Kurapika found work as a bodyguard for one of the yakuza families, the Nostra organization, tasked with protecting their boss's daughter, Neon, during an auction. Neon was a collector of human bodies, and Kurapika took this job to gain more information about such collectors, hoping to recover the stolen Scarlet Eyes of his clan.
The auction began, and the bodyguard team was assigned their roles. Kurapika was paired with a short woman named Melody, and they were to monitor the main entrance near the building.
...Good. Just like in the original story. If Kurapika had been assigned to the group entering the auction, he would have encountered the Phantom Troupe members who would later raid it. With Kurapika's current abilities, he wouldn't be able to handle multiple Phantom Troupe members simultaneously; he would most likely die.
In that case, Kurapika, whom Melos had saved with great effort five years ago, would have been saved in vain. She would probably have to intervene.
While a butterfly effect is difficult to avoid, it is, after all, a series of chain reactions that ultimately follow logic.
The underground auction, jointly organized by various yakuza families, stipulated that buyers could only enter in groups of three and were prohibited from carrying any weapons, recording devices, or communication equipment. The emphasis was on "trust." Violating the rules or causing trouble was equivalent to declaring war on all yakuza worldwide. The impression participants presented to others was crucial; they needed to maintain an imposing presence without appearing overly aggressive and provoking hostility.
Kurapika was too young, and Melody was too short; neither was suitable to represent the family as their face at the auction.
Melody's special ability was extraordinary hearing; she could perceive extremely faint sounds, even heartbeats. She was skilled in playing musical instruments, and by discerning the melody of a person's heartbeat, she could distinguish their emotions, achieving an effect similar to "mind-reading."
Among Neon's desired auction items was the Scarlet Eyes. When this term was mentioned, Melody heard intense anger in Kurapika's heartbeat. Seizing an opportunity when they were alone, out of pure curiosity, she revealed what she had heard and asked Kurapika, "The Scarlet Eyes, what significance do they hold for you?"
Heartbeats are beyond conscious control. In the face of Melody's ability, lying would undoubtedly be exposed. Kurapika did not wish to lie but also did not want to remain silent. "I am a member of the Kurta clan. Our eyes turn red when we experience strong emotions. To avoid detection, I wear black contact lenses. I want to recover the eyes stolen from my kin, which is why I took this job. I will recover the eyes for my people, no matter the means—Are you going to report this to Dazunye?"
"No," Melody replied calmly. "I don't want to be killed."
"You can even sense that?"
"Heartbeats don't lie." Melody had discerned his full resolve. "When you started speaking, your heartbeat sounded steady, but it was actually carrying a very cold melody, the kind only a person with unwavering will can produce. It told me that you wouldn't blame me for speaking out, but you'd also have to silence me."
"..." Kurapika looked up at the night sky. "And why did you choose this job?"
"Why do you ask?"
"No reason." Kurapika used Melody's own reasoning. "Just curious."
Like Kurapika, Melody was also searching for something. As a "Music Hunter," she sought a particular piece of sheet music. Although Kurapika couldn't hear heartbeats, he could discern from Melody's eyes that she was hiding something. Thus, Melody recounted her past.
It turned out that Melody's current abilities were a gift from a piece of sheet music called "The Dark Sonata." It was said that playing "The Dark Sonata" would bring disaster. When she was previously out drinking with friends, her friends, drunk and reckless, played a small section of it. They died on the spot. She, having heard that section, miraculously survived, gaining special abilities, but her body became grotesquely deformed and her face was ruined.
To prevent such a tragedy from recurring, she wanted to find "The Dark Sonata" and destroy it entirely.
As they chatted, the auction within the building commenced.
The Phantom Troupe members, disguised and infiltrated into the auction hall, used a bloody massacre as their opening act. No one inside the venue survived. Due to the lack of surveillance, the guards outside the building finally realized something was amiss. When they stormed the auction hall with their weapons, they found it empty. The guards and guests had all disappeared, and the auction items from that night were also gone.
This was an open declaration of war against all yakuza worldwide. All the yakuza families involved in the auction immediately exploded into a frenzy, their communication devices ringing incessantly, with heavy reward notices circulating to every yakuza present in Yorknew City. This included Datzunye, the captain of the Nostra family's security detail, who immediately summoned Kurapika and others to claim credit.
The Phantom Troupe members who had attacked the auction were now airborne above Yorknew City in a hot air balloon. In reality, they had gained nothing; the auction vault had been empty, and the auction items had been temporarily relocated hours earlier. They contacted their leader, Chrollo, who was waiting at their base, to explain their current situation.
Was their operation leaked?
No, based on the yakuza's rather lax response, Chrollo deduced that the yakuza only knew that an attack had occurred, not that it was the Phantom Troupe.
After all, the Phantom Troupe had committed heinous crimes multiple times worldwide, making them an A-class criminal group of the highest danger level. It would have been reasonable for the yakuza to have implemented more stringent security measures.
The Ten Dons, the ten highest leaders of the yakuza worldwide and the organizers of the Yorknew City underground auction, had none of their proud ten Nen users, the "Shadow Beasts," join the security detail. Before the auction began, only one member of the Shadow Beasts, named "Owl," had visited, and it was likely he who had moved the auction items.
To obtain the auction items, they needed to escalate the situation and draw out the Shadow Beasts.
Escalating the situation was easy; the yakuza were not blind and had already spotted the hot air balloon carrying the Troupe members. The Troupe members led their pursuers to the outskirts, where the open terrain allowed for uninhibited combat.
Facing a large number of approaching yakuza members, Uvogin, one of the Troupe members, chose to engage them alone. The yakuza's assault was like a mantis trying to stop a chariot, proving that firearms were utterly useless against Uvogin.
The four Shadow Beasts who arrived afterward were also all killed by Uvogin alone.
During their fight, Uvogin's shirt was torn, revealing the iconic spider tattoo on his back. It was then that everyone realized their opponent was... a member of the A-class criminal group, the Phantom Troupe.
Kurapika and his companions, watching from a distance, were awestruck by Uvogin's formidable strength. Except for Kurapika, everyone else lost their will to fight.
As the Troupe members relaxed after their resounding victory, a chain suddenly wrapped around Uvogin's body, who was temporarily immobile due to the lingering poison, binding him to a car, which then swiftly drove away.
[Chain of Middle Finger]
Kurapika's right hand possessed five chains, each corresponding to a different ability. This chain, used to bind an opponent, could forcibly put them into the "Ren" state, rendering them unable to use Nen. The condition was that it could not be used on anyone outside the Troupe, or Kurapika would die on the spot.
With his Nen abilities unusable, Uvogin's strength was greatly diminished, and he couldn't break free from the chains. However, the Troupe members' vehicles were already in pursuit.
Fortunately, the remaining six Shadow Beasts also arrived, blocking the Troupe members' vehicles for combat, allowing Kurapika and his companions to successfully transport Uvogin to the Nostra family's underground base. Captain Datzunye, after notifying the auction organizers by phone, personally stayed behind to guard Uvogin, while the rest of the security detail was given leave.
September 2, 1999, early morning.
In accordance with the agreement made with Hisoka during the Hunter Exam, Kurapika left the base during his break and met Hisoka at an abandoned building.
Melos had been tracking Kurapika since before the auction. Since Kurapika was a central character in the Yorknew City arc, knowing his whereabouts allowed her to witness most of the main plot's development.
This tracking had to be absolutely undetectable. Melos was extremely cautious, maintaining just enough distance to avoid losing him. She couldn't hear Kurapika's conversations with others and had to guess based solely on the telescopic view and her memories of the original plot. Naturally, she had no idea what Kurapika and Hisoka discussed after he entered the abandoned building.
However, the original plot mentioned that Kurapika met Hisoka to obtain internal information about the Phantom Troupe. Hisoka joined the Troupe as member number 4 to find an opportunity for a one-on-one battle with Chrollo. Hisoka accidentally learned of Kurapika's Kurta clan identity during the Hunter Exam, and knowing Kurapika sought revenge against the Troupe, he proposed a cooperative offer.
"...Just an information exchange and mutual benefit~ If the conditions aren't suitable, I won't force you to continue cooperating~" Hisoka offered to provide all the information he had on the Phantom Troupe members. "How about it?"
Unfortunately, Kurapika didn't have time to discuss it further. Melody had just called, saying that Uvogin seemed to have been rescued by Troupe members disguised as yakuza, that Captain Datzunye had died, and they needed to return to their posts quickly.
"I'll contact you tomorrow," Kurapika could only say before leaving.
Without their captain, and leaderless, under Melody's nomination, Kurapika was popularly acclaimed as the temporary captain of the security detail. After contacting the Nostra family boss, Light Nostra, he was instructed to keep Neon secure until Light arrived in Yorknew City, making her safety the top priority.
Meanwhile, because Uvogin was determined to seek revenge, Shalnark used his Hunter license to log into the Hunter website and investigated the building where Uvogin was imprisoned, discovering it was one of the Nostra family's properties. By following the trail, they should be able to identify the "Chain User" who had bound Uvogin.
Kurapika, being a licensed professional Hunter, also thought of checking the Hunter website for information. He discovered that almost all of the Nostra family's properties and employee lists, except for recent newcomers like himself, were available on the Hunter website.
He had the other security team members urgently relocate Neon, while Kurapika remained alone, awaiting Uvogin's revenge.
September 2, 1999, noon.
Uvogin found the base where Kurapika was located. Out of respect for Kurapika's courage in waiting there alone, Uvogin did not attack immediately, allowing Kurapika to choose the battleground.
As in the original story, Kurapika chose the outskirts where they would not be disturbed.
Due to misjudging Kurapika's abilities, Uvogin was defeated and incapacitated by Kurapika's chain, unable to move. Kurapika's heavy punches also failed to extract information about the Troupe from Uvogin, so Kurapika used another chain on his right hand.
[Chain of Little Finger]
By piercing the opponent's heart with this chain, the opponent must abide by the conditions Kurapika sets, or their heart will be crushed and they will die.
Kurapika's condition for Uvogin was that he must answer questions truthfully.
"Where are the other members?" Kurapika asked again after explaining the condition.
"Die!" Uvogin replied with a dismissive smile, without hesitation.
As soon as he spoke, the Chain of Little Finger's ability activated automatically. Uvogin coughed up blood and fell to the ground.
...Uvogin was dead.
Kurapika's Scarlet Eyes returned to their usual amber color. The battle had drained him significantly. With a moment's lapse in concentration, his body suddenly lost strength, and he almost stumbled.
He couldn't rest now. As the captain of the security detail, he had to rush back to continue his work.
With his weary body, Kurapika took a shovel from the car trunk, dug a hole beside Uvogin's corpse, and buried him.
As Kurapika's car's taillights receded into the distance, a figure appeared beside the disturbed earth and dug out Uvogin's body.
"..."
Using [Anchor Point] to instantly teleport to the designated location, Melos placed the corpse into an incinerator and pressed the button. The incinerator began to operate.
According to the bounty issued by the yakuza, one Troupe member was worth a 2 billion Jenny check. Therefore, what was burning in the incinerator was not just a body, but two 2 billion Jenny checks...
In the original plot, Shalnark, who provided information about the "Chain User" to Uvogin, discovered Uvogin's disappearance when the Troupe gathered that night and felt very guilty for not accompanying Uvogin to meet the "Chain User." They were too confident and initially believed Uvogin would be fine. Chrollo had decided then to have the Troupe members wait at the base until morning; if Uvogin didn't return, they would change their plan.
However, Shalnark chose to accompany Uvogin to meet the "Chain User" this time.
Uvogin was initially reluctant, but due to Shalnark's insistence, he reluctantly agreed that Shalnark could follow, on the condition that he wouldn't interfere in his fights, regardless of how many opponents there were; Uvogin would face them alone. With Shalnark's help, they completed the investigation of all Nostra family properties ahead of schedule.
According to the original plot, Uvogin, investigating individual properties alone, should have found the base where Kurapika was located after 5 PM.
Shalnark, being a non-combatant member of the Troupe, consistently chose to stay in the rear, allowing the combatants to fight freely without concern for him. While in the rear, he could observe enemies and react accordingly.
The moment Uvogin fell and had the chain pierced into his heart by Kurapika, Shalnark, who was observing from the shadows, made his move, perhaps intending a sneak attack? The truth is unknowable.
The mantis stalks the cicada, unaware of the oriole behind.
As Shalnark's fingers brushed his pocket, his sense of touch suddenly vanished. His vision involuntarily rotated 180 degrees backward, and the image reflected on his retina was Melos's face.
"Sorry, you know too much," Melos mouthed, holding his head, which was completely separated from his body.
Melos couldn't allow him to ambush Kurapika; otherwise, her saving Kurapika years ago would have been in vain.
Melos also couldn't let him leave. He had witnessed Kurapika's Nen ability. If he took this information back to the Troupe, the Troupe could develop countermeasures against Kurapika's abilities. With vital Nen information leaked, and facing overwhelming odds, Hisoka might not be able to help, and Kurapika would likely have no chance of winning.
Alas, Shalnark was gone. Then, when Gon and Killua later tracked the Troupe and were captured, who would persuade the other Troupe members to analyze the "Chain User's" style as a lone operative, thus concluding that the two captured children were unrelated to the "Chain User" and could be released?
Addressing the issue at its source, should she prevent Gon and Killua from tracking the Troupe? How could she prevent it? Gon was stubborn, and his resolve was hard to change. Killua was intelligent and easily perceptive of discrepancies. These two children were not easily fooled.
Uvogin and Shalnark were both missing, but fortunately, the Troupe was always free-spirited and lacked management over its members' individual activities. Before the evening assembly, they likely wouldn't discover the problem.
Was Kurapika safe for now?
Well, perhaps not entirely. But when faced with choosing one over the other, Melos preferred Killua.
Alas—
Two 2 billion Jenny checks were burned away, totaling 4 billion. This was the most "luxurious" moment in both of Melos's lifetimes combined.
There was no other way; the risk of taking these two bodies to the yakuza to claim the reward was too high, and it would surely attract the Troupe's attention.
Should she order Illumi to manipulate NPCs to claim the reward?
With Illumi's sharp mind, he should be able to do it flawlessly?
No, consider the ability of the Troupe member Pakunoda! She could read information by touching humans or objects. Who knew what information she could glean from the corpses?
Melos, you must control yourself! Don't be greedy! If you incur irreversible consequences for a mere 4 billion, it would be a loss outweighing the gain!
A mere 4 billion! Not worth the risk!
...A mere 4 billion.
Damn it.
After the incineration was complete, Melos poured the completely reduced ashes of "4 billion" into the pile of unclaimed ashes. The ashes of the spider and the ashes of the homeless looked no different from each other, indistinguishable.
Death was the most equitable thing; regardless of status or wealth, everyone's end was the same.
"...I will also become this," Melos chuckled foolishly.
Meanwhile, Leorio's arm-wrestling booth had attracted its true target. Yesterday, Gon had defeated over a hundred challengers, and today, some black market figures came, having heard of him. After testing Leorio's strength, they left a business card with an address, telling him to come play before 5 PM.
This business card served as both directions and an invitation. Upon arrival, showing the card to the guards at the entrance would allow them to pass through and take a hidden elevator to the facility's lowest level.
Pushing open the door at the end of the corridor, a spacious venue appeared before Leorio, Gon, and Killua. The ring-shaped audience seats were filled with menacing adult men, and the center of the venue had a specially made ring, resembling a typical underground fighting arena, where killing was permissible.
Leorio, Gon, and Killua lacked the business acumen or treasure-hunting skills for significant profit in Yorknew City. Their only recourse for rapid earnings was to leverage their superior physical strength through matches.
Five o'clock arrived. The host walked into the spotlight on the ring and announced today's event: "Hide-and-Seek," in other words, "Bounties." Staff distributed bounty posters to everyone present, featuring close-up photos of seven men and women. These were the photos taken by the yakuza when their hot air balloon tracked the Troupe to the outskirts.
"The condition is to apprehend the target individuals and deliver them to us! Each target person is worth a 2 billion Jenny check!" the host declared. "No deadline! Life or death is irrelevant! Any method is acceptable! After capturing a target, please contact this number immediately..."
Although the host did not disclose the identities of the targets, Killua realized that the sudden change in the underground fighting arena's event type was unusual. Furthermore, recalling the information they had previously obtained from Kurapika—that the Phantom Troupe was targeting the Yorknew City auction—the answer was obvious: the seven men and women on the bounty posters were members of the Phantom Troupe!
...Converging paths.
Gon attempted to contact Kurapika by phone. The call rang for a long time. Kurapika sat alone in his hotel room, Uvogin's dying words still echoing in his ears, the smell of blood seemingly lingering. He didn't answer the phone until the ringing stopped.
Unable to contact Kurapika for the moment, Gon, Killua, and Leorio split up to search for potential Troupe members in crowded areas. However, they were too few in number and lacked the funds to purchase information about the Phantom Troupe from the Hunter website. By nightfall, they had found nothing and decided to return home to see if any valuable information could be found online.
The yakuza's ten strongest Nen users, the "Shadow Beasts," were all wiped out. The yakuza had no choice but to cast a wide net beyond their own ranks. Under the yakuza's hefty bounty, Yorknew City was swarming with people eager to find Troupe members, including those wanting to profit from selling rumors. These rumors were not necessarily reliable and were difficult to discern, but they were much cheaper than information from the Hunter website.
If they didn't get any valid leads, would the plot where Gon and Killua tracked the Troupe and were captured by them be averted?
Thinking this, Melos, observing them from the opposite building, absently picked up her vibrating phone—someone was calling her.
"...?!" Seeing the name displayed on the screen, her eyes widened.
Just hours after she had reduced two spiders to ashes, the spider's head called her.
"..."
Should she answer this call?
Urgent, awaiting help online.