Gourmet Hunter - Chapter 5 (Patreon)

Chapter 5: The Capital to Become Stronger

Luo Lie deliberately turned over to face the wall while sleeping. This way, he could turn his back on Machi. His action was timely because, a few seconds after he turned, Machi woke up, revealing a thin line that seemed very dangerous.

Luo Lie wanted to rub his slightly aching temples, but at this moment, he dared not move. If Machi suddenly woke up, how would he explain it? So, pretending to sleep was the best choice right now, not knowing what kind of Nen ability could strip Machi of her clothes so easily.

And, how could a Nen ability be released so effortlessly? Was it the series of data that appeared in his mind causing this?

At this time, Luo Lie hadn't noticed that Machi was not only awake but also staring at him. He couldn't be blamed, though, because, by common sense, if Machi woke up to find her clothes gone, her first reaction would probably be to scream. Without hearing a scream, he assumed Machi was still asleep.

"Thankfully, Machi wasn't hurt." Luo Lie thought with relief.

When the transparent sphere flew towards Machi, Luo Lie panicked, worrying about harming Machi. He couldn't forgive himself if he did, thankfully, it was just the clothes... just the clothes.

Shaking his head slightly to rid himself of inappropriate thoughts, Luo Lie squinted at the rough, earth-colored wall, picturing Machi's skinny frame and sighed softly in his heart.

So skinny, like a skeleton, it must be due to long-term malnutrition, indicating that Machi's living conditions weren't good. Yet, she took him, a stranger, into her home and shared her food with him every day.

Thinking of this, the overlapping images in his mind slowly separated.

The Machi in his memories, a member of the Phantom Troupe, was cold and ruthless, a killer without blinking, completely different from the little girl he had been living with for a week.

Time, indeed, is a butcher's knife, turning such a kind little girl into someone capable of extreme violence.

"What did you do?"

Machi, noticing Luo Lie's subconscious shake of his head, calmly jumped off the hammock, picked up the clothes from the floor, quickly dressed, and then looked at Luo Lie's back.

Such a reaction from a ten-year-old girl would be abnormal, but if this were Meteor Street, it would make sense.

Machi, realizing her clothes, including her underwear, had been taken off without her noticing, felt a slight jump in her heart but did not react excessively, just puzzled how her clothes could be stripped off without her notice.

Knowing her sleep wasn't deep, only in the second stage and not yet deep sleep, she would've woken up immediately if someone were removing her clothes.

Her puzzlement couldn't find a reasonable answer, so she suspected Luo Lie, who was in the same room.

Hearing Machi's words, Luo Lie's body stiffened slightly, and he decided to pretend to be asleep, not reacting at all.

Machi's eyebrows slightly raised, she was silent for a moment before climbing back into the hammock and closing her eyes to continue sleeping, not insisting on pursuing the matter.

Her intuition told her that her clothes silently falling to the ground was related to Luo Lie, but even a slight movement of the hammock would've woken her up immediately, let alone taking off her clothes.

Too strange...

Therefore, Machi didn't pursue the matter further, believing the answers she sought would eventually be known, as long as Luo Lie was around.

"That was close..." After not hearing any noise, Luo Lie breathed a sigh of relief in his heart.

After waiting for almost ten minutes, Luo Lie reined in his thoughts of trying Nen abilities and instead pondered the white smoke-like characters that appeared in his consciousness.

He couldn't figure out the special jade stone in his hand, feeling it was an extraordinary object. Subconsciously, Luo Lie thought the white smoke-like characters might be related to this jade stone.

It was like absorbing the energy from the jade stone with a technique similar to energy absorption, further validating his guess, but he was unclear about the effect of the white smoke-like characters in his consciousness.

After carefully storing the jade stone, Luo Lie closed his eyes to calm his emotions, then concentrated.

In the darkness, clear characters floated like white smoke, the orderly names and data resembling the attribute chart of a character in a game.

Because Luo Lie absorbed the energy from the jade stone, the awakening level of his specialization Nen directly soared to 3%, while the awakening levels of other types of Nen rose from 0% to 0.1%, and the changes in data and body happened simultaneously.

Luo Lie's understanding of Nen abilities was superficial, without a clear direction for his thoughts, so no matter how much he thought, it was of no use.

But the changes that occurred in a short time tonight still sparked many strange thoughts in him. Regardless of the effects of the white smoke characters' data, at least it provided clear indicators, ensuring he wouldn't take the wrong path.

"In the world of Hunters, there are so many rare and exotic treasures. Perhaps there are artifacts like the jade stone. If I could absorb the energy within these artifacts, it would be a method to rapidly enhance my strength."

"And there are all sorts of dangerous creatures that must contain vibrant life force within them. If my hands could absorb that life force..."

"Even if these two assumptions aren't valid, I can already feel the Qi within me, so I have a foundation for cultivation. As long as I cultivate step by step, I can definitely become stronger."

"Another way to quickly advance is to participate in the Hunter Exam. Once I pass the Hunter Exam, the Hunter Association will arrange for a master to teach me Nen abilities."

"But the Hunter Exam is very dangerous, and the likelihood of losing one's life is extremely high. I won't try it lightly without confidence."

"So, for now, I should honestly learn to manipulate Qi first. And I absolutely do not agree that my Nen ability should only be used for removing clothes!"

Luo Lie came up with two hypotheses for quickly increasing his strength and also thought of the Hunter Exam. Before verifying these hypotheses, he would not rashly participate in the Hunter Exam. Only steadfast cultivation is the best choice for now.

In the deep of the night, when all was quiet, Luo Lie cast aside extraneous thoughts and concentrated on trying to manipulate the faint Qi emanating from his pores.

Sensing the existence of Qi and using his mind as hands to manipulate it was something Luo Lie had done thousands of times. It was similar to his practice on Earth, making this attempt feel familiar.

As the clock's second hand continued to move, in less than ten minutes, a tiny amount of Qi began to linger on Luo Lie's body surface, a result of his attempts.

Such rapid progress, among countless Nen abilities, was the sign of a rare genius.

With this achievement, Luo Lie felt a slight excitement, like someone who had been lost in the jungle and finally found the right direction. Excitement and agitation were inevitable.

Ten, Zetsu, Ren, Hatsu.

These are the four basic techniques of Nen users, and the technique Luo Lie was practicing was "Ten."

The life energy within the human body is "Qi." Everyone slowly emits a tiny amount of life energy, and most people cannot stop its loss, which can be considered as the loss of "life." The technique to keep "Qi" within the body is "Ten."

Those who learn "Ten" will become stronger and even maintain their youth.

As time slowly passed, Luo Lie, like a child who found a toy, became increasingly enthusiastic about his cultivation, completely ignoring the slow passage of time, until he was mentally exhausted and unconsciously fell asleep.

While he was deeply asleep, a thin wisp of white smoke appeared in the dark and silent space of his consciousness, dazzling like a beam of light.

The white smoke flattened out like dough being rolled into a sheet, then twisted and changed, with rows of text emerging from it.

【Coordinate change, beginning correction】

【Detecting…】

【Conditions met!】

【Host: Lower life form】

【Evaluation: Extremely weak】

【Assistive functions fully activated】

【Beginning to devour host's consciousness】

【……】

【Unable to devour】

【Unknown error】

【Control failed... Control failed...】

The constantly changing white smoke text vanished as if erased by an eraser, disappearing without a trace.

Luo Lie, in his deep sleep, was unaware that he had narrowly escaped a calamity. A system with autonomous consciousness had somehow, like a parasite, implanted itself within him.

Perhaps due to the world transition, the unknown system made a judgment based on various existing factors to devour Luo Lie's consciousness and control him, but it mysteriously failed, and its autonomous consciousness was erased, leaving only pure assistive functions.

Thus, Luo Lie escaped a risk in his sleep and even gained benefits, though he was unaware of this. Without the system's guidance, he wouldn't know what these so-called assistive functions were. He could only rely on his own experiences to gradually uncover them.

Undoubtedly, this incident, starting calmly and ending calmly, brought Luo Lie unknown and unclear benefits, which would be his capital in navigating this world.

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