Chapter 1: Lost
Two years had passed since the end of the Representative Battle of the Rainbow.
Deep within a certain mountain in Namimori, a boy with spiky brown hair lay sprawled face-down in the dirt, completely battered and bruised.
"I'm... so tired..." he groaned.
His name was Sawada Tsunayoshi. Most people simply called him Tsuna. To the world at large, he was an ordinary first-year high school student. However, Tsuna carried a massive secret: he was the prime candidate to become the next boss of the Vongola Familia, the most powerful mafia syndicate in the world. To sit upon the Vongola's throne, one had to carry the blood of its founders. Currently, Tsuna was the only legitimate heir capable of taking the mantle, as he directly inherited the bloodline of the Vongola Primo, Giotto.
"Don't start whining over something this trivial."
"Gah!?"
A merciless kick slammed into the exhausted teenager's face. The culprit was a baby wearing a black fedora with a shape-shifting chameleon resting on the brim, a yellow pacifier hanging around his neck.
This was Reborn. He was Tsuna's home tutor and the world's strongest hitman. Under the strict orders of the Vongola Nono, the current 9th Boss of the Familia, Reborn had traveled to Japan to forge Tsuna into a respectable mafia leader.
Reborn's educational methods went far beyond simply being spartan. Ever since he arrived, Tsuna had constantly been forced to walk the thin line between life and death, nearly kicking the bucket on multiple occasions. Though his methods were entirely unreasonable, Reborn was a hitman deeply trusted by the Nono—a man hailed for his divine command—and his tutelage had undeniably driven Tsuna to achieve massive personal growth.
"Do you really think you can become the boss of the Vongola looking that pathetic?"
"I! Told! You! I have absolutely no intention of becoming a mafia boss!"
Tsuna desired nothing more than an ordinary, peaceful life, and had no intention of inheriting the Vongola. Yet, despite knowing his student's feelings, Reborn remained fiercely dedicated to his mission, continuing his daily hellish training to mold Tsuna into the perfect don.
"Stop your complaining and get up. We're continuing the training."
"Huh!? We're still going!?"
Tsuna cried out in disbelief at the hitman's casual declaration, especially considering his body was already entirely black and blue.
"Obviously. We've barely even scratched the surface—"
Grumble.
The sun had long since set after they began their after-school training. Reborn was fully prepared to keep going, but his body was honest. His stomach growled loudly in the evening air.
"We're going home for dinner."
"We're stopping because you're hungry!?"
"It's an emergency."
Brushing off Tsuna's exasperated retort, Reborn let the chameleon on his hat seamlessly transform into a hang glider. Leon was Reborn's shape-shifting partner, capable of perfectly memorizing and mimicking the form of any object he had seen.
"I'm going on ahead. See ya."
"Wha—!? Hey, wait! Reborn!"
Ignoring Tsuna's desperate protests, Reborn took to the sky on his hang glider, soaring away toward the Sawada household and leaving his student behind. Forced to make the trek alone, Tsuna picked up his school bag and began trudging down the dark mountain path.
"Seriously... that damn Reborn..."
He grumbled and muttered complaints under his breath as he descended. Reborn's selfishness was nothing new, but it still managed to endlessly infuriate him.
"Ouch!"
Something hard suddenly fell squarely onto Tsuna's head. He squatted down on the spot, pressing both hands against the throbbing lump forming on his scalp.
"What the...? Huh?"
When Tsuna opened his eyes, he noticed a black, cube-shaped machine resting on the ground in front of him.
"What is this?"
Curiosity getting the better of him, Tsuna reached out toward the bizarre device. The moment his fingers brushed against the metal surface, it abruptly began to emit a blinding light.
"W-What!?"
He hadn't even done anything, yet the machine was glowing intensely. Panic flared in his chest.
M-My body won't move...!
He tried to let go of the strange cube, but his body was completely paralyzed. It felt as if he had been bound by invisible chains, trapping his hands against the smooth surface. The light grew overwhelmingly bright, swallowing Tsuna whole.
A moment later, the blinding flash faded. But it wasn't just the light that vanished—Tsuna was gone as well. Only the silent, dark mountain path remained.
.....
Orario. It was famously known as the Labyrinth City, the City of Heroes, and the Center of the World. It was the only city on the globe that housed a massive, subterranean labyrinth known as the Dungeon.
Countless monsters lurked within its depths, constantly attempting to claw their way up to the surface. To combat this threat and seek their fortune, brave individuals willingly ventured into the Dungeon to slay beasts and harvest their cores. In Orario, these daring men and women were known as Adventurers.
"I'm exhausted..."
A lone boy with stark white hair trudged through the bustling streets of Orario, carrying a brown sack and wearing light armor. His name was Bell Cranel. He had left his rural village and traveled to the Labyrinth City seeking a fateful, heroic encounter. Now, as a rookie adventurer, he spent his days diligently grinding away in the Dungeon.
But this is all so I can catch up to her...
Bell had an adventurer he deeply admired. His driving goal was to reach her level and stand proudly by her side. That ambition fueled him, pushing him to fight through the pain and exhaustion.
Panting softly, he navigated the familiar route back to the place he called home. After a fifteen-minute walk, his destination came into view: a dilapidated, ruined church where he currently lived with just one other person.
"Huh?"
The moment he spotted the church entrance, Bell froze in his tracks. A boy with spiky brown hair was lying face-down on the ground right in front of the doors.
"A-Are you okay!?"
Bell rushed over in a panic, dropping to his knees to check the boy's condition.
Thank goodness... he's alive...
He carefully rolled Tsuna onto his back and pressed an ear against his chest to listen for a heartbeat. Finding a steady, rhythmic thump, Bell sighed in relief. The boy was simply unconscious.
I need to get him inside...
Knowing he couldn't just leave a stranger passed out in the dirt, Bell wrapped an arm around Tsuna and began hauling him into the church.