Leading Hunter x Hunter to the Top of the Anime Multiverse

Five months later, thanks to Xiang Nan's persistent efforts, he finally reached the initial form of his Nen ability.

At first glance, it seemed just a pair of completely ordinary white gloves, somewhat like medical gloves. There was still a little "flaw" at the final stage of constructing his Nen ability.

So yet another month passed—

Altogether half a year in total. His Conjuration-type Nen ability, called "Hands of Love", was at last perfected.

It's worth mentioning that, just like other Conjuration-type Nen users, Xiang Nan's ability partially drew inspiration from Kite's Crazy Slots in the original storyline. On one hand, because he's a player who knows the big and small events of the plot—and from what he's seen, Kite's ability is undeniably strong. On the other hand, it's because Ging Freecss's support of Kite in designing and structuring that ability was extremely advanced and refined, which gave Xiang Nan some ideas.

But most crucially, Xiang Nan felt his own conjuration traits, including his temperament and Nen approach, resembled Kite's a fair bit—quite similar indeed.

He spent so long because "Hands of Love" involves aspects from multiple Nen categories. Kite's Crazy Slots is the same: though he's Conjuration-type, Crazy Slots clearly exhibits some Transformation traits. In the six-type star chart for Nen categories, Conjuration is adjacent to Transformation and also near Specialist.

Of course, the Specialist category is unusual—while most categories overlap somewhat (for instance, as a Conjurer, you can access some small portion of adjacent categories), the Specialist category doesn't really behave that way. Kurapika is essentially a special exception.

As a Conjurer, Xiang Nan's ability or its aura usage also draws upon about 15% Transformation elements, the rest being purely Conjuration. From the storyline, we can guess Kite's ability includes an even higher portion of Transformation energy. Kite's ability was created under Ging's guidance, after all, and Xiang Nan concedes that he lacks Ging's level of skill; his personal fundamentals can't compare to Kite's. So "Hands of Love" can't match Crazy Slots for complexity.

Still, for him, it's enough.

Whether in direct increase to combat power, or his potential future ceiling, Xiang Nan is quite satisfied.

In fact, the entire process of developing his Nen ability served as training—countless attempts and trials made him deepen his comprehension of Nen, especially honing his mental will, which substantially improved.

…

Inside a training ground at the military base, Manman was wearing physical-training clothes, just like the other soldiers, pushing her body in daily drills. She no longer had that sweet, innocent look from the past; her face was slightly tanned from the sun.

She wasn't doing any actual combat drills; she was just carrying sandbags and weights for basic workouts, exactly as Xiang Nan had required.

In half a year, she had indeed built a bit more muscle, though not visibly large changes in body shape—just slightly more strength.

Spotting Xiang Nan walk in with a satisfied grin, Manman quickly undid her weights, ran over, and asked:

"Is it done?"

It had been some time since she last saw him.

Xiang Nan nodded lightly:

"Yes."

Manman immediately beamed:

"That's great. Congratulations!"

She truly felt happy for him. Yet at the same time, from her expression, she seemed like she had something else on her mind too.

Xiang Nan regarded her:

"Have you been watching the match footage?"

He was referring to the Heavens Arena videos. Even though Manman's "main persona" doesn't grow as strongly, there are still things for her to learn—whatever she can glean.

Manman's tanned face turned slightly red; her eyes averted awkwardly:

"Yes…"

Xiang Nan narrowed his eyes:

"Really?"

Manman fell silent.

Over the past half-year, from her perspective, it felt like living in hell. The training was exhausting and intense. Besides physical conditioning, Xiang Nan had assigned her "homework" to watch Heavens Arena matches and write analysis reports. She hardly had any energy left after daily drills. How could she focus on footage and reports?

Not to mention, she simply lacked the aptitude for such things, plus the daily workouts sapped her strength. If Xiang Nan could keep at it, it was because of his extreme discipline and constant drive; she simply didn't have the same spirit.

Moreover, Manman had learned from some base soldiers that Xiang Nan's older days in the army made him famous for brutal training—dubbed a "Devil Instructor." Everyone revered him yet also somewhat feared him.

"I've gotten some feedback that you're slacking off a lot—half the time you're off somewhere nobody can find you, ignoring training. But you haven't slacked on snacks. The boxes in your dorm are all empty."

Xiang Nan exposed her without mercy, leaving Manman blushing and hanging her head:

"I…I'm sorry…"

"Well, if you truly don't want to do this, you can stop the training altogether from today on."

"Huh?!"

Manman pretended to be startled and uneasy, though one could see a trace of delight shining in her eyes.

"Hmph. You're a Transformation-type, after all, and you're starting to show some small cunning ways…"

Xiang Nan muttered, then turned to leave. Manman happily followed, bouncing.

…

Returning to the military base's office building, Xiang Nan, in his office, was reviewing the latest data on the official and reserve members of "Pandora's Box", as well as recordings of their fights at Heavens Arena.

In half a year, not even Garo and Sigma had reached the 100th floor. Despite being "elite soldiers," it went slowly. Meanwhile, the three in the official "Pandora Box" rank—once subordinate to the national Nen group—had reached 200 floors, but each had fought three matches there, all defeats, no wins.

"No big deal. I only sent them there for forging experience. Later, I'll figure out how to further polish their capabilities."

Setting aside those materials, he opened info about the current Heavens Arena. According to Garo's updates, the Stars Group had drastically declined—only about a dozen remain. Their hold on Heavens Arena was greatly weakened.

By cross-checking, they confirmed someone was apparently hunting the Stars members or had clashed with them. This seemed normal. Since the Stars were openly hostile to newbie players, a backlash was inevitable. But apparently, they had provoked someone they couldn't handle.

"Likely they encountered an extremely strong newcomer player… or maybe the group collapsed from within, possibly because the big boss behind them died."

Recalling he did have the phone number of that hidden leader—obtained after killing some Stars members—Xiang Nan tried calling. But just as expected, no one picked up.

"So indeed, that group can't hold on to Heavens Arena for long. The system's elimination rate stands."

He mused that once their high-level boss was gone, trouble or infiltration by other players would surge, changing the dynamic inside Heavens Arena. Possibly that explained why Garo's squad was struggling.

"More players appear = more challenging matches… no wonder Garo and the others find it tough."

Xiang Nan's eyes glinted thoughtfully.

~~~

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