Zaban City × Exam Site

YOOO OMG. I COULDN'T BELIEVE I UPLOADED THE WRONG DRAFT. I'M SO SORRY.

-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-

January 7th, 1999.

With the help of the Kiriko family, Manfred and his new friends manage to arrive in Zaban City, the current site of the Hunter Exam, in only a few hours.

Zaban City is located in the southern region of Kukan'Yu Kingdom. It is a prosperous city, filled with many people from different cultures and races living peacefully, and many stalls that are set up on the side of the streets, making the streets crowded with many people.

Manfred looks around at the bustling city, with nostalgia and a hint of nervousness in his eyes.

'Haha... Damn, I hope there are no police around here. After all, the last time I was in the Kukan'Yu Kingdom, I was not exactly the most law-abiding citizen around... And I haven't gotten my Hunter's License yet. If they were to find me now, then I will be forced to forfeit this year's exam.'

Manfred thought as he looks around, trying to dodge the sight of every law enforcer that he come across by walking behind Leorio.

"Hey, what are you doing?" Leorio asked suspiciously at what Manfred is doing.

"Huh? Oh, nothing. I'm just trying to find cover in your shadow, the sun today is pretty hot huh?" Manfred said while waving his hand and smiling at the tall teenager.

"What, am I nothing but an umbrella to you now?"

"Well, yes."

"...So blunt." Leorio could only look at Manfred speechlessly when they heard Kurapika shouting at them.

"Hurry up, you two! Or else you guys will be left behind by us"

Hearing that, they both suddenly realized that they are already left far behind by the main group.

"Hey, wait up!"

...

"As Navigators, our job is to identify worthy Hunter applicants and guide them to the exam site."

The Kiriko Son explained as he guides the four applicants through the busy streets of Zaban City while looking at a piece of paper in his hand.

"In other words, it would be extremely difficult for someone to reach the exam site without the help of a Navigator."

Kurapika nods in understanding, while the other three are doing their stuff, not paying attention to what the Navigator just said.

Gon, being a curious child, was going around, visiting stalls to stalls, to see what they are selling.

Meanwhile, Manfred is still busy hiding behind Leorio, making the latter annoyed to no end.

"Can you stop that already?! What are you even trying to hide from?" Asked Leorio, at Manfred who's acting like he's in a spy movie.

"Well... I uh... I May have come to this city before... And I may or may not have done something that makes the whole police force in this city hunt me down."

"What did you do?" Asked Kurapika who overheard their conversation.

"Oh, it's nothing. I just broke into their chief's office to look for some secret documents." Manfred said dismissively.

"Oi, oi, oi. That's not something you can just classify as 'nothing'." Leorio sweatdrops at the boy who had just admitted to intruding into a police station.

"What are you looking for anyway?" Leorio asked, turning his head to the boy.

Manfred looks directly into Leorio's eyes for a few seconds, before answering with a straight face, "Not telling."

'This brat!' Leorio's veins popped, seemingly pissed at the boy.

Kurapika let out a light chuckle at the exchange between the two of them.

'It seems that Manfred is starting to open up more.' Kurapika looks at the hawk-eyed boy, noticing the usually silent boy starting to speak more.

"Hey, Gon, what are you doing? We're going!"

Leorio's shout brought Kurapika out of his thought, as they walks towards an open space.

They continue following the navigator, who took them to the front of a tall luxurious building.

"I believe that is the building." The navigator stopped as he pointed to the building, which took the four applicant's attention.

"Woah, It's so tall! They have a really nice building!" Gon said excitedly, as he had never seen a building so tall before.

"So this is the exam site... This is what draws..."

"Hunter applicants from across the world"

Leorio and Kurapika said in a heavy tone, as both realize their first hurdle to becoming a Hunter is coming soon.

'So this is the Exam Site, huh? This will be my first step toward achieving what I wanted.' Manfred thought with eyes filled with excitement.

Meanwhile, Gon clenched his fists, his eyes glowing with an intense fighting spirit looking up at the majestic building in front of him.

"My first shot at the exam... Was this how dad felt, when he first arrived?" Gon uttered, he felt giddy with excitement.

Gon would finally take the first step to know why his father had abandoned him. He would take the footstep of his father to find out why his father would rather be a Hunter than be with him.

'Well, there's no point in just standing around.' Manfred smiled as he start to walk toward the building in confidence.

But just as he takes one step forward, they hear the navigator calls out to them.

"Hey, guys! Not that one."

"Huh?" the four of them let out a mutter and turn to look at the navigator who pointed toward an old restaurant right beside the tall building.

"Over here."

"Wha?-" They all stood frozen, looking at the restaurant.

"Oi oi, this isn't funny." Said Leorio in bafflement, walking towards the Navigator, with the other three following a few steps behind him.

"Isn't that just an ordinary restaurant? You can't possibly mean the Hunter applicants from around the world are gathering inside this shabby restaurant?"

"That is exactly what I'm saying."

"Eh?" The four of them look at the navigator in confusion, before turning their attention towards the restaurant again.

"No one would ever expect that the Hunter Exam, with its millions of applicants, to be located here, right?" The Navigator explained to them, making Manfred who had been overly confident to be embarrassed.

"That's true," Leorio replied.

"Well, what are you waiting for? Let's go in." The Navigator said with a smile, walking towards the entrance of the restaurant.

'A-ah. God, that was embarrassing. Good thing I didn't say anything earlier, or else I would be even more embarrassed.'

Manfred watches his three companions follow the Navigator inside the building. He's glad that he is walking right behind them because if they were to turn around at this moment, they would see that the whole face of the boy is currently blushed pink in embarrassment.

*cough*

'Well, I should keep up.'

...

"Welcome!" The head chef greets them when they entered the building.

"Is the back room open?" The navigator said to the chef who is currently cooking

Hearing that, the chef glanced at them in the corner of his eyes, "What will you have?"

"The steak combo that opens your eyes to the light. For four." The navigator replied, stating the secret code.

"For four..." The chef's eyes became sharp, starting at the newcomers, "How would you like them?"

"Grilled over a low flame, until cooked."

"Got it. Suzie, please guide these people towards the back room." With that, the owner pulled back his gaze, turning his attention back to his cooking.

A door opened, showing a black-haired woman wearing a white over her head.

"Please, follow me to the room." The woman said, gesturing for them to follow her into the back.

"What's that all about?" Leorio whispered to others while following the lady.

"That's probably a secret code the examination committee had set to test whether we are truly qualified or not," Kurapika replied.

" Oh, so we won't be eating?" Gon said in disappointment as he was hungry, due to not having the chance to eat anything since yesterday.

They walk through the corridors of the restaurant when the lady stopped in front of a door.

"This is the room you will be waiting in. Please enjoy the food" The lady bowed at them before going back to the front of the restaurant to help the chef in serving the customers.

Hearing that there will be food Gon immediately opened the door. He is greeted with the steaming aroma of a delicious steak striking his sharp nose.

"Woah! Guys, let's go, there's food to eat in here." Gon smiled at them, then he walks into the room.

The other three looked at each other with a smile before following Gon into the room with the navigator behind them.

Inside the room, they could see there is a large square table grill in the middle of the room, surrounded by four chairs on each side of the table. On top of the table, there are four sets of plates and cutlery, along with the steak combo they ordered earlier sitting neatly on the grill, stinging their nose with its delicious aroma.

*grumble~*

They all look at the source of the sound, finding it to be Leorio who scratched his cheek awkwardly.

"W-well, now that I think about it. We haven't really eaten anything since yesterday." Leorio said.

"Huh, you're right. I guess we were just too busy to notice it." Kurapika nodded, then he walks towards the table to find a seat.

Manfred and Leorio followed soon after.

Gon, being the first one to enter the room had already found his seat and had already started eating.

"Oi, Gon! Save some for us!" Leorio said, putting down his suitcase as he also starts to cut into the steak.

"One in ten thousand." The Navigator, who had been watching them from the door said suddenly, catching the attention of the four hungry applicants.

"Huh?"

"The number of applicants who make it this far. You've done extremely well for your first time." The Navigator said with a smile, sweeping his gaze across the four of them before turning around.

"Alright then, good luck, everyone! We would be happy to be your navigators again next year." The Navigator wave at them as he closes the door.

"Twanks, nabigwator-san!" Gon said cheerfully with food in his mouth.

Once the door closes, they felt the room shakes as it began to descend.

"It appears this room is also an elevator," Kurapika said as he looks around the room, noticing a screen above a door with numbers going up after a few seconds.

"That was rude. That guy talked as if he knew we wouldn't pass this year." Leorio said.

*cling*

"Once every three years," Kurapika said while cutting his steak.

"What's that?" Leorio asked, confused at what the blonde is going at.

"The frequency with which a rookie passes the exam. Or so they say. Among the beginners, they say some go insane from the cruelty of the exam... And some become incapacitated from the heckling of the veteran examinees." Kurapika explained, pausing each sentence to continue eating his food.

"But... Why do people go through such hardship to be a hunter? *nom*" Gon said in wonder while shoving a steak into his mouth.

Everyone turned their head at Gon, sweatdropping at what the boy just said.

"You came to take the exam without even knowing why?!" Leorio shouted at the boy, spitting the food in his mouth onto Gon, who quickly backed away to dodge it.

"Listen here, Gon! The license card issued out only to official Hunter guarantees free passageway through any country! And you can use the majority of their public facilities for free!" Leorio said with a big grin on his face.

"Do you know how much money you could save with that?! Urgh-! *cough cough*" Leorio choked on his food, to which Manfred hurriedly pass him a glass of water.

"Ah, thanks, Manfred!" Leorio thanked Manfred, who nodded in reply.

"This card symbolizes status and wealth, and if you were to sell it, your family would be well off for seven generations! Not to mention, 6o of the 100 richest people in the world are professional Hunters! Do you see what I mean? Being a Pro Hunter is the most lucrative career in the world!" Leorio said enthusiastically, as He can already imagine he would be drowned in money once he become a Hunter.

"Eh... I see..."

The other three's mouths twitched, seeing the big stupid smile resurface on Leorio's face again.

"While there is some truth in what he said, I disagree with what he said. Being a Pro-Hunter is the noblest profession in this world. Those who are in it just for the money are just a bunch of second-rate hunters." Said Kurapika, looking at Gon with a smile.

"Oi, are you picking a fight?" Leorio said, getting out of his dreamland.

"*Chuckles* Calm down, Leorio, I was not referring to you. Unlike those greedy people, I know you are a kind person." Kurapika said redirecting his gaze to Leorio.

"Urgh-- well, uh, thanks." Leorio almost choked on his food again, in embarrassment. He could feel his cheeks heat up, at the soft gaze Kurapika is directing at him.

He doesn't understand why the boy would ever look at him like that, but right when he was about to ask, he could see Kurapika frowning and quickly looking away, focusing back down on his food, to finish what's left on his plate.

Leorio raised an eyebrow at his weird behavior

And Kurapika who had just suppressed his feeling, act as if nothing happened and wiped his mouth with a napkin, before going back to the topic.

"I believe the true duty of a Hunter is to protect people and the natural order. A Pro-Hunter prioritizes the protection of precious cultural artifacts and endangered species, as well as capturing wanted criminals and unscrupulous Hunters." Said Kurapika earnestly.

"So that is why I want to become a Black-list Hunter."

After saying that, the room becomes silent for a few seconds before Gon opens his mouth.

"What is a Black-list Hunter?" Gon said, looking at Kurapika who seemed lost in thought.

"A Black-List Hunter is a Hunter that specialized in hunting down dangerous wanted criminals. They usually roam in the darker part of society to track down their target." Manfred answered while wiping his mouth with his jacket sleeve.

"Have you met them, Manfred?" Gon asks Manfred as he sounds like he had met them before

"Well, no. But I once had a Terrorist Hunter tracking me down. I would've died if it wasn't for my father." Manfred frowned, recalling his encounter with the big man with a weird mask commonly seen in a Kabuki theater.

"He... Was very scary." Manfred couldn't help but feel a chill crawling up his spine every time he thinks about the Hunter.

He remembers the feeling of dread and despair when he was facing the man. No matter what he does, no matter what he sends at the man, nothing seems to work. Punches, Guns, Explosions, Even after almost getting buried alive under a building, the man just shrugged it off as if it was nothing.

The last thing he remembers about the man is that he seems to give up on him, once his father had confronted the hunter. He doesn't know what they are talking about at the time, as he was gravely injured, but at least he knows his father is influential enough to make such a monster back off.

"W-wait a minute, a Terrorist Hunter was tracking you down? Doesn't that mean that you were a---" Leorio wanted to ask Manfred about what he implied but was cut off by the sounds coming from the door.

*Ching*

The door below the screen starts to open up, which brings all of their attention to it.

"Looks like we've arrived," Kurapika said looking at the door.

"We'll talk about this later," Leorio said to Manfred, who let out a breath of relief at the fortunate timing of the elevator.

Manfred hops out of his seat, as he makes his way around the table to stand in front of the door with the others.

...

Once the door is fully opened they were greeted with a wide underground tunnel with pipes going from the side to the top of the tunnel, and the scrutinizing glares of the applicants who had arrived before them.

They all walk out of the elevator and make their way into the tunnel, towards the group of applicants who are still staring at them.

"What a dreary atmosphere..." Leorio muttered, looking at the people in front of him solemnly.

"They are different from the Hunter applicants we saw at the harbor and in the city. Each is a master, in their own right..." said Kurapika, looking at the people who are holding various weapons in their hands.

"Excuse me..."Gon said, trying to strike up a conversation, but the hunter examinees only looks at him quietly, before retracting their stares from the four of them and continue minding their own business.

"Everyone is really tense," Gon said.

"Yeah. And some people are a cut stronger than the others too." Manfred replied to Kurapika, narrowing his eyes as he look at three people.

"Hmm? What do you mean?" Kurapika frowned, turning his head towards Manfred.

"Look over there. That clown, needle dude, and the bearded man wearing a black gi. They give the same presence as the Hunter I was talking about." Manfred said, pointing at three people.

Making both Leorio and Kurapika frown, as they could remember the fear they saw in Manfred's eyes when he was talking about the Hunter.

"Oi, are you serious?" Leorio said

Manfred didn't say anything. He only looks at Leorio's eyes seriously. Letting the tall teenager know that what he said is not a lie.

"Tsk. Seems like this exam won't be that easy." Leorio said, mumbling in a small voice, but the others still manage to hear him.

He was observing the rest of the examinees when suddenly a small green bean man in a dark tuxedo and a bowtie, appear in front of them.

"Hello. Please take a number." The bean man said, handing out a badge to Leorio. "Ah, thanks..."

He gave the badge numbers 403, 404, 405, and 406 to the four of them.

With Leorio getting the number 403, Kurapika getting the number 404, Gon getting the number 405, and Manfred taking the last number 406.

"Be sure you wear this on your chest at all times. And be careful not to lose it." The bean man said before walking away.

Manfred looks at the other Hunter examinees, now realizing that they also have a badge pinned to their chest. He made the extra effort to memorize all of their badges, putting extra attention to the number 301 needle man, number 44 clown, and the number 9 bearded man.

After he's done, he quickly looks away, not wanting any of their attention to himself, when suddenly an unknown voice called out to the four of them

"Haven't seen you guys around before."

The four of them turn to the origin of the sound, to see a short fat man, with a big nose, and a pair of thick caterpillar eyebrows looking at them with a smile.

He wears a large, blue v-neck shirt with a white symbol resembling a lowercase "ｉ" on its right side, over a matching pair of light, blue-gray sweat pants, and a badge number 16 pinned on his left chest.

"Yo!" The man raised his hand to greet them.

"You can tell we're new?" Gon asked, looking up at the man who is currently sitting on top of a pipe on the wall.

"More or less." The fat man jumps down and walks toward them with a friendly smile.

"After all, this will be my thirty-fifth attempt." The man said, seemingly proud.

"Thirty-five times?!" Manfred, Kurapika, Gon, and Leorio exclaimed in shock.

'Damn, this guy is so suspicious, he's practically waving a red flag in front of them Manfred thought, looking at the fatty in front of him.

"Well, you could say I'm an exam veteran." The man said

"That isn't something to brag about," Leorio said to Kurapika and Manfred quietly.

"Indeed." The both of them nodded.

"So, if you have any questions, feel free to ask me." The man said, still with a friendly smile on his face.

"My name is Tonpa." The man hands out his right hand at Gon for a handshake.

To which Gon replied in kind, and shakes his hand "I'm Gon."

"And these are Manfred, Kurapika, and Leorio." Then he turned around to introduce his friends, before facing Tonpa again.

"Hey, are there others who have taken the exam a bunch of times like you?" Gon asked.

"Well, I have the most experience here, but there are a few others," Tonpa replied, as he began to introduce some of the Examinees.

-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-

Author's note:

Hello, uh, I'm sorry about yesterday. I was writing it in the middle of the night, so my mind was kinda in a daze at that time. It's a good thing that I notice it fast, tho.

So good job, me 👏

Anyway, i made this note to inform you, that there won't be a chapter next week, as i will be busy. Well, probably. Let's just see how it goes.

That's all, Peace ✌️