Hunter X Hunter : The Boundary

Chapter 25: The Eyes of the Audience

As dawn broke, Ryan entered the Heavens Arena. His backpack was heavy, not just with gear and equipment, but with a singular obsession—a yearning for Nen.

The lower levels of the Arena were a bustling, chaotic mix of street fighters, retired boxers, and young hopefuls. Ryan took a number and moved through the crowd.

He fought his way from the 1st to the 10th floor with ease, relying on reaction speed, judgment, and misdirection to end each match in under thirty seconds. The audience called him a calculating fighter. After each victory, his eyes scanned the stands.

In the original story, Gon and Killua had been stopped cold on the 199th floor, paralyzed by Hisoka's Nen. It was there they met Wing, the bespectacled Shingen-ryu master who opened the door to Nen for them.

He had taught them Ten, Ren, and Zetsu. He had used Water Divination to determine their Hatsu types. Ryan knew that at this point in the timeline, before the protagonists had even arrived, Wing and his young disciple, Zushi, should be here— observing and training in secret.

Just before his third match on the 13th floor, he found them.

In the back rows of the audience, a tall, slender man in gold-rimmed glasses sat quietly, his gaze sharp. Beside him, a boy of about ten in a neat training uniform was diligently taking notes. The boy's posture was stable, his focus absolute.

It was them.

Ryan felt a jolt of recognition but didn't approach— a true master like Wing shouldn't be disturbed just because an outsider knew the plot. Wing didn't preach Nen to just anyone; he guided those who were already seeking it on their own.

So, Ryan chose to speak in a language Wing would understand: the language of combat.

From the 14th floor onwards, his fighting style changed. He no longer sought quick victories. Instead, he began to control the pace of each match.

He would deliberately expose an opening, baiting his opponent into a predictable attack, then use their own momentum to dismantle them with minimal effort. In the audience, some people booed, calling him a show-off.

But in a corner of the 16th-floor observation deck, Wing was not booing. He was frowning, his gaze fixed on Ryan's footwork.

"Is he... deliberately exposing his left side?" Zushi asked quietly.

Wing nodded, his eyes never leaving the arena. "He's luring him in for an elbow strike—but it's just one thing. He's setting up for a counter-attack in anticipation of the enemy."

"Isn't this a fighting style best suited for Conjurers?" Zushi asked, his eyes wide.

"If his Nen type is Conjuration," Wing replied, "then this is a form of best suited to unleash what they can conjure and take the enemy by surprise."

The match ended after 3 minutes and 11 seconds. Ryan had never exerted his full strength, yet he had dragged a powerful, aggressive opponent into a web.

As Ryan turned and left the arena, Wing cast one last, long look at the boy on the stage. It wasn't a look of encouragement— it was a look of confirmation that this young man stood inside the great door of Nen.

The next day, Ryan received an invitation from the Arena management. It had only one line: 26th Floor · Training Hall.

He knew it was time. Wing didn't teach the strong; he taught those who were already standing at the threshold, just one step away from breaking the mold themselves.

And Ryan was ready to break it.

He walked to the window. The Arena tower pierced the sky, a distant, unattainable signal. He knew that without mastering Nen, he would never reach the top— but now... now he had taken a step.