The walls of the stomach convulsed around Tonpa, and the burning fluid rose until it covered the soles of his shoes.
He was about to open the bottle when a blue light appeared before his eyes.
[A change has been detected in the emotions of a quest target.]
[Gon Freecss is worried about the host.]
A second notification followed.
[Killua Zoldyck is confused by the host’s actions.]
Tonpa tucked the bottle beneath his arm and wiped the slime from his eyes.
The word “worried” sounded far better than he had expected, especially after the four perfect zeroes the system had given him following his previous attempts.
The corner of his mouth rose.
‘The plan is starting to work.’
The stomach suddenly contracted, slamming a mass of wet flesh into his back and nearly knocking him into the fluid.
His smile vanished.
‘We can celebrate after I leave the digestive system.’
A muffled voice reached him from outside, barely recognizable.
“Tonpa!”
It was Gon calling him.
Another disturbance followed, along with a few broken words from Killua that Tonpa couldn’t make out.
Perhaps Killua was stopping Gon from approaching the trap, or trying to figure out how to get him out.
Either way, they needed to remain outside and witness what happened next.
Tonpa twisted the cap open with his teeth, then poured the orange liquid into the stomach.
He didn’t stop with one bottle.
He pulled out a second and emptied that as well.
The amount had been prepared to ruin the day of an entire group of applicants.
It was time to find out what it would do to one very large digestive system.
Nothing happened during the first few seconds.
Tonpa stared at the two empty bottles while the burning fluid began seeping through his trousers and biting into his skin.
‘Don’t tell me I threw myself into a frog that’s immune to laxatives.’
A deep rumble came from somewhere beneath him.
The floor of the stomach spasmed, then contracted so violently that the walls pressed against his body.
Tonpa lost his balance and dropped to his knees before a powerful muscular convulsion hurled him backward.
The rumbling grew louder, turning into a violent roar.
The frog’s entire body shook, and the fluid around Tonpa rushed in a single direction.
He felt himself being lifted and dragged back through the narrow passage he had fallen through.
His shoulder struck the wall of its throat.
Then he shot outside in a wave of slime and orange digestive fluid.
He saw nothing but fog before hitting the ground and rolling across the mud.
He came to a stop on his back, coughing violently as his lungs tried to remember that air was not supposed to smell like the inside of a frog’s stomach.
Violent retching erupted behind him.
The enormous creature leaped out of its hiding place, its swollen body convulsing before it vomited out everything left in its stomach.
It then bounded away through the grass in a panic, as though it had decided that certain prey simply wasn’t worth the trouble.
Rapid footsteps approached.
“Tonpa!”
Gon appeared above him, then dropped to one knee and reached for his shoulder.
The concern in his eyes was obvious, and he looked ready to carry Tonpa himself if he couldn’t stand.
Killua remained a short distance behind him.
His concern wasn’t as visible as Gon’s, but his narrowed blue eyes moved between Tonpa and the empty bottles scattered nearby.
Tonpa remained on the ground and made no immediate attempt to rise.
His shoulder genuinely hurt, his skin burned, and his breathing was still uneven.
The injury he intended to show them wasn’t entirely fabricated.
He only needed to give the right parts a little more attention.
He slowly opened his eyes.
“I’m…
fine.”
His voice came out hoarse from the digestive fluid that had entered his throat, sparing him the effort of acting out that part.
Gon spoke quickly.
“You don’t look fine.
Can you move?”
Tonpa tried to push himself up on one elbow.
He allowed his arm to tremble before collapsing again.
He could probably stand, but succeeding now would be terrible stage management.
“I’ll need a minute.”
Gon looked toward the place where the frog had disappeared, then turned back to him.
“Why did you do that?
You could’ve died!”
Tonpa didn’t answer immediately.
He lowered his eyes as though he found it difficult to face the boy, then spoke.
“After what I did to you at the beginning of the exam…
I couldn’t just stand there and watch the two of you fall.”
Gon watched him silently, so Tonpa continued in a halting voice.
“I know my apology wasn’t convincing.
Maybe because words don’t mean much after everything I’ve done over the years.
I just thought… Enjoying the story? Read on at g.com.
this might be my chance to atone for some of it.”
The performance was carefully measured.
He didn’t exaggerate his remorse or claim to have become a completely different person overnight.
Gon had rejected his previous apology because he hadn’t sensed any sincerity behind it, so this time Tonpa gave him something stronger than words: real danger, visible pain, and a simple explanation the boy could believe.
A chime rang inside his head.
[Deception Registered.]
[Gon Freecss believed that the host risked his life out of remorse.]
[Gon Freecss — Trust Level increased from 0% to 3%.]
Tonpa nearly let his expression betray him.
‘Only three percent?’
He had entered the stomach of a giant frog, covered himself in its digestive fluids, and sacrificed two bottles from his supply—all for three points out of twenty.
‘At this rate, I’ll need to be digested twice.’
He concealed his dissatisfaction behind a violent coughing fit, but Killua never took his eyes off him.
“You already had the juice in your hand before it swallowed you,” the white-haired boy said.
Gon paused, then looked at the empty bottles.
Killua continued.
“You didn’t jump in without a plan.
You knew the laxative would make the frog throw you up, didn’t you?”
Tonpa didn’t deny it.
Denying a detail Killua had clearly noticed would only turn suspicion into certainty.
“I noticed the trap a moment before it closed and remembered the juice.
I wasn’t sure it would work, but it was the only chance I had.”
“And you still decided to be the one who got swallowed?”
Tonpa looked up at him.
Killua’s tone wasn’t mocking this time.
It was cautious, as though he were trying to fit together two pieces that didn’t belong in the same picture.
“One of us was going to end up in its mouth.
I preferred it to be the person who had a way out.”
The window flashed again.
[Killua Zoldyck did not fully believe the host’s explanation.]
[Trust Level unchanged.]
[Killua Zoldyck — Trust Level: 0%.]
An additional line appeared a moment later.
[Target State: Confusion.]
‘That’s fine.’
Confusion wasn’t trust, but it was better than certainty that Tonpa was nothing more than a con artist.
He had forced Killua to reconsider his previous judgment, and the first step in any successful con was making the mark question what he thought he knew.
Another notification appeared.
[A main character has been successfully deceived.]
[The target’s strength, importance, and the difficulty of the deception have been factored in.]
[Reward: 30 Nen Points.]
[30 Experience Points gained.]
Tonpa felt his pulse quicken.
Thirty points from a single deception.
Previously, he had needed an entire group of rookies just to gather ten points.
Convincing Gon of one false motive had earned him three times that amount, along with an equal amount of experience.
[Nen Points: 35]
[Experience: 45/100]
‘Finally, a payout worth the smell.’
He didn’t allow his delight to show.
He tightened his expression as though the pain had worsened, then sat up with Gon’s help.
“You should come with us,” Gon said.
“We can help you until we catch up with Satotz.”
Tonpa slowly shook his head.
“You’ll only slow down because of me.”
“That’s fine.
We’re not leaving you here.”
Gon’s insistence was useful, but staying with them now might weaken the impression he had created.
Tonpa needed to cement the image of a man who had risked his life and then refused to become a burden.
He also needed a few moments away from them so he could spend his points without being watched.
He looked into the fog behind them.
“Kurapika and Leorio were behind us when we entered the swamp.
They may have become separated from the group.”
Gon’s expression changed immediately.
Tonpa seized the opportunity.
“Go and look for them.
I know which direction Satotz went, and I’ll catch up after I’ve caught my breath.”
Killua cut in.
“A moment ago, you said you didn’t know the way.
That was why you were following us.”
The boy caught contradictions the way other people picked up stones.
“I couldn’t see anything earlier because of the crowd.
But Satotz is leaving clear tracks in the mud now, and most of the applicants went in the same direction.”
Killua glanced down.
The dense trail of footprints was indeed visible, even if the fog concealed where it led.
The suspicion remained on his face, but he didn’t object.
“Are you sure you can walk?” Gon asked.
Tonpa pushed himself to his feet, deliberately staggering on his first step before regaining his balance.
“I’ve faced worse in previous exams.
Go before they get any farther away.”
Gon hesitated for a moment, then nodded.
“All right.
I’ll look for Leorio, and Killua will search for Kurapika.
If we can’t find them, we’ll head to the site of the Second Phase.
They may have already reached it before us.
Don’t be late.”
Gon and Killua moved into the fog.
After several steps, they split up and headed in different directions.
Killua glanced back once before disappearing and found Tonpa still standing where they had left him, one hand pressed against his shoulder.
Tonpa waited until the sound of their footsteps had completely faded.
Only then did he straighten and wipe the exhausted expression from his face.
The pain wasn’t fake, but it became far more tolerable once there was no longer an audience to convince.
He opened his status window.
[Strength: F] [Upgrade Cost: 10 Nen Points]
[Speed: F] [Upgrade Cost: 10 Nen Points]
[Flexibility: F] [Upgrade Cost: 10 Nen Points]
[Endurance: E] [Upgrade Cost: 100 Nen Points]
[Intelligence: E] [Upgrade Cost: 100 Nen Points]
He couldn’t raise his Endurance or Intelligence, and he didn’t have enough points for a draw from the Hunter Lottery.
The three weaker stats would cost thirty of his thirty-five Nen Points
‘Upgrade three weaknesses to an acceptable level, or save the money until something faster than me kills me.’
The decision didn’t take long.
He selected Strength, Speed, and Flexibility.
[Would you like to spend 30 Nen Points to upgrade the selected stats?]
[Yes/No]
He selected Yes.
[30 Nen Points deducted.]
[Strength: F → E]
[Speed: F → E]
[Flexibility: F → E]
A sudden heat swept through his muscles.
Pain tightened around his arms and legs before spreading through his joints and spine.
Tonpa bent forward, gritting his teeth, only for the sensation to vanish as quickly as it had appeared.
He cautiously moved his injured shoulder.
The pain remained, but his body responded more easily.
He bent his knees, then dashed two steps through the mud.
He hadn’t transformed into a superhuman fighter, but his movements were lighter, his balance had improved, and the strength in his legs was noticeably greater.
He summoned his updated stats.
[Strength: E] [Upgrade Cost: 100 Nen Points]
[Speed: E] [Upgrade Cost: 100 Nen Points]
[Flexibility: E] [Upgrade Cost: 100 Nen Points]
[Endurance: E] [Upgrade Cost: 100 Nen Points]
[Intelligence: E] [Upgrade Cost: 100 Nen Points]
[Nen Points: 0]
[Experience: 30/100]
For the first time, none of his physical stats were ranked F.
‘Wonderful.
I’ve advanced from a walking funeral to an average man.’
Even so, the improvement was real.
A single deception had raised three stats and given him nearly a third of the experience needed for his next level.
If deceiving the main characters was this valuable, gathering a hundred points for the Hunter Lottery no longer seemed impossible.
He closed the window, then looked at the footprints Gon and Killua had left in the mud.
He could follow Satotz directly as he had promised, but that would waste a far more valuable opportunity.
Gon had given him his first three percent.
Killua had begun to question his earlier judgment.
And the plan wasn’t finished yet.
He waited a few more seconds, then set off after their tracks from a safe distance.
His newly enhanced steps were quicker and lighter, while the fog helped conceal his presence.
A devious smile spread across his face as he disappeared between the trees.
‘I bought the first three percent with my body.’
He secured his bag and continued following Gon’s trail.
‘Now it’s time to make the others pay for the rest.’