Prisoners' Arena

On the arena platform, Gon and the other four stood in a row. Across from them, five prisoners emerged from the shadows, their handcuffs already removed. The darkness obscured their faces.

An announcement rang out across the venue, Lippo's voice businesslike.

"A one-on-one relay match. If the examinees win three rounds first, all of you will pass the Trick Tower trial. There is no time limit for each match; it ends only when one side surrenders. Now, please decide who will compete in the first round."

Gon immediately raised his hand.

Tonpa reached out and stopped him.

"I'll go first." Tonpa patted his chest and said with a smile, "I've taken the exam thirty-five times. Let me test the waters first and figure out what they're capable of."

Leorio frowned and looked at him suspiciously. "You? Weren't you voting against us every time during the majority vote just now?"

"That was caution, caution." Tonpa raised both hands, looking utterly sincere. "But this is a fight. I really do want to help everyone win. Let me get a feel for them first, so you guys will have an easier time afterward."

Gon thought about it, then nodded. "Okay, then Mr. Tonpa can go first."

Kurapika said nothing, watching Tonpa warily. Killua leaned against the railing with his hands in his pockets, a mocking smile at the corner of his mouth.

The five of them voted, unanimously approving Tonpa as the first fighter.

Tonpa walked toward the center of the arena. Across from him, a bald, heavily muscled brute stepped out. He took off his shirt, revealing a body covered in scars and arms bulging with veins.

"I'm Bendot. One hundred and ninety-nine years left on my sentence, convicted of robbery and murder." His booming voice carried a murderous edge. "I propose a fight to the death, until one of us stops breathing. What do you say?"

Tonpa assumed a standard fighting stance, looking impressively imposing. "Sure, I accept."

Bendot roared and stomped his right foot down hard. The entire arena shook. Like a charging bull, he barreled toward Tonpa, his right fist raised high as it came whistling down toward Tonpa's head.

Just as the fist was about to land—

Tonpa dropped to both knees with a thud, slammed his forehead directly against the arena floor, and shouted with all his might, "I surrender!!!"

Bendot slammed on the brakes and nearly tripped over himself. His fist stopped less than five centimeters above Tonpa's head. He froze in place, his eyes wide as saucers.

The entire venue fell silent for a full three seconds.

When Tonpa returned to the stands, Leorio instantly exploded. He rushed over, grabbed Tonpa by the collar, veins bulging on his forehead as he roared, "What the hell was that?! You surrendered without even fighting?! You could've at least dodged when he charged at you! Do you realize you just gave them a point?!"

Tonpa looked utterly unconcerned as he slowly pried Leorio's fingers off. "I'm not fighting a guy like that. I might get beaten to death. Besides, we still have four rounds left. Losing one doesn't matter."

"Doesn't matter?!" Leorio trembled with rage. "You think it doesn't matter?! The five of us are tied together! How can you be so selfish?!"

Tonpa suddenly dropped his smile, a sinister malice surfacing on his face.

"Selfish? I never planned to pass the exam with you in the first place. I don't want to become a Hunter at all."

He leaned close to Leorio, lowering his voice and speaking one word at a time.

"I've taken the Hunter Exam thirty-five times in a row just to watch hopeful newcomers like you get crushed by the exam, beaten black and blue until all your hopes are shattered. That's the greatest pleasure in my life."

"You bastard!" Leorio was too furious to speak. His fist clenched with a crack, and he raised it to strike.

Kurapika reached out and grabbed Leorio's wrist, stopping him with force. "Don't hit him, Leorio. Fighting among ourselves will only waste time. We'd be playing right into the prisoners' hands."

Leaning against a distant railing with his hands in his pockets, Killua coldly added, "But he's not wrong. That musclehead was planning to beat him half to death, then drag things out for three or four hours to reduce his sentence. Surrendering right away actually saved us quite a bit of time."

Bendot was still standing in the center of the arena, his fist not yet lowered. He looked down at it, then at Tonpa, who had already walked away. With a deeply frustrated expression, he forced a few words through clenched teeth.

"Lucky you..."

In the monitoring room, Lippo watched the screen, the corner of his mouth twitching slightly. He quickly hid his face behind his coffee cup. Then he pressed the broadcast button, trying hard to keep his tone businesslike.

"First round, victory to the prisoners. The score is zero to one. Please decide on the examinee for the second round."

In the lower-level hall, Saitama woke up and looked up at the timer. Less than an hour had passed. He changed positions, leaned back in his chair, and continued staring blankly at the cracks in the ceiling. The examiner sat at his desk pretending to read the registration forms, occasionally glancing at him from the corner of his eye.

Saitama closed his eyes and fell asleep again.

On the arena platform.

"I'll take the second round." Gon volunteered and stepped forward.

Sedokan emerged from the shadows across from him. He was tall and thin, with long fingers holding two candles—a long one and a short one.

"Let's compete by burning candles." Sedokan raised the two candles before him, his voice calm. "We'll light them at the same time. Whoever's candle goes out first loses. You can use a majority vote to choose either the long candle or the short one."

The five gathered together. Leorio scratched his head. "What kind of trick is this now?"

Kurapika looked at Gon. "Choose one based on your intuition."

Gon glanced at the two candles and answered without hesitation, "I'll choose the long one."

"Why?"

"Because a long candle is more likely to burn longer."

Kurapika nodded. The five voted, and the decision passed unanimously.

The corner of Sedokan's mouth curled slightly. He had prepared four candles—whether Gon chose the long one or the short one, he could give him the tampered candle.

He handed the long candle to Gon and kept the short one for himself.

They lit the candles at the same time. At first, both flames burned steadily, swaying gently on the arena platform. Gon shielded his flame with one hand, his eyes fixed on the candlelight.

But before long, the flame on Gon's long candle suddenly grew larger. It shot higher, and the candle began burning noticeably faster—wax dripped onto the arena floor with faint sizzling sounds.

Leorio shouted, "Why is your candle burning so fast?!"

A barely noticeable smile appeared at the corner of Sedokan's mouth. His short candle was still burning steadily, its flame low and stable.

Gon stared at his candle for several seconds. The flame was getting higher and higher, while the candle itself was visibly shrinking. If he did not act now, it would be too late.

He did something no one expected. He crouched down and placed his candle on the ground.

Leorio froze. "What are you doing?!"

The candle continued burning after leaving his hand. Gon stood up and charged toward Sedokan.

Sedokan's pupils contracted, and he instinctively stepped back. But Gon had already reached him. He took a deep breath—"Hoo—!"

Sedokan covered his candle with his hand, but the gust was too strong. The flame on the short candle shook violently, tilted, and went out.

Gon's long candle continued burning steadily on the ground. Because it had been soaked in oil, the flame was large but harder to blow out.

Sedokan looked down at the extinguished candle in his hand. The last wisp of smoke from the wick was scattered by the lingering gust across the arena.

"...I lost."

He turned and walked back into the shadows.

Examinees 1:1.

Gon bent down and picked up the still-burning long candle, then blew it out. The wick burned his fingertip, and he shook his hand before giving his teammates a thumbs-up. Leorio rushed onto the arena and patted him on the shoulder. "You scared me to death! I thought you were going to lose—" A faint smile appeared on Kurapika's lips. Leaning against the railing, Killua unusually had no snarky comment.

In the lower-level hall, Saitama opened his eyes and yawned. The timer was still ticking. He sat up, took out the sausage he had asked the examiner for earlier, and took a bite. It had gone cold and was a little hard. Then he rummaged through another pocket and pulled out a compressed biscuit, slowly chewing sausage and biscuit together.

After Saitama finished eating, he stood and walked over to the examiner's desk. "Where's the bathroom?" The examiner pointed him in the right direction. When Saitama came back, he changed positions in his chair again and closed his eyes. The hall fell quiet.

In front of the television, Genos stared at the screen.

He had memorized every part of the Hunter Exam. After the prisoners' arena in Trick Tower came the waiting, then the walls in the passageways. His teacher would have to sit idly in that lower-level hall for a very long time. He watched Saitama lean back in his chair, pull out the wrapper from the compressed biscuit, shake it twice, and tip the last crumbs into his mouth.

Genos lowered his eyes to the opened bag of chips on the coffee table, then turned to look at the refrigerator. Inside were premium wagyu beef, eggs, and napa cabbage. But those were for his teacher to eat when he came back, so he could not touch them.

He stood and walked into the kitchen, washed his hands, measured out enough rice for two from the rice bag, and put it into the rice cooker. Then he pressed the cook button.

The red light on the rice cooker came on. The rice and water began to heat up.

He returned to the sofa and sat down. On the screen, his teacher had changed positions and was sleeping while facing the back of the chair. He could sleep for quite a while longer.