Light's Ecstasy

Light was an ambitious Professional Bounty Hunter with a strong utilitarian streak. Once he had identified a target, he did everything in his power to complete the hunt.

After setting his sights on the infamous Ian, he gathered all kinds of intelligence and tracked him here.

Throughout the process, his Hunter License had provided quite a few conveniences.

For example, the emergency call Monica made while fleeing through the mountains had ultimately become valuable intelligence, pointing Light in the right direction.

That was why Light had taken over the police dispatch.

He could have requested police assistance and had them send a large force to serve as cannon fodder, drawing Ian out and quickly pinpointing his location.

But Light was not that deranged.

Before a qualified Nen Ability user, let alone ordinary people, even Killua, who had yet to learn Nen, would have had to turn around and run.

Light simply believed that bringing the police along would be equivalent to personally pushing them into a fire pit.

He had no desire to do that. He merely had the police set up a cordon around the scenic area before coming here alone.

The reason he had been delayed until now was that he had spent some time familiarizing himself with the area.

The terrain, the environment.

And the rundown Temple on the mountain, along with the father and son living within it.

He had already looked into all that information.

So when he followed the scent of blood to the Temple, his initial judgment was that the poor father and son had already met a terrible end.

Thus, he used Zetsu to conceal his presence and quietly entered the Temple to investigate.

Yet he found Ian's corpse in the courtyard.

Amid his surprise, he keenly realized that he had been discovered.

A master.

That had been Light's immediate judgment. His first thought had been of the middle-aged monk living in the Temple mentioned in the intelligence, but he had never imagined—

The Nen Ability user who killed Ian was not the Temple's "father," but its "son."

Even so, he still concluded that the boy before him was a master.

After all, anyone capable of killing Ian and detecting his Zetsu could not possibly be weak.

Thus, after seeing Moyu's clumsy Ren, Light instinctively assumed that Moyu was hiding his true abilities.

That left him somewhat helpless.

His hunting target had been Ian.

Since the target was already dead, he naturally had neither motive nor reason to fight Moyu. It was not as though he had eaten too much and had nothing better to do...

His display of sincerity had been meant to make Moyu understand that he was not an enemy, but a Bounty Hunter whose profession was tracking down criminals.

Yet Moyu did not buy it.

Then Light realized that he had guessed wrong again.

"How was that possible!?"

A novice Nen Ability user who had just gotten started and only knew Ren had killed a Nen Ability user who had mastered the four major fundamentals and developed Hatsu?

Only Nen Ability users could understand how utterly fantastical such a thing was...

Just how had this boy managed it!?

Shocked beyond measure, Light immediately developed a deep curiosity.

He desperately wanted to know every detail of how Moyu had killed Ian.

And at that very moment—

Moyu moved. At top speed, he picked up the Hunter License and hurled it with all his strength at the ceiling in front of Light.

"Hmm?"

Light's expression changed. Without hesitation, he leaped into the air and caught the Hunter License.

Was this a joke!?

In a sense, the Hunter License was even more important than his life.

Seeing Light protect the Hunter License, Moyu narrowed his eyes, gripped the small knife he usually used to sharpen pencils, and charged directly at the airborne Light.

Before making his move—

Moyu had considered two possibilities in advance.

If Light showed no reaction to the Hunter License he had thrown, he would decisively jump out the window and flee.

Otherwise, Moyu would make a tentative attack.

That was exactly what he was doing now.

He rushed forward, then stopped!

Moyu drove the small knife toward the space between Light's thighs.

"!!!"

Seeing Moyu actually trying to stab him in the ass with a knife, Light's eye twitched violently.

His tightly closed Aura Nodes abruptly opened, releasing a massive amount of aura that immediately wrapped tightly around every corner of his body.

This was the advanced application technique, Ken.

Then—

Moyu decisively withdrew and backed away.

Light, his entire body covered in dense Nen, landed steadily on the ground without showing any intent to attack.

Even though Moyu had just tried to stab him in the ass with a knife, he had only defended himself without retaliating.

Light's actions finally convinced Moyu that he bore no ill will.

There was no helping it...

Against an opponent who could use Ken so quickly, he would not even have the chance to struggle.

"I believe you. You really are a Professional Hunter."

Moyu tossed away the knife and put on an obedient expression.

Light silently looked at Moyu, his eye still twitching.

Good lord, what the hell was this!!!

Light took a deep breath, and a strained smile slowly appeared on his face. "I believe you too. You really only know Ren..."

Through that brief exchange, Moyu had confirmed that Light truly meant him no harm, while Light had concluded from that knife-to-the-ass attack that Moyu really only knew Ren.

So—

How exactly had Moyu killed Ian?

Along with his curiosity, Light felt a surge of excitement.

No matter what, this boy was unquestionably a genius with terrifying potential!

If he could take him in, he would have a guarantee for reaching Two-Star status in the future!!!

Thinking of this, Light was ecstatic. He did not care in the slightest that Moyu had just tried to stab him in the ass with a knife.

"Let me introduce myself again."

Suppressing the wild joy in his heart, Light put away his Hunter License and said seriously,

"My name is Light Bullworth, a Professional Bounty Hunter. I am currently tracking Ian Archer—the man outside whose neck you snapped."

"Oh."

Moyu nodded.

Light looked at Moyu as though waiting for him to continue.

Yet after responding, Moyu fell silent.

The two stared at each other while Monica, curled up in the corner of the bed, wore a baffled expression.

One second, two seconds, three seconds...

The room became exceptionally quiet.

"?"

Slowly, a question mark seemed to rise over Light's head. His voice was practically squeezed through clenched teeth. "You... aren't planning to say anything?"

"Hmm."

Moyu pondered for a moment, then raised one finger and said calmly, "I have a question for you."

"You may ask, but before that, have you forgotten something? Such as introducing yourself first?"

Light stared fixedly at Moyu.

The intelligence he had gathered before coming here included Moyu's and Hawk's names.

But Light believed that, in a situation like this, introducing themselves to each other was a necessary step.

Because he wanted to make a deal with Moyu.

"My question is..."

Ignoring Light's reminder, Moyu directly asked, "Since you have already confirmed Ian Archer's death, why make things more complicated than they need to be?"

"..."

Light silently looked at Moyu. After a moment, he sighed. "You really are an unlikeable person. How should I put this? Explaining that would be troublesome. It is just... well, I want to make a deal with you."

Hunters were divided into ranks.

From lowest to highest, they were Amateur Hunter, Professional Hunter, One-Star Hunter, Two-Star Hunter, and Three-Star Hunter.

Only by obtaining a license from the Hunter Association could one officially become a Professional Hunter.

After becoming a Professional Hunter, one could increase one's star rank through "achievements."

Within the Hunter Association, star rank represented status, authority, and honor.

Therefore, raising their star rank was one of the lifelong pursuits of most Professional Hunters.

Light was one of them.

As a Professional Bounty Hunter, his path to earning achievements naturally lay in tracking down criminals.

Light was currently striving for One-Star status, and that was his motive for proposing a deal to Moyu.

"Oh?"

Moyu slightly raised his brow. Surprised by Light's words, he asked, "What do you want to trade with me?"

"I need the achievement for capturing Ian Archer. For that, I am willing to pay you five million Jenie. Of course, Ian Archer's bounty will also belong to you in full. What do you say?"

Light frankly stated his needs.

To obtain Ian's achievement, he had spent more than half a month tracking him down. Furthermore, he was now at the critical stage of striving for One-Star status, so he truly did not want to give up like this.

Thus, he could only swallow his pride and use a "trade" to obtain the achievement for killing Ian from Moyu.

Hearing the terms Light proposed, Moyu's gaze gradually turned strange.

Light was willing to pay five million Jenie for the achievement of killing Ian, which showed just how urgently he needed it.

Yet Light could have simply used his superior strength to take Ian's corpse away and then publicly claim that he had captured and killed Ian. That way, he could claim the achievement without spending a single Jenie.

If he were ruthless enough, he could even kill Moyu and Monica here, turning the matter into a secret no one else knew.

But Light had not done that.

This guy—

Was a "good person."

After several seconds of silence, Moyu suddenly asked, "Light, you're an Enhancer, right?"

"Yes. Why do you ask?"

Light admitted it readily.

The requirement to advance from One-Star to Two-Star was to personally train a One-Star Professional Hunter.

He had already regarded Moyu as the key to his future pursuit of Two-Star status, so naturally, he would not hide anything from Moyu.

If he were not afraid of putting Moyu off, he would have directly suggested taking Moyu as his disciple.

"Nothing."

Moyu shook his head and said calmly, "Back to the deal. I have no objection to the twenty-million-Jenie bounty for Ian Archer going to me. As for the achievement, I have different conditions."

"..."

Light's gaze flickered slightly.

He had deliberately avoided mentioning the amount of Ian's bounty because he had hoped Moyu would readily agree to exchange the achievement for five million Jenie.

But he had not expected Moyu to know the exact amount of Ian's bounty...

"Let's hear them."

Light looked at Moyu.

Moyu raised three fingers and slowly said, "I have three conditions. First, five million is too little. Double it. Second, be my sparring partner for ten days. Third, owe me a favor."

Moyu stated three conditions in one breath without blushing or missing a beat.

Of course, he had not expected the achievement attached to Ian to be enough to make Light agree to all three conditions. What he truly wanted was for Light to become his sparring partner.

As for the first condition of doubling the five million, as well as the third condition of owing him a favor, they were only meant to make it easier for Light to agree to the second condition of serving as his sparring partner.

"Your three conditions..."

Light wore a serious expression, but inwardly, he was already shouting with wild joy.

Ten whole days as a sparring partner!!!

It was like being handed a pillow just as he was getting sleepy.

He was already imagining himself displaying teaching skills that would make Moyu admire him during those ten days of sparring, followed by Moyu voluntarily begging him to take him as a disciple.

Moyu calmly watched Light, already prepared to remove the other two conditions while waiting for an answer.

However—

Light solemnly said, "Very reasonable. I agree."

From hearing the conditions to agreeing to them, he did not hesitate in the slightest.

"???"

Moyu froze for a moment.

This was not how the script was supposed to go?

A new week—please vote with recommendation tickets and monthly tickets!!! Um, well... this chapter was a combined two-in-one... It has been too long since I last wrote, and without an outline, my efficiency has been terrible. I will try to improve later and set a stable update time. But what is making me even more miserable right now is the bonus chapters owed to the alliance leader... Tears.