Maro X Maro

"Will he tell me his name?"

"Will he be willing to talk to me?"

"At this age, with this strength, he must look down on a weakling like me..."

The blonde boy with the bob cut dug his fingernails deep into the flesh of his palm, hidden behind his back, but his face still held a timid, cautious expression as he gazed at the white-haired, blue-eyed youth.

The other boy possessed a rare, complex charm that blended two extremes, making him incredibly eye-catching.

"Before asking for someone's name, you should introduce yourself first."

The white-haired, blue-eyed youth raised an eyebrow, the black markings on his face moving with it. His gaze was indifferent, yet held nothing special.

There was no contempt, no admiration, just indifference.

A very fair look, which inexplicably made one breathe a sigh of relief.

"My name is Maro, and I'm from Youkelin City..." The blonde boy with the bob cut looked even a bit shy as he introduced himself, even blushing.

This guy... blushing for no reason?

Su Wu couldn't bear to watch and shifted his gaze to the sky outside the glass window.

Speaking of which, the pronunciation of the name Maro sounded a lot like 'malo' (a derogatory term for monkeys)...

"You're from Youkelin, huh? Got it, malo." Su Wu nodded slightly, replying politely. As the words left his mouth, he realized his mistake.

Ah, he'd misspoken the other's name.

Oh well, it wasn't a big deal. Even if this guy realized it, he couldn't get angry, could he? Because he was weak.

The name Youkelin also sounded familiar. That was the city where the auction was held, right? The one rumored to be controlled by the mafia.

How could a 'malo' living in a mafia-controlled city look so timid?

"Um... you still haven't told me your name..." Maro asked cautiously.

"...Hill." Su Wu gave his fake name.

"En! Hill! Can I travel with you?" The blonde boy's face showed visible excitement and joy.

But he only gave a fake name? As expected, he couldn't understand the thoughts of weak creatures.

Su Wu thought this internally while decisively giving his answer: "No."

He had no interest in traveling with others, especially if they might be dead weight.

"I meant while we're on the airship. After we get off, you don't have to worry about me. Of course, if I get into trouble on the airship, you don't need to interfere. Just let me follow you..." The blonde boy tried to say something to impress the other, but the white-haired, blue-eyed youth's face remained completely indifferent.

"You're noisy." He even frowned and impatiently interrupted the other directly.

"Don't follow me." His figure instantly disappeared from Maro's sight.

"...Rejected..." The blonde boy looked at the empty space in front of him and lowered his head.

"As expected, no one wants to be friends with a weakling like me," he muttered to himself softly.

Drops of blood from his palm fell onto the transparent glass. He quickly squatted down and wiped it clean.

Su Wu shook off the 'malo' and went alone to an unoccupied lounge.

The lounge was a single room, with a bed roughly 1.8x2 meters in size and an attached private bathroom.

It couldn't compare to the luxurious hotel environment outside, but it was still much better than a typical inn.

He placed his backpack on the bed and picked up a pen to write a small note to stick on the room door.

[No entry without permission.]

After glancing at the note, he confidently headed towards the recreation room.

Quite a few people had already arrived at the recreation room before him.

There were people sitting at the bar, drinking, and a few others gathered around playing cards.

"You lost again. Looks like your luck hasn't been good lately."

"Bad luck can easily get you killed during the exam, you know."

The person who won the most was full of mockery. The person who lost the most was so angry he drew his knife and held it to the throat of the biggest winner.

"If you kill me now, you'll be disqualified from the exam." The man with the knife at his throat wasn't panicked at all. He even calmly continued shuffling the cards, his tone placid.

"Then let's see if your luck holds out until the end of the exam." The one who drew the knife put it away, sat down again, and threatened fiercely.

It was clear he had decided to settle the score with the other man after the exam.

Su Wu watched all this and sat down on a sofa in the corner, sinking into the plush, soft cushions.

"So, examinees can't kill other examinees..."

"How come I remember Hisoka killed a lot of examinees?" he mused thoughtfully.

Hisoka even passed the exam later.

So, as long as I'm not discovered, it's fine.

After all, the Hunter Exam is inherently life-threatening.

"Anyone want to play cards with me?" he asked, lazily raising his hand.

No one responded.

This was normal. Among these villains, who would want to play with a child?

"Then does anyone want to go to the training room? I can be a sparring partner." Su Wu asked again, not surprised.

This time, someone finally replied.

It seems there are more martial artists here. That makes sense, since they all came to participate in the Hunter Exam.

"Seriously? Kid, you don't look qualified to be a sparring partner." The man who responded to Su Wu had incredibly developed biceps and didn't like to wear his clothes properly, deliberately showing off his muscles.

The man's fist was bigger than Su Wu's head, as were his biceps.

Coincidentally, I also think you guys aren't qualified to be sparring partners. You're not even one percent as strong as Sid.

But since I'm free anyway, I'll let you all have the same sparring partner status as Sid for now.

"We'll know if we try," the white-haired, blue-eyed boy said from the sofa, seeming to find even getting up difficult. His voice was lazy and carried a hint of a smile.

"Hmph, let's go," the man said, walking out of the lounge first.

Su Wu also left the sofa, yawning as he followed the man.

Behind Su Wu, other examinees who wanted to watch the show followed.

While the airship has a large space, the area available to the examinees is limited. Especially after dividing it into a lounge, dining hall, rest area, and medical bay, in addition to exclusive areas only accessible to examiners and professional Hunters, the space available for examinees to train in is even more limited.

Therefore, one training room per person is impossible. The examinees share one training room, which can accommodate dozens of people training simultaneously.

When Su Wu and the others arrived, there were already other people in the training room.

As soon as the training room door opened, the sound of fists colliding with flesh could be heard from inside.

This shows that the soundproofing in the training room is quite good.

Su Wu stepped into the training room. It was equipped with all sorts of training equipment, even wooden dummies and sandbags.

The people inside were training individually or in pairs, scattered around.

The guy with the blonde bob, Maro, was also engaged in one-on-one training. Well, he was playing a very important role in the training – the sandbag.

Despite having a similar life energy to his opponent, he was being completely beaten down.

It really is more fitting to call him "Maro" (monkey).

"Watch closely. Maybe this will be your fate," the man with the particularly large biceps said to Su Wu, tilting his chin dismissively as he looked at the one-sided beating.

"Oh, really?" The white-haired, blue-eyed boy curled his lips into a smile that held a hint of the sinister.