HxH: Ryomen... Satoru?

"Book."

A swirl of smoke appeared and then dissipated. The Card Collection Book dropped into his hands.

"Use the card [X-Ray Vision]."

Cyr casually drew a card.

Card #1002

Difficulty to Obtain: F

Card Conversion Value: 150

Effect: Allows the user to see all the cards in any chosen player's designated pocket.

As soon as he activated it, the card vanished from his hand, and new information appeared in the book—showing the Bomber Trio's designated pocket.

Current number of cards in the chosen pocket: 90.

Just ten more to reach a hundred.

The harvest season was almost here.

[Someone is requesting to communicate with you.]

The Card Collection Book's voice notification rang out.

"Ah, so this is what the communication card is for... Accept."

Cyr agreed to the request.

Immediately, two familiar voices came through—Gon and Killua.

"Whoa! It actually connected! Where are you?" Gon's excited voice came first, followed by Killua's calm tone.

"Watching a show on the Starting Plains." Cyr yawned. "What's up?"

"Uh... Have you heard about the Bombers?" Gon asked hesitantly.

Huh? They knew about it too?

That green-clothed guy wouldn't be running around telling everyone, would he…?

"Yeah, I've heard." Cyr replied casually.

Not only had he heard about it—he was already watching the chaos unfold, just waiting for the right moment to reap the rewards.

"Our training is about done. About Binolt... what do you think we should do?" Gon hesitated as he glanced at the trembling man beside him.

Originally, they had planned to let Binolt go.

But the guy kept saying things like:

"If I leave, that guy will definitely hunt me down."

"The Bounty Devil won't give up on my bounty."

And so, despite having the option to leave—he refused.

He had been following them for quite some time now.

Since they had the chance to contact Cyr, Gon figured he might as well ask for his opinion.

If Cyr didn't want to let Binolt go… well, then too bad for him.

Because between the two, Cyr's opinion mattered more.

Binolt? That guy was still alive?

"I don't care. Do whatever you want." Cyr answered, uninterested.

"If I see him in the real world, I'll just take his corpse and cash in the bounty."

A cold voice came from the Card Collection Book.

Binolt broke into a cold sweat.

Right then and there—

He decided to turn himself in.

The moment I leave this game, I'm going straight to prison! Right to jail!

"You heard him. You can go now." Gon finally told Binolt.

Even though Binolt was a Blacklist Hunter, a wanted criminal, and had attacked them, trying to kill them…

Well, he didn't succeed, right?

And he even helped them train.

So… letting him go was probably fine, right?

"Oh, also—there's this guy named Kazsule. You remember him, right? The one who tried to steal our cards before… and then you cut off his hand?" Gon continued.

"…What does he want?" Cyr asked directly.

"Because the Bombers are collecting cards way too fast and are about to clear the game, Kazsule and his group want to stop them. They're trying to form an alliance with other teams to monopolize the few cards the Bombers are still missing." Killua explained smoothly.

"I see..."

Cyr glanced down at the battlefield below—where the Bombers had just killed another group of players and looted their cards before disappearing.

If they waited until the Bombers collected all 100 cards, it would be too late.

They'd already clear the game.

But—

If someone monopolized certain key cards, the Bombers wouldn't be able to finish the game.

And at that moment—

All Cyr would have to do is take the Bombers' cards for himself…

He would be able to clear the game.

Hmm. Not bad. Very good.

"Alright, go ahead and join them." The boy's voice carried a hint of amusement.

"Are you coming with us? You are coming, right?" Gon asked enthusiastically.

"Of course. I'll be there soon." Cyr answered without hesitation, then ended the call.

"Use [Communication]."

He pulled out a communication card.

Card #1040

Difficulty to Obtain: F

Card Conversion Value: 200

Effect: Allows the user to contact any player they have encountered in the game.

As the card vanished from his hand, a list of names appeared in the Card Collection Book.

Some names were grayed out.

Most were unfamiliar.

A few were vaguely recognizable.

The only reason he remembered those was because he had seen them on bounty lists.

And among them—

One particular name stood out.

Chrollo Lucilfer.

…Huh?

Why was his name here?

Curious, Cyr tapped on it.

[Selected Contact: Chrollo Lucilfer.]

"Hmm? And who might this be?"

A voice came through. It was slightly high-pitched, with a faint quiver to it.

The moment Cyr heard it, he immediately ended the call.

…Oh.

That wasn't Chrollo.

That was Hisoka, using Chrollo's name.

What was he playing at?

Now that he thought about it—

The Phantom Troupe did steal a copy of the game, didn't they?

Was Hisoka using this to send some kind of message to the Spiders?

Hah. He was a little curious about how the plot was unfolding now.

But only a little.

Once he cleared the game, he'd check it out.

"Use [Return]..."

Card #1009

Difficulty to Obtain: G

Card Conversion Value: 380

Effect: Instantly transports the user to any specified location.

—

In a secluded valley—

A group of over ten players had gathered, sitting in smaller clusters.

At the front, Kazsule stood like a speaker at a rally, addressing them all.

"And that's the plan! If we don't work together, the Bombers will clear the game. We must unite!"

He used this approach to heighten everyone's sense of urgency, making them more willing to accept the idea of working together.

"I don't mean to object, but… what can those three brats even do?"

A woman suddenly pointed toward three figures.

Killua, Gon, and Biscuit.

None of them looked older than fifteen.

Meanwhile, Maro and Sora were sitting a bit further away, keeping their distance from the trio.

"They…" Kazsule was about to explain when—

A white light suddenly descended from the sky, striking the ground.

They were all familiar with this sight—

Someone had teleported using a card.

As the light faded, a figure appeared before them.

"Yo. Looks like everyone's here. I'm not late, am I?"

A white-haired boy, his arms covered in tattoos, lazily scratched the back of his head as he spoke.

But even as he said this—

He didn't so much as glance at the crowd.

Instead, he walked straight past them, heading toward a white tiger lying off to the side.

"Go on. What were you saying? Keep talking."

Leaning back against the tiger, he rested a hand on its head, crossed his legs, and spoke casually—as if giving orders.

"You finally showed up." Killua muttered.

This guy really had no concept of "right away" or "on time", huh?

From the moment Cyr arrived—

The atmosphere in the valley had shifted.

The players instinctively tensed, their guards rising—

As if he, and not the Bombers, was the real threat.

Like animals reacting to danger, no one spoke.

The memory of Kazsule losing a hand to this guy was still fresh, even if he had already gotten it healed.

Killua turned to the woman and asked, "Didn't you say we weren't worth using? Well, we know the Bombers' abilities. What are you offering in exchange?"

The woman hesitated for a moment before replying, "One A-rank card."

Killua shook his finger. "No. Two SS-rank cards."

This time, the woman took even longer to consider.

But in the end—

She agreed to his terms.

°°°

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