The remaining examinees who still retained consciousness were all clutching their ears and heads, struggling to hold on.
"Was Nen applied to sound to create this effect?"
The only person in the venue who remained completely unfazed was Morin.
He was even sensing Kruke's pronunciation, studying the connection between Nen and sound vibrations. But the next second, he noticed something was wrong.
"Hmm?"
Morin raised an eyebrow, suddenly feeling the intensity of the Nen sound waves directed at him gradually increasing.
He could not help but look up at Kruke on the stage directly ahead.
She returned his gaze with a provocative look.
Seeing this, Morin silently took another new gadget from his Four-Dimensional Pocket: a green object shaped like a miniature mountain.
Gadget: Echo Mountain.
Effect: Any sound directed at Echo Mountain could be reflected back. The user could also adjust the specific delay and volume.
Besides recording and playing sounds, Echo Mountain could also reflect them.
In Iron Man Corps Theatrical Version, Doraemon had used Echo Mountain to fight enemies by reflecting sound waves.
Morin was doing the same thing now.
After taking out Echo Mountain, he silently adjusted the sound-wave reflection settings and placed it in front of himself.
Then he leaned back in his chair, took out his manga and novel again, and continued reading.
"Hmm?"
Kruke was slightly stunned when she saw Morin take out Echo Mountain.
With the Seven-holed Trumpet as precedent, Kruke had been secretly wary of the little mountain-like model Morin had taken out. But immediately afterward, her expression changed drastically.
"Not good!"
She clearly felt the sound waves she had sent toward Morin rebound several times stronger!!
"Pfft!"
The returning sound waves struck back, making Kruke cough up a streak of blood from the corner of her mouth as she hastily used aura to defend herself.
At the same time, she quickly stopped emitting sound waves.
Only then did the remaining examinees, who had been thoroughly tormented, feel as though a heavy burden had been lifted. They were drenched in sweat, as if they had just been pulled from water.
One after another, they collapsed onto the ground and gasped for breath.
"That bastard!!"
Kruke coughed twice more, spitting out two more mouthfuls of bloody froth.
But when she saw Morin sitting there so leisurely, reading manga and novels, the fury in her heart burned even hotter.
That guy was actually so relaxed.
The vibrations from the sound waves had left minor internal injuries throughout her body.
That made her wary of Morin even as she fumed.
"First a trumpet, then a little mountain. He really has all sorts of strange things in his hands."
Kruke gave Morin a deep look, then turned to survey the opera house.
She had not forgotten that she was an examiner for the Hunter Exam. She still had that much professional integrity.
"Seventy-seven people remain conscious in total."
"The first round of the Hunter Exam is passed by the above."
Kruke's face was somewhat pale, but her tone remained fairly calm as she announced the number of those who had passed.
Although she had infused the sound waves with some Nen, this was still an exam, so she had not gone too far.
Well, just a burst of high-pitched sound had made over a hundred people lose consciousness.
Such overwhelming strength once again let the examinees experience the terror of professional Hunters.
At the same time, it made them yearn even more fervently for the profession of Hunter.
"The people who fainted will be taken away by Association staff, while the rest of you who passed..."
Kruke pointed at the stage behind her. "Go out through there, and someone will lead you to the location of the second round." As she spoke, she glanced at Morin once more.
Then, without caring about the examinees' reactions, she disappeared from the stage on her own.
Well, that arrogant behavior was indeed rather willful.
The examinees looked at one another. Their faces were even paler than Kruke's, and they rose with bitter smiles, stumbling toward the back of the stage.
Meanwhile, Morin, the instigator behind all of this, followed slowly behind the crowd as if nothing had happened.
At this moment?
In a small room somewhere in the opera house.
"Cough, cough."
Kruke sat in a chair, coughing lightly. While using Nen to treat her body, she took out a walkie-talkie.
"Among this year's examinees, there's a rather troublesome tough nut. You all should be careful."
"Even you find him troublesome?!"
A noisy voice came through the walkie-talkie.
"Hey, Kruke, from the sound of your voice, don't tell me you got the short end of the stick too?"
"You all need to be careful. That kid is really weird."
Rarely, Kruke did not retort. She merely curled her lips. "He has all kinds of strange gadgets. One careless mistake, and you might suffer badly."
"You really did get the short end of the stick?"
The person on the other end had originally been joking, but was now genuinely surprised.
"Then I'll have to take good care of him. What does that guy look like...?"
After Kruke described Morin's appearance and attire, the other examiners on the other end all wore varying expressions.
"Ho ho ho, as expected of my disciple! He's already causing trouble so quickly, and he even made an examiner suffer a huge loss?"
The moment Biscuit heard the words "has gadgets," she knew who they were talking about.
With her hands on her hips, she nearly threw back her head and burst into laughter.
See? This was the disciple she had taught. He was even more formidable than accomplished professional Hunters!!
And the other Hunter examiners?
"A troublemaker? Looks like this exam won't be so boring after all."
They were both intrigued and eager to try, while also somewhat wary.
They all knew Kruke's strength.
Without exaggeration, among the current Hunter Association, Kruke was one of the younger-generation Hunters receiving focused attention and training.
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Whether in personality, strength, or handling matters, she possessed exceptional talent.
For someone as outstanding as Kruke to suffer a setback, the other party was clearly not easy to deal with.
This made the Hunters whom Netero had individually invited to serve as examiners because they had free time all become more alert.
They silently waited for Morin and the other examinees to arrive.
The seventy-seven remaining examinees, including Morin, left through the back of the stage as Kruke had instructed.
After coming out, they entered an underground passage.
They proceeded slowly along the stairs and corridors.
In less than five minutes, they arrived inside an enormous underground tunnel.
"Alright, examinees from all over the world, first of all, congratulations on passing the first round of the test."
As the examinees cautiously surveyed their surroundings.
A yellow figure suddenly appeared before them.
"I am the chief examiner for your second round."
As he spoke, his eyes swept back and forth across the seventy-seven examinees as though casually.
When he saw Morin, his gaze paused slightly on him before shifting away as if nothing had happened.
And while he was observing the examinees, Morin was also sizing him up.
"Another familiar face."
The examiner before him wore a yellow striped shirt, and his hair had been dyed a spiky yellow.
His face was painted with black pigment resembling a beard, and those little tiger fangs of his gleamed especially brightly in the dark underground environment.
Kanzai, the Tiger of the future Zodiacs.
Morin remembered that he was a Treasure Hunter who also worked as a bodyguard.
He was not good at the common language or arithmetic and had quite a violent temper.
But he was fairly strong. Hisoka rated his strength at five points.
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During the expedition to the Dark Continent, he had been assigned to the defense team.
Within the Association, he was a neutral who had his own opinions and did not involve himself in politics.
First Kruke, and now Kanzai. Morin had reason to suspect that he would encounter future "acquaintances" one after another in the coming Hunter Exams.
"Alright, no matter what, passing the first round proves that you have some ability."
Kanzai crossed his arms. "The rules for the next test are simple. Follow the tunnel behind me and keep moving forward."
"As you proceed, you may encounter all kinds of obstacles, and there may be many branching paths to choose from, just like a maze."
"The end of the tunnel, and your final destination, is the Albamor Mountains."
"When you reach the surface and see the sign saying 'Welcome to the Albamor Mountains,' you will have reached the destination of the third round and passed the second round."
"Let me make this clear beforehand: the tunnels ahead may lead elsewhere. If you stray from the correct destination, then even if you make it out, you will still be considered to have failed the test."
"Also, don't think about casually finding a passage to climb up and then heading directly to the Albamor Mountains from the surface. Believe me, you'd better not do that."
Kanzai seemed to recall something and gave a mischievous grin.
"One final friendly reminder: the passages ahead are complex and varied. Even I don't know where a wrong path might lead."
"Maybe one connects to subway tracks, maybe one leads to a Magical Beast nest, or maybe one is on the verge of collapsing at any moment. One careless step, and you could lose your life."
"It's still not too late to withdraw. But once you step past me, it means you are voluntarily participating in the second round."
Kanzai checked the electronic watch on his wrist. "You have seventy-two hours. Anyone who has not reached the destination by then will be eliminated."
After saying that, he spoke no more and calmly watched the examinees.
"A test like navigating a maze?"
Morin smiled, completely unhurried as he casually took out a small chair and sat down.
"Hmm?"
Kanzai's eyes narrowed slightly as he watched Morin's actions.
"A Nen ability for storing things?"
The chair appearing out of nowhere immediately made Kanzai think in that direction.
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