"Isn't it a bit rude to keep hiding?"
The burly, narrow-eyed man wearing the face of Razor paced the sweeping stone hall of the deserted city lord's castle. His heavy footsteps and deep voice echoed off the high vaulted ceilings, fading into the cold, empty air. From start to finish, absolute silence was his only answer.
Liam sighed inwardly. In the Greed Island manga arc, Dwun and List, two of the game designers, directly sent a city lord's invitation card to Gon after he cleared the game, giving him the castle's coordinates. But as for whether the castle Gon and Killua visited back then was the exact same building Liam stood in right now, he really wasn't sure.
After parading around in Razor's skin and shouting into the empty corridors a few more times, Liam finally gave up. He turned and walked out through the massive wooden gates, the sound of his boots crunching on the gravel outside.
Inside the very hall Liam had just vacated, List stood with his hands neatly folded behind his back. Dressed impeccably like a high-class butler, the elegant man watched the fake Razor leave.
"Looks like a Transmutation ability," List noted, a mild smile on his face. "What do you think? Is the guy taking on Razor's appearance the Nen user himself, or is that just a Conjured doll?"
List glanced over his shoulder. Right in the middle of the grand living room, parked on a plush carpet buried under snack wrappers and crumpled soda cans, was Dwun. The messy-haired designer lay comfortably on his side, furiously mashing the buttons of a game controller. The glow of a large monitor flickered across his unkempt face as he focused entirely on his game.
It wasn't until List repeated the question that Dwun finally let out a loud, lazy yawn. "The real question is why he chose to look like Razor. As far as I know, no player has triggered the specific questline Razor oversees. Logically, even if a player can shapeshift, they have no reason to mimic him."
As the designer managing the game's Emission systems, Razor acted as the final boss for the extremely rare designated card Number 2, Plot of Beach. It was arguably the most difficult card to obtain in all of Greed Island, with its whereabouts completely shrouded in mystery. Fourteen players had to arrive at the seaside town of Soufrabi at the exact same time just to trigger the NPC dialogue that pointed to Razor, let alone survive the brutal dodgeball game required to win the treasure. Given that it was only 1996, three full years before Gon and Killua would even set foot on the island, the current player base had no clue Card Number 2 even existed, let alone who Razor was.
"You guys are seriously impressive. You really can't see me?"
An arrogant, overly familiar voice echoed from the entrance.
List turned around, the calm smile instantly vanishing from his handsome face. Even Dwun paused his game. Standing right there in the castle doorway, strolling in as if he owned the place, was Ging Freecss.
List stood perfectly still, his hands still clasped behind his back. He watched in silence as the fake Ging marched straight toward him, passing right through his space as if he were made of air. "Whoever he's transforming into, he clearly doesn't care about hiding the fact that it's a disguise," List muttered.
Dwun watched the fake Ging wade right through his piles of gaming magazines, consoles, and half-eaten snacks. He scowled, rubbing his temples in exasperation. "I know he can't see us, and I know he isn't the real Ging, but just looking at that smug face makes my blood boil."
Liam remained completely unaware of his invisible audience. To his eyes, the castle hall was still vast, cold, and entirely empty. Refusing to let his trip go to waste, he kept the Ging skin active and wandered through the various rooms and corridors, searching high and low. He still couldn't find a single soul.
Returning to the main hall, Liam ran a hand through his spiky black hair. "Should we just collect the cards normally and clear the game?" he muttered to the empty air.
"That is exactly what you are supposed to do," List replied smoothly, standing mere inches away from Liam, though the player could neither see nor hear him.
"I just feel like it's going to be such a hassle," Liam complained, scratching his head. Back when he read the manga, the Greed Island card-collecting mechanics had never really caught his interest. He always preferred the training segments where Bisky taught Gon and Killua the finer points of Nen.
"Playing games is a hassle? What is wrong with this guy?" Dwun grumbled from the floor, vigorously scratching his bird's-nest hair in utter bewilderment.
Liam turned on his heel, ready to head out the main gates for good. But halfway to the exit, he abruptly froze and glanced back.
"Don't worry, he can't trick us into revealing ourselves," List said, a confident smirk returning to his face.
"No, he isn't trying to trick us," Dwun said, his voice dropping in surprise. List quickly followed the player's line of sight. Liam wasn't looking around the hall anymore. He was staring straight up at the ceiling.
Liam narrowed his eyes, confused. The massive hall was empty aside from a giant, ornate chandelier hanging directly above him. The air up there felt heavy, carrying a faint, unnatural hum. He was certain he had sensed something hidden in that exact spot.
Following his instincts, Liam reached into his shirt and gripped his jade pendant, feeling the grooves of the divine script carved into its surface. He focused his aura into his eyes, staring intently at the space directly above the chandelier. Slowly, the empty air began to warp. The blurred outline of a large, rugged shape came into view, its edges drawn in thick, pitch-black lines.
"Hey! Can he actually see the game core?!" Dwun yelled, leaping up from his trash pile in sheer panic.
"Stay calm. Let's see what he does," List murmured, keeping his eyes glued to the fake Ging.
Liam dropped into a deep squat. He gathered a dense surge of aura into his legs and pushed off the stone floor with explosive force. He launched himself twenty or thirty meters into the air, reaching out to grab the heavy metal frame of the chandelier, leaving him dangling high above the ground.
Even up close, the strange object didn't become any clearer to Liam's eyes. It remained a thick, black, blurry outline. He carefully reached out his free hand to grab it, but his fingers swiped through empty air. He didn't feel a thing.
Frowning, Liam raised his hand again. A sharp, deadly blade of aura materialized from his fingertips, humming with concentrated power. It was his Yin Nen Sword.
List and Dwun tensed. What is he trying to do? Can this guy stop causing trouble for one minute?
They had no idea what that blade of aura was capable of, but they weren't about to let him slice into the game's core architecture. Both GMs shifted their stances, preparing to intervene and stop him by force if necessary.
Right at that moment, however, Liam seemed to reconsider. He dispersed the aura blade, let go of the chandelier, and dropped gracefully back to the stone floor, landing with a soft thud.
This was a world governed by Nen, a power system filled with endless, unpredictable, and highly lethal abilities. Slashing blindly at unknown, invisible floating objects was a terrible idea. Liam cast one final, cautious glance up at the blurry, thick-lined shape hovering over the chandelier, turned his back, and walked out the gates.
List and Dwun waited in tense silence for several long minutes. This time, he didn't come back wearing a new face. He was actually gone.
"My heart can't take these random jump scares," Dwun groaned, exhaling a massive breath. He immediately collapsed back into his chaotic nest of magazines and game cartridges.
List looked up toward the ceiling, his gaze resting clearly on the object Liam had only barely perceived: a massive, black icosahedron floating silently in midair, rotating slowly like a giant, many-sided die. His attention was then drawn to a soft rustle of fabric. He glanced toward the second-floor balcony.
A middle-aged woman with sharp blonde hair was standing by the railing. She casually slipped a hand into the pocket of her tailored suit, her eyes fixed on the rotating black shape above the chandelier.
"Ging and Razor are both designers of Greed Island," she said smoothly. "The system won't let them enter the real castle as players. He chose the wrong faces."
List raised his voice slightly to carry up to the balcony. "Don't you have a job to do? Why are you hanging around here?"
"Is it a crime to visit a game I helped build?" she asked, her tone dry. Without waiting for a response, she vaulted lightly over the railing and dropped down to the main floor.
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