A shift in roles

A phone call from his companion exposed Shalnark's location to Menchi and Ryan.

Knowing he could no longer stay hidden, Shalnark simply answered the call, only to be left rather exasperated by a few words from his companion.

Sheila's soft voice came from the Red Little Devil Phone. "You'll need it sometime soon, right? That Hunter License... Hmm, I want to get one too."

"Hard to say, but it never hurts to be prepared."

Shalnark stepped out from behind the structure concealing him and stood on the rooftop. "Besides, my 'duties' are a pretty good match for the 'license.' If I can get one, it'll come with plenty of benefits."

"True. Good luck, then. I'm going to look for a 'way out.' Talk to you later."

"Wait..."

Click.

Before Shalnark could finish, Sheila hung up.

He raised a hand to rub his brow, then tried calling Sheila back.

But the call would not connect.

There was no phone signal anywhere inside these unknown ruins.

The reason Sheila's call had gotten through was probably that she had triggered the effect of "asking for help."

"Getting lost" → "asking for help" → "finding a way out"

Those were the stages of Sheila's ability, Adventurer's Path.

Whenever she wanted to find something, she would lose her way during the journey, and might even encounter danger.

Once she reached that stage, she would get a chance to "ask for help." Only after completing the entire process of "asking for help" could she possibly find her final "way out."

Shalnark thought this Nen Ability was both troublesome and strange. Yet Sheila always activated it without even realizing it, so she was constantly getting lost somewhere.

Shaking his head slightly, Shalnark gave up on calling her back, then openly revealed himself to everyone below.

"I'm not