Don't Want to Get Involved with Hisoka

Izunabi was surrounded by indignant examinees, but he wasn't flustered. Instead, he lowered his head and chuckled, then spread his hands towards the crowd.

"That's right, I did it on purpose." He flashed a provocative smile at the examinees. "What do you think? Arguing with me here also counts towards the time limit."

"I'm an examiner, and this is my style of exam. If you don't like it, then please come back next year. Perhaps you'll like next year's examiner more?"

"Or, do you want to have a go at me? I don't mind that sort of thing, but I have to 'mention' that under my rules, attacking an examiner will immediately disqualify you."

Izunabi stood among them, appearing completely vulnerable, yet he was like a hedgehog; no one dared to get too close.

Suddenly, someone shouted "Damn it!" and turned to run, leaving the Graveyard.

With someone taking the lead, more and more examinees who had remained there scrambled to leave the Graveyard, bypass the Church, and head into Downtown.

Hisoka leisurely walked past Gelman, waved like an old friend, then pointed towards the front of the Graveyard before leaving.

Soon, only Izunabi and Gelman remained.

Izunabi watched as Gelman finished another cookie, wiped his fingers with a tissue, and then stood up from the Red Brick path. He couldn't help but frown.

"You..." he started, then gave up with a wave of his hand. "Never mind, it's nothing."

Izunabi could sense Gelman's uniqueness, but he had no intention of lecturing him. Firstly, it was pointless. Secondly, the Hunter Exam did not reject people from the Dark World.

The Hunter Exam was open to all who possessed "talent," even if they were irredeemable.

Gelman stood up, and Izunabi instead sat cross-legged beside Gelman's small cloth bag, closed his eyes, and waited silently.

Huh?

Gelman looked at the enigmatic person who spoke without finishing his sentences and quickly lost interest. He turned and walked out of the Graveyard, then saw Hisoka leaning against the wall by the back door of the Church.

This was what Hisoka's gesture earlier had meant.

"How cruel..." Hisoka said in a seemingly resentful tone, yet filled with danger. "To think we're 'Partners' from the Phantom Troupe, and you didn't even greet me."

"Do you have urgent business?" Gelman asked earnestly.

Hisoka smiled. "Why are you participating in the Hunter Exam?"

"It's none of your business," Gelman replied truthfully, then added, "Please pretend you don't know me in front of these people. I'll do the same. Thank you."

The "these people" he referred to were the Hunters who were hidden around, silently observing and maintaining order for the exam.

The Hunters paying attention to them felt a chill run down their spines upon hearing this. They had concealed their presence and tracks very well, yet they hadn't escaped Gelman's notice.

Hisoka clearly knew of their existence too but didn't care. "It doesn't matter. They've been watching us ever since we appeared here, haven't they?"

"I still don't want to get involved with you."

"You wound me, Gelman."

Gelman ignored him, directly opened the back door of the church, walked through the interior, and went to the previous plaza, heading towards downtown Anisha City.

Hisoka watched Gelman's retreating back, his eyes gradually outlining Gelman's physical data, and he couldn't help but let out a low groan.

"It's amazing... I haven't seen him for over a month, and his body has become even more solid," his Nen has become more proficient, and he's become more vigilant."

He looked at his fingers, where a mass of his aura was attached.

Hisoka had originally intended to surprise Gelman by using "Elastic Love," an aura with the properties of both gum and rubber bands, to stick to Gelman for a small prank.

He hadn't expected Gelman to notice from the very beginning. Although he hadn't looked over, his aura, as it flowed through his body with Nen, would never lie.

Both of them had been prepared for battle during their brief conversation, like two drawn bows, with arrows nocked, but in the end, Hisoka was the one who relaxed his bowstring first.

"Interesting... what has he experienced in this past month? I'll observe him for a while longer."

A sinister and cunning smile spread across Hisoka's face, which was covered in white powder.

Gelman, with his backpack on and hands in his pockets, walked along the streets of Anisha City, casually looking for a target card, hoping to get lucky and find one.

It didn't matter if he didn't find any.

He saw sanitation workers cleaning the roadside, police officers maintaining order, and children running around everywhere, and he would approach them to ask.

"Hello, I've lost a card. It's white and has a double X mark on it. Have you seen it?"

Generally speaking, these people walked through the streets and alleys of Anisha City and paid more attention to the nooks and crannies of the city than office workers or shopkeepers, so they might have clues.

As expected, a child said he had seen such a card and led Gelman behind a bush, where the card lay unassumingly.

Gelman picked up the card, then gave the child 1000 Jenny for him and his friends to buy juice.

The card was obtained so smoothly and easily.

The first phase of the Hunter Exam had a deadline of 5 PM.

Gelman didn't return to the church graveyard immediately. Instead, he casually picked a fast food restaurant and had a simple lunch there.

If he didn't count the urban women who deliberately approached him to strike up a conversation, he still enjoyed a pleasant lunch break.

Pushing open the glass door, Gelman returned to the bustling street and slowly walked back to the church along the remembered route.

Walking slowly was also a way to aid digestion.

Along the way, he saw other examinees several times, all looking flustered and sweating profusely. It seemed they hadn't found their cards yet.

He hadn't seen Hisoka, but finding a card should be a simple matter for him.

Finally, he returned to the large plaza in front of the Church. White Doves landed on the ground, pecking around with "coo coo coo" sounds. Hearing human footsteps, they lost their wariness and remained in place.

The Church stood quietly under the afternoon sunlight, its shadow stretched out long.

Gelman walked with his hands in the pockets of his black robe, looking straight ahead. Suddenly, he saw someone blocking his path.

It was a chubby face he had seen not long ago.

Dopa pretended to be startled as if he had just seen him, stepping back a few paces and saying nervously:

"We meet again... Believe me, I'm absolutely not intentionally bothering you. We just met by chance."

He spoke sincerely, but his eyes suspiciously darted sideways, like lightning, towards Gelman's right rear.

At the same time, two people with strong Malice towards Gelman stepped into his "Circle."

Those who cannot use "Nen" require innate talent and later practice to master techniques similar to "Zetsu," which conceals killing intent.

These two individuals, paired with Dopa, clearly did not possess such skills.