Gourmet Hunter [HxH Fanfic]

"I'm coming!"

On the top of Eldertalon Mountain in the middle of the Dragontooth Range, white clouds linger, blending with the white snow on the peak.

A voice full of excitement and joy shuttles through the clouds, mist, and snow, spreading far away. If someone who likes to challenge mountains hears it, they might empathize with a sigh.

"I'm here... Just like visiting here, it holds extraordinary and profound meaning. For every mountaineer challenger, it is both an end and a new starting point."

Looking down on the white mountains, the person who made the bold declaration was a young man with a small head. He was sturdy, though not overly strong. His brows were like swords, exuding a compelling heroic spirit. Even though his eyes were slightly squinted, vigorous vitality leaked from the gap, reflecting a look eager to rush towards tomorrow.

Perhaps the heroic sword-like eyebrows were too extreme, resulting in a counterbalance. The right eyebrow was broken, bearing scars from three sharp claws, and the man's thin lips weakened his overall heroic aura. His light wheat-colored skin added a masculine touch.

Overall, he was handsome, but the slightly hideous scar on his right eyebrow slightly marred his appearance.

This man was named Ryuuji Takeda, a gourmet not in the ordinary sense. More than a gourmet, he was like an adventurer who embraced the spirit of adventure.

Standing on the highest point of Eldertalon Mountain, he opened his arms like a giant bird spreading its wings, facing the strong wind and ultra-low temperature air. With slightly squinted eyes and a look of enjoyment, he embraced the harsh environment that resisted human existence.

Considering the altitude, his clothes were astonishingly thin, just a thin black sportswear, and his luggage was equally minimal—a simple backpack, not a professional mountaineering bag.

This scene would be very strange to any mountaineering enthusiast.

In the middle section of the Dragontooth Range, there are eight peaks above 6,000 meters. One of them is Eldertalon Mountain, standing at an elevation of 6,920 meters. At such a high altitude, not only is oxygen scarce, but the temperature is conservatively estimated to be minus 38 degrees.

What does this mean? Spit a mouthful of water, and it will freeze into ice before it hits the ground. Yet Ryuuji Takeda wore only thin sportswear, unaffected by the ultra-low temperature, and did not need an oxygen bottle.

"Huh..."

Ryuuji Takeda exhaled a breath of warm air, which turned into frost in an instant. He crossed his eyebrows and looked at another group of peaks in the distance, seemingly his destination, with the peak here just a temporary scenic stop.

"The 'Unfrozen Lake' Uncle Attamu mentioned is above the highest peak. Although it is just a legend, the world is vast, and there are many wonders!"

Ryuuji Takeda slightly bent, lifted his backpack, slung it over his shoulders, and jumped along the steep snow slope, becoming a dark shadow gliding down the snow-covered slope.

This scene was truly astonishing; fortunately, no one witnessed it, or they would have been shocked.

A year ago, Ryuuji Takeda sneered at various legends. As an explorer, he only believed in what he saw with his own eyes. But a year later, he firmly believed that all legends passed down from ancient times, such as the "Unfrozen Lake" known only to the older generation of Uyghur people, were not baseless.

The turning point came a year ago when he almost died and welcomed a new life.

Dragontooth Range is home to countless high mountains. A year ago, Ryuuji Takeda experienced his first defeat due to lack of preparation and no team support. Even with good physical fitness, the failure of climbing was inevitable.

However, Ryuuji Takeda was lucky. When he fell from the hillside into a gorge, a small emerald green tree cushioned his fall, saving him from immediate death, though he broke four ribs and fractured his arms and thighs.

Though he survived the fall, he was in a dire situation, seriously injured and waiting for death.

Luck shone again. The small tree that cushioned his fall bore a crystal clear white fruit, the size of a baby's fist. Desperate not to starve, he picked the fruit and swallowed it whole, regardless of its potential toxicity.

He never told anyone about this incident, as it was the root cause of his bodily changes.

Descending the mountain in a superhuman manner, Ryuuji Takeda reached out through his clothes to touch the jade hanging on his chest, treating it as a talisman and touching it whenever he took risks.

This jade was dug out from the stone wall where the tree's roots were. The jade was round and smooth, about the size of a quail egg, white as snow, transparent and clear, without any lines.

Ryuuji Takeda didn't believe this jade was ordinary. He even thought it was the 'culprit' that produced the strange fruit.

After swallowing the fruit, his injuries healed rapidly. A day later, he felt the life energy coursing through his body, seemingly a gift from the fruit.

The energy within his body seemed weak but, guided by his life instincts, Ryuuji Takeda mastered how to strengthen it and radiate it out, increasing his vitality.

He called this method 'ki training.'

He believed that 'ki' was the breath of life energy, present in all beings, whether strong as beasts, ordinary as humans, or weak as ants.

The so-called ability was similar to the mind.

Keeping the secret of his adventure, Ryuuji Takeda's dreams became a goal. He wanted to explore 'human forbidden zones,' visit unseen places, encounter unknown phenomena, and search for unknown ingredients.

A week later, he reached a peak of 7,500 meters. Amidst the mountains, a mirror-like lake appeared before him, roughly estimated to be over 20,000 square meters, about the size of 50 basketball courts.

"This must be the Unfrozen Lake."

Looking at the calm lake reflecting the white clouds in the sky, Ryuuji Takeda smiled excitedly. He jumped down, following the snowy slope, and soon arrived at the lake.

At such high altitudes, lakes are usually lifeless. However, this ice-free lake was located in a volcanic crater-like terrain, hidden by surrounding peaks. Climbing higher peaks was the only way to discover it.

Ryuuji Takeda didn't know the exact location of the ice-free lake. He wandered through the mountains and found this lifeless lake in the crater-like terrain.

"At such low temperatures, it should freeze, but..."

Ryuuji Takeda threw his backpack down, squatted, and reached into the water. It was cold, but there were no ice shards. He smiled slightly, his eyes flashing with brilliance.

"Is it a dead lake or a living lake? Let me find out."

Excitement surged in his chest as he took off his sportswear, revealing a dark-colored one-piece diving suit, showing he came prepared.

He casually threw his clothes aside, took out a headlamp, turned it on, and a beam of light shot out. He tied the lamp to his forehead, took an underwater camera, and put on goggles. After making these preparations, without fear of potential threats and without an oxygen cylinder, he jumped directly into the lake.

The lake's water was icy cold, like a layer of ice covering his body, but within his tolerance.

The lake was clear, and the lights illuminated far. No water plants, debris, or living things were in sight.

Despite the lake's clarity and the sunlight penetrating deeply, the bottom remained dark and silent.

Whether due to the dark, silent bottom or the cold water, Ryuuji Takeda felt a chill dissipating from his heart, despite his powers.

"I can't feel any life signs; there should be no living things."

Without any tools, he dived 200 meters deep. At this depth, the headlight's beam finally reached the bottom.

"Huh?"

Bubbles escaped from his mouth and nose.

"Is that... ruins?"

Seeing the light illuminate the bottom, his eyes widened in horror.

How could there be building ruins in such a place?

If it were a desert or deep in a mountain, it would be nothing, but this was at the bottom of a lake above 7,500 meters.

Suppressing the shock, Ryuuji Takeda continued to dive and finally reached the ruins. Without hesitation, he took several pictures with his camera.

"This is an amazing discovery."

Ryuuji Takeda thought excitedly. Before he could explore the site, unknown characters on a stone pillar caught his attention. Approaching, he saw the characters clearly under the headlight's beam.

"They look like hieroglyphs." Ryuuji Takeda gently stroked the patterned characters on the stone pillar, pondering.

Suddenly, Ryuuji Takeda's body shook. A powerful, indescribable life force appeared behind him!

His heartbeat quickened, and he immediately turned around. Before he could see anything, he was engulfed in darkness.

His consciousness didn't pause or dormancy, and the sensations from his body were indescribable. It felt like stepping on solid ground in space's weightlessness. The fleeting feeling was strange and terrifying.

One moment, he was in heavy water pressure; the next, he was surrounded by foul-smelling hard objects.

The same darkness, but a different world.

He didn't know what was happening. Holding his breath, he pushed away the unknown hard objects and crawled upward.

Whatever had happened, he was sure of one thing: he was no longer at the lake bottom but in an unknown place.

After climbing up a distance, he opened up something similar

 to an old-fashioned TV set. Light poured into his eyes, making Ryuuji Takeda squint. After a while, he adapted to the light and emerged.

At this moment, he realized he was on a garbage mountain, and the object he had pushed away was indeed an old, shabby TV.

"Where... am I?"

He looked at the numerous smoking, dusty garbage dumps and the barren land beyond, with a blank expression.

Suddenly, Ryuuji Takeda noticed gazes from below and immediately looked down. Three people in white protective suits were staring up at him, their gas masks obscuring their expressions.

"Humans, protective clothing, garbage dumps?" After seeing the three clearly, Ryuuji Takeda suddenly thought of these terms, unaware of the changes in his body.

The sun shone through the smoke, dust, and miasma, faintly reflecting off the goggles of the protective suits, showing a naked, black-haired boy standing on the trash mountain staring at them.

Although this place accepted everything, including life and corpses, children around ten years old were rarely seen.

Ryuuji Takeda noticed the strange gazes from the people in protective suits, looked down, and was shocked.

Being unclothed wasn't the main issue. It was the fact that his most dick were shrinking