Whole roast pig

Once she realized it was Odin, Ponzu relaxed a little, but that did not mean she could just ignore being held in his arms!

Ponzu tried to pull free, only to see Odin pointing ahead, motioning for her to look.

Confused, Ponzu remembered the Great Stamps and gave a startled jolt, hurriedly looking where Odin pointed.

The Great Stamps thundered past just a few meters in front of them, paying neither of them any attention.

Although she had no idea what was going on, Ponzu knew she was safe for now.

Before she could relax, Odin pulled a rope from his backpack and threw a loop around the last Great Stamp in the herd.

Odin had bought it in Kent City a few days earlier to prepare for all sorts of situations. He had never expected to use it here.

Whoosh-

After tripping the Great Stamp, Odin darted in front of its forehead and kicked it.

Thud-

Regardless of how the other examinees dealt with the rampaging herd, Odin and Ponzu took some time to bind all four legs of each of their two Great Stamps together.

"Next, we drag them back." Looking at the two one-and-a-half-ton beasts, he felt a headache coming on.

Dragging them directly was out of the question. That would take too long.

After some thought, he found several sturdy branches in the woods and lashed them together with vines to make a simple drag sled, then hauled the two Great Stamps onto it.

That was no easy job either. Even though he was now much stronger than an ordinary person, moving one and a half tons still took considerable effort.

"Let's go." Odin called to Ponzu, motioning for her to follow. By now, she was covered in dirt.

"Coming, coming." After catching her breath and wiping away her sweat, Ponzu helped him pull the sled.

"You need to train. With your current physical condition, you'd have a high chance of dying as a Hunter." Odin suddenly offered the warning as they headed toward the warehouse.

Ponzu paused, but did not argue. The tests so far had already shown her how dangerous the Hunter Exam was. "I will."

By the time they returned to the warehouse, only half an hour had passed.

Several examinees had already gathered in the clearing in front of the warehouse. They had apparently carried their Great Stamps straight back, making them a little faster than Odin and Ponzu.

Menchi had set up a temporary cooking area: dozens of simple stoves topped with enormous roasting racks, with firewood and basic seasonings piled beside them.

Odin dragged his Great Stamp to an empty stove and began preparing it.

This was familiar work.

Although he had been an ordinary university student in his previous life, his father had cooked wedding banquets in their village. Odin had helped him since childhood, so he knew the basics of cooking.

Living alone over the past few months had honed his cooking skills as well.

He first boiled a pot of water, then began removing the pig's bristles with a small knife.

The Great Stamp's hide was thicker than an ordinary wild boar's, and its bristles were as hard as steel needles.

Odin took his time, scalding it with hot water before scraping it clean bit by bit.

Next came gutting it.

This step was more troublesome.

The Great Stamp's organs were much larger than an ordinary pig's, but Odin's strength was also far beyond what it had once been. He deftly removed the innards and tossed them into a nearby bucket.

He set aside the edible parts, such as the heart, liver, and kidneys.

Then came washing.

He fetched water from nearby and rinsed the abdominal cavity repeatedly until no bloody water remained.

Once he finished, he looked around.

The other examinees were a complete disaster.

Some had put whole pigs on their roasting racks without even removing the bristles.

Others had scraped off the bristles but left the innards inside, producing a mixture of burnt smells and foul stench as they roasted.

Odin's mouth twitched.

"Have these guys never set foot in a kitchen?"

He shook his head and continued working.

He cut neat slits into the pig to help the seasoning penetrate, then stuffed in the salt, pepper, and whatever herbs he had found, rubbing the seasonings evenly over both the inside and outside.

Next, he set up the roasting rack.

He pushed a prepared steel rod through the pig's mouth and out its rear, then rested the spit on the Y-shaped supports on either side of the stove, adjusting the height until the pig was about thirty centimeters above the fire.

He lit the fire.

The wood crackled, and flames licked the pig's skin.

Odin slowly turned the spit, heating every side evenly.

Before long, fat dripped down and burst in the fire with a sizzling sound.

An aroma gradually spread, the scent of meat mingling with herbs as it filled the air.

Several nearby examinees looked over and swallowed.

Odin ignored them, concentrating on roasting.

Time ticked by. The pig's skin began turning golden, tiny bubbles of fat rising across its surface.

He prodded it with the tip of his knife and, once he confirmed it was cooked through, lifted it off the fire.

Without wasting any time, Odin picked up the spit and walked straight over to Buhara, who had been waiting for ages.

Despite having already eaten more than a dozen whole roast pigs that barely qualified as cooking, the three-meter-tall fat man still looked hungry. His eyes were fixed on the pig in Odin's hands.

"Please, give it a taste." Odin motioned for Buhara to start eating.

Buhara took it and shoved it straight into his mouth without even blowing on it.

Swish-

Just then, a blade flashed, and a chunk of meat vanished from the roast pig's hind leg.

He chewed.

His eyes suddenly widened. "Menchi, didn't you say you weren't eating?!"

"Delicious!" he said indistinctly, taking another enormous bite. "Crispy skin, tender meat, cooked just right, and plenty of flavor!"

Ignoring how Buhara ate, Menchi placed the stolen pork in her mouth and savored it carefully. The more she tasted, the brighter her eyes became.

Soon, Menchi looked at Odin with a grin. "You've studied cooking, haven't you? Planning to become a Gourmet Hunter?"

"No." Odin did not give her the answer she wanted. "My goal is to become a Curio Hunter. Food is just one part of that."

"Tch-"

Not hearing what she wanted left Menchi thoroughly annoyed, but she said nothing more.

Having finished the whole roast pig, Buhara patted his belly and loudly announced, "Pass!"

Odin breathed a sigh of relief.

He glanced around. The other examinees were still scrambling to roast their pigs. Some had already reduced theirs to charcoal, others had left them half raw, and some simply brought theirs to Buhara as soon as the skin was charred.

Even so, Buhara turned nothing away, stuffing every offering into his mouth.

Seeing this, Odin figured Buhara's Nen Ability definitely had something to do with eating.

Odin looked away and returned to his stove to wait.

Time slowly passed as he watched examinee after examinee pass. Then-

"I'm full! Seventy-seven examinees passed!" Buhara contentedly announced the number who had cleared this little test. That was seven more than the seventy Odin had known about.

"Buhara, you're far too lenient." Menchi was clearly unhappy with how easy he had gone on them. "I won't let you off so easily next. Listen carefully. My test dish is-sushi!"