The airship glided above a sea of clouds.
An odd silence hung over the first-class lounge.
Leorio and Kurapika kept their voices low as they analyzed the final test.
Gon hovered beside Luo Ye, gesturing excitedly, his face alight.
Only Killua was different.
He huddled alone by the window, staring at the unchanging clouds outside, gloom hanging over him.
That strange man at the dock, Gittarackur.
Killua had been like this ever since he saw him.
Luo Ye took it all in.
Tsk. The pressure from his big brother really was etched into his DNA.
Still, that was good. Pressure made things fun.
The lounge door opened.
Netero, chairman of the Hunter Association, walked in with a genial smile.
Beans followed behind him.
"Young men, are you enjoying the trip?"
Netero's gaze swept over Luo Ye and Killua.
"You two look rather bored. How about playing a game with an old man to pass the time?"
Gon's eyes lit up at once.
"A game? What kind of game?"
"It's very simple."
Netero pulled a volleyball from inside his clothes.
"Before the airship reaches its destination, whichever of you two manages to take this ball from me wins."
He paused, then offered a condition no one could have expected.
"The winner gets a Hunter License on the spot."
A deathly silence fell over the lounge.
Leorio and Kurapika shot to their feet.
A Hunter License on the spot?
The reward was absurdly generous.
"I'll do it!"
Killua was the first to react.
The gloom cleared from his eyes, and their light rekindled.
He desperately needed a chance to prove himself.
To prove he could escape that family's shadow.
"Oh?"
Netero watched him with interest.
"You can start whenever you like."
Before his words had faded, Killua moved.
The Zoldyck Family's assassination