After that infamous chocolate-goat-poop incident, Jon swore off foraging completely—it was too humiliating. He vowed that from now on, he'd stick to tasks that didn't involve possibly eating feces.
Luckily, Rin's injuries from the Illumi incident had mostly healed—she hadn't taken any serious hits during the fight with the puppet-like attackers. To improve their efficiency, they decided to divide responsibilities: Jon would stay at the camp to guard and maintain it, while Rin ventured out to hunt.
To aid her, Jon revealed some of Stone Free's more basic, non-secret abilities, such as its capacity to create and control threads. Of course, some things couldn't be hidden—Stone Free's tremendous strength and speed, along with the durability and flexibility of its lines, were obvious in use.
The two of them even set up a basic communication system: Rin tied one end of a Stone Free thread to herself before heading out, extending Jon's awareness far beyond the camp's perimeter. If she encountered danger, she could send a vibration along the line at a preset frequency, a clever use of Nen as a signal.
As the days passed, Jon slowly began to understand Rin better.
She reminded him of Gon in a way—a second-generation Hunter, raised in the world of Hunters from a young age. Her master must've trained her since childhood. Unlike Jon, who was a self-taught drifter, Rin had the structure and resources of a proper education.
Rin had been absorbing Hunter knowledge and survival training long before she ever took the exam. Her knowledge of plants, terrain, ecosystems, and Nen theory was encyclopedic. When she joined the Hunter Exam, she already had Nen abilities and passed with flying colors.
Her performance during the exam could almost be compared to Killua's when he first mastered Nen. Jon learned that everyone in her testing group, except for one other kid with Nen, had been completely overwhelmed by her. She wasn't just competent—she was exceptional.
Still, Jon could tell she was hiding something. Particularly when it came to her master. Every time he brought it up, she'd dodge the subject. Jon didn't press. He figured her master was probably a high-profile figure with enemies, and Rin was deliberately keeping a low profile. He respected that.
One morning, Rin returned from the forest carrying a fresh kill—a long, thick snake coiled over one shoulder and two plump pheasants in the other hand.
Lunch was secured.
These past few days, their meals had mostly consisted of wild game: snakes, birds, lizards, and the occasional unlucky mammal. But the lack of seasoning had become Jon's greatest enemy.
Rin didn't seem to mind at all. She ate plain meat without complaint, her face completely expressionless as she chewed the dry, flavorless bites.
Jon, on the other hand, was dying inside. His taste buds had been pampered at the Heavens Arena, where even the staff meals were gourmet. He'd tried sneaking in Pearl Jam's power to improve the food, but even that couldn't save flavorless meat from being what it was—hot, chewy nothing.
Still, there were only a few days left until rescue.
Over time, life in the forest had gotten better. Their once-makeshift campsite was now a decent survival hut with a raised roof, carved plates, and chairs that (mostly) didn't give splinters.
Jon had built everything using Stone Free—his Stand weaved and stitched wood and vines together at high speed. Though the construction was crude and lacked polish, it was durable. A little rough on the skin, sure, but Jon and Rin were Nen users. They constantly wrapped themselves in aura, so a few splinters didn't even tickle.
After finishing a simple grilled lunch, Jon volunteered to fetch water—a basic task he could handle without messing anything up.
He trekked about a hundred meters away from camp to the nearby stream. The trees swayed gently overhead, and the light shimmered across the running water. He knelt, splashed his face, and let out a slow exhale. Cold, clear water brought some relief to the lingering heat and fatigue.
Then, for good measure, Jon turned toward the deeper part of the stream, narrowed his eyes, and focused his Ripple energy through his fingertips.
A subtle pulse ran through the water—within moments, a few large fish jumped into the air, stunned by the electric-like jolt. Jon quickly snatched them and stored them in a bag.
"Late-night snack secured."
He grinned.
Hmm?Jon's ears twitched at a sudden noise overhead.
He bolted toward the camp, heart pounding, ready for the worst.
But when he reached the clearing, he didn't find enemies—he found the sky.
The dense canopy of trees had been blasted open, revealing a military green helicopter hovering above their campsite. Blades spun with a soft wump-wump, surprisingly quiet for a vehicle that size.
Below it, Rin stood, calmly firing precise Nen bullets to finish clearing the area. She was destroying the wooden hut Jon had spent days building, reducing it to rubble with little more than a raised eyebrow.
"Yo! Little Rin, you're really in a mess down there!"
A familiar voice rang out from the open door of the chopper.
As the helicopter descended and settled onto the freshly scorched ground, a figure emerged, kicking up dust as he hopped down onto the remains of Jon's handcrafted hut.
"Yo, isn't this little Jon? You had me worried sick, man!" the scruffy newcomer laughed.
Dressed in a half-buttoned shirt and worn combat boots, Robson landed like a tornado of carefree chaos, grinning wide with a cigarette tucked behind one ear.
"Hahaha! How did you two little geniuses both end up failing? I thought this was just a babysitting gig!"
Jon and Rin exchanged a glance—neither of them offered a reply. But they both boarded the chopper without hesitation.
Apparently, Robson knew Rin.
He explained on the way that he'd been waiting at the airship terminal the day everything went south. When he heard one of the airships went dark, he started digging. It wasn't long before he picked up on Rin's emergency signal.
Technically, the embassy had needed several days to clear the bureaucratic red tape, but Robson pulled strings through the Hunter Association to fast-track this rescue.
Once airborne, Robson leaned back and asked for details. Jon gave him a sanitized version of events—he left out King Crimson's Time Erasure and only mentioned that Illumi had let his guard down and got his arm torn off before fleeing like a coward.
Robson blinked in surprise. Then he let out a low whistle.
"Man... escaping from a Zoldyck assassin with your limbs intact? You two are walking miracles." He scratched his stubble. "Guess luck favors the crazy."
But before the conversation could continue, another figure stepped into the cabin.
He was a mountain of a man, with a fierce, red-and-white painted face, thick pigtails, and a terrifying aura that made the air feel heavier. His clothes were military-grade, his posture rigid.
It was none other than Botobai Gigante—Triple Star Terrorist Hunter, member of the Hunter Association's top brass, and a man whose mere presence could silence a room.
And apparently...
Rin's great-uncle.
Jon stared between them, stunned. There was absolutely no resemblance. The idea that soft-spoken, tsundere Rin shared blood with that human tank made his head spin.
As if reading his thoughts, Robson chuckled.
"No wonder she didn't wanna say who her teacher was."
Jon nodded slowly. So Rin was a third-generation Hunter—a child raised and molded by legends. Just like Gon had secret help from Satotz and the others, Rin likely had her own quiet guardians watching her back from the shadows.
The helicopter flew toward the distant city. As the horizon came into view, its outline sharpening with every minute, a silence fell over everyone.
The hum of civilization buzzed in Jon's ears like an approaching storm.
Skyscrapers gleamed in the sunlight, cars crawled like insects, and thousands of lives bustled in synchronized chaos. Even from here, Jon could feel the weight of it—the real world crashing down on him after days of isolation in the forest.
A sense of displacement gripped him.
Had the wilderness been a dream? Had the battles, the near-death encounters, the quiet nights around the fire—been real?
He glanced over at Rin, who stared at the cityscape with a small, contented smile. A rare moment of peace crossed her face.
Jon looked away.
Wtf.Wasn't my goal to survive long enough to get Star Platinum: Over Heaven?How the hell did I end up camping in the woods like a budget Tarzan?
He slumped back into his seat, arms crossed, eyes distant.
Grinding.He needed to get back to grinding.
Too much time had passed without progress. He'd almost gotten complacent. He thought back to his transmigration, the Hunter Exam, Heavens Arena, and now... this botched escort mission with assassins and exploding airships.
He looked out the window again, at the vast blue sky.