In? Lend me 10.8 billion

A plane belonging to the Hunter Association had been parked in a clearing in the forest.

The atmosphere was much more subdued compared to when they arrived.

Only Su Wu, Maro, and the auxiliary examiner boarded the airship.

Of course, Hutori, who was still breathing, was dragged onto the airship as well.

The airship ascended into the sky, and the forest below gradually shrank.

Su Wu sat by the window, looking down, and saw the non-human siblings standing at the edge of the continent before leaping into the sea.

They floated on the surface of the water, propelled away by the waves.

"My lord, please have this," Maro offered a cup of medicine and a large plate of sweets.

Having him follow behind had visibly improved the comfort of his life.

Especially since he could spit out gold coins.

Two hundred million Geni was equivalent to ten million RMB.

A nanny who didn't ask for a salary and even paid ten million RMB out of pocket – no one would believe it if he told them.

"Speaking of money..." Su Wu pulled out his phone and dialed one of the few (only two) numbers in his contact list.

The call was answered quickly.

"What, you miss us already after being apart for such a short time?" the voice on the other end asked with a smile.

Su Wu ignored the question and spoke in a relaxed tone. "Hey, Pampas, can I borrow 10.8 billion Geni? I'll pay you back later."

There was a moment of silence on the other end.

"Huh? What are you talking about? Strange, the signal in Meteor City is as bad as ever..." the man's voice was full of confusion.

"Beep beep--"

The call was abruptly hung up.

"...Ah, Pampas can't produce that much money either," Su Wu sighed, looking at his phone.

That made sense. If he asked someone to borrow five hundred million RMB in real life, they'd probably think he was crazy.

"What a hassle... If 10.8 billion is too much, then 800 million would be fine too..." Su Wu put away his phone, leaned back on the sofa, and tilted his head back.

At least he could buy Ugly Treasure first.

Even though Ugly Treasure looked like a giant purple-black caterpillar, it was useful.

How much could he borrow if he used his Hunter License as collateral?

Sometime after the airship departed, Hisoka regained consciousness.

Looking at the heavily damaged environment around him, a look of innocent confusion appeared on his face.

Huh? This...

Was it him?

Come to think of it, after fighting with that little apple with the beautiful eyes... what happened?

Was it the other person's Nen ability? It could not only attack but also cause people to lose their minds.

"...They've already left..." His tone held no hint of regret or anger; he was surprisingly calm.

But beneath the calm, there seemed to be a suppressed emotion.

His inner world contained a large doll box, filled with various dolls of all shapes and sizes, including one with a cross on its forehead.

Now, a doll with white hair, blue eyes, and black tattoos was also placed in the box.

"I look forward to our next meeting, my delicious little apple. Strive to become an even more delicious fruit, and please don't become rotten."

"...Come pick me up in the forest near Ajeen," he said, pulling out his phone and calling someone.

He took two steps forward, his body uncharacteristically feeling the soreness of fatigue, and his spirits were low.

His expressionless face, as if utterly exhausted, made him look more like a normal person.

After walking a distance, he stopped and his gaze fell upon a tree.

[Keep pushing yourself! Strive to become a person with more strength and value. Don't become a rotten person!]

Hisoka stared at the words carved into the tree, his expression a little stunned: ...

"I wonder when Hisoka will see the message I carved for him..."

"His expression must be hilarious."

Su Wu sat on the airship, his tone laced with a hint of regret and a mischievous glint in his eyes.

Hisoka always told others, "Become a more delicious fruit." Now, he was telling Hisoka, "Strive to become a person with more strength." This was a case of giving him a taste of his own medicine!

"Did you leave a message for him too, my lord?" The golden-haired figure, who had been standing behind Su Wu, chose not to sit despite the available seats. He couldn't help but ask upon hearing Su Wu's muttering.

"That's how it is," Su Wu said lazily.

In this World, the characters he was most familiar with were those who appeared in the original work. As someone who had only watched the old version (without finishing it), hadn't watched the new version, but had read tons of fanfiction, the ones who left the deepest impression on him were Hisoka, Killua, Gon, and Illumi.

This was because they appeared very frequently in most fanfiction.

As for the others... he hadn't seen the later parts, and they generally didn't appear much in fanfiction either. He'd only seen videos, so he wasn't very familiar with them.

This familiarity made his attitude towards these characters much better than towards strangers.

After all, the chance to travel across dimensions and meet the actual characters was incredibly rare! If he told anyone, wouldn't a whole bunch of otaku and weebs be green with envy?

The members of The Phantom Troupe were similar. He'd only seen videos and wasn't very familiar with them, so his attitude towards them was just average.

It took another week for the airship to reach the continent where the final venue was located. Life on the airship was incredibly boring.

So, as soon as the airship landed, Su Wu couldn't wait to get off.

The final venue was a hotel that had been booked by the Hunter Association.

An old man with very little hair but tied into a ponytail, long eyebrows and earlobes, and a lot of beard; a man in a suit with blond hair, a smiling face; and a short man in a suit who looked like a bald egg? were already waiting at the hotel entrance.

The old man, vigorous despite his age; the smiling, dark fellow who seemed ready to usurp at any moment; and... a mascot?

That was Su Wu's first impression of the three, but he quickly recognized the old man as the chairman of the Hunter Association, and the bald egg seemed to be an examiner too? As for the blond guy who was always smiling...

He felt like he was the same type as Pampas, another Manipulation-type? In any case, he didn't look like a good person.

"This is Chairman Netero of the Hunter Association, and this is Vice Chairman Pariston, sir..." Rui Di, who was following behind Su Wu, inexplicably began to explain.

"Welcome to the final venue. I heard there were some accidents during the exam, so it's great that anyone was able to pass."

"And it's even more surprising and delightful that two of them are newcomers participating in the exam for the first time."

Chairman Netero's smiling demeanor made him look like an ordinary, kind old man, but he was the chairman of the Hunter Association.

Moreover... in the Six Eyes' view, the man's life energy was so vigorous that it made others seem insignificant.

"What kind of accidents happened? I heard one of you was involved. Can you tell us in detail?" the blond Pariston asked with a smile, his voice gentle.

"I don't know, it was like this and that, and then everyone pretty much died. Life is such a fragile thing," Su Wu replied, shaking his head with a look of contemplation.

After all, he had left early and hadn't witnessed Hisoka's killing spree.

Your Honor, I'm truly not a studio novel; studio novels wouldn't be this bleak, I'm insulting the studios. I'm just bad at naming things and writing copy.