Gourmet Hunter (HxH Fanfic)

By noon the next day, Lawliet suddenly opened his eyes and sat up from the creaky bed, feeling refreshed.

Machi was not in the room, and no one knew where she had gone to.

Lawliet glanced up at the old clock on the wall and realized that it was already past noon.

Growl…

His stomach voiced its strong protest, and Lawliet couldn't help but thought, 'Surviving on a single bowl of rice soup per meal was far from sufficient.'

Touching his stomach, Lawliet got out of bed and saw a bowl of rice soup sitting on the table. He guessed it was prepared by Machi before she went out.

Looking at the bowl of rice soup silently for a long time, Lawliet felt warm in his heart, and at the same time, he thought of Machi more than ten years later.

'Such a cute and kind little loli must not be allowed to become a member of the Phantom Troupe in the future. My little loli development plan starts now!'

Lawliet secretly made up his mind and went into the bathroom to wash up briefly. He then swallowed the few mouthfuls of cold rice soup to ease his hunger.

After drinking the rice soup, his hunger was somewhat appeased. Then, Lawliet began to train again.

Being fully aware of the dangers in the Hunter x Hunter World, Lawliet knew that strength was both the shield that could protect him and the weapon that would help him achieve his goals.

Now that he had touched upon the threshold of Nen, Lawliet didn't care whether his training method was correct. He used his intuition and determination to take step after step toward improving his control over Aura.

If Nen Users were categorized by level, the progression would look something like this:

Awareness: Developing a clear understanding of Aura.

Sense: Feeling the existence of Aura and opening more Aura Nodes to increase its flow and strength.

Control: The entry-level for Nen Users.

Mastery: Attaining fluidity and precision in Aura Control.

Transcendence: Reaching extraordinary heights in Aura Control

Control marked the critical dividing line, as only those who can control their Aura can be called Nen Users. Beyond that lay the ranks of top-tier experts, where their control over Aura allowed seamless transitions between offense and defense.

Most Nen Users remained at the Control stage. And based on their proficiency, they could be further divided into three tiers: high, medium and low.

Similarly, even if they reach Mastery stage, they can still be divided into levels.

In fact, there is no clear-cut distinction of stages among Nen Users, and the final outcome of a battle cannot be judged solely by Aura Control's stage.

After all, apart from the degree of Aura Control, and the quantity and quality of Aura, the various strange and varied Nen Abilities derived from the Six Categories are also difficult to guard against. Not to mention factors such as time, place and location which played crucial roles in battles.

Lawliet was just a rookie who had barely entered the Control stage, and didn't even qualify as low-tier. However, as a transmigrator, he had skipped the Awareness and Sense stages without anyone's guidance. He's like a baby who had already started running before he could crawl.

While such a fragile foundation could lead to catastrophic failure when attempting more advanced techniques, the auxiliary system that exists in Lawliet's mindscape might be able to turn the hidden flaws into strengths.

In this sense, Lawliet, who carries a unique system in his mindscape, can be said to be an outlier among Nen Users. Even if he veered off course, his path might not necessarily lead to a dead end.

Lawliet did not think too much about it now. His whole mind was now focused on how to strengthen his control over Aura. And the first technique he practiced was Ten, the most basic techniques in Nen!

At the very least, he had to learn how to control his Aura before he could investigate the mysterious Nen Ability that had stripped Machi's clothes and underwear in an instant.

He could only hope that... this Nen Ability, which is still full of unknowns, won't be so bad that it can only be used to strip clothes.

In this way, when Machi was not at home, Lawliet devoted almost all his time to training, and when Machi returned, she would teach him the common language of this world.

Days passed, but the meals remained the same, with just a single bowl of rice soup without any side dishes.

Every time when he was eating, Lawliet would think of Machi's thin figure hidden under her clothes, which only strengthened his resolve: Once he had mastered the common language and learned about Meteor City's current state, his first priority would be improving their diet!

Time passed quickly, and half a month later, Lawliet had reached a point where he could keep his Aura stable across his upper body.

Moreover, thanks Machi's clumsy teaching, he had also gained a basic grasp of the world's common language. He had also asked about the situation of Meteor City from time to time, and by now, he had a basic understanding of Meteor City's state.

Meteor City, which is a massive waste repository, had been designated as a landfill over 1,500 years ago. In this place, any country is permitted to dump anything here.

Garbage, corpses, infants, industrial waste... anything deemed useless could be discarded in this place.

Although the outer edges of Meteor City were basically filled with garbage, its inner streets were clean and orderly. The colors of the buildings are mainly yellow and white, and were made from surprisingly decent materials.

If one ignores the 'garbage wall' outside Meteor City, the city would look like any normal town.

The residents living in Meteor City are all abandoned people and unregistered people in the world. No information about their origins can be found, and the residents here mainly rely on scavenging reusable materials from the vast landfill surrounding the city.

However, the landfill is fraught with danger, as there are industrial wastes, hazardous chemicals from failed experiments, and numerous substances harmful to human health, so if ones want to try their luck at the landfill, they must wear full protective gear.

This is why Machi was wearing hazmat suit when Lawliet first saw her.

Self-reliance is a fundamental requirement for survival here. Even if they are a helpless child, one will not get any privileges. It is not an exaggeration to say that this kind of environment is an alternative form of survival of the fittest.

It was the twenty-fourth day since Lawliet came here. Perhaps because their rice stock ran out, Machi put on her hazmat suit again and prepared to scour the landfill for any salvageable materials that could be traded for food.

"Law, starting today, I won't be providing you with food anymore. If you don't want to starve, come with me to the dump." Machi, wearing a hazmat suit, said to Lawliet calmly.

This time, it seems that Machi is not planning to go out alone.

The name 'Lawliet' was awkward and difficult to pronounce in the common language. When shortened to just 'Law', it becomes very pleasant to the ear, so Lawliet decided to remove the 'liet' and changed his name to a one-syllable name.

"I've been waiting for this!" Law said with a slight smile and twisted his neck, making a cracking sound.

Up until now, he had stayed indoors mostly due to his unfamiliarity with the environment and the language barrier. Now that he doesn't have such concerns, he been itching to step outside and take a look.

Besides, he had long grown tired of eating rice soup every day.

Seeing the excited Law, Machi's eyes flickered. She nodded slightly, picked up the gas mask hanging on the wall, and then walked towards the door.

"You owe me 24 days of food expenses. I'll charge you triple interest. I'll waive the accommodation fee. By the way, the redemption fee for that stone will be calculated separately." After taking a few steps, Machi suddenly stopped in front of the door and said.

Hearing this, several black lines suddenly appeared on Law's forehead, and he said helplessly: "Fine, fine. But for the record, it's not a stone… it's jade!"

"Oh."

Machi reacted indifferently, and simply opened the door and walked out.

Law shook his head helplessly and followed her.

The residents of Meteor City rely entirely on the wastes from the landfill to survive, and Law didn't find this repulsive. On the contrary, he was eager to improve their food situation as soon as possible.

This wasn't just for his own sake, but for Machi's as well.