anwhile, back inside the ga world.
Biscuit, Gon, and Killua were still staring blankly at the massive, glassed crater that used to be the Soufrabi Plains, their minds struggling to process the apocalyptic devastation.
Ryker, however, wasn't looking at the crater. His gaze was locked on the spot where the system notification had confird Hisoka's death.
In that exact spot, Ryker could sense a lingering, phantom trace of aura.
Chrollo's aura.
Even though Chrollo had used [Absolute Marionette] to project his consciousness into the ga from the real world, the ability still required a physical connection of Nen. To control the puppet, Chrollo's aura had to enter the ga server and interact with the environnt.
And that was all Ryker needed.
Blood Soul Card (Red).
Ryker softly chanted the na of his newly acquired trait in his mind. He raised his hand toward the lingering aura and made a grasping motion.
VMMM.
A glowing, crimson playing card materialized between Ryker's fingers.
To the shock of anyone who might have been watching, the silhouette trapped inside the translucent blood-red card was incredibly familiar.
It was Hisoka.
It was as if Hisoka had been reborn as a vengeful spirit trapped within the crimson borders of the card. The card acted as a magnet, forcibly violently tearing Chrollo's lingering Nen from the atmosphere and absorbing it into the paper.
"Mmm... what an intoxicating scent... the sweet, irresistible aroma of my favorite fruit..."
The phantom projection of Hisoka inside the card licked its lips, a look of obsessive, demonic ecstasy on its face.
The [Blood Soul Card] utilized the blood and soul of the slain to hunt down a designated target with absolute precision!
Flick.
Ryker casually flicked the card.
The Blood Soul Card vanished instantly, riding the invisible tether of Chrollo's lingering Nen straight out of the ga world and into reality.
"Did... did sothing just fly past ?" Biscuit asked, shivering as she rubbed her arms. Her pupils had dilated slightly.
She hadn't seen the Blood Soul Card, but she had felt a sudden, bone-chilling gust of cold wind—a sensation so distinctly sinister it made her scalp tingle.
The Blood Soul Card only affects its designated target. It ignores everything else, Ryker smiled to himself.
Real World. Yorknew City Hospital.
Chrollo slowly sat up in his hospital bed, his face ashen.
Using [Absolute Marionette] to hijack a dead player's body inside Greed Island provided the ultimate safety net, but the psychological toll was severe. Because the connection was 90% synchronized, Chrollo had practically experienced dying in a nuclear blast. The sheer trauma had exhausted him down to his bones.
He glanced over at Hisoka's decaying corpse. The magician had gone all-in with a 100% synchronization rate, granting the puppet its maximum combat potential, but ultimately paying the ultimate price when the puppet was destroyed.
"Ryker..." Chrollo murmured, leaning against the headboard. "We completely underestimated you. You've grown into an anomaly. There are very few forces in this world capable of keeping you in check."
He closed his eyes, his mind already formulating new plans.
"But one day... when I have gathered enough powerful abilities... I will kill you myself," Chrollo vowed.
He knew that rushing back into the ga now would be suicide. His only remaining Spiders, Machi and Shizuku, were currently enslaved to Ryker. He needed to bide his ti, rebuild his arsenal, and find Hatsu specifically tailored to counter Ryker's impossible durability and summons.
If Chrollo knew that Ryker possessed the ability to infinitely plunder traits—a far superior and more efficient thod of stealing abilities than his own Bandit's Secret—the Troupe leader might have simply given up on the spot.
SQUELCH!
Just as Chrollo was contemplating his next move, his combat instincts flared. He violently threw himself to the right, tumbling out of the hospital bed and crashing onto the linoleum floor.
A sharp, agonizing pain erupted from his left shoulder blade.
A playing card was embedded deep into his flesh. If he hadn't moved, the card would have pierced his heart from behind.
Blood rapidly soaked through his hospital gown.
Chrollo gasped, scrambling backward against the wall. He looked up, his heart hamring against his ribs in sheer terror.
Standing beside the bed, holding a glowing crimson playing card, was Hisoka.
The corpse had sat up.
It was a horrifying sight. The mummified, rotting corpse looked like a zombie crawling out of a shallow grave, its skin black and peeling, its eyes hollow and bleeding.
"Blood Cards?! Why is your ability attacking ?!" Chrollo yelled, pressing a hand against his bleeding chest. "And it shouldn't be this strong!"
Chrollo recognized the aura instantly. He had just watched the Hisoka-puppet use a variation of this exact technique inside the ga.
But why was the ability targeting him? And how was a dead body using it?
Ryker?!
The horrifying realization hit Chrollo like a freight train. Had Ryker sohow hijacked Hisoka's ultimate attack and sent it back through the server connection to assassinate him in the real world?!
Impossible! That kind of ability shouldn't exist! Chrollo's mind scread.
SWISH! SWISH! SWISH!
Chrollo didn't have ti to think. The rotting corpse lunged at him with the speed and ferocity of the real Hisoka, throwing a barrage of blood-red cards.
"Damn it! What is this monstrosity?!" Chrollo cursed, desperately activating his Nen to defend against the relentless assault of his dead ally.
Inside the ga world.
"What a wonderful ability. I hope Chrollo enjoys his surprise," Ryker chuckled softly.
Not only had Hisoka's death granted him an un-dodgeable assassination tool, but the trait essentially turned the slain target into a vengeful revenant that scaled with Ryker's own ntal strength. Because the Blood Soul was an ethereal entity, it was immune to most physical attacks. It would be a complete nightmare for Chrollo to deal with.
Hisoka had always wanted a deathmatch with Chrollo. Ryker had just granted his final wish.
Ding!
[System Announcent: Congratulations on achieving the hidden milestone 'Attacking Beyond the Limits of the System'.]
[Reward: You have been granted the Unique Spell Card: {The Path to the End}.]
A booming, majestic voice suddenly echoed from the sky above the crater.
Under the shocked gazes of Gon, Killua, and Biscuit, a massive pillar of golden light descended from the heavens, landing directly in front of Ryker.
A single, brilliantly glowing golden Spell Card floated gently down into Ryker's hands.
"W-What is that?!" Gon gasped.
Biscuit's jaw dropped. As a veteran player who had spent years studying Greed Island, she knew every card, every secret, and every exploit.
But she had never, ever seen a golden pillar of light descend from the sky to reward a player directly. And she had certainly never heard of a card called [The Path to the End]. It wasn't listed in any official or unofficial player handbook.
"Whoa! A unique, limited-edition card!" Killua cheered, his eyes sparkling. "And the condition was 'Attacking Beyond the Limits of the System'? Brother Ryker, you literally hit the island so hard the ga had to invent a new card for you!"
Ryker inspected the golden card, genuinely surprised. As a transmigrator who knew the plot, he had never heard of this card either.
[Card: The Path to the End (Unique/Limit 1)]
[Description: Granted to a player who achieves an attack power that exceeds the ga's foundational paraters. Activating this card will instantly transport the user to the final trial of the ga. Warning: Using this card will trigger a global server announcent, revealing the final trial's coordinates to all active players. Strong challengers welco trouble, don't they?]
Interesting, Ryker smiled.
It seed his nuclear detonation had literally broken the ga's original programming. Since this card didn't exist in the canon tiline, it was clearly an ergency patch.
"Brother Ryker, we have to be careful," Gon warned, reading the description over Ryker's shoulder. "If it broadcasts the coordinates to everyone, we're going to have a massive target on our backs!"
"Are you kidding? That's the best part!" Killua grinned. "With Brother Ryker's power, who cares if the whole server shows up? We'll crush them all!"
"I've never seen a card like this before... I wonder where it will take us," Biscuit murmured, her curiosity piqued.
"Well, there's only one way to find out," Ryker laughed.
"Gain."
This was the very first ti Ryker had formally activated a Spell Card since entering Greed Island. And he was using it to skip the entire ga.
The mont the card dissolved into golden light, a massive, glowing golden road materialized beneath their feet, stretching out toward the horizon and disappearing into the clouds.
"Whoa! It's an actual golden road!" Gon cheered.
"Let's go, let's go!" Killua yelled excitedly.
[GLOBAL ANNOUNCENT: Player 'Ryker' has activated {The Path to the End}.]
[GLOBAL ANNOUNCENT: The coordinates for the Final Trial have now been unlocked and broadcasted to all active players.]
[GLOBAL ANNOUNCENT: Any player who reaches the coordinates within the ti limit may participate in the Final Trial and compete for the ultimate reward.]
The booming, chanical voice echoed across every inch of Greed Island, repeating the ssage three tis.
Every single player currently logged into the ga stopped what they were doing and stared up at the sky in shock.
"Heh. It feels like an old-school MMORPG world boss announcent," Ryker chuckled, leading his group onto the golden road.
The final trial awaited.
anwhile, inside the Ga Master Headquarters.
"Phew... it worked. It actually worked!" Dwun cheered, wiping a massive layer of sweat off his forehead.
The other Ga Masters in the video call let out a collective sigh of profound relief.
"List, you're a genius!" Elena praised the programr.
They had been terrified that Ryker would drop another nuke and permanently shatter the island's Nen barrier. To prevent him from causing any more collateral damage, they had desperately coded a brand-new "cheat card" specifically to rush him to the end of the ga.
"Well... it worked, but now the pressure is entirely on Razor," List said, looking at the video feed of the muscular Ga Master. "Razor, the survival of the ga is in your hands. You have to handle the final trial perfectly."
Razor's face was completely dark.
Originally, the Ga Masters had just wanted to quietly hand Ryker the winning cards and politely ask him to leave. But List, the lead programr, had argued that a player with Ryker's ego wouldn't accept a free handout. He needed a grand stage. He needed a challenge.
So, List had added the global broadcast condition, turning the final trial into a massive, server-wide event.
"List... do you think we made him mad?" Eta asked nervously. "We basically just doxxed his location to the entire server."
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