"I see... So Flask is one of the agents trying to revive the Zakuya...," Bisky hummed with a chin in her hand while Rukei and Gon attended to the lumps on their heads, "And? What's he after here? You?"

"I'm not sure. I doubt that I'm a target. We just recently got this information from an agent in our custody. She wouldn't know about us trying to clear Greed Island," Rukei reasoned, "Perhaps some kind of card that can assist them?"

Part of her hoped that was what is was. Flask was simply looking for a certain card and therefore would avoid them as much as he could so that he may smoothly speed through the game and return to the Zakuya silently. Part of her prayed that it wasn't. What kind of fearful item were they looking for? What were they planning? What would they do with that card?

"I should leave."

Gon surprised her, stepping in front of her suddenly and holding both arms out to block her, "Not this again! We already said you're not a danger!"

Rukei smiled a little at the words, closing up her book and letting her hand drop to her side, "Thank you, but that's not what I meant, Gon. It'll just be for a little while," she explained, "I'm hoping that Flask will let his guard down a little if I'm alone. Flask must be in Dorias, that much I am sure of. I'll return soon. I just need enough time to find out what exactly happened in Dorias."

They were both hesitant over the matter still, and Bisky took to the logical side, "But if Flask wasn't sent here for you, then I'd think he'd avoid you at all costs. There's the chance that you may recognize him and that'd throw his mission off."

"Flask would never throw away a chance," Rukei replied confidently, "If he can complete his former mission and finish business with me, he would do it. I believe he has a grudge against us after all. Flask is the type to hold grudges."

The blonde huffed, placing her hands on her hips after a long moment of thought, "Don't be rash. Return quickly once you've gotten a idea of what's happened. And never let appearances deceive you."

"Osu!"

-

The City of Gambling, Dorias, really did live up to it's name. There was almost a slot machine in every building and wherever you looked there were either people complaining about money or jumping around and doing stupid things out of joy.

Crimson often lectured Shichi and Glass about gambling, as the two liked to do so from time to time. Though, Crimson didn't really need to worry about the two as none of their co-workers wanted to play poker against Shichi or Glass in the first place. Shichi was just a little too smart and Glass' poker face was scary. Playing cards with Rukei was out of the question.

Which is why Rukei decided that she wanted to go play cards first. Not only was it a place to exchange information, but Rukei could finally play cards without holding back. She had gotten a couple restricted slot cards as a reward. And just as she placed the cards into her binder, she was called out to.

The man who had called out to her, a fellow player with his book open to attack smiled down at her, "Listen kid, I don't want to waste any cards or energy and I'm sure you don't want to waste any either."

The woman beside him picked up where her left off with a rough gesture to their companions behind them, "So just hand over the cards like a good girl, okay?"

There were four of them, a fair number for her to take down, if the only thing that mattered was her fighting ability. But they had cards like Rob and Thief, she was sure, and she only had so many defensive spells. As long as she could beat them up before they used Return or any other warping spell then she should be fine-

With an agility that almost made her appear out of a thin air, a familiar woman wearing very long sleeves slammed her heel against the back of the first man that called out to her. The woman laughed at him for the second that his companions stood around dumbly, processing what had happened. "Isn't it a lot more fun to pick on someone your own size?"

Rukei thought she could handle them pretty well; if anything, Rukei was the one that was going to pick on them as she felt the need to practice her new ability, but she was grateful for the woman's help as she quickly finished the other three off with surprising power and force.

"C'mon. Take out your cards," the woman demanded from the defeated four. She seemed disappointed somehow, cursing as she flipped through her new set, muttering something about #77.

Rukei offered her thanks after the commotion, and the lady grinned as if she just remembered the girl was there. "Sure thing! Just watch out for yourself. Dorias is the City of Gambling but lots of players like to keep their eyes out for any winners. It's easier to rob them, see? Though," she paused with a disapproving frown on her face, "These people are getting robbed either way. This whole city is a thief's den."

There was a sharp sound to the woman's voice that Rukei could pick up, "You appear to really hate gambling."

The woman gave a half-hearted smile and shrug, "That's what my giant debt is for."

"Ah. You did say that you needed every jenny of the fifty billion."

She nodded before looking up with an optimistic air and confident expression, "That's right! So once I clear this game, I'm going to take my fifty billion and live like a free woman!" She declared before looking down at the girl, "Say, what's your name? Maybe we can trade sometime."

Rukei gave hers and in return she learned that the woman's name was Seira, as well why Seira was in Dorias even if she hated gambling so much.

"There are a couple cards only available here, but I really came hear because I heard that someone was offering an S-rank card for a player," Seira replied and Rukei quickly glanced down at her bandaged arms, before looking back up.

The brunette grew uneasy upon hearing those words, but pressed on in excitement for the information, "So essentially a bounty? What for?"

"No clue," Seira shook her head, "Actually nobody knows what the bounty looks like! The only thing we know is that our target's got a funky blood color. Honestly, it's a little fishy but it's a pretty good card, and this guy's keeping a monopoly on it."

"Who is this person?"

"I have no idea," the woman shrugged, "I tried using List on the Beauty Magnet Emerald before, but it seems like this guy's using some kinda trick with Transform or Fake or something to hide the card."

Rukei withheld a disappointed sigh, though she found a part of herself to be a little grateful for a little bit more information and a new connection. "Has there been any clues regarding the target? Blood color is really quite vague... And rather suspicious."

"It really is," Seira agreed, "But a S rank card's a S rank card! Besides, this weird blood color thing is related to some kind of criminal organization deal, right? The target's probably a bad guy anyways."

Rukei replied with a normal monotonous voice and rigid posture.

"You're probably right."

-

The next few days in Dorias was spent looking for "the target" with Seira. Rukei felt a little bad for fooling the woman when Rukei was right by her side, but she wasn't ready to give herself up as some kind of bounty until she could confirm the person who had set it.

Though, there wasn't any luck surrounding that either. She had talked to multiple different players looking for the same person and they had only come up with the same information.

"Oh, it's you again! Got any luck, kid?"

It was another one of the players wandering around in hopes of #77. Most people had decided to leave to search somewhere else while clearing the game, which was much more troublesome for her now that nearly everyone would be looking for her now.

Rukei gave the person in front of her the same answer of "no", just as she had given to everyone else. Seira said that they should probably start looking elsewhere.

He groaned in frustration and dragged a palm across his face in annoyance. "That's too bad," he mumbled, and when it seemed like he was going to leave, he stopped and turned to look at her, "What happened to your arms, kid?"

She had received this question from several people too. She gave the plain answer that they were scratched up from fighting a bunch of monster cards.

"Aw, man, tough luck."

Rukei stiffened. Something was wrong. There was something unsaid before that threw everything off.

"Yeah, tell me about it," Seira went on with a heavy sigh, "Even this bounty hunt is going nowhere. Ironic for this kinda city," she laughed dryly, "You'd think you have at least a little bit of fortune! I wanna get outta here already."

Those words must have jolted some kind of new fire in the woman, because the next day, Seira announced that she would be searching elsewhere while advancing in the game, like everyone else was. Seira offered to let Rukei tag along, though of course, Rukei had to decline. It appeared like the exam would be over soon, and she had promised Gon and Bisky to meet back at the starting point where they would be waiting for Killua.

Aside from that, Rukei did not trust Seira.

Flask had received several serious wounds from Crimson from the time in Heaven's Arena, and Rukei was sure they would scar. There were several dealt across his arm and she remembered exactly what they looked like. It had struck her when she wrapped her own arms in bandages to hide her blood. Of course, Flask would do something to hide his own.

Seira never removed her jacket with the ridiculously long sleeves. On top of that, Seira never questioned Rukei's bandaged arms, as if the woman already knew what they were there for. That, or that the woman was hiding something herself. It wasn't enough to call Seira a fake, but it was enough to cast a shadow over the woman.

But there was another suspect on Rukei's list. Since the train ride, Rukei hadn't seen Hyoshi, but he much too strange to be normal. Hyoshi too, covered his arms with white strips. Why? What happened to him?

Either way, Rukei had narrowed down her suspects a little, and with so many players out looking for her, she was sure she'd get the information out somehow.

-

In front of the rather odd tower of a starting point were Bisky and Gon, who were both glad to see her in one piece. Just as Rukei was about to give details of what she found after being able to decipher their questions that they asked at the same time in an uncoordinated and confusing mess, they perked up at the new presence that had joined them.

"Welcome back, Killua!" Gon chimed, lighting up at the sight of their friend, "How was the exam?"

The white-haired boy grinned, "Of course, I passed it in no time," he replied while knocking his fist against Gon's.

It was guaranteed that he'd get through, but it was still nice to hear it and it deserved to be celebrated. "Congratulations-"

"Think fast!"

Before she could even ask him 'why', a blob of yellow had been flung at her and sat draped over her face. She pulled it off, a little irritated now, looking down at what exactly had been thrown at her. "What is this?"

"It's a jacket, stupid," Killua replied with a huff at her slow reaction. What had been thrown at her was a hoodie, very similar to her old one, with the same simple design and color. "It'll raise less questions than the bandages."

"You're right," Rukei agreed while slipping the jacket over her head. It fit her well. "That's nice of you. Thank you."

She heard him cough awkwardly, and when she glanced back up, he had already turn away with his hands shoved in his pockets, "Just for your reference, it's only 'cause I had to buy something to get into the exam this year."

Bisky leaned over and with a very bad attempt at a whisper, told Rukei, "He's lying."

This lead to a series of indignant "No, I'm not, you hag!"s and the customary wham! that followed the whole ordeal. After Killua had gotten back up from the hit, Bisky took a complete change in attitude, asking him to take a look at their spell cards.

He was pretty impressed with the display of cards, as they even had the S-rank Prison with them. Apparently, Gon and Bisky had only used Blackout Curtain while Rukei only found it necessary to use Castle Gate once in Dorias, and Killua chided them for trying a couple more out. He suggested using Contact and Gon let the boy look through the binder to see the people they had encountered.

"Gon, when did you run into him?"

Nobody knew who "him" was so they looked over the screen to see what Killua was pointing at. Among the people Gon had met, 'Chrollo Lucilfer' was written.

"What happened? Did you fight?" Rukei pressed on worriedly, but stopped herself for a moment. That wasn't possible!

Gon shook his head, "I haven't seen Chrollo in the game!"

"Who's Chrollo?"

"Does that mean you guys passed each other without noticing?" Killua reasoned.

"Huh, what are you talking about?"

Gon reminded him of what had happened not a month ago, "That doesn't make sense. Kurapika sealed his Nen."

The white-haired boy looked down, trying to figure out what exactly had happened, "Yeah. And you have to use Nen to enter the game."

"Who's Kurapika?"

"Perhaps it's just a name entered," Rukei offered after mulling over it for a moment, "Most games have that sort of option, correct?"

"Yeah," Killua nodded, "And that only leaves-"

Wham!

"Let me in on this!"

-

They had learned that 'Chrollo' really wasn't Chrollo. Killua had run outside the game to call Kurapika, who confirmed that his Nen was still set in place over the leader of the Spiders. Kurapika knew full well that his abilities could be removed, but he would be able to tell if it had been purged or not.

With the situation having been handled, or at least put on hold, Bisky announced that they would start clearing the game. They had started with the King Great White Beetle, and then Gold Dust Girl. Paladin's Necklace had been won in Antokiba after that, a surprisingly handy object that could reverse the effects of Fake and reflect attack spells. Memory Helmet, Witch's Love Potion, and Risky Dice, followed shortly after. With the Sage's Aquamarine she had won in Dorias, they had a grand total of seven cards within a day.

It was followed by a trade with the man who first stole the Sword of Truth from them. Rukei wasn't too thrilled about trading and the anticlimactic ending. She was sort of looking to give them a good thrashing.

They were back in Dorias to try out the slot machines. The key item was Risky Dice, as they got one of the restricted slot cards in a single go, but the gambling was dangerous at a very literal level, and they ended up having to knock Killua out.

From there they had managed to obtain rarer cards by offering Leave cards to players stuck waiting in Masadora that wanted to return home. And with Gon's kind nature and Killua's quick thinking, they managed to help the sick villagers that the three of them handed their money and clothes over too. By healing them, they received the Lucky Alexandrite.

"Another player has used Contact to reached you."

From Gon's binder came the voice of the man that they had traded with not too long ago. "Yo, This is Kazsule. I'd like to talk to you. Can we meet in person?"

"About what?"

"Some people are close to clearing the game. It's a team of three, led by a person named Genthru."

。。。

A much, much shorter and later update than I had intended. I ended up scrapping quite a bit of this chapter because the hints didn't add up and there was more out of place than I wanted out of place and other confusing messes that needed to be clean up ^^;;

Thank you very much for reading!