Hunter x Hunter : Germain Joins The Hunt

Razor had a job stationed at "Seaside City - Soufrabi," so he wasn't present during lunch. The others were gathered around the table.

List brought in a table full of delicious dishes, with both Eastern and Western cuisines.

"Please enjoy," he said warmly, really acting like a butler in a castle.

Ging used a fork to twirl some spaghetti, put it in his mouth, and then looked up curiously to ask, "Germain, Shizuku, what are you two planning to do this afternoon?"

"We're going to explore the whole 'Greed Island!'" Shizuku adjusted her glasses and answered for Germain, her voice unusually full of excitement.

"That's the plan," Germain agreed, then speared a piece of steak and chewed it. "Do you want to be our guide?"

"No thanks." Ging quickly waved his hand. "I need to spend some time organizing the research materials on the 'Dark Continent' and compare them with what you guys have."

"Dwun and List also have their own work to handle. After all, managing every aspect of an entire island requires the 'Greed Island Management Team' to work together."

He paused for a moment, then added, "However, I can give you a brief introduction to the structure of 'Greed Island,' and you can decide where you want to go. Is that okay?"

"Sure." Germain was done eating and wiped his mouth with a napkin. "Go ahead."

Shizuku also stopped, drinking juice through a straw, her large eyes shining as she listened intently.

Ging swallowed a bite of spaghetti and began speaking.

"'Greed Island' is spelled G-R-E-E-D-I-S-L-A-N-D, a total of eleven letters. Each letter is the first letter of a team member's English name."

"I'm G, Razor is R, Eta and Elena are both E, Dwun is D, List is L…"

Ging was halfway through when Dwun slapped the table and interrupted, clearly annoyed.

"My English name starts with W! Ging insisted I change it to start with D just to fit the 'GREED-ISLAND' name. How is that fair?"

"Chairman Netero created the 'Twelve Zodiacs,' but he didn't force members to dress as their corresponding 'Chinese zodiac' animals. They just did it because they respected him—it was voluntary."

"Not to mention, Ging and 'Rat' Pariston are exceptions. You two clearly didn't plan to follow 'Boar' and 'Rat.'"

"What about me? I didn't even have a chance to object! Before I could even react, Ging had already taken care of all the paperwork for my name change. This is insane! I've never seen him handle things so quickly… except for other stuff."

"Of course, after the name change, my luck did improve. I got money and women, that's the truth... But still, he shouldn't have acted on his own without asking!"

Dwun tilted his head and complained to Germain and Shizuku about it.

Unfortunately, he chose the wrong people to vent to. Neither of them was the type to offer any sympathy or small talk out of social obligation.

They just gave him an "I see" expression, and that was it.

List couldn't help but chuckle to himself, nearly spitting out his soup as he tried to hold back his laughter.

Dwun hadn't expected Germain and Shizuku to react like that, and he sighed deeply.

"Anyway," Ging smoothly took control of the conversation again, "Since you, Biscuit, and Shizuku are the new members, you should follow the tradition."

"However, it's hard to change the name of 'Greed Island' now. Your initials are difficult to fit in… by the way, what are your initials?"

Dwun grumbled, displeased again, "You never asked me for my initials back then! You just decided without consulting me! This is so double standard!"

"I'm Germain, G." Germain, just like Ging, ignored Dwun's complaint and said, "Biscuit's initial is B, Shizuku's is S."

"G… and then SB? Hmm… I can think of a few combinations, but none seem great… never mind, we'll think about this later."

Ging scratched his face in annoyance, clearly bothered by the issue.

"Anyway, each letter represents a member of the 'Greed Island' creation and management team. We've spent years together creating this game."

"We designed and brought to life things like 'cards,' 'NPCs,' 'monsters,' 'terrain,' 'treasures,' and more. To make the huge game system work, we needed a lot of Nen."

"And this Nen comes from the 'game players.' When they use the 'BOOK card system' or their nen abilities, a small amount of Nen is drawn into the 'Greed Island' system."

"As for the core abilities of certain 'cards,' they're powered by our Nen to ensure strength, like Razor, who's in charge of supplementing the 'Spell Release cards.'"

"Additionally, we need to ensure the game's main storyline flows smoothly, meaning the 'game players' need to be able to finish it. So, at the critical points, there are 'Game Masters' present."

"From the moment Eta starts the game, to the other 'Game Masters' handling the story, main and side quests, it all eventually leads to Razor's most dangerous level, then to the final stage handled by Dwun and List, and finally, the game ends with Elena."

"When the 'game players' collect the designated 100 'cards' and reach the end, they get to keep 3 of the 'cards' and can use them outside of 'Greed Island.'"

"This is the basic flow of the game."

Ging continued to introduce the most important cities of "Greed Island"—"City of Prizes, Antokiba," "Magic City of Masadora," "Gambling City of Dorias," "City of Love, Aiai," and "Port City of Soufrabi." 

As for "Capital City of Limeiro," where they were currently located, there was no need for further explanation.

"Alright, you guys can just wander around this afternoon," Ging said at last. "Dwun, List, and I have some things to do, so we won't be able to show you around. Sorry about that."

"It's fine," Germain said. "I think Shizuku and I will just look around and come back."

However, the afternoon journey took longer than Germain expected.

Germain and Shizuku first walked around "Capital City of Limeiro," interacting with the people coming and going. 

The "game players" who hadn't met the necessary conditions to reach the end of the game wouldn't have made it here, so besides themselves, they didn't see any other real people.

"It looks so real," Shizuku said, surprised as they walked. "These 'NPCs' are just like real people. They can answer a lot of questions, but they always try to guide me toward the main quest."

"After all, that's their job," Germain replied. "Did any of them ask you to play cards?"

"Play cards? No. Oh, you mean the 'cards'? They did want me to collect 'cards,' though."

As they chatted, they soon reached the edge of "Capital City of Limeiro," and entered the forest. So, they decided to check out a different city.

The cities were far apart, and traveling on foot would take too long to visit all of them in half a day. That's why "game players" had special movement spell cards.

There were cards like "Come Back" (which allowed you to fly to a previously visited location), "Drift" (to fly to a place you hadn't been to), "Magnet" (to fly to a game player you've encountered), and "Companion" (to fly with nearby players to a place you've both been to or to a game player you've met).

However, these "cards" were limited in number. There was only a certain amount available.

Once they were all taken, no other "game players" could get them. After they were used, the cards would return to the card pool and be distributed back to certain locations.

The "Game Master" couldn't use the "game players'" "cards," so they had their own "Game Master-exclusive movement cards."

Germain used the "Game Master-exclusive movement card" that Ging gave him to fly to their destination with Shizuku.

"'City of Prizes, Antokiba!'"

A wave of Nen surrounded the two of them, transporting them to the bustling city, where they finally saw many "game players."

They were still easy to recognize because humans and "NPCs" (non-playable characters) behaved differently in various ways.

Unless it was part of a mission or a special encounter, NPCs would not interfere with the "game players"; they would just go about their daily, repetitive tasks.

On the other hand, "game players" didn't have such restrictions. They acted however they wanted, since no one would stop them or say they were breaking any laws here.

Even if they killed other "game players," there would be no punishment, just moral condemnation at most.

These "game players" were either excited, dejected, or anxiously staring at the nearby bounty board.

It turned out that tomorrow, September 15, was the date for the City of Prizes, Antokiba's monthly prize competition. The winner would receive some "special cards."

"This must be where 'new players' first get their game experience," said Germain. "It's like the 'refund-proof tutorial stage,' right?"

"Huh?" Shizuku looked at him. "You're talking weird again."

"Speaking of weird things, don't you think you have no right to say that to me?"

"Huh, really? Fine, then." Shizuku surprisingly accepted Germain's remark.

Next, Germain and Shizuku visited "Gambling City of Dorias" and "Magic City of Masadora."

The first city was a place where "game players" could gamble and make money, and "Nen" was still commonly used there. The second city was where "game players" used Nen to buy "spell cards."

In this way, familiar game elements like "tutorial stages," "money grinding spots," and "shops" appeared in the world.

The two of them enjoyed it as they watched.

********

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