Mansion of Mechanisms and Traps

He always acted on his own, as though no one else existed. For various reasons, the others neither dared nor wished to approach him casually.

Gelman made a round of the many rooms on the second floor, found them unsatisfactory, and went up to the third. After casually evading a sudden attack from a massive chain hammer, he finally found the largest room in the mansion.

"I'll rest here tonight."

Click. The door locked from the inside.

He tossed his backpack onto the sofa and went into the bathroom for a hot shower.

After a long while, he emerged from the steamy bathroom in light pajamas, toweling his hair dry.

At that moment, the doorknob snapped off with a click. The door was roughly shoved open, naturally destroying the lock as well.

A burly man walked in, his face plump and his manner carefree.

He was also a candidate in this session—Tuomen, a veteran who had already gone through several rounds of the exam.

Tuomen was not surprised to find someone in the most luxurious room. He had intended to come in and seize it, but when he saw it was Gelman, he could not help frowning.

Gelman did not stop toweling his hair. He merely stared at Tuomen with those black eyes, as if asking what he was doing here.

"What are you doing here?" he actually asked.

"I..." Tuomen had wanted to back down, but for some reason, his blood surged and courage came over him. "I don't want to squeeze into a room with the others. This room is mine. You, get out."

Tuomen pointed his thumb toward the corridor behind him, the corners of his mouth turned down in a ferocious expression.

Gelman tilted his head slightly, as if he did not understand Tuomen's words.

"Tch." Tuomen stretched his muscles and joints, producing a series of cracking sounds. "Others might be afraid of you and that pretty boy, but I'm not. If you won't leave, then we'll settle this in the fairest way..."

Bang!

A black blur flashed, and Tuomen went flying out of the room, the world spinning around him.

A tremendous crash sounded in the corridor outside the luxurious room. The nearby candidates instinctively turned to look, only to see Tuomen sitting in the hallway.

His back was pressed tightly against the wall, which had cracked in spiderweb-like patterns. A broken brick fell and struck him on the head, but he did not react at all.

Then they heard the door to the luxurious room slam shut with a bang, followed by what sounded like furniture being pushed against it.

Only after a moment of silence did they approach.

"Hey, are you okay?" Someone crouched down, looking at Tuomen with amused eyes as they reached out to help him up.

"Don't touch me!" Tuomen cried out in a low voice, startling the other person. Then they heard his explanation. "Don't touch me... It's broken."

Everyone's expressions changed. If Tuomen said that, then one of the bones supporting his movements was likely broken.

And the one who had broken it was undoubtedly Gelman, inside the room.

They could not help secretly feeling relieved. Fortunately, they had not been as foolish as Tuomen. Otherwise, the one thrown into the hallway and possibly paralyzed for the rest of their life might have been one of them.

Afterward, no matter how the other candidates asked about what had happened, Tuomen remained silent out of complicated feelings and refused to answer.

Seeing there was no more spectacle to watch, and unwilling to help Tuomen, who was nominally their "competitor," let alone linger too long outside Gelman's room, they all dispersed.

Before long, Tuomen was the only one left in the entire red-carpeted corridor, slumped against the wall.

Barring any surprises, he would spend a miserable night there in pain, cold, and depression.

But a surprise occurred.

A man who had been lurking nearby for a long time quietly appeared and stood before the immobile Tuomen.

"Y-you... who are you?" Tuomen finally noticed the newcomer. His fat face was pale and bloodless, both from pain and fear.

"I am Ian, the examiner for the second round." The man wore a black butler's uniform. His graying hair was sparse, and his expression was stern. "This Mansion of Mechanisms and Traps is my creation."

Tuomen's lips trembled as he muttered soundlessly. One finger rose slightly, pointing toward the room door that had shut out all outsiders.

"He did not violate any examination rules." With one sentence, Ian shattered Tuomen's delusion. "At the same time, you require emergency treatment and can only withdraw from the exam."

"I..."

"Tuomen, I believe I made myself clear enough, didn't I?" Ian's tone hardened.

Tuomen's fat, sturdy body went limp like a deflated ball. He nodded. "I understand."

Ian cast a deep glance at the door, then slowly crouched down. His arms looked gaunt and covered in age spots, yet they suddenly swelled with strength as he easily lifted the seemingly heavy Tuomen.

Under Tuomen's astonished gaze, Ian carried him with swift strides, leaped from the open window, landed smoothly amid Tuomen's scream, and then the two quickly vanished into the boundless night.

Hisoka watched the scene from the balcony of his room on the second floor, then glanced upstairs and narrowed his eyes.

"What should I do? I feel like I can barely hold myself back anymore... Or should I wait until tomorrow?"

Gelman had no interest in matters outside that had nothing to do with him. Wrapped from head to toe in a soft quilt, he slept soundly and comfortably.

He did not even have any irritating dreams, until a noisy sound woke him.

He opened his bleary eyes and heard the distant clang-clang-clang of metal being struck. Somewhat puzzled, he sat up and rubbed his handsome face with both hands.

Once fully awake, he reached for the alarm clock on the bedside table. Seeing where its hands pointed and confirming that it was four in the morning, he frowned slightly.

The clang-clang-clang of metal striking outside continued without pause. It seemed intended to wake everyone sleeping in the mansion, and its purpose was already quite clear.

Was the Third Exam really being held at this hour, before the sun had even risen?

Gelman had no choice but to get up. Yawning, he stepped onto the balcony and saw that there was indeed a figure standing in the clearing before the manor, while people from inside the manor were gradually gathering in front of him.

The man was shouting something loudly, but Gelman did not listen closely. Instead, he went straight to the bathroom to brush his teeth and wash his face, changed into an ordinary hunter's outfit, and left his room.

It was still pitch-black outside the manor, with only the grayish-white moonlight sprinkled across the wilderness like seasoning.

When he reached the clearing and stood at the back of the crowd, he immediately noticed that the number of examinees had sharply dwindled once more.

But it was much quieter now, which suited Gelman just fine.

Standing before the crowd was a burly man with unkempt blue hair. Dressed in animal hides, he had his eyes closed as he struck a metal tripod with an iron rod.