Whatever It Takes

"Everybody waiting for the fall of man,

Everybody praying for the end of times,

Everybody hoping they could be the one,

I was born to run, I was born for this"

— Excerpt from "Whatever It Takes" by Imagine Dragons

…

Five months is a very long time and to me, it was a time to get acquainted with life in this world. I temporarily took a job as a bodyguard for an up and coming Mafioso here in Yorknew City. Suffice to say that I did not like the job that much… AT ALL.

The Mafioso, Don Luis Fernando Guadalupe is a strange but just man. I was hired by him on the recommendation of a friend who was coincidentally my client on one of my temporary jobs, who offered fifty thousand jennies for a three-day protection contract on anyone who could protect him from being assassinated.

What he saw there when I swiftly killed the assassins with sharp throat and temple jabs probably cemented his trust in my capabilities, enough that it earned me a spot on Don Luis' security detail.

From time to time, I would vaguely get a sense of someone observing me which made me more guarded and alert for an ambush that might come. The Don probably liked what he saw and gave me a bonus this month for my diligence. I did not correct his misunderstanding, of course.

My time as a bodyguard was fraught with danger every single time and you would immediately realize why the Don would pay handsomely. After all, you can't short change anything that could possibly save your life. Would you believe that every two or three days, there are assassins sent by the competition?

What I didn't like though was the corruption I saw and that was when I realized how deep the shit was. There were drugs, slavers, slaves, sex, prostitution, and all kinds of shit that I saw in the underground. Fortunately, Don Luis do not own slaves or do drugs, however, he owned a prostitution ring which I looked at with disgust until I saw the state the prostitutes wherein.

It seems the Don offered jobs to the more unfortunate people and one of the jobs is prostitution which he clearly stated along with a care package. All of this made the people more willing to work for the Don which I have to say was crazy smart and more efficient.

Also, that night when a prostitute told me the story of how they were hired was also the night I finally lost the V-Card. That's right; I'm no longer a cherry boy, fuckers!

It was the end of the fifth month and I was now ready to resign to my job. The Don was already informed a month in advance as I clearly stated that I'm only a temporary addition until the start of Hunter Exams which would be happening in a week or two. The Don didn't really like it but he can't do anything after I temporarily disabled some of his men that he sent to me later. I didn't like it but still, I understood his feelings. After all, who would want to let go of his best bodyguard in their employ? But still, I didn't like it.

…

A week later, I was now on the exam grounds. It was both easy and hard to locate my destination when I was first instructed to go to the first location where there was a tavern where I was asked to order a Margarita and Martini and to mix it both and add a dash of pepper. Yeah, it was weird ordering that. I was taken to the backdoor where I was given an envelope with a hint to the next location.

From there, I was asked various things where I had to catch a fake criminal who's disguised as an examiner, a fake hostage situation, take a ship to a different country which also has an examiner, a riddle game which turned out to be a personal test of the navigator. After that, I was escorted into a tavern which made this the second time. This time the navigator told me the secret code me. I came inside and ordered Bloody Mary with a touch of Mint and to that, I was asked by the bartender how I want to take it and to which, I answered that I want it spicy.

It seems the Hunter Association really likes taverns and strange orders. After that, I was taken to the backdoor once again but this time, it was actually an elevator that took me to a large underground tunnel. I was welcomed by a committee member and was given a badge numbering 606.

Once I finally took notice of the location, I was gobsmacked at the sight before me. It totally looked like the same exam location as the protagonists in the comics. How much coincidence could there be for this to happen or does the Hunter Association not have many places for the exams? Nah, I guess this is pretty much just a coincidence.

Speaking of coincidence, there was someone familiar approaching my location? I looked back and there was none so I guess he was actually approaching me.

…

Tonpa, also called 'The Rookie Crusher' was already looking forward to tricking his next victim. It was a fairly tall young man with black hair in long sleeve white shirt, blue jeans, and black sneakers.

He has one of his hands on his pocket and the other was just hanging there repeatedly being clenched as he was looking at me.

'Could it be… he already knows!?' Tonpa thought as he walked straight to him. Strangely he was wearing sunglasses in this dark environment.

Quickly, I readied a can of delicious orange juice mixed with an unhealthy amount of laxative. This would show him to respect his elders.

However, before I've noticed it, he already had his sunglasses off and was now looking straight at me like he could see through all my secrets. Suddenly, my back was pouring with cold sweat as if a beast was looking at his food.

'I REFUSE TO BELIEVE IT, I JUST SAW HIM WALK THROUGH THAT DOOR!' Tonpa screamed through his head as he steeled his resolve and walked one step forward. His goals might be skewed and his reasons laughable but at this moment, he seemed to be at his strongest!

Tonpa saw him raise his brow in surprise and as he said the first and last words that he ever would hear from him.

"Oh? You're approaching me? Instead of running away, you're coming right at me?" the man said to Tonpa in a seemingly menacing tone to which he responds, "Ah, no, that is… G-Good luck with the exam!" and ran away.

And such was the last words that Martin will ever hear from Tonpa.

…

The first phase of the exam is a more than eighty-kilometer marathon until they arrive at Visca Forest Preserve.

After the marathon, more than half of the examinees have retired and less than three-hundred was left of the original more than six-hundred, including Martin.

After the farce with Tonpa, Martin left his sunglasses sitting in his pocket. This has led to an interesting result of observing which people were largely affected by his [Evil Eye].

Most of the retired examinees have been the most affected by his [Evil Eye] which upgraded to C-Rank Lv.75 during the course of his five-months as a bodyguard.

Subsequently, his [Footwork], [Brawling], and [Marksmanship] are already approaching B-Rank which are sequentially at levels, 98, 91, and 75.

His [Instinct] is a very useful skill that allowed him to dodge bullets without a problem. After five months, it's already at C-Rank Lv.2.

His [Judas Priest] did not get much use in his bodyguard duties as most of the opponents he was paired with were not enough to warrant it's used. From time to time, he would use it in a fight just to practice it but it made the fight too easy. It was at D-Rank Lv.80 which with enough use would raise it to the next rank.

What I didn't like though was how the [Mental Corruption] was increasing. I don't know what the criteria are and I don't know how it levels by itself as it's already approaching D-Rank and I don't know what would happen if it did.

Moving on to the main subject, the next phase of the exam was led by a different proctor who called himself Bushidora. He was a man of average height and had spiky brown hair and cleft chin. He wore a long trench coat that was comprised of a white base, a red shoulder and chest piece that would end with a hanging lock and a flame motif in the bottom half of the coat.

He specifically said that the next part of the exam will be deadly and would definitely kill them if they are weak. The announcement had left the examinees in commotion. Some were complaining and some wanted a piece of the examiner.

Bushidora raised his hands until the crowd turned silent. He then allowed some of the participants to safely withdraw the exam as they could always try next year. Once again there's a commotion but this time, the people are more controlled, and immediately, some of the people stepped up to the proctor to withdraw.

After a while, the withdrawing participants were taken out of the site and a third of the examinees are left which made the proctor nod in acknowledgment.

The goal of the second phase of the exam this time was to evaluate the physical and mental ability of the examinee. That thing earlier was the first part of the second phase and this time is the real start.

The mission this time was to procure one of the items of interest in the forest which is chock full of magical beasts and carnivorous plants and to reach the other side with the item.

They were given watches that have a button that they could press in an emergency. The gesture was met with a mixed reception but most did not say anything.

…

Three hours later, Martin was at the other side of the forest holding a small peculiar-looking idol. His poise was not disturbed in the slightest. In his opinion, this was an easier exam than the first one as while the first exam only involves running, there's an element of uncertainty included on it while this part of the exam only involves looking for clues and searching for the area for the item. You could also say luck was included in the equation though, that might have been stretching it.

Most of the three hours were just searching for the item they were tasked though, but seeing as he was the first one on the goal; it would seem that this exam was a lot harder for the other examinees. On the way, he also saw one of them being devoured by a dinosaur looking predator as the examinee failed to push the button for the emergency. He could only assume that the forest is littered with such scenes while only he could clear this phase easily.

With nothing else to do, he could only practice his fighting skills while on the spot, unaware that there was already someone in the vicinity, watching him curiously with its clear-sky cat-like eyes in the shadows of the nearby tree. She was wearing her shoulder-length black hair in bob-style of cut. Her slim and unnaturally curvy body was covered with a navy-blue rider suit while wearing jet-black high-heeled rider boots. She was snickering a "Nyahaha, how oblivious~" in the background.

What's she's viewing with her eyes though was a man shrouded with a thin layer of 'Ten' while most of the Aura was kept in the body. Such a sight has made her completely forget that the one she's observing was someone who has not 'completely' unlocked his 'Nen' yet.