Hunter X Hunter: I Got Stronger After I Died

With the long-haired woman admitting defeat, the referee immediately announced the result.

The referee then took out a machine resembling a card reader and printed a paper pass for the victor.

"Contestant 2792, although your registration shows zero combat experience, based on your performance in this match, I believe you can directly advance to the 50th floor. This is your pass to proceed to the 50th floor. Please take it."

The referee handed the paper pass to Moro.

Every referee had their own judgment system.

Based solely on the techniques displayed during the match, the C-ring referee would have initially assigned Moro to the 20th floor and the long-haired woman to the 50th floor.

However, based on the outcome, the long-haired woman stood no chance against Moro.

The C-ring referee believed that results outweighed process and ignored the initial registration details, granting Moro a promotion to the 50th floor.

However, Moro didn't take the pass but instead asked:

"Excuse me, referee, may I choose to advance to the 10th floor instead?"

"Of course, that is your right."

The referee nodded.

The Sky Arena held at least 2,000 preliminary matches daily, and among the participants, there were always those like Moro who, for personal reasons, opted to climb slowly.

This wasn't unusual.

Moro smiled and said, "Then please give me a pass to the 10th floor."

"One moment."

The referee swiftly printed a new pass.

"Thank you."

Moro took the paper pass and stepped off the ring.

On his way from the ring to the hallway, Moro could feel the numerous gazes directed at him from all sides.

One of these gazes belonged to the long-haired woman who had just admitted defeat.

But he paid no attention and calmly walked into the hallway, heading directly for the 10th floor of the Sky Arena.

Rather than rushing to register for promotion, Moro entered the elevator and pressed the button for the 15th floor.

A few moments later—

Morro arrived at the 15th floor and followed the signs along the hallway until he entered a room with a central arena.

Inside the room, a match was already in progress.

The spectator stands around the arena were sparse, occupied by only a few people.

The Sky Arena had 251 floors.

Floors like 11 through 19 and 21 through 29 contained arenas and provided services for matches.

Though the arena boasted over 1 billion spectators annually, the lower floors didn't attract much attention from the audience.

When Moro entered, there was no one to check or scan his pass.

He found a seat and watched the ongoing match in the ring.

The two participants were aggressively attacking each other.

However, there was no technique—just wild punches and kicks relying on physical strength.

Moro only watched for about a minute before standing up and leaving.

Compared to the two fighters with deadly martial arts prowess he had seen earlier—and even the long-haired woman who had fought him—these two contestants were no different from street thugs brawling.

Yet, they had made it to the 10th floor, while that nimble, long-haired woman had lost in the preliminaries, and the man with powerful legwork had died on the ring.

It was a grim reminder of how unpredictable life could be.

But most sobering of all—

Moro saw his former self in those street-brawler-like contestants.

Thankfully, he still had a chance to change.

Walking down the hallway after leaving the arena, Moro was filled with introspection.

He wondered—

Would martial artists who had poured 10 or 20 years of their lives into their craft despair if they suddenly encountered the power of "Nen"?

A few minutes later—

Moro returned to the 10th floor to register for his next match.

The Sky Arena allowed contestants to fight two matches per day below the 200th floor.

Confident contestants who wanted to rank up quickly would always opt to fight two matches a day.

Moro sat in the contestant waiting room for a while before being assigned to a match on the B-ring of the 17th floor.

The Sky Arena's matchmaking system was highly efficient.

The countless arenas within the tower operated like constantly turning gears, hosting victories and defeats every second of the day.

While walking toward the B-ring on the 17th floor, Moro thought to himself—

"If there were a cheat ability that allowed me to grow stronger by absorbing the 'will to win,' I could become unbeatable by staying here for a while."

But then another thought crossed his mind—

"Even if I became unbeatable, someone like the 'Wishing Machine' could still casually tell me to die, and I'd become a puddle of mush."

In its own way, this world had its share of absurdities.

Just like him—a man who, due to some mysterious power, had been lucky enough to get a second chance at life.

Upon reaching the 17th-floor B-ring, Moro saw his opponent: a towering man built like a bear.

This looks promising.

Moro smiled in anticipation.

However, once the referee announced the start of the match, Moro's excitement quickly waned.

The opponent was strong, but he was all brute force.

Even so, Moro didn't finish the fight immediately.

Instead, he observed the man's attack patterns and tried to understand the underlying thought process behind his movements.

Nen's defensive properties allowed Moro to analyze without fear of injury.

He didn't consider this pointless at all.

In fact, he believed that "the power of thought" was crucial.

Even though he was still a novice at applying this concept in battle, Moro believed he could cultivate it over time.

Just before the three-minute mark—

Moro finally made his move, casually striking his opponent with his palm and sending the burly man flying out of the ring.

The fight ended instantly.

The referee was surprised and issued Moro a promotion slip.

Moro accepted it with his usual thanks and left the room.

Each opponent Moro faced, and every thought he processed on the ring, felt like adding pieces to a growing database.

When that database became full enough, his habit of thinking in battle would become like an AI system, capable of quickly and efficiently providing the best course of action.

Moro wasn't sure if this method was the right one.

The reason he chose to approach things this way was because of something Biscuit once mentioned in the original story—

The explosive power of thought during combat.

Over the following days, Moro continued to advance through the ranks using this method.

By the time he reached the 80th floor, many spectators had begun to notice him.

He gradually earned himself a nickname in the Sky Arena—

Moro the Thinker.

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Powerstones?

20 Advance Chapters: patreon.com/milezen