c1: Hunter's Notes
"I'm alive?"
Maud opened his eyes, straightened up suddenly, and was stunned to find himself lying on a simple wooden bed.
Before he could examine his surroundings, a sharp, stinging sensation flared in his head.
Flashes of images, lined with intricate nen patterns, spun in his mind like the memory flashes Killua once experienced after Illumi's manipulations were undone.
Unfamiliar.
Clear.
Vague.
An overwhelming blend of conflicting memories and impressions swirled together perhaps a backlash from residual nen triggering the headache that pounded in his skull.
"I've clearly been…"
Amid the pain, Maud's eyes glazed over with confusion.
He distinctly remembered the final moments before everything changed he had been at the Hunter Association's central hall during the uproar caused by the return of Pariston Hill, when the forbidden Wishing Machine, a twisted relic from the Dark Continent, was unleashed.
As it absorbed energy from nearby sources, it spiraled out of control, and in a flash quicker than a nen-infused Shunpo, Maud was caught in its radius alongside a rebel from the Hakka, an extremist faction known for their rejection of the Zodiacs' leadership.
There had been no time to react his body compressed as if by Machvise's ton-ton fruit slam, twisting unnaturally, each limb snapping inward until his form resembled tightly-bound hemp rope.
It had been sudden, violent, and excruciating. The pain lingered raw, tearing sensations, as if skin were being peeled back layer by layer by Shaiapouf's cruel precision.
Even now, phantom pain tingled across his arms and legs, but the oppressive weight of death slowly began to fade, like the melting of Gon's resolve after his final transformation in the battle against Pitou.
Still alive.
That was enough.
It was only now, in this strange calm, that Maud finally noticed the room around him.
It was a modest wooden chamber, no larger than ten square meters eerily reminiscent of the sparsely furnished ship cabins from the Going Merry's early voyages.
The air was musty, tinged with old rot. Cracks laced the walls and floor like webbed fractures in armament haki clashing with the environment.
The furnishings were spartan: aside from the single bed, there was just a wooden table and a chair, both coated in a fine dust that hadn't been disturbed in days. No knickknacks. No traces of the previous occupant.
A mirror hung crookedly on the wall its surface veiled in a thin film of grime.
Overhead, a faint yellow incandescent bulb flickered like a barely-awakened denden mushi, casting weak illumination and long, soft shadows that danced lazily across the room.
There were no windows.
His gaze swept across the cracked surfaces and finally settled on the dust-smeared mirror.
In its reflection stood a stranger a dark-haired boy.
He looked around fifteen or sixteen, his features neither striking nor forgettable. Not conventionally handsome like Hisoka's manipulated charm, nor ruggedly weathered like Zoro's. But there was something in the symmetry and softness an inviting calm, as if Kurapika had dropped his chains and chosen peace.
Maud stared at the image in silence, heart pounding in his chest.
Who was this boy?
And more importantly why did he see him in the mirror instead of himself?
The boy's forehead was wrapped in blood-stained bandages, his face as pale as Killua's after using Godspeed to exhaustion, and he looked as fragile as someone drained by Overheating from excessive Hatsu use.
Maud stared blankly at his "self" in the mirror, and the once-scattered memories in his mind gradually aligned like Killua piecing together Silva's training drills after each assassination mission.
Under the brief flood of this unfamiliar past, Maud endured the stabbing sensation in his skull, and the uncertainty in his gaze deepened.
"So that's how it is..."
He had crossed over again.
But this time, not through a physical vessel like Uvogin's brutal dominance, but with something subtler soul displacement, as though he'd undergone Law's Ope Ope no Mi Personality Switch, or maybe something closer to Komugi's quiet fusion with fate.
So, survival came this way.
Drawing in a measured breath like Zoro steadying himself before a final Onigiri slash, Maud didn't rush to explore the area. Instead, he closed his eyes and calmly sifted through the lingering remnants of this body's memory, hoping to extract anything of value, the way Gon once searched deep within himself to awaken Nen.
After what felt like an eternity, Maud reopened his eyes. Tiny beads of sweat had welled up on his pale face, like Luffy after being drained by Magellan's poison.
"A slave ship and a pirate raid..."
He wiped his cheek absently with a trembling index finger, murmuring softly.
He'd pieced together the body's origins.
The original owner had been born into a trading family and, during one fateful shipment, their vessel was ambushed by pirates savages akin to the Don Krieg fleet or the brutal Arlong Pirates.
None survived except for the youth the rest of the merchant crew, including his parents, were slaughtered with the casual cruelty of Yonko underlings.
Afterward, the boy was shackled and sold onto a slave ship, kept in a wooden cell reeking of hay and filth, reminiscent of the squalor the Celestial Dragons kept their human "pets" in.
Days later, the ship came under sudden attack. A cannonball a clean shot, perhaps from the Red Hair Pirates or a Revolutionary crewtore through the hull, blasting open the chamber where the boy had been imprisoned.
The memory fragmented at that moment.
After that…
Maud touched the bandage on his forehead. Surprisingly, the wound barely throbbed.
He had no recollection of how he ended up in this quiet wooden room.
But that he escaped at all was a miracle.
"Pirates… Pirates… Could this be the world of One Piece?"
The thought whispered through Maud's mind, hesitant and cautious.
There was no confirmation yet. Just a chilling possibility.
The only thing he was certain of was that everything would have to start over just like when Gon lost his Nen and began a new path of growth.
Including the five years of training he underwent in the Hunter x Hunter world honing his Nen and forging his own unique ability.
"If only the ability was still there…"
The wish surfaced silently.
And without warning, as if reacting to his longing, a thin black notebook materialized in the air manifesting like Shizuku's Blinky pulling objects from thin air.
On the notebook's jet-black cover, two large Chinese characters were embossed with silver: Hunter.
Beneath the word [Hunter], four parallel silver lines lay blank, and an inkless quill was secured at the spine.
Maud's eyes widened.
No aura. No aura flow. And yet… his ability had activated.
More incredibly…
He looked at the vacant silver lines, once marked by purpose.
They should have displayed his recorded [needs], but now—empty.
Maud opened the notebook with trembling fingers.
Blank.
Rustle
The second and third pages… still blank.
Where he had once logged the spoils of his four-year [hunting] journey across the Hunter world, now there was only emptiness.
"A reset… That explains the lack of 'gain.'"
Though the notebook had reset, the ability's existence alone was enough to send waves of elation through Maud's chest.
The Hunter's Note was a personal Hatsu ability Maud developed to maximize his strategic edge as a transmigrator an intelligence-type Nen that combined structured acquisition with mental focus, much like Kurapika's Chain Jail required conditions to be effective.
To activate, one had to complete five clear steps:
Set hunting needs → identify hunting targets → prepare for the hunt → perform the hunt → obtain the result.
The first step involved writing four specific desires on the silver lines. Maud's original choices had been: reading ability skills, heart drop boxing listening (from Wing's shingen-ryu), potential energy, and emission-type nen traits.
But here, in the One Piece world, those were no longer valid.
Still, certain types of needs transcended worlds.
Martial arts mastery, swordsmanship, endurance, Devil Fruit combat experience, and Haki refinement…
Those could still be written.
Once [Requirements] were set, writing the name of a target in the notebook along with visualizing their form fulfilled the second phase: target identification.
The third phase preparation meant recording accurate ability data across various dimensions.
The system remained intact.
If it functioned here, Maud could regain strength quickly faster than Sanji recovering post-Enies Lobby.
His excitement surged… but he calmed himself with a breath.
He had to be realistic.
Though the Hunter's Note still existed, it remained uncertain whether it would operate under the rules of this new world.
If not, then his joy was misplaced.
Slowly, Maud closed the notebook and whispered, "It's a good start… but I need to confirm where I am."
As soon as those words fell, a gunshot rang out beyond the room.
Maud's face hardened. He dropped from the bed in a smooth reflex, crouching behind the edge with the awareness of a seasoned assassin like Feitan preparing for retaliation.
More gunfire followed. Loud, rapid bursts like fireworks exploding in patterns, just distant enough to not be inside the building, but close enough to warrant concern.
He didn't lower his guard, fingers wrapped instinctively around the notebook's binding.
With this frail body, if danger broke in, he was as defenseless as a devil-fruit user submerged in seawater.
The cacophony went on for a full five minutes before slowly fading.
Maud didn't move for another five.
The gunfire confirmed something he already feared: this world thrived on chaos.
Holding the Hunter's Note, Maud knew it brought no comfort in its current state only through successful "hunts" could it grant results.
Tom. Tom
Footsteps echoed, growing louder beyond the door. Maud's eyes narrowed. He tucked the notebook away instantly.
He stood with care, positioned his back to the wall beside the door not the bed, which was far too exposed.
From here, he had the advantage of a side attack if necessary.
The steps neared.
Maud leaned ever so slightly, breath held.
Crreeak
The wooden door creaked open painfully.
No figure entered.
Only the cold gleam of a gun barrel slowly protruded from the gap angled oddly… but precisely… aimed at Maud.
Time stopped.
Maud froze, heart thudding wildly.
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