Hunter X Hunter : The Boundary

Chapter 24: Above the Wilderness

At the break of dawn, Ryan, backpack slung over his shoulder, stepped into the forest on the city's edge. On the map, it was simply an undeveloped ecological zone. In reality, it was a wild fringe, a place where city kids tested their courage and vagrants sought shelter.

The forest was thick with moisture from the night's rain. He squatted, pushed aside a layer of fallen leaves, and touched the soil with his fingertips. He was checking its temperature, a technique he'd learned from an old survival guide.

Soil with residual heat, a sign of recent passage, would be a few degrees warmer than its surroundings. He found a shallow footprint—a wild rabbit, heading southeast.

He didn't pursue immediately. In the wild, the one who acts hastily is often unrewarded. He retreated, leaving his pack behind, taking only his dagger and a cord. Then he began to circle, approaching his prey from downwind.

While tracking the rabbit, he deliberately walked into his own traps—small tripwires and deadfalls he had set earlier along the rabbit's likely escape routes. He was testing not just the animal's cleverness, but his own ability to predict its path. Finally, he cornered it in a dense patch of grass.

The rabbit sensed him and bolted. Ryan's hand moved in a blur— a steel pellet from his slingshot struck a rock just in front of the rabbit's paws. The ricochet sent the startled animal tumbling into a shallow pit he had dug beforehand. He moved in quickly, plunging his dagger into its carotid artery.

There was no mercy; this was not his first kill. A Hunter could not be a prisoner of emotion.

He spent the rest of the day in a state of meticulous preparation. He tested the local water for purity before building a multi-layered filter to collect rainwater. He constructed a small, triangular shelter, its entrance oriented perfectly to diffuse sound and avoid the morning sun.

He portioned the rabbit meat—some for that night, some for drying, some for emergency rations.

His most important training, however, began after dark. He had tied several thin ropes between the trees in an irregular pattern. Now, he walked through the forest with his eyes closed, using only his senses to dodge the lines, simulating an ambush by an unseen enemy.

His shoulders and forearms were already covered in scratches, the price of misjudgment. He didn't get angry. He simply re-evaluated his path and his body's reactions, then began again. My body must learn to survive before my eyes do.

On his last night, he sat by the dying fire, the scent of grass and blood clinging to him like a medal. He preferred this reality to the city. Here, every decision had a consequence. Every morning, he woke up in a world made slightly safer, slightly more controllable, by his own efforts— but he knew it wasn't enough.

He needed to fight. Not animals, but people who also possessed "power."

He looked toward the distant city lights. There, his next target lay in wait. The Heavens Arena. He knew the risks— but any comfort zone was now a cage. He had to enter a real battlefield to even begin to speak of Nen.

He also remembered a blurry combat recording he'd found on an underground forum, labeled "Heavens Arena · Floor 32." In it, two figures had fought with a power that was not traditional of martial arts.

It was a force that seemed to emanate from their bodies, an attack that was "non-contact, yet lethal." The commenters had speculated about unknown fighting styles.

However, Ryan had drawn his own conclusion: Nen. He wouldn't be so naive as to think he could find a master there. In the real world, so-called master-disciple relationships weren't based on fate. They were based on being worthy of attention.

That was his true reason for going to the tower. To earn his place through combat.

As the sun rose, he meticulously dismantled his camp, refilling the fire pit and incinerating any trace of his presence. He put on his hat, packed his gear, and checked the zippers. No regrets. No flaws.

He slung his backpack over his shoulder, took one last look at the forest, and began to walk toward the city. This was a choice of no return. He was going to stand on the first floor of the Heavens Arena with his true identity.

On that stage, he was not a student or a child. He was a new entrant to the world of the extraordinary— a challenger determined to prove his existence.

Regardless of the outcome, he would leave his name there— and it would become Ryan's first cornerstone on his path to power.