"Hello."
Roy returned a smile, sitting cross-legged on the chair and took out a book to read seriously, but it wasn't a travelogue, it was his grandfather Jager's notes. He turned to the page titled "Hookless Fishing" and studied it carefully.
The 50 points of "Life Energy" gained from killing Muriel Antonio was temporarily stored on the panel. The waiting hall was full of people from all walks of life, mostly candidates participating in the Hunter Exam, with competitive relationships among them. Rashly digesting it here, putting himself in a temporary weakened state, wasn't a wise choice.
Even with Wutong on guard beside him,
"Ding-ling-ling—"
The airport announcement reminded everyone that it was now ten in the evening.
The waiting hall was becoming more crowded. At a certain moment, Roy's gaze shifted slightly, turning his head to look towards the entrance...
Two tall figures, one on each side, escorted a young boy through the security check, attracting quite a bit of attention.
The boy had beautiful blonde hair, stood straight, dressed exquisitely, and had a face of a handsome man, like one of those teenage celebrities newly debuted in a past life, accompanied by two bodyguards. He smiled slightly, bewitching many young fangirls.
"All three are Nen users," Wutong noticed Roy's gaze and whispered.
As he said...
Their "Sense" was unabashedly emanating, as if afraid that others wouldn't notice, with the boy being the most arrogant. The "Sense" radiating from his head was as thick as a barrel.
Roy carefully stared at the boy, feeling a strange sense of familiarity, as if he had seen him somewhere before.
The blonde boy's intuition was quite keen; he too glanced over, his mouth curling up in a smile...
"Hey~ Little Hill... you smiled. I've been telling you to smile more, so the girls would admire you..."
"Shut up, Clark!" the skinny bodyguard scolded the fat bodyguard, frowning while looking at the boy. "Pariston, what did you notice?"
With his understanding of the blonde boy, the other wouldn't act without purpose. A sudden smile meant someone was in for a bad time, or headed toward one.
"Noticed someone interesting..."
The blonde boy withdrew his gaze, stepping on a ball rolling towards him... The large waiting hall didn't only have candidates for the Hunter Exam. A father and son were taking flight "L754" to the Ancient Gan Yu Kingdom, killing time by kicking the ball between flights.
Unfortunately, the little boy missed it, the ball rolling straight under his legs, landing precisely at the blonde boy's feet... Very politely, the boy asked, "Big brother, can you give me back the ball?"
The blonde boy smiled gently, "Sure."
He lifted his foot and stomped down heavily. Then... "Bang!"—a loud explosion!
The ball burst under his foot, flying rubber pieces everywhere. Only a sharp-toed little shoe and the little boy stood dazed in the scene!
"Waaaaah...." Three seconds later, the boy burst into tears... The blonde boy's brows raised, showing an expression of great enjoyment.
Destruction... The cuter something is, the more it should be destroyed... Ah... Subarashii......
He spread his arms, raised his chin, and closed his eyes. The boy's angry father came rushing over, only to be shoved aside by the fat bodyguard named Clark...
"Who is this guy? Such a rotten personality..."
"Mad, just begging for a beating..."
"Keep your voice down, or he'll hear you. I bet he's some rich kid from a big company, heard about the Hunter Exam and came here out of curiosity..."
The whispers grew louder... The boy's father, having taken a slap, knew he couldn't afford to provoke them, quickly whisked his child away... Many eyes focused on him, but the blonde boy wasn't ashamed. Instead, he seemed to enjoy it even more, as if...
The moment he stepped into the waiting hall, it became his "stage," accounting for everyone's reactions.
Even so, it seemed it wasn't enough to satisfy him... The boy opened his eyes, cleared his throat, looked around, and placed a hand on his chest, bowing to everyone before straightening and loudly announcing, "Hello everyone, please allow me to introduce myself."
"My name is Pariston Hill, a candidate in this year's Hunter Exam. Now, I'd like to ask everyone for a favor,"
The boy paused for a moment, noticing that mentioning the Hunter Exam caught everyone's attention, then smiled contently, "Please withdraw from this session of the Hunter Exam to ensure my advancement."
"Shhh—" The waiting hall seemed muted, void of sound in an instant.
A man wrapped in bandages... A Snakekeeper with a cobra coiled around his neck... A muscular man with a bare upper body... A bald guy dressed like a Ninja, everyone furrowed their brows one by one.
Including... the girl sitting across the table from Roy on his right; she finally seemed willing to pull her attention from the travelogue in her hands, slightly frowning at the boy, whispering vaguely two words—scumbag!
Indeed, scumbag!
Wutong agreed deeply, estimating that anyone present with a sound mind thought the same... He pushed up his glasses calmly, edging closer to Roy, sneaking a glance...
The young master quietly observed this scene, seeming a bit surprised?
Indeed... somewhat beyond Roy's expectations...
He really didn't expect to encounter this infamous Vice Chairman of the Hunter Association, the future Zodiac Twelve—Rat, his two famous quotes surfacing in his mind.
"I only feel happiness when I'm hated."
"Whenever I see something cute, truthfully, I uncontrollably want to hurt them without any reason."
That's what Pariston said, and indeed what he did, plotting in the Ant arc, leading to Netero's death. It's not without a touch from him and Beyond... More ironically, one was personally promoted by Netero to oppose him for some fun and the other, a rebellious son willing to do anything for the Dark Continent...
"The strongest human," a title truly deserved this lifetime.
"Who the hell do you think you are? Telling us to quit just like that? You think your family owns the Hunter Exam?"
"Young people today don't know the height of the sky or the depth of the earth, thinking a bit of stinky money at home can solve everything, simply ridiculous."
"Hey... If you have the guts, spar with me, let me see your real skills for talking big like that!"
The uproar exploded! Pariston had incited public fury!
If looks could kill, no doubt... he would have been lynched on the spot, bones and all!
Yet... that's exactly what he wanted....
'Subarashii... Absolutely right... This feeling... Hate me... Loathe me... Please let the denouncement be fiercer...'
The blonde boy blissfully lowered his head, trying hard not to laugh too loudly. Raising his head again, he put up a finger, gestured "shh", and sincerely said:
"I think everyone misunderstood me... I was just trying to save time, because—"
"Are all of you here just trash?"