Hunter × Hunter Chapter 127: Greed Island

Gon appears in close-up with wide eyes and a sweat drop, looking surprised. The scene shifts to a large chamber where a girl with a distinctive headpiece and flowing hair stands on a raised platform beside an ornate, mechanical device. She faces Gon, who stands on stairs below her. A speech bubble reads 'WELCOME TO GREED ISLAND...'. In the foreground, the girl holds a circular object while Gon, now closer, raises his fist with a determined expression as a 'Cliiing' sound effect appears near him. The background continues the black-and-white maze motif.

Gon stands with his back partly turned, reacting with surprise as a voice addresses him. A small girl wearing an elaborate head-mounted visor and headphones steps forward and asks, "MR. GON, BY ANY CHANCE? YOU AREN'T ..." Gon replies, "YES, THAT'S ME, BUT..." The girl continues, holding up a compact device, "I HAVE A MESSAGE FROM MR. JIN TO YOU. BEFORE WE START... WE'VE BEEN WAITING FOR YOU." Gon reacts with a sharp "AH..!" as an impact sound "dom" echoes. The girl then smiles and delivers the recorded message: "CONGRATULATIONS, GON. YOU ARE IN THE GAME MY COMRADES AND I CONCEIVED. I HOPE YOU ENJOY YOURSELF." The message continues in Jin's voice, "I JUST WANTED TO SHOW YOU THE GAME MY FRIENDS AND I ARE SO PROUD OF. IF YOU CAME HERE WITH THE IDEA OF FINDING CLUES TO LEAD YOU TO ME, YOU'VE BEEN DECEIVED."

The message concludes with Jin saying, "END OF THE MESSAGE. WHATEVER THE REASON WHICH LEAD YOU HERE IS, YOU WON'T BE ABLE TO LEAVE UNLESS YOU FIND A SPECIAL ITEM. HAVE AS MUCH FUN AS POSSIBLE." Gon stands in the room and asks, "THAT'S ALL? THERE ISN'T ANY MORE SAVED DATA." The girl confirms, "YES. THAT'S ALL." Gon processes the words, thinking, "ALL HE WANTED TO DO WAS SHOW ME THE GAME HE CREATED...? HAVE FUN...?" The girl then offers, "MR. GON, DO YOU WANT TO HEAR THE EXPLANATION? IN THIS GAME WHENEVER THE RING CAN USE TWO SPELLS." She raises two fingers and states, "I WILL NOW EXPLAIN THE RULES OF THE GAME. 'BOOK' AND 'GAIN.'"

The Greed Island book suddenly pops open with a loud "POP" and swirling clouds as Gon stares in surprise, pointing at it. In the next panels the girl with the ornate headgear instructs Gon, "AND SPEAK THE WORD 'BOOK'." and "PLEASE PRESENT THE HAND WITH THE RING." Gon extends his hand and shouts "BOOK !!!" The massive open book fills the frame with its ornate cover and target-like design. Below it the girl explains, "THIS BOOK IS USED TO STORE THE CARDS." and "ALL THE ITEMS YOU FIND IN THE GAME CAN BE CONVERTED INTO CARDS."

The girl tells Gon, "PLEASE OPEN TO THE FIRST PAGE." and states, "THE GOAL OF THE GAME IS TO COMPLETE THE BOOK." Gon opens the book in a dark panel, eyes wide with shock. A close-up reveals the interior page with numbered card slots from 000 to 008, most empty. The girl continues, "AS YOU CAN SEE, EACH SLOT HAS A NUMBER." and "THERE AREN'T ANY CARDS INSIDE YET, BUT..."

Gon studies the open book while the girl with the elaborate headgear demonstrates its mechanics. "You will notice..." a voice begins. "Please turn the pages." The pages reveal numbered boxes. "Those are the 'imposed slots.'" "Each slot only accepts the card with the right number." The girl continues, "These are the 'free slots.' Any card can be inserted into these slots." Gon replies, "Ex-actly." He flips through the pages with a flap flap sound. "There aren't any more numbers." The girl adds, "There are too many imposed slots, numbered from 000 to 099." In a dramatic full-page spread the girl floats within the glowing book as cards burst outward in all directions. "It's the primary condition of ending the game," she declares. "You must complete the numbered slots!"

The girl continues the lesson with a sword appearing above her. "For example, if you find a sword... When you acquire an item, it immediately turns into a card." She explains, "In short, you have to convert 100 items into cards, and store them in the book." Gon asks, "Uh... We only need to collect 100 cards?" Stick figures demonstrate the process: an item transforms into a card when taken. The girl smiles and says, "But, if for some reason you need to use it, you can use the spell, 'Gain.'" Gon responds, "I see." She warns, "Once the card is inserted into the book, it can no longer be used as a weapon." A diagram shows the card reverting to a weapon when Gain is used. The girl concludes, "A card that is transformed back with the use of 'Gain'... Can't be transformed into a card again. This is an important point."

Gon stares in surprise as the explanation continues. "Uh... almost..." he mutters while a small creature-like figure hovers nearby. The girl with the elaborate headband asks, "Is the explanation clear so far?" and then states, "You must acquire the same sword again. If you want to transform the sword into a card again..." A hand rises with two fingers extended. "There are two other cases in which a transformation into a card isn't possible. I've already told you that an item cannot be turned into a card if it has already been in that state." The girl continues, "First is when the limited number of card-transformations is reached!" Gon looks down at an open book filled with cards and says, "Ah..." The girl explains further, "Although there's more than 100 copies of each total, each has a limit of three able to be in card-state at a time. In other words... All the items that exist on the island have a limited number of transformations." Gon responds, "Yes. Limited number of card-transformations...?"

The girl continues the explanation with a diagram of a player finding an item. "Consequently, even if another player finds the same item and takes it, it won't turn into a card. If each player who finds the card stores it in the book, the limit of transformations is reached." She holds up three fingers and shows card copies. "Imagine there is an item, three copies of which are in the form of a card. Yes. That means the max number of transformations is reached?" Gon, holding the open book titled "GREED ISLAND," declares, "You must store the cards in the book! Second case..." The girl warns, "Be really careful about that and keep the completion of the book as your top priority. Okay." Diagrams illustrate the second case: a sword card with a 60-second countdown arrow, showing that after one minute the card automatically turns back into an item, making re-transformation impossible.

A series of warnings appear in floating panels. "THE BOOK AND THE RING WILL BE DESTROYED, BE CAREFUL." "IF YOU WERE TO DIE DURING THE GAME..." The most important point is illustrated by a grotesque monster clutching bars. "IN CONCLUSION..." A dramatic panel shows a limp body plummeting against dripping black ink with the words "YOU DIED" emblazoned across it. Gon stands wide-eyed, sweat flying, and mutters that his neurons are about to explode. The girl in the checkered hat and goggles states flatly, "WITHOUT FURTHER ADO, YOU MAY ENTER THE GAME." Gon replies that he does not care what happens to the cards if he dies, accepting with a simple "OKAY." A hand gestures toward descending stairs while the girl explains that more details await inside the game and that only the bare minimum has been given. Gon begins walking down the long staircase into a vast open space below.

Gon emerges from the stone archway at the bottom of the stairs and steps into a vast, flat prairie. Wind lines slash across the open landscape. In the distance stand two large, round thatched-roof structures on stilts with circular windows. Gon’s eyes widen in surprise as he takes in the endless plain. He exclaims that the view stretches as far as the eye can see and identifies the terrain as a prairie. Motion lines and impact shapes emphasize the sudden openness and strong wind blowing across the field.

In the open savanna Gon stands alert, scanning the empty grassland dotted with distant trees. A thought bubble appears with "...". Close on his face, sweat drops form as his eyes widen. "tic tic" sounds mark the tension. A wide panel shows the vast plain with narration: "FROM SOMEWHERE ...!" and "SOMEONE'S WATCHING ME ...". Gon spins sharply, motion lines and "Fiiiiii" SFX trailing him. He mutters "ANYWHERE BUT ..." and "I CAN'T SEE ANYONE ...". A lone man walks into view with "TAP TAP" steps. Gon watches from the foreground while a stern man with earrings glares from the side. At the stone stairs Gon crouches, hearing a final "tac" from above.

A curly-haired man descends the stairs and says "THANKS FOR WAITING." Nearby a bearded man sits on a rock while another figure stands by a tree. The curly-haired man notes "SO I'M NOT THE ONLY ONE WHO NOTICED." and "THERE'S SEVERAL OF THEM." A companion adds "YEAH. WE'RE BEING WATCHED, RIGHT?". The bearded man suggests "LET'S IGNORE THEM." and reasons "WELL, IF WE CAN NOTICE THEM FROM SUCH A DISTANCE, THAT MEANS THEY'RE NOT DANGEROUS." He continues that the watchers "DON'T SMELL WILD..." and "THEY'RE NOT REVEALING THEMSELVES." Gon and the group walk away across the plain. In a final close-up Gon smiles broadly while clenching his fist, a "ZAH" SFX bursting beside him.