Time slowly passed.
The atmosphere in the hall was complicated.
Some rested with their eyes closed, some spoke in hushed voices, and others watched their fellow examinees with wary, appraising looks.
Hisoka was still playing with his cards, flipping them deftly between his fingers.
But every so often, he looked up and swept his gaze over certain people in the hall, his lips curling into that unnerving smile.
Most of those he looked at grew uncomfortable, either averting their eyes or glaring fiercely back.
Hisoka paid them no mind and continued playing with his cards.
Gittarackur stood motionless by the wall the entire time. If not for his occasional blinks, he could have been a statue.
More and more people gathered in the hall.
The last arrival rushed out just before the time limit expired.
It was a man drenched in sweat. The moment he emerged, he collapsed on the floor and lay still.
Odin glanced at the clock on the wall.
Only a few minutes remained of the seventy-two hours.
Ding-
A clear bell rang out.
The doors opened, revealing the sunlight outside.
By the time the examinees walked out, Lippo was already waiting there.
"I am the examiner for the third phase. Congratulations. A total of thirty-nine people have passed the third phase."
A stir ran through the examinees.
Some sighed in relief, some clenched their fists, and some broke into smiles.
Lippo continued, "Please board the airship to travel to the site of the next phase."
With that, he turned and boarded the airship.
Odin and Ponzu followed the other examinees aboard.
The cabin door closed, and the engines started.
The airship slowly rose into the sky and flew off into the distance.
Through the window, Odin watched Trick Tower shrink below him.
The tower was a dusty gray, its surface gleaming dully in the sunlight.
The airship passed through the clouds and settled into steady flight.
Outside the window, a sea of clouds churned beneath the dazzling sunlight.
The next island did not seem far from Trick Tower. Before the sun had even reached its zenith, Odin saw the outline of land gradually coming into focus outside the window.
Below lay a deep blue sea, with an island growing larger in its midst.
That doesn't look like the Spectacle Island I remember.
Or any other Hunter Exam site I remember?
Dense vegetation covered the island, and a mountain stood at its center.
It was an ordinary island, except for the warship embedded in its mountain.
Yes, a warship!
The airship began descending, dropping low enough for the details of the island to become clear.
A beach lined the coast, with a stretch of forest behind it. Beyond that, there was nothing else.
Compared with the island itself, its surroundings drew far more attention.
Odin spotted many grounded ships among them. Their hulls were badly broken, clearly no longer seaworthy.
"Examinees," Beans's voice came over the intercom, "we will soon arrive at our temporary rest stop. Please prepare to disembark."
A temporary rest stop?
Odin frowned.
He remembered that in the original story, the third phase was followed by a direct trip to the fourth phase's site, Spectacle Island, where they would fight over number badges. There had been no stop like this in between.
Unless-
Warship Island. The name suddenly flashed through his mind.
The old Hunter x Hunter anime had an original storyline like this. He had come across it online before, but had never watched it.
He had only watched the newer adaptation.
"This is trouble," Odin muttered.
The airship slowly landed on the warship's deck.
The cabin door opened, and a strong wind rushed inside, carrying the briny tang of seawater.
The examinees filed down the gangway.
An elderly couple stood before them, apparently the caretakers of this place.
"What is this place?" one examinee asked.
"No idea... Didn't they say we were going to the final phase?"
"Maybe it's a rest stop. We've been running around for so long, they've got to let us take a break."
The examinees speculated among themselves, but no one had a definite answer.
Beans was the last to leave the airship, carrying a folder.
He cleared his throat, and the examinees fell silent.
"Examinees," Beans said, "you will spend tonight resting here. Someone will come tomorrow to inform you of the specific arrangements for the next phase."
Without waiting for their reactions, he returned to the airship.
"Wh-what does that mean?" one examinee asked blankly.
No one answered him.
The examinees turned their attention to the elderly couple before them, waiting for an explanation.
No one argued or caused trouble, since none of them knew whether these two were examiners.
If this was another test, they could very well be eliminated.
Before long, the examinees learned from the elderly couple that they had to spend the night in this warship hotel. Ordinary money would not be accepted; they had to pay with treasure from the sea.
Upon hearing this, quite a few examinees breathed a sigh of relief. At least they could be fairly certain this was a test.
A test of their ability to operate underwater and hunt for treasure.
Without wasting any time, Odin followed the other examinees into action, teaming up with Ponzu and diving into the sea.
They were lucky. In less than three minutes of searching the seabed, they found the treasure they needed.
Looking at the glittering gold treasure, Odin thought it was a shame he had no spatial storage ability. Otherwise, he would have taken some back with him no matter what.
As the examinees found treasure one after another, the elderly couple assigned them rooms according to the value of their finds.
Odin now desperately wanted a different room, because he had been assigned to share with that chatterbox Hanzo.
The moment Hanzo saw him, the floodgates opened, and he unleashed an endless stream of chatter at Odin.
Odin took a deep breath. Besides the salty smell of seawater, the air held nothing but his speechless exasperation.
More importantly, the room sat in direct sunlight, and the metal walls surrounding it made the temperature unbearably high.
It would be fine at night, but during the day, resting here was impossible.
Unable to stand it any longer, Odin left the room and went out onto the deck.
He sat on the deck, watching the sky gradually darken.
Time slowly passed.
The sun sank beneath the horizon. The sky turned from orange-red to deep blue, then finally black.
At the elderly couple's invitation, Odin had dinner before returning to his assigned room.
By then, Hanzo had quieted down and fallen asleep.
Hanzo was alert even in sleep, opening his eyes to glance at Odin when he returned.
Odin greatly envied that ability.
Lying on the iron bed, Odin slowly drifted off, until-
Vrrrrrr-
Engines.
The sound coming from outside the hotel was that of the airship's engines.
Odin's eyes snapped open. He turned and shot out of the hotel, his figure blurring with speed.
The others had been startled awake too and rushed out after him.
The airship on the deck was slowly lifting off.
Its gangway had already been retracted, and its cabin door was tightly shut.
The lights on its hull were especially glaring in the darkness.
"Wait!" Someone rushed toward it, but the airship had already risen beyond reach.
"What the hell!"
"Come back!"
The examinees shouted at the airship, but it continued rising without responding. Finally, it turned and accelerated away.
In less than a minute, the airship vanished into the night sky.
Standing in the open, the examinees looked at one another.
"Wh-what does this mean?"
"They're leaving us here?"
"Didn't they promise someone would come get us tomorrow?"
"They were lying..."
Some swore, some slumped to the ground, and others kept shouting into the night sky.
Odin stood where he was, staring in the direction the airship had vanished, the corner of his mouth twitching.
"Well, damn," he said. "Now this really is wilderness survival."
He could actually have reached the airship just now, but Lippo had stopped him and even given him a meaningful smile. Odin had no idea what it meant.
Before you continue