Morning in Kaliru City carried the dampness of a coastal city.
The morning breeze hit Leo's face, mingling the salty smell of the distant harbor with the aroma of food drifting from breakfast stalls.
Leo had arrived a day early by airship for the Hunter Exam. He planned to look around while he waited for tomorrow's test.
There were few pedestrians on the streets, but some figures were already hurrying along, carrying all kinds of gear, their eyes alert and their steps quick.
Hunter Exam candidates.
Leo bought a local seafood pancake from a stall and ate it as he wandered down Liyoupi Street.
Tall buildings lined both sides of the street, their glass facades reflecting the morning light. A few old brick-and-stone buildings stood among the modern ones, giving the street a distinctive blend of old and new.
Tonkotsu Ichiban Ramen was tucked between two office buildings.
The shop was small. Its wooden sign had faded, and its doorway curtain had been washed nearly white.
It wasn't open yet, and the shutter was half lowered.
Leo glanced at it from the opposite corner, noted its location, then headed toward the harbor.
Kaliru City was a major port on the eastern coast of the Ulubian Continent, its docks crowded with freighters and fishing boats.
Leo spent the morning exploring the market. He tried grilled sea snails, fried fish cakes, and shellfish soup simmered with local spices.
The food was good, but he was more interested in observing the city and the people who might be fellow candidates.
A muscular man over two meters tall, his muscles bulging like rocks, swallowed his noodles, bowl and broth included, in one gulp.
A girl in traditional dress, with little pouches hanging all around her waist, made any food she touched with her fingers change color slightly.
There was also a boy wearing headphones whose toes barely touched the ground as he walked, moving without a sound.
Leo returned to his hotel that evening.
The room was simple and clean. From the window, he could see Kaliru City at night: the harbor lighthouse flashing at regular intervals as neon signs lit up one by one.
Leo sat cross-legged on the bed and began his daily Nen Ability training.
The night passed without incident.
The next day, at nine in the morning.
Tonkotsu Ichiban Ramen was open, with a few scattered customers seated inside.
Leo pushed open the glass door, setting a wind chime ringing.
The interior was plain, with wooden tables and chairs and a yellowed menu on the wall.
"Welcome."
The man behind the counter was around forty, wearing a white apron and a practiced smile.
"What can I get you?"
"One special tonkotsu ramen," Leo said.
"Any special requests?"
"I don't eat beef. Extra scallions."
A flicker of understanding crossed the man's eyes, almost too faint to catch.
He nodded and came out from behind the counter.
"Of course. Please follow me."
He led Leo down a narrow passage and pushed open the kitchen door.
Steam billowed through the kitchen. Two busy cooks paid them no attention.
At the back stood an inconspicuous metal door that looked like it led to a storeroom.
The man pressed a button on the wall. The metal door slid aside, revealing an old elevator with mottled steel walls.
"Don't touch anything once you're inside," he instructed.
Leo stepped into the elevator. The door closed slowly. There were no floor buttons, only an illuminated arrow pointing up.
The elevator began to rise. It wasn't fast, and he could hear the cables and pulleys creaking against each other.
About twenty seconds later, it stopped with a ding.
The doors slid apart. A wall of noise flooded into the elevator.
Before him lay a vast indoor space, as though an entire office floor had been opened up and converted.
The ceiling rose more than ten meters high, and the room covered an area the size of two basketball courts.
Quite a crowd had gathered already: men and women, young and old, dressed in all kinds of clothes. Some stood alone in corners, while others talked quietly in small groups.
The instant Leo stepped out of the elevator, dozens of people near it turned to look at him.
The noise faltered for a beat. Hundreds of eyes fixed on him, appraising, curious, wary, or openly hostile.
Expressionless, Leo walked straight to an empty stretch of wall on the left and stopped in the corner, leaning back against it with his hands in his pockets.
From there, he had a clear view of the entire hall, while the solid wall behind him left nothing to watch out for at his back.
The candidates watched him for a few seconds. Seeing only an ordinary-looking young man, they lost interest and returned to their conversations and preparations.
The hall grew noisy again.
Leo swept his gaze across it.
There were plenty of candidates this year.
He spotted a few "familiar faces" in the crowd.
The muscular man sat on the floor in the middle of the hall doing one-handed push-ups. Every repetition made the floor tremble slightly.
The girl in traditional dress crouched in a corner, fiddling with the pouches at her waist.
The boy with headphones leaned against the opposite wall, eyes closed as if listening to music.
And there was a short, ordinary-looking middle-aged man.
Wearing an excessively warm smile, he moved among several candidates who looked like newcomers, handing out drinks and chatting with them.
Tonpa. The rookie crusher.
Leo looked away and paid him no more attention.
A few minutes later, a short figure in a suit and a bean-shaped mask squeezed through the crowd and approached Leo.
"Here you go."
Beans handed him a number badge: a white card with black digits.
"Number 321. This is your badge."
"Thanks."
Leo took it and pinned it to his chest.
Beans nodded, said nothing more, and turned toward the next new arrival.
Time passed.
Every few minutes, the elevator delivered another batch of candidates. The hall grew more crowded.
The mood gradually tightened, an invisible pressure filling the air.
Some candidates began warming up. Others checked their equipment. Still others made a point of showing off their abilities. The muscular man, for instance, had lifted a heavy metal trash can nearby.
"Hello."
A voice sounded beside Leo.
Tonpa had appeared next to him, wearing that trademark smile of his, a little too friendly to be genuine.
"I'm Tonpa. You're new, right? This is my thirty-third Hunter Exam, so I'm an old hand! Ask me if there's anything you don't understand."
He held out a can of juice.
"Here, have a drink. No need to be nervous."
Leo didn't even look at him. His gaze remained fixed straight ahead.
Tonpa's smile stiffened for an instant, then returned.
"I don't mean any harm. I just thought we could be friends. The Hunter Exam is dangerous, and it always helps to have someone watching your back..."
"Get lost."
Leo's voice was quiet and ice-cold.
The smile vanished from Tonpa's face.
He stared at Leo for two seconds as beads of cold sweat broke out on his forehead. It was an instinctive response to danger.
Leo hadn't released any Nen Pressure, but something about him, honed by countless fights to the death, made a man like Tonpa, who preyed on newcomers, feel genuinely threatened.
"All right..."
Tonpa backed away two steps and forced a smile.
"Good luck with the Hunter Exam."
He turned and quickly vanished into the crowd.
Leo glanced at his retreating back, then ignored him.
Noon sharp.
Ding—
A clear bell rang from the front of the hall. It wasn't loud, yet somehow it cut through all the noise and reached every ear.
The crowd parted to form a path.
A man in a white trench coat and a broad-brimmed white hat walked slowly out.
He was not tall, about 170 centimeters, but his steps were steady. The hem of his coat swayed as he moved, revealing a dark combat uniform beneath.
He stopped at the front of the hall and turned to face the candidates.
"Registration is closed."
His voice rang out, strong and full.
"The Hunter Exam officially begins! There are 754 candidates in total!"
The man removed his hat, revealing neatly combed hair and a sharply defined face. His eyes were as keen as a hawk's.
"I'm the examiner for the first test—Buzidora!"
Leo raised an eyebrow.
Buzidora.
He remembered the name. Buzidora had appeared in the election arc of the original story as a Hunter Association disciplinary committee member, shouting about restoring the Seirin Team to its former glory before Hisoka dealt with him easily. He'd barely had any part in the story.
"The first test is as follows."
Buzidora's voice echoed through the hall, every word clear.
"Defeat the people around you and take their number badges."
He raised a hand and pointed to the badges on the candidates' chests.
"Your own badge is worth one point. Every other badge is worth one point as well. Collect three badges for a total of three points, and you advance."
Buzidora pointed toward the ceiling.
"I'll be waiting for you on the roof. You have two hours."
His hard gaze swept across the hall.
"Take note: the test officially begins once I enter the elevator and its doors close. The countdown starts now."
The hall fell deathly silent.
The whispers, conversations, and sounds of movement from moments before disappeared.
All 754 candidates tensed at once.
Eyes shifted, choosing targets, calculating distances, assessing threats.
Leo remained against the wall.
Buzidora walked toward the elevator at an unhurried pace.
He pressed the button, and the elevator doors slid open.
He stepped inside, turned, and faced the hall.
The doors slowly drew together. In the final instant before the gap closed completely—"Begin."
Buzidora's voice slipped through the narrowing gap.
Then the elevator's upward indicator lit up.
The hall erupted in roars, shouts, impacts, and screams, every sound bursting out at once and merging into a deafening uproar!
Several people nearest the elevator immediately lunged at those beside them!
Fists, kicks, weapons—attacks exploded throughout the crowd!
One candidate was slammed hard against the wall and knocked unconscious.
His attacker tore off his number badge and turned to lunge at the next target.
Before you continue