"Yeah. I'll definitely become strong," Gon said, clenching his fists. His brown eyes burned with determination. "That way, I can find my dad."
The early part of Hunter × Hunter could be summed up as: Gon looking for his father.
"That's right—strong," Leorio and Kurapika agreed almost in unison.
"Let's go. There's still a long way ahead—don't fall behind," Lu ou said, taking the lead and running forward.
Tap, tap, tap.
In the empty underground passage, the footsteps of the four echoed repeatedly. The cedar trees were drawing closer.
"Lu ou," Kurapika said as they ran, "analyze this for us. What kind of situation do you think we'll encounter once we reach the cedars?"
"There's too little information right now," Lu ou replied. "I can't draw any useful conclusions."
"Doesn't matter what we run into," Leorio said, waving his fists. "If anyone messes with me, I'll make sure they know Leorio isn't someone to mess with."
"Lu ou, what kind of job was that old lady's guide?" Gon asked.
"The Hunter Exam is held in different locations every year," Lu ou explained. "A guide's job is to bring candidates with potential to the exam site. And without a guide, it's basically impossible to reach the venue. So first, we need to find a guide and have them lead us there."
"Sounds difficult," Gon said.
"It really is," Kurapika agreed. "Getting a guide to acknowledge you and take you along isn't easy."
At first, the four chatted and laughed in the darkness, looking fairly relaxed. But as time passed, problems began to surface.
Lu ou had been running in the lead initially, but after an hour, he had fallen back and was now running alongside Leorio at the rear.
Leorio was lazy, but he did have stamina. In the original story, he even rowed a boat all the way to shore by himself—though not voluntarily.
The original four-person group—none of them were ordinary.
Gon was still full of energy, running at the front. From time to time, he swung his fishing rod as if training his arm strength. His carefree attitude was almost infuriating.
Kurapika followed steadily behind Gon, breathing evenly, his pace unchanged from the start—precise, as if measured by a speedometer. Clearly, he still had plenty of stamina in reserve.
"Huff… huff…"
In his previous life, Lu ou had just been an ordinary man—either at work or at home, with exercise limited to a normal person's level. Even after strengthening himself with Nen, his mental endurance simply couldn't compare to these inhuman beings.
Even setting aside the abstract notion of "mental strength," this body's physical conditioning wasn't particularly good either.
Listening to his own wheezing, bellows-like breathing, Lu ou realized he needed to think of something—because even Leorio was now slightly ahead of him.
He estimated his remaining stamina, then the remaining distance. There was no way he could last. To be honest, the biggest problem was his mental endurance.
It felt pathetic, but ordinary people's perseverance really was weak. If Lu ou hadn't been constantly hypnotizing himself with the idea that he possessed Nen, he probably would've given up long ago.
His limbs felt like they were filled with lead. Every cell in his body screamed at him:
Tired. Tired. Tired. Tired!
He had to do something—if this continued, he'd fall behind.
"Wait… if even the Sea God couldn't resist the power of the Face Fruit… then according to the theory of Nen… this should work too…"
Lu ou's mind was filled with outrageous ideas. He had just thought of a particularly wild move.
"Lu ou, do you need help?" Gon asked worriedly. Kurapika also slowed down.
If Lu ou had asked earlier, all three of them—including Leorio—would have helped without hesitation.
But for some reason, Lu ou just kept forcing himself onward.
"Not yet. Gon, give me an apple. I'm a little hungry," Lu ou suddenly said.
"Okay, Lu ou!" Gon replied immediately, efficiently pulling a bright red apple from his backpack and handing it over.
Crunch, crunch.
Lu ou bit into the apple as soon as he took it. Before long, the entire apple was gone—fast enough to make it look like he truly was starving.
"Body… Luou's body, give me some face. Let me hold on—just hold on until the exit."
He repeated this silently in his mind.
Then—
Boom.
It felt as though his brain had been struck by an invisible hammer.
Face Fruit contract failed.
Lu ou's body swayed, and Gon once again suggested carrying him for a while.
"If I need it, I'll say so," Lu ou replied, which finally made Gon stop insisting.
This was his first failure using Nen in this way. One apple was far from enough to make his body endure all the way through.
But failure didn't mean it was useless.
On the contrary, it confirmed that this outrageous idea of his worked—he could use food to make his body "give him face."
The corner of Luou's mouth lifted into a barely noticeable smile.
When my face gets big enough, even my own body has to give me face.
He immediately asked Gon for more fruit. Every time he ate one, he silently recited:
"Lu ou's body, give me face. Hold on a little longer."
His body still felt heavy, and the exhaustion remained—but it was as if he were a marionette, pulled forward by invisible strings. Step by step, he continued onward.
"It really works. Looks like I've gained another trump card. I can dig deeper into this later," Lu ou analyzed silently, considering various possibilities.
Whenever his body slackened again, he'd eat another piece of fruit. Over and over.
If his willpower couldn't hold out, it didn't matter. Lu ou solved the problem at its source.
He didn't need to rely on sheer determination anymore.
He let his body do the enduring.
"Lu ou… are you really okay?" Gon asked, watching him eat while running, eat while running.
Lu ou shook his head and said nothing, continuing forward. He was now seriously suspecting that this tunnel passed through a mountain and looped back toward the cedars—otherwise, with their speed, there was no way it should've taken this long.
"Lu ou, I suggest letting Gon carry you for a bit," Kurapika said calmly. "There are harder trials ahead. If you exhaust yourself here, it'll be trouble later."
Lu ou was drenched in sweat, looking like he might collapse from exhaustion at any second.
Leorio also quietly advised him not to force himself—if necessary, he could at least support him.
Lu ou refused all of their concern. His response was always the same: just hold on a little longer.
In their eyes, Lu ou was simply being stubborn.
But only Lu ou himself noticed the change.
His legs, which had been in so much pain they'd gone numb, began to tingle—an itchy, crawling sensation, like ants biting at his skin.
This was likely the effect of pushing past his physical limits.
Warmth surged through his legs, strength filling them once more. The numb, lifeless sensation from before was completely gone.
People like to say that strong will can help one break through their limits—but in reality, those who can truly do so are extremely rare.
Otherwise, it wouldn't be called a limit.
But now, by relying on the Face Fruit, Lu ou had done it—without depending on sheer willpower.
He had finally broken through his body's limits.