The wind cut across the road without mercy.
Two carriages moved slowly forward, pulled by tired horses.
Beside them rode two men on horseback, heads lowered against the cold.
The younger of the two pulled his coat tighter and exhaled sharply.
"This cold is unbearable," he said. "It shouldn't be like this. Not here."
The older man riding beside him did not answer immediately.
He had a long, grey beard that reached his chest,
His eyes were narrowed, not just from the wind, but from thought.
"Zaban City doesn't get snow," the older man finally said. "Not like this."
The younger man glanced toward the sky.
The clouds were low and heavy, pressing down on the land.
"Do you think they followed us?" he asked. "Artek's people?"
The older man shook his head slowly.
"No. If they had, we would already know. They don't hide well."
The younger man nodded, though the tension in his shoulders did not fade.
Artek's gang was small, but ruthless.
They controlled parts of Zaban City through fear and quick violence.
Anyone crossing them usually paid for it.
The carriages creaked as they rolled forward. Inside the second carriage, wrapped in thick cloth and fur, sat a young man with dark hair and calm eyes.
He said nothing, listening to the sound of the wind and the conversation outside.
His name was Conrad.
He had joined them two days ago, deep in the wilderness.
No one knew where he came from.
He had simply appeared on the road, walking alone through the cold as if it didn't bother him.
He had asked for a ride to Zaban City, offering work or coin in return.
The older man had hesitated at first. But something about Conrad had seemed… harmless.
Still, the younger rider wasn't convinced.
He leaned closer to the older man.
"What about him?" he asked. "The boy."
The older man glanced back at the carriages. His eyes lingered on the second one.
"Conrad," the younger man said.
"That's what he called himself."
The older man gave a short grunt.
"Yes. Him."
"You don't think he has anything to do with Artek, do you?"
"No," the older man said. "Artek doesn't recruit boys like that."
"How do you know?"
"Because Artek's men talk too much. That one barely talks at all."
The younger man considered that.
"Still. He appeared out of nowhere."
"So did the snow," the older man replied.
They rode in silence for a few moments.
Finally, the younger man spoke again.
"What happens when we reach Zaban City?"
The older man's voice was firm.
"He leaves."
"Just like that?"
"Yes. He has no ties to us. No reason to stay."
"And if he asks to come along?"
The older man shook his head. "Then we say no."
Inside the carriage, Conrad listened quietly. He had heard everything.
-
Conrad thought the reactions of the two men were normal.
In a world like this, caution came first.
Trust was something earned slowly, and often lost quickly. If he were in their place, he would have thought the same.
He had noticed the second carriage earlier.
There were women inside three of them from what he could tell.
Their voices were low, careful. Traders, most likely. Migrants too.
Safety through proximity.
That concept existed in every world.
Not much time later, the carriages arrived at the Zaban City entrance.
Conrad left the peoplea after thanking them and took a deep breath.
As he walked through the snow-covered street, Conrad kept his pace steady.
Inside his mind, he organized his thoughts.
"In the anime, it is hard to expect but of course. Zaban City too have snow and rain."
"It is not expected as the old-man said but here I am."
Conrad couldn't help but smile slightly.
He was not from this world.
That fact alone still felt strange.
He was from Earth.
When he first realized where he was, the shock had been overwhelming.
Seeing the signs, hearing the names, recognizing the structure of society it had taken time to fully accept.
This was the world of Hunter × Hunter.
At first, the realization had almost paralyzed him.
Nen was real. Hunters were real.
The danger level of this world was far beyond normal human limits.
Dark Continent and Succesion, the malice of humanity as the Isaac Netero added...
"Morality of the world of hunter x hunter, even worse than the real "Earth"."
Anyone careless could die without warning.
But that fear had not lasted long.
Because Conrad had not come unprepared.
Back on Earth, he had been obsessed with Nen. Not as a fantasy power, but as a system.
He had studied it endlessly its rules, limitations, categories, contracts, and contradictions. He had treated it like an academic field rather than entertainment.
He had even called himself a Nen Sage.
Now, standing in this world, that belief felt validated.
"Maybe, that is a "Nen" too."
"I became so much interested in "Nen" that I transported to the world of hunter x hunter."
Conrad smirked as he thought.
Conrad activated Ten automatically, without conscious effort.
His aura spread evenly across his body, forming a thin but stable layer.
The cold was still present, but it could not reach him fully.
Ten was simple.
People around him were struggling against the weather, pulling cloaks tighter, shivering, complaining.
Conrad walked normally.
He reduced the output slightly.
Conrad observed everything.