Chapter 401: Episode 58

We arrived at what appeared to be the test site. Deep underground was a vast space surrounded by exposed concrete, leaving me unsure of how far I could walk. There was no particular interior decoration; it was a rugged structure that looked as if it had simply passed through a floor of the building.

Many people had already gathered. Were they all candidates for this year's Hunter Exam? Just after getting off the elevator, I was startled by the rush of gazes. I felt them staring at me, but that was natural. I suppose this is what it feels like to observe opponents taking the same exam.

As far as I could tell, most of the examinees were adult males. It was evident that each of them was equipped with their own special weapons and gear, meeting the exam with perfect preparation. They must have passed several trials to reach this point. Unlike the students I met in the city, I felt something sharp in the atmosphere.

"The reception is right here."

A short man near the elevator entrance spoke to you. He wore a badge indicating he was a member of the Hunter Association. I gave him the confirmation number I was provided when I applied for the exam.

"That number is... Mr. Chokorobov. Yes, please take this plate. This plate number will be used for this exam. Please do not lose it."

The person at the reception desk only heard the examinee number I told him verbally and guessed my name immediately. I wonder if he memorized the information of all the applicants.

The name Chokorobov is, of course, an alias. I left the name Six. This alias is a pun on the candy "ChocoRobo-kun" that I bought when I was trying to make food review videos while working as an I-Tuber.

The Hunter Exam allows the use of aliases. However, this also means that one's identity as a Hunter is independent of one's birth identity. Therefore, even if you pass the exam, if you lose your Hunter License, you cannot prove that you are a professional.

According to what I heard from Blade, among those who have already established their status as a Professional Hunter, some do not need a Hunter ID, but if an inexperienced newcomer does so, they will lose their credibility as a Professional Hunter all at once. It would.

The reason aliases can be used is that the privileges of a Professional Hunter belong only to the license, regardless of other personal circumstances. That is why someone like me can take the exam.

I checked the distributed plate. The number written there was "1212". This number seems to be the order in which they entered the venue. In other words, there are currently over 1,200 examinees gathered in this main exam hall. I don't know if that's a lot or a little.

I was told to wait until the exam start time. I looked around, but no one was dressed like me. Is this a mistake of the shop? Or, a special measure as an obstacle for people with Nen ability.

"Hi! I'm Tonpa. Are you a newcomer?"

While Frank was thinking, someone came up to talk to him. It seems he is the same student, a veteran who has taken the exam many times. He told me that if there was anything I didn't understand, I could ask him.

The atmosphere in the exam hall was a bit tense, but it seemed there were also some people who were friendly like this. Not all competitors had a hostile attitude. Tonpa even gave me juice and thanked me.

"This is a sign of closeness! Drink! Phew... haha...!"

Six was not thirsty, but I could not bear to refuse the food he had prepared, so I decided to drink. Just then, another student who had just entered the venue walked over.

"You're doing that again? Poison juice?"

"Oh my!? You, what are you saying...!"

Hearing the words of a boy who seemed to be an acquaintance of Tonpa, the hand that was about to drink the juice stopped. I almost swallowed it. It depends on the strength of the poison, but it would be tiring to have my entire internal organs torn apart. I hurriedly spat out the juice in my mouth.

Judging from Tonpa's reaction of quickly running away, the boy's meaning should not be a lie. Does this mean you have used such traps before? I regretted my lack of vigilance. Then he thanked the boy.

"It's fine, but you're also a 'useful' person, aren't you?"

This was the first time I noticed this. The Aura membrane wrapping the boy's body was clearly different from that of an ordinary person. He was a person with psychic ability. The other party also saw that I could use Nen.

"You don't have to be so afraid. I don't have any intention of fighting, or rather, do you want to team up? The content of the Hunter Exam varies depending on the Examiner, so I can't say anything yet, but some people should cooperate. There are also mission-type exams."

This does not mean that everyone must kill each other. I also thought it would be better if we didn't have to fight each other. However, I cannot deny that even if you make me think so, I am actually full of aggression.

Just a short while ago, I was about to be caught in Tonpa's trap. Presumably, conflict and deception among examinees seem to be taken for granted. Here, it is difficult to make a quick decision on whether to easily accept the boy's proposal.

"Oh, did I make you wary? Well, if you don't like it, you can. If you want to team up, we'll meet again."

After saying that, the boy left. For the time being, it turned into a form of holding.

From the Aura emanating from him, I could tell his ability. I don't have enough eyes yet to accurately judge the enemy's combat power, but I could still see that their strength was quite formidable.

Since I met Tonpa, it might not be his first time taking the Hunter Exam. Is there a test that cannot be passed even with such great power? It seems I need to be careful about this.

"Welcome, gentlemen."

The buzzer rang, indicating the end of the final exam acceptance. I hid behind a pillar so as not to be too conspicuous, following behind the other students. After a while, the Examiner walked in from the other side of a door. A man wearing glasses and a stylish jumpsuit.

"1,489 people showed up this year, but... actually, the second-stage Examiner asked me to narrow the range down to a maximum of 300 people."

He suddenly said a cruel thing. 300 people means that only about one-fifth of the applicants can pass the first exam.

The Examiner man started thinking about how to handle the exam content. Are you considering it here? Can such an appropriate decision be made? I am worried about what kind of content will pop up.

"Hmm~~~~, are you guys going to beat people up?"

The Examiner said to beat up five people. I have two hours until lunch, so I told him to go collect five plates by then. In other words, defeat students and steal the plates.

"Come find me when you've collected five plates. I'll be waiting for you at the fire exit over there."

The exam will start the moment the Examiner enters the emergency exit and closes the door. All the students were ready to take the exam. Each of them had their weapons ready, glaring at each other. In the eerie silence, I could clearly hear the knocking sound announcing the start of the war.

The first test began. Sharp booms and the sound of weapons in Collision echoed against the bare concrete Wall, reverberating unpleasantly.

"Hehehehe, miss, if you don't want to get hurt, just quietly hand over the plate!"

I was in the middle of it, and I was no exception. A person nearby threatened me by pointing a Dagger at me. Starting from the first test, this is a fairly violent development. Well, what happened?

"... Tch, trouble has come."

However, the person who threatened me then shifted his attention to another student. Three men wearing hats walked over.

"The three Asen brothers... they are all veterans who are good at exquisite combinations, but their individual strength is not high."

A man holding a Dagger rushed up. One of the three brothers handled it without hands. Fearless of the deadly weapon, he accurately fenced and knocked down the opponent's weapon.

"Do you want to use a formation to deal with a small opponent like you?"

"Ku...!?"

The person who dropped the Dagger, presumably having instantly perceived the difference in ability, did not resist any further and retreated directly. He disappeared among the students in the melee.

"Tch, ran away too early, I couldn't steal the plate."

"Brother Amon, there's a duck over there!"

And this time, his gaze fell on me. I also took a stance consistent with this, but somehow I felt uncomfortable because I was holding a plush toy in one hand.

"I don't even want to bother my brothers. Leave this to me."

"Seriously, you're only strong against opponents who look weaker than you."

"Well, isn't that fine? Dropped out midway through last year's fourth exam... with that humiliation, we have been Training hard until today, this is the first battle of the Asen brothers, let's hand over the first shot to my cute younger brother. Go, Newt!"

One of the three brothers slowly walked towards us. With his hands in his pockets, his expression was calm. The other students didn't seem to contact us either. Does this mean these three brothers are the ones to be wary of?

"Listen, I'm not as impatient as my brothers, so I'll only say it once. Give me the plate."

Of course, I had no intention of responding. I shook my head to refuse. Immediately after, the man named Newt raised his hand and slapped him as if there was no problem. I dodged it and countered.

"Ha, ah——!?"

Puni.

"Aaaaaah!!"

The salamander is screaming exaggeratedly, but there shouldn't be any damage. It didn't react to my attack either. Hmm, it's quite difficult.

"Hahaha! You scared me! The speed seems a bit fast, but the power is overwhelmingly insufficient! Even if you hit me a hundred times like this, you won't be able to hurt me!"

I am not joking. I have a reason to fight while taking it easy.

It is easy to defeat Umori by reinforcing my attacks with Aura, but the opponent is an ordinary person, not a Nen Ability user. Doing so might lead to serious injury. In the worst case, he could die, and if he doesn't die, that blow might have the potential to awaken his Nen.

Therefore, I only need to enhance my physical strength without increasing the attack power of my Aura to fight. It is difficult to adjust the force. I have been in Training, but this will be my first time fighting a real human.

It would be bad to accidentally put too much energy into it and cause some kind of problem. I feel stressed in a different way.

"Ah, I'm completely disappointed... I won't forgive you for being a girl or a child anymore. I'll show you the 'Newt Special'...!"

The enemy is showing signs of using some kind of technique. Should I take the initiative to use a Seal here? The enemy is starting to look eerie, as if swaying in the Wind, but this makes me lose focus on the lower body. First, I decided to shake my feet lightly to break my stance.

Baki!

"Oh... come on, come on, come on!?"

Oops. That was a bit too intense. The leg I kicked broke, and it turned in the wrong direction.

"Newt!?"

"This guy... he's not a child! It's a formation! Get serious!"

The other two attacked at the same time. This is bad. If they strike simultaneously, I will have to respond in a rush, and the precise adjustment of power might go wrong. I personally approached one of the enemies and attacked them first.

My previous step failed, but thanks to that, I got a feel for it. Before the enemy could react to me, I quickly turned it into an attack. Taking advantage of this gap, he dived into their embrace and inserted a fist.

Puh!

"Hahaha——!!"

Alright, this time it went well... did it succeed? It might have been a bit powerful, but I think it's safe to say it barely succeeded. The enemy is unconscious, with the whites of their eyes showing.

"Ugh, Umoriiiiiii!?"

The last one came. The enemy rushed over with their head down as if to tackle me, so I tucked the plush toy under my arm and twisted. Arm lock. Punching and kicking didn't go well, but a tightening technique should be easy to adjust.

Mishi mishi mishi, paki!

"Aaaaaah!!"

Is it too bad? I didn't even give it time to tap out; I snapped it like a dead branch. I'm glad I didn't do a headlock.

"Those three Umori brothers were killed in an instant...!?"

"He's a monster!"

Thanks to the acceleration of my thoughts, it felt like a lot of time had passed, but in reality, I dealt with two enemies in less than a second. The surrounding students left in terror.

"Hey! No, stop! Don't come over!"

If you give me a Plate, that's fine. Sorry, but for the convenience of the Hunter Exam, I must get what I can. The three brothers tried to escape from me, but due to their injuries, they could only crawl on the floor.

The Umori brothers were so scared they wanted to ask where the momentum from just now had gone. I feel like I was pushed too hard, and I got distracted. Just as I wanted to retrieve the Plate and leave this place.

A sensation spreading across your skin. The moment I felt something, an impact came from the back of my neck. The consciousness link connecting Six and the internal body of the plush toy was severed.

It seems to have been stunned by some kind of attack. Immediately convert Aura into restoration. By the time Six regained consciousness and looked around, all the students who were fighting just now had fallen. Everyone had fainted.

"Is it this shallow?"

Looking in the direction of the voice. A boy is sitting on a large pipe stretching around the Wall. The boy is dressed casually in a vest and shorts, with silver hair similar to Six's. He is the boy who asked me if I wanted to team up with him.

He came down from the pipe with a round Plate in his hand. The number written on the Plate is "1212". Six quickly checked his chest, but my Plate was not there.

"I have a small Suggestion, would you like to hear it?"

Apparently, there is no right to refuse here.

＊＊＊

"Yes, this is the end."

The silver-haired boy Killua wiped the light sweat from his body and caught his breath after drinking the Laxative borrowed from Tonpa. The Venue, which originally gathered about 1,500 Examinees, was silent at this moment.

There were bodies everywhere, and fainted Examinees everywhere. No successful Examinees passed through the door where the Examiner was still waiting. Almost all the students were rendered immobile by one boy.

With one exception.

A girl in a White Dress stood up. She waited until Killua finished cleaning up the other students.

If you only care about passing the primary exam, there is no need to bother waiting. You can Collect Plates from the randomly lying Examinees and move on. Her own Plate was stolen by Killua, but the Examiner only let her Collect 5 Plates, so she wouldn't fail.

The reason for doing this is the girl's promise to Killua. It is an arrangement for the final two to have a decisive battle, and the winner advances.

When the content of the first Hunter Exam was announced, Killua set a goal for himself. I am the only person to pass the Hunter Exam this year. I decided to kick out all other applicants in this primary exam.

The reason is that I want to finish the exam as soon as possible. In terms of the annual Hunter Exam, it takes at least a week and at most about a month. There is also a reason why he doesn't want to be held in this place for a month.

He is capturing a game called "Greed Island" with his friends. The game is not just a video game. Created by Nen Ability users, players can truly enter the game world.

Now he is participating in the Hunter Exam with his friend Gon and a girl named Biscuit whom he met in the game. Killua didn't want to take this year's exam, but on Gon's recommendation, he decided to keep his license. To the average person, it seems like my friend has already passed the third grade of primary school, so I thought I should take it too.

Around this time, he began to realize that he was becoming stronger day by day, and he was devoted to Training under Biscuit's guidance in the game. Just in case, Gon must be honing his skills. I want to go back to Training early so I don't fall behind.

After participating in the Hunter Exam last year, Killua was able to anticipate what kind of challenges he would face. Even by last year, I had enough ability to pass. Besides, now that I have learned Nen Ability, unless there is something special, I don't think I will fail.

In this case, show the Examiner your overwhelming ability so that you don't need to participate in the second part of the first exam. There is speculation that if I do this, I might get a passing verdict on the same day.

For this purpose, this is a plan to overthrow all Examinees. If you have the combat skills of an Assassin's Training and Nen Ability, this is not difficult, but there is only one big Obstacle left to achieve it.

It is the girl in front of me. From the presence of that Aura, I know she is a Nen Ability user. Sure enough, one blow is not sweet enough to settle it. You need to sit down and face this.

Even if two out of 1,500 people pass without fighting here, it's not bad, but it can't be said to be the best. After all, it won't reach the impact of a successful applicant. And since the other party is a Nen Ability user, it can be said that if you can defeat them, you will get further evaluation. The expectation of being accepted immediately will increase.

It seems that this girl also wants to finish the exam quickly, so she accepted Killua's Suggestion. However, even if the proposal was not accepted, Killua had no intention of changing the plan. The girl understood that this was less of a proposal and more of a semi-compulsory requirement.

"Are you ready?"

The girl nodded and struck a pose. Her posture was rough, and I don't think she has received any martial arts Training. First of all, this is impossible because she is holding a plush toy in one hand.

Rather than fawning over Killua, it would be better to assume he is not someone who throws himself into battle from the start. I can use my thoughts, but I do not know how to fight.

In Killua's view, this girl's combat power is already at the level of an amateur. The feeling of her quality is glowing, but it must be said that it is still immature. Looking at Greed Island, if one were exposed to an opponent of this level, it could be considered a dream come true.

In that match, there were some players who possessed amazingly superb skills. I am afraid that one day I will come into conflict with someone who says such things. With this in mind, assuming a battle against an antipsychotic, it is best to accumulate a little Training. Sorry to that girl, but for Killua, this battle is nothing more than Training.

"……Hmm, can I ask one thing?"

Killua asks the girl, feeling there is no need to ask anymore. I don't think he will lose his strength, but he is a little wary of this girl.

When Killua sees her up close, his first impression is "nostalgia."

Even though it is their first meeting, for some reason there is a feeling of nostalgia. It is a nostalgic and affectionate feeling, like reuniting with family members not seen for a long time.

I did not show it on my face, but my heart is very confused. Of course, I do not remember having such a younger sister. Killua only has one younger brother, named Kurt.

It should have been like this, but Killua clearly sees a Shadow of "something" shrouding the young girl's body. I cannot help but feel that she is my real older sister. Although I search my memories to unravel her identity, my thoughts are interrupted by a headache.

I am very sure I do not remember. Killua concludes that the girl's Nen ability is the cause of this phenomenon, which makes her feel incredible emotions. By actually observing the girl, I have a rough idea.

The young girl emits a faint fragrance from her own aura. Killua, who is also a Transmuter, notices that this is a phenomenon caused by the change in the nature of the aura. It is speculated that this scent induces special emotions in the target.

If we know this, we can take action. Because it can affect the mind, some suspect it is a Manipulation System, but because it only has the effect of inducing emotions, it is judged to be not that powerful. The Transmuter and Manipulation System are the most incompatible combination; even for a skilled technician, it is difficult to master both.

As long as you can control your emotions, this is not a big threat. For Killua, who grew up as a professional assassin, this is not difficult. If you flip the Switch of your emotions, you can even point a blade at your family without hesitation.

"What is your name?"

Therefore, there should be no need to ask such a meaningless question. The feelings I hold now are nothing more than those caused by the enemy's ability. Perhaps the enemy is a kind-hearted person who wants to use this ability to be doted on by those around her.

Although she is a Nen user, it makes sense that she has not honed her combat skills. The appearance of a peerless beautiful girl is surely corrected for the effect of the ability. This might be her way of life, but he feels nothing but discomfort.

The boy knows this, so he asks for the girl's name. This contradiction makes him even more uncomfortable.

"Chocolate"

And the blatant fake name spoken from the young girl's mouth makes him even more displeased. A bloodlust like a drawn blade spreads around Killua.

"I've added a condition: if I win, tell me your real name."

From here on, there is no slack. Killua completely flips the Switch of his emotions.