Gourmet Hunter (HxH Fanfic)

Lawliet spent an entire week in utter bewilderment before he reluctantly accepted the bizarre thing that happened to him.

He had been exploring the ruins at the bottom of the Unfrozen Lake when a terrifying Aura suddenly appeared out of nowhere.

Before his mind could even process the sensation of his soul trembling, he was inexplicably transported to a garbage mountain.

As if that wasn't disorienting enough, he was now like Conan… shrunk into a child's body!

Luckily, his 'little friend' had only shrunk because his whole body had.

Thanks to his experience of swallowing the fruit, his ability to withstand stress has significantly improved. Otherwise, his psyche might have shattered upon arriving in this strange world.

A week wasn't short, but it was just enough time for him to accept his new reality.

'Priority number one: solve the language barrier. Fortunately, the people here are kind.'

Lawliet sat on a wooden bed, absently tracing the scar on his right eyebrow as he contemplated.

He didn't know that the world he was in was no longer the Earth he knew, nor did he know the name of the place he was in. And he certainly couldn't have guessed how laughable the word 'kind' sounded in this place.

At that time, when he had first emerged from the garbage heap, he had encountered three people in hazmat suits. Although he had no clue where he was, why they were dressed that way, or what they were doing at a garbage dump, when these three strangers started talking, Lawliet felt despair creeping into his heart.

'What kind of gibberish are they speaking?'

Although Lawliet was fluent in multiple languages, he could not understand what the people in hazmat suits were saying at that time.

Thankfully, despite the language barrier, one of the three, which is a young woman, had expressed clear goodwill and taken him back to a human settlement.

It is this act that earned them Lawliet's label of 'kind'. Of course, that evaluation would've been stronger if that girl hadn't taken the pendant he had brought along.

Lawliet touched the familiar scar on his right eyebrow and thought about the pendant that was snatched away by the wild girl, and fell into habitual thinking.

Based on his current appearance and the scar, Lawliet was certain that he had shrunk, and his capabilities had regressed along with his age.

Fortunately, he could still feel the immeasurable life energy in his body. This was his weapon. Although it now felt like a flickering ember on the verge of being snuffed out, it was still a precious fire.

For the past week, he had been worried that this 'spark' in his body would disappear, because this would be the capital that would support his survival after arriving in this strange world.

Luckily, his fears were unfounded. Although the life energy in his body had become weak, it showed no signs of disappearing.

'In short, while mastering the language, I should also try to strengthen the life energy in my body so that I will not be helpless when encountering problems.'

Lawliet slowly closed his eyes to calm his mind, then concentrated his mental strength to contact the weak life energy in his body. It felt like tender hands gently kneading a tiny, thumbnail-sized energy orb.

During this week, he has been practicing this after realizing his current situation, but his progress is almost zero. While he didn't know what was causing the stagnation, he continued persistently.

Back when he first consumed the fruit, Lawliet had been able to clearly perceive life energy. He then used this method to train. While the effect was not significant, it was there.

And after practicing for a whole year, not only did his body had reached superhuman levels, but he could hold his breath for up to twenty minutes.

However, ever since his body became smaller and he came to this strange world, the same training method seemed to produce no effect.

Lawliet chalked it up to the effects of his smaller body and didn't dwell on it too much.

An hour passed as he continued kneading the energy orb, but there was no change.

Lawliet kept his eyes tightly shut when, suddenly, a line of glowing white text appeared in the darkness of his mind. The words floated like smoke, wavering but clearly forming a message:

Power: Unknown.

Awakening Rate: 0.5%.

The sudden appearance of this strange information startled Lawliet so much that he opened his eyes abruptly. After he opened his eyes and came out of his calm mental state, the text that seemed to appear in his mindscape dissipated like mist.

'What… was that?'

Confusion filled Lawliet's eyes. Before he could think further, the old wooden door creaked open with an ear-piercing groan.

A girl with purple hair and golden eyes walked in carrying two bowls of steaming porridge. She placed them casually on the simple wooden table, pointed at the bowls, and said, "Eat."

The words were simple, as was their meaning, but Lawliet didn't understand them. However, since the girl always said the same thing while delivering meals and gestured at the food, Lawliet deduced that it meant 'eat'.

His eyes swept across the girl's undeveloped flat chest, but he saw the girl quickly stretched out her hand to protect the pendant hanging on her chest, with a threatening look on her face.

"This is my payment! It's mine now!" The purple-haired girl's voice was childish and very distinct, and her serious expression seemed to be emphasizing her claim over the pendant.

Lawliet didn't understand what the girl said at all, but he thought it was not something good, so he shrugged in resignation. He didn't care much, and in his opinion, the pendant would be taken back sooner or later, so he casually picked up a bowl and began drinking the rice soup in it.

'Ugh… didn't even rinse the rice.' The moment his tongue touched the rice soup, Lawliet sighed softly in his heart.

Being a foodie with a palate spoiled by countless delicacies, this watery concoction with an overwhelmingly uneven rice-to-water ratio was torture. But as someone reliant on the girl's hospitality, he had no room to complain it.

The porridge was exceptionally thin, with barely any rice and no side dishes, not even a small plate of pickled radish. This was what every meal had been like for the past week.

Though Lawliet had been hesitant to explore due to the language barrier, he had pieced together the area's living standards from the girl's meals and their humble accommodations. The visible garbage heaps just outside the streets were impossible to ignore.

Soon, Lawliet finished his porridge and put the empty bowl on the table. The girl had also finished her porridge. The two looked at each other and the room suddenly became quiet.

The girl was small and delicate, about ten years old, with short purple hair and fine eyebrows. Her large golden eyes sparkled with vitality, while her nose and mouth were dainty. She wore a white outfit resembling a judo uniform, but though the lower half was styled as a short skirt with black, snug shorts underneath.

To be honest, she was an adorable little girl, the kind that would make many 'loli fans' overflow with affection.

But Lawliet wasn't one of them, and he knew full well that this seemingly sweet girl was not to be underestimated. Not to mention anything else, in terms of physical strength, she is actually stronger than him.

Who could've guessed that such a petite and cute girl would possess such incredible strength?

If it weren't for this reason, how could Lawliet be so passive and unable to get back his pendant?

As they continued their quiet staring contest, the girl suddenly pulled out a tattered book from her clothes, slapped it on the table, and said, "I'll teach you how to read."

Lawliet couldn't understand her words, but he didn't hesitate to open the first page of the book. After seeing the words on the first page that resembled a phonetic chart, his eyes narrowed slightly.

He felt that the strange text was very familiar, as if he had seen it somewhere, 'It seemed to be... the text on the stone pillar at the bottom of the Unfrozen Lake.'

When he thought of this, Lawliet was shocked, though he concealed his emotions, began to analyze it calmly.

'Similar, but not quite the same.'

By comparing the two sets of text, Lawliet could discern the differences between them.

Suppressing the doubts in his heart, Lawliet looked up at the girl, pointed at the book, then at her, and finally at himself, meaning to ask if the other party wanted to teach him how to read?

The girl seemed to understand what Lawliet meant and nodded slightly.

"Let's get started, then." Lawliet's eyes lit up and he spoke in English, but the girl couldn't understand him at all.

The girl didn't care what language Lawliet spoke either. After all, there are more than 200 languages ​​in this world, and Lawliet might be speaking one of them.

And the language she wanted to teach Lawliet was the common language of this world.

Despite her unpolished teaching methods, Lawliet mastered the written language he had never been exposed to at a very fast pace. He had a natural talent for languages ​​and was very efficient in learning new languages.

It would probably take him less than a month to completely master the common language of this world.

By late night, Lawliet finally learned the girl's name and the name of their current location.

The girl's name is Machi, and the place she is currently in is called Meteor Street...

If it was just Machi, or just Meteor City, Lawliet wouldn't have reacted strongly. However, hearing both together sent shockwaves through his mind.

'Is this the Hunter x Hunter World?'

A mental image of an adult purple-haired, golden-eyed woman emerged in his mind, gradually overlapping with the girl in front of him.

'Machi... a member of the world-famous thief gang, the Phantom Troupe, infamous for their heinous crimes across the globe. She was anything but the innocent, harmless child she now appeared to be!'