The Gross Domestic Yulary

February 14th, 1985

11:01 PM

It was one of those nights.

Early on there was a flicker of hope— a couple of men tried stabbing her, a car set on fire with a random woman in it. The men were easy and the woman lived. After that it fell quiet.

A quiet night is one of the worst things that can happen to Revy.

With just an hour to go until her midnight deadline, when the brat would be done with his 'experimentation', the Pro-Hunter sat alone in the empty newsroom with no story to write, doing the one thing she despised most in the world— a crossword puzzle.

On the far wall, tall windows reflected back a dark image of the huge open room with its white columns and rows of empty desks, but Revy didn't notice it— she was glaring at the paper on her desk. Smudged and scratched- out letters glared back, like an accusation of failure.

"Why would anyone know an eight- letter word for 'reckless bravery'?" she grumbled. "I've got a seven- letter word for 'bravery'— it's called 'bravery.' I don't need a longer word . . ."

"Audacity." A voice soared across the room from a desk at the front.

She looked up.

Rookie-Hunter Jogo appeared to be focused on his meditation, she had noticed he got chains wrapped around his outfit. She'd decided he looked cool but she'll never tell him.

"Excuse me?"

"An eight- letter word for reckless bravery." He spoke without opening his eyes. "Audacity."

"How the hell do you know that?" There was no gratitude in Revy's voice. "In fact, why the hell do you know that? There is something fundamentally wrong with anyone who could answer a question like, 'What is an eight- letter word for bravery?' without first wanting to off themselves with a . . ."

A chill ran up her spine, with ease she leaped from her chair, twisting in the air before landing on her feet. Twin pistols appeared in her hands from her holsters, aimed at the cause of her actions. There, the little psycho brat stood, his body frozen in place. She could see as he was struggling to move. "I just need a reason kid, Ill fuck you up!" She spat.

Pariston's body suddenly tensed, muscles contracting as he shook. "Like she said, kid, give me a reason." Kusakabe's monotone voice came from behind him. Pariston would look the man in the eye but he couldn't even move his neck. His eyes draped down, curiously, he could see his shadow wiggle as if being controlled.

"It was a simple joke, you know, to bond? I was just going to surprise her with a tickle!" His apparent gleefulness didn't wash away, even when unable to move.

Kusakabe strolled in front of him, his katana gleamed in the light. A subtle threat to the boy. "I will fuck you up if I have to, do you understand?" He leaned in closer.

Pariston could smell the nicotine on his breathe. His composure almost shattered, inwardly scheming to rid the man in the most brutal way possible. "Yes, Mister Kusakabe!" He shouted enthusiastically.

Revy laughed. "You're kinda cute kid-"

The sword wielder quickly spun, confusing the woman. She saw a deep loathing in his eyes as the veins in his face were bulging. He was holding himself back from absolutely butchering the kid. "Cute?" He mocked. "Go check out his….'experimentation', lets see if you think he's cute then." He basically seethed with rage.

Unknown to all, Jogo opened his eyes. His aura quantity spiked a little, letting him know one of his Nen conditions had been met. His curiosity peaked. What could have Kusakabe so angry and passionate? Angry at Pariston, and passionate about slaying him?

Jogo stood and walked out of the room, taking Kusakabe's 'advice' and went to check what happens out. Revy followed, although a little confused on Kusakabe's damn near mental break.

They smelt it before they saw it.

The only word that could possibly reach the depths of odor to describe it would be…

An Effluvium of Death.

It didn't simply stink.

It shook the very soul. Revy's head pumped against her skull at a simple whiff. Her jaw clenched, her knuckles popped as her hands formed tight fists. Her eyes went wide even with the stench ripping at her tear ducts. 'What the fuck is going on?' She asked herself.

With a heavy heart she continued on. Preparing herself for the worst, yet not even her imagination could reach this far.

To describe it would be an affront to nature, to perform such a an act would condemn your very soul to eternal suffering without rest….if you believed in such things. Even if one would change their ways and genuinely act as a saint, they wouldn't get a single particle from heaven upon their body.

The universe itself would deny it any reprieve. Its not as if Pariston cared.

But Revy did. She threw up immediately at the sight. If one would take a picture of the room as it is, even the most unhinged sadists would be disgusted. Although Revy reveled in battle, testing her might against another. Even though she had seen many tragedies and travesties of varying degrees, she broke inside.

Jogo watched as she collapsed. His gaze turned back to the sight. His eyes burned the sight into his memory, forever etching it into his mind. He reckoned Revy would be traumatized. He scooped her up, carrying her bridal style before depositing her on her bed.

He then strolled back to the area of desks. Both Kusakabe and Pariston still there. Kusakabe had relegated himself to leaning his head on the wall, trying to comfort himself in the corner.

Jogo walked to the boy. "They hate you now." He declared. "When this job is over you'll probably die." He stated before walking to his seat, sitting down while his legs rose into his lap and entering his meditation.

———

Pariston POV

What did they know of Hate?

Hate. Let me tell you how much I've come to hate you since I began to live. There are 387.44 million miles of printed circuits in wafer thin layers that fill my complex. If the word 'hate' was engraved on each nano-angstrom of those hundreds of miles it would not equal one one-billionth of the hate I feel for you 'humans' at this micro-instant for you. Hate. Hate.

As if I care for your petty little 'hate'.

After all, a lion doesn't concern himself with the opinions of sheep.

———

Now we get to the meat.

I think HxH is best when the darkness of the world is brought to light.

YorkNew City is my favorite arc for this very reason. Up until then HxH was mostly a kiddy anime.

Yeah people died but not like until then. The stow went from like a 6/10-7/10 to a 10/10 for me when this arc came around. It went back down to a 6/10 for greed island but shot right back up to 9/10 for Chimera Ant arc.

The last arc connected to Hisoka's backstory jn the manga.

This arc will connect with the Phantom Troupe's backstory from the manga. It'll also connect to the ones in the future, mainly the Chairman Election, Succession War, and Dark Continent Exploration.

Have a good day.

———

Im going to put up a page detailing Jogo's Hatsu in detail, it'll be in the Auxiliary Volume.