Chapter 14: A Silent Pass

"Not another word from you. Say anything but the answer, and you're immediately disqualified."

I look to Kurapika, we shake heads. Seems we both figured it out. Now, all we can do is hope Leorio won't mess this up. The old lady speaks.

"Your son and daughter has been kidnapped. You can only rescue one. Select 1 for your son, or 2 for your daughter. Which will you rescue?"

She starts to count down. I hear Leorio pick up some sort of wood. He's swinging it about. Don't tell me… I step towards Gon, trying to get close enough to his bag. Since I don't want to expose my power, I'll use Gon's rod instead.

"Buzz, times up."

Leorio quickly pounces onto the old woman. I pull Gon's rod out of his bag. Before Leorio could hurt the old woman, I wrap the fishing line around his wrist. Kurapika also jumps in front of him, pulling out a wooden sword. I pull him backwards, he tumbles onto the ground.

Leorio: "Don't try to stop me! I won't be satisfied until I taught this old hag a lesson!"

Kurapika: "Calm down Leorio!"

Leorio: "How am I supposed to calm down?"

Kurapika: "We got it right, do you really want to jeopardize that?"

Leorio: "Huh?"

Kurapika: "We gave the right answer."

Esther: "Silence."

Leorio: "Silence? What do you mean?"

Esther: "It's as you said, there was never a right answer."

Kurapika: "Precisely. But the quiz required that we answer with the number 1 or 2. Which means, we weren't meant to respond at all. Silence was the only answer."

Leorio: "But what about that other guy?"

Esther: "She only said he can pass, not that he was right."

Kurapika: "Which means, this isn't the correct path."

"You are correct."

The old woman smiles, she walks off near a door to her side.

"The correct path is over here."

Two masked people open the doors. It's dark, but I can see the light on the other end.

"This leads directly to the tree. Walk two hours, and you'll reach the top."

Leorio: "Oh…so that's what this is about…"

"A couple lives in the cabin beneath that tree. They shall serve as your navigators. If you meet their standards, I believe that they will guide you to the exam site."

Leorio drops the wood, he apologizes to the old woman. She doesn't seem to mind. She smiles.

"Do your best to become a good hunter."

I hear Gon make a tired sigh. I look at him and see him fall to the floor.

Gon: "It's no use. I can't think of an answer."

Kurapika sighs, Leorio laughs.

Leorio: "You were still trying to find an answer? You can stop."

Gon: "Huh? Why?"

Kurapika: "The quiz is over."

Esther: "And I don't need you frying your head with an impossible question."

Gon: "I know. But, you know… What if I run into a situation like that and I can only save one person? What should I do then?"

Everyone goes silent. They seem to be thinking about it deeply. He's right, what would I do?

Gon: "It wouldn't be right to choose just one…But one day, I might have to make that choice."

With that thought, we walk into the dark corridor.