Drawing by Julie!

(Also known as WolfLover12500)

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Sitting in a restaurant, the three; plus Zeus, were sitting in one of the booths and waiting patiently for their food.

'Welcome! Finish this within thirty minutes and it's free!',The chief grinned as he set three large plates spaghetti in front of them,'You'll also receive a Gargaider as your prize! Your time begins right now'

As soon as those words were spoken, the boys began to tear into their food, causing Valentine to chuckle lightly and then, she began to dig into her own plate of spaghetti.

'Old man, so do you know how to use any magic?',The silverette questioned as he slurped down some noodles.

Frowning slightly, the chef tilted his head to the side and furrowed his eyebrows together in confusion.

'What is that?',He asked.

'Who's the wisest person in this city?',Gon questioned.

Hearing these unfamiliar words, the man slowly shook his head in confusion and tilted his head to the side.

' "Wisest"? What is that?'

The chef stared at them with a clueless expression as they ate and Valentine blinked slowly in confusion.

'This guy.. doesn't really know anything',Gon said with his mouth full of food.

Gulping down the mouthful of spaghetti, Killua frowned at the man and furrowed his eyebrows together.

'Really',The silverette agreed,'He's probably just an NPC or something'

Having finished under the time limit, the three had gotten their meal for free; even though Zeus had stolen a few nibbles here and there, and the Chief explained how the rankings of each of the cards worked.

The F that was on the card represented how difficult it was to obtain and there were ten ranks in all; SS, S, A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H.

F is the third easiest to obtain and the number next to it was the items maximum conversion limit.

'Hmm.. and that means that this item card—'

'Yeah, this is unplayable'

Suddenly, a loud explosion echoed throughout the air and the four immediately dashed out of the restaurant, heading towards the commotion.

Pushing to the front of the crowd, their eyes widened as they caught sight of the bloodied corpse on the ground and they gasped in recognition.

He was one of the players who had entered the game with them.

'Hey, so what happened here?',Killua asked a random guy who was standing next to them.

A man with a light blue shirt and dark blue pants looked down at the silverette, a frown on his face.

'His body suddenly exploded',The man explained,'Just exploded from the inside'

With a frown on her face, Valentine looked towards the body and felt sympathy fill her as her eyes softened with sadness.

Even though they were in a game, it was still very upsetting that this man had exploded.

Watching as the body began to disintegrate, eyes of thunder widened in shock and Valentine let out a small gasp as the man vanished completely, smoke arising from where he just was.

'He disappeared?',Gon questioned and his eyes widened for a moment.

'He probably went back to the real world',Killua stated,'Game over'

Humming slightly, the green-haired boy furrowed his eyebrows and suddenly his eyes widened, his head immediately snapping in the blonde girl's direction.

Confused by the worry on his face, Valentine blinked in confusion and watched as the worried look on Gon's face continued to grow by the second.

'Valentine.. was that the magic that guy had used on you earlier?',He questioned.

Hearing this, eyes of the ocean widened in horror and Killua quickly looked down at the girl beside him and worry shone as bright as a flame in his eyes, as well as on his face.

'Don't worry, there are no spells in this game that are anything like that',The man from before spoke up from behind them.

Hearing this, the two boys; alongside Zeus, relaxed and let out sighs of relief as soon as they had heard this, their bodies untensing.

Turning around, they all looked up at the man and blinked in confusion.

'Spells, sir?',Gon spoke up and a questioning tone in his voice.

'Like you said, it's something akin to magic',He stated,'One things for certain, he died from another players Nen'

All around them, the crowd began to disperse and multiple people walked past the small group, causing Zeus to let out a small trill as he looked around, obsidian eyes watching everyone as they walked by.

'Does that mean.. that the players here are trying to kill each other?',Killua questioned the man.

"And why would they do such a thing?"

'It's player hunting.'

Hearing this, a deep frown pulled at Valentine's lips and the blonde let out a small sigh as she slowly shook her head, crossing her arms over her chest.

Seeing this, the silverette slowly leaned towards the girl and gently brushed his hand against her own, their skin softly making contact for only a moment.

Looking up, eyes of thunder connected with that of ice and slowly, a small smile began to twitch at the blonde's lips as she stared into the silverette's eyes, feeling that anger from before fading away.

Once reassured that she was calmed down, the two turned their gazes back towards the man and watched as he looked between them for a moment, a quiet chuckle leaving his lips.

Which confused them greatly.

'I can explain everything to you later',The man reassured the three,'Anyway, you three want to team up? I know of a sure fire way we can clear this game'

Once again feeling excluded, a low chirp-like sigh left Zeus's beak and his body deflated as he chirped lowly.

Feeling bad for her companion, Valentine reached up and gently ran her hand across Zeus's feathers atop of his head, causing the hawk to let out a chirr of happiness as he closed his coal colored eyes.

'If you're interested, follow me',The man said and pointed towards a direction behind him,'We'll meet the rest. They're waiting up ahead'

Turning towards one another, the three; technically four, leaned away from the man and formed a huddle as they leaned towards each other.

'What, now?',Gon questioned.

Thinking it over for a moment, the silverette turned his eyes towards Valentine and she looked between her friends as Gon did the same thing.

'What do you think, Val?',Killua questioned and his oceanic eyes glistened with confidence as he stared into her eyes; confidence in her, her instincts and her decisions,'What should we do?'

Brining her bottom lip in between her teeth, a low hum left Valentine's mouth as she bit down slightly and her teeth dug into the delicate skin of her lip.

Glancing towards the man, the thunder eyed girl's gaze narrowed slightly and she slowly looked him up in down as her eyes squinted for only a second.

"..It's a bit suspicious, but we may be able to gather some very important intel on the way",Valentine explained,"Information we could use at the moment"

'Not to be rude',The man spoke up and caused the four to turn his way,'But on your way here, didn't another player use an attack spell on you?'

Narrowing his eyes, Killua stepped forward a bit and the man hummed in amusement as the silverette stood in front of the girl slightly; her form barely visible to him.

As if the boy were prepared to protect her from another attack.

'Have you been spying on the four of us?',Killua questioned and his eyes watched the man; a dark tint in them,'Tell me the truth'

'Sure, and not just me',The man stated and hearing this, their eyes widened in shock.

Others were watching them as well?

'Lots of people around here keep an eye on brand new players at the starting point',He explained,'If you come with me, I'll explain why'

Perking up only slightly, Valentine's eyes widened and she now understood why they had felt as if the four of them were being watched.

That's because they were.

'And I can tell you all about the spell that was cast on your friend behind you'

Pursing his lips for a moment, Killua glanced towards the girl behind him and watched as she looked up at him.

Even though she had some odd spell on her, that didn't stop her from smiling so brightly that it rivaled the sun itself and it seemed as if sparkles had surrounded her as she beamed up at the silverette.

He swore that at times, she was way too pure for her own good.

And that's one of the things he liked the most about her.

But, there was so much more.

'You're being rather generous',Killua pointed out as soon as he turned his gaze back towards the man and stuffed his hands in his pockets,'There's gotta be a catch in there somewhere'

'We don't have a choice',He spoke up and that sentence caused the three to gasp in confusion,'Once you realize how hard, frightening, and foul this game is, I'll be willing to bet that you'll be more than happy to accept our offer. And you're newbies, so you could definitely use the information. On your first time playing here, take all of the help you can get'

Still not convinced, Killua shifted in his spot and kept his face blank as he stared at the man.

'What makes you think it's our first time?',The silverette questioned,'We could be returning players. Even veterans, for all you know'

Staring at the boy for a moment, the man turned to fully face them and help up his hand.

'Book'

As soon as his binder had appeared, a hand quickly wrapped around her wrist and the three immediately jumped back, cautious looks on their faces.

'That jump.. is all I need to prove that the three of you are beginners',He stated and the three frowned slightly,'An experienced player would've reacted much differently to that by summoning their own binder. Because you need spell cards to defend yourself'

Turning his gaze towards the girl that was placed protectively behind the silverette, Gon frowned slightly and his eyebrows furrowed.

'That means the spell casted on Valentine..-'

'Can't be stopped without a card',Killua spoke up and finished Gon's sentence, the anger lacing his tone shone through as clear as day.

Seeing the frowns on her friends faces, Valentine wanted to desperately scream out that she was going to be just fine and they should just stop worrying about her.

'Even when you're not carrying any cards, you should still summon your binder',The man explained,'It's an important bluff. Book'

The binder disappeared into the man's ring and the three slowly approached him again, still very cautious of him.

'So, how do we obtain our own spell cards?',Gon questioned.

Feeling as Zeus's feathers ruffled up, Valentine turned her gaze towards the hawk and looked at him out of the corner of her eye.

Seeing that he was only preening himself, the golden eyed girl turned her gaze back towards the man in front of her and crossed her arms over her chest.

'Well, the easiest way is to travel to Masadora',He answered,'The City of Magic'

'Masadora?',Gon questioned and then, his eyes brightened as he recalled the words that the man who had attacked them had yelled, before he turned his gaze towards his friends,'Hey, do you guys wanna go? I'm a little bit worried about the spell on Valentine'

Turning his head his way, Killua stared at the green-haired boy and a small smile twitched at his lips as he nodded, a serious and determined look shining within his eyes.

'Definitely'

Feeling herself deadpan, Valentine sighed slightly and slowly shook her head as she placed her hands on her hips.

She loved these boys, but sometimes, they worried about her way too much and she really didn't understand it sometimes.

But, that's just what friends did.

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Following after the man, the four were now in front of his group of friend and eyes of thunder slowly trailed across the group.

A few of them she had seen during the screening.

'Is this everyone?',The man asked the group.

'Yeah. Everybody else turned me down flat'

'Fine',One of them spoke up,'Then let's begin'

'Just now, another player was found murdered',The man explained,'He arrived here at the same time as the rest of you did. His stomach exploded. It was The Bomber again'

Hearing the name, the four turned towards the man and looks of confusion crossed their faces.

'Who?',Gon questioned.

Suddenly, a blonde man stood up and walked towards the three, explaining just who the bomber was, alongside what he did.

'His victims aren't killed by spells. There isn't a spell in this game that's capable of injuring someone. So don't worry, no matter what happens, you won't be harmed or killed by any spell that's been cast on you'

'There are forty different spells in all. The one that was casted on your blonde friend earlier was an inspection spell; so it has to be either Trace or Cling'

Feeling relief fill her body even more at their words, Valentine sighed slightly and a small smile twitched at her lips as she listened closely.

Even if it wasn't harmful, she wouldn't take back jumping in front of Killua to protect him from it and she'd even do it again if she could.

'In short, once the enemy uses these on you, he will instantly know everything there is to know about you'

Hearing this, Valentine frowned deeply and didn't know how she felt about someone knowing everything about her.

'Some people wait for new players by the starting point, that way they can cast a spell on them quite easily. As soon as a player obtains a valuable card, they'll show up and steal it'

Chuckling slightly under her breath, the young blonde slowly shook her head and squinted slightly as she tilted her head to the side, the bright smile still on her face.

She'd like to see them try.

'In some cases, they just kill their target'

And there it was.

Feeling as the boys tensed up from beside her, Valentine let out a small sigh and felt herself deflate as she rubbed her forehead.

Of course right after they had just been reassured, it had to be ruined by something like that.

'Like the guy who just died?',Puhat spoke up, causing everyone to turn their gazes towards him for a moment,'It won't be so easy to kill me'

Hearing that he was speaking so ill of the dead caused Valentine to frown deeply and her eyes narrowed as she stared at the man.

'No, he was killed by someone else',The bespectacled man with blonde hair stated,'By a radical type of player, one who hunts his opposition. The man who died, was killed by someone called "The Bomber".'

Muttering the name, Gon rose his head and the other two beside him did the same, all of their eyes narrowing.

'In this game, there are only three ways that a player can obtain an item card they can use',One of the others spoke up,'Know what they are?'

Thinking for a moment, Valentine and Gon placed their hands on their chins, low hums leaving their lips as they thought over their answers.

'Find them yourself?',Gon spoke up.

"Trade with others?"

One of the members nodded slightly and knowing that she had answered correctly, Valentine perked up and silently cheered for herself in her head as she lightly bounced on the tip of her toes.

'Or simply steal them from other players',Killua said.

Looking towards the silver-haired boy, the man in front of Killua nodded and reassured them that they had all answered correctly.

'However, the number of players stealing from others has increased. That's because of the card acquisition conversion limit. Players who can't obtain cards themselves, often choose to take them from others. If those players resist, they're killed for them'

Clenching her fists at this, Valentine's teeth gritted together as her eyes narrowed and she began to wonder if this was the intention of the game.

To kill others for their cards.

'Their ring disappears and their cards are lost. But, it increases the conversion limit for that type of card. If you kill a player, you can't take his cards; that rule was put in place in order to prevent players from killing each other. But lately, it's been backfiring. It's been over ten years since this game's release; if no one can find a way to beat it, the killing will only continue. That's why all of us are trying to end this mess! We need more allies to clear the game. That's where you come in'

Staring the man down, Valentine began to think over his words and tried to decide what her course of action would be.

Even if she decided against helping them, she'd follow whatever her friends decided; that goes for if she wanted to help them as well.

'How do you plan to obtain cards?',Puhat questioned,'One, find them. Two, trade for them. Three, steal them. Which are you going to do?'

Narrowing his eyes, the purple-haired man didn't really have to think of his answer and had answered quite quickly.

'Steal them'

'I have to assume, we'll be using all three',One of the men spoke up,'But, the third will be primary method'

'Hold on, so you're still going to use force?'

Shifting uncomfortably from atop of her shoulder, Zeus shifted closer to the young girl and his obsidian gaze began to wonder over the whole group.

It was clear to Valentine that he still wasn't used to larger group and so, she reached up and gently began to pet her companion; softly massaging her fingers through his feathers to try and calm him.

'No! We refuse to use violence to achieve our goal'

'Spells'

Turning their heads, the group hummed in confusion and looked towards the man who had spoken.

'You'll use spells. Correct?'

'That's right'

'There are cards that exist for taking others cards and there are cards that defend against them. We plan to monopolize those spell cards. We're going to use the very card conversion limit that's been frustrating us',The man explained,'That's the only way to clear the game'

The blonde recruit from before spoke up and Valentine turned her gaze towards him.

But she still couldn't shake that anxious feeling that filled her body whenever she looked at the man and she didn't understand just what her instincts were trying to tell her just yet.

'I've met a lot of players and they've all had the same conclusion. Every card you find, will be taken from you eventually'

'Because that's what the game is based on; taking cards from each other'

Glancing towards Gon, Valentine saw the way they shone and she could tell that he was angry or frustrated with that statement.

To make accusations about the game Ging had made and say that the whole purpose of it was to just take cards from people?

Feeling a frown pull at her lips, eyes of thunder slowly turned away from the boy and looked back towards the group, feeling the small waves of confusion and anger that rolled off of Gon on waves.

'We take cards from others while mitigating our own risk of losing cards'

'You're leaving out something important aren't you?',Puhat questioned, causing the group to turn his way,'How are you going to split the reward money once you clear the game?'

'Good point',A curly, brown haired man stated,'Mr. Battera hired you, didn't he?'

With an interested look on his face, Buhat leaned back and his eyes widened slightly as the smile on his face broadened.

'So you knew who we were when you found us'

'Yeah, you see, Mr. Battera hired us to play this game too'

'That means the reward will be fifty billion. We'll split it between everyone who helps us'

Looking up at the blonde man beside them as he spoke up, the three children began to listen into the conversation and stayed silent.

Trying to make their decision.

'We have fifty-three players. It'll take two months to collect the remaining spell cards and one month to get the cards we need. Three months to finish'

'Of course, if you join us, we can remove any spells casted on you'

Just as they were about to speak up, the boys stopped as soon as they had heard this sentence and Killua glanced down at the girl behind him, a frown on his lips as he began to think it over.

Raising his hand, Puhat smiled slightly and shrugged his shoulders.

'I'm in. I don't like the idea of splitting the fifty billion, but I do like the idea of clearing the game in three months'

'What about you?',The blonde man asked another one of the players.

Looking towards the man, the player had a frown on his face and he stared the man down, clearly having something on his mind.

'I have a question. So, if I get an SS rank card on my own, what's my cut?'

'SS? One of that rank, you'd get at least five hundred million'

Eyes widening slightly for only a moment, the man began to think it over for a second and then, he slowly nodded, before looking away from them.

'Okay, I'm in.'

Watching as the purple haired man turned their way, the four looked up at the man as Valentine looked between him and her friends.

'What about you three?'

She could almost see the way Zeus deadpanned.

Looking down slightly, a small frown formed on Gon's face and a small sigh left his lips.

'Killua, Valentine, sorry',Gon apologized and the two looked towards him in confusion.

'Hmm, for what?'

'Count me out. I'm playing on my own'

Watching as Gon walked away, Valentine and Killua looked towards each other for a moment, shrugging slightly as their friend began to walk away.

They knew his choice and so, they decided to support him.

Walking after the boy, the two stopped for a moment and looked towards the group.

'You heard the boss, so we'll have to pass'

Noticing just how far Gon was getting for them, Valentine pulled on Killua's arm and pulled the boy after her, causing him to let out a small gasp of shock before straightening himself and following after her.

Not bothering to remove her hand from his arm.

"Gon! Wait for us!"