Chapter 492

"Does Kastro have any upcoming matches?"

"Doesn't look like it."

A thought occurred to Ron: maybe he could arrange a match between Kastro and Killua. Reflecting on the original storyline, Ron realized that from the Hunter Exam to Heaven's Arena, Killua had never really been pushed to his limit, which slowed his progress. Gon slowly caught up to him. During the Yorknew arc, Killua crossed paths with the Phantom Troupe, but their power gap was too huge to learn much. It wasn't until Greed Island and the Chimera Ant arcs that Killua truly began to grow rapidly.

Gon, however, had been steadily improving since the Hunter Exam.

Ron's only extra push so far was asking Hanzo to give Killua a harder time during the exam, but that wasn't enough. If Kastro fought Killua, it could be the real challenge Killua needed. As for safety, Ron wasn't worried: Kastro deeply respected Ron and, knowing Killua was related to him, would never go too far.

Meanwhile, Killua and Gon turned away from the screen.

"Gon, let's hurry and qualify for the 200th floor," Killua said.

"Yeah!"

They headed to the counter to sign up for matches. Years before, Killua had already reached the 200th floor once. Now he was even stronger than back then. If he kept winning, it wouldn't take long to earn another ticket to the 200th floor. He believed Gon could do the same.

On the 50th floor, people started noticing them. At the same time, the Heaven's Arena forum lit up with posts under a thread called "Young Prodigies," referencing Killua and Gon's performances. Some were impressed and praised the boys, but dissenters quickly appeared:

"Come on, we've seen a ton of 'young prodigies' these past few years," one person wrote.

"Sure, they're better than average, but none of them have ever reached Ron's level. Not one."

"Even Nina is still far behind Ron."

Fans of Killua and Gon wouldn't have it:

"Their first fights looked way better than Ron's did when he started!"

Of course, for casual spectators, it might look that way, but Ron's true strength during his first match was actually well beyond what Killua and Gon were showing now—he'd already been a Nen user. The only reason his early fights seemed unimpressive was because he'd deliberately concealed his power and slowed his progress to get the most out of Heaven's Arena's environment.

Others chimed in:

"But these two are older than Ron was back then."

"Wanna make a bet?"

"What kind of bet?"

"How about 100,000 Jenny? Are you in?"

"Bring it on!"

"Count me in, too!"

As soon as gambling got involved, the thread's tone changed completely as they finally got down to what mattered most to them. Making bank with bets.

Leaving the arena, Sadaso pulled out his phone like always and browsed the Heaven's Arena forum. Unlike Ron, who saw this place merely as a convenient base, Sadaso had poured his whole life into it. His dream was to become a Floor Master; he had no interest in traveling to other countries or cities. Besides training, checking the forum was part of his daily routine.

Soon, he stumbled on the posts about these "new young prodigies":

"Another pair of promising kids, huh? Judging by the buzz, they might be pretty good…"

He tapped in and felt a jolt of surprise when he saw the names.

"Killua?"

Back then, he'd been disappointed when Killua suddenly left the arena. Sadaso had wanted to stay near him, hoping to use Killua's growth as motivation. Now, though, he didn't need that. Regardless, his curiosity was piqued. He headed straight for the 50th floor.

Other fighters recognized him and instinctively stepped aside. Being a competitor on the 200th floor carried a lot of weight for those in the lower levels—especially someone like Sadaso, who'd climbed each floor by sheer effort, step by step.

Plenty of people idolized Ron, hoping to one day become like him. Yet they understood deep down it was nearly impossible. Many felt Sadaso's path—average talent, steady progress—was at least something they could try to emulate.

Before long, Sadaso spotted Killua.

"Killua!"

Killua turned at the sound of his name. "Sadaso?"

"It's been a while."

"Yeah, it has."

Sadaso's gaze moved to Gon.

"And this is…?"

"This is Gon, my friend," Killua replied. "He's never been here before, so I brought him to check it out."

"Nice to meet you," said Gon.

Sadaso shook his hand. "Good to meet you. I saw the posts on the forum about you two and came to find you. Come on, let me buy you something to drink."

Gon glanced at Killua, who nodded. Killua didn't consider Sadaso a friend, but at least he was someone familiar around Heaven's Arena. There shouldn't be any trouble here.

Sadaso led them to a small café inside the arena and got a private booth. Once their coffee arrived, he closed the door. Then he looked at Killua, sounding a bit emotional:

"It's already been over four years. You've grown a lot taller—and your strength must have soared by now, huh?"

"It's all right," Killua said simply. He wasn't one for big reflections, but Sadaso—like most ordinary people who've seen many enviable things—felt more sentimental.

"By the way, you mentioned a forum?" Killua asked.

"Right, the Heaven's Arena forum," Sadaso said. "It's got tons of info, and there's a thread called 'Young Prodigies' that originally started because of Ron. People saw your fights and started speculating you two could be the next Ron."