Chapter Summaries

Gehrman woke in Meteor City in the world of Hunter x Hunter, where he learned he had taken over the life of a professional assassin with a Nen ability that created weapons from the grudges of his victims. Machi led him to meet Chrollo as the Phantom Troupe stood at the height of its power.

• Gehrman woke beneath a gray full moon and followed Machi toward an abandoned bell tower after she said Chrollo wanted to see him.
• Gehrman realized he had been transported to the world of Hunter x Hunter and resolved to follow events carefully and avoid drawing attention.
• Gehrman recovered memories of his past as a Meteor City criminal and professional assassin, along with his Nen ability, Hunter Badge.
• Gehrman recalled that the Hunter Badge had created a Meat Saw, a Short-barreled Hand Cannon, and a Lantern from the grudges of people he killed.
• Gehrman remembered that Machi was a founding member of the Phantom Troupe and that Chrollo led the powerful criminal organization.

Gelman arrived at an unprecedented Phantom Troupe gathering after passing Chrollo’s two trials, only to find himself facing all twelve members. He wanted no part in the Troupe’s crimes, but knew he could not safely refuse them.

• Machi led Gelman into the Bell Tower, where all twelve Phantom Troupe members had gathered.
• Gelman recognized the Troupe and recalled that the original Gelman had joined after Machi recommended him and Chrollo required two trials.
• Gelman considered why he could neither reveal that he had replaced the original Gelman nor refuse to join the Troupe.
• Gelman and the Phantom Troupe silently sized each other up for about a minute.

Gelman officially became the Phantom Troupe’s No. 8 member after passing its trials, and learned that the group’s next activity had been moved up to 1998. After the gathering ended, Machi began tattooing the Spider emblem on his thigh.

• Chrollo confirmed Gelman had passed the trials and explained the Phantom Troupe’s loose rules and expectations for gatherings.
• Gelman decided to conceal his reluctance to join because Pakunoda’s memory-reading ability made a sudden refusal seem suspicious.
• Chrollo announced a group activity for the following year and said he would provide the time and place in advance.
• Hisoka teased Chrollo, then followed him out when Chrollo ended the gathering; the other members left soon afterward.
• Machi asked where Gelman wanted his Spider tattoo, and he chose his thigh.
• Machi rapidly stabbed needles into Gelman’s thigh, beginning to form the Twelve-Legged Spider tattoo.

Machi tattooed Gelman with the Phantom Troupe’s spider mark and began passing Chrollo’s orders to him. After she left, Gelman tested his Hunter Badge weapons in a forest and brought down a Magic Wolf, then drove his Meat Saw into its abdomen.

• Machi used Nen Thread to tattoo a Twelve-Legged Spider with the number 8 on Gelman’s thigh, and Gelman examined his Hunter Badge’s displayed stats with Gyo.
• Machi warned Gelman that her intuition sensed disrespectful thoughts, exchanged phone numbers with him, and left the Bell Tower.
• Gelman saved Machi’s number as “Bad Woman,” waited for the Phantom Troupe to leave, then materialized his Hunter Badge and went into a forest to test his weapons.
• Gelman lured a Magic Wolf with his aura, shot it with his Blunderbuss, and wounded it severely.
• Gelman approached the convulsing Magic Wolf and plunged his Meat Saw into its abdomen.

Gelman tested his weapons against a pack of Magic Wolves, gained Grudge, and increased his Vitality Constitution. He then used the Lantern to teleport to the Dark Continent, where the unnatural silence left him wary.

• Gelman killed more than twenty Magic Wolves with his Blunderbuss and Meat Saw, though one bit his arm before he drove off the surviving wolves.
• Gelman used the accumulated Grudge to raise his Vitality Constitution by 1 point and his Spiritual Vision Pressure by 1 point.
• Gelman summoned the Lantern and chose to teleport to the Dark Continent, accepting the risks his former self had tried to avoid.
• A Messenger Imp transported Gelman to a strange wilderness on the Dark Continent, and the Lantern began a one-minute cooldown.
• Gelman sensed that the aura-filled landscape was unnaturally silent and stopped before exploring.

Germain tested the Lantern’s teleportation by spending a minute on the Dark Continent, then returned to the forest with increased Spiritual Vision Pressure and the negative Trait Kleptomania. After deciding to build his strength before going back, he reached the town of Cross and noticed a girl whose appearance seemed familiar.

• Germain teleported to the Dark Continent, where giant red-shelled creatures charged at him, and escaped when the Lantern’s cooldown ended.
• Germain returned to the dark forest and discovered that using the Lantern had raised his Spiritual Vision Pressure and given him the Kleptomania Trait.
• Germain named his fixed Lantern destination “Dark Continent: Arid River Valley” and resolved to gain more strength and find a team before attempting another trip.
• Germain spent the night in the Bell Tower, washed in a mountain lake at dawn, and traveled to Cross for a meal.
• The restaurant proprietress flirted with Germain, and he noticed a blonde girl with twin tails wearing a wine-red Lolita dress who appeared to be watching him.

Gelman realized Biscuit was tracking him for the Ruby of Promise and tried to avoid getting drawn into her pursuit. Biscuit confronted him about his connection to the Phantom Troupe after recognizing the mark his previous self had left behind.

• Gelman suspected the disguised girl was Biscuit and ignored her attempts to get his attention as he left the restaurant.
• Biscuit followed Gelman, and he deduced that she wanted the Ruby of Promise he had stolen and given to Chrollo.
• A pickpocket stole Gelman's wallet, but Gelman secretly stole two wallets from the man and kept the cash.
• Biscuit accused Gelman of stealing, and he claimed he had handed the ruby to a broker and it should already have been sold.
• Biscuit asked whether the broker was the Phantom Troupe, explaining that Gelman had marked the theft scene with the troupe's symbol and his assassin-world mark.

Biscuit tracked Gelman to Cross Town, recovered the Promise Ruby through a friend, and warned him that a team of assassins was following him. Intrigued by Gelman’s behavior, she left him to face the assassins while secretly watching from nearby.

• Biscuit explained how she followed clues about Gelman and showed him that she had bought the Promise Ruby on the black market.
• Biscuit said she had no intention of attacking Gelman for the bounty and led him out of the alley hand in hand.
• Gelman told Biscuit that three people were following them, and she revealed that four assassins were tracking him, including a hidden leader using Zetsu.
• Biscuit compared Gelman’s quiet conduct with the bloody scenes involving Feitan, Uvogin, and Phinks, and said she was curious about his secret.
• Biscuit pretended to say goodbye near her home, then hid nearby to watch Gelman.

Gelman used a staged drinking binge to lure the assassins into attacking him at the inn, then fought them in the room and hallway. He killed two, while the third assassin remained at large.

• Gelman rented room 207 and watched for the four assassins following him, but he could not identify the cautious fourth one.
• Gelman poured beer onto the sheets, crushed the cans, and suppressed his aura to make the assassins think he had fallen asleep.
• Two assassins entered room 207 and shot at the bed, but Gelman ambushed one from beneath it and shot him with his Blunderbuss.
• Gelman chased the surviving assassin into the hallway, where the third assassin attacked with five Nen Balls.
• Gelman destroyed a light fixture to plunge part of the hallway into darkness, then killed the second assassin with his Meat Saw after evading his Brass Knuckles attack.

Germann defeated the Four Assassin Gang after killing the assassins and exposing their leader disguised as Biscuit. He accepted Biscuit’s suggestion to find another place to rest, first collecting money from the assassins’ bodies.

• Germann used the Second Assassin’s corpse as a shield, then charged the Third Assassin and killed him with his Meat Saw and Blunderbuss.
• Germann faced eight approaching people controlled by a Manipulation System user and spotted someone posing as Biscuit.
• Germann shot the disguised Biscuit, revealing the short Assassin Leader, and killed him with a second shot.
• The real Biscuit emerged from Zetsu and asked how Germann had identified the impostor; Germann explained that he had decided to shoot anyone who approached.
• Biscuit suggested they find another place to rest, while Germann searched the assassins’ bodies and collected more than twenty thousand Jenny.

After breakfast with Biscuit, Gelman explained that he wanted a life beyond assassination and the Phantom Troupe. Biscuit urged him to take the Hunter Exam and offered to guide him to it, leaving him considering a new path.

• Gelman reviewed his improved stats and joined Biscuit for breakfast at the Luxury Hotel.
• Gelman told Biscuit that killing for work and living for the Phantom Troupe both felt boring and limiting.
• Biscuit gave Gelman her Hunter License to explain the privileges and freedom a license could provide.
• Biscuit told Gelman the next Hunter Exam would begin January 7 and offered to find the exam site and take him there.
• Biscuit argued that Gelman would take the Hunter Exam sooner or later and could not return to his old life after wanting something beyond killing.

After a month of surviving attacks and strengthening his abilities, Gelman returned to the Dark Continent to continue exploring. He arrived in the Arid River Valley, where he witnessed a Poison Mist Centipede subdue and feed on the Meat Sucking Bugs, then stepped toward it.

• Biscuit helped Gelman register for the Hunter Exam and promised to give him the venue location, while Gelman saved her contact as "Little Grandma."
• During the following month, Gelman survived frequent attacks by assassins and Hunters and gained 13 Stat Points and 13 points of Spiritual Vision Pressure.
• Gelman traveled from an abandoned mine shaft to the Dark Continent’s Arid River Valley, where the lantern displayed a four-minute cooldown.
• Gelman saw a Poison Mist Centipede release black mist that incapacitated the Meat Sucking Bugs, then watched it eat one.
• Gelman identified the centipede’s poison as a likely threat and stepped toward it.

Gelman fought the Poison Mist Centipede with his Meat Saw, Blunderbuss, and a Remote Bomb, but the injured creature survived. When a Gale Ripple Moth arrived and blew away the centipede’s poisonous mist, Gelman used a climbing rope to drag the moth into its prey, leaving the two beasts crashed together.

• The Poison Mist Centipede detected Gelman, and he severed one of its legs before blasting one of its mandibles with his Blunderbuss.
• Gelman retreated from the centipede’s poisonous mist and hurled a Remote Bomb into it, badly injuring the creature without killing it.
• A Gale Ripple Moth arrived and used the wind from its wings to disperse the Poison Mist Centipede’s poisonous mist.
• Gelman realized he could exploit the Dark Continent’s food chain and threw a hooked climbing rope around the Gale Ripple Moth’s neck.
• Gelman yanked the Gale Ripple Moth into the Poison Mist Centipede, and the two beasts crashed together.

Gelman killed the Poison Mist Centipede and Gale Ripple Moth, collected their spoils, and returned from the Dark Continent with new Grudge Implements and traits. On the morning of the 26th, he tried to sell the centipede’s venom at an underground black market, leaving after the merchant’s first offer and forcing him to call Gelman back to negotiate.

• Gelman finished off the Poison Mist Centipede and Gale Ripple Moth, then absorbed their Grudge to gain 2 Stat Points, 2 Spiritual Vision Pressure, a Lantern, and a Flamethrower.
• Gelman collected a piece of the Gale Ripple Moth’s wing, venom from the Poison Mist Centipede, and a color-changing stone from the Meat Sucking Bug before teleporting back to the human world.
• Meat Sucking Bugs emerged from the soil in the Arid River Valley and fed on the Gale Ripple Moth’s eggs.
• Gelman found that his Spiritual Vision Pressure had risen to 38 and that he had gained the Beast Buster and Kleptomania traits.
• Gelman slept in the mine, then took the venom to a nearby underground black market to sell it.
• Gelman rejected the black-market merchant’s offer and turned to leave, prompting the merchant to call him back to negotiate.

Gelman sold venom and a moth wing for a total of 1.4 million Jenny, then contacted Biscuit to learn where the Hunter Exam would be held. Biscuit accepted his color-changing stone as a gift but said the venue’s passage would only open when the Guide gave the password.

• Gelman sold the black-market dealer a syringe of venom for one million Jenny, accepting half immediately and the rest two days later.
• Gelman sold the Gale Ripple Moth's severed wing in another city for four hundred thousand Jenny and booked a presidential suite.
• Biscuit messaged Gelman to say she had good news about the Hunter Exam, then teased him for not replying.
• Gelman sent Biscuit videos of the Sucking Meat Zhu Worm's Color-Changing Stone, and Biscuit called him to thank him for the gift.
• Gelman asked Biscuit for the exact exam venue, and she explained that the Guide had to say the password before staff would open the passage.

Gelman traveled to Anisha City for the Hunter Exam, where Biscuit’s disciple Wing agreed to guide him to the venue. An assassin tried to run Gelman down outside the church, but Gelman dodged the car and suddenly appeared in its passenger seat.

• Biscuit told Gelman that her disciple Wing would guide him to the Hunter Exam, and she asked Gelman to explain the gemstone he had given her.
• Gelman traveled by bus to Anisha City and met Wing at the station.
• Gelman insisted on going straight to the exam venue, and Wing led him to a church across a park and bridge.
• A driver deliberately swerved a Beetle toward Gelman, who calmly identified the attack as an assassination attempt.
• Gelman dodged the charging car and appeared in its front passenger seat, startling the driver.

Gelman reached the Hunter Exam site after leaving an attempted assassin for the authorities and receiving his candidate badge in a cemetery. There, Dopa approached him, apparently intending to target him as a newcomer.

• Gelman and Wing left an armed driver for the Hunter Association Hunters to arrest after the driver tried to assassinate Gelman.
• Wing led Gelman to a church, where Gelman gave him a magical gem that Biscuit had requested.
• A priest opened a back door for Gelman, who followed a brick path through fog into a cemetery where the exam candidates had gathered.
• Beanpaste Man gave Gelman candidate number 233 and told him to wear the badge during the exam.
• Dopa introduced himself to Gelman, who recognized him as the Rookie Killer known for making newcomers fail.

Gelman deterred Dopa and encountered Hisoka before examiner Izunabi began the first phase of the Hunter Exam with a timed card-retrieval test. Izunabi revealed that the clock had already been running for twenty minutes, prompting the examinees to protest.

• Gelman pulled a blunderbuss on Dopa, who backed away and abandoned his plan to trick Gelman into drinking laxative.
• Gelman noticed Hisoka near a gravestone, but ignored Hisoka's silent attempt to communicate.
• Izunabi arrived and announced that the 286th Hunter Exam had officially begun.
• Izunabi explained that examinees had to retrieve one of 360 cards hidden around Anisha City within 360 minutes.
• Izunabi revealed that the clock had started twenty minutes earlier, leaving 340 cards for 352 examinees, and many examinees protested while some set off to search.

Gelman avoided Hisoka after the first Hunter Exam and found a target card in Anisha City. On his return to the church, Dopa approached him while two hostile accomplices entered the range of his En.

• Izunabi admitted he had deliberately provoked the examinees, and most of them left the cemetery while Gelman and Izunabi stayed behind.
• Hisoka questioned Gelman about the Hunter Exam and tried to attach his aura to him, but Gelman noticed and asked Hisoka to keep their connection secret.
• Gelman searched Anisha City for a target card, found one behind a shrub with a child's help, and gave the child 1,000 Jenny.
• Gelman ate lunch, returned toward the church, and encountered Dopa, whose two accomplices approached within the range of Gelman's En.

Gelman defeated Dopa, Grita, and Ba Peng, took their money, and forced them to drink Dopa’s laxatives before returning to the cemetery behind the church. There, he found several dozen examinees gathered as Izunabi waited with a stack of Hunter Association cards.

• Gelman dodged Grita’s poisoned needles, killed Ba Peng’s snakes, and caught the fleeing Dopa.
• Gelman knocked Grita down and made Ba Peng surrender, then demanded all three hand over their Jenny.
• Gelman took Dopa’s laxative drinks and forced Dopa, Grita, and Ba Peng to drink one can each before sending them to find a restroom.
• Gelman discarded Dopa’s shoulder bag, entered the church, and returned through its back door to the fog-shrouded cemetery.
• Gelman arrived at the gathering place, where several dozen examinees had assembled and Izunabi sat beneath a tree beside a stack of Hunter Association cards.