1 Chapter 1: Reincarnation

Deep within the vast universe, surrounded by beautiful stars and galaxies, a small wisp of white flames seemed to be floating without any sense of direction or purpose.

'Where am I?': ???

This single thought seemed to be the only thing on the mind of this small wisp of flame, as the universe surrounding this flame began to contort and shift as the beautiful universe turned into a blinding white canvas room that the wisp of soul seemed to blend with.

'What's… Going on?': ???

Just as the small flame began to take notice of the changes taking place, a soft and gentle voice filled the endless void of white expanse, taking the flame by surprise.

"Soren Nightheart… Age; 18… Occupation; Unemployed freeloader… Hobbies; Watching Anime, and fapping to Hentai… Cause of death; Saved a small boy who was about to be hit by a drunk driver… Although you lived a useless life, you made up for all of it with your selfless sacrifice… So tell me, how do you feel right now?": ???

The wisp of flames now known as Soren began to tremble as the voice began to list out such embarrassing information without a single care, and it made it even worse for this same voice to say that his life was useless, but he quickly calmed down, as the voice was right in the end and his current situation seemed to be one of judgment.

"I feel… Empty?... All I did throughout life was watch Anime and… *cough*... Anyway, what will happen to me now? Also, who are you?" : soren

The voice listened to Soren's words as he began explaining what he felt at that moment, and after he finished, a bright light began to appear before the wisp of flames that seemed to make up Soren's soul, and from this light appeared an ethereal beauty that seemed to be clothed in light itself as it draped down her curvaceous body.

"I go by many names, and I have taken many forms throughout all of existence, but this is my true appearance, and you may call me God or Goddess": goddess

Soren was immediately captivated by the Goddess' beauty, and it was hard for him to break out of the frozen state that he was placed in by the sight of her beauty, but eventually Soren broke free as he began questioning the Goddess.

"So what's next?... Heaven? Hell?... Reincarnation back to Earth without any memory of this?": soren

Upon hearing Soren's question, the Goddess began to ponder for a moment, as her original plan was to let Soren reincarnate back on Earth and give him a second chance at life due to his selfless act, but upon seeing Soren's past, she thought it would be more interesting to see what Soren would do if he were given powers and was sent into one of these "Anime's"

"Well, I was going to send you back to Earth, just as you said, but I became interested in these Anime's you used to watch, so I wish to give you the chance to reincarnate into one of them with a single wish that will help you become stronger… What do you think about that?": goddess

When Soren heard about the Goddess' new idea, many thoughts raced through his mind before he settled on his choice.

"Yeah!... That would be awesome!... If I could be sent into the Hunter x Hunter world with unlimited talent and potential, similar to the Saiyans of the Dragon Ball world": soren

Upon hearing such a simple wish, the Goddess was quite surprised, as she knew from Soren's memories that FanFictions made use of the wishes to get overpowered systems and abilities like infinite mana or health, and Soren quite liked these stories so it should have been obvious he would have chosen something like that, but in the end he didn't.

"Oh?... May I ask why you choose this over something like immortality or the infamous system?": goddess

Soren was a bit surprised to be questioned on his choice, but still decided to explain his reasoning behind his choice.

"It's not something too complicated, and I would end up being the best and strongest person in the world as long as I put in the work… With the system, I would end up being powerful quickly, but not from my own hard work, and I feel like I would become a slave to the quests just to earn points for the shop… As for immortality… I'm here for a good time, not a long one… I want to grow old and I want to feel accomplished as I watch my children strive to achieve and surpass the strength I would inevitably achieve": soren

The Goddess thought about the explanation for a few seconds before nodding in approval as she spoke once more with a smile on her ethereal face.

"Then I wish you luck… And I have also given you a bonus that you will have to figure out when you get there… Farewell, Soren Nightheart": goddess

As the Goddess finished her words, Soren's vision began to blur as the once bright scenery began to darken as everything turned black, and upon waking up, Soren noticed that he seemed to be laying in a deep crater with rubble laying all around him. Soren began moving to sit up as his hands moved to grip his head as a groan escaped from his mouth.

'Ow!… What the hell happened to me?... Where am I?': soren

Just as Soren began to ponder about what happened to end up like this, he noticed a bit of blood fall to the ground, and upon moving his hand from his head, Soren noticed it was covered in blood.

'Head injury?... Wait… Why is my hand so small?': soren

Soren quickly noticed the difference in his physical appearance, as he seemed to be wearing torn rags for clothes that would fit children, and upon getting up off the ground, Soren noticed that he was indeed small, indicating he was no more than 10 years old.

'I'll need to find a mirror or some water to confirm, but I believe I'm just a child… Where are my parents?... Hell, who lets their kid play in such a dangerous place?': soren

Soren then began making his way up and out of the crater, but the sight of dead children lying curled up in the same rag-like clothing made Soren stop in his tracks as stomach vile came rushing up Soren's throat and spilled out all over the ground, proving that it had been a few days since his last meal.

'Never mind… I know where I am, now… This is Meteor City… One of the most impoverished cities in the world… Death was an everyday occurance, as fighting to survive was commonplace… What terrible luck to be sent here… Was this the "Bonus" that Goddess was talking about? If it was, then it's a crappy bonus': soren

Soren tried to take his mind off the sight of the dead children and elderly as he continued towards the top of the crater, and with how malnourished his body was, it took almost an hour to reach the top. Upon reaching the top of the crater, Soren noticed that the sun had begun to set as the cold from the night air began to brush against his face, sending a chill down his frail spine.

'I must survive this to become stronger!': soren

Soren's mind and body had filled with resolve as he began moving forward until he came across a fire that had been burning inside a metal barrel, but it was already occupied by a group of vagabonds who seemed to be adults. Not wanting to cause trouble just yet, Soren continued to travel further and further away from the fire until he came across a building that was still standing, but it lacked maintenance as the windows were broken, and the stone walls held bullet holes.

'Something is better than nothing, I guess': soren

Soren made his way inside and noticed its lack of occupants as he could see trash all over the floor, and upon seeing something that looked like a newspaper, Soren decided to pick it up and read it for information.

'1986, Neo-Green Life officially became a nation under the rule of King Gyro… I don't know how old this is, but it looks quite new, so until I can confirm it, I'll be under the assumption that the year is 1986 and seeing as how cold it's getting it looks like we are going into winter soon, so it's the end of the year': soren

Soren then found a clean spot as he began making a bed to sleep on, and that single night seemed to be the worst night he had ever experienced, as once the morning came, Soren woke up and began looking for food as his stomach felt like it was starting to eat itself due to hunger.

'You know… Maybe it would have been better if I had wished for infinite saturation so that I would never feel hungry ever again': soren

Soren joked as he began making his way towards what appeared to be the inner city where the middle class was treated like the rich. After walking for a few hours, Soren had made it to the city, but the stares he received were as if he was some kind of rat or cockroach that had just entered a 5 star restaurant, Soren felt unwanted and despised as the looks of disgust fell upon him.

'Now I can see why the Phantom Troupe turned to the life of crime… These looks really make you feel like an outcast, almost as if your existence is the problem': soren

Soren quickly made his way to the back allies as he tried to find a restaurant where he could raid the dumpsters for food, but he quickly noticed that he wasn't the only one with this idea, as every place he found was already occupied by one or more vagabonds who sneered at his presence as they shooed him away. Soon, Soren came across another restaurant, but just as he saw the dumpster occupied, he was preparing to leave, but a voice stopped him.

"Hey, where are you going?... It's just me here right now, so we can share": ???

Soren stopped for a minute to think, but upon hearing the protest of his stomach, he immediately turned back to join the person who spoke up. Upon getting closer, Soren could get a better look at the person's face, and it just so happens that Soren was a bit familiar with this face.

'This is… Chrollo Lucilfer!... He looks to be about 13 or 14… I wonder if he's learning Nen yet?': soren

Just as Soren thought about the future villain that is Chrollo Lucilfer, the person himself spoke up with an introduction

"My name is Chrollo Lucilfer, what's your name?": chrollo lucilfer

Soren was torn to expose his true identity in case he were to ever oppose the person before him, but seeing how friendly Chrollo was being, Soren couldn't help but return the kindness.

"My name?... My name's Soren Nightheart": soren

Seeing Soren greet him in return, Chrollo smiled as he offered a hand shake as he spoke once more.

"Nice to meet you, Soren… Would you like to hang out with me?... I can guarantee at least a single meal every day, and you won't be cold ever again… We will be like brothers, and we will stick together till the very end": chrollo lucilfer

Soren was surprised to hear such an offer, but he was confused as to why this offer was being made to begin with, so he asked, weary to accept the handshake.

"Why would you offer me this?... What do you get out of it?": soren

Chrollo was surprised to see the hesitation to accept such a great offer, but he was silently happy, as this meant Soren wasn't that easy to trick into agreeing to just anything.

"Just as I said… You and I will be like brothers… We will protect each other, and we will help each other… Didn't you see the looks we receive when entering the city? The looks of disgust and the air of arrogance?... They direct all of that hatred towards us for no reason at all, while they live like kings and queens, while forgetting that they themselves used to live just like us… If we band together and rise up, there would be nothing stopping us from living like them, or even living better than them… So, what do you say?": chrollo lucilfer

There it was, the real reason Chrollo offered Soren such a great deal to join him, and this also means that Chrollo is building the Phantom Troupe, and is currently adding to the spiders. Before giving a direct answer, Soren began thinking about just exactly what he would be getting into by joining this murderous gang of theives, and after thinking about how cold it felt to be stared at as if you were a scrounge that should be purged from the world, Chrollo's offer became more and more enticing, and so Soren asked.

"How many people are in the group?": soren

Seeing that Soren was giving good thought into joining, Chrollo decided to be honest as he spoke.

"Right now… Just me, and possibly you?": chrollo lucilfer

After hearing that, Soren thought that he might be able to alter some aspects of what the Phantom Troupe would be about, so Soren decided to try his luck as he spoke.

"Alright, I'm in… But we have to vow never to steal from or kill innocent people… I'm all for the idea of stealing from the rich, but only from those that have done bad things to get the wealth they have": soren

Chrollo seemed to be in thought while Soren held his breath in hopes that he could convince Chrollo, and just as Soren thought Chrollo would decline, he spoke up.

"Alright… We won't rob and kill innocents, but there are no innocent people in Meteor City, I can tell you that much": chrollo lucilfer

Soren nodded, as this was at least a step forward in the right direction, and he hoped this step would change things for the better, as late afternoon of October 12th, 1986, the founding members of the Phantom Troupe ate out of a dumpster, thus signifying the hardships they would have to prevail through to make a better life for themselves.

<[What will be in store for Soren as he joins the Phantom Troupe]>