The rest area sat on a forested ledge halfway up the mountain. Cabins stood scattered among the trees, cooking smoke still hung in the air, and some candidates had just finished eating. A few dozed with their heads on rough wooden tables, while others stood alone at the edge of the platform, gazing into the distance.
The sun had only just risen. The air smelled of pine bark and cooking fires, like a brief chance to catch one's breath after a fight.
"Candidate 199, please come with me."
Ryan had just set his leftover eggshells in his bowl when a staff member in a blue-gray uniform stopped beside him. The man's voice was even, betraying no emotion.
"Where to?"
"The interview room."
Ryan didn't ask who had arranged it or whether any other candidates had been called away. He simply nodded and stood.
They followed wooden steps from the platform into the mountainside, past low shrubs and a strip of marsh grass, to a cabin hidden behind branches. It looked like an old hunting outpost, plain enough that there wasn't even a flag outside.
The door opened as soon as they reached it.
Inside were one man, one table, and two chairs. The room had no windows. A shaft of light fell through a gap in the roof, dividing the room in two.
The man at the table looked about fifty. He wore a dark green shirt with the sleeves rolled up and sat with his hands clasped before him, looking like a midlevel administrator whose exact job was anyone's guess.
"Please, sit." His voice was hoarse, with a slight southern accent.
Ryan sat down and rested his hands on his knees.
"My name is Noda. I'm an observer and record-keeper for this year's Hunter Exam." The man smiled, taking his time with the introduction. "There's no examiner for this round, only an interview. It isn't an interrogation or a test. Just answer honestly."
Ryan met his gaze, his expression calm.
"Why me?"
"Each round, we pick a few successful candidates who don't seem easy to classify." Noda smiled. "Your assessment reads: 'Unhurried. Behavioral pattern not fully classified. Data suggests a rational disposition.'"
Ryan said nothing.
"Don't be nervous. This isn't a trap. The Association just wants to know what kind of Hunter you want to become."
"Aren't you supposed to assess our abilities?"
"Abilities are easy to assess." Noda opened the folder on the table but didn't look at it. "What matters more to us is the person. Who you are determines how you'll use your license."
He paused, pulled out a sheet of paper, and read aloud. "In the second stage, you understood what 'sushi' meant but didn't show off. In the third, you used the rising hot air to collect eggs twice and helped another candidate."
Ryan gave a slight nod. "You wrote all that down?"
"We have a responsibility to the people who may one day hold a license." Noda set the paper down. "Once they get one, many people go to extremes. So we want to know whether you're hiding intentions we can't see."
"Have you ever been somewhere you had to file a report just because you wanted an egg?" Ryan asked.
Noda studied him for a few seconds, then laughed.
"Then answer one question. Did you enter the Hunter Exam because you want to become a Hunter? Or do you just need a Hunter License?"
At that, the room suddenly fell quiet.
Ryan didn't answer at once. He slowly turned his gaze to the beam of light falling across the table.
Five seconds passed before he said, "Do you want the truth, or a reason that sounds good?"
Noda didn't answer. He only looked at Ryan, nodded, and closed the folder.
"The interview is over. You may go."
Ryan rose and headed for the door.
As his hand closed around the handle, Noda spoke again.
"One more thing. This is from the chairman."
Ryan stopped but didn't turn around.
"He said some people spend an entire exam hiding themselves. But if someone truly wants to leave an impression, even a single 'That egg smelled too good' is enough for us to remember him."
Ryan gave a quiet laugh. Without replying, he opened the door and stepped outside.
Mountain wind met him, and fallen leaves rustled softly. He walked back into the sunlight.
By the time Ryan returned to the platform, sunlight was spilling through gaps in the clouds, lending the wooden walkway a dry warmth.
He didn't go straight back to his old spot. Instead, he strolled along the stone ledge on the other side, as though waiting for his body to settle. No one seemed to notice he had left, and no one asked where he had gone.
Someone had noticed, though.
"That staff member took him away just now," Kurapika said evenly.
"I saw." Leorio nodded. "He wasn't the only one. I think two other candidates were called in earlier, but they came right back. Nothing seemed to happen."
"A routine interview," Kurapika said. "Does the Association do this every year?"
No one answered.
Killua leaned against a wooden post, peeling a piece of dried fruit. "It's not surprising. He doesn't talk much, but when it's time to act, he doesn't hesitate. Like when he saved Leorio on the cliff. No fuss, clean movements, and he stayed completely out of sight."
Leorio coughed under his breath and glanced at Ryan.
Would Ryan be surprised if he knew Killua had noticed every little move he made?
There Ryan was, sitting with his head lowered as he washed out the bamboo bowl that had held his egg. He didn't look nervous in the slightest.
"He's not scared, at least," Leorio muttered. "What a strange guy."
"Or he just doesn't want to show it," Kurapika said.
Meanwhile, behind a curtain elsewhere in the Association's facilities, the examiners were meeting to discuss the next stage.
"Trick Tower is nearly ready," the meeting's chair reported in a low voice. "The terrain layout, checkpoint positions, bounty card distribution, and starting areas for all five groups are in place."
"What about the groups?"
"We propose prioritizing behavioral types," a data officer added. "Based on stability and response patterns from the first three stages, we recommend distributing impulsive, strategic, physical, unknown, and mixed types among the groups to avoid making any one group too similar."
"Candidates 403, 405, 404, and 99—Leorio, Gon, Kurapika, and Killua—have been assigned to the 'comprehensive group,'" the data officer reported. "They'll take a partner trial along the traditional route to test how they cooperate."
"What about candidate 199?" someone asked.
The data team pulled up his records. "He tends toward rational behavior but exercises deliberate control. He shows no inclination toward aggression and is classified as 'low-interference.' We currently recommend placing him in a solo group with freedom to act."
"Freedom to act?" An older examiner frowned. "He won't take part in the team trial?"
"He kept a low profile in the early stages, but he has intervened on others' behalf. He helped Leorio, avoided Netero's probing, and revealed nothing about his motives in the interview," the officer explained. "We'd like to treat him as a variable and observe his indirect influence on others during the Trick Tower trial."
The room fell silent for a moment. Then the proposal passed.
"Confirmed. Candidate 199 will form a solo group on a route with freely triggered events."
Everyone nodded.
Out on the platform, an announcement came over the speakers:
"The fourth stage of the exam will begin shortly. All qualified candidates, please proceed to the assembly point to collect your basic supplies."
Ryan tightened his shoelaces and stood.
So keeping a low profile—or trying too hard to hide—just gives people something to notice, Ryan thought with a wry smile.
He glanced back toward Gon and the others.
The four of them were deep in conversation.
For now, he had no intention of joining them.
Before you continue