Chapter Summaries

A young man entered a Meteor City shack to buy four Nen abilities and discovered a tortured boy imprisoned in a Nen-sealing box. After freeing him, he watched the boy unleash a devastating Nen rampage that killed the one-eyed old man, then caught the exhausted boy as he collapsed.

• The young man paid the one-eyed old man for four abilities and followed him to see the person who made the ability badges.
• The one-eyed old man forced the imprisoned boy to produce a four-colored badge by tormenting him with food and pain.
• The young man struck the old man, recognized that the box sealed Nen, and crushed the shackle around the boy's neck in exchange for the boy's ability.
• The boy summoned a white book and unleashed flames, whirlwinds, rock spikes, and ice spikes that killed the one-eyed old man and destroyed the box.
• After his Nen rampage ended, the boy collapsed into the young man's arms.

Qi Zhou woke in an unfamiliar world after Chrollo Lucilfer rescued him from a box, and discovered his ability could create badges through his book, the Song of the Four Seasons. After Pakunoda read his memories and Chrollo questioned him, Qi Zhou was asked to explain his ability.

• Chrollo Lucilfer rescued the gravely injured Qi Zhou from the box and took him away to recover.
• Qi Zhou examined Chrollo and realized his own ability could summon a book called Imaginary Musician and create badges through songs.
• Qi Zhou recalled how the one-eyed old man had made him produce badges in exchange for food and water while he was trapped in the box.
• Chrollo used his ability to communicate with Qi Zhou, and Qi Zhou gave his name and thanked him for saving him.
• Pakunoda read Qi Zhou's memories, while Chrollo sent the blond boy to investigate clues about Qi Zhou's appearance.
• Chrollo introduced himself as Chrollo Lucilfer and asked Qi Zhou what his ability was.

Qi Zhou demonstrated his musical Nen ability, and Chrollo Lucilfer took it using Skill Hunter. Afterward, Pakunoda brought the injured, hungry Qi Zhou food and water, leaving him in the Phantom Troupe’s care.

• Qi Zhou explained that his memory had a gap, and Chrollo said rescuing him required payment in the form of his ability.
• Chrollo described Skill Hunter’s conditions, and Qi Zhou summoned his book, Imaginary Musician, and demonstrated its badge’s physical boost.
• Chrollo tested the badge, questioned Qi Zhou about how it worked, and learned that Qi Zhou did not understand Nen restrictions or his ability’s conditions.
• Chrollo placed his hand over the book to steal Qi Zhou’s ability, causing the book to dissipate into smoke.
• Qi Zhou asked Chrollo for water and food, and Pakunoda returned with expired provisions and fed him.

Chrollo’s search revealed that Qi Zhou resembled the deceased Noah Barton, while the Troupe found no clear answers about his language or memories. The next morning, Qi Zhou struggled to move his newly healed body and could only drag himself toward the stairs, apologizing to Chrollo.

• Shalnark found a database record for Noah Barton, a five-year-old who had died five years earlier, but found no match for Qi Zhou’s language or song.
• Machi reported no Nen marks or implanted devices on Qi Zhou and said his physical fitness was extremely poor.
• Chrollo tested Qi Zhou’s neck while he slept, then covered him with a piece of clothing instead of harming him.
• The next morning, Qi Zhou woke able to sit up, but his injuries still hurt and he could not stand.
• Chrollo ordered Qi Zhou to come downstairs within ten minutes, and Qi Zhou tried to crawl but fell back to the floor.
• After the deadline passed, Chrollo found Qi Zhou dragging himself toward the stairs, and Qi Zhou apologized for being unable to stand.

Chrollo had the Phantom Troupe accept Qi Zhou as a candidate despite Qi Zhou’s lack of consent, then returned the borrowed ability and began teaching him Nen. The chapter left Qi Zhou practicing Ten under Chrollo’s orders.

• Chrollo introduced the Troupe members and listed Qi Zhou as a candidate; most agreed, while Feitan and Pakunoda raised concerns about his weakness and the burden of protecting him.
• Chrollo returned Qi Zhou’s ability, threatened him against running away, and ordered him to report before acting.
• Chrollo asked Qi Zhou about Nen, then subjected him to intense Nen pressure; Qi Zhou remained in Zetsu, and Chrollo concluded that his aura was constrained or his Zetsu was unusually strong.
• Chrollo guided Qi Zhou to sense and gather his aura, explaining how to control Nen through practice.
• Qi Zhou formed a thin aura around his body, and Chrollo identified the state as Ten before leaving him to maintain it.

Qi Zhou learned to maintain Ten and stood on his own when Chrollo threatened to kill him if he failed. Chrollo then forced him to accept the Phantom Troupe’s rules and began teaching him the Common Language while ordering him to keep Ten up.

• Qi Zhou repeatedly practiced Ten until he could maintain a thicker aura around his body.
• Chrollo pressured Qi Zhou with killing intent and threatened to kill him unless he stood before Chrollo reached him.
• Qi Zhou gathered Qi into his legs, used the wall for support, and managed to stand, passing Chrollo’s test.
• Shalnark arrived with notebooks and pens, confirmed the next assembly date, and left the room.
• Chrollo explained that the Phantom Troupe needed Qi Zhou’s ability, then laid down rules forbidding betrayal and requiring him to obey the leader.
• After Chrollo injured his shoulder for refusing to join, Qi Zhou fell silent, and Chrollo gave him a book to begin learning the Common Language while maintaining Ten.

Chrollo had Machi repair Qi Zhou’s shoulders, then forced him through Nen training and lessons in the Common Language. After Qi Zhou struggled to memorize the Troupe members’ names and pronounce Chrollo Lucilfer’s, Chrollo was left baffled by his failure as a teacher.

• Machi charged Chrollo 18 million for repairing Qi Zhou’s shoulders, and Chrollo had her add the bill to his tab.
• Chrollo woke Qi Zhou and judged him weak, though he noted that the boy had quickly learned basic Ren and Gyo.
• Qi Zhou copied names, numbers, and time-related words while enduring Chrollo’s Nen pressure and protecting himself with Ren.
• Pakunoda brought Qi Zhou dinner, and he thanked her in the Common Language before returning to his lessons.
• Chrollo tested Qi Zhou on the Troupe members’ names, then repeatedly corrected his pronunciation of Lucilfer.
• After an hour of failed pronunciation practice, Qi Zhou fell asleep in a corner while Chrollo wondered what had gone wrong.

Two months after arriving at the abandoned base, Qi Zhou continued training under Chrollo while trying to understand the group he lived with. Chrollo announced a mission at Whale Manor that would serve as Qi Zhou’s entrance test, but refused to explain what the group did and warned him to obey orders.

• Qi Zhou watched Shalnark and Feitan play a video game, then went to find manga after they ordered him to do his homework.
• Chrollo returned to the base, tested Qi Zhou’s Ren, and judged him barely passing after enduring his Nen pressure.
• Chrollo announced a voluntary activity at Whale Manor in the White Light Mountains and assigned Machi and Pakunoda to gather information, Shalnark to arrange transportation, and Bonolenov and Franklin to stay behind.
• Qi Zhou showed Chrollo that he could create ten badges, and Chrollo said the activity would be his entrance test to officially join.
• When Qi Zhou asked what the group did, Chrollo refused to answer and warned him that he only needed to follow orders.

Qi Zhou traveled with Chrollo’s group toward the Republic of Padokea, struggling to keep up and learning to use his Nen to move faster. After Chrollo bought him food and they reached an airship station, Qi Zhou eagerly took in the enormous airships.

• The group used Qi Zhou’s Badges during their long run, then Chrollo divided them into teams and told everyone to gather in Bingsige Town within a week.
• Chrollo questioned Qi Zhou’s amazement at ordinary sights, and Qi Zhou repeatedly fell behind as they crossed town.
• Chrollo instructed Qi Zhou to gather Nen in his legs and withdraw it from the rest of his body, but Qi Zhou’s first burst of speed sent him crashing into a wall.
• Chrollo took Qi Zhou to eat beef noodles, paid with two thousand Jenny, and led him onward while Qi Zhou suspected he had heard someone report a theft.
• Qi Zhou managed to keep pace with Chrollo until they reached the airship station, where he stared excitedly at the enormous airships.

Qi Zhou arrived in Bingsige Town with Chrollo and Shalnark, then received a mission to infiltrate Whale Manor and learn its layout and security. While entering the flower field as Noah Barton, he experienced a painful vision that made him question whether the name and memories were connected to his past.

• Qi Zhou reached Bingsige Town with Chrollo and Shalnark, where Pakunoda arranged their rooms and Chrollo scheduled a meeting with the Phantom Troupe.
• After waking, Qi Zhou learned from Shalnark that he had three days to uncover the secret entrance to Whale Manor and investigate its layout and guards.
• Qi Zhou asked Chrollo about music hunters and learned that the mission also served as his assessment before he could consider taking the Hunter Exam.
• Qi Zhou traveled to Whale Manor’s flower field, used a temporary ID bearing the name Noah Barton, and entered as a visitor.
• When Qi Zhou read the name Noah Barton, he experienced a flash of fragmented scenes and intense pain, then wondered whether the vision was a hallucination or a memory.

Qi Zhou discovered a new, incomplete movement in his Imaginary Musician while listening to a pianist in the flower garden, and realized ordinary people could see the book appear and vanish. He also inferred that Pakunoda could read memories or mental images, leaving him more wary of the Phantom Troupe as he searched for the missing score passages.

• Qi Zhou noticed a crowd around a pianist and found a new, incomplete movement in his Imaginary Musician after listening to the music.
• Qi Zhou overheard ordinary visitors react to his book appearing and disappearing, then used Gyo and saw that their aura leaked uncontrollably.
• Qi Zhou realized that not everyone in the world could use Nen and concealed his book by making it appear that he was taking it from his pocket.
• Qi Zhou recalled Pakunoda's reactions during Chrollo's questioning and deduced that she could read memories or see images in people's minds.
• Qi Zhou abandoned thoughts of escaping and concluded that the missing score passages were likely hidden in a form visible only to Nen users.

Qi Zhou investigated the rainbow sea of flowers, discovered how the Four Seasons Badge enhanced him, and collected fragments of an ominous piano composition. He suspected the special-visitor assessment involved finding or recognizing missing music, and headed back to the red-orange rest area to eat and investigate further.

• Qi Zhou walked around the sea of flowers and learned that the Four Seasons Badge boosted his physical abilities and senses at the cost of faster Nen consumption.
• Qi Zhou opened Imaginary Musician and discovered that its missing movement had been replaced by the ominous Sonata of Darkness (Erroneous Fragment) - Piano.
• Qi Zhou used Nen-enhanced vision to spot invisible musical marks and gathered six passages while circling the flower sea.
• Qi Zhou found that only three passages had filled blanks in the book, and reasoned that the assessment might test musicians who could hear omissions, Nen users, or both.
• Qi Zhou realized he was hungry after hours of investigating and decided to return to the red-orange rest area for food.

Qi Zhou worked out how the manor’s six pianists revealed missing measures in a dangerous score, but ran out of time before completing his investigation. After Arens Wood recognized his Nen, Qi Zhou received a free suite and planned to continue listening the next day.

• Qi Zhou timed the pianist’s performances and deduced that each of six rest areas supplied missing measures for six musical movements.
• Qi Zhou reached the yellow-green rest area after staff hours and learned he needed to find lodging or return to town before the buses stopped.
• Arens Wood offered Qi Zhou a free room after testing whether he could see the Nen notes on his finger, and Qi Zhou demonstrated that he could.
• Arens Wood brought Qi Zhou to the manor hotel, where Qi Zhou checked in under the name Noah and received a luxurious suite.
• Qi Zhou reviewed the score and reasoned that its disaster might require a complete, uninterrupted performance or hearing, then decided to investigate further tomorrow.

Qi Zhou played the incomplete Sonata of Darkness, discovered that completing its passages purified the score and produced a badge called the Mouth of Calamity that devoured the music’s black mist. He used the music to earn a whale badge granting access to Whale Manor’s inner grounds, but ended the chapter unsure how to contact Shalnark or find the island path.

• Qi Zhou played the Song of the Four Seasons and began testing the incomplete Sonata of Darkness, whose music nearly compelled him to finish it.
• Qi Zhou played six passages until the score showed 75% collection and purification, then received the Mouth of Calamity badge and found a new Song of Taboo section in Imaginary Musician.
• Qi Zhou pinned on the Mouth of Calamity and found that it consumed his Nen and swallowed the black mist produced when he played.
• Qi Zhou played the incomplete Sonata of Darkness in the rest area, and the young pianist gave him a whale badge and instructions to present it outside the Whale Hotel at six p.m. on March seventh.
• Qi Zhou returned to his room, worried about contacting Shalnark and finding the island path, and spent the remaining days practicing Point and Ten while waiting for the others to contact him.

Qi Zhou met Shalnark, showed him the whale badge, and received Chrollo’s instructions before traveling to Whale Manor as a special guest. He arrived at the palace, sensed something ominous in its zodiac carvings, and followed butler Sith Lawn inside.

• Qi Zhou met Shalnark outside the hotel and showed him the whale badge, confirming he had found a way inside.
• Shalnark relayed Chrollo’s warning not to use Gyo or do anything unnecessary, then used Black Voice to control Qi Zhou.
• Qi Zhou presented his badge to an attendant and rode through a concealed tunnel beneath the lake to the island where Whale Manor stood.
• Qi Zhou studied the palace’s zodiac pillars, felt a dark presence watching him, and recalled the rules and limits of the Mouth of Calamity.
• Butler Sith Lawn greeted Qi Zhou at the palace entrance and escorted him inside.

Qi Zhou attended Arens Wood’s dinner, where the other guests questioned his presence and discussed the rumored dangers of the Sonata of Darkness. He remained determined to hear the genuine piece at midnight and stocked up on dessert in case it proved fatal.

• Sith Lawn explained the evening’s schedule to Qi Zhou, including a dinner, a viewing of Arens Wood’s collection, and a midnight concert featuring a movement the guests anticipated.
• At the dinner, Alia and Airei questioned Qi Zhou about how he had been invited, and he showed them his whale badge as proof he had come through proper channels.
• Qi Zhou left the pair to eat desserts while other guests discussed the Sonata of Darkness and questioned whether Wood’s version was genuine.
• Airei, the blond man, and the gray-blue-suited pianist disparaged Qi Zhou’s appearance and called him an unqualified faker.
• Qi Zhou resolved to hear the genuine Sonata of Darkness despite the danger and asked a servant for another serving of ice cream with extra chocolate and matcha.

At Arens Wood’s estate, Qi Zhou toured a hidden collection and recognized that a flute labeled “Dragon Blood” was actually an ancient, more valuable instrument called “Dipping Jade.” When Arens Wood demanded proof, Qi Zhou faced a warning of Nen Pressure.

• Arens Wood led the guests down a guarded staircase to view his underground collection.
• A man in a gray-blue suit insulted Qi Zhou and tried to grab him, but Sith Lawn restrained him and forced him to apologize.
• Qi Zhou read in Imaginary Musician that the flute called “Dragon Blood” was an imitation of the older flute “Dipping Jade,” and realized he wanted to put it in the book.
• A man presenting himself as Arens Wood approached Qi Zhou, though Qi Zhou suspected he was not the same Arens Wood he had met before.
• Qi Zhou told the gathered guests that the flute was not called “Dragon Blood,” and the man claiming to be Arens Wood demanded proof while pressing him with Nen.

Qi Zhou correctly identified Arens Wood’s flute as “Dipping Jade” and earned it, then examined the beast-hide music scroll and recognized the materials used to create it. As midnight arrived, Arens Wood prepared to perform the “Sonata of Darkness” for the excited guests.

• Qi Zhou explained that the flute was made from A-rank Azure-Patterned Dragon Blood Bamboo and identified markings that would prove it was “Dipping Jade.”
• Arens Wood had conservators test the flute, offered Qi Zhou the collectible in exchange for a year of work, and accepted his refusal when Qi Zhou said he would leave the next day.
• Sith Lawn confirmed Qi Zhou’s appraisal was correct, and Arens Wood promised him the flute while asking him to appraise the evening’s final collectible.
• Qi Zhou identified the music scroll’s material as thousand-year-old Gong-Gong Beast hide and described the ingredients in its pigments.
• At midnight, Arens Wood announced that the appetizer was over and invited the guests to the concert hall for his performance of the “Sonata of Darkness.”

Qi Zhou watched Arens Wood conduct the Sonata of Darkness, which drained the listeners’ life force and transferred it to the player. After disrupting the transfer by knocking down musicians, Qi Zhou realized the pianist was actually Hilt Wood, just as the undead charged him.

• Qi Zhou hid Dipping Jade in Imaginary Musician and waited in the concert hall as masked, unnaturally old musicians assembled onstage.
• Arens Wood began the Sonata of Darkness, driving the audience into a trance as they aged rapidly and their life force flowed to him.
• Qi Zhou used Gyo to see Nen Threads connecting the listeners to Arens Wood, but the musicians noticed him and attacked.
• Qi Zhou knocked down entranced musicians, severing their Nen Threads and causing Arens Wood to suffer a backlash as the Sonata continued.
• Qi Zhou concluded that the Sonata transferred life force to its player and recognized Arens Wood as Hilt Wood.
• More than a hundred undead burst through the hall’s rear wall and rushed at Qi Zhou on Hilt Wood’s orders.

Qi Zhou fought Hilt Wood and the undead in the music hall, using the Mouth of Calamity to turn Hilt Wood into a listener and end the Sonata of Darkness. After the survivors woke and fled, Qi Zhou destroyed the cursed sheet music and left the hall with the power still weighing on his conscience.

• Qi Zhou battled the undead as the fifth movement of the Sonata of Darkness began, and the music started to affect his body.
• Qi Zhou reached the stage and struck Hilt Wood after calling him by his real name, briefly breaking through his Ten.
• Qi Zhou attached a Mouth of Calamity Badge to Hilt Wood, causing the Badge to devour the black Nen sustaining his role as performer.
• Hilt Wood's hands rotted into bones, and he crumbled to ashes when the Sonata ended; the undead collapsed with him.
• Qi Zhou hid beneath the piano while the surviving musicians woke and fled, then burned the Sonata of Darkness sheet music with Nen.