It was the dead of night. The empty streets lay silent, illuminated only by slivers of moonlight scattered across the stone-paved road.
Link strolled into the casino with his hands in his pockets, looking completely at ease, like he was returning home rather than walking into enemy territory.
What gave him that confidence? The Gardevoir, hiding within him and ready to leap out at any moment.
Not only was Gardevoir an incredibly powerful fighter, her defensive and escape abilities were top-tier.
As long as their oppoNent wasn't vastly stronger, her teleportation could easily whisk them out of danger.
Link glanced around the casino hall, then quickly locked eyes on two figures standing in the center.
One was tall and thin, the other short and fat.
The squat one was an all-too-familiar face, Pierce, grinning smugly at Link.
But the tall, thin man next to him was a stranger. He looked unremarkable at first glance, save for a sharp hawk-like nose that screamed "bad news."
Activating Gyo, Link immediately noticed a smoky wisp of aura naturally drifting from the top of Pierce' head.
Ordinary people without Nen couldn't contain their life energy, it would constantly leak away like that.
Pierce wasn't the problem. He was just a regular guy.
The real threat was the tall man beside him. No aura was leaking from his body. Instead, his Nen clung tightly to his skin, clear evidence that he was a Nen user.
Then Link noticed something strange about the man's exposed skin. It looked fractured, like shattered glass with jagged cracks spreading across it.
There was only one explanation Link could think of—Baptism.
The term first came up in the Heavens Arena arc: once someone reached the 200th floor, they would encounter real Nen users.
Some weaker, low-tier Nen users who couldn't win fair fights would instead ambush unsuspecting newcomers, ordinary folks who made it to the 200th floor, bombarding them with malicious Nen pressure.
A rare few, gifted or just lucky, would awaken their own Nen from this near-death encounter.
But most ended up crippled, or worse. Still, those who survived might manage to use a tiny bit of Nen.
This was known as Baptism.
"Hahaha! Brat, your death is at hand!" Pierce laughed loudly when he saw Link casually strolling in.
His pudgy face wobbled with the force of his laughter, looking even more repulsive than usual.
The tall, thin man shot Pierce a sideways glance but said nothing.
"I knew you weren't ordinary," Pierce sneered. "That's why I paid a hefty sum to bring in this man!"
"So just sit there and die, this is what you get for humiliating me the other day!"
A flash of pain crossed Pierce' eyes as he said that. Hiring a Nen user wasn't cheap.
Especially after Link had cleaned him out at the casino. This was a last-ditch gamble to save face.
Link had to die, not just out of spite, but to preserve Pierce' shattered reputation.
In Pierce' twisted mind, the whole incident had been Link mocking him. But the truth was, Link had done nothing. Pierce tripped, begged, and humiliated himself all on his own.
Clap. Clap. Clap.
"Still playing the petty villain, huh?" Link said, applauding sarcastically. "I was too kind to you that day. If you'd just done your job, none of this would've happened. And now my poor Gardevoir has to take out the trash again."
He sighed in mock pity, his eyes filled with contempt.
(Note: "If this guy played on Earth's server, he'd be a low-rank troll main.")
"You—!" Pierce started to retort, but the tall man beside him raised a hand and silenced him.
"Enough talk," the man growled, pointing at Link with a sneer. "I don't have time to waste here."
"Don't think that flashing a bit of Nen and scaring off some civilians makes you invincible."
"I don't even need to touch you to crush you. Of course, since my employer wants you to suffer, I'll take my time."
"I'll crush every single bone in your body, make you die in agony!"
He bared his teeth in a bloodthirsty grin. His twisted expression only added to his ugliness.
People who fail their Baptism often end up mentally broken.
As he spoke, white aura began to seep from the cracks in his skin.
It gathered slowly above his head, forming a massive hand made of swirling white Nen energy, which lunged toward Link.
Just as it was about to strike—
A pink arrow of Nen shot forward with a piercing screech, slicing through the air like a missile.
The white hand shattered instantly, crumbling into nothing mid-air.
The tall man stared in disbelief as Link remained perfectly unharmed.
"H-How are you still standing? That should've crushed you!"
"Huh? Wait a sec, your attack was that weak?" Link frowned, looking genuinely confused.
He didn't bother wasting more time. With a thought, he activated his Pokédex-like scan.
Name: Hoss
Strength: D
Nen Ability: None
Link massaged his forehead and gave a dry laugh. He'd overestimated the guy.
He assumed anyone who survived Baptism with all limbs intact might be decent.
But this?
Just a D-rank nobody. Couldn't even use Gyo, let alone develop a Nen ability.
That so-called "giant hand" wasn't a Nen ability, it was just raw aura thrown together and hurled forward.
"You little—!" Hoss tried to say something, but Link had had enough.
"Shut up, you reject. You're nothing but a failed Baptism experiment."
A flash of white light filled the room, Gardevoir appeared, radiating pure, overwhelming Nen.
To Link, she shone like a blazing sun.
The sheer force of her aura stirred the air like a hurricane. Tables and chairs flipped, poker chips scattered like snow in a blizzard.
Hoss collapsed to his knees under the crushing pressure. Pierce fared even worse, he flattened onto the ground like a squealing pig waiting for the butcher.
"Im-Impossible… How can you be this strong!?" Hoss's voice cracked with terror, his features twisted in agony as he tried to endure.
But the power gap was immense. Two whole tiers of difference.
Gardevoir didn't even move, just the weight of her aura was enough to pin Hoss helplessly to the floor.
"Oh? What happened to all that talk?" Link said with a smirk.
"Weren't you going to…"
"Crush! Every! Bone! In! My! Body!?"