The air in the private training hall of the airship was thick enough to choke a normal human. Chairman Netero stood in the center, looking like a harmless old man, but to Ray's [Sense] stat, he looked like a collapsing star—a concentrated mass of pure, golden energy.
[Quest: The Chairman's Ball Game]
[Time Limit: 30 Minutes]
[Condition: Touch the ball or force Netero to move his left foot.]
[Hidden Reward: Skill Evolution 'Shadow Exchange'.]
"Ho-ho, you look nervous, young man," Netero teased, spinning the ball on one finger. "Don't be. Think of this as a... spiritual check-up."
"I hope you're ready for the bill then, Chairman," Ray replied, his voice dropping an octave as he activated [Bloodlust].
The room went dark. Not because the lights went out, but because Ray's shadow had expanded to cover every square inch of the floor, walls, and ceiling. This was his newly unlocked [Shadow Domain].
Whoosh!
Ray moved first. With his Agility at 35 now, he was a blur to any normal pro-hunter. He lunged for the ball, but Netero wasn't even there. The old man was suddenly behind him, yawning.
"Too slow. You're relying on your muscles, boy. In this world, the mind must reach the finish line before the body even starts."
Ray didn't turn around. Instead, he smirked. "Who said I was using my muscles?"
From the pitch-black shadow directly beneath Netero's feet, six blackened, skeletal hands erupted. They didn't grab the ball—they grabbed Netero's ankles.
Netero's eyes widened slightly. "Oh? Physical shadows?"
For a split second, the Chairman was anchored. Ray twisted his body in mid-air, his right arm stretching with a sudden surge of mana—a remnant of his 'Pirate King' synchronization from the system's hidden archives—and his fingers brushed the leather of the ball.
SNAP!
Netero didn't move his feet, but his aura flared. A massive, invisible pressure slammed into Ray, sending him flying across the room. He crashed into the reinforced steel wall, leaving a massive dent.
[Health: 45/120]
[Warning: Internal bleeding detected. Stamina low.]
"Incredible," Netero said, finally stopping his playful spin. "That wasn't Nen. There was no 'Pop' of aura, no 'Flow'. It was as if the world itself obeyed your command. Tell me, Ray... what are you?"
Ray stood up, wiping a trail of blood from his lip. His eyes were glowing with a cold, blue light. "I'm the player, Chairman. And you're the final boss I'm not supposed to fight yet."
Ray knew he couldn't win by force. He had to use the System's logic. He looked at his mana bar: 15/150. Enough for one last move.
"System, execute [Shadow Swap]—Beta Version!"
[Warning: Skill not fully unlocked. Success rate: 15%.]
[Penalty for failure: Permanent Agility loss.]
"Do it!"
Ray threw a small shadow-infused pebble toward the ceiling, far above Netero's head. Netero looked up, curious. Then, in the blink of an eye, Ray's body vanished.
He didn't move; he swapped places with the shadow of the pebble.
He was now falling directly on top of Netero. But he didn't reach for the ball. He reached for Netero's left foot.
THUD.
Ray's hand slammed into the floor, right where Netero's left foot had been. The Chairman had been forced to hop back to avoid the sudden, spatial displacement.
The room went silent. The ball was still in Netero's hand, but the condition was met. Netero had moved both feet.
[Ding!]
[Hidden Condition Met: Force the God to Step Back.]
[Quest Completed (Partial Success).]
[Reward: Level +3, Skill Unlocked: 'Shadow Exchange' (Level 1).]
[XP Gained: 5,000.]
Netero stood still for a moment, then let out a boisterous laugh that shook the airship. "Ho-ho-ho! Splendid! You actually used space-time manipulation without a drop of aura. You've made this old man move his feet for the first time in years."
He tossed the ball to Ray, who caught it with trembling hands.
"Keep it," Netero said, his expression turning serious. "You aren't ready for a license yet, not because you lack strength, but because you are a 'glitch' in this world's balance. If the Phantom Troupe or the Zoldycks find out what you are... they won't play games with you."
Ray slumped against the wall, his mana exhausted, but a wide grin on his face. He looked at his new level.
[Current Level: 13]
[Title Updated: 'The One Who Challenged the Peak'.]
"Let them come," Ray whispered as he drifted into a much-needed sleep. "The more monsters I face, the bigger my army gets."
As Netero walked out of the hall, he took out his phone and dialed a secret number. "Ging... we have a problem. Or maybe, a miracle. A boy who doesn't play by our rules has entered the game."
The airship arrived at the summit of a colossal stone pillar reaching into the clouds. This was Trick Tower, the third phase of the Hunter Exam. The objective seemed simple: reach the base of the tower alive within 72 hours.
"Find your own path down," the examiner Lippo's voice echoed through the speakers. "But remember, some paths are shared, and some lead to a dead end."
Ray, Gon, Killua, Kurapika, and Leorio stood together. Within minutes, the other applicants were disappearing through hidden trapdoors.
"Ray, did you find one?" Gon asked, seeing Ray staring at a specific stone tile.
[System Notification]
[Skill Active: 'Eye of the Sovereign']
[Detection: 5-Person Cooperative Path found.]
[Warning: This path contains high-level criminals designed to stall time.]
"Over here," Ray said, tapping the tile. All five of them stepped on it simultaneously, and the floor dropped, sliding them into a dimly lit room.
The heavy stone doors slammed shut behind them. In front of them stood a platform over an abyss, and across it, five figures draped in cloaks and chains.
"To pass, you must win three out of five matches," a prisoner with a scarred face stepped forward. "Death matches, or surrender. Your choice."
"I'll go first," Leorio said, but Ray put a hand on his shoulder.
"No," Ray said, his eyes glowing with a faint blue light. "We have 72 hours, but I have a level to reach. I'll take the first one."
Ray stepped onto the platform. His opponent was a massive man, a mass-murderer known as Bendot. Bendot grinned, his muscles rippling. "I'm going to rip your head off, kid. I don't care about the exam, I just want the sound of your bones snapping."
[Ding!]
[Emergency Quest: The Executioner's Debt]
[Objective: Defeat the prisoner without using physical contact.]
[Reward: Shadow Extraction Slot +1]
"No physical contact?" Ray muttered. "The System is getting creative."
"Start!" Lippo shouted from the observation room.
Bendot lunged like a hungry tiger, his massive hands reaching for Ray's throat. The group behind Ray gasped. "Ray, move!" Kurapika yelled.
But Ray didn't move. He didn't even raise his arms.
"Arise," Ray whispered.
The shadows beneath Bendot's feet didn't just move; they solidified. Two blackened, armored arms erupted from the ground and grabbed Bendot's wrists in mid-air. The momentum of the giant was stopped instantly, his feet dangling inches off the ground.
"What... what is this magic?!" Bendot struggled, but the grip of the [Shadow Soldier] was like iron.
Ray walked closer, his face inches from the terrified prisoner. "In your world, strength is about muscles and Nen. In my world, I own the ground you stand on."
Ray snapped his fingers. A third shadow hand emerged, holding a phantom dagger—the 'Knight's Remnant'—at Bendot's throat.
"I... I surrender! I surrender!" Bendot screamed, his pride shattered by the supernatural horror holding him.
[Quest Completed!]
[XP Gained: 2,000]
[Level Up!]
[New Shadow Slot Unlocked: You can now keep 2 permanent soldiers.]
Ray turned back to his team, the shadow hands dissolving into smoke. Gon was looking at him with pure admiration, while Killua's expression was unreadable—a mix of suspicion and intrigue.
"One win," Ray said calmly. "Who's next?"
In the control room, Lippo was sweating. He turned to his assistant. "Check his files again! How can a boy with zero aura summon physical entities? It defies everything we know about Conjuration!"
Ray didn't care about their confusion. He looked at the next prisoner, a thin, creepy man named Sedokan.
"You're next," Ray said, his shadow stretching across the arena like a predator sensing its next meal. "And I hope you're faster than the last one, because my shadows are getting hungry."