[Hint: You have been watched by an unknown entity, your life is now on a countdown!]
Year 9, Month 9, Hour 9, Minute 9, Second 9...
Year 9, Month 9, Hour 9, Minute 9, Second 8...
Year 9, Month 9, Hour 9, Minute 9, Second 7...
The disk mark on the back of the hand resembled a stopwatch, beginning its countdown.
Roy furrowed his brow, opened the Acupoints on the back of his hand, attached "Burning True Intent" and tried to burn it away.
The mark didn't budge, continuing the countdown...6 seconds...5 seconds...4 seconds...
He then tried slicing with a sword...transforming "Magnetic Force" interference...the mark seemed to be fixated on Roy, calculating his remaining life silently.
After attempting various means, Roy forced himself to calm down.
"Pitter-patter..."
The shower sprayed water down from overhead...
His breathing calmed, carefully recalling the past...from leaving home to boarding the ship and then to the venue for the test, everything was fine until just now—
After absorbing the "Life Energy" of Sa Jin, Gongerdan, Dasso, and others, the mark suddenly appeared, clearly linked to the "Pig-headed Man"...to Grandpa Jager, and even the Dark Continent.
'The panel reminded me that an unknown entity has taken notice of me...perhaps because I "consumed" Sa Jin and others, leaving traces in the Dark Continent that attracted attention,'
'This also indirectly proves that Grandpa Jager's memories were not illusionary, but rather had a certain degree of authenticity.'
Thoughts whirled, Roy suddenly remembered the words Grandpa Zeno just said to him: "To find the answer, one must seek it in Jager's memories."
A vague suspicion formed...
First, the "unknown entity" has such a high rank that merely a glance from afar could cause explosive destruction. Through a distance of 'real yet unreal, illusionary yet true' memories, it could cast its gaze from the Dark Continent to him and successfully lay a curse upon him, likely rivaling the "Five Great Calamities" known in the current human world.
Gas entity E...Weapon Golden Ingot...Double-tailed Snake Hell's Bells...Nurturing Beast Papu and the Undead Disease Zobaai.
Second, for some reason it cannot cross time and space to "manifest" physically, and can only curse him through the method of "marking," utilizing a [mechanism].
Third, Thought Erasure Master!
It's impervious to fire, irreducible by blade, then let the Thought Erasure Master deal with it!
If the Thought Erasure Master is unable, then the only option may be to search through Grandpa Jager's memory or...venture into the Dark Continent for the solution.
Nine years and nine months, neither long nor short, before then...
"To seek the traces of the Thought Erasure Master, while striving to grow stronger, at least..."
"Must gain the capital to establish oneself in the Dark Continent before the time runs out!"
"Creak—" The shower turned off, Roy wrapped the wound simply with a towel, then dried off upon exiting, changing into loose pajamas.
Sitting cross-legged on the bedside, he laid open Grandpa Jager's notebook, perusing it intently, trying to find any clues regarding the "mark", unfortunately...the notebook recorded only Grandpa Jager's cultivation insights, moreover in the first volume, at that time he hadn't gone to the Dark Continent, finding anything would be peculiar.
"Wutong, come in!"
"Squeak..."
The door was pushed open,
"Young Master, what's the matter?"
"Call Grandpa."
"Which one?"
"My grandpa."
"Sure,"
The phone dialed... Wutong adjusted the glasses perched on his nose, cautiously handing over the cellphone.
Roy took it, saying directly: "Grandpa save me, I'm cursed!"
"Boom!" From the other end came the sound of a volleyball being punched explosively!
"Boom!" White hair blowing wild, the pale [Ren] suddenly erupted centered on Zeno,
The giant logo-bearing airship of the Hunter Association quaked, and Netero squinted his old eyes, sharply capturing a hint of anxiety and bewilderment in his Nen, promptly pulling his "playful" hand back.
"Stay put, I'll be there right away!"
No matter how cautious, it ended up catching him off guard.
Zeno hung up, face darkening, opened the cabin door, and leaped down from high altitude!
Among the cries of surprise from the Mamen Beans and the crew, landing swiftly... but before they could recover, Netero followed suit, leaping off, leaving the group bewildered in the wind, glancing at each other...
"Buzz..." The propeller tore through the air, stirring up gusts.
Zeno and Netero landed one after another, vanished from sight...about ten minutes later.
In an inn beside the river, they saw the "curse."
"Tick...tick..."
The "mark" was like a "dying charm," moving with time...
From the time Roy discovered it until now, forty minutes had passed, the numbers on the "dial" had reduced from the initial "Year 9, Month 9, Hour 9, Minute 9, Second 9" to "Year 9, Month 9, Hour 8, Minute 21, Second 9"...
The youth omitted the "panel" part, stating truthfully: "This situation occurred shortly after coming out of the illusion."
Zeno and Netero each grabbed his hand, scrutinized it, and maintained silence.
Fire could not burn it, the blade could not remove it, it resembled "Nen" yet contained an inexplicable element beyond "Nen," undeniably a curse!
"Tick...tick..." Another few seconds passed...
Wutong returned with some ointment and bandages, squatted down to re-bandage Roy's wound, the youth broke the silence directly, looking pointedly at Netero: "I know the Association has a Thought Erasure Master, can we ask him to come out and remove the curse for me?"
The original manga had the Hunter Association bring a Thought Erasure Master to examine Gon after his transformation, although ultimately it was unhelpful, only appearing for five seconds, yet...since they were acknowledged by the Hunter Association, the Thought Erasure Master must have some skills.
Roy had considered this when he called his grandpa, suddenly remembered this person.
"Useless." Without waiting for Netero to speak, Zeno directly rejected Roy.
The old man said gravely: "Thought Erasure Masters must comply with the 'principle of equivalent exchange.'
"'High rewards' mean 'high risks'..."
"No one will risk 'shortening their lifespan' to help you remove the curse."
Just like...in the Greed Island arc, the "Forest Thought Erasure Master" Abengana summoned "forest spirits" to consume "Nen" through "incantation," but had to stay with the ugly and dangerous "forest spirits" until the opponent's Nenryoku was lifted...
Again, like Chimaera Ant arc's girl Thought Erasure Master, her stomach would inevitably expand after removal, and there was a chance it could never shrink.
The more "powerful" the "curse," the higher the risk in exorcism, the greater the cost...especially this "mark," which directly affects "lifespan" as a curse!
Roy fell silent...
Seeing this, cold glint flickered in Wutong's eyes, blurting: "If unwilling, then kill him!"
"A Thought Erasure Master is precious and rare, but no more than the Young Master!"
"Indeed." Zeno surprisingly agreed with a nod.
The two entirely ignored the fact that the Hunter Association's president was still present...Roy apologized to Netero with a grin...
The old man stroked his beard, pretending not to hear, after pondering a while, suddenly said: "A Thought Erasure Master is few and far between, secondly mostly unable to uproot, mainly emphasizing transfer, thus in my opinion, only one solution exists..."
What solution?
Zeno, Wutong collectively gazed...
Netero lifted his eyes to Roy, speaking solemnly: "You must kill the one who cursed you."
"If they die, you live, otherwise..."
"If you die, they live, it's that simple."
Simple? You're asking me to eliminate a calamity rivaling Nanika within ten years?