Gamers Are Fierce-Chapter 688 - 656 Open the Door
Lights?
Danfei's heartbeat suddenly accelerated. She looked up, only to see the crystal chandelier on the ceiling of the room still shining brightly, showing no sign of dimming or going out.
What's... going on...
「Time was up.」
Seated in Room 1408, Bai Haozheng took a deep breath. His ten fingers faced each other, forming a strange hand seal.
An indescribable "Energy" burst forth from the pores of his skin. It filled the entire room without dispersing, forming a sphere slightly truncated by the ceiling and the floor.
This was a special ability called "Nen" from the manga *Hunter × Hunter*. Simply put, it is the control of life Energy (aura) emitted from within a living body, used for attack or defense.
At first glance, Nen abilities seem similar to Ripple. Indeed, they are very similar. Energy, Ripple, Nen abilities, internal strength, Wheel Pulse, Chaq, and similar concepts are, to some extent, fundamentally the same. It can be considered that ancient, isolated civilizations developed highly similar philosophies based on shared human commonalities.
However, they differ in their methods of use.
Nen abilities are broadly categorized into Ten, Zetsu, Ren, and Hatsu. These correspond respectively to: focusing the mind and stabilizing emotions; eliminating aura to hide one's presence; erupting aura to enhance one's spirit; and finely manipulating dispersed Nen for special effects.
More concretely, there are advanced techniques such as En, In, Gyo, Ken, Ryu, and Ko.
Since aptitude, personality, and upbringing vary, Nen abilities are generally categorized into six types: Enhancement, Transmutation, Conjuration, Emission, Manipulation, and Specialization. Each type has different attributes.
Mastered to a profound level, these abilities can achieve miraculous effects such as instant transportation, spatial division, memory theft, and predicting the future.
Overall, Nen abilities have a wide range of applications, a high ceiling, and great potential.
However, they require significant aptitude, and training carries certain dangers. For instance, those without talent might be unable to gather life Energy, depleting their reserves during initial practice and leading to exhaustion and death.
The world of *Hunter × Hunter* is not peaceful. Monsters are rampant, and anomalies abound. The danger level is comparable to some nightmare-difficulty scenarios.
Even the ordinary people there likely possess physical constitutions far surpassing those of ordinary Earthlings.
The Nen ability training methods they use inherently have a high barrier to entry.
Therefore, although the Special Affairs Bureau obtained Nen training methods early on, they have only experimented with them in select special departments, choosing suitable candidates for trials.
Bai Haozheng was one of them.
Although he always claimed to be a civil servant better suited to office work and air conditioning, insisting he was not adept at fighting, his talent for Nen was quite remarkable.
He was currently using a technique called "En," extending his Nen as far as possible in a spherical shape to cover the surrounding space. This allowed him to observe everything within the range of his Telekinesis down to the finest detail.
Every speck of dust floating in the air, every hair on his fringe stirred by the slightest breeze, every fiber of the carpet...
The expanding Nen formed a sphere that filled the room, stopping only when it encountered the hotel walls, which couldn't conduct Energy.
Bai Haozheng squinted and changed the hand seal. Immediately, the surface of the invisible sphere extended countless tendrils. Like unseen, intangible mist, they slowly snaked out through the cracks in the room's door.
Gathering intelligence is always fundamental to surviving scenario missions. Within the range of his Nen, nothing could escape him...
Hm? Bai Haozheng suddenly leaped up from his chair. The omnipresent Nen around him supported him, allowing him to float in midair as if unaffected by gravity.
Behind the chair, a sticky note had appeared at some unknown point.
The light yellow sticky note was pressed by its adhesive side to the back of the chair. The other side bore the crookedly written English words: "Do not open the door."
When did this happen?
Bai Haozheng flicked his fingers slightly. He was certain he had covered the entire room with his Nen; everything was under his watchful eye. Yet, this sticky note had mysteriously appeared on the back of the chair without any warning. He only noticed its existence when he heard an abnormal whistle of wind.
Do not open the door...
KNOCK.
A knock sounded from outside the room, strikingly abrupt.
Bai Haozheng, still floating in mid-air, maintained a blank expression as he pressed a hand over his racing heart. He directed his Telekinesis within the room to form a giant hand, bracing it against the main door to prevent it from opening. Simultaneously, he maneuvered the Nen already settled on the floor by the entrance, cautiously making it climb upwards to feel around.
He sensed something shoe-shaped, made of rubber. The soles were covered with rainwater, mud, and some suspiciously shaped flecks of meat.
He sensed a pair of feet wearing rain boots.
He *only* sensed a pair of feet wearing rain boots...
KNOCK! KNOCK!
The knocking resumed, slightly louder than before, as if the visitor outside had grown angry from being ignored.
Bai Haozheng stretched his hands towards the door and unleashed his Telekinesis, firmly holding the door shut.
KNOCK! KNOCK! KNOCK!
The intense knocking shook the entire door. The lock rattled incessantly, and the doorknob trembled as if the door would be smashed open by the enraged visitor at any moment.
After a prolonged standoff, the knocking finally subsided. The squishing sound of wet rain boots on the carpet grew fainter as they moved down the hallway.
Is it over...?
Bai Haozheng exhaled deeply and slowly descended to the floor. He pushed his gold-rimmed glasses up his nose; the lenses were misted with beads of condensation from his sweat.
In the standoff, his Telekinesis had depleted by half. The emptiness from overusing his extraordinary power gnawed at him like a flesh-boring maggot, sending waves of discomfort through his limbs.
If the standoff had lasted any longer, he might have had to resort to a special application of his Nen abilities to directly harm the rain-booted feet outside the door...
The presence at the door was too bizarre. Even Bai Haozheng, ranked roughly 140th on the Combat Power Rankings (an internal estimate by the Special Affairs Bureau), lacked complete confidence in defeating it and surviving.
His Nen abilities... were very dangerous.
KNOCK.
The knocking—dull, soft—resumed, just as before.
Bai Haozheng's pupils dilated slightly. He abruptly turned to look inside the room.
The knocking was coming from *inside* the room.
KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK.
KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK.
KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK.
The bedroom door, the bathroom door, the refrigerator door, the wardrobe door, the nightstand door...
All objects structurally similar to doors, those used to connect two different spaces, began to knock frantically at the same time.
Countless objects shook the entire room violently. The chandelier on the ceiling swung left and right, its light spinning, casting swirling shadows from the tables and chairs.
Bai Haozheng couldn't help but draw in a sharp breath. He understood. The "Do not open the door" on the note... meant *every* door.
