Can I Be Your Disciple?

The freighter was enormous, ranking among the best in the world in both cargo capacity and displacement, yet even it felt cramped with twenty thousand people aboard.

The drastic reduction in personal space packed the crowd together. Some strangers hit it off and became friends, while others took an immediate dislike to one another and clashed.

Laughter, curses, friendly chatter, and savage brawls erupted now and then. But no matter which it was, it all amounted to chaos. Yet the freighter's captain—the preliminary examiner hired by the Hunter Association—paid no attention whatsoever, allowing order to collapse unchecked.

It was not only the clashes between people of different temperaments; life aboard the freighter was dreadful as well. The basic needs of twenty thousand people—food, water, toilets, sleep—received no guarantee at all. It was not as if no one had tried to see the captain or ask the sailors what they were supposed to do, but the captain hid in his cabin, and when the sailors grew tired of being questioned, they simply snapped, "Quit whining. Figure it out yourselves"...

"The first round of eliminations started long ago. Only idiots are still hung up on such pointless things."

Bred guessed that the first round of eliminations had begun the moment they boarded the freighter. The test was likely meant to assess the Hunter Exam applicants' endurance and whether they were sufficiently prepared for crises that could strike at any moment, such as water or food shortages. It fit perfectly with the sort of question a freighter captain would devise after spending years making a living crossing the vast sea and enduring far too many dull, monotonous days.

Silent all this time, Ging glanced at Bred and muttered, "You really don't seem like a child."

"You're not much older than me," Bred said with a soft laugh.

Bred could sense Ging's restraint. He seemed shy around strangers, perhaps even bashful. And Ging was exceptionally mature, with thoughts far more delicate than any twelve-year-old should possess. Thus, the two only spoke intermittently, exchanging a few words here and there. Though Bred was curious about Ging, he had to avoid saying too much and giving himself away, letting Ging glimpse the truth behind him.

But trouble always came uninvited.

"Hey, hey~~~"

"Little twerp, you've got a nice spot there. How about letting this lord sit down?"

"Exactly! There's no way trash like you can pass the Hunter Exam anyway. Give up your spots so those who can pass can rest up."

"Be good, and Uncle will give you some candy."

"..."

A group of tall, powerfully built men in matching uniforms—burly fellows apparently from some boxing gym or dojo—came onto the deck, taunting and threatening them.

"Looking to die!" Mosquito Girl gritted her teeth, impulsively preparing to chop off their heads.

Bred reached out to stop Mosquito Girl and said with a smile, "Sure. Stand in front of me, and I'll give the spots to you people who can pass the Hunter Exam."

He put heavy emphasis on "you people who can pass the Hunter Exam." Together with his expression, the mockery in his words was impossible to miss.

"Is this little bastard... looking down on us?"

"Stand in front of you? I'm afraid you won't be able to stand afterward!"

"..."

Facing the men's fierce momentum, Bred shifted the arm holding Mosquito Girl back and curled his fingers, his smile unchanged.

"Buzzz~~~"

An inexplicable, bone-chilling cold enveloped the burly men. In an instant, they froze stiff, unable to cross the mere few steps between them.

Because a single thought kept surfacing in their minds—death.

"Run! Run!"

"Monster!!!"

"That freak's way too terrifying!"

"..."

After several seconds of deadlock, the burly men scattered in panic, drawing countless stares.

Bred, meanwhile, examined his own hand and thought, It worked.

"What was that?" Ging asked. His intuition was extraordinarily sharp. "Don't tell me you didn't do anything."

Bred blinked. "An application of Nen."

"Nen?" A thirst for knowledge surged in Ging's puzzled eyes.

Bred pondered for a moment. "Everyone possesses an innate energy. The technique of freely controlling that energy is called Nen."

"I... uh... well..." Ging scratched his head awkwardly. After holding it in for a long while, he finally said, "Can I become your student?"

Bred: "..."

"There's no need to become my student. To be honest, I'm not mentally prepared to be anyone's master or teacher yet." Bred tapped his fingers against the railing. After weighing it for a long time, he said, "Remember this favor, Ging Freecss. Perhaps one day I'll need you to repay it, or perhaps that day will never come. But when it does, I hope you'll remember everything that happened today and do your best to help me."

"I'll remember it," Ging promised solemnly.

Bred carefully taught Ging the knowledge of Nen and instructed both him and Mosquito Girl. He also used the opportunity to review it himself.

Time trickled by.

Noon, January 14.

Ging, whose physical qualities were excellent and whose will was especially strong, awakened the life energy within his body. It had taken exactly one week, an achievement that could only be called exceptionally gifted.

Meanwhile, after a week without food and with water supplied only once every two days, some people aboard the freighter could not endure any longer and voluntarily withdrew from the Hunter Exam, whereupon escort ships surrounding the freighter took them away. Some incited riots in an attempt to force the captain to meet their demands, only to be judged eliminated from the Hunter Exam. Some became self-reliant, but others who could not fend for themselves resorted to trickery and plunder. Injuries and disabilities often forced people to withdraw from the Hunter Exam...

The number of people had dwindled again and again, leaving less than a tenth behind—only a little over a thousand remained.

"Congratulations. You have earned tickets to continue onward," the freighter captain announced over the ship's loudspeakers without ever leaving his cabin.

Immediately afterward.

The sailors busily distributed fresh water and food to each qualified person, along with an information slip that looked like a child's scribble.

"We'll dock shortly. Follow the route on the map," the freighter captain irresponsibly instructed.

Bred unfolded the information slip in his hand. "..." What the hell, this was a map?!

Keeping his composure, Bred decided to travel with Ging. And then? Then he breezed through the preliminary selections of the second and third stages, before finally making his way to the final testing ground—"Greediness," Greed Island.

A sushi restaurant.

"One plate of cherry blossom sushi, no sushi..."

Faced with such a nonsensical code phrase, Bred felt that the Hunter Association did not seem particularly reliable either.

Before long.

They left through the sushi restaurant's back door and followed the markers all the way forward.

Several hundred people had already gathered before the final testing ground.

Bred easily spotted the other four members of the team within the crowd.

Esdeath stood high atop a massive tree trunk, looking down at everyone as she excitedly sorted out who was trash and who was an opponent she wanted to fight.

Kurando Akabane was as inconspicuous as air, leaning against a rock and reading a book.

While secretly stealing glances at Esdeath, Melard skillfully approached girls in the guise of a girl herself, planning to sleep with them.

"Eh?! Such a little brother?!"

The exaggerated voice came from a short, fat young man with a square nose.

PS: A few parts of the previous chapter were slightly adjusted to avoid inconsistencies. The cruise ship was changed to a cargo ship, and the number of registration locations was increased. Also, in the original work, Hunter Exam registration was done online; here, the setting is that applicants register at public registration locations announced by the Hunter Association.