Chapter Summaries

Mumuzawa stayed awake thinking about Dio and the two disturbing dreams she had after sleeping for two days. Dio visited her unexpectedly and asked her to arrange an airship to Loi City, while Mumuzawa resolved to investigate Cheadle Yorkshire, whom she suspected might be taking advantage of him.

• Mumuzawa recalled dreaming of her death and of an old, withdrawn life without Dio.
• Dio arrived at Mumuzawa’s room on his Nen Beast after traveling through Kakin without being detected.
• Mumuzawa explained that her Doll ability had not activated, and Dio suspected a Restriction and Pledge was involved.
• Dio asked Mumuzawa to arrange an early airship to Loi City so he could arrive before the 31st.
• After hearing that Dio had run for Vice-Chairman of the Hunter Association to help Cheadle Yorkshire, Mumuzawa suspected Cheadle was using him and decided to investigate.

Dio decided to meet Pariston before Cheadle after returning to reality, then left Kakin for Loi City and promised to think of Mumuzawa more. Meanwhile, Bokushin gave up her Private Soldier position to take a dangerous undercover assignment so she could earn enough to pursue her career plans.

• Dio concluded that Pariston's warning about Cheadle was probably true and decided to meet him first when he reached Loi City.
• Dio told Mumuzawa he could not visit on New Year's Day, and she asked him to think of her more before he departed by airship.
• Bokushin accepted an undercover mission, surrendering her stable position as a prince's Private Soldier for the higher pay.
• Bokushin recalled that she needed money to buy a home and qualify for the first-class administrative officer examination, and blamed losing two million Jenny in Yorknew City for forcing her choice.

Cheadle arrived at the Hunter Association for the Vice-Chairman announcement, exhausted by her search for Dio and the strain of gaining power. After coughing blood, she condemned her own weakness as she waited for the meeting to begin.

• Hunters discussed whether Pariston, Cluck, or Cheadle would become Vice-Chairman as Menchi and Lin Nie headed to the meeting.
• Cheadle entered the building in black, pale and unwell, and recalled the person who had rescued her before disappearing.
• Cheadle returned to Pati City and learned that Dio had taken on responsibilities for her while her father remained cold and distant.
• Cheadle took her seat as the Dog Zodiac and coughed blood after weeks of exhausting herself to gain power.
• Cheadle stared at the blood on her palm and called her weakened self disgusting.

Cheadle struggled to contain her anger and worry over Dio’s disappearance as the Hunter Association gathered to choose its twenty-seventh Vice-Chairman. Netero named Dio for the position, and Dio unexpectedly appeared at the meeting to speak for himself.

• Cheadle recalled that Dio had mentioned Kakin and considered what the Twelfth Prince, Mumuzawa Huikeluo, might have wanted from him.
• Cheadle attended the changeover meeting, where Pariston’s seat remained empty as the proceedings began.
• Cheadle wondered who Netero would appoint Vice-Chairman and hoped Dio would return alive.
• Netero announced that Dio would be the Hunter Association’s twenty-seventh Vice-Chairman.
• Netero invited Dio to speak, and Cheadle saw him walking through the crowd toward the stage.

Dio met Pariston in secret, where Pariston offered to handle the Vice-Chairman’s workload in exchange for influence over the role. Dio rejected the proposal outright, leaving Pariston’s plan thwarted ahead of Netero’s announcement.

• Dio encountered Pariston in the elevator and followed him to the dark seventh floor for a private discussion.
• Pariston proposed using his connections to shield Dio from opposition if Netero announced him as Vice-Chairman.
• Pariston warned that reformist Zodiacs might join the attacks and offered to take over Dio’s duties as Vice-Chairman.
• Pariston showed Dio books of daily Association paperwork and explained that the Vice-Chairman had to handle the work.
• Dio initially appeared to accept Pariston’s terms, then declared that he refused.

Dio returned and announced that he was resigning as the Hunter Association's Vice-Chairman and handing the position to Cheadle Yorkshire. He reunited with Cheadle, who asked why he had not contacted her, and he said he had forgotten.

• Dio introduced himself as the Hunter Association's Vice-Chairman, then announced that he was resigning and naming Cheadle Yorkshire as his successor.
• Chairman Netero gave no visible response, while Hunters in the hall reacted with surprise and applause.
• Dio noticed Pariston silently say goodbye and leave, then handed the microphone to Beans and approached Cheadle.
• Dio greeted Cheadle, who was overwhelmed by his return and asked why he had not contacted her.
• Dio said he had forgotten, leaving Cheadle exasperated with him.

Dio asked Cheadle about his unexplained return from beyond the stratosphere, and she explained humanity’s failed attempts to explore space. Cheadle grew suspicious when Dio admitted he had returned to Kakin, while Netero prolonged Beans’s report so Dio would have to keep explaining himself.

• Dio told Cheadle he had slept in outer space for two days and awakened at Lake Mobius without feeling tired.
• Cheadle examined Dio with her [Shadowless Lamp] and explained that the [Bravery] had lost contact after leaving the stratosphere in 1957, after which most human probes were destroyed.
• Cheadle questioned why Dio had not contacted her and asked what had happened to the Seed she had given him.
• Dio admitted he had used another way to return to Kakin, and Cheadle pressed him to explain.
• Netero noticed Dio’s predicament and quietly had Beans extend his annual report so Dio could not escape the conversation.

Dio recounted his journey back to the Hunter Association, including his time with Mumuzawa, Greed Island, and a night spent with a female friend, while Cheadle questioned him. Cheadle hurried away after hearing about the night, and Biscuit urged Dio to chase after her.

• Beans continued the Hunter Association's year-end report while Dio nervously explained how he returned from his drifting journey.
• Dio told Cheadle about reaching Greed Island, sparring with Razor, and arriving in Newdri.
• Cheadle corrected Dio when he called Mumuzawa a male friend, and the hidden Mumuzawa Doll suddenly moved.
• Cheadle heard Dio had spent the night in his friend's room, cut off his explanation, and left the venue.
• Biscuit revealed herself in disguise and scolded Dio for hesitating, so Dio vaulted over the table to pursue Cheadle.

Cheadle and Dio reconciled through a hidden exchange of Nen-written messages, then sat together while Dio explained his work in Kakin. The awakened Mumuzawa Doll watched them and attacked Dio’s hair, but Misty restrained her out of sight.

• Cheadle brooded alone on a dark path until she and Dio began exchanging messages written with Nen, and Dio changed her angry message into “I forgive you!”
• Dio revealed himself to Cheadle, and she asked him to explain what he had done in Kakin.
• Dio told Cheadle that he had accepted a commission from Twelfth Prince Mumuzawa Huikeluo and agreed to teach her Nen Abilities.
• Cheadle told Dio to call her by her name instead of “Teacher,” and the awakened Mumuzawa Doll bit his scalp.
• Dio used his Nen clay to carry the struggling Doll behind a tree, where Misty restrained her while Dio and Cheadle sat together.

Dio offered to use his Ripple to help Cheadle recover, and an awkward hand-holding moment left the Mumuzawa Doll fainted. Meanwhile, Mumuzawa learned she could not leave the country to reach Dio, so she arranged a mission to deliver something to the Hunter Association's Vice-Chairman.

• Dio and Cheadle talked about her anger, and Cheadle blamed her short temper on overusing her ability and not getting enough sleep.
• Dio offered to heal Cheadle with his Ripple, and they ended up holding hands as he transmitted life energy to her.
• The Mumuzawa Doll watched them, stopped struggling, and fainted in despair.
• At the Twelfth Prince's Palace, Mumuzawa learned that King Nasubi's rule barred her from leaving the country again so soon.
• Mumuzawa ordered the head maid to find a Military Department mission to the Minbo Republic Capital and add a delivery for the Hunter Association's Vice-Chairman.

Dio realized he had nearly missed the deadline for the 1998 Hunter Exam, but Cheadle had registered him in advance. After welcoming the new year, Dio studied for the exam while sleeping in Cheadle’s office, where a visitor representing the Kakin Royal Family arrived.

• Cheadle told Dio that she had registered him for the Hunter Exam before the deadline, then refused to help him cheat by leaking questions.
• Dio worried about the exam’s unpredictable challenges and imagined using Hisoka to deal with a difficult examiner.
• Dio and Cheadle spent the final moments of 1997 chatting, and Dio welcomed his first new year in the Hunter world.
• On January 4, Dio slept in Cheadle’s office while he crammed for the Hunter Exam and Cheadle reviewed documents.
• A staff member reported that a visitor had come on behalf of the Kakin Royal Family, and Cheadle told him to have her wait five minutes.

Cheadle met a supposed Kakin envoy delivering a box for Dio, but Dio recognized inconsistencies in her story and suspected she was a spy. The envoy, Bokushin, left without her disguise being exposed, though Dio and Cheadle remained wary.

• Cheadle went to reception and found a girl waiting with a package for the former Vice-Chairman.
• The girl identified herself as Pochi, an apprentice maid serving Kakin’s Twelfth Prince, and gave the box to Cheadle.
• Dio arrived and questioned Pochi about her identity and the Twelfth Prince’s head maid.
• Pochi concealed her identity as Bokushin and answered Dio’s questions without being exposed.
• After Pochi left, Dio told Cheadle that he suspected she was a Kakin spy because her explanation contradicted what he knew about Miss Anna.

Dio and Cheadle opened a gift from Mumuzawa, which contained a pocket watch granting access to the Twelfth Prince's Palace, an expensive fountain pen, and a letter. As Dio prepared to leave for the Hunter Exam site, Bokushin secretly checked instructions to take the Trafas to Gram Gasland.

• Cheadle and Dio opened Mumuzawa's gift and found a ruby-set pocket watch, a diamond-inlaid fountain pen, and a pink letter addressed to Dio.
• Dio read the letter using Time Stop and learned that the pocket watch was an Old Item serving as a Physical Pass to the Twelfth Prince's Palace.
• Cheadle returned to school, brooded over Dio's gifts, and wrote final exams so difficult that fewer than one percent of the students passed.
• Bokushin checked an email instructing her to take the Trafas to the Hunter Exam site and searched for Gram Gasland northeast of Yorknew City.

Bokushin boarded the Trafas to take the Hunter Exam after finding a mysterious card directing her to the Red Room and Crow. Just before departure, Dio appeared, and he approached the frightened Bokushin, curious about the Kakin spy’s mission.

• Bokushin retrieved a pistol, her airship ticket, and a numbered card from airport storage.
• The card burned up after Bokushin read its message telling her to find the Red Room and speak with Crow on January 11, 1998.
• Bokushin boarded the Trafas and worried that she had been sent on a dangerous mission to infiltrate the Hunter Association.
• Bokushin remembered how Dio had saved her in Yorknew City and wondered whether becoming a Hunter might let her see him again.
• Dio arrived aboard the airship just before its doors closed and spotted Bokushin hiding in a corner.
• Dio approached Bokushin, curious about the Kakin spy’s mission.

Bokushin worried that Dio might recognize her while they traveled to the Hunter Exam, then spent the day talking with him and reflecting on her undercover missions. As Dio took her to dinner, Misty stared at her, and Dio began questioning how much she knew about his pet.

• Dio told Bokushin he was also taking the Hunter Exam and asked why she seemed so familiar with him.
• Bokushin claimed she was from Stella, and Dio described meeting a friendly man there whose daughter served in the King's Army, leaving Bokushin suspecting he meant her father.
• That evening, Bokushin changed out of her disguise, reviewed her successful undercover assignments, and tied her hair differently before meeting Dio for dinner.
• Dio introduced Misty as a rare magical beast and offered to let Bokushin pet it, but she refused because she remembered its chilling effect.
• Dio pointed out that Bokushin knew Misty could absorb heat from a person's body and asked how she knew so much about his pet.

Dio exposed Bokushin's disguise and accidentally frightened her while having Misty clean her face. After discovering who she was, he found that her foot was injured and carried her to the restaurant, leaving her resigned to another familiar indignity.

• Dio recognized Bokushin's disguise and had Misty clean it off while restraining her, causing her to fear he was trying to kill her.
• Dio realized the unmasked woman was Bokushin, an acquaintance from Yorknew City, and asked why she was there.
• Bokushin tried to stand but collapsed when pain shot through her injured foot.
• Dio said she might have a cracked bone, tucked her under his arm, and carried her to the restaurant to eat.

Dio questioned Bokushin about her assignment and learned she had infiltrated an organization called the [Zoo] after being ordered to become a Hunter. He offered to help her pass the Hunter Exam in exchange for spying on her superior, and discovered she could see Nen after a white Nen Beast covered her head.

• Dio asked Bokushin why she had left Tserriednich's Private Soldiers, and she explained that she needed money and had lost two million Jenny to him.
• Bokushin described her Military Department undercover mission, her infiltration of the [Zoo], and her superior's order to become a Hunter and enter the Hunter Association.
• Dio offered to help Bokushin pass the Hunter Exam and obtain a Hunter License if she found her superior and reported information about him.
• Bokushin recognized the Nen around Dio, and he increased his Aura to confirm that she could see it.
• Bokushin recalled that her ability to see Nen had begun after a white Nen Beast covered her head.

Aboard the Trafas, Sky Hunters planned to begin a secret operation after crossing the Dorei Strait. Meanwhile, Dio examined and treated Bokushin’s badly injured foot, leaving her wondering how much she could truly know about him.

• The Trafas’s captain and first officer confirmed preparations with the Shanwen tribe and planned to start their operation after crossing the Dorei Strait.
• Bokushin asked Dio whether he could heal her fractured right foot in time for the Hunter Exam, and he promised to treat it before they landed.
• Dio examined Bokushin’s swollen foot and explained that he needed to set the bones before using Ripple to heal them.
• Dio teased Bokushin about never having had her first kiss, and she questioned how he knew something so private.
• Bokushin watched Dio treat her foot and wondered whether he had ever truly opened his heart to anyone.

Dio realized that the airship’s breakdown was a screening test for the Hunter Exam and hurried with Bokushin to check the fire cabinets. They found the examinees fighting over parachutes needed to escape the airship.

• Dio noticed that several examinees, including Bokushin, showed signs of nervous anticipation and returned with her to their room.
• Bokushin performed Water Divination, and the water level in her cup dropped as water spilled beneath it; Dio identified her type as Specialization.
• The airship’s lights went out, and a broadcast announced that the Trafas was disabled and examinees could use the fire cabinets to continue the test or stay aboard and quit.
• Dio recognized the breakdown as a likely screening test and rushed with Bokushin toward the main hall.
• Dio and Bokushin found examinees fighting over parachute packs for an emergency descent.

Bokushin and Dio faced a desperate scramble for parachutes aboard the Trafas, where Bokushin revealed startling instinctive control of Nen. After the remaining passengers learned the Hunter Association staff had abandoned them, Dio exposed Fengbo and Yoke as professional Hunters posing as examinees.

• Bokushin charged into the fight over parachutes, instinctively channeled Nen to block a burly man's punch, and kicked him into the airship wall.
• Bokushin brought Dio two parachutes, but Dio persuaded her to wait as the other passengers jumped from the airship.
• Dio directed the parachuteless passengers to search the cockpit, where Fengbo's claim that the Hunter Association staff had abandoned them was confirmed.
• Desperate passengers turned toward Dio, but he called out Fengbo as a professional Hunter pretending to be an examinee.
• Fengbo revealed he was a Sky Hunter and captain of the Trafas, while Yoke identified himself as a Weather Hunter and its first officer.