The game of Greed Island was known as the most dangerous in the world. Once a player began, they could not stop unless they died, game over. Over a decade had passed, and no one had yet cleared it.
However, readers of the original novel knew that Greed Island was actually a relatively traditional adventure RPG. Most in-game items did not cause actual harm to players. As long as a player successfully obtained a specific card, they could leave the game mid-play. Those who died in Greed Island were either too weak and killed by monsters in the game, or they were killed by stronger, more ruthless players.
In short, it wasn't the game's fault. Don't blame the game for everything!
Mourth applied Nen to the Greed Island game console, and the next moment, she vanished before Chrollo's eyes. She had been teleported by the game console into the game's virtual space, or rather, as readers of the original novel knew, she had been transported to a real island. This was an unnamed island personally owned by Ging Freecss, unrecorded on any map and surrounded by special ocean currents that made it inaccessible to ordinary ships, thus remaining unknown.
All players entering Greed Island were teleported to the same starting map. They walked forward along a corridor with a surreal visual design, leading to a door. Pushing open the door, they entered a circular room. In the center of the room, a girl wearing a high-tech helmet sat in a floating circular chair, delivering the standard greeting to players logging in: "Welcome to the world of Greed Island."
To create the most realistic immersive experience, ordinary people wouldn't realize that this was a real place, nor that the girl before them was a real NPC, or rather, one of the GMs of Greed Island.
Greed Island had no main storyline; it was an open-world game with extremely high freedom, primarily focused on collecting cards within the game. There were three types of cards: "Specified Cards," "Spell Cards," and "Other Cards."
There were a total of 100 Specified Cards, obtainable through various means like quests and events. Collecting all 100 Specified Cards would clear the game.
Spell Cards could be purchased at the card shop and provided auxiliary effects for offense, defense, and long-distance communication between players.
Other Cards were obtained through various channels and were generally ordinary game items or special function cards.
On Greed Island, wearing the game's accompanying ring and saying the command "Book" would summon a card collection book where all game cards could be stored. Saying the command "Book" again would make the collection book disappear.
Mourth had read the original manga over twenty years ago and didn't remember the game details of Greed Island very clearly. So, she listened intently to the girl's entire game explanation. Combined with her memories, she considered herself a semi-veteran player, able to play without exchanging information with other players and proceed with confidence... in single-player mode.
That's right, single-player mode. Although Greed Island was a massive multiplayer online game, Mourth preferred playing in single-player mode in any world. If she encountered a game that required opponents, like card or board games, she would choose "vs. AI mode" and play against emotionless system AI.
Socializing was too tiring. When playing games, she just wanted to relax. Don't ask, just assume she's socially anxious.
"...These are the basic rules. For specific information, please find it yourself after entering the game." The girl raised her hand, and a staircase leading downwards appeared in the corner of the room. "Good luck. Please go down the stairs over there."
Walking down the stairs and leaving the starting map, an endless grassland stretched before her.
Although she wasn't particularly interested in Greed Island, Mourth felt an unexpected surge of excitement. After all, it was a pilgrimage to a famous location from the original novel.
Mourth had previously been reluctant to explore Greed Island for two reasons: first, there was nothing she wanted there; second, she worried about her collector's impulse resurfacing and accidentally interfering with the original plot, not only that but also being tempted to use her knowledge as a transmigration player to clear the game prematurely, blocking the path for the protagonist group.
Ah, the grassland, the beautiful grassland, and the detestable humans.
There were always players who liked to take shortcuts, waiting near the starting map, eyeing newly logged-in players, hoping to find weaker prey. These were all low-tier players, negligible.
Following the signs of habitation, Mourth walked to the nearest town.
The architectural style here was predominantly European, mostly various shops and residential houses. Residents went about their business in the town, much like any ordinary town in daily life. However, these resident NPCs were actually products of Nen abilities, not humans. Their artificial intelligence was low, and if you tried to talk to them, you would generally only hear pre-set fixed lines.
A prominent banner hung at the town entrance: [Welcome to the Bounty City of Andover!]
The introduction was simple and easy to understand, serving as the first game guide for new players, directing them to their initial exploration activities—taking bounty quests.
Bounty posters covered an entire wall. Each bounty poster represented a bounty quest. Completing the corresponding quest would earn the rewards mentioned on the poster, which were game cards.
Most bounty quests were not difficult, but there were too many of them and limited clues. It was impossible to know how much time it would take to complete all these quests. Mourth also didn't know the actual use of the rewards. If all she got were useless items, she would surely lose her temper and act out.
"..."
After careful consideration, Mourth tore down all the bounty posters on the wall. Following her usual gaming practice, she would accept all quests first, then complete them as fate dictated!
Speaking of which, Chrollo's request to "find a Nen Exorcist" was also one of Mourth's quests, but it was fine. No need to rush. Mourth, having read the original novel, knew what a Nen Exorcist looked like and could keep an eye out while doing other game quests.
The collection book had a convenient social feature called "View Names of Players Encountered." Even if they merely passed by, any player within twenty meters would be recorded in the collection book. There were some teleportation cards in the game that allowed for super-fast flight. Players flying past might also be recorded in other players' collection books.
Players in Greed Island could name themselves freely. Mourth, emulating Hisoka from the original novel, used "Chrollo Lucilfer" as her player name. This way, if her Phantom Troupe members in the same game found this player name in their collection books, they would proactively seek her out. Then, depending on the situation, Mourth would provide clues to help them find the Nen Exorcist, thus showing she was diligently working.
The protagonist group also in the game might proactively seek her out to investigate if they found this player name. Since they were involved in the confrontation between Kurapika and the Phantom Troupe in Yorknew City, if Kurapika's enemy, Chrollo, successfully removed his Nen, he would seek revenge. For Kurapika's safety, they would need to confirm this.
But it was fine. No need to rush. They didn't know Mourth's relationship with Kurapika or the Phantom Troupe, and Mourth wouldn't publicly bathe in the wilderness like Hisoka, so there wouldn't be any scenarios like "unexpectedly being observed by the protagonist group while bathing."
An NPC walked over to re-post bounty posters. Mourth compared them with the bounty posters in her hand, watching the NPC cover an entire wall with posters again. Unfortunately, the newly posted bounty posters were the same as those Mourth held. No special event or quest was triggered here.
Holding a whole stack of bounty posters under her arm, Mourth leisurely went on a carpet-bombing shopping spree, not missing any corner. She looked at every building in Andover and spoke to every NPC at least twice, ignoring every player. Her biggest gain was getting directions to the magic city of Marsadola for free; just keep going north.
"Hey... Hey!" A player tried to talk to Mourth.
Sorry, players who weren't good-looking and weren't original characters were no different from NPCs in Greed Island to Mourth.
Because the other party was too noisy, Mourth stopped.
The other party asked if Mourth was a novice player and said he could provide game information.
Well, it was no different from someone on the street promoting "Want to try swimming and fitness?" It was just a transaction.
"No need." Mourth kicked over the trash can at her feet, checking inside for important game items.
"..." The person walked away.
Greed Island was different from typical RPGs; trash cans and bottles contained no game items.
Mourth left Andover, which she had thoroughly explored, with a sense of boredom. During her exploration, she casually completed two fetch quests and obtained two servings of food.
Before officially starting the bounty quests, Mourth decided to go out into the wilderness to hunt monsters for item cards first. Then, she would take them to the shop to exchange for game currency. With game currency, she could buy Spell Cards to defend against other players' spells, preventing her hard-earned rare cards from being stolen by other players' spells.
According to Mourth's memory of the original manga, the magic city of Marsadola was the only city where Spell Cards could be purchased. From Bounty City Andover, along the way, she would encounter bandits and monsters. For players with insufficient strength, bandits and monsters were troublesome. But for players with strength, bandits and monsters were gifts delivered right to their doorstep.
Entering the forest and out of other players' sight, Mourth finally had the chance to use her Nen ability, "Game Backpack." She [took out] a backpack and put the bounty posters inside. Now she could free her hands and fight monsters freely.
Hooray!
According to Mourth's memory of the original manga, the monsters here couldn't be defeated in the usual way. Normal attacks were basically ineffective. One had to find the system-set weaknesses of the monsters and attack them to defeat them, turning them into cards.
The official information provided by Greed Island to players was very limited. Most information had to be discovered by players themselves. Without Mourth's memory of the original manga, novice players exploring alone would surely waste a lot of time.
It felt so good to have read the original manga. Greed Island had completely turned into a leisurely game!
However, the original manga only showed the weaknesses of four or five types of monsters. Mourth still had to find the weaknesses of more monsters herself.
Well, it's fine. Knowing the solution makes it not difficult!
Mourth, this isn't a simple game; this is a test. You are the eldest daughter of the Zoldyck family, the world's number one assassin family, an adult, and a Nen user with years of experience. If you can't even handle the monsters in Greed Island, don't embarrass yourself here. Go to NGL and ask the Chimera Ant Queen to help you reincarnate soon!
Can you do it, Mourth?
I can, I should be able to.
It's okay to take a little more time. Act cautiously, observe carefully, you can do it, you can do it, Mourth.
It's not embarrassing to take a little more time. As the saying goes, "Even a lion hunts a rabbit with all its might." Take it slow, one by one, I can do it.
There are no other players around, no one to laugh at you, no need to be nervous.
Go, go!
"..."
Within a day, she collected all the monster cards in this area. Incidentally, she also saw the scene of Killua and Gon receiving Bisky's training from afar. She achieved a double harvest of "collecting cards" and "witnessing famous scenes."
Hmph, not bad in terms of strength and luck, Mourth.
Mourth joyfully arrived at the magic city of Marsadola, exchanged all her monster cards for game currency, and then began shopping!
According to Mourth's memory of the original manga, the Spell Card shop sold cards in a "blind box" format. Each pack cost 10,000, containing three random Spell Cards. Whether you got a rare card depended entirely on luck.
It didn't matter. Mourth decided to follow her usual gaming habit: a single draw first, then a ten-pull.
She didn't get anything good. Damn it, another ten-pull!
"We are very sorry, but all our goods have been sold out." said the Spell Card shop NPC.
"???"
How could they be sold out! Why is your stock so low!
The Spell Card shop NPC would only repeat fixed phrases, essentially babbling nonsense, providing no useful information.
At this moment, Mourth finally remembered the plot from the original manga where veteran players who had been fighting in the game for many years decided to cooperate, recruiting over fifty players to monopolize Spell Cards and use them to seize other players' cards, thereby collecting over eighty Specified Cards. As a result, they were ambushed by a lurking bomber with Nen abilities, killing the entire team... During this, the Nen Exorcist secretly removed the bomber's Nen from himself, becoming the sole survivor.
The player who tried to talk to Mourth in Bounty City Andover was the one recruiting! Mourth had completely forgotten the original plot! She ignored him!
"..."
The total number of each type of card in the game was fixed. If one type of card was completely taken by other players, the only way to get that card again was to steal it from another player. Therefore, this was not just a game of collecting cards but also a game of stealing cards from each other.
The Spell Cards were almost all bought by that team. No wonder the Spell Card shop only had the lowest rarity cards with high usage frequency, such as teleportation cards—because consumable cards disappeared after being used by players, meaning they returned to the Spell Card shop.
Oh well, Mourth wasn't interested in player disputes or clearing the game anyway. She'd just play casually. Do game quests everywhere, and by the way, look for the Nen Exorcist.
The Spell Cards were sold out, so she went to buy game maps.
There were two types of game maps in the shop, displayed on the shelves as cards:
[100 Rough Map g-400]
Initially, it only showed the approximate shape of Greed Island. The content would be automatically filled in as players visited different locations and obtained information.
[101 Detailed Map d-70]
A map with detailed drawings of cities, place names, and other information. It also included valuable information such as local specialties, recommended attractions, and shortcuts.
The Rough Map, number 100, was priced at 20,000, while the Detailed Map, number 101, was priced at 650,000. The price difference was more than thirtyfold, but you got what you paid for, and Mourth had nothing else she wanted to buy. Moreover, game currency could only be used within the game, so if not now, when?
Besides, only items that became cards could be stolen by spells. Once the map became a physical object, there was no need to worry about it being stolen.
Buy! Buy, buy, buy!
Saying the game command "Gain," she turned the map from a card into a physical object. The expensive map with a lot of tip information was really satisfying. The money was well spent!
Speaking of which, Ging Freecss was truly rich. Judging from the game map, the total area of Greed Island was equivalent to a small country, which allowed for the design of multiple cities, making it feel like a real game. The technological skill and design philosophy displayed were also astonishing. As expected of one of the top five Nen users in the world, his overall strength was terrifying.
Following the guidance of the 650,000-priced map, Mourth happily visited every city in the game and completed various game quests. Since it was in casual mode, even if a player stole rare cards from her collection book with spells, she was too lazy to argue with them.
Incidentally, the city of Love Love, which Hisoka used to pass the time in the original manga, indeed had... well, some good things.
Hmph, I underestimated you, Ging Freecss. You really can't judge a book by its cover.
Although there was an unavoidable gap between NPCs mass-produced with Nen abilities and real people, they had a unique freshness. It was good to play around when first arriving here.
Incidentally, Mourth encountered Hisoka in the magic city of Marsadola. The power of the original novel was marvelous. Even without the deal proposed by Chrollo, Hisoka still came to Greed Island.
Hisoka said he knew some people in the Phantom Troupe were interested in Greed Island and was willing to help find the Nen Exorcist (in exchange for a duel with Chrollo), wanting to contact Chrollo through the Phantom Troupe members. He originally intended to use "Chrollo Lucilfer" as his player name to attract Phantom Troupe members, but the NPC said there was a duplicate name. So, he named himself "Chrollo" and felt a sense of camaraderie with the player who shared his name (likely fake).
It was indeed a very funny situation for "Chrollo Lucilfer" and "Chrollo" to appear on the collection book list simultaneously!
Mourth said she had accepted Chrollo's commission and was already looking for the Nen Exorcist.
"The Nen Exorcist is in the game?" Hisoka immediately understood this.
Oh dear, oh dear, finally found an opportunity to duel Chrollo again. With the efficiency of the Zoldycks, she would probably find the Nen Exorcist faster than Hisoka. Rather, she was already behind from the start; the situation was very unfavorable.
As Hisoka's mind raced, Mourth interrupted him, "I know you want to duel Chrollo. My only task here is to find the Nen Exorcist and hand him over to the Phantom Troupe. Other matters are irrelevant to me. As long as you don't hinder my task, I can provide you with some information."
"That would be wonderful~" Hisoka smiled broadly, leaning his face closer in a seemingly intimate manner. "Don't you need any other reward?"
Please, the best reward is Hisoka, the infamous troublemaker from the fandom, not causing trouble!
"I hate trouble." Mourth took out a card from her collection book and pressed it onto Hisoka's face. "This is a 'Communication' card. Turn to the last page of your collection book. Using this card, you can view players you've met and even have calls of up to three minutes."
"..."
"This is a 'Magnetism' card. It allows you to teleport to the side of a player you've met before."
After giving Hisoka two cards and seeing his increasingly playful expression, Mourth added expressionlessly, "I've already shown great sincerity. Believe it or not."
"Of course, I believe you~" Hisoka straightened up and put those two cards into his collection book. "Getting so many things for free, I just feel a little bad~ After all, the free ones are the most expensive~"
Ah—so annoying! Chatting with such scheming characters is so annoying! Don't mind what he says, like "I believe you," his suspicion is actually increasing!
"Then after you leave the game, transfer 10 billion to my account." Mourth gave up thinking.
"...That's too expensive~" Hisoka instantly turned into a pouty face. He actually had moments where he found things expensive.
In the end, they settled for 100 million. What the heck! Rushing to give away money!
No, it should be said that Hisoka trusts concrete "transactions" more.
It doesn't matter! Anyway, Hisoka would stay honestly in the magic city of Marsadola, waiting for the Phantom Troupe members.
Unexpectedly, a few days later, Mourth, who was on a date with a good-looking NPC, encountered Hisoka again in the city of Love Love.
"..."
"..."
Pouty face x2
What to do if you're caught slacking off at work? Waiting online, urgently.
"I'm working, please do not disturb." Mourth preempted him.
"Is that so~" Hisoka narrowed his eyes and smiled like a fox. "No need to explain to me, I understand~ Have fun~"
This man, who was 187cm tall but liked to wear high heels, had a particularly alluring back as he left.
Farewell!
Continuing her date with the good-looking NPC, Mourth sat down in a fresh pastoral-style coffee shop.
Just as the waiter served the coffee and pastries, two spiders, or more specifically, Feitan and Phinks, pushed open the door and entered the coffee shop.
In Yorknew City, Neon and Shalnark's deaths were not part of the original plot, so the Phantom Troupe's actions also changed. Only Feitan and Phinks, who were interested in the game, entered Greed Island. Hisoka, after waiting for these two Phantom Troupe members in the magic city of Marsadola, exchanged information appropriately, including "Mourth accepted Chrollo's commission and is looking for the Nen Exorcist in Greed Island."
Feitan and Phinks were very displeased with Hisoka, who had betrayed the Phantom Troupe in Yorknew City, but they did not engage in combat, choosing to leave Hisoka for Chrollo himself to discipline. Therefore, they agreed to let Hisoka be responsible for negotiating with the Nen Exorcist (in short, Hisoka paid), and to bring the Nen Exorcist to Chrollo. They all knew that Hisoka's greatest desire was to duel Chrollo, and no one wanted Chrollo to remove his Nen sooner more than Hisoka.
Everyone had agreed, but Mourth, who was responsible for finding the Nen Exorcist, was on a date with a good-looking NPC.
"..." x3
What to do if you're caught slacking off at work? Waiting online, urgently.
Cough.
In short, Mourth led Hisoka to find the Nen Exorcist. Hisoka successfully negotiated with the Nen Exorcist using money and left the game with him.
Feitan and Phinks were very confident in their leader Chrollo's strength and did not follow, seeming to want to continue playing the game.
Mourth, caught slacking off at work, considered the thickness of her own skin and decided to leave the game.
"Mission complete, then I should go too." Mourth politely bid farewell to the two spiders.
Phinks raised a hand in farewell, while Feitan showed no reaction.
"Um, Feitan..." she hesitated for a moment. "Can I call you 'Fei'?"
After disappearing without saying goodbye so many times, perhaps she could make up for it a little. After all, Feitan had once persistently hoped Mourth would call him "Fei" (Chapter 207). However, it seemed too late to say such things now, and maybe Feitan no longer cared. httpδ:/m.kuAisugg.nět
"..." Mourth was prepared to be rejected, even mocked.
"..." Phinks raised non-existent eyebrows and looked at Feitan, who remained silent.
Even Phinks, who was the worst at reading the atmosphere and liked to tell bad jokes, was unusually quiet. Mourth's heart grew colder.
"Are you mute again?" Feitan snorted. "Don't test my patience. I'm listening."
"Fei." Mourth tried to, and succeeded in, lifting the corners of her mouth. "Goodbye, Fei."
After speaking, Mourth opened her collection book. As she turned the pages, Feitan grabbed her wrist holding the book.
"This isn't like you." Feitan suddenly questioned. "What bad thing are you planning to do now?"
"..."
Do bad things?
It was somewhat comical for such words to come from a model student of banditry.
What kind of thing would be considered "bad" by him?
"Do you know how long it's been since we last met?" Feitan asked again.
"...Three or four game versions?" Mourth blinked in surprise.
"It's been three years and four months." Feitan replied.
"...Uh." Mourth said sheepishly, "I only got half of it right."
Phinks couldn't help but laugh out loud, reaching out to press Mourth's collection book. "Fei, she's definitely guessing."
"Don't say 'goodbye.' You're just saying it." Feitan said. "You seem quite idle. Since the mission is complete, there's no need to worry about us. Why not stay and continue playing the game?"
"Ah, yes, yes, yes! Let's team up and play the game!" Phinks and Feitan echoed each other.
These two had a childhood friendship and could cooperate without prior communication. They were clearly trying to prevent Mourth from using cards in her collection book to leave them.
"Mourth, we've collected a lot of rare cards!" Phinks said.
"They have all sorts of magical effects." Feitan emphasized the word "all sorts," clearly a threat.
Bring it on, who's afraid of whom!
"I also have cards with magical effects." Mourth scanned Phinks and Feitan with a fearless gaze. "A-class Specified Card number 082, 'Staff of Heavenly Punishment.' When you want to punish someone, point this staff to the sky. Whichever of you and the other party has committed more misdeeds so far will suffer severe calamity."
After Feitan and Phinks entered the game, they had a "steal players' cards and then kill them" competition, with Feitan killing more players in the end. So, they decided that... Feitan would experience the "Staff of Heavenly Punishment." Don't ask, just call it "liking to face high-difficulty challenges" or "liking to court death."
"..." Mourth picked up the card and read the game command, "Use [Staff of Heavenly Punishment], attack Feitan."
Heavenly punishment means "divine retribution."
As soon as Mourth's words fell, a bolt of lightning struck Mourth from the sky.
Mourth, who hadn't killed any players after entering the game: ???
Feitan, who had killed many players after entering the game: ???
Phinks, who was sure Feitan would be struck by lightning: ???