Chapter 1 The Beginning
After leaving Kukuroo Mountain, Gon and Killua became disciples of Wing in the Heavens Arena, learning the basics of Nen and its applications. Gon successfully repaid the favor to Hisoka from the Hunter Exam. Afterward, they returned to Gon's hometown, Whale Island, to investigate a mysterious box left by Gon's father, Ging Freecss, whom Gon had never met. Based on the contents of the box, clues to Ging Freecss's whereabouts pointed to a legendary game called "Greed Island."
This game, released in 1987 with a limited production run of only 100 units, originally cost a staggering 5.8 billion yen. However, it was sold out on its release day and soon disappeared from the market, earning it the title of a "legendary game."
Unable to find any useful information online, Killua exchanged intel with Milluki and learned that "Greed Island" might be one of the items up for auction at the Yorknew City auction.
September 1, 1999, morning.
The Yorknew City Dream Auction was the world's largest annual bidding market. Among the tens of thousands of auction venues, it hosted not only publicly bid legal items but also a vast amount of underground black market transactions. The ten-day auction schedule saw funds totaling tens of trillions of ECN gathered there.
Following the agreement made with their companions and to obtain "Greed Island," Gon and Killua arrived in Yorknew City.
The market in Yorknew City was already crowded early in the morning. The two strolled through the market, chatting about their other two companions, Kurapika and Leorio, whom they hadn't seen in a while. The former had arrived in Yorknew City the previous day but was busy with work and might not have time to meet, while the latter was expected to arrive in the afternoon.
"By the way, you should get a mobile phone by now!" Killua reminded Gon. "It's a necessity for a Hunter."
"Ah! You're right!" Gon agreed.
Except for participating in the Hunter Exam, Whale Island, with its simple customs, was almost Gon's entire world. The island was not large, and a remote communication device like a "mobile phone" was rarely useful. Therefore, Gon had never bought a mobile phone until now.
"Welcome!" the slightly plump mobile phone store owner picked up a very small phone from the counter and started promoting it. "This is our best-selling model right now, an ultra-thin card-sized design! It can also share your location, making it convenient for meeting people!"
As he spoke, the owner's gaze shifted upward. Gon and Killua also realized someone was approaching and turned their heads to look back simultaneously.
"...Sister?" Killua exclaimed.
Sister? Gon couldn't help but glance at Killua. Indeed, with the same silver hair and blue eyes as the woman in front of them, and even the slightly upturned corners of her eyes, they truly looked like siblings. She looked much more like a sibling than Killua's brother, Illumi, who had black hair and black eyes.
When Killua spoke, the woman placed her hand on his shoulder, called out "Little Killu," and then tilted her head to look at Gon beside Killua.
"Hello," Gon reacted quickly and introduced himself boldly and proactively. "I'm Gon, Killua's friend."
Gon's clear brown eyes, his gravity-defying spiky hair, and his energetic voice – what a typical shonen manga protagonist he was!
Although Millius wasn't a fan of Gon when she read the original manga and maintained a neutral stance, she couldn't help but feel a surge of excitement in the presence of the central figure of the protagonist's core group.
Wow, this was her first face-to-face interaction with the original protagonist. Was this what visiting a sacred site felt like?
"..." Millius pursed her lips and smiled, then pointed at the phone in the owner's hand. "This phone isn't very practical. It's mainly for making calls, with few additional features, and it's not waterproof. Hmm, I suggest you buy something else."
Having been in this world for too long, Millius couldn't recall every detail of the original manga. She couldn't remember the model of the phone Gon and Killua bought in Yorknew City, only that its exterior resembled a beetle.
She scanned the counter and was relieved to find the beetle-shaped phone she remembered. "For example, this one..."
She couldn't recall the advantages of the beetle phone, but she had already thought of a counter-strategy. She looked at the store owner, leaving the chance to speak to someone who understood phones better.
Seeing that the customers were two children, the mobile phone store owner had recommended a cheaper model. Now, with Millius present, her attire suggested she could afford a higher price, and since Millius had mentioned "additional features," the store owner enthusiastically began promoting more high-end phones with all sorts of flashy extra functionalities.
When the store owner finished speaking, Millius shook her head. Killua saw her hand clench by her side and couldn't help but subtly sweat for the store owner.
Millius didn't resort to force, but simply insisted, "...I want this one."
Seeing that she couldn't be persuaded, the store owner quickly changed his tune. "Since you like it so much, it's a rare connection, so I'll give you a special discount! You're buying two, right? Alright! The original price is 300,000, for two phones... let's say 500,000!"
Millius nodded. "Can I pay by card?"
"Of course!" The store owner turned to get the POS machine.
"Wait a moment!" Gon raised his hand. "Um, Killua's sister... we were going to buy the phones ourselves."
"!" Killua, accustomed to being doted on by the entire Zoldyck family, didn't feel anything was wrong. He had been thinking that his sister would surely buy them as gifts and save them some money.
After all, they were working hard to earn money to buy "Greed Island" and were extremely short on cash.
"It's alright, I want to buy them for you," as Killua expected, Millius intended to give them as gifts. "Since you're Killua's friend, this is a welcome gift."
"Thank you for your kindness," Gon, having grown up in a modest environment, had a very simple concept of money. "But the gift is a bit too precious, I can't accept it."
"I told you it's fine!" Killua, who would spend 200 million for snacks, couldn't quite understand Gon's perception of money. He patted Gon on the shoulder and leaned closer, speaking in a volume the store owner couldn't hear. "Even if you think it's precious, this amount of money for my sister is at most a fraction of her allowance, not even pocket money. She's just giving it casually. If you refuse, it would be... impolite!"
"...I still don't think it's right," Gon's mind was sharp at critical moments, able to think of angles others couldn't, but sometimes he was stubborn and couldn't get around it.
"Hmm, then I'll accept a small return gift," Millius bent down.
"!!!" x2
The two boys' eyes instantly turned into bean shapes.
Compared to Gon, who was simply stunned after having his cheek kissed, Killua's reaction was far more intense; he was bristling.
Millius reached out and placed her hand on Killua's head, kissed his forehead, and then said, "For fairness, let me kiss Killua too."
"Why are you suddenly doing this?!" Intimate displays like this were not common among the Zoldyck family. Killua only felt his ears getting hot, and his voice involuntarily rose. "It's too weird!"
"Killua's sister... is really completely different from your family's overall impression." Because Whale Island often had various travelers, Gon surprisingly had rich social experience with older women. He didn't find being kissed on the cheek unusual. "...Could it be... when we visited Killua's house, it was you who asked the doorman to specifically look after us?"
Killua had told Gon that his sister supported him in taking the Hunter Exam and said it was easier to make friends during the exam. After meeting her in person today, Gon's guess was further confirmed.
"Did that happen?!" Killua looked at Gon.
"Kurapika thought it was a bit strange at the time, and I only confirmed it today." Although Millius didn't admit it, Gon had already made up his mind and thanked Millius with a sincere expression. "Thank you!"
"Then you must treat our Little Killu well," Millius gave up on arguing and chose to use her sisterly prerogative, rubbing Killua's head. "If you hurt Little Killu, I'll kill you."
"...Haha." Gon scratched his head and gave an awkward laugh.
He intuitively felt that Millius's words were half true and half false.
In conclusion, after considering everything, Gon chose to accept the phone from Millius, which was equivalent to making a promise.
When Leorio greeted them, Millius had just turned to leave.
"Leorio! You're so early, didn't you say you'd arrive in the afternoon?" Gon asked.
"Didn't I want to give you a surprise!" Leorio's gaze was fixed on Millius's retreating back. As he approached, he saw Gon and the others still talking to Millius. "Who is that lady? Do you know her?"
"She's Killua's sister," Gon replied.
"Ah?" Leorio recalled Killua's brother, Illumi, from the Hunter Exam. That guy was an outright bastard, not only threatening Killua but also nearly killing Gon. As for Killua's mother, whom they met at Kukuroo Mountain, she was rather strict with her servants. "Didn't she make things difficult for you?"
"Not at all," Gon told Leorio about the phone and the real reason why the doorman had specifically looked after them.
"Oh, then I'm relieved," Leorio recalled the sister of Killua he had just seen. He solemnly pushed up the glasses on his nose and then leaned over to hook Killua's shoulder. "Killua, I want to discuss something with you – I want to be your brother-in-law."
"Huh?!!!" Killua's face was filled with disgust. "Don't even think about it. It's impossible."
"Hehe." Leorio smiled knowingly. "Killua, I didn't expect you to be such an 'onee-con'. Don't worry, I swear to the heavens that I will never fail your sister."
"It has nothing to do with that!" Killua was momentarily speechless. After composing himself, he adopted an extremely serious tone. "...You'll die. Even my elder brother Illumi wouldn't dare to provoke her casually, so you should know what kind of person she really is."
"How could that be..." Leorio was dismissive. "I think your sister seems quite normal. Not only does she support you making friends, but she also secretly helps us without revealing her name. Moreover, she's very simple."
"Simple?!!!" Killua's pupils shook.
"The phone you have isn't worth 500,000 at all, you were completely ripped off! They dared to say the original price was 300,000, was the boss quoting such an outrageous price?! Doesn't she know how to bargain?! When I bought this model, the boss quoted 200,000, and I haggled him down to 80,029 ECN!" Leorio shook his head with regret. "If only I had been there! Damn it, I was just a moment too late!"
"Haggled down to 80,029 ECN?!!" Gon's pupils shook.
"No... she might just not care about that small difference," Killua mercilessly shattered Leorio's filter. "Leorio, you probably don't know, her price for killing someone is calculated in 'hundreds of millions'."
"Calculated in 'hundreds of millions'?!!" Gon and Leorio's pupils shook simultaneously.
"Most importantly, you're not her type," Killua delivered the final blow. "She likes pretty boys."
The entire Zoldyck family knew that Millius liked pretty boys.
"...Is this... the difference in status?" Leorio's dream was immediately shattered. He sighed. "Killua, if you have a brother-in-law in the future, I hope I have the honor of seeing him. I really want to know what kind of guy it takes to marry your sister – Damn it, I'm jealous of him!"
"Uh, although I don't feel exactly the same way as you, I'm also curious if such a guy really exists," Killua changed the subject. "Speaking of which, after the Hunter Exam, Leorio, you must have also been studying Nen, right?"
"No," Leorio gave them a confident look. "I've already learned it!"
After discussing Nen, and then the immediate need to earn money to buy the game, with Leorio's advice, they set up a small arm-wrestling booth on the street, offering a diamond worth 3 million ECN as a prize (bait). The participation fee was 10,000 ECN.
Gon, as a 12-year-old boy, had a very deceptive appearance. By feigning vulnerability and attracting challengers, and then continuing to win seemingly difficult matches, they could continuously earn participation fees.
Here, just like in the original plot, Shalnark, one of the passing Phantom Troupe members, participated in the arm-wrestling and lost to Gon. Due to the upcoming Phantom Troupe activities, he left.
Millius watched all of this unfold as expected from a rooftop, feeling slightly relieved.
Was this the effect of being touched by the powerful fortune of two protagonists? Just kidding.
Inappropriately, she couldn't help but recall a fanfiction about Killua in the "real world" that was based on this plot. The difference was that Killua became the prize for the audience members present...
Stop!
Lowering the binoculars, Millius used [Anchor] and teleported to the vicinity of the building hosting the night's main auction.