"Not so good."
In a certain psychiatric hospital in Ketaki City, Xiang Nan sits outside a monitoring room, watching Manman inside a sterile white room through one-way glass. She's frowning in deep concentration as she releases her Nen, attempting to use her control over Nen for some form of manipulation.
Narrowing his eyes, Xiang Nan comes to a conclusion in his mind:
Manman's main personality is just too weak at wielding Nen. Her level is too low. As a result, wanting the Nen energy to form the shape he needs, then driving it through mental power to manifest via fundamental "Hatsu," is extremely challenging.
From Xiang Nan's viewpoint, although Manman's surrounding Nen is gathering up—her Transformation-type aura "squirming" around outside her body—each time it attempts to detach from her and form a separate "split-off," it falls apart halfway and reverts into pure Nen aura.
Nen is the union of mind and body plus a technique-based control; in simpler terms, it's the expression of one's ability. Aura is just pure life energy. The two have a huge difference.
"I… I can't do it…"
After a while, Manman opens her eyes, appearing on the verge of tears.
They've already been staying in this hospital for half a month. Xiang Nan has used all sorts of methods to re-create the scenes of her past experiences, leaving Manman in a notably unstable mental state the entire time—terrified and haggard.
Yet it's precisely this state, where her spirit is fragile, that in theory should make splitting her mind easier with the help of Nen. However, all attempts have failed.
Although creating a Nen ability can't be done in such a short time, at the very least there should be some progress. Just like building a house, you start with the foundation.
She still can't achieve even this. Whenever she tries using Nen to manifest a split-off, she can't manage to form a complete ability.
"The power system in this "Hunter x Hunter" world isn't just varied, it's so rigorous… truly fascinating," Xiang Nan remarks with a smile. He and Manman are quite different; while she's getting discouraged, he shows no disappointment whatsoever.
This attempt at Nen development was experimental from the start, and he already told her there was a good chance she would fail. If so, there's no need to keep wasting time. He'll just proceed with the simplest setup…
"Don't fret. Change your approach. For someone like you, this was bound to be difficult. Move on to plan B—when manipulating your Nen, focus deeply, recall the state of torment you endured in the past, especially the feeling of suffocating despair, as if you were reliving it."
Xiang Nan's voice comes over the loudspeaker.
"Alright…"
Manman, inside the room, nods gently.
Xiang Nan keeps observing.
"I guess the power system doesn't leave any loopholes to exploit. I initially thought her possessing a second personality might be akin to Kurapika's Scarlet Eyes allowing a change in Nen type—for instance, the main personality is Transformation-type, but once the second personality awakens, it could be Enhancement or Conjuration. But that's not how it is."
He realizes that since her second personality is still subject to her main personality, lacking true self-awareness, it makes that sort of phenomenon impossible.
"If she could wield two Nen categories at once, it'd be outrageous…"
A short while later, observing the video feed, Manman's body starts to shiver. The Nen around her grows violently unstable as her mouth utters unconscious cries, as if seeing something terrifying.
"Indeed… the simpler, the better. Let's just do that," Xiang Nan muses with a soft laugh. "For her, getting even this far is already hard enough. Although it means her starting point in Nen ability can't be raised very high, her outstanding talent should compensate in the long run… it won't affect her later development too much."
…
Two months later.
One day, Xiang Nan takes Manman and leaves the hospital. She hugs a plush toy in her arms, hurrying as if worried Xiang Nan might abandon her. In fact, she's noticeably thinner than when she first arrived.
Leaving that place cheers her spirits immeasurably.
"Right now your Nen ability is only in its initial development. Perfecting it won't be complicated—the ability itself isn't too elaborate, and I've left room for further advancement. At present, as your overall Nen level improves, the ability's effect will also gradually strengthen. The basic framework is in place, you just need time to flesh it out."
Xiang Nan walks ahead, Manman trailing behind. He gives her a reminder.
"Mhm."
Manman smiles.
She's beyond relieved to get out of that awful place. Over these last two months, she's become obviously thinner, far more worn. However, at least she's succeeded in not letting Xiang Nan down—although her original vision for a Nen ability failed.
"Your current Nen ability is pretty basic—Black Nightmare, as I named it. I've already explained its weaknesses and how you're supposed to use it. You only need to hold it in your subconscious. Once your second personality awakens, it'll operate on instinct. In essence, your Nen ability at its core parallels certain other Transformation-type characters: for example, Killua's electricity, Hisoka's Bungee Gum, Machi's threads. Yours is similar."
Manman looks apologetic. "I must not have met your expectations…"
"Not at all. I wanted you to start on a higher tier because you differ from those other figures. A simple, straightforward ability isn't necessarily weak. Actually, in the hands of the right user, it might be more fearsome precisely because it has fewer constraints and thus more flexibility. I wanted to give you something powerful since, in battle, you can't rely on your mind's quick-wittedness. If you could gain an advantage in your 'weapon,' so much the better."
He sees Manman still a bit uneasy, then smiles to reassure her.
He himself gained a lot through the process of guiding Manman's Nen development—he now has clearer ideas for his own ability.
"Don't dwell on it anymore." Xiang Nan retrieves his system interface. "The fourth round of the Extinction is about to begin. New players have already arrived."
Manman peeks at the system screen. Sure enough, the total number of players has returned to a thousand.
Yet based on the previous round's experience, there's no guarantee the next stage will open right away. Neither she nor Xiang Nan are total rookies now.
On the interface, the current world's top-level combat power remains that same Extinction 8 individual, even their strength value unchanged—indicating that the higher one's level, the harder it is to progress further.
Not so easy, indeed.
~~~
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