Ring, ring, ring-
The alarm clock rang.
Holding the alarm clock, Satotz stood at the warehouse entrance. His gaze swept over everyone present as he said expressionlessly, "The first phase is over."
After saying this, he waited a moment, then flickered out of sight like a ghost into the depths of the warehouse, without even leaving the sound of footsteps behind.
The warehouse fell silent for a few seconds.
"It's over?"
"What about the second phase?"
"The examiner just left?"
Standing off to the side, Odin took his water bottle out of his backpack and had another sip.
Warm water slid down his throat, and he put the bottle away.
Grrrrr-
The sound was loud, like the rumbling stomach of some enormous beast, or the low rumble before a thunderclap.
Then-
Grrrrrrrr-
The sound grew even louder, echoing through the warehouse.
The excited candidates instantly fell silent and looked warily toward its source.
Was there something inside the warehouse?!
Clank, clank, clank-
The warehouse doors slowly opened, revealing an enormous figure.
He was a fat man who stood over two meters tall even while seated, dressed in simple clothes.
His face was as round as a mooncake, his eyes narrowed in a smile, and his belly was so big it nearly burst out of his clothes.
There was a sofa in front of him, with a woman seated on it.
Her green hair was braided into a starfish shape. She wore a tight-fitting outfit, with knives of various unusual shapes hanging at her waist.
She wore a flippant expression, her eyes sweeping over the candidates with interest, as though sizing up this year's batch.
Grrrrr-
The sound came from the fat man's stomach.
Sitting in the center of the warehouse, he rubbed his belly and grinned. "Let's get started. I'm hungry."
His voice was warm and good-natured, with a hearty tone.
"Yes, yes, I know-"
"I'm Menchi," the green-haired woman said crisply. "He's Buhara. We're the examiners for the second phase."
Buhara rubbed his belly again and chuckled. "I'm starving, so let's get straight to it."
Menchi continued, "The second phase is a cooking test."
She paused, swept her gaze over the candidates, then tilted her head back to look at Buhara behind her.
"The dish is-whole roast pig. Any pig will do. Just roast it and bring it to me. If I say it tastes good, you pass. Your time limit is until I'm full," Buhara said with a smile, practically drooling.
The warehouse went quiet for a moment.
"Whole... whole roast pig?" someone repeated reflexively.
"That's right. The test begins now," Buhara announced without further ado.
The moment he finished speaking, his stomach let out another thunderous grrrrr.
Odin headed straight outside without hesitation. He remembered this part of the story.
In the original story, Gon and the others caught a type of enormous pig called a Great Stamp during this phase.
Back when he watched the anime, he'd simply found it entertaining. Now that he was experiencing it himself, he realized just how troublesome it was.
Not a single one of those Great Stamps weighed less than a ton, and they were deadly dangerous wild boars.
He'd seen wild boars in documentaries in his previous life, but most of those weighed no more than two hundred kilograms.
Even five hundred kilograms was rare.
What did a ton mean? The weight of a small car.
If one of those things rammed an ordinary person, they'd probably die on the spot.
As these thoughts wandered through his mind, he looked around.
He noticed that the other candidates had also begun moving when he did.
Quite a few rushed outside in groups, clearly planning to team up to catch a pig and finish roasting it before everyone else.
Some candidates left alone as well.
Gon, Killua, Kurapika, and Leorio gathered to discuss things briefly, then headed out of the warehouse too.
Ponzu walked up to Odin. "Want to team up?"
Odin thought for a moment, then nodded. "Sure."
Hearing his answer, Ponzu breathed a sigh of relief.
If Odin had refused, she would have had to find someone else to work with.
After all, her abilities revolved entirely around her bees. Catching a wild boar would be pretty difficult for her.
Odin secured his backpack and headed outside with Ponzu.
They entered the dense forest again.
Odin looked at Ponzu beside him.
Ponzu wasted no time. With a few movements of her fingers, a dozen or so bees flew into the forest.
Odin stayed where he was, waiting alongside her.
A few minutes later!
"Three o'clock." With guidance from her bees, Ponzu confidently pointed in that direction.
"Let's go-" Odin called to Ponzu and broke into a run.
He didn't use his full speed, keeping his pace at roughly twice an ordinary person's running speed.
That was fast enough without draining too much stamina, and it was a pace Ponzu could just barely keep up with.
The forest terrain was complicated, with roots, vines, and rocks everywhere. Running at full speed would only put Ponzu at risk.
After running for about three minutes, he spotted their targets.
It was a herd of pigs-a herd of Great Stamps.
Looking at the pigs before him, Odin felt a strong urge to complain.
Seeing them on television and seeing them in real life were two entirely different things.
The pigs before him stood over two meters at the shoulder and were at least four meters long. Their bodies were covered in bristles like steel needles, and their pink skin was as rough as old tree bark.
Their most striking feature was their snouts-long and thick, with upward-facing nostrils. These were the hardest parts of their bodies, vital armor protecting their fragile foreheads, and they looked like battering rams.
Great Stamps.
One was rooting around in a clearing, its thick snout plowing through the soil to expose the tubers beneath. Every thrust made the ground shake.
Odin and Ponzu watched from behind a tree.
"There are thirty-something Great Stamps, and from what I've seen, this seems to be the only kind of pig around here?!" Ponzu stared ahead in horror, feeling lingering relief that she'd found a partner.
One Great Stamp seemed to sense something. It raised its head and sniffed.
Its eyes were tiny, hidden behind thick eyelids, but its gaze was fierce, filled with the instinctive wariness of a wild animal.
Whoosh-
A small stone struck that Great Stamp's snout.
The Great Stamp instantly went berserk and charged toward the direction the stone had come from.
Watching from the side, Ponzu was completely dumbfounded. Wait, why? What happened to your plan?
Just then, Odin moved.
Like a shadow, he darted out from behind the tree and rushed low toward the Great Stamp head-on.
Just as Ponzu thought the two would collide, Odin suddenly sidestepped, moving to the Great Stamp's flank.
The Great Stamp seemed to sense something. It faltered slightly and tried to turn its head.
But it was already too late.
From three meters away at its side, Odin suddenly leaped into the air and stomped both feet hard onto its forehead!
He put all his strength into that stomp.
Speed was power, and Odin had built up his strength through training as well. The Great Stamp couldn't last even a second before collapsing to the ground.
Roar, roar, roar-
The sudden turn of events startled the herd of Great Stamps, and they began charging at Odin.
Odin grinned, spun around, and rushed back to Ponzu. "Run-"
With that, he took off first.
"Uh, huh-"
Ponzu froze for a moment, then broke into a run after Odin.
Yet in that brief span, Ponzu discovered that Odin had already disappeared, leaving her alone to face the charge of dozens of Great Stamps.
For a moment, Ponzu was so furious her teeth itched.
Suddenly, a large hand reached out from behind a nearby tree and pulled her over.
Startled, Ponzu hurriedly struggled, only to hear a familiar voice beside her ear. "Don't move."
Odin?!
Before you continue