13 Hunter x Hunter (1)

It was a bizarre feeling. All the sounds in the world halted, while smell and touch became something meaningless. Draco lost the feeling of his limbs, the sight, the perception of anything. It felt like his thoughts were also slowly drifting away, and he would cease to exist, but suddenly a robotic sound echoed in his head.

Before even understanding that ground appeared beneath his feet, Draco opened his eyes, blinded by the light for a few instants. After slowly coming back to his senses, Draco warily looked around, preparing to fight back against anything.

'Damn...that's quite overwhelming.' Draco thought to himself. There were people splattered across the entire vicinity, chatting and variously checking each other. Thankfully, none of them were looking at him, meaning that his mission wasn't actually to fight them.

Some distance away on the left, Draco saw Sophia, and he moved towards her. Noah and Joy joined him along the way, and Casper also emerged from the crowd. It didn't take really long for them to gather.

"Don't stand out and act natural," Casper said, glancing beyond the numerous people. They were currently in an open field with tall grass and overwhelming sunshine. In the distance, a few mountains and forests could be seen. "Sometimes quests can be different for every participant, so everyone should disclose their own."

Draco glanced downwards at the screen that he ignored beforehand.

-

[World: Hunter x Hunter]

[Quest: Pass the Hunter Exam]

[Additional Information: From the group of five, only one person is required to pass the Hunter Exam for the quest to be completed. Other awakeners, who have failed along the way, will also be enabled entry back to their world if at least one passes the test]

-

"It's passing the hunter exam, right?" Draco asked.

Everyone else nodded.

"Alright, this makes it much easier." Casper continued talking. "The world of Hunter x Hunter hasn't been explored that much, but it's considered quite dangerous. Some people from this world are able to use special powers, something similar to our skills, so be aware."

"Now," Casper glanced at the crowd of people. "Any of these people could be our enemies in the near future, so study them and search for any powerful ones. I believe this test is going to be an elimination test - hence it would be better to get rid of more powerful ones in the beginning."

However, just as Casper finished his words, a loud tremor shook the entire earth, and Draco clutched his daggers, vigilantly looking around for any enemies. Yet, there was only one man, who had gathered the attention of everyone.

He was a tall, elderly man with a muscular build and a weathered face. He had white hair that was swept back and tied in a ponytail, along with a thick, bushy white mustache that curved upwards at the ends. His sharp, piercing eyes almost seemed to twinkle with mischief. Beneath him, there were hundreds of cracks, seemingly created from a simple punch.

"Hello, hunter candidates. My name's Isaac Netero and I am the chairman of the hunter association. Since all the examiners are unavailable right now, I will be conducting this year's exam." Isaac Netero talked just like a grandma would, completely in contrast to his overwhelming power. "For you, this may be unlucky news. Of the four times I had to take over the exam, only three people passed. However, they have pushed on to become the pillars of our humanity, so try your best."

This time, the candidates finally got a sense of what was going on and frowned, either expressing their displeasure or cursing their luck. Draco ignored them all, instead scanning his surroundings, continuing his search of any strong-looking, or even remotely irregular, participants.

Everyone looked somewhat normal, except one person...It was a man with flowing white hair that prolonged until his knees. He had an inverted triangle-shaped face with a hooked nose, a pointy chin, and a little hat on top.

While Draco was staring at the man, he looked back and their eyes met for a moment. Despite being caught by surprise, Draco forced out a smile and waved, mouthing out the words. 'Nice hair, man.'

Then, Draco turned around and looked back at Netero, who was clearly waiting for everyone to calm down. 'That man is dangerous.' Draco sighed to himself, hoping that they wouldn't have to fight that white-haired dude. He just gave off that unpleasant feeling.

"Now, the first phase of the exam will actually take place right here. You are going to form teams of five and hunt the beasts inhabiting this island. Be aware, due to some peculiar plant that grows in this area, all the beasts have become furious. They will attack anyone at sight." Netero raised one finger while he was explaining, a smile painting his face. "Choose your teammates carefully, because only the top two teams will be enabled to go to the second round. Additionally, those who can't form a team of five will be disqualified."

His words caused another uproar from the crowd.

"This is unfair! What if there are just too few people?!"

"Only two teams??!! That's like ten people, old man!"

"Fuck you!"

Netero placed one of his legs a bit upwards and then collided it with the ground, causing another tremor to shake the place. All the candidates barely managed to stand on their feet, meanwhile, Netero just smiled. "Life is unfair, deal with it."

Finally, hunters realized that there wasn't any room to protest, so they instead tried to quickly form teams. It was simple chaos. All people have turned into animals, as they bumped and shouted at each other. One man grabbed Draco by the hand as if trying to force him out of the way.

"Let go before I fucking rip it off," Draco stated coldly, staring at the man with dead eyes. The hunter candidate's eyes shook for a moment before he let go with a bit of reluctance and went a different way.

"This is a bit scary," Joy said from the side, looking over the horizon. "Can we really pass this exam when there are so many people?"

"Don't worry about it, Joy," Draco reassured her from the side, putting his hand on the top of her head. "I think this is going to be a piece of cake. You just have to heal us from behind."

"Yeah! I am gonna destroy them all!" Sophia added with a shout, staring at these hunters like they were delicious pieces of meat.

"I agree," Noah added from the side, then shook his head. "Not with my sister, but with you Draco."

Casper simply nodded.

After some time, the chaos had finally settled and instead, silence took over. There were a few people who were still trying to bargain their place in some teams, telling sob stories or trying to blackmail them. In the end, however, they were left alone. Unfortunately, the man with long white hair had found a team.

"Now, those who didn't find a team can go stand there." Netero pointed behind him with his thumb, then took out a paper. "As for the formed teams, a leader should come out and write their team's name, as well as the names of all the members."

Everything proceeded quickly, with Casper also writing their team's name.

Eventually, Netero had the entire list, so he smiled and took a few steps back. "Remember, killing other hunters or injuring them in any way is prohibited. Every dead beast will grant a point to the team, and everyone will be able to see the rankings there."

Netero pointed upwards, causing everyone to look up. Draco frowned when he did so, for there was a huge airplane flying downwards. On its periphery, there was plastered a huge screen, which was probably going to be showing the rankings.

Netero laughed heartily, then shouted loudly. "Go and hunt, hunter candidates!"