Throwing weapons is fun for a moment, but cremation follows afterward.
After clearing Shai's tutorial dungeon, I had to retrieve the throwing knives I'd previously discarded one by one. Fortunately, [Pickup] didn't require bending down to touch them; just getting close to the item needing [Pickup] within 5c.
Focus! Don't waste memory! My Nen capacity was already at a disadvantage, and I didn't have enough brains to develop other Nen abilities that were truly suited for me and practical enough. Nen abilities vary from person to person; what works for others doesn't mean it will work for me. Recklessly imitating someone else's Nen ability is the most, most, most, most foolish thing to do.
"..." As expected, I, this idiot, couldn't come up with any good tactics.
"Merl." The throwing knife furthest from me was picked up by Shai and handed to me. "Want to hear my suggestion?"
"!" C-Can I?! Guidance from a world-class assassin, I couldn't ask for more!
Taking the throwing knife Shai offered, I nodded with a hint of eagerness.
"I think you're overcomplicating things," Shai paused intentionally, then continued speaking at a slower pace. "Firstly, as an assassin, you're not pursuing a direct confrontation with the enemy—you've misunderstood this premise."
"..." Then why did you and Kuroro fight directly in Yorknew City, a two-on-one battle? Was it because there weren't enough conditions for a surprise attack?
"Choosing a suitable venue and opponent, waiting for the right moment, not hesitating to use any means, striking from the shadows to kill—that's what an assassin should do," Shai said. "Your ideas about using knives and threads are actually quite good, they just need to be more streamlined. In my opinion, one knife and one thread are enough."
"Not wasting reaction speed and attention allows you to fully utilize your physical advantages," Shai chuckled with a hint of helplessness. "And you don't need to pick up so many throwing knives."
"..." The sight of me picking up throwing knives all over the floor was apparently very embarrassing in other people's eyes! I instantly felt mortified!
Burying my head in shame, a weight settled on my head—Shai was lightly patting my head.
"You've done very well. I can see you've put in a lot of effort, but you lack experience," Shai's voice was overflowing with comfort. "You're still a child, Merl. It's natural to need the help and guidance of elders."
"..." Can I say that my combined age from two worlds is actually older than yours?
No one is more humiliated than I am!
"Too much is as bad as too little. Start with the simplest things, Merl. Although I've said this many times, you've indeed been too impatient again," Shai placed his hand on my shoulder. "Come with me, I think I should give you a better knife."
"..." Is it embarrassing to the Zoldyck family to use throwing knives as weapons?!
Alright, it does seem a bit out of place. Characters who use throwing knives as weapons are usually butlers or maids, fitting their occupational settings.
Me using throwing knives as weapons is just a clumsy imitation.
Alas, there's no future for an academic underachiever in anything they do.
The Zoldyck main mansion is a massive underground labyrinth with sprawling corridors and many locked rooms. The room Shai took me to today was one I hadn't set foot in before.
Oh, oh oh oh oh oh, so many weapons that look incredibly powerful!
Is this… is this the reward room for clearing Shai's Boss dungeon?
If I defeat Shai Zoldyck, will all of this become my spoils of war?!
"These are all collections I find interesting," Shai pushed me forward. "I'll give you one of them. Take a look and tell me which one you want."
C-Can this really be happening?!
Without defeating Shai Zoldyck, I get to receive one of the dungeon rewards in advance?! Is there such a good thing?!
My heart thumping with excitement, I looked around. I recalled the method used by the protagonists in the original work to distinguish genuine antiques in the market: using "Gyo," one of Nen's advanced abilities, to examine the item. If it were the work of a craftsman with talent, the item would retain the "Nen" unconsciously imbued by the craftsman.
Aha! "Nen" is truly a wonderful thing. It easily turns you into an "appraisal expert," it's so, so, so convenient!
Oh, oh oh oh oh oh, as expected of things that the number one Boss of the Zoldyck dungeon approves of, every weapon has "Nen" left by a craftsman. This place is a genuine treasure trove! The Phantom Troupe, that certain group of bandits, would be crying with envy! I really want to [Pickup] all of them at once!
I remember readers of the original work discussing the power levels of the Zoldyck family and the Phantom Troupe. One classic comment was roughly, "The Zoldyck family is world-renowned and must have accumulated considerable wealth. The fact that the Phantom Troupe has never banded together to raid them speaks volumes." Well, the Zoldycks are truly formidable. Their base is openly located on Mt. Kukuroo, yet no one has managed to raze it, and it's even become a famous tourist attraction.
After carefully comparing and observing all the weapons, I finally pointed to a刀 imbued with the strongest "Nen."
"Why did you choose this one?" Shai asked.
I told him truthfully that I used "Gyo."
"I see," Shai took down the knife and placed it in my hand. "Try it out, see how it feels."
"..." I held the knife and found it difficult to grip the handle; my hands were too small, being a child.
"It doesn't seem very handy," Shai commented.
"..." I agreed and nodded, returning the knife to him.
"Shall I choose one for you?" Shai asked.
If there were that "Banzu Demon Blade" from the original work, which Kuroro used to wound Shai, and Shai even praised, I would probably choose that one. But it's not here. It couldn't be, could it? Otherwise, how would it have ended up in Kuroro's hands later?
Or perhaps the legendary teacher-killing treasure, the Azoth Sword, would be acceptable. The giver is destined to be stabbed, a master-slayer buff incoming.
Sorry, got sidetracked.
"..." I truly had no better method for choosing a weapon. Since every single one here was genuine, picking any of them wouldn't be a loss. I immediately nodded.
Shai chose one that was relatively small, its blade composed of two parts, one slightly shorter. There was a blood groove between the two blades.
The feeling of holding it in my hand was, just like its appearance, very light.
"This is the one," Shai pointed to the hilt of the short sword. "We'll modify it slightly later to add a thread, and it will become an excellent weapon. Focus on mastering this single knife; it will benefit you for a long time."
Ah, I had actually thought about making something similar to Uchiha Sasuke's Kusanagi sword. A Kusanagi sword imbued with Lightning Style would have its power and sharpness doubled. I'd already thought of many moves from anime characters who used electricity, until I realized my Nen type was Specialist, not Transmuter—life is often unsatisfactory, about ninety-nine percent of the time.
Fine, I've succumbed, succumbed to reality.
Returning the short sword to Shai, after all, besides him, I didn't know how else to modify it. I was an amateur and an idiot.
Perhaps misunderstanding the reason for my low mood, Shai said this short sword was extra and he would still give me "all kinds of knives."
"..." That's not the issue! I was just hating my own incompetence.
The worries of an ordinary person are useless to dwell on. I offered a default acceptance.
What "all kinds of knives" meant was something I didn't have a clear idea of when I first "said" it. Thinking about it afterward, the concept of "all kinds of knives" is extremely broad, and if I had to collect 999 of each, some specific knives wouldn't even have that quantity.
Collecting 999 of "all kinds of knives" was utterly unreasonable and nonsensical. What foolish thing did I say?!
A week later, Shai took me to the airship tarmac. The sight of boxes and piles of knives stunned me.
"!!!" Poverty limits my imagination.jpg
Using money to hit someone is a simple, shameful, and crude act. It's practically trampling on my dignity and insulting my character.
But he gave so much.jpg
As long as the money is right, I'll do any pose!
The bible of salarymen, the true wolf culture, begins recitation:
Monthly salary 1k: Boss, I am your father.
Monthly salary 5k: The boss is occasionally brain-dead, and I talk badly about him behind his back.
Monthly salary 10k: The boss has a few issues, but I won't say anything.
Monthly salary 20k: Whatever the boss says is fine, it doesn't matter, as long as I get paid.
Monthly salary 30k: Everything the boss says is correct; the world is wrong.
Monthly salary 50k: Overtime is as natural as breathing.
Monthly salary 100k: I don't need to get off work.
Monthly salary 500k: I will live and die with the company.
Monthly salary 800k: The company is my home, and the boss is my parents.
Monthly salary 1 million: The company is the meaning of my existence, and the company's direction is the direction of my faith.
Dad! .jpg
I should have asked Shai to give me this year's Greed Island. It could be used for leveling up. The current price is 5.8 billion, with a limit of one hundred copies, but there are over twenty thousand orders. Even if I had 5.8 billion on hand, I might not be able to buy it, let alone not having that much money. This legendary game later sold for over 20 billion at auction in Yorknew City. Selling it would have been a massive profit!
Don't be too much, Merls!
You are a mature person, free from low-level tastes. Don't have such ulterior motives. Do you think Shai became the head of the Zoldyck family by being incompetent and not seeing through your ulterior motives?
Wake up. You are ordinary; everyone else is smart, smarter than each other.
Spending money is a very smart move. You know perfectly well that he's buying loyalty with money, yet you can't help but be tempted.
No matter what he wants me to do, I can't outright refuse him.
If he wanted me to sing a well-known song related to the original work, "Under the Apple Tree," in front of the entire Zoldyck family, I would do it without hesitation… Wait, I'm mute; I can't perform this talent, can I? No! That's not the point!
I suddenly remembered Shai asking me and Illumi, "What is the Zoldyck family's modus operandi?" My answer was, "We value money over people." Perhaps at that moment, he had already seen through my obsession with money.
"..."
Money can indeed buy hearts. No wonder Ging Freecss's first action to forcefully join the exploration team for the Dark Continent in the original work was to throw money around.
Money can buy too many things. Ninety-nine percent of things in the world can be solved with money, and those lacking money are always the majority. The suffering of ordinary people often stems from this. For example, Leorio in the original work wanted to save his sick friend, wanted to attend university, and wanted to treat patients, all of which required money, a lot of money. That's why he risked his life to participate in the Hunter Exam. For example, Kurapika in the original work wanted to retrieve the eyes of his clan, the Scarlet Eyes. He didn't want to kill, steal, or violate basic human principles, so he also needed a lot of money to buy the extremely expensive Scarlet Eyes from auctions, black markets, or other people.
Do I lack money?
Of course, I lack money.
It's just that the purpose is different from the "real world"; it's not for living expenses. Here, I need money to support my idol (referring to Yabao), invest in bribing the future tech genius Muji, and buy other powerful weapons for myself (like bombs), all of which require spending money, a lot of money.
A new legend has appeared. If you don't pay, how can you get stronger.jpg
"The total number of many knives doesn't meet the requirement. What's here are all kinds of knives, with quantities that can reach nine hundred ninety-nine," Shai said. "You probably can't collect them all into your backpack right now. You can leave the ones you can't fit at home for now."
The closest box to me contained the throwing knives I had collected the most of. After [Picking] all of them, the quantity reached exactly 999, not one more, not one less.
Huh?
He knew how many throwing knives I had in my game backpack originally?!
It's because I always got them from the Zoldyck kitchen. The kitchen must have records, right?
Shai, you understand too much.
It's perfect, my obsession with perfection is completely cured.
If Shai died and his body was cremated, I would surely cry like an idiot that day.