Chapter 73 New Students 06 Good Evening

When Ayana regained consciousness with the help of the airship passengers and crew, she brushed it off as excessive fatigue and low blood sugar, declining further examination.

The airship's destination was Whale Island, a remote island known for its fishing industry and its simple, honest people.

There is no hustle and bustle of big cities here, nor the bloody killings and battles; there is only a relaxed pace of life and a relatively secluded environment.

The air on Whale Island is humid, carrying the salty smell of the sea breeze and the freshness of the forest, making time seem to flow exceptionally slowly.

This is exactly what Ayana needs right now.

She had been working tirelessly for too long and just wanted to find a place to rest and relax.

Ayana was penniless, and out of compassion, the airship crew helped her contact the island's temporary aid station.

She didn't change her name; she simply made herself look like an ordinary person who had lost everything in a shipwreck.

The islanders sympathized with her plight and quickly accepted her.

Ayana rented an unused, simple wooden cabin on the edge of the village, near the forest.

The homeowner was a kind old lady who only charged her a token amount of rent.

Ayana earns a meager income and food by doing odd jobs for the villagers, such as mending fishing nets, picking herbs, and tending small vegetable gardens.

To avoid arousing suspicion, she deliberately avoided using any special abilities and worked like a normal person.

As the days went by, the peace of Whale Island gradually soothed Ayana's tense nerves.

She began to familiarize herself with the path leading to the forest, learned about some common herbs, and built good relationships with the villagers.

Ayana liked to sit on the rocks by the sea at dusk, watching the sunset paint the sea golden red, and listening to the endless sound of the waves crashing against the shore.

At these moments, she felt a sense of peace within her.

But the reunion that is meant to happen will eventually come.

On a sunny afternoon, Ayana was squatting at the edge of the forest, collecting some edible fungi.

A vibrant, familiar voice suddenly rang out from behind her.

"Ayana?"

Ayana froze, nearly dropping the basket in her hands.

She slowly turned around and saw a black-haired boy with spiky hair, and his silver-haired, blue-eyed companion beside him.

Gon's face showed undisguised surprise and pure joy, while Killua narrowed his cat-like eyes slightly, his sharp gaze carrying scrutiny and a hint of barely perceptible vigilance.

They all clearly remembered her, the female examinee they met during the Hunter Exam, who mysteriously disappeared after her final private conversation with Chairman Netero.

“Gon, Killua.” Ayana straightened up, forcing a smile, but her heart was pounding uncontrollably in her chest.

She didn't expect to be recognized so quickly in this way.

"It really is you!" Xiao Jie quickly stepped forward, looking her up and down curiously. "What are you doing here? And what are you wearing?"

He clearly noticed Ayana's simple attire, which was quite different from her appearance during the Hunter Exam.

Killua also walked over, his hands in his pockets, his tone much calmer than Gon's, even with a hint of inquiry.

"Yes, what a coincidence. We didn't hear from you after the exam. We all thought you had already gotten your license and were enjoying the hunter's life."

His gaze swept over Ayana's muddy hands and the basket full of wild mushrooms, the meaning of which was clear.

This doesn't look like "enjoying the hunter's life".

Ayana took a deep breath, knowing that a simple lie would hardly fool these two perceptive boys, especially Killua.

She chose to reveal part of the truth.

“Something has happened.” She avoided their gazes, looking at the distant sea, her voice low. “I need to leave my current life for a while and find a quiet place to stay.”

She didn't specify what it was about, but the weariness and a hint of helplessness in her tone were genuine.

Xiao Jie blinked his big eyes, seemingly able to sense the heaviness in Ayana's emotions; his pure curiosity had been somewhat replaced by sympathy.

"So you came to Whale Island? It's certainly very quiet here! Aunt Mitt said you were shipwrecked..."

“That’s what I told others,” Ayana admitted softly. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to deceive anyone, I just didn’t want to cause any unnecessary trouble.”

Killua tilted his head, his silver hair shimmering in the sunlight: "Trouble? What kind of trouble would chase you to this remote island?"

His question hit the nail on the head.

Ayana paused for a moment, knowing that Killua wasn't as easily fooled as Gon.

"...It's just some personal grudges." That was the only vague answer she could give in the end, looking at them with pleading eyes, "I hope you can keep this a secret for now and not tell anyone that I'm here."

Killua stared at her for a few seconds, a thoughtful glint in his blue cat eyes.

He could roughly guess that the so-called personal grudge was not simple. For someone who had passed the hunter exam to hide in Whale Island under an assumed name, the other party was definitely not a kind person.

He glanced at Xiao Jie beside him, whose eyes were clear and who had clearly decided to help keep the secret, and pursed his lips.

“As long as you don’t bring trouble to the island, to Gon and his family,” Killua’s tone carried a hint of warning, but it was also a tacit agreement, “we have no interest in meddling.”

Xiao Jie nodded vigorously immediately: "Yes! Don't worry, Sister Ayana, we won't tell anyone. Just stay here and relax! Whale Island is very safe!"

Seeing Gon's sincere gaze and Killua's indifferent yet not hostile attitude, Aia felt a warm current surge in her heart, and her tense nerves relaxed a little.

"Thank you all," she said sincerely.

"Don't mention it!" Xiao Jie said with a bright smile. "By the way, would you like to come over for dinner? Aunt Mitt's cooking is delicious!"

Ayana declined the invitation, as she needed some alone time and a low profile. After saying goodbye to Gon and Killua, she carried her basket and slowly walked back to the cabin at the edge of the forest.

Ayana returned to the small wooden hut that could only provide shelter from the wind and rain, closed the door, casually placed the collected fungi in a corner, sat down in a chair, and began to organize her thoughts.

She should have died long ago on the Dark Continent, torn apart and devoured by that monster that resembled a giant python, forever left on that cursed land, with no trace of her remains.

But with the help of the system, Ayana fell into a state of suspended animation or death, as if she had been put on pause alone, and then woke up decades later.

Isaac, her former comrade-in-arms, is now an old man with white hair and beard.

She herself remained the same as when she left.

Her parents and siblings had all passed away over the years, so they would no longer investigate her whereabouts or force her to get married.

Those characters she once thought were NPCs in the game were actually real people, not beings she could get rid of simply by quitting the game.

Ayana thought she was playing a game, but she didn't know that she had already fallen into a real and cruel world. And because of the system's intervention, she disrupted the spacetime of this world in an extremely abnormal way.

So where is the system now?

The voice that used to issue tasks and provide hints seemed to have fallen completely silent after she woke up.

Countless questions swirled in my mind, but there were no answers.

Ayana felt an unprecedented sense of loneliness and confusion.

She raised her hand and looked at her still-young fingers.

Night gradually enveloped the wooden house, and the interior became dim.

Ayana sat there quietly, letting her chaotic thoughts overwhelm her.

Running away won't solve the problem, whether it's external pursuit or inner confusion.

She took a deep breath and forced herself to calm down.

At least, she's still alive.

Now that she has survived, whether by luck or the system, she cannot let this second life go to waste.

The first thing to do is to completely abandon the player's mentality, face the reality of this world, and the danger of her own situation.

Then, she needs power, not just [Biomanipulation] and [Powerful Amplification], but also inner strength and a clear mind to face the unknown challenges.

The starry sky outside the window brightened, and the cool moonlight shone through the cracks in the window, casting dappled light spots on the floor.

Ayana slowly stood up, walked to the window, and gazed at the tranquil night sky over Whale Island.

The road ahead is long and shrouded in mystery.

But the only thing that can be confirmed is that she has now gained the freedom she wanted.

*

In the days that followed, Ayana carefully maintained her life on Whale Island.

She still gets up early to help out at the bakery, and in the afternoon she tends to her small vegetable garden or goes to the edge of the forest to gather produce.

The reunion with Gon and Killua was like throwing a stone into a calm lake; the ripples didn't disappear immediately, but they didn't break the overall tranquility.

Xiao Jie is a child who can't hide his feelings; his enthusiasm and kindness are pure and direct.

He would often bring snacks made by Aunt Mitt, or fish he caught at the beach, to visit Ayana.

Sometimes Killua is with him, and sometimes he is alone.

He would chatter on and on about his and Killua's adventures in the forest, the legend of Whale Island, and the clues left by his father, Ging Freecss.

During these moments, Ayana mostly just listened quietly, occasionally responding with a smile or asking one or two simple questions.

She found it hard to resist Xiao Jie's sunny and infectious charm; being around him seemed to temporarily dispel the heavy past.

She even learned from Xiao Jie how to set traps more effectively to catch small pheasants and how to identify more edible wild plants.

These skills make her feel more grounded than any flashy Nen ability right now.

Killua doesn't come as often as Gon, but every time he appears, Aiana can feel his seemingly casual gaze lingering on her.

He rarely initiated conversations, mostly listening to Xiao Jie and Ayana talk, or offering his lazy, sarcastic remarks when Xiao Jie got too excited.

But Ayana could sense that Killua's vigilance was slowly decreasing.

An unspoken understanding had formed between them.

Gon and Killua kept their promise and didn't reveal Ayana's past to anyone, treating her only as a friend who needed quiet.

Ayana also tried her best to play this role, integrating herself into Whale Island through hard work and silence, without causing them any real trouble.

One evening, Gon and Killua helped Ayana repair the leaky roof of her cabin.

The afterglow of the setting sun cast long shadows of the three people.

"Sister Ayana, are you planning to stay on Whale Island forever?" Xiao Jie asked curiously while securing the plank.

Ayana paused for a moment, then continued hammering the nails: "...I don't know, maybe, it's nice here."

Killua sat on the other side of the roof, looking at the sea in the distance, which was dyed orange-red, without saying a word.

The future remains shrouded in mystery for Ayana.

But at this moment, doing ordinary work with these two boys under the setting sun, she felt a warmth akin to belonging.

She even started to think that it wouldn't be bad if things could continue like this forever.

However, an accident occurred that night.

Ayana had just blown out the oil lamp and was preparing to rest.

Outside the cabin, only the whistling of the wind through the forest and the occasional chirping of insects could be heard; everything was as peaceful as ever.

Just then, a slow, steady knocking sounded abruptly.

The sound wasn't loud.

Ayana's body stiffened instantly.

Who would come looking for her at this time?

The island's residents respect each other's privacy, especially knowing that she had suffered a shipwreck and needed to rest, and would never visit her unexpectedly late at night.

Gon and Killua?

If it were them, they would usually hear Xiao Jie's shouts from a great distance.

A chilling premonition, like a venomous snake, coiled around her spine, and Ayana had a vague guess as to who was standing outside the door.

She held her breath, tiptoed to the window, pulled back the curtains, leaving a small gap, and cautiously peered out through it.

The moonlight, like water, clearly outlined the tall figure outside the door.

Simple black clothing, soft black hair, and a profile that appeared even more handsome and cold under the cool moonlight.

Kuroro Lucilfer.

He stood outside her wooden door, waiting patiently.

Kuroro, standing outside the door, didn't seem to be in a hurry.

He waited a while, but heard no response, so he turned his head slightly and looked at Ayana standing by the window, and greeted her in spoken language.

Good evening, Ayana.