Stay Away from Nan Tong

All the examinees turned their eyes toward the man carrying two swords.

"I'm this year's examiner, Hutori. Allow me to introduce myself."

The examiner calling himself Hutori didn't look nervous under the examinees' many stares.

"This year's exam venue is the Monster Forest, here on the Aijin Continent."

"Changing venues seemed like too much trouble, so all the examiners this year decided to hold our tests in the same place."

"The exam will cover two areas: treasure hunting and cuisine." Hutori stood in the middle of the crowd with his arms folded, his voice steady.

"Allow me to explain the treasure-hunting part." Bindo suddenly stepped into view from behind the crowd and spoke with a gentle expression.

"Simply put, the examiners have hidden quite a few treasures in this forest. You have the next seven days to find them, and only the ten examinees who find the most valuable treasures will pass." He smiled as he spoke, looking almost too gentle.

Rogov, whose face had turned faintly green, slowly added, "As for the cuisine, you'll be responsible for preparing all three of our meals during the seven days of the exam. If even one of us finds the food unappetizing, you fail."

"Of course, if you manage to make a dish all three of us like at any point during the exam, you'll pass."

"You only truly pass if you pass both parts."

Most of the people present looked troubled.

Fighting was easy for them, but cooking...

Hutori stood to one side and said in a low voice, "I have no requirements."

After all, just finding the most valuable treasure would be enough to make plenty of people fail.

"Now, the exam begins." Bindo clapped his hands and announced the start.

In an instant, most of the examinees charged off in all directions, vanishing into the forest.

A small number remained behind, like Su Wu, or the few drenched stragglers sprawled on the ground after crawling out of the sea, and then there was...

Hisoka, who leisurely set off only after the two nonhumans had started moving.

Good. The pervert's attention had been completely drawn to the two nonhumans. No need to worry about him latching onto me.

I know it sounds bad, but—

I'm really not into men. Hisoka, go play with someone else.

Su Wu thought expressionlessly. He got up, made a few leaps, and disappeared into the woods as well.

Cang wasn't very convenient to use in the forest, with so many trees around, but fortunately, he was already pretty fast.

Treasures weren't living things, and they didn't have any energy, so in theory, they should've been difficult to find.

But the people who buried the treasures had energy, and the treasures they'd handled retained traces of it. So, by following those faint traces, he could find where the items were hidden.

For Su Wu, the hardest parts were judging the treasures' value and actually making food himself.

Heaven knew his living skills were practically nonexistent. He'd never even washed his own clothes, not even after arriving in Meteor City. He'd had the kids in District 12 do it for him.

The kids hadn't agreed at first, of course. But after he'd physically persuaded them, they'd had no choice but to nod through their tears.

After leaving Meteor City, he'd simply thrown out his clothes when they got dirty and bought new ones. He always ate at restaurants, too.

He'd never had to worry about any of that.

"I have absolutely no idea what this is worth. I'm no jewelry appraiser..." Su Wu stood in front of a tree, looking up at it.

It was about five meters tall, with a purplish-black trunk dotted with black holes that looked like eyes and a mouth. On either side, branches stuck out like arms.

It looked incredibly disturbing, like some plant from a world of horrors.

Especially since, according to the Six Eyes, this tree's life energy was stronger than that of ninety percent of the examinees.

"Devil Tree?" Su Wu casually came up with a name for it.

Then the tree suddenly moved.

The hole in its trunk that should've been its mouth gaped wide, letting out a chant that sounded like it came from hell. "Aaaaaaaaaaaaaah—"

Black, thorny vines lashed about like they were dancing, but every time they swung, they came straight at Su Wu.

Clearly, this was an attack.

"That's so loud..." Su Wu covered his ears, his face full of obvious disgust.

He couldn't take it anymore.

He raised his left hand. A black-and-blue mass of energy gradually swelled in his palm. The invisible pull drew fallen leaves toward him, crushing them to powder in an instant, while the plants' leaves were forced to turn his way.

"Cang—" He pushed the black-and-blue orb toward the tree.

A moment later, all that remained where the tree had stood was a scorched crater.

A long, blackened trench now stretched across the ground ahead of him.

"Well, Cang is an area attack, after all..." Su Wu withdrew his hand and looked at the scene, nodding with some satisfaction.

The Cang he could use now was far more powerful than the one he'd used at first.

"Will I get in trouble for destroying the greenery here?" he mused.

Since they'd chosen this place as an exam venue, it should be fine, right?

He crouched down and dug through the scorched soil beneath the tree's roots, pulling out a treasure chest.

He opened it and found a mirror inside. Its silver frame was set with a blue sapphire, and its surface was clear.

It looked nice, but "silverware probably isn't worth much. The sapphire might be worth a bit more..." Su Wu weighed the mirror in his hand.

"But if an antique has some special history behind it, that can make it worth a fortune..." He examined the mirror, wondering whether it had any such history.

But he knew absolutely nothing about this world's history.

For the first time in his life, Su Wu felt the pain of not knowing enough.

So he was the ignorant one after all.

"There's no helping it. There's only one solution." Su Wu sighed and made up his mind.

The examiners hadn't said he couldn't steal from others, had they? As long as nobody else found any treasures, and he was the only one with one, then his treasure would be the most valuable, wouldn't it?

Decision made. Once the others found their treasures, he'd go and take them all.

After all, some people were bound to fail to find any treasure, or die at the hands of monsters or plants.

Just like the mirror he'd found, buried beside the roots of that Devil Tree.

The other chests had to be hidden next to some strange plants or in the lairs of dangerous beasts, too.

He only needed to keep an eye on everyone's movements with the Six Eyes and be ready to take advantage of them at any moment.

"Everyone, do your best."

"How well I do depends on how hard you work." He sat on a branch with his back against the trunk, admiring the moon as he spoke, his voice full of delight.

From this angle, the moonlight tonight was beautiful, too.

Of course, the examinees' miserable, disheveled appearances were even more worth looking forward to.

He ought to add a little fuel to the fire.

He closed his eyes and observed the life energy around him. When he noticed two individuals about to meet, he opened them again.

He pushed off the tree with his right foot, and his figure vanished from the spot.

Dear readers, believe me, I really wasn't padding this chapter on purpose.

Please read more and more—I'm hoping to get a recommendation spot, sob. I'm begging you!