An Unexpected Visitor: Pro Hunter Satotz

The next morning, Leo ate some dried beast meat to replenish his strength, then left the palace and headed toward the coast.

Now that he had reached level 23, the life energy required to level up had become enormous.

After half a year of hunting, there were few large prey left in the forest, and his leveling speed had inevitably slowed.

Since that was the case, Leo no longer obsessed over leveling up quickly.

Today, he planned to take a trip to the coast. On one hand, he wanted to try hunting marine life—large fish or crustaceans should provide a decent amount of life energy.

On the other hand, he wanted a change of taste. He had eaten nothing but land animals for half a year and was getting sick of them.

He slung his homemade leather pack over his back. Inside were a stone knife, a bone spear, tinder, and some dried rations.

After half a year of use, his leather armor fit him quite well. The bone plates over vital areas could effectively defend against ordinary claws and fangs.

Just as Leo set off for the coast, on the other side of the secret realm...

Satotz, Kaspar, and Selena were cautiously making their way through the forest. Since entering the secret realm, they had already explored quite a few places.

"Mr. Satotz, look at this!"

Kaspar crouched beside a peculiar fern, carefully collecting a sample and placing it into a specialized container.

"This plant is almost extinct in the outside world. I never expected there to be a complete ecological community here!"

The young scholar was as excited as a child, his eyes gleaming behind his glasses.

His backpack was already filled with plant samples, soil samples, and insect specimens.

Selena followed behind him, chewing gum, her right hand constantly resting on the hilt of the short blade at her waist. She warily scanned their surroundings, her brow slightly furrowed.

"Kaspar, you're getting too excited."

"Be more careful," she muttered. "This secret realm is a little strange—we've been walking for nearly two hours since entering, but we've encountered only a handful of creatures. That isn't right."

Satotz, walking at the front, nodded.

The relic hunter wore an impeccable suit. His purple hair was neatly combed, and the lower half of his face bore only two thin mustaches. His sharp eyes surveyed the surroundings.

"Selena is right." Satotz's voice was calm, but wary.

"Judging from the environment, there is ample sunlight, lush vegetation, and no shortage of water. There should be a large number of living creatures here. Yet all we've seen along the way are a few small birds and insects."

He stopped and crouched to inspect the ground.

"And... look at these tracks."

Kaspar and Selena moved closer. There were shallow claw marks on the ground, no longer very distinct, but clearly left by some medium-sized beast.

Strangely, there were no fresh droppings or fur around the tracks, as if the beast had not been active in this area for a long time.

"It's like they were driven away, or..." Selena did not finish, but her meaning was clear.

"Hunted." Satotz rose to his feet.

"If the entire forest is like this, then there is a powerful predator here, or... someone has been hunting systematically."

The three exchanged glances.

If it was the former, they needed to respond carefully. If it was the latter, the situation would be even more complicated—what kind of person would hunt in a secret realm for such a long time?

Natives? Or explorers who had entered before them?

"Keep moving. Stay alert." Satotz made the decision.

They were heading directly toward the palace.

Meanwhile, Leo was on his way to the coast.

He was following a hunting route he often used and knew the surrounding environment like the back of his hand.

When he passed a hillside along the way, he casually destroyed a medium-sized ant nest.

Over the past half year, he had deliberately preserved several ant nests, clearing out only part of them each time before returning to "harvest" them after the colony had rebuilt.

This sustainable method allowed him to steadily obtain small amounts of life energy.

[Life Energy +6.8]

[Level: 23 (13.8%)]

The gain was not much, but it was better than nothing.

Leo continued onward, checking several traps he had set earlier. He successfully caught two wild rabbits and a ground squirrel.

He handled the small prey with practiced ease, skinning them and cutting out the meat within minutes.

"Almost enough." He wrapped the meat in leaves and placed it in his pack before continuing toward the coast.

After walking for about half an hour, Leo suddenly stopped.

There was movement ahead.

It was not the sound of beasts—it was people talking, and more than one person at that.

Leo became alert at once.

There are actually people here! Did they come in from the outside? I wonder how strong they are.

He swiftly concealed himself behind a dense thicket and peered ahead through gaps in the branches.

At the same time, he slowed his breathing and suppressed his presence to the bare minimum.

Half a year of hunting had taught him flawless stealth techniques.

The voices grew clearer.

"Careful, that thing intends to attack!"

"I know! But it's already an endangered species, Selena, don't make a move!"

"Tch, what a pain."

Leo slowly moved forward, as light-footed as a cat. Soon, he saw the source of the voices—

In a clearing in the woods, three people were surrounding a burrowing badger.

Leo recognized the creature. It resembled a badger but was larger, with powerful foreclaws suited for digging. It was ferocious by nature.

The burrowing badger bared its teeth at the three people and let out threatening growls, but it did not attack. It seemed to be wary of something.

Then he looked at the three people.

Purple hair, an impeccable suit, a face without a mouth... Leo's pupils contracted slightly, and even his calm heart stirred with excitement.

Satotz?

The examiner for the first phase of the Hunter Exam—the relic hunter who screened candidates with a marathon?

Leo rapidly recalled the plot of Hunter x Hunter.

Satotz, a Pro Hunter specializing in relic exploration, had a meticulous personality.

In the original story, he was one of the few Hunters who had never fought on screen. His strength was unknown.

As for the other two—the bespectacled young man carried a large backpack and looked like a scholar, while the red-haired woman had a fit build and a short blade at her waist. She was currently wearing a helpless expression as she pushed her half-drawn blade back into its sheath.

"Selena, don't hurt it," Kaspar, the bespectacled man, said urgently.

"If I can't hurt it, what am I supposed to do?" Selena muttered as she sheathed her blade.

Satotz stepped forward. "Let me handle it. I can subdue it."

He raised his right hand, palm facing forward.

Leo was in a state of Zetsu, so he could not sense Nen—but the burrowing badger seemed to sense something. It suddenly grew restless and backed away several steps.

Just as Satotz was about to make a move, his body abruptly froze.

The Pro Hunter then sharply turned his head, his gaze landing precisely on the thicket where Leo was hiding!

"Someone's there!" Satotz's voice suddenly turned cold.

Kaspar and Selena were both startled. They swiftly turned toward the direction Satotz was watching and instantly assumed fighting stances.

Selena drew her blade another half inch, while Kaspar pulled a short metal rod from a side pocket of his backpack.

"Come out now!" Selena shouted sharply. "Or we'll attack!"

Behind the thicket, Leo's heart jolted.

They found me?

How was that possible? With his current stealth ability, even beasts renowned for their sense of smell had difficulty detecting him. And they were at least twenty meters apart, with trees blocking the way...

It was En!

Leo understood in an instant.

Satotz had been maintaining En to stay alert. When Leo hid nearby to observe them, he had leaked the slightest trace of his presence and been detected by Satotz's En.

Since he had been discovered, there was no point in continuing to hide.

Leo took a deep breath, slowly rose to his feet, and raised both hands to show that he was unarmed.

He stepped out from behind the thicket and faced the three of them.

The burrowing badger, which had been preparing to fight desperately under threat, immediately turned and fled the scene the instant it saw Leo.

"Hello. I mean no harm." Leo tried to make his voice sound as calm as possible.

Under the sunlight, Leo's appearance was fully revealed to the three.

He wore a crude cloak stitched together from several animal hides, with leather armor of the same material beneath it. Bone plates were embedded over vital areas.

A stone knife and several bone darts hung from his waist, while a bulging leather pack rested on his back.

His skin had turned wheat-colored from prolonged sun exposure, and there were faint traces of hardship on his face. Yet his eyes were clear and sharp.

He looked young, with a lean, capable build. Every movement carried the alertness and coordination of someone far from ordinary.

Kaspar's eyes widened in surprise. "I never thought someone could have survived in this secret realm until now!"

Selena did not lower her blade. She looked Leo up and down, her eyes full of wariness. "Who are you? How long have you been here?"

Satotz said nothing, but his gaze fell on Leo with almost tangible weight, as though he intended to see through him completely.

Leo could feel those eyes evaluating every detail of him: his stance, breathing, muscle condition, weapon placement...

The scrutiny of a Hunter was as oppressive as a mountain.