The two chatted amiably outside the cave. Mainly, Jin was in a sharing mood, speaking animatedly about various things he'd seen and heard. Kevin interjected with brief comments, but he was listening with rapt, genuine interest.
Previously, Kevin had gotten a character summary of Jin from Bisky. She'd said at the time, "As the old man says, he's one of the five greatest Nen users in the world." The "old man" she referred to was the current Chairman of the Hunter Association, Isaac Netero. In Bisky's eyes, the Chairman possessed terrifying strength. For Jin to be ranked among the top five in the world… When Kevin first heard this, he couldn't help but scratch his head, conflicted about the circumstances of his transmigration. It was hard to tell if it was immense luck or incredible misfortune. The lucky part was that Jin had noticed him during the entire process; the unfortunate part was precisely that.
The content Jin was sharing now was fascinating to Kevin. From the unique systems of ancient kingdoms to various festivals and rituals, to unearthed magical artifacts and grand sacrificial scenes… These were all subjects Kevin had been deeply interested in his previous world. In this new world, layered with the reality of Nen, they became utterly captivating. Anything with an extraordinary nature held immense allure for him now.
Because Kevin occasionally offered quite insightful and knowledgeable comments, Jin looked at him with newfound appreciation, and his desire to share grew even stronger.
Is this what a Hunter is? Kevin felt he was gaining a deeper understanding of the profession.
Just then, a chorus of mournful howls echoed from inside the cave.
"Let's go in," Jin suggested.
The two walked back into the cavern. The alpha male wolf had indeed breathed its last. Only the horn on its head still emitted a faint, fading glow.
With a soft thud, the entire horn cleanly detached from the skull.
Immediately after, the remaining bones underwent a startling transformation. They seemed to melt almost visibly, turning into a fluid-like substance that slowly seeped into the cave floor, vanishing without a trace.
"This…"
"This kind of phenomenon is extremely rare," Jin explained from beside him. "I dare say no more than ten people in the world have witnessed a Two-Headed Wolf die of natural causes."
The wolf pups and the mother wolf whimpered around the spot where the bones had dissolved. After a long while, the mother wolf finally quieted. She picked up the fallen, solitary horn in her mouth—the head without a horn—and walked slowly forward.
However, to Jin's surprise, the mother wolf did not come to him. She walked straight to Kevin and placed the horn at his feet, letting out two soft whines.
"This… is for me?" Kevin was a bit disbelieving.
The mother wolf gave a human-like nod, then turned back to tend to her pups.
"Tsk. I knew I shouldn't have brought you," Jin muttered, scratching his spiky hair with a look of genuine, theatrical regret.
"Why give it to me?" Kevin asked, bending to pick up the horn.
The moment his fingers touched it, that familiar wave of craving surged again. Compared to the crystalline bone from earlier, the intensity was lower, but still slightly higher than with other "ordinary" materials. This single horn was undoubtedly a C-grade material, likely at the very top of that tier. More importantly, there was a significant amount of it.
"You can feel a craving for this thing too?" Jin asked, his brow slightly furrowed.
Kevin nodded.
Jin didn't press further. Instead, he explained the situation. "It's for you. You must be wondering why it's for you and not me. Remember what I told you about their history? They value people with righteous and kind hearts. I'm not a bad person, but compared to you… I can't really be called a good person."
He slipped back into lecture mode. "In ancient times, monarchs who were gifted a single horn by a Two-Headed Wolf were respectfully called Benevolent Rulers."
Oh, Kevin thought. It's like getting a 'good person' card.
"However," Jin continued, a note of wry amusement in his voice, "it only saw you twice, and yet it gave its Post-Mortem Nen horn to you instead of me. That shows it sensed a truly noble quality in you."
As he spoke, Jin looked at Kevin and gave his shoulder a firm pat. "If this were ancient times, you'd already be labeled a 'Benevolent Ruler.'"
The two talked as they made their way out of the cave. After bidding a silent farewell to the wolf pack, they returned to the campsite. By then, it was fully dark, the moon and stars glittering in the night sky.
By the crackling campfire, each holding a can of beer, they drank and chatted casually.
Jin looked at Kevin and suddenly asked, "What are your own thoughts on this 'craving' you feel for materials?"
"Craving? Oh, I think it might be an inherent characteristic of my Specialist-type Nen ability. Or perhaps an effect subconsciously produced during the ability's construction." Kevin voiced his hypothesis. After all, the original owner had been fanatically obsessed with potions. It made sense that, influenced by that subconscious drive, the constructed ability would develop a 'craving' for materials—a desire not to miss any good ingredient.
Jin didn't refute it. Instead, he continued, "Would you mind letting me see your original Nen ability?"
Kevin saw no reason to hide it. His ability wasn't particularly useful in combat anyway. He materialized A Moment of Dream.
Jin only took one look before his brow furrowed. "Is this an alchemical table? Do the products it creates have side effects?"
Amazing. Kevin was once again struck by the keen insight of these masters. He nodded. "That's right. As you said, if anyone other than me consumes the potions produced, they will experience certain side effects."
"This thing has the nature of Post-Mortem Nen, but it's not entirely that…" Jin observed, more to himself than to Kevin. "Do you have any finished potions? Ones with less intense effects."
Kevin nodded, casually pulling a vial of Bone-Knit Solution from his waist pouch and handing it over.
Jin examined it briefly, then drank it directly. "The taste is acceptable. Hmm… for treating fractures? The side effect is that, for the duration of the potion's effect, Nen control in the treated area becomes unstable." He quickly analyzed the potion's properties.
After the effects had fully subsided, he sat back down and began to elaborate. "The side effects produced by your potions, if I'm not mistaken, will all affect the use of Nen. Essentially, it's because the products carry the unique 'malice' inherent to Post-Mortem Nen."
He pointed at Kevin, recalling. "When you first took over this body, I didn't think the original Kevin at that time possessed the capability to turn his Nen ability into Post-Mortem Nen. That level of obsession is too profound; only individuals raised in special environments with exceptionally persistent wills could possibly achieve it. Therefore, the formation of this Post-Mortem Nen is closely tied to the process of you possessing this corpse at that moment."
Jin understood the entire process of Kevin's transmigration and possession better than Kevin himself—after all, he had been observing and studying it the entire time.
"And that inexplicable craving within you," Jin continued, his tone turning serious. "Let me tell you this: in most Nen abilities, it's rare for the ability to, in turn, influence the user's own will. While part of it can be explained by Post-Mortem Nen, the true situation is far more complex than that."