A Cozy Camping Trip!

Sweat pours down Alex's face. "Five hours… five frigging hours!" he grumbles. They've been trekking through the dense forest for what feels like an eternity. Alex is only sweating a bit, but the other players look like they're dying—literally. Eirini, Patricia, and Emma are barely keeping up with the navigator and Alex, who stays close behind the guide. The other four players, however, are nearly crawling along at the back.

"How big is this freaking Sinerva Forest, anyway? No wonder there's no sign of civilization—this place is insane!" Alex thinks, wiping his brow. "I keep having flashbacks to the anime… in the second phase of the exam, players had to walk through terrain like this too. People got eaten by giant creatures, lured into deadly traps, and tricked into falling to their deaths by those creepy ravens that could mimic voices. Not to mention those dangerous butterflies and the apes with human faces…" He reminds himself that this forest is on a completely different continent from the Milsy Wetlands where those monsters lurked, but the memory is enough to keep him close to the navigator, following him like a loyal assistant tailing the CEO.

The navigator suddenly stops and turns, an irritated look crossing his face. "If the playerssss would rather resssst than participate, you may sssstay behind," he hisses. "However, I can't guarantee your sssafety if you do not keep up."

"BREAK! WE NEED A BREAK!" one of the female players shouts.

"Five minutessss, firsssst and final break," the navigator says, surprisingly agreeing to the request.

Immediately, everyone except Alex and the navigator slumps to the ground, exhausted.

Alex takes the opportunity to strike up a conversation with their guide. "Mind if I ask you a few questions, Mr. Navigator?" he says politely.

"Ssssure, my friend… in return, I'm curioussss. Ssshow me Mussstrano," the navigator replies.

Alex steps aside with the navigator and summons Mustrano's Malice Mauler lvl 3. An eye and mouth appear on the claw, and suddenly Mustrano speaks. "Hee hee, oh, it'sss the leader! Jealousss of the power I've obtained, are you? I'm free, while you're forced to rot and ssserve in thisss cursssed foresssst."

The navigator studies the claw with interest. "You let him speak and act freely? That isss quite a rissssky move, player."

After last night's events, Alex responds boldly, "I trust him with my life. We're a team now!"

To his surprise, the navigator smiles faintly, then turns away and murmurs, "Take care of my ssson…"

Stunned, Alex quickly dismisses the claw, his mind racing. Mustrano… the son of the navigator? He'd always assumed Mustrano was just a violent, unhinged outcast. "So, he was the leader's son? Hard to believe—they couldn't have taken more different paths," Alex thinks, mulling it over. "Well, I'll ask Mustrano about it later… he doesn't seem to care or even acknowledge their relationship."

"Hey, wait a minute! I didn't get to ask my questions!" Alex complains, realizing he's been completely bamboozled.

As Alex and the navigator return, the players groan in dismay. "Come on, just a few more minutes!" a male player begs.

"That wassss your break. Only a few more dayssss," the navigator replies with a wicked smile.

The next half-day feels like a nightmare. After another five hours of trudging through the forest, which now resembles a thick jungle—the heat and humidity become nearly unbearable, even for Alex, who's finally starting to feel exhaustion creeping in.

At last, they reach a cave, which seems familiar to the navigator. It's just large enough to shelter the players and their guide. The navigator sets up a few devices and ignites them, releasing a faint, sweet aroma into the air.

"Is that some kind of bug repellant or beast deterrent?" Alex wonders, grateful for the navigator's precautions. "At least he's doing his job—no attacks, no disasters so far."

Suddenly, a player cries out in pain. Alex glances over and sees the player removing his shoes, revealing multiple blisters on his feet. A few others follow suit, displaying similar injuries. Alex recalls those symptoms from back when he was still in poor physical shape himself. Luckily, his Physique is now high enough to make this grueling trek bearable.

He notices that some players have been stung by insects, which leaves him puzzled. "I didn't feel a single insect around. Sticking close to the navigator definitely paid off, seems like he's keeping the pests away somehow!"

Alex decides to set up his sleeping bag close to the navigator. "Just protect me and your son, okay?" he thinks, hoping the navigator shows some favoritism and continues to guide them safely to the exam site without making things even harder.

Alex soon drifts off to sleep. The sun wakes him in the morning, and while his body still feels a bit sore, he's mostly recovered. He quickly eats a few items from his inventory and gets ready to move, like the others. However, one of the players remains asleep, and Emma tries desperately to wake him, shaking him, but he doesn't respond.

"He issss dead. I told you to sssstick clossse to me yessssterday. Nasty little devilssss flying in the jungle!" the navigator states coldly.

"Who took it?" Emma demands loudly, looking around at the group.

"Was it one of you?" she snaps, suddenly turning toward Eirini and Patricia in a rude tone. The two stare back at her in confusion.

"Excuse me, took what?" Eirini asks, still maintaining a polite demeanor.

Alex is equally puzzled until he remembers. "Right—the dead guy… a bloody chest!"

"Looks like someone in Emma's group of five, now four, is a traitor," he thinks, intrigued. "Then again… maybe she took it herself and is accusing others to cover her tracks. Or am I just seeing her as a master manipulator like Roja and Rishi? Probably not… either way, I should just mind my own business."

The navigator, visibly tired of the squabbling, resumes walking. This time, every player, including Alex, decides to stick close, increasing their pace considerably.

Another grueling day and a half passes, with relentless travel through the jungle. Eventually, on the last day, the landscape transitions back into a more temperate forest with lower humidity, until, finally, the group emerges onto open plains.

Beyond the forest, they come upon a small settlement. Alex watches as the navigator transforms, taking on a human-like appearance similar to the transformation ability Kiriko has shown.

"So, it's some kind of magical beast tribe then—similar to Kiriko, at least in terms of this transformation ability. Interesting… could this tribe also be from the Dark Continent?" Alex wonders, looking at his left wrist in deep thought.

Inside the settlement, the navigator surprises them by producing a key and walking toward a bus parked by the lone gas station in the compact village.

"You have five minutes to usssse the toilet here… I am not sssstopping once we begin our drive!" the navigator warns. Everyone, including Alex, immediately rushes to the restroom. A few minutes later, they're all seated on the bus. Eirini sits next to Patricia, while Emma and her remaining four comrades take seats in the back. Alex chooses a spot close to Eirini and Patricia but keeps mostly to himself.

The grueling trek through forest, jungle, and plains has finally transformed into a bus ride! All the players, including Alex, can hardly believe the shift as the bus slowly takes off. "I want to shower and sleep in a cozy bed already," Alex mutters, feeling the relief of returning to civilization.

Despite the intrigue of the Hunter x Hunter world, Alex and most of the other players quickly fall asleep on the bus, worn out from their long journey. Alex wakes occasionally, catching glimpses of the countryside outside. Nothing particularly notable or valuable catches his attention in these rural scenes. Seven hours later, now in the dead of night, he notices a massive city on the horizon.

The city looks like a classic European metropolis. The architecture is unique and old, with narrow streets and a notable absence of skyscrapers. Each building has a distinctive style, and the entire layout feels modern yet historically rich, different from Yorknew City, which is supposed to resemble New York. Overall, Alex feels like he could be in any major European city he's visited before; there's little to suggest he's in a foreign world at all.

As they pass through the city center, Alex spots airships glowing in the night sky, their lights piercing the darkness and reminding him of the unique reality he's now part of.

The bus soon veers into a gritty industrial district, where dirty streets and aging warehouses line the way. "Looks like the kind of place where you could buy drugs back in the real world," Alex jokes to himself as he observes the rundown surroundings.

Finally, the bus halts in front of a shabby-looking hotel. As the players disembark, the navigator hands each one a small card marked with intricate symbols and an address.

"The adresssss is only a ten-minute walk away," the navigator explains. "It'ssss an old bunker, originally built to protect a large group of people. Arrive there at 12 PM ssssharp. You may ussseee thissss hotel for the night. Consssider it a little sssservice. Goodbye!"

With a final, meaningful look at Alex, the navigator drives away.

Exhausted, Alex and the group enter the hotel, where they're informed that rooms have been reserved and paid for. Each player receives a key. Though the hotel is cheap and quite old, the rooms are clean, which elates Alex.

In his room, he notices an alarm clock waiting for him on the bed. Alex takes a quick shower, sets the alarm for 10 AM, and nearly collapses onto the bed, finally able to sleep somewhere soft and warm. Lying there, he feels like he's in heaven, sinking into the mattress as his tired body relaxes. After a good six to eight hours of deep sleep, he's abruptly pulled from his slumber—not by the alarm clock, but by a sound… the faint creak of his door opening.

Alex instinctively rolls off the bed, ducking behind it. He quickly pulls out [Mr. 5's .44 Caliber 6-Shot Revolver]. "Ah shit, here we go again," he mutters, bracing himself.

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