Under the stunned gaze of over a hundred players, Genthru was launched into the air by Ryker's casual punch.
He flew backward for nearly a hundred meters, skipping across the cobblestones before violently smashing into the thick stone wall of the courtyard. The wall cracked and crumbled around him. Genthru collapsed into the rubble, vomiting a massive mouthful of blood.
Greed Island wasn't a standard virtual reality game. It was a physical island in the real world, cloaked in powerful Nen. If you took damage here, your actual body took damage.
"He... he really is the Bomber!"
"Damn it! And we trusted him so completely! He was planting bombs on us this whole time!"
"He's the real mastermind!"
"Kill him! Kill him now!!"
The surrounding players finally snapped out of their shock. Looking down at the heavy, ticking Nen constructs fastened to their chests, a wave of profound panic and fury washed over them. The bright red countdown timers were dropping rapidly, completely tethered to their accelerating heart rates.
"Ugh... cough! You idiots!!"
Genthru crawled out of the rubble, his face twisted into a grotesque, bloodstained snarl. He looked like a cornered, rabid beast. His eyes locked onto Ryker with pure, unadulterated venom.
His flawless, multi-year master plan had been completely derailed before he could fully execute it.
"If I die, every single one of you dies with me!" Genthru roared at the crowd. "Kill this kid right now! If you don't, I'll detonate all of your bombs simultaneously!"
"Bullshit! We aren't going to help you!"
"You planted bombs on us and expect us to do your dirty work?!"
"Let's kill him first!"
VWOOM!
Several furious veterans blurred out of existence, lunging at Genthru with their weapons drawn. But before they could even reach him...
"Release!"
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
The players who charged him exploded violently in mid-air. A gruesome rain of blood and viscera showered the courtyard.
The immediate, brutal executions caused the remaining players to freeze in their tracks. The horrific reality of their situation fully set in. The bombs were real, and they had absolutely no way to defuse them. If they didn't obey the man holding the detonator, they were dead.
"Do you see now?!" Genthru laughed, spitting blood onto the ground. He turned back to Ryker, feeling as though he had regained the upper hand. "I have over a hundred hostages here. If you kill me, you're dragging all of them to hell with me! You wouldn't want that, would you?"
"S-Sir...! Please, save us!"
"Help! I don't want to die!"
The bomb-strapped players immediately turned to Ryker, dropping to their knees and begging for their lives. Nobody wanted to die, especially not for a video game bounty.
"See? They're begging you," Genthru sneered, staring daggers at Ryker. "Let me walk away. If you let me go, I'll defuse their bombs, and we can pretend we never met. How about it?"
To Genthru, negotiation was his only option. Ryker's physical strength and speed were utterly monstrous. He hadn't even used a Spell Card, yet his raw stats completely eclipsed anything Genthru had ever seen.
"Heh. What makes you think I care about the lives of a hundred random strangers?" Ryker asked, genuinely amused. "Is your brain damaged?"
Ryker's lips curled into a terrifying, predatory smile, revealing his perfectly white teeth.
The next instant, Ryker vanished. He didn't just move fast; he literally tore through the air, leaving afterimages in his wake.
Crap! Genthru's face contorted in sheer terror. He frantically summoned his Binder, desperately trying to pull out a defensive or teleportation card.
But before his fingers could even brush the pages, Ryker materialized directly in front of him.
That familiar, horrifying fist filled Genthru's entire field of vision.
CRACK!
Ryker's fist connected solidly with Genthru's face. Teeth shattered like glass and flew through the air. The sickening crunch of his skull fracturing echoed across the courtyard as Genthru was once again launched backward like a human cannonball, the sheer kinetic force creating another visible vapor cone in the air.
This is insane!
The veteran players watched in absolute disbelief. In Greed Island, combat was dictated by the strategic use of Spell Cards. Yet this newcomer was completely ignoring the game's mechanics, utilizing pure, unadulterated physical violence that somehow outscaled magical items! He was a walking siege weapon!
"KILL HIM! KILL HIM OR I'LL BLOW YOU ALL TO PIECES!!!" Genthru shrieked from the dirt, his face a mangled, bloody mess.
When the players hesitated, Genthru pointed his finger.
"Release!"
BOOM! BOOM!
Two more players instantly detonated like firecrackers, their limbs scattering across the grass.
That was the breaking point. Driven mad by the fear of death, the remaining hostages completely lost their minds. They roared in terror and desperation, summoning their Binders and ripping out their offensive Spell Cards.
"Attack him!"
"I'm sorry! If we don't kill you, we're going to die!"
A massive barrage of magical attacks, Nen blasts, and summoned projectiles rained down upon Ryker.
"Damn it! These cowards! Brother Ryker is the one trying to save them, and they attack him?!" Gon yelled, absolutely furious.
"They don't have a choice, Gon," Killua analyzed coldly, observing the chaos.
Ryker didn't even flinch at the incoming barrage. Instead, he darted forward like a bolt of lightning, weaving effortlessly through the rain of magical attacks. His speed was so absurd that the spells couldn't even track him.
He closed the distance to Genthru in a fraction of a second, grabbed the Bomber by the throat, and hoisted him into the air, using him as a human shield.
BOOM! CRASH! BANG!
The barrage of offensive spells meant for Ryker slammed directly into Genthru's body.
The Bomber acted as the perfect meat shield, absorbing the explosive force of dozens of magical attacks. As the smoke slowly cleared, the players ceased their fire, their hearts hammering in their chests.
"P-Please... spare me..."
Genthru looked like a torn ragdoll. His body was riddled with burns, lacerations, and broken bones. The arrogant, untouchable mastermind had been reduced to a pathetic, whimpering mess. He had finally experienced true, paralyzing fear—the fear of absolute, insurmountable power.
"Oh? I thought a mass-murdering psychopath like you would have a bit more spine. Turns out you're just a coward," Ryker smiled, holding the dying Bomber by the neck.
"I am a coward... please, just treat me like trash and throw me away!" Genthru begged, coughing up blood. "I have cards! I know all the secrets of this game! I'll give you everything! And... and the Bomber isn't just one person! I have two partners! If you let me live, I'll make them give you their cards too!"
Genthru frantically used his partners (Sub and Bara) as bargaining chips, hoping the threat of a lingering vendetta would save his life.
The revelation sent another wave of despair through the rookies. There are three Bombers?! If Ryker killed Genthru, the other two would surely hunt them down!
"Please... we can be friends! With your strength and my abilities, we could rule this entire game!" Genthru pleaded.
Ryker stared at him. His eyes were perfectly calm, utterly devoid of sympathy or hesitation. It was the look of a man staring at a dead insect.
"Unfortunately for you, making the wrong choice means there is no going back," Ryker said softly. "Try being a decent human being in your next life."
Ryker's grip tightened.
POP.
Like a watermelon placed under a hydraulic press, Genthru's head completely ruptured. Bone, brain matter, and blood exploded outward.
Several of the weaker-stomached rookies immediately fell to their knees and violently emptied their stomachs.
[DING! You have killed the Bomber: Genthru!]
[Auto-Plunder activated...]
[Acquired: {Bomber} (Gold), {Deception} (Gold), {CQC} (Purple)!]
A mechanical chime rang in Ryker's mind.
[Trait: Bomber (Gold)]
[Effect: By fulfilling specific verbal and physical conditions, you can plant a delayed-action explosive Nen construct on a target...]
Tsk. Way too tedious to use, Ryker thought, reading over Genthru's highly restrictive ability.
But then, the System chimed again.
[DING! Synergy Detected: {Bomber} (Gold), {Conjuration Grandmaster} (Red), {Deception} (Gold), and {Blown-Up Corpse} (Blue) have triggered an automatic fusion!]
[DING! The trait {Bomber} has been consumed!]
[Congratulations! You have acquired the new fused trait: {Explosive Clay: Art is an Explosion} (Gold)!]
Ryker's eyes lit up immediately.
He opened his newly updated character panel.
[Trait: Explosive Clay - Art is an Explosion (Gold)]
[Effect: You can infuse your aura into clay or earthen materials to create explosive constructs. The destructive yield and shape of the explosion are entirely dependent on the amount of aura infused and the artistic design of the clay construct.]
This... this is literally Deidara's ability from Naruto!
Ryker was thrilled. Genthru's original ability was heavily restricted by Vows and conditions, but the System had bypassed all of that by fusing it with his supreme Conjuration talent and the bizarre corpse trait he had picked up earlier.
It was a massive upgrade. He didn't need to touch anyone or explain his powers anymore. He could just mold clay, throw it, and detonate it from a distance.
Let's test it.
Ryker rubbed his thumb and forefinger together, utilizing his Conjuration talent to synthesize a tiny, white clay bird. He flicked it toward a destroyed section of the wall.
KABOOM!
The resulting explosion was staggering—nearly rivaling the destructive yield of his Pale Lightning attacks, all from a piece of clay the size of a marble.
Incredible. Art truly is an explosion, Ryker smirked.
However, the sudden blast caused the surviving players to scream in terror.
"Aaah! A bomb!"
"We're dead! We're all dead!"
"Please! I don't want to die! I'll never play this stupid game again!"
The players were weeping uncontrollably. Genthru was dead, but the heavy, ticking Countdown bombs strapped to their chests hadn't disappeared. In fact, due to their panic, the timers were ticking down faster than ever.
In the world of Hunter x Hunter, the death of a Nen user didn't necessarily dispel their abilities. Often, a strong grudge or lingering intent would cause the Nen to persist—and sometimes even grow stronger—after death. This was known as Post-Mortem Nen.
Ryker looked at the dozens of weeping players strapped with highly volatile, post-mortem explosives.
Suddenly, an incredibly lucrative idea formed in his mind.
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