"Welcome to Hell, you bunch of losers!"
In this blinding white space, countless blurry silhouettes stand around, each appearing as if they're made of glitchy data blocks. Every one of those shadows is a newly departed soul, and they all look confused and terrified.
Floating above them is the only clearly visible person: a guy rocking bleached-blond hair, nose and lip piercings, and hot-pink leather pants. Hands in his pockets, he hovers there and yells in an over-the-top voice:
"Where even is this?"
"What the hell just happened? I'm pretty sure I died!"
"Hell? Are we really in Hell?!"
"Wait, this reminds me of some novel I read—is this a 'Reincarnation Paradise' or something? Did I just become a reincarnator?"
"All right, all right, pigs—pipe down!" The blond guy's sudden outburst is like someone cranking the volume to max, an ear-splitting roar that drowns out the commotion. A bunch of people instinctively cover their ears.
"Listen up. This ain't Paradise—scum like you aren't even remotely qualified for that. The very fact you ended up here means you were all serious pieces of trash in your past lives—no exceptions," the blond guy says smugly once the crowd quiets. "Some of you were murderers, some of you were out of your minds, and some did things even filthier and more shameful. Obviously, I'm no saint either, or I wouldn't be stuck here with you. Hahaha!"
"Think of me as your guide. Now, pay attention to what I'm about to explain."
"And a word of warning: if you don't listen carefully, it's on you."
He clears his throat.
"Yes, this really is Hell—the legit, actual Hell. For some of you..." He draws out his words with a strange expression and tone. "To make sure you don't lose every last bit of hope for being human in your next life, the Powers That Be have tossed you a lifeline: they're letting you participate in this game."
"If you can actually finish the game—or even stand out while you're playing—you can not only come back as a human in your next life, you might even become some sort of god."
"Of course, the worst ending is that you lose your right to reincarnate at all, poof—gone from reality forever."
"Even if a loser does get reborn, they'll suffer the most miserable, hopeless life imaginable—on repeat, with no end in sight."
"You get one chance!"
That last line sends a chill through everyone. Most of them can't even process the wild info-dump they're getting.
"The game's pretty straightforward. You'll be randomly dropped into various worlds. Some of these worlds are tough, some are weaker, but each one has its own perks. It's not like 'strong' or 'weak' matters in an absolute way. In a sense, you all start on level ground. How far you go depends purely on you."
"Periodically, fate will carry out a 'selection round'—like survival of the fittest. Only the truly impressive get to move on, while the defective losers get axed."
"Once you're in a world, you're bound to it—no take-backs."
"And your main objective? Represent your world and become the strongest in all existence."
"Or you can lead your world to the top of some grand multi-anime showdown!"
Among the flickering data-shadows, one inconspicuous figure, Xiang Nan, listens to the blond man rant like he's telling some absurd fairy tale. Yet everything feels way too real to be a dream.
And the blond guy's warning lines up perfectly with Xiang Nan's own leftover memories. He's sure he died in his old life—no doubt about it. So no matter how insane this situation is, he forces himself to stay calm. It's no different from how he had to keep cool back in the day… and, well, he wasn't exactly a saint in his previous life either.
"'Multi-anime'…? Are you talking about cartoons?"
Someone else in the crowd speaks up.
"Bingo!" The blond guy snaps his fingers. "At least one of you worthless wastes has a clue."
"Exactly—anime. It's an offshoot of human culture that's perfect for testing and filtering out scum like you."
One person's question triggers another:
"Are you also one of the players?"
"Sure am," the blond man answers.
"So this is, like, one of those isekai deals?"
"You could call it that."
"You said we're all going to different worlds, not the same one, right?"
"Correct."
"How many different worlds are there?"
"No idea," he replies, scratching his ear nonchalantly.
Xiang Nan jumps in with his own question before someone else does: "Based on what you said, every world and every player is basically in competition, right? Starting now, we're all enemies."
"Hahaha!" The blond man zooms in on Xiang Nan with a gleeful look. "So there's more than one sharp cookie among you."
Then a bunch of people start shouting questions all at once, but he rolls his eyes and stops answering.
"All the game's background info and rules will make sense once you land in your worlds. No point wasting time on me. I'm just here on a group assignment," he says with a casual wave. "Who knows, maybe one of you will end up being my future nemesis. Or maybe you'll warp into my world and fight me for resources. As if I'd spill all my secrets to you, hehehe."
He's obviously enjoying messing with them.
Group assignment?
Xiang Nan perks up at that phrase, but before he can dig deeper, the blond man glances upward.
"I know you still have a million questions, but time's nearly up. You'll figure out the rest down the road."
He points to the sky, and suddenly a massive digital timer appears over his head, seconds ticking down to zero. Seeing that ominous red countdown makes everyone's stomach drop like something really bad is about to happen.
"Wait—you haven't told us what we're actually supposed to do!" someone yells.
The blond man just shuts his eyes and ignores the protests.
"Damn it! Stop with the spooky act and tell us what's going on!"
"Screw you, Blondie! If I see you again, I'll tear you apart!"
People start panicking. A few try to rush him, but it's like there's an invisible force field around him, and none of them can get close. On top of that, everyone's body feels intangible, like passing through smoke.
Suddenly a beep echoes through the white space, and people start vanishing in blinding flashes of light. The crowd thins out at an alarming rate.
Xiang Nan notices he's not disappearing right away—meaning there's a delay. That suggests the ones who stick around might gain a small advantage.
With that in mind, Xiang Nan makes one last attempt, but someone beats him to it:
"You up there—about this competition, is it just the people here right now?"
"Ha, you have any idea how many people die on Earth every second? You're just one measly batch. Tons of other souls in other sections are going through the exact same process," the blond guy answers, grinning. "Don't fixate on numbers. Contestants are basically infinite."
"Uh…"
The poor guy stands there, stunned—then poof, he's gone in a flash of light.
Xiang Nan breathes a small sigh of relief that he's not out yet. There are only a few dozen left, and they're vanishing fast.
"Any last scraps of advice?" Xiang Nan asks with a forced smile.
If all this is real, then as a veteran player, the blond guy could probably save a newbie's life with just a sentence or two.
The blond man looks at Xiang Nan again—though even as a seasoned player, he can't see Xiang Nan's face, only hear his voice. Most people would be freaking out, but Xiang Nan's calm enough to crack a smile, which genuinely impresses him.
"Four words: Stay alive first."
He suddenly looks dead serious.
Stay alive…?
Xiang Nan narrows his eyes.
Then everything goes white. He feels a rush of vertigo, like his consciousness is getting pulled deep into his mind. Suddenly, he's flooded with a ton of images and data, playing like a rapid-fire slideshow in his brain.
"Welcome to the world of Hunter x Hunter!"
He hears a voice that sounds like some fancy startup chime.
Hunter x Hunter?