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Initially, Leorio was introduced as a greedy man whose only dreams involved becoming a bounty hunter or a treasure hunter to strike it rich. This initial impression had solidified in the minds of the readers, leading them to view him as a somewhat superficial character.
However, in the latest chapter, his flashback changed everything. The story of Leorio and his childhood friend, Pietro, marked the first time that Hunter x Hunter truly struck a chord with the audience's hearts.
There is a significant difference between local battle manga and the long-running shonen masterpieces from the other world.
Domestic works often focused heavily on the protagonist, prioritizing lighthearted action and instant gratification. They tended to lean toward the relaxed combat style seen in series like One-Punch Man, rarely delving into such intricate character depth.
In contrast, the legendary shonen epics Haruto remembered were famous for their extensive backstories, not just for the lead characters but for the supporting cast as well. When fans first started the seventh chapter and saw it was almost entirely a flashback for Leorio, many were ready to complain. They felt the main plot was moving too slowly as it was. Why should a side character get a flashback before the protagonist even had one? They wanted the author to stop stalling and get back to the Hunter Exam.
Yet, after finishing the chapter, a great number of readers found their eyes welling up with tears. A flashback is a double-edged sword.
If the execution is poor, it makes the audience impatient and ready to drop the series. But if it is handled with skill, it creates a profound sense of empathy. It ensures that the reader doesn't finish a long series only remembering the protagonist while the rest of the cast remains a blur.
This was the secret behind the popularity of characters like Zoro, Nami, and Sanji from One Piece, or Sasuke, Neji, and Rock Lee from Naruto.
Some of these characters were so well-defined by their pasts that they occasionally surpassed the protagonist in popularity polls. Fans felt deeply connected to them, often moved to tears by their struggles.
Conversely, characters who were denied this treatment eventually felt like transparent background noise.
Leorio's trauma was rooted in money.
The hallucination of his best friend Pietro, who had died of a preventable illness because they were too poor to afford treatment, appeared in his mind. The two of them talked and argued within the dream.
"I'm going to become a Hunter and earn more money than I can count. I'll use that money to become a doctor."
"Then, if I ever meet kids like you who can't afford help, I'll treat them for free."
In the manga, after Leorio spent half the chapter conversing with the vision of Pietro, he turned back only to see his friend's image transform into a rotting skeleton.
The hallucination was just that, an illusion. No matter how much the dream version of Pietro spoke, it could not change the fact that he had been dead for a long time.
"You should just die too. If you die, you can come to my world. Everyone dies eventually, so there is no point in worrying about it. To be honest, you aren't cut out to be a doctor anyway. If you die, we can finally hang out again. Don't leave me all alone, Leorio."
The words spoken by Pietro's skeletal remains caused the manga's tone to shift violently.
For a moment, readers felt as though they had stumbled into a horror series.
However, as Leorio began to follow Pietro into the darkness, he suddenly stopped and lowered his head.
"I don't think I can go with you after all," Leorio said.
"Why not?" the skeleton of Pietro asked.
"Maybe I'm just dreaming. I don't have much confidence in myself. But I don't want my life to end like this. I want to cure kids who are suffering from the same thing you had. I want to look their parents in the eye and say it's okay. I want to tell them that I don't want their money."
In the panels, Leorio's eyes were filled with a new light, even as tears streamed down his face while looking at the remains of his friend. There was no sound or background music, just black-and-white ink and the meticulous depiction of a character's gaze. Yet, the heat and nobility of his heart were transmitted clearly through the paper.
If a person in real life said something like that to you, very few would believe such idealism could exist. People might believe idealists exist in the abstract, but they rarely expect to meet such a saint in person.
The greatness of fiction lies in the fact that the entire work is an idealized existence. In such a world, the appearance of such a romantic, idealistic character feels exactly as it should be.
"I'm going to live, Pietro. I'm going to become a doctor." Leorio knelt on the ground, begging the ghost of his friend to forgive him for not choosing death.
"Leorio, you better become a great doctor."
The final panel of the chapter showed the back of Pietro, his hair fluttering in the wind.
Though his face wasn't visible, it was clear that in Leorio's eyes, he was no longer a skeleton.
While everyone expected the seventh chapter of Hunter x Hunter to focus on the battles within the exam, the story instead took a detour into a hallucinatory dialogue between Leorio and Pietro.
Paradoxically, this became the most discussed and debated chapter since the series began.
"I'm crying over here."
"Man, I totally misjudged Leorio. Back in chapter six when he was talking to Gon and Kurapika about becoming a Hunter just for the money, I laughed at him. Now I feel like a total idiot."
"Leorio is actually the most realistic one! He knows that saving lives takes more than just a good heart. He needs money for medical school, and he needs money to treat poor kids for free later. He needs to strike it rich to make his dream a reality."
"The trauma of losing his best friend because they were broke is his true motivation!"
"This character writing is absolutely top-notch."
"I never thought I'd be this invested in a battle manga where the protagonist hasn't even fought anyone by chapter seven."
"The depth of character building here feels even stronger than before."
"We are seven chapters in and we already have so many interesting characters. Sword Art Online is great, but the side characters there sometimes feel a bit overshadowed by the leads."
"Who said the SAO side characters are weak? Look at that guy Sugou! He is the most hated villain in history. Isn't that proof enough of Haruto's ability to write characters?"
"The hatred for Sugou only works because of Asuna. You hate him because he wants to defile someone perfect. If he were trying to defile some random background character, people would just call him a generic creep."
"Both series are great, but Leorio's story hit me hard. You have to read it alongside chapter six to get the full effect. The contrast is powerful."
"It's about the relatability! Leorio feels like a normal person, just like us. Most of us just accept our mediocrity and drift through life, but he refuses to lose. He's still fighting."
"I find all these side characters fascinating, but what about the protagonist? Is a naive, simple-minded lead really going to work? Gon is fun to watch, but he isn't particularly smart."
"Aside from being good with animals and having a sunny personality, he doesn't have many standout traits. I'm worried the side characters are going to steal all his thunder. I almost feel like Leorio should be the lead."
"Don't panic. This author never plays by the rules. So let's just wait and see what he does with it."
Haruto's fans spent the night discussing about Leorio.
The next day, the latest voting data was released. The seventh chapter broke the three-million-vote threshold, matching the peak popularity of Initial D during its serialization.
This was the advantage of Haruto's established fame. In terms of excitement, Hunter x Hunter was only just beginning to expand its world and was not yet as gripping as the early days of Initial D. However, Haruto brought his own massive fan base with him.
As long as his new work maintained a high level of quality, its growth was destined to outpace any other creator's work.
For Haruto's competitors, these numbers were incredibly demoralizing. Breaking three million votes by the seventh chapter was unheard of.
That was a milestone usually reserved for legendary works at their absolute peak.
It wasn't that Haruto couldn't create another hit, but achieving this level of popularity by chapter seven felt like a cruel joke to everyone else. Even if fans were voting out of loyalty, shouldn't there have been some attrition when he switched from racing to shonen battle manga?
Neither his rivals nor many people at Prime Manga could fully grasp how he was doing it. It was like imagining Oda finishing One Piece and then immediately launching a shoujo romance that everyone loved.
"At the end of the day, a change in style is just one factor. The quality of the work is what matters. Readers don't actually care about the genre as long as the story is interesting."
"Theoretically, anyone in the world can become a fan of any genre if the writing is good. Look at Initial D. I bet half those readers didn't know the first thing about cars before that manga started," Haruto said with a laugh.
"Hunter x Hunter is a slow burn, but it has a major advantage: it doesn't have any 'off-ramps' for the readers. From the first chapter to now, there hasn't been a single moment that would make a reader feel disgusted or annoyed. The villains are smart, and the protagonist's team is decisive. Even if the main plot moves slowly, the chapters are still magnetic."
Shizuru blinked, deciding it was too much effort to overthink it.
Her job was to handle the art for this manga; she would leave the storytelling to Haruto. Since the first chapter, Hunter x Hunter had firmly held the top spot in the magazine. With this week's surge past three million votes, the popularity of the duo had returned to the golden days of Initial D, even though the first volume hadn't even been released yet.
"You really are a monster," Shizuru said, staring at Haruto's face for a solid thirty seconds.
"A monster? Is that how you see me?" Haruto asked, looking amused.
"No, I'm just speaking for your competitors. I can practically feel the despair they must be going through," Shizuru said, leaning back in her chair.
"I'm not the only monster here. We're in this together. In the eyes of our rivals, we are a two-headed beast," Haruto joked.
"We are, aren't we?" Shizuru smiled. "You said before we started that you wanted this manga to become the highest-selling series in the history."
"I did," Haruto said, looking at her. "Do you believe me now?"
"I do," Shizuru nodded. "So, when do you think it will happen? Three years? Longer?"
"It won't take that long. I think we'll be number one in history before I graduate university," Haruto mused. "In fact, my personal goal is to hit number one in anime, manga, and light novels across the board within the next eighteen months, before I finish my degree."
Shizuru's expression became serious as she searched his face. "You're actually serious."
"Of course I am. I wouldn't say this to anyone else. Only to you, Yukino, and Reina," Haruto replied earnestly.
"Before graduation..." Shizuru started to laugh, her shoulders shaking.
"What's so funny?"
"I was just thinking," Shizuru said, looking at him. "If you actually pull that off, it's hilarious because you'll be more impressive than any of the protagonists you've written."
"Think about it. The lead in Blue Spring Ride is just a shy girl. The guy in Anohana is just a shut-in. The guy in Parasyte ends up just living a normal life. Even the lead in Initial D was just a mountain racer who never even became number one in Japan."
Shizuru couldn't stop herself from laughing. "If you become the top creator in three industries before you even graduate, you'll be more of a legend than all of them combined."
"Well..." Haruto thought about it and found the comparison quite funny as well, eventually joining her in laughter.
"Eighteen months, huh?" Shizuru took a deep breath. "I've basically been riding your coattails to get here, but if we actually become the number one manga in history, I guess my name will be immortalized right alongside yours."
"I told you to stop being so pessimistic. No matter how good my stories are, I don't know the first thing about drawing manga, and I don't have the time to learn. We are a team," Haruto said. He reached out and gently flicked Shizuru on the forehead.
Shizuru froze for a second, then covered her forehead with her hand.
"Initial D and Hunter x Hunter are works we created together. There is no such thing as riding coattails. The glory belongs to both of us," Haruto said firmly.
"Both of us..." Shizuru repeated the words.
"Yes, both of us. So ignore the garbage the media and the internet are spewing. They say if I had partnered with any other artist, I'd still have the same results," Haruto said. He was well aware that since their duo became famous, Shizuru had been the target of significant scrutiny.
Her skill was beyond reproach, after the growth she experienced during Initial D, she was undoubtedly a top-tier artist, but the internet was filled with slander claiming she was only successful because she was "close" to him.
People on the internet were often that bored. Haruto had known about the rumors but didn't want to bring it up for fear of making it awkward. He decided to use this lighthearted moment to address it.
"There is no 'what if.' The reality is that you and I have walked this path together from the start."
Shizuru's eyes grew a bit red, but she quickly suppressed the emotion. She took a deep breath and immediately retaliated by flicking Haruto back on the forehead.
"Ow! Hey!" Haruto rubbed his brow.
"Don't forget, I'm your senior. You've only known me for a few years, so show some respect to your upperclassman! Did you really think you could distract me with a sentimental speech? How does that feel? Does it hurt?" Shizuru asked with a grin.
Haruto wasn't about to take that lying down. He and Shizuru chased each other around the office area like a couple of kids for a while until they finally settled down. Their weekly session for reviewing storyboards concluded shortly after.
The first half of December came to a close, and the end of the year loomed near.