Chapter 18 : 286th Hunter Examination Officially Begins!!!!

Germain didn't want to waste any time with Tonpa. He reached into his black robe, pretended to pull out his Firearm, but it was actually the "Hunter Badge." 

He made it seem like he was retrieving it from his pocket, aiming it directly at Tonpa.

Tonpa, who was in the middle of reaching into his shoulder bag to pull out a bottle with a strong diarrhea-inducing poison, had his plans abruptly halted when he saw the barrel of a black gun pointed straight at him.

His face turned pale. Tonpa quickly withdrew his hands and raised them above his head, his voice shaky and his forehead slick with sweat. "Wh-what are you doing? I was just trying to say hello..." 

"You'd better forget about your little plan," Germain replied calmly as he lowered the gun. His demeanor was so relaxed, it was hard to tell he was threatening someone. 

"My aim is terrible, so I usually use shotguns. If I hit someone with it, the wound it leaves is pretty nasty."

Tonpa gulped nervously, keeping his hands in the air as he cautiously backed away, a nervous grin stretched across his face. "I-I understand, I get it..."

Once he was at a safe distance, he dropped his hands and quickly muttered something under his breath before scurrying away.

The commotion drew the attention of several other candidates. Some knew about Tonpa, the "Rookie Crusher," who liked to cause trouble for newcomers. But this time, before he could even start, he'd been firmly put in his place.

Germain's swift and stern reaction earned him a label in their minds: this guy was not to be messed with. Despite the tension, several candidates couldn't help but suppress a chuckle.

Just as things seemed to settle, Germain felt a sudden, needle-sharp spike of killing intent coming from behind him. He turned to see a familiar figure standing against a gray-white tombstone, not too far away.

Of course... this guy was here too.

Hisoka, a member of the Phantom Troupe, was at the exam site.

It wasn't surprising that he was there. In the original timeline, he had taken this Hunter Exam and the next one, ultimately earning his Hunter's License in the following year. Those who knew him regarded him as someone "not to be messed with." 

One incident that contributed to this reputation was when someone made fun of his makeup and called him a sissy. Hisoka didn't take kindly to that. 

The result? The provocateur lost his left ear and several fingers to Hisoka's razor-sharp playing cards. Terrified, the man fled, abandoning his plans to take the Hunter Exam.

Hisoka turned his head slightly, casting a sidelong glance with his seductive eyes, a sly smile curling at the corners of his lips. He stuck out his tongue, licking his lips as if savoring a secret. 

The playing card in his hand morphed from the "4 of Hearts" to the "8 of Hearts." He opened his mouth as if to say something to Germain, but the words were silent, inaudible. Germain, not a lip-reader, chose to ignore him.

Hisoka seemed content to stay where he was, chuckling quietly to himself. He closed his eyes and continued to play with his cards, making them dance between his fingers with fluid skill.

After waiting in place for another hour and a half, it was finally time for the Hunter Exam to begin. There were a total of 353 candidates present, though one had withdrawn early. The bean-faced man, likely having completed his mission, had vanished without a trace.

As the candidates waited, some grew restless. They started to look around, shouting, "Is there anyone here?" and "Where's the examiner?"

Germain, however, remained calm and showed no signs of anxiety.

He sat cross-legged on the cobblestone path, pulling a piece of beef jerky from his backpack and taking a bite. He seemed perfectly content to wait, unconcerned about the time. 

Everyone around him watched as he calmly finished one piece of jerky and started on another. It made them feel a bit hungry themselves.

Was he doing this on purpose?

The sound of deliberate footsteps echoed through the cemetery, breaking the quiet, "ta, da, da." A man emerged from the mist, stepping lightly in wooden clogs.

He had short black hair and a scruffy beard. In his hand, he held a small cloth bag. He casually announced, "Sorry I'm late. I'm the examiner for the first stage of this Hunter Exam, Izunavi."

Germain, still chewing on his beef jerky, sized up the examiner. There was something familiar about him. The stubble, the calm demeanor—it matched the memory he had of Kurapika's teacher.

The crowd shifted with uneasy glances as they heard Izunavi's laid-back tone. This wasn't what they expected from the first examiner of the Hunter Exam.

But Izunavi didn't seem bothered by their reaction. He simply dropped his bag at his feet and declared, "Well then, I officially announce that the 286th Hunter Exam has begun."

Many of the 352 candidates weren't pleased with Izunavi's tardiness. They looked at him with disappointment and annoyance, but they held back their anger. 

As the examiner, Izunavi had the final say on whether they moved on to the next stage, so they couldn't afford to cross him.

"Let's cut to the chase and get into the rules of the first exam," Izunavi continued. He reached into his tunic and pulled out a hard card, raising it above his head for everyone to see.

It was a simple card, mostly white, with the double X symbol of the Hunter Association printed on the front.

"I placed 360 cards throughout Yanisha City ahead of time. Their locations are random, and the difficulty of finding them varies," said Izunavi, a Hunter Association examiner with a serious expression.

"The task is simple: find a card and return it to me. If you do, you pass the first part of the exam." 

The announcement caused quite a stir among the examinees. Yanisha City was huge, full of towering buildings and sprawling neighborhoods. Finding a single card among the chaos seemed daunting.

Izunavi didn't seem interested in giving any more details, leaving the examinees to figure it out on their own. The lack of guidance made the challenge even more stressful.

Then Izunavi added, "There's a time limit: 360 minutes, which is 6 hours. After that, our team will start reclaiming the cards, one per minute."

So not only was there a tight timeframe, but the cards would also become scarcer as the hours passed. The examinees felt the pressure.

Germain, a cool-headed candidate, sat cross-legged on the ground, munching on a sandwich from his backpack. His relaxed demeanor was in stark contrast to the growing anxiety around him. Izunavi glanced at him briefly before turning his attention back to the group.

"Oh, one more thing," Izunavi continued, raising a finger. "The timer for the first exam started twenty minutes ago, which means you have 340 minutes and only 340 cards left."

The candidates erupted in shock and disbelief. Izunavi had shown up twenty minutes late, effectively costing them precious time. Was this intentional?

With 340 cards and 352 candidates, it was clear some people wouldn't make it. Realizing the urgency, some candidates immediately sprinted off to search for cards. But most stayed, surrounding Izunavi with complaints and protests.

"What's with the 'casual mention'? You were late, so we lost time!"

"How can you, as an examiner, set such an unfair rule?" 

"We demand a reset! Start the countdown from now!"

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