A cool breeze swept through the back mountain garden. The night was pleasant.
A few martial artists who'd come out for walks felt like they'd taken brief naps. Distracted for a moment. When they woke up, they carried on with whatever they'd been doing. Those who were walking kept walking. Those who'd lost interest headed back to the hotel. No one realized what had happened. Like waking from a dream. The images faded within seconds.
This was what Liam and Shizuku saw when they opened their eyes. The villa was still the villa. But something felt different.
If the Sky Master did all this in secret, what was his goal?
Wing had attended this conference before. He still acted normal. So even if the Sky Master was responsible, it didn't seem genuinely harmful.
Is this Sensui Mountain Conference, which supposedly existed a hundred years ago, connected to Netero?
But in all the information Liam had checked, there was no connection between the conference and Netero, the Hunter Association, or Shingen-ryu.
The Rabbit and Snake from the Twelve Zodiacs are here too. Why?
One was an Ancient Documents Hunter. The other seemed to be a Poison Hunter. Neither had any obvious connection to a martial arts tournament.
Two possibilities. One: Netero brought them here. Two: they're just here to appreciate the art exhibition.
"But it's possible this is his first time doing this," Liam muttered as he walked. "So Wing wouldn't know about it. Or maybe it wasn't the Sky Master at all. Maybe it's some random Nen user who came to the summit."
"Maybe it's the black skeleton you mentioned?" Shizuku suggested.
"That thing looked like a villain straight out of a horror movie. Sucking breath right from Wing's face like some demon." Liam frowned. "Is it a Nen beast? Or a Conjured form? Maybe a Transmuter's shapeshifted body. Either way, let's get back to the hotel and ask Wing what happened."
The little gray bird flew through the night sky and landed on Liam's raised finger.
He and Shizuku left quickly.
The living room was brightly lit. Pyon sat on the sofa with her head tilted, chin resting on the back of the chair. She typed rapidly on her laptop with one hand while occasionally grabbing snacks and popping them into her mouth.
Suddenly, she tapped something on the keyboard.
A humanoid figure made of green code twisted and appeared in front of her.
Pyon sucked potato chip crumbs off her fingers, then reached out to grab the green-coded figure like it was a physical doll model.
"Might as well download it and take a look."
After observing it twice, she tapped the humanoid figure against her laptop screen.
"Preparing for analysis..."
She interlaced her fingers and stretched. Her knuckles cracked. Warming up for work. Then her phone rang.
Pyon held the phone between her cheek and shoulder. She answered while continuing to type. "Gel, did you accidentally fall asleep too?"
"It wasn't accidental." A husky, magnetic woman's voice came through. The sexy older-sister type. "Someone used a Nen ability to influence us."
Pyon twirled her fingers casually. "Do you remember what happened? I mean in that weird dream. If it even was a dream."
"I don't remember," Gel said calmly. "Because I shed my skin immediately. What was left in that dream was just one of my molted skins."
"Why are you suddenly revealing your ability?" Pyon kept typing. "We're not that close."
Before Gel could answer, Pyon continued. "Same here. After I noticed something strange, I made a false copy and left it there as my alt account. But I actually woke up ages ago. And... done!"
"What's done?"
"The recording from my alt account in that dream. Analysis just finished." Pyon looked at the screen, then asked casually, "If you want to see it, come to my room within one minute. I won't wait!"
Before she finished speaking, a green snake as thick as a finger slithered into the living room. When it spotted her, the snake hissed and sprayed a cloud of green mist.
The mist twisted together with the thin snake. Both transformed, condensing into a beautiful woman with flowing black hair and dark skin. Gel, the Snake of the Twelve Zodiacs.
"It's a clone. Almost forgot you're a Conjurer too. Whatever. Come look."
Pyon glanced at her, then looked away. She clicked the play button, thinking to herself: That figure is ridiculous. I want to bury my face in it. Must be so soft.
Gel's clone moved closer. She glanced at Pyon's profile after the girl had taken off her bunny-ear headband. As she leaned over to look at the laptop screen, she couldn't help thinking: Without the headband, she's unexpectedly cute. I want to pinch her cheeks.
Back mountain hotel.
Knock, knock, knock.
Shortly after the knocking, the door opened. Hart rubbed his eyes and yawned. Then he saw John Smith at the door and flinched.
I just dreamed I was punching my senior brother and kicking John Smith. I looked so cool...
"Where's your senior brother?" Liam asked.
"In the living room." Hart spoke quickly. He glanced at the black-haired woman who'd come with John Smith. He had no idea why they were here.
"Hart, let them in." Wing's voice came from the living room.
His tone was slightly tired.
Liam and Shizuku exchanged glances and followed Hart inside.
They found Wing on the sofa. His shirt was disheveled. His hair stuck up in several places. He yawned slightly while cleaning his glasses. After putting them back on, he looked at Liam and Shizuku with confusion.
Wing stood up. "It's so late. What's wrong?"
Liam looked him up and down.
Wing's expression gradually turned serious. Liam's eyes were clearly examining him.
"You're an Enhancer. You only have twenty to thirty thousand aura. You just climbed a mountain this afternoon. Do you really get tired enough to yawn like this?" Liam stared at Wing, then gestured for him to sit back down. "Don't be alarmed by what I'm about to say."
Wing was half-puzzled, half-amused. "Just tell me. I won't be alarmed."
Liam pointed out the window of the hotel room. "Twenty minutes ago, when the little guy was flying past your window, he saw something strange in your living room."
Tap tap, tap tap.
Outside the window, the small gray rock sparrow pecked at the glass with its beak.
Hart's eyes widened. "A bird?"
Hart opened the window and let Jaku fly inside.
Wing already knew Liam was a Manipulator. He immediately understood what "the little guy saw" meant. Either Liam could communicate with his pet bird without barriers, or he could completely control it, or access its senses and memories.
Liam described the black skeleton lying on Wing's body, sucking his breath. Then he asked, "Did you feel anything wrong after you woke up?"
Hart stared, shocked.
Wing frowned. "I did seem to doze off on the sofa. And I felt a bit tired when I woke up."
He thought for a moment, then gestured for Liam and Shizuku to sit down. His tone was calm but serious. "About this supposed dream. Could you please explain everything from the beginning?"