Going Above the 200th Floor

Several months passed.

A great deal changed over those months.

Lucky's bookstore had initially become quite famous for introducing various fighters and offering commentary.

But the business was quickly copied. Its only real technical aspect was information on the fighters.

And that was not difficult to obtain.

Then came various rankings, but those were soon copied as well.

Lucky's book business continued, and the books he plagiarized earned some recognition, but they never truly became wildly popular.

Illiteracy remained a problem.

Later, Lucky changed his approach. He recorded himself telling stories and sold the tapes. To his surprise, they immediately became a huge hit.

They became another booming form of entertainment at the Heavenly Arena.

After all, television had not yet developed on a massive scale.

Some Martial Artists even believed the "martial arts" in those books were real and came looking to learn them.

Of course, those effects were relatively minor for Lucky.

The truly significant development was that some Nen Ability users, after listening to the stories or reading the books, could not help wondering whether those "martial arts" were Nen Abilities.

They mistook internal energy for "Nen."

Then they could not resist trying it out. As a result, some martial arts were actually replicated.

The most typical example was the Six Meridian Divine Sword, an ability that Emission users could easily master.

It made Lucky a tidy sum, but pirated copies soon appeared.

Lucky could not help sighing. Making money through legitimate means in this world was simply too difficult.

Inside Lucky's bookstore at that moment—

A burly "man" was reading Demi-Gods and Semi-Devils.

She was deeply captivated by a skill called the Eight Wastelands and Six Harmonies Sole Sovereign Skill.

Ever since learning Nen, she had focused on cultivating Transmutation. Dissatisfied with her appearance, she wanted to use Transmutation to change her physique.

Of course, that could not be achieved overnight. And even if she changed her physique, she still needed to preserve a body capable of enduring relentless training.

She felt that this "martial art" had given her tremendous inspiration.

The rejuvenation and recovery of power described in the book seemed to her entirely like a Vow and Restriction.

Could she apply some of its effects to her Transmutation ability?

On the 150th Floor, where Lucky worked.

He had been quite busy lately. The biennial Fighting Tournament would begin in another month.

Martial Artists from all over the world had come to the Heavenly Arena to take part in the grand event that was the Fighting Tournament.

Naturally, such a competition also attracted tourists from around the world.

In this match, Lucky encountered an "acquaintance."

A woman named Biscuit Krueger.

Naturally, she did not look like the little girl from the anime. Instead, she was extremely muscular and looked like a grown man.

Lucky had expected to encounter disciples of the Heart Source School once the Fighting Tournament began, but he had not expected to meet Biscuit.

She was a "mom-type" character in the anime.

But judging from her current state, she had yet to fully develop her Nen Ability.

Lucky could sense her Nen. She was clearly a Nen Ability user.

Of course, Biscuit also glanced at Lucky.

A referee so young, and a Nen Ability user too!

No wonder.

It seemed he should apply to become a referee above the 200th Floor.

During this time, the martial arts moves Lucky had copied had become too numerous to count.

Next, he needed to observe Nen Ability battles at close range and see whether he could copy combat-oriented Nen Abilities.

As for the outcome of this match, there was no need to ask.

Biscuit ended the fight with a single punch.

Even in her youth, Biscuit was no weakling.

Over this period, he had already seen quite a few Nen Ability users.

The disciples of renowned Martial Arts Schools were basically all Nen Ability users.

There were far more Nen Ability users than he had imagined.

For this Fighting Tournament, Lucky had also received word that Netero, the founder of the Heart Source School and chairman of the Hunter Association, would attend.

Biscuit had already appeared. Should he go make contact?

But first, he should apply to become a referee above the 200th Floor.

There were fewer than 150 referees above the 200th Floor in total.

Only Nen Ability users could serve in the role, so their numbers were far smaller.

The evaluators were one of the twenty chief referees. Since Barn Frank was Lucky's adoptive father, he had to avoid suspicion.

Lucky's assessment attracted considerable attention.

Besides the referees, there were also Martial Artists with acquaintances at the Heavenly Arena or jobs there.

Lucky's reputation did not stem solely from becoming the youngest referee.

It also came from the influence of his "plagiarized works."

Basically, everyone who knew about Nen believed Lucky had to be a Nen Ability user.

Now they wanted to know whether he had mastered the "Nen Abilities" he wrote about.

All twenty chief referees showed up for Lucky's assessment.

His evaluator was named Bellamy Byron.

An Emission user, he was also a Nen Ability user who had mastered the Six Meridian Divine Sword.

Of course, Lucky had only heard of it and had never truly seen it.

He had no idea what it was really like.

He guessed it might be similar to Franklin of the Phantom Troupe.

"The longer you can last against me, the better. The longer you last, the higher your authority will be."

A chief referee naturally would not be an ordinary Nen Ability user.

Lucky remembered that this chief referee belonged to a Martial Arts School skilled in finger techniques and pressure-point strikes.

Some things existed in this world as well.

Lucky stepped into the arena.

Come to think of it, this was probably his first time fighting a Nen Ability user.

There was also a referee for this assessment, mainly to prevent accidents. Lucky's adoptive father, Barn Frank, filled that role.

"To have mastered Nen at your age, your talent is extraordinary," Bellamy praised Lucky.

Nen was not easy to master. Even through the orthodox method, the fastest cases still required a week.

Lucky had once been an insignificant nobody, known only as Barn's adopted son.

Only recently had he risen to fame, and people discovered that he was also a Nen Ability user.

Young Nen Ability users were not unheard of, but they were exceedingly rare. Whenever one appeared, they were unquestionably a one-in-ten-thousand genius.

Barn gave the signal to begin.

Bellamy said, "I'll give you the chance to make the first move."

Even though he considered Lucky a genius, he did not believe Lucky could be very strong yet.

Age was also an extremely important factor.

Lucky, meanwhile, was considering whether he should go all out.

He could conceal a little of his strength.

A mass of crimson Nen emerged around Lucky, and a form appeared on his shoulder.

A fiery red bird appeared on Lucky's shoulder. It was Phoenix.

"Oh, a Nen Beast?" Nen Beast abilities were common, but they were not so easy to develop, since they involved abilities from several different categories.