NOVEL WEB Chapter 161: Welcome to Orchard
[System: Ding! Congratulations—players of the current world have successfully repelled the invasion. All intruders have now disappeared.]
[System: Ding! Calculating the resource losses this invasion caused to the current world. Please wait …]
[System: Ding! The world‑ranking list and overall combat strength have been updated. Players, please check your panels.]
High atop a building, Xiang Nan stood facing the wind.
Beside him crouched Hisoka, freshly returned from slaughter.
Several hours had passed since the intruders first arrived. Xiang Nan and the others had swept Zaban City again and found nothing unusual.
Then every player in the Hunter World received the same system notification.
Even the transmigrators scattered across other continents and corners of the globe—those nowhere near Zaban City—instantly grasped what it meant.
Xiang Nan glanced at his system panel:
…
Host Level: Extinction Game 6
Current number of players: 287
Highest‑level player in this world: Extinction 8
Total combat power of this world: Human forces (85, 193); Non‑human forces (???)
World tier ranking: historical best 16th, currently 69th
Highest individual player combat power: 529
Players who have ever cleared the world: 2
Extinction runs completed: 57, 740
Reincarnation‑Dimension Info: Human‑world resource value 99.9 / 100; Remaining strategy completion 98.2 / 100
…
Comparing the figures with earlier data, Xiang Nan saw that human‑world combat power had dipped slightly—most likely because of the incident in Zaban City. "World combat power" apparently covered everything: players, story characters, nations, civilians, organizations, technology—every layer rolled into one figure.
Fewer than twenty players had died.
"And our ranking dropped again."
Even before the plot began, Xiang Nan had noticed Hunter × Hunter's standing among the myriad realms slipping. It had fallen once already; this latest drop was far more obvious.
He wasn't sure whether the successful defense against the intruders had helped lessen the decline or not.
The top player's combat value had changed too. Whether the same person had powered up or someone new had taken the spot, he couldn't tell.
All in all, they'd held the line. The outcome was within acceptable limits—otherwise things could have become dire. After all, Gon and Killua were here in this very city.
"The first placement match always hides special fortunes for players," Xiang Nan mused. "It was that way in King of Fighters, and Hunter is no different. First‑kill bonuses, maybe—but few can reach them. Miss this chance and who knows when the next will come."
"A health bar, huh?"
Two new indicators had appeared as well—Resource Value and Strategy Completion. Zaban City had taken some damage and there were fatalities, yet in the context of the entire Hunter World one city wasn't much, and only the downtown core had been hit. So the resource loss was trivial; if the 100‑point gauge ever drained completely, that would spell an apocalypse.
Notably, the system showed only the human world's resource value—nothing about the Dark Continent.
Strategy completion had dropped by less than two percent, largely because Satotz had died. As for a few cannon‑fodder examinees, many never reappeared later in the plot, so the value the enemy gained from killing them was negligible.
"Thoughts?"
Xiang Nan closed the panel and turned to Hisoka, who was still squatting at his side.
He didn't ask how many intruders Hisoka had killed, but the system message made one thing clear: driving out every invader owed a great deal to Hisoka's off‑the‑books efforts. His efficiency probably surpassed that of the four Beishi brothers combined.
"Indeed … fascinating."
Hisoka grinned strangely and looked up at him. "Where did those people come from?"
"From other worlds—think of them as coming from the sky."
Xiang Nan raised a finger toward the heavens. "If you're interested, I can show you."
The Hunter World had long since noticed the existence of "players"—the Nameless Town—and learned a little about them. Worth noting: in Hunter × Hunter this world is a flat disk beneath the heavens, with no concept of a three‑dimensional universe.
The manga never even states outright that the land beneath their feet is a planet—but Xiang Nan didn't mind planting that notion.
Sooner or later, as the Reincarnation Dimension advanced, characters like Hisoka would realize and accept it.
This placement match contained many elements beyond their usual understanding. The fact that Hisoka wasn't bombarding him with questions showed that observers of the Nameless Town had already pieced together many hidden truths. Much did not need explaining.
The incident in Zaban City would certainly draw the attention of organizations like the Association and the world's nations—V5's investigation was inevitable. As long as they understood that the Hunter World was a single whole and that many future enemies awaited, that was enough. No point in hunkering down and playing the petty king of one mountain.
"Other worlds … sky? Sounds unbelievable. I'd rather think they came from some unknown continent—say, across the sea."
Hisoka spoke with a playful curl of the lips.
"You can look at it that way, too. This world is marvelous, but we're tucked away in one tiny corner. A far broader realm is waiting for us to explore."
Xiang Nan replied.
"The Dark Continent?"
Hisoka clearly knew of it.
"Unrelated. Different time‑spaces altogether."
Xiang Nan said.
"Can we go there?"
"Of course."
At that, Hisoka's eyes changed instantly, becoming eerily bright.
"I told Chrollo—the treasure Spider wants is there, too. Miraculous techniques, items, powers—any resource can be had. Beyond Nen, the other worlds hold countless dazzling abilities we can also possess; you've already had a taste. But for someone like you, the real value isn't in trinkets—you crave the real thing, right?"
"Relax. So long as you keep courting death without turning back, I'm sure you'll savor that exquisite 'flavor' to your heart's content."
With that, Xiang Nan leapt from the rooftop, leaving Hisoka alone, gazing out over Zaban City's skyline—watching civil‑service crews busy in the streets.
Hisoka smiled, flicked a finger, and drew a card—a Joker.
The snippets of information in his brief exchange with Xiang Nan were almost too outrageous to believe. But given the Nameless Town peculiar nature and so many unexplainable "incidents," Hisoka decided Xiang Nan wasn't joking.
He chose to believe.
"So that's your secret and your fun, huh? Honestly—you should have shared sooner.
"Still, learning it now … isn't too late."
A breeze whispered past, and in the next second Hisoka vanished as well.
~~~
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