The First Exam Ends

Gelman stopped in front of Izunabi, pulled out an identical card from inside his black robe, and showed it to the examiner.

Izunabi took one look and confirmed it was genuine. He nodded. "Put it here, then wait over there."

"Okay."

Gelman placed the card on the ground, looked around, and chose to sit beneath the large tree behind Izunabi. He leaned against the trunk and rested.

Izunabi shot him a sidelong glance. His expression remained unchanged, but inwardly he was on guard.

Hisoka and Gelman were clearly different from the other applicants. They were definitely experts who had already learned Nen, and there was a good chance they were from the Dark World.

Izunabi stayed cautious, in case Gelman suddenly attacked him from behind. The odds were low, but he had to be prepared.

After waiting a while longer, a tall figure emerged from the mist. It was Hisoka.

He walked toward Izunabi, first glancing at Gelman, who seemed completely unguarded as he rested with his eyes closed. Then he shifted his gaze and stared at Izunabi.

Izunabi instinctively sensed the threat, but held Hisoka's gaze without backing down.

Hisoka smiled. His presence abruptly faded, and he spread his hands. "Here's my card."

He rubbed his fingers together and, like a magician, produced five cards, each smeared with bloody fingerprints.

Izunabi fell silent for a moment, then said, "One card is enough for each applicant."

"Ah..." Hisoka put on a look of sudden realization. "Then I'm really sorry about them."

He opened his hand, and all five cards fell to the ground with a series of soft clacks, seemingly marking the end of five lives.

"All right. Wait over there."

Izunabi wouldn't reproach Hisoka for his bloodthirstiness. After all, the exam rules he'd announced beforehand only forbade attacking the examiner. They didn't forbid attacking other applicants.

Since he hadn't said otherwise in advance, it was allowed.

By five in the afternoon, the mist in the cemetery still hadn't cleared. It had grown even thicker, and the applicants could barely see one another.

Worried that something might happen, they instinctively gathered closer to Izunabi.

Only Gelman remained where he'd been from the start, sitting against the tree. He hadn't moved at all.

"Time's up." Izunabi picked up the cloth bag and slowly rose to his feet. He looked around at the applicants, who were all watching him. "Of the original 352 applicants, 143 passed the first exam."

He hoisted the bag onto his broad shoulder and headed into the depths of the mist.

"Follow me, and don't fall behind. If you get lost, that counts as withdrawing from the exam. And if anything happens to you in the mist, I won't help."

At Izunabi's warning, the applicants straightened up. They kept their eyes fixed on his back and followed closely.

Only after the others had gone more than ten meters and their silhouettes had disappeared did Gelman get up and follow at an unhurried pace.

He liked walking at the very back by himself—not because he enjoyed being alone, but because he liked the quiet. He didn't mind walking with someone if they were quiet, too.

They walked for about an hour, until around six in the evening. Led by Izunabi, the applicants finally emerged from the mist. Without realizing it, they had already left the cemetery.

Before them stretched a range of rugged mountains, covered in lush trees. Damp fallen leaves carpeted the ground, and a cacophony of insects came from the dense, crisscrossing branches overhead.

Izunabi's wooden sandals pressed into the muddy path, yet he showed no sign of struggling. The applicants, by contrast, kept stopping every few steps to scrape yellow mud from their shoes or trouser legs.

As night slowly fell and a waning moon rose on the distant horizon, they spotted a brightly lit mansion standing halfway up the mountain.

Izunabi stopped in front of the mansion's entrance and turned to face the applicants. "That's where my assignment ends. You'll rest here tonight, and the next exam will begin first thing tomorrow morning."

After saying this, he offered no further explanation and left at once, leaving the applicants staring at one another.

After some time, the mansion remained silent. There was no sign of anyone inside, only the cold howling of the evening wind.

The applicants grew increasingly wary, suspicious that this might be part of the second exam and that the mansion was full of traps.

Gelman had no such worries. If there were traps, he could avoid them or deal with them as they came. The important thing was that he was hungry and a little tired.

While the others hesitated, Gelman stepped out of the crowd and walked through the open entrance.

Hisoka smiled, then followed a few steps behind him.

They just went in? Fine, let them find out whether there's any danger inside. The applicants were half confused and half relieved as they waited quietly to see what would happen.

A long while after the two entered the mansion, no screams came from inside. It seemed safe, so the applicants finally relaxed and filed in.

Once inside, the more than one hundred applicants saw Hisoka looking at an oil painting on the wall.

Gelman, meanwhile, had gone into a large dining hall. Several long rectangular tables stood there, laden with all kinds of food: chicken, fish, beef, bread, apples, oranges, cakes...

He sat down at one of the tables and picked up a fragrant plate of steak, setting it in front of himself.

But the instant he lifted the plate, a strange sound came from behind him.

A throwing knife shot from a round hole that had silently opened, flying toward the back of his head.

The applicants' suspicions had been right. The mansion really was full of traps, and they were indeed part of the second exam.

Izunabi had only said, "The next exam will begin first thing tomorrow morning." He hadn't said, "The second exam will begin."

Many of the applicants in the dining hall couldn't help gasping when they saw Gelman trigger a trap so recklessly. But they also couldn't help feeling gleeful.

Yet Gelman dodged the knife by turning his head, as if he had eyes in the back of his head. It sank into a pillar some distance away with a hiss, quivering as it buzzed.

For more than a month, Gelman had been forced to dodge all kinds of assassination attempts. His body had practically developed muscle memory, never letting its guard down.

Gelman picked up the knife and fork beside him, but another throwing knife shot down from the ceiling. This time, he didn't even bother to dodge, and it embedded itself precisely in the table.

His control over distance was exact, and his confidence absolute. The sight left the applicants sweating profusely.

Gelman ate half his steak, then reached for a sandwich cookie. Sure enough, he triggered another trap, and another throwing knife shot toward him...

Under the stunned gazes of the other applicants, Gelman calmly enjoyed a fine dinner. Then he slowly rose and headed upstairs.

As if nothing had happened.