After about ten more minutes of hammering, the man finally opened his eyes. He casually tossed the iron rod and tripod to the ground beside him, planted his strong hands on his hips, and looked over everyone with a scrutinizing gaze.
Everyone he looked at straightened up without thinking. That pleased him—until he spotted Gelman and Hisoka.
Hisoka was gently grinding the tip of his shoe against a frog in the grass. He neither crushed it nor let it go, seeming intent on playing with it forever.
Gelman, meanwhile, was eating the sandwich he had swiped from the dining hall earlier. He chewed on the slices of meat and fried egg as he calmly met the gaze of the blue-haired man.
Just as Izunabi and Ian had said, these two were real trouble... But that was fine. Just watch me grind down their arrogance.
The blue-haired man thought this as he cleared his throat a few times.
"I'm Hogari, the examiner for the Third Exam. I hereby announce that the fifty-two candidates remaining may proceed with the exam I'm overseeing."
The number of candidates who had made it from the second exam to the third had been cut by nearly half. The mansion behind them, riddled with traps, and the schemes and clashes among the candidates were undoubtedly to blame.
If this exam had a "red name" system like a game, Hisoka would probably be so crimson that no one would dare look at him.
Hogari was about to continue when someone stepped forward and interrupted him. It was Hisoka.
"Examiner." Hisoka had already forgotten the man's name. He had grown bored of the frog under his shoe and crushed it with a stomp before suddenly calling out, "How many more rounds are there in this year's Hunter Exam?"
Hogari had disliked Hisoka from the start. Being interrupted just after beginning to speak made him even more displeased, and his tone turned impatient.
"The number of rounds in the Hunter Exam usually ranges between five and six. Occasionally, there are exceptions..."
"I see. Then I can relax." Hisoka interrupted Hogari again and spread his hands. "I was worried this boring exam would go on forever."
The mountains were already cold in the early hours of the morning. Hisoka's words seemed to lower the temperature by several more degrees, like a gust of icy wind.
"Boring?" After being interrupted repeatedly and hearing that remark, Hogari furrowed his brows, the veins on his forehead bulging.
Hisoka nodded as if it were obvious. "The first exam was finding cards. The second was spending the night in a house full of little tricks. What will the third be?"
He took out a stack of playing cards and shuffled them with a fluttering rustle. The cards danced in a dazzling blur, like flowers that bloomed, withered, and bloomed again in an instant.
"Are your exams really less interesting than my magic tricks?"
Hogari narrowed his eyes. "I decide the rules of the Third Exam. If you have any complaints, you can withdraw."
"Ah, there you go threatening me with that again." Hisoka smiled and spoke as though he couldn't help it. "I get it. If I can't please the examiner, I can't pass the exam."
Seeing Hisoka back down, Hogari assumed he was afraid. He gave a smug snort and continued addressing the candidates:
"I woke you at four in the morning because I wanted to see your guts! I believe that a hunter who's lazy and lacking in guts can never amount to anything. Such a person is unfit to be a hunter!"
"The Third Exam is related to this as well! The mist rising from these mountains can spread all the way to the church cemetery at the foot of the mountain. I need you to find the cave where the mist is coming from..."
Before Hogari could finish, he caught sight of Hisoka stretching ostentatiously out of the corner of his eye. At the same time, with his keen hearing, he also caught a lazy yawn from the very back of the crowd.
"Tch."
Hogari had already been on the verge of losing his temper, and now he could no longer hold back. He took their disrespect toward him as the examiner to be deliberate provocation, and flew into a rage.
He pulled two gleaming little knives from his clothes, his voice turning ominous. "You two. Step forward."
The sudden, hostile standoff left the candidates dumbfounded. They all glanced toward the two men Hogari had indicated: Hisoka and Gelman.
Hisoka pointed at himself with a slender finger, feigning surprise. "Are you looking for me?"
"Step forward," Hogari said coldly.
"Well, I suppose I have no choice..." Hisoka said, though he emerged from the crowd with a cheerful smile.
The crowd in front of Gelman also parted willingly, opening a path like the parting of the sea.
Gelman didn't know how he had provoked Hogari. He tossed his backpack, now empty of snacks, onto the grass and stepped forward as well.
The two men stood before Hogari, forming a triangle. At that moment, hidden from the other candidates, they released their Nen Energy.
"Apologize to me for your disrespect." The knives in Hogari's hands swayed like snakes. "As candidates who want to become hunters, you're unqualified."
Gelman blinked his dark eyes. Hisoka curled his lips. Neither of them moved.
Hogari's face had darkened until it blended with the predawn night.
"So that's how it is? I'd heard there were two troublemakers among the candidates, and it seems I was right... I won't let you pass. Before that, I'll make sure you understand the consequences of your actions."
"That's what he says." Hisoka turned his head toward Gelman. A playing card spun nimbly between his five fingers. "What do you think we should do?"
Gelman still stuck to his earlier decision and pretended, in full view of everyone, that he didn't know Hisoka, though quite a few people had already noticed that they seemed acquainted.
"I haven't done anything that deserves an apology," Gelman said. "If you mean the yawn just now, it was because I had to get up at four in the morning and didn't get enough sleep. Strictly speaking, that's your fault."
Seeing that Gelman still refused to speak to him, Hisoka simply addressed Hogari too. "You say we're unqualified? What if the examiner's knowledge and abilities are too limited to make a sound judgment? What then?"
Those two remarks, adding fuel to the fire, finally enraged Hogari completely.
He bent slightly, taking up a poised stance, and snapped, "Then I'll show you my knowledge and abilities!"
He took a step forward, rapidly closing the distance between them. The knife in his right hand was aimed at Hisoka's throat, but at the last moment, he changed his target to Hisoka's arm.
The last remnant of restraint expected of a Hunter Exam examiner made him change his mind. He decided to teach the two of them a lesson and leave it at that.
In Hogari's mind, concealed by the darkness, the knife in his right hand would pierce Hisoka's arm.
After pulling out the knife, he would swiftly sink down and drive the knife in his left hand into Gelman's thigh.
Only when he stood back up would the two men realize they had been injured and panic.
The other candidates would witness this example being made of them and respect him all the more.
But as he thought this, the very first step went wrong.
Before you continue