Death Node

The cold sensation from beneath, combined with the jolting of the vehicle over the rough road.

Constantly reminded Moro—

This was reality.

He had clearly touched death, yet when he opened his eyes again, he had returned to one year ago.

Moro was dazed, unable to suppress the memories surging from the depths of his mind no matter what.

One year ago, he had awakened inside this very carriage prison.

Back then, the unfamiliar environment and suffocating cage naturally wove extreme panic into this cold, jolting sensation, dominating every emotion at the time.

Now, with his thoughts returning to this moment, Moro naturally wouldn't scream and shout like he had initially, driven by sheer terror.

He quickly calmed down and scanned his surroundings once more.

Through the light streaming in from a small hole in the carriage, he could see two rows of iron cages inside the long compartment, each holding a naked person.

Moro was among them, also completely unclothed.

His gaze swept over the people in the cages one by one—men and women, around his age, roughly between fourteen and sixteen.

Looking at these people locked in the cages, the images in Moro's memory gradually overlapped with their faces.

Moro was sizing up the others in the cages, while they, drawn by the commotion of his awakening, all turned to look at him.

Their eyes mostly held dullness and indifference.

Only two or three showed expressions of confusion.

Moro ignored them, lowering his head to avoid the many gazes around him.

What... is this all about?

In the fragments of memory, Feitan's sinister eyes, laced with fury, could almost reappear before him.

The sensation of an icy blade cutting across his face and life force still lingered.

This feeling was like a venomous snake coiled around his heart, a chill that seeped into his bones.

But—

Placing his hand over his chest, he could still feel the violent pounding of his heart.

Still alive!

Moro confirmed this fact, closed his eyes, and tried as much as possible to calm himself.

This bizarre way of escaping death made him appreciate the preciousness of the function called breathing.

A moment later.

Moro slowly opened his eyes, lowering his head while glancing at the back of his right hand.

The Growth Rings tattoo was still there!

This lifted his spirits.

He remembered clearly that the Growth Rings tattoo had only slowly taken shape as an outline the day after he had crossed over, then solidified within a few days.

But at this point in time, the Growth Rings tattoo had already appeared, and it was complete.

This was a difference.

Moro focused his gaze, moving his right hand into the light to see more clearly.

Illuminated by the faint light, Moro quickly noticed a change in the Growth Rings tattoo.

The originally filled White Growth Rings had now turned pitch black.

And the infinity symbol inside the inner ring was gone, replaced by—

Lv.1.

Moro's expression shifted. Looking at the blackened rings, he realized that this whole upheaval was most likely caused by the Growth Rings tattoo.

And the infinity symbol turning into Lv.1—he had no idea what that meant.

Is it Love's Practice Session...?

Out of nowhere, Molena's figure flashed through Moro's mind.

Lv was a level symbol, and the level system was the most distinctive feature of Molena's Nen ability.

So Moro couldn't help but make that connection.

But was there any link between the two?

If the effect of the rings was to send him back to one year ago upon death, then what role did the level symbol that replaced the infinity symbol play in all this?

Moro lowered his eyelids, organizing the many pieces of information he had.

As he pondered, he subconsciously raised his left hand and gently brushed it over the Growth Rings tattoo on the back of his right hand.

"Hm?"

At that moment, Moro noticed a red 'X' symbol on the back of his left hand.

The edges of the symbol were pitch-black, exuding an ominous aura.

"This is...?"

Moro's pupils contracted, his attention instantly locking onto the newly appeared 'X' mark.

In that instant—

His consciousness was like a small boat swallowed by a whirlpool, experiencing a fleeting tremor and blur.

Just the span of a single breath.

In the next moment, Feitan's face appeared before Moro again.

This time, it was so clear that he could even see the icy Killing Intent hidden beneath Feitan's raging fury.

Chii!

The sensation of a blade slicing through his face, along with the suffocating grip of death around his throat, came back tenfold.

Then, endless darkness surged in.

Moro experienced an utterly realistic Death Replay.

Immediately after, his consciousness trembled and blurred once more.

The scene before him crumbled away like weathered stone, replaced by a heart clutched in pitch-black hands.

Moro stared at that heart, and a sudden answer emerged in his mind.

The heart gripped by those hands was his.

This inexplicable realization was forcibly crammed into his head like a data transfer.

Along with it came a piece of information called "Death Node."

"Huh?"

Suddenly, his consciousness snapped back to reality.

Moro froze for a moment, realizing he was still in his original posture.

"Death Node?"

He muttered to himself in disbelief, then slowly lifted his head, fixing his gaze on the rusty iron bar before him. With a sigh, he leaned back, slumping weakly against the bar behind him.

Death Node—

In other words, his time of death: June 23rd, 1997.

He died on that day at Feitan's hands.

Then he was reborn at this point in time, right when he first transmigrated—June 7th, 1996.

Without a doubt, he had been given a chance to start over.

But the Death Node branded onto him would not disappear just because of his rebirth.

If he couldn't destroy the "Death Node" before June 22nd, 1997, his heart would instantly shatter into pieces, returning him to the embrace of death.

The way to destroy the Death Node was to kill the one who created it with his own hands before the original time of death arrived, thereby canceling out the 'X' symbol on the back of his left hand.

In other words, he had to kill Feitan—who was completely unaware of all this—with his own hands within one year.

Only then could he break the curse of the Death Node.

"One year, huh..."

Moro let out a long breath. Thinking of those black hands gripping his heart tightly, he felt an eerie resemblance to being stabbed in the heart by Kurapika's Oath Sword.

Death Node or not.

Whether he could destroy it was a problem for later. It was still better than dying outright.

Besides...

Moro glanced at the level symbol at the center of his Growth Rings.

Although he couldn't yet determine the exact function of this level symbol, it probably wasn't anything bad.

Anyway, as long as he found a way to turn Lv.1 into Lv.2, he could test its effects.

For now, let's deal with the immediate problem.

Moro pulled his thoughts together and cast a glance at the rusty iron bar.

The truck carrying them would arrive at a mental hospital built on a mountain in a few hours.

On the surface, it was a mental hospital, but behind the scenes, it dealt in human trafficking and organ trade.

Yes.

From the moment they were locked in the cage, Moro and the others had been brutally branded as livestock.