skies."
Oboro looked up at the dark red sky. The further he went into the continent, the darker and redder the sky became. Seeing even a sliver of white light leaking through the clouds now could be considered 'clear skies.'
Let's keep going...
Oboro didn't know how much further he had to travel.
To find that door.
At least this dead beast didn't know.
Everything the opponent said was a lie.
It was only because it sensed his thoughts.
This creature wasn't a truly intelligent life form; its cognitive maturity was only slightly stronger than the one inside Alluka.
Not much stronger.
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