I Don't Want to Get Involved with Hisoka

Izunabi was surrounded by furious examinees, but he didn't panic in the slightest. Instead, he lowered his head and laughed, then spread his hands toward the crowd.

"That's right. I did it on purpose." He gave the examinees a provocative smile. "So? Arguing with me here still counts against your time."

"I'm the examiner, and this is my style of exam. If you don't like it, come back next year. Maybe you'll like next year's examiner better?"

"Or would you like to test your skills against me? I don't mind. But, just so you know, under my rules, attacking the examiner means immediate disqualification."

Izunabi stood among them, looking as though he were full of openings. Yet he was like a porcupine, and no one dared approach him.

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

Once someone took the lead, more and more of the examinees who had stayed behind scrambled out of the cemetery, circled around the church, and headed into the city.

Hisoka sauntered past Gelman, waved as if they were old friends, then pointed toward the front of the cemetery before leaving.

Soon, only Izunabi and Gelman remained.

Izunabi watched Gelman finish another cookie and wipe his fingers with a tissue before getting up from the brick path. He couldn't help frowning.

"You..." He started to say something, then gave up and waved a hand. "Never mind. It's nothing."

Izunabi could tell Gelman was different, but he had no intention of lecturing him. For one thing, it would be pointless. For another, the Hunter Exam didn't turn away people from the Dark World.

The Hunter Exam was open to anyone with "talent," even if they were utterly evil.

Gelman stood up. Izunabi, meanwhile, sat cross-legged beside his little cloth bag, closed his eyes, and silently waited.

Hm?

Gelman glanced at the man who spoke in riddles and never finished his sentences, quickly lost interest, and turned to leave the cemetery. At the church's back entrance, he spotted Hisoka leaning against the wall.

So that was what Hisoka's gesture had meant.

"How heartless..." Hisoka sounded mournful, but his words carried a dangerous edge. "We're 'partners' in the Phantom Troupe, yet you don't even say hello to me."

"Is there something important you need?" Gelman asked solemnly.

Hisoka smiled. "Why did you come to take the Hunter Exam?"

"That's none of your business," Gelman answered honestly. Then he said, "Please act like you don't know me in front of all these people. I'll do the same. Thank you."

By "all these people," he meant the Hunters who were hidden nearby, quietly watching and keeping order during the exam.

The Hunters watching them felt a chill when they heard that. They had concealed their presence and tracks quite well, yet Gelman had still spotted them.

Hisoka obviously knew they were there too, but didn't care. "It doesn't matter. They've been watching us ever since we showed up, haven't they?"

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

"You're breaking my heart, Gelman."

Gelman ignored him, opened the church's back door, crossed through the church, and walked to the plaza he'd passed earlier before heading into Anisha City.

Hisoka watched Gelman's back as he walked away, gradually piecing together his physique. He couldn't help letting out a low moan.

"Wonderful... It's only been a little over a month, but his body's gotten sturdier, his Nen's more refined, and he's become even more cautious."

He looked at his fingers, where a glob of aura clung to them.

Hisoka had planned to use Elastic Love—aura with the properties of both gum and rubber—to stick a little surprise onto Gelman when he wasn't expecting it.

He hadn't expected Gelman to notice from the very beginning. Gelman hadn't even looked his way, but the way his aura flowed over his body with Nen never lied.

During their conversation, both of them had been ready to fight, like two fully drawn bows with arrows nocked. In the end, Hisoka was the first to lower his bow.

"Interesting... What's he been through this past month? I'll watch him a while longer."

Hisoka's face, painted with white powder, curled into a wicked, cunning smile.

With his backpack on his back and both hands in his pockets, Gelman walked along the streets of Anisha City, casually looking around for target cards to see if he might find one by chance.

If he didn't find a single one, that was fine too.

Whenever he saw street cleaners tidying up, police officers keeping order, or children running around, he went over and asked them a few questions.

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

Generally, these people wandered all over Anisha City and paid more attention to its nooks and crannies than office workers or shopkeepers did. They might have a lead.

Sure enough, a child said he'd seen a card like that and led Gelman behind a shrubbery. The card was lying there, plain as could be.

Gelman picked it up, then gave the child 1,000 Jenny so he and his friends could buy some juice.

He'd gotten a card easily, just like that.

The first Hunter Exam ended at five in the afternoon.

Gelman didn't head straight back to the church cemetery. Instead, he picked a fast-food restaurant at random and had a simple lunch there.

Except for a few city girls who had deliberately sidled up to him to strike up a conversation, he'd enjoyed a pleasant lunch break.

He pushed open the glass door and returned to the busy street. Following the route he remembered, he slowly made his way back to the church.

Walking slowly also helped him digest his food.

Along the way, he saw several other examinees looking flustered and drenched in sweat. It seemed they still hadn't found a card.

He didn't see Hisoka, but finding a card should have been easy for him.

At last, Gelman returned to the large plaza in front of the church. White pigeons strutted across the ground, cooing. They had grown so used to people's footsteps that they no longer seemed wary, remaining right where they were.

The church stood quietly in the afternoon sunlight, its shadow stretching long across the ground.

With both hands in the pockets of his black robe, Gelman walked forward, his gaze fixed ahead. Suddenly, he saw someone blocking his path.

It was a chubby face he'd seen not long ago.

Dopa pretended to jump in surprise when he saw Gelman. He took a few nervous steps backward and said, "Fancy running into you... Believe me, I'm not deliberately pestering you. We just happened to meet."

He sounded sincere, but his eyes suspiciously flicked like lightning toward Gelman's rear right.

At the same time, two people harboring intense ill will toward Gelman stepped into the range of his En.

People who couldn't use Nen needed innate talent and practice to master a technique like Zetsu, which concealed their killing intent.

The two men working with Dopa clearly didn't know how to do that.