The next morning, Conrad woke up earlier than usual.
After washing up and preparing a simple breakfast,
Conrad sat down at the small desk in his room.
He leaned back slightly, resting his elbows on the armrests, and stared at the ceiling.
Finally, he whispered to himself, almost as if stating a universal law.
"Conditions are multipliers of a Nen ability."
He nodded.
"If someone wants more power, more precision, or more reliability, they need conditions."
"Without them, the ability either becomes weak… or doesn't exist at all."
"But, of course, the power of an ability also depends on the nen user."
"A talented nen user may need less aura than an average nen user."
"The same ability could be created by two nen users; while one would need one condition, the less talented one would need two."
"From this, it is not hard to see that. In terms of the creation of a Nen ability, conditions and limitations work as a cutting point for the ability."
"If ability needs a talented user to have 30,000 Aura to create, adding one condition makes the needed aura and talent lesser."
"This is only when it was first created."
"After creating the ability, a nen user could keep on adding more limitations and conditions to the ability to make it more powerful."
"An ability is not something that a new user just creates and is done with."
Conrad kept on thinking and nodded as he thought.
"The best example of this application is Chrollo Lucifer; by adding the condition of 'stealing a national treasure' as a condition, he wants to have an ability that is able to kill 'Hisoka' for the good."
He had seen it in practice. Adarte's ability relied on pain and damage as a condition, converting suffering into power. It was effective but narrow.
Conrad picked up his pen and pulled the paper closer.
A small smirk appeared on his face as he wrote a title in large, clear letters:
"Principle of Greed Island and the Workings of Nen."
He set the pen down and closed his eyes again, speaking softly as if lecturing himself.
"From a Nen perspective, Greed Island is not just a game. It's a massive Hatsu."
He opened his eyes and continued, more focused now.
"A Nen ability that traps Nen users inside a controlled system. Every rule, every card, every restriction… all of it exists because of layered conditions and sources of energy."
His pen began to move again, slower this time.
"All cards are Nen abilities. Some are conjuration. Some Manipulation. Some Emission. Some things probably blend categories in ways that are hard to classify."
"They can be used in the 'game' because of existing conditions."
"I am not as smart as Ging, but if I were him, I would start from the start."
"From acquiring the game, using the NEN on the game console, and entering the game."
"Accepting the game, the ring with Nen script, the limitations of transformed cards, and the limitation of not having any "offensive spells" other than stealing."
"All of these can be added as a condition to empower the ability or needed so that Greed Island can work as it is."
He paused.
"But they all function because of structure."
Conrad leaned forward, resting his chin on his hand.
"Greed Island works like programming."
"If… then… else."
He quietly laughed to himself.
Nen, at its core, responded to logic and intent.
"The stronger and clearer the logic," Conrad whispered,
"More power and capability it creates."
He thought about the final reward of Greed Island: three cards taken into the real world.
A nearly impossible outcome, backed by extreme conditions: clearing the game, surviving countless risks, following strict rules, and meeting precise requirements.
For taking three cards from the game, the player needs to compete against all the Nen users and collect all the cards.
All of the collecting actions and completed missions are "conditions" for the player to take three cards to use in real life.
"The reward is absurdly powerful. It is like hundreds of conditions and limitations stacked on top of each other to cause one effect..."
His pen scratched against the paper again.
"Which means the conditions are doing most of the work."
He leaned back and exhaled.
"This is why simple abilities can outperform flashy ones."
His eyes drifted to his ring resting on the desk.
Black Ring—State of Calm, my own ability
"Because the conditions are fair, it is a great and simple ability," he said quietly.
He stood up and walked a few steps, hands behind his back.
"My system lets me create multiple abilities without the usual drawbacks," he thought, "but that doesn't mean I should abuse it."
Nen still responded to sincerity and emotions.
In the end, if one wants to make a condition and limitation, the limitation must be a real limitation for the Nen user himself.
A blind man trying to put a limitation on sacrificing his incapable eyes is not going to have the same effect as a man with the ability to see and chooses who sacrifice his eyes which means sacrifing capability to see.
"The limitation, the sacrifice, must mean something to the new user."
"I am sure that is right for me."
"Black Ring—State of Calm is powerful and works great because I wanted it deeply from my heart because I did not want to lose my mental capability in a dire situation."
"It responded to me as I wanted."
"If I did not care about dying and surviving or staying calm, it may have never worked."
If he treated abilities as disposable tools, they would never reach their full potential.
He returned to the desk and wrote again.
"Greed Island proves that Nen can be layered and modular and rule-based."
His pen paused mid-sentence.
"That means abilities don't have to be singular techniques. They can be systems."
"Like, Morena Prudo and her NEN ability..."
That realization made his heartbeat pick up slightly.
He thought back to the fight.
To how he had controlled the flow simply by reading aura and movement.
To how the State of Calm had allowed him to remain untouched by fear.
He tapped the pen against the paper.
"Greed Island as a game does not have any offensive spells that cause harm to players, not counting stealing and other things," Conrad said.
That was the key.
A Nen ability that didn't clash head-on but shaped the battlefield through conditions.
He looked at the notes he had written so far.
They weren't an ability yet.
Not even close.
But they were a foundation.
Conrad closed his notebook and leaned back in his chair, gazing out the window at the distant skyline of Heaven's Arena.
"I'm not there yet," he admitted. "But now I know what I'm aiming for."