The people surrounding Machi exchanged glances.
“Get her!”
More than a dozen of them rushed forward at once, trying to seize Machi before Renn could reach her.
Machi gritted her teeth and placed a Clear Cube Fragment into her mouth.
“Clear Cube Contract!”
Renn’s expression turned cold.
“DNF Panel!”
Eight panels appeared before him.
“Activate—Gunner!”
In an instant, a torrent of information and energy poured into Renn’s mind and body.
At the same time, a handgun materialized in his hand.
Aim.
Fire.
“Bang!”
A man was struck in the head.
His skull shattered instantly.
Renn immediately aimed at another person.
He pulled the trigger.
Machi lunged toward one of the attackers.
She threw a punch.
“Crack!”
The sound of breaking bones rang out.
The man collapsed to the ground.
“Bang! Bang! Bang!”
Three shots in rapid succession.
Three more people fell.
Fear appeared on the faces of the survivors.
They finally realized that neither Machi nor Renn was someone they could afford to provoke.
They immediately scattered and fled.
But this time, Renn had no intention of letting them escape.
Aim.
Pull the trigger.
One figure after another dropped to the ground.
Before long, every one of the dozen or so people who had surrounded Machi was dead.
Renn deactivated the Gunner Character panel and walked over to Machi.
“Good thing you got here in time. Otherwise, everything I collected would’ve been taken.”
“You did pretty well. You gathered a lot.”
Renn walked over to the pile of supplies Machi had collected.
He reached out.
Anything that could be stacked with items already inside his Inventory was immediately stored away.
Machi froze when she saw the items disappear.
“My Nen ability.”
In another world, something like this might have been difficult to explain.
But in the world of Hunter x Hunter, almost anything could be explained away as a Nen ability.
There was no need to ask questions.
If something seemed strange, the answer was Nen.
Still, the Inventory really was part of Renn’s Nen ability.
The Disassembler and his profession as a Disassembler were what the system had granted him.
The Inventory and Character panels, on the other hand, were both manifestations of Renn’s own Nen ability.
They looked very similar to their game counterparts, but in reality, they were entirely different things.
The first difference was the equipment slots.
Renn could place equipment into them, but the equipment itself would not materialize on his body.
Only its attributes would take effect.
In other words, regardless of which Character panel Renn activated, his outward appearance would remain the same.
Changing equipment wouldn’t alter how he looked.
Different Character panels would give Renn different weapons, but all of those weapons were conjured through Nen.
Likewise, changing equipment wouldn’t alter their appearance.
The second difference was the skill system.
There were no skill points.
Once a skill was unlocked, Renn could use it.
How powerful the skill was depended entirely on how much aura Renn poured into it when activating it.
Furthermore, there were far fewer skills than in the game.
All purely physical combat skills were absent.
That was because, in the world of Hunter x Hunter, physical techniques were simply bodily movements and did not fall within the scope of Nen abilities.
Take the Gunner as an example.
Only six Gunner skills remained:
Rising Shot.
M-137 Gatling Gun.
RX-78 Land Runner.
Silver Bullet.
M3 Flamethrower.
G-14 Grenade.
Of those six skills, Renn could currently unlock two.
Once his level reached 15, he would be able to unlock another.
Renn chose Rising Shot and G-14 Grenade.
One was a control-type skill.
The other was a large-area offensive skill.
As for something like Knee Strike, Renn could simply perform it himself.
There was no need to rely on Nen for that.
The difference between the real world and a game was still enormous.
“All done.”
Machi looked over.
Less than a third of the supplies she had collected remained.
Renn found a bag nearby and packed everything that was left into it.
That way, as far as anyone else could see, their entire haul consisted of three bags.
In reality, however, there were also the contents of the forty slots in Renn’s Inventory.
Renn had gained a great deal this time.
The garbage dumped by this airship wasn’t ordinary household waste.
It seemed more like everything from the aftermath of some battlefield had been gathered up and dumped here afterward—as though someone were disposing of evidence and corpses.
Otherwise, there wouldn’t have been so many bodies.
There were three bags in total.
Renn carried two.
Machi carried one.
“Let’s go.”
Renn glanced around.
More and more people were arriving on the garbage heap.
If they stayed, they would certainly be able to find more useful things.
But they would also inevitably run into more trouble.
Resources meant competition.
Besides, the two of them had already gathered more than enough.
There was little point in continuing to search through what remained.
Machi was somewhat reluctant to leave, but she still followed behind Renn.
Quite a few people watched the pair descending the garbage heap with bags in hand, envy in their eyes.
Only a small number of people had witnessed Renn killing the attackers earlier.
“Renn, look ahead.”
Renn raised his head.
His brow furrowed.
More than a dozen people had blocked the path down the mountain, setting up a checkpoint.
“Machi, who are they?”
“The Jackal Gang. They’re a small gang that specializes in bullying unaffiliated people like us.”
“How strong are they?”
“Their leader can use Nen.”
Renn nodded.
The members of the Jackal Gang spotted Renn and Machi.
When they noticed the bags in their hands, their eyes lit up.
“Stop!”
“What is it?”
A thin young man said, “This garbage heap belongs to the Jackal Gang. Everything you bring down from here has to be inspected by us.”
“Everything?”
Renn narrowed his eyes.