Hunter X Hunter: I Got Stronger After I Died

The cold touch beneath him and the jarring sensation as the vehicle traversed a rugged road…

All of it served as a constant reminder to Moro—

This was real.

He had clearly experienced death. Yet, when he opened his eyes again, he found himself back a year in the past.

Moro was in a daze, unable to suppress the memories surging up from the depths of his mind.

A year ago, he had woken up in this very prison-like carriage.

Back then, the unfamiliar environment and the suffocating metal cage had intertwined with the cold jolts of the carriage's movements, creating overwhelming terror that dominated his every thought.

But now, as his thoughts returned to the present, Moro knew he couldn't react the same way he had before—by screaming in sheer panic.

He quickly calmed down and once again scanned his surroundings.

Through the small holes in the carriage walls, light streamed in, allowing him to see the long, narrow space inside. There were two rows of iron cages, each containing a naked prisoner.

Moro was one of them—stripped of everything.

His gaze moved across the caged individuals—boys and girls—most of them around his age, between 14 and 16 years old.

As he observed them, memories from his past life gradually overlapped with their faces.

The other prisoners, who had been drawn to the sound of Moro stirring, turned their dull, lifeless eyes toward him.

Some looked dazed and apathetic. Only two or three showed confusion.

Moro ignored them and lowered his head, avoiding the stares directed his way.

What is happening…?

In his mind, Feitan's fierce, rage-filled gaze resurfaced.

The sensation of cold steel slicing his face and extinguishing his life still lingered.

It was as though a venomous serpent was coiled around his heart, sending a chill through his bones.

But—

When he placed his hand over his chest, he could feel his heart beating violently.

He was alive.

After confirming that fact, Moro closed his eyes and tried to steady his breathing.

This bizarre experience of escaping death made him more aware than ever of the preciousness of simply being able to breathe.

A few moments later…

Moro slowly opened his eyes again and lowered his head slightly, turning his right hand toward the faint stream of light to get a better look.

The year-ring tattoo was still there!

His spirits lifted slightly.

He remembered it clearly—the outline of the year-ring tattoo had only appeared two days after he first arrived in this world and had solidified within a few days.

But now, at this point in time, the tattoo had already fully formed—and it was intact.

This was a key difference.

Moro focused his gaze, holding his right hand closer to the light for a clearer look.

Under the dim glow, he noticed something unusual about the year-ring tattoo.

The white ring that had been fully filled was now pitch black.

And in the center, where there had previously been an infinity symbol, there was now—

Lv.1.

Moro's expression shifted. From the now-black year ring, he surmised that the strange event he was experiencing was likely linked to the year-ring tattoo itself.

However, the fact that the infinity symbol had been replaced by Lv.1 puzzled him.

Is this connected to "Love Rehearsal"...?

Out of nowhere, Moro thought of Melena's face.

The Lv symbol represented "level," and Melena's most unique trait as a Nen user was her ability to make others stronger through a leveling system.

It was only natural for Moro to connect these dots.

But… what was the link between the two?

If the effect of the year-ring tattoo allowed him to return to the past upon death, what role did the "level" symbol now play?

Lowering his eyes, Moro quietly pieced together everything he knew.

As he pondered, he instinctively raised his left hand and gently brushed his right-hand tattoo.

"Hm?"

At that moment, he noticed something new—a red X symbol on the back of his left hand.

The edges of the symbol were surrounded by an inky black hue, radiating an ominous aura.

"What is this…?"

Moro's pupils contracted, and his attention locked onto the X.

In an instant—

His consciousness felt as though it had been pulled into a whirlpool, causing his mind to waver and blur.

In the span of a single breath—

The image of Feitan appeared before him once more.

This time, it was so vivid that Moro could see the ice-cold bloodlust hidden beneath Feitan's rage-filled expression.

Slash!

The sensation of a blade tearing across his face and the suffocating grip of death were amplified, feeding back into him.

Then, a wave of endless darkness engulfed him.

In that brief moment, Moro relived the horror of his own death.

Immediately afterward, his consciousness was jolted again, the image of death dissolving like dust in the wind—

Replaced by the vision of a heart held in pitch-black hands.

Moro stared at the heart, and a sudden realization struck him.

The heart gripped in those dark hands… was his own.

This certainty came to him as though it had been forcefully implanted in his brain, like data being transmitted directly into his mind.

With it came another revelation—a term: "Death Node."

"Hmm?"

Moro's consciousness snapped back to reality.

He found himself still standing in the same position, his hand brushing the tattoo on his right hand.

"Death Node?"

He murmured incredulously and slowly lifted his gaze, staring blankly at the rusty iron bars in front of him. He then sighed and leaned his back weakly against the opposite bars.

The Death Node…

It represented the moment of his death—June 23, 1997.

He had died at Feitan's hands on that day.

And then he was reborn, returning to the moment he first crossed into this world—June 7, 1996.

There was no doubt—he had been given a chance to start over.

However, the Death Node had imprinted itself on him and wouldn't disappear simply because he had returned.

If he failed to destroy the Death Node before June 22, 1997, his heart would shatter into pieces, and he would die once more.

To destroy the Death Node, he had to kill the one who created it before the date of his original death—

Feitan.

In other words, Moro had only one year to kill Feitan, who had no idea any of this was happening.

"One year, huh…"

Moro exhaled slowly. The mental image of the black hands clutching his heart reminded him of Kurapika's Nen vow—the chain that pierced his heart.

Fine.

A Death Node is still better than an instant death sentence.

Besides…

Moro glanced down at the Lv.1 symbol in the center of his year-ring tattoo.

He still didn't fully understand the meaning of the level system, but it didn't seem like a bad thing.

If he could figure out how to increase Lv.1 to Lv.2, he might learn something useful.

But first… he needed to survive the present.

Moro cleared his mind and turned his attention back to the rusted iron bars.

In a few hours, the truck would reach a psychiatric hospital hidden in the mountains.

Officially, it was called a hospital for mental patients.

In truth, it was a hub for human trafficking and illegal organ harvesting.

From the moment they were thrown into these cages, Moro and the others had already been marked as nothing more than livestock.