The 286th Hunter Exam Officially Begins

He revealed the barrel of the flintlock and aimed it at Dopa.

Dopa had been reaching into his shoulder bag to retrieve a drink containing a potent laxative powder, intending to offer it to the black-haired youth in front of him under the guise of friendliness.

To his surprise, in the blink of an eye, he saw a dark, gaping muzzle aimed directly at him.

His face turned ashen as he retracted his hands, raising them. Trembling, sweat pouring down his face, he stammered, "Wh-what are you doing? I was just trying to be friendly..."

"You'd best abandon that idea."

Gelman retracted the gun barrel. His gaze and expression were calm, showing no hint of a threat towards Dopa.

"My aim with a gun is quite poor, which is why I prefer shotguns. A shotgun wound is truly terrifying."

Dopa swallowed hard, continuing to hold his hands up, forcing a smile as he backed away repeatedly.

"I understand, I understand..."

Only after putting some distance between them did he lower his hands, muttering something under his breath as he quickly walked away.

Many examinees present had noticed the commotion. Some even knew Dopa as the "Rookie Killer" and were waiting to see a new examinee get into trouble.

They hadn't expected an old hand like Dopa to be shut down before he could even start his schemes.

This guy was not to be trifled with.

Everyone subconsciously labeled Gelman as such, their smiles fading.

Just then, Gelman suddenly felt a needle-like killing intent emanating from his rear left, completely undisguised.

He turned his head and saw a familiar figure standing by a gray-white tombstone not far away.

This guy... he was here after all.

It was Hisoka, a member of the Phantom Troupe like himself.

Hisoka's presence here wasn't surprising.

In the original timeline, he had participated in this Hunter Exam, as well as the next year's exam, obtaining his Hunter License after the latter.

He too was regarded by those around him as "someone not to be provoked."

The reason was that someone, disliking his makeup, had provoked him, calling him effeminate. The provocateur subsequently had his left ear and several fingers sliced off by playing cards.

The challenger, completely losing his nerve, fled in panic, no longer intending to participate in the Hunter Exam.

Hisoka turned his head, his peach blossom eyes glancing sideways at Gelman, a meaningful smile playing on his lips.

He greedily stuck out his tongue, licked his lips, and the poker cards in his hand spun, changing from "Heart 4" to "Heart 8".

Then, his lips parted slightly, and he silently said something to Gelman.

However, Gelman couldn't read lips, so he chose to ignore him.

Hisoka also showed no intention of coming over to chat. He just chuckled softly before closing his eyes and continuing to play with his card tricks at his fingertips.

After waiting another hour and a half in place, it was finally time for the Hunter Exam.

A total of 353 examinees were present this time, with one having withdrawn from the exam early.

Beanpaste Man had disappeared without anyone noticing, likely having finished his task and left.

The examinees waited for a while longer, and when they realized no one was paying attention to them, some began to grow anxious.

They looked around, shouting things like "Is anyone there?" and "Where is the examiner?".

Gelman showed no signs of impatience.

He sat cross-legged on the red brick road, took out a rather tough piece of beef jerky from his backpack, and began to chew, looking as if he wouldn't mind waiting longer.

Seeing him finish one piece of jerky and then start another, the crowd was stunned, and their stomachs began to rumble.

Could he be doing this on purpose?

Finally, the sound of unhurried footsteps, "da, da, da," approached, and a man emerged from the cemetery's mist.

This man had short black hair, a stubble on his chin, carried a small cloth bag in his hand, and wore wooden clogs.

The examinees all turned their gaze towards this suddenly appearing figure.

He glanced at the crowd before saying casually:

"Sorry, I'm late. I am Izunabi, the examiner for the first stage of this Hunter Exam."

Izunabi? Gelman chewed the beef jerky with his molars while looking at the examiner. Based on the man's appearance, he gradually matched him with someone from his memory.

Gon, Killua, Kurapika, and Leorio were the main characters of Hunter x Hunter. After embarking on the "Hunter's Path," they all encountered their respective teachers who taught them "Nen."

Among them, Kurapika's teacher should be this examiner Izunabi.

Hearing Izunabi's irritating tone, many of the examinees showed looks of indignation on their faces.

Izunabi, however, was unconcerned. He casually tossed the cloth bag by his feet and continued, "Then, I declare that the 286th Hunter Exam officially begins."

Many of the 352 examinees were very angry about Izunabi's lateness, but he was the examiner after all, possessing the power to decide whether they could advance to the next stage. Therefore, they could only suppress their impatience for the moment.

"Without further ado, I will now explain the rules for the first stage of the exam."

Izunabi reached into his pocket and pulled out a stiff card, holding it high above his head to show everyone.

It was a mostly white card, with only the Hunter Association's Double X Mark printed on the front.

"I've placed 360 of these cards in Anisha City beforehand. Their locations are random, and the difficulty of obtaining them is also random."

"All you need to do is get one card and bring it back here to me. That will be considered passing the first exam."

Many examinees' eyelids twitched upon hearing this. Anisha City was a large city, not to mention the many tall buildings that stood there.

Izunabi didn't seem to intend to give any clues. Searching without any leads would be troublesome.

Unexpectedly, instead of providing clues, Izunabi added, "The time limit is 360 minutes, which is 6 hours. Furthermore, for every minute that passes, one card will be retrieved by our people."

Not only was there a time limit, but as the time limit approached, fewer and fewer cards would be available to search for. Is that what it means?

Gelman, still sitting cross-legged on the ground, munched on a sandwich cookie taken from his backpack while he pondered.

Izunabi couldn't help but glance at him before shifting his gaze away.

"By the way."

Izunabi held up a finger.

"The calculation for the first exam's time started twenty minutes ago. In other words, there are now only 340 minutes and 340 cards left."

What?!

Many examinees were greatly surprised.

It started twenty minutes ago, and Izunabi was precisely twenty minutes late. Doesn't this mean that the wasted twenty minutes were intentional on Izunabi's part?

With 340 cards remaining and 352 examinees present, it was destined that some would be eliminated.

Some examinees turned and left immediately to search for the cards.

However, the majority of the examinees remained, surrounding Izunabi with dissatisfaction.

"What do you mean by 'by the way'? Wasn't the wasted time due to your tardiness?"

"How can an examiner set rules like this? It's completely unfair!"

"We demand that the time be recalculated! Starting from now!"