[583, 582, 581…]
Walking down the street, Xiang Nan watched the system's counter dropping at a rapid pace.
It was slowing a bit now, but before the Extinction Game began, players had been dying off at an even higher rate—every hour brought a bigger dip in numbers. He'd been keeping tabs on the player count even during that assassination.
With just over ten hours left before the round ended, at this rate, there probably wouldn't be many survivors by the time the clock ran out.
"All resources in a given world are limited. The fewer the players, the more resources go around for each individual. That's a good thing," Xiang Nan mused.
Still, Hunter x Hunter was a bit unique because of that unknown forbidden zone—the Dark Continent. Right now, Xiang Nan was only referring to human-domain resources. Even so, a drop in the number of players meant fewer wild variables—otherwise, who knew what chaos these criminals who knew the anime's plot might unleash on this world?
The first round of the Extinction Game was already tough enough. Even though most contestants were lunatics and criminals, Xiang Nan could say with confidence, based on his assigned mission, that without his previous military background and skills, he might not have pulled it off. Not everyone had the same level of combat experience he did.
Deep in thought, he stopped at the entrance of a hospital and closed his system screen.
In this world, hospitals weren't as crowded as on Earth, especially at night. Xiang Nan needed to treat his own injuries, and he knew that the assassination of a high-ranking official in Wesera would spark a major investigation, with law enforcement conducting large-scale searches. While he trusted his disguise, he wasn't about to risk getting sloppy.
And this was precisely where his host body's profession proved invaluable—he was a doctor at this very hospital.
"If I can become a Hunter, everything will be so much simpler," Xiang Nan thought.
From what he'd gathered, ordinary law enforcement—no matter how numerous—could barely touch a Hunter. Official lockdowns meant nothing to someone with a Hunter's license.
After a moment, he went inside, showing no sign of distress. He made his way to the department he worked in, slipped on a white lab coat, and greeted various familiar nurses and physicians in the same way the original "owner" of this body would.
Two hours later, he was in an operating theater, performing surgery on a patient.
Time ticked by. As he expected, killing that bigwig wasn't the only challenge—he also had to evade official investigations and manhunts in the aftermath.
When he finally emerged from surgery, he overheard coworkers talking about all the commotion outside.
A large police presence was doing sweeps throughout the city, setting up roadblocks and systematically searching public places. Squads of official vehicles were patrolling the streets.
Xiang Nan wasn't particularly concerned. Instead, he discovered that the hospital had internet-equipped computers, so he used his break to go online. He started checking for any breaking news in other continents, suspecting that they might mirror Wesera's chaos if there were other players in those areas.
"Gang violence breaks out in Yorknew City on the Yorbian Continent—death toll unknown."
"Terrorist attack at the Glum Garlans Music Hall in the so-called 'City of Pleasure'…"
"Strange magical beast sighted in the Kierta Region of the Edjin Continent?"
"Two fishing ships collide at Dolle Harbor…"
It hadn't been long since the Extinction Game began, so even if big things were happening, not all of them would be immediately reported. But he still found a few stories—stories that gave him a certain "familiar vibe," possibly involving players.
For Xiang Nan, confirming the rough locations of other players was critical. After all, in this game, players were effectively enemies of each other.
Ordinary citizens posed less of a threat compared to another system player.
Next, he searched online for archived fight footage of the Sky Arena. The official site hosted recordings of normal-level matches—up to the 100th floor. Anything above that required paid access, and matches above the 150th floor were only sold in specialized shops.
Sky Arena didn't just boost the Republic of Padokea's economy and shape its culture; it was also famous worldwide. Given its massive social impact, it was backed by powerful patrons who definitely had official ties at some level.
"The Republic of Padokea isn't a V5 member, but it's hard to say if there are no undisclosed ties to the V5 behind Sky Arena," Xiang Nan guessed.
After all, Padokea was large in land area, though not necessarily powerful in terms of national strength. The V5 alliance had the world's most advanced weaponry and had also led humanity's earliest expeditions into the Dark Continent.
Presumably, Padokea hadn't been part of those expeditions, so they'd lost out on any resources or boons that might have come from it.
Otherwise, given its size, population, and economy, it might've been a contender.
Then again, just having the Zoldyck Family living in Padokea was enough to make them a notable force. The Zoldycks had direct connections to the V5, which meant the alliance wouldn't arbitrarily meddle in Padokea's domestic affairs.
Xiang Nan kept reading, soaking up knowledge to understand the human world in this setting—particularly the V5 member nations, like the Begerossé Union, United States of Saherta, Federation of Ochima, and so on.
"Politically, it's almost a replay of my past world: the V5 are like the 'Big Five.' But the framework isn't as refined, and plenty of smaller nations lie outside the 'United Nations' circle, leading to frequent unrest and potential military upheaval. It's super dangerous out there."
"Maybe I should try joining the V5. It's the biggest stage of power in the human world—could be even more advantageous than becoming a Hunter."
"But I'm no politician… still, with my system-given talent, it might not be that hard."
"I bet some other players are thinking the same thing."
~~~
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