It's only January, and Gon and the others still have to wait until March to clear the game.
Then, in mid-April, they'd be invited to Heavens Arena, followed by the Chimera Ant incident that would start causing trouble in May.
There was plenty of free time before then—enough for Ronnel and Shizuku to spend more time together.
As for the old friends Ronnel had mentioned, he was, of course, referring to the Phantom Troupe, who were still searching, and Milluki, who was busy clearing levels.
"That makes sense." Bisky nodded knowingly before asking curiously, "But how did you know we were here? And how did you get here?"
"When I was outside, I contacted Killua and found out you were training here," Ronnel replied, flashing a smile at Killua, who laughed in response.
"Then, when I arrived, I ran into a player flying across the sky at the entrance to the prairie. It seemed like he was targeting me."
"They're those low-level players who specialize in placing spell cards on newbies to gather information," Gon interjected. "When Killua and I first entered the game, we ran into someone like that, and Killua ended up with a [Trace] card placed on him."
"Yeah, the guy who suddenly appeared tried to use a card on me."
"With your strength, there's no way he succeeded, right?" Bisky asked, crossing her arms as if she already knew the answer.
"Well, before he could even shout, I grabbed his throat and silenced him. Then I dislocated his limbs and jaw so he couldn't make a sound. After that, I carefully flipped through his card collection book, read everything, and transferred all the cards to mine."
"If you can't speak, you can't say 'retrieve the book,' so you're basically powerless," Bisky muttered, clicking her tongue. "Simple and brutal. But it's definitely the most efficient method."
"Exactly." Ronnel grinned.
"After taking all his cards, I reattached his jaw and started questioning him. Before I even finished, he spilled everything he knew."
"Then I used the spell card [Return] that I got from him to fly into this canyon. After that, I used [Accompany] to locate you."
[Return] – Spell card, G-380. Effect: Allows the user to fly to a designated location from a long distance.
[Accompany] – Spell card, F-130. Effect: Allows the user to fly to an unseen player's location (if they're not in the game, the card is destroyed). Only usable at close range.
By using [Return] to travel a long distance and then [Accompany] to reach Bisky and the others, Ronnel quickly adapted to the mechanics of Greedy Island.
It seemed like the game had been designed with such card combinations in mind to help new players find their friends easily.
"Good! Now that you're with us, you won't have to go through so much trouble next time. You can just use [Magnetic Force] or [Accompany] to teleport directly to us," Gon said as he summoned his card collection book.
"Let's see… Ronnel, what's your username? I don't see your name here."
"That's because I didn't use my real name when I entered the game."
"Then what did you use?"
"This."
Ronnel pointed to a name on his card book screen. Gon, Killua, and Bisky leaned in to look.
'The Old Thief'
The three of them read it aloud simultaneously, then exchanged confused looks.
"Ronnel, what does that even mean?"
"It doesn't mean anything. Just a random name I put together. Don't worry about the details." Ronnel waved his hand dismissively.
Of course, that wasn't the truth. He had carefully chosen that name after much consideration.
After all, was there a more fitting tribute to all fans than this heartfelt 'blessing'?
Technically speaking, while the Hunter world had both English and Japanese, its primary language consisted of strange symbols.
A coincidence? Or fate?
"Whatever, as long as we know it now," Bisky shrugged, then clapped her hands. Smiling at Killua and Gon, she said, "After all this training, your current level should be enough to handle the challenges on the island."
"You mean…?"
Both Gon and Killua's eyes lit up.
"That's right—it's time to officially start clearing the game."
"Alright!!" The two of them cheered excitedly.
"Are you coming with us?" Bisky turned to Ronnel.
"You guys go ahead. I want to find my old friends first. Once I'm done, I'll catch up with you."
Ronnel grinned and patted Shizuku's hand, which was still wrapped around his arm.
"Don't worry, I won't be gone for more than a day. And since everyone's in the game, you can always check my online status—I'll be around."
Hearing that, Shizuku nodded and slowly let go of his arm.
"Then I'll be off."
Waving goodbye to Bisky and the others, Ronnel summoned his card collection book and pulled out a spell card.
"Use [Return]—destination, Masadora!"
Masadora, the city of magic, had a cartoonish aesthetic and served as a hub for buying and selling various items. Department stores there carried a wide range of tool cards and special spell cards.
Because of this, Masadora was the busiest place on all of Greedy Island, attracting countless players.
After locating a few players who made a living through trading, and paying some in-game Jenny, Ronnel quickly found the person he was looking for.
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