Ability X World X Strange Person

"Before I passed out, um, first I saw you, Mr. Lucilfer, standing by the box, and then I saw the box was gone, and you were standing next to me."

The girl said in a low voice: "No lie, between the first and second time, there was a break in memory."

"Hmm..." Chrollo Lucilfer looked thoughtful, and then, he stared into the boy's eyes.

Sure enough, this boy named "Qi Zhou", his eyes had become blue-gray again, and that layer of hazy gray shrouded his pupils, like a disguise-or rather, protection.

"Rescuing you requires payment."

Chrollo Lucilfer said.

Qi Zhou's eyes widened a little. He seemed a bit surprised, and also as if at a loss, as he said: "I... have no money, ...and there shouldn't be anything of mine that catches your eye, right?"

Amused by the boy's idea of "money", Chrollo twitched the corner of his mouth and said: "Your ability."

Qi Zhou thought about it and asked in surprise: "Can abilities be transferred too?"

Wouldn't that person be able to have many books? But how are so many books supposed to be carried? Holding one book in each hand means you can only hold two, so when fighting, do you just tear books and then compare who tore more pages?

On the other side, the girl was amused into laughter.

Chrollo Lucilfer was surprised. Pakunoda rarely laughed, so he looked at the girl in confusion, and then the girl said a bunch of things Qi Zhou couldn't understand.

Qi Zhou thought that was probably explaining why she was laughing.

Damn it, he also really wanted to know why someone was suddenly laughing out of nowhere.

The remark about "tearing books to fight" made Chrollo pause for a moment as well, and he smiled too. Unfortunately, it was not the kind of fighting style that would turn a top-tier battle into a third-rate farce.

"Naturally, it cannot be transferred casually."

A book appeared in his hand.

Anyway, this brat would never be able to leave this building for the rest of his life. Telling him wouldn't hurt.

"My Nen Ability is called 'Skill Hunter'. By meeting the following conditions, I can take Nen Abilities weaker than mine and make them my own."

Qi Zhou's gaze fell upon the book.

A thief-not a good person! He thought.

But pretty cool! He thought.

Meanwhile, Chrollo calmly recited a very long explanatory text:

"First, answer questions concerning the Nen Ability."

"Second, demonstrate the Nen Ability."

"Third, the target must press their hand onto the handprint on this book."

"Finally, all three conditions must be fulfilled within one hour."

"The original owner cannot use the borrowed ability."

Qi Zhou thought, I learned a few more words: "First", "Second", "Third", and also "Finally".

Chrollo: "So, what is your ability?"

Qi Zhou thought about it. He raised his hand and spent a short moment finding the feeling, and then, out of thin air, a book with a white cover appeared in his hand.

On the snow-white cover, patterns formed by lush turquoise branches and leaves surrounded five connected hot-stamped gold characters in the center: "Imaginary Musician".

Of course, currently only Qi Zhou could read these words.

Qi Zhou stared at this book, and under his mental intent, he slowly flipped a page.

Looking at this book in the light versus looking at it in the box were two completely different experiences. He watched the musical score "Song of the Four Seasons", which carried the memories of his past life, appear before his eyes, and a drop of tear slid down his cheek without him noticing at all.

Very sad, because he could never go back.

But not sorrowful, because... he possessed the "seasons" that his previous self could never reach.

Being able to stand barefoot on the earth, feeling the scorching fire like the sun, feeling the pouring rain, feeling the gentle breeze blowing or the hurricane stirring, even if after the stirring there was only death-and that was an intense and free death.

His hands could not be raised, but his mind swept across four movements, and he softly hummed a song with a voice that was clear yet carried the vicissitudes of someone far beyond his years.

The boy's song was very sad-like a memorial; and very happy, like a hymn of praise.

As the last note landed, a badge appeared floating above the pages and was picked up by Chrollo.

The method of use was to pin it on clothing to take effect, requiring no other steps-no matter how cautious one was regarding Nen, it couldn't be overdone, but if it was just this much, he could directly try it.

The cautious Spider leader pinned this badge, which clashed with his black leather jacket, right under his collar, and then a faint surge of Nen stirred to life.

Speed, strength, physical stamina, and the body's explicit Qi output all experienced, well... a faint improvement.

Although for ordinary people this degree of improvement was considered huge, like one becoming one point five, five becoming seven point five, and ten becoming fifteen, to him, it was roughly a hundred becoming a hundred and five-even for a multiplicative boost, the scope of improvement had its limits for someone whose body was already trained to the extreme.

Yet this tiny bit of improvement might sway victory or defeat-life or death-in certain battle situations.

He asked: "How many times can it be used a day?"

Qi Zhou thought about it: "Haven't tried. Sometimes four or five times, sometimes once or twice, and sometimes even the badge doesn't come out."

Chrollo: "What are the restriction conditions?"

Qi Zhou looked blank: "...Restriction conditions... what are those?"

Chrollo: "..."

He looked at Pakunoda, who shook her head at him, meaning that she hadn't found anything related in the memories.

Chrollo smiled with interest again.

He had Nen, and could even use Emission, yet he didn't know even the basics of Nen.

Chrollo kindly took on the role of a teacher and patiently asked, "Are there any negative effects after using this ability? Or are there any conditions you need to meet to use it?"

Qi Zhou looked bewildered. "...I don't know."

He had worn the badge himself, but nothing had happened.

Pakunoda said, "He isn't lying."

Chrollo: "..."

All right. He was tired.

"Put your hand on the book."

Though he was in the middle of taking something by force, Chrollo spoke indifferently, as casually as if chatting with a friend. But Qi Zhou didn't move at all.

His voice turned a little colder. "You don't want to?"

"...No..."

The boy's face twisted with pain. "Help me, Mr. Lucilfer. I can't lift my hand."

Chrollo: "..."

He closed the book and placed it beneath the boy's hand that Machi had stitched up. He was really weak; once it had been stitched, he could actually move it, even if it hurt a little.

After his ability was stolen, the book in the boy's hands dissipated into smoke. But he himself didn't react at all. Was he stupid, or just thick-skinned?

"Mr. Lucilfer..."

Qi Zhou called out.

Chrollo looked down. "What?"

If he was going to bargain with him over his ability-

"I wanted to ask, do you have any water? And, if possible, could you give me something to eat..."

Then came an extremely faint, "I'll pay you back..."

Chrollo: "..."

Actually, no matter how you looked at it, this boy should have been a Enhancer.

Pakunoda stood up and left the room. She returned with a bottle of expired mineral water and a can of expired food. It wasn't that she had anything against him; it was just that in Meteor City's Sixth District, getting food and water that weren't expired was difficult.

She didn't dislike this boy, whose mind was full of strange ideas. His memories were very clean-not clean like a blank sheet of paper, but clean in that, no matter what happened, he could turn it into something bright and pure.

Most importantly, this boy was harmless. The leader had taken his ability, so they couldn't let him die. Since she didn't dislike him and he was harmless, there was no harm in keeping him as a pet for a while.

As she fed the boy one bite and sip at a time, Pakunoda left the room under Chrollo's intrigued gaze.