Art is torture

Bisca Forest was a scene of utter chaos.

"Aaargh!"

A charging Great Stamp sent an examinee flying, sword and all. He traced a perfect arc through the air and vanished deep into the woods.

"These things are pigs? They're armored vehicles!"

Another examinee clutched his broken arm and scrambled out of the forest.

The Great Stamps were a hundred times harder to deal with than anyone had imagined.

Their hides were so thick that a sword slash left only a white mark.

They possessed immense strength. In a frenzy, they could easily knock down trees so thick it took several people to encircle them.

Worst of all, the armor on their noses was harder than steel.

The examinees tried everything.

Traps, poison, head-on attacks.

None of it worked.

"This is straight-up hell mode!"

Leorio hid behind a tree, his face turning pale as he watched a Great Stamp effortlessly overturn a boulder nearby.

"How are we supposed to catch these things?"

"Calm down, Leorio."

Kurapika was observing them too, his expression grave.

"Their weak point definitely isn't on their bodies."

"These pigs seem to center all their movements around the biggest one."

Gon lay on a branch, using his extraordinary eyesight to observe the entire herd.

"They're like a team."

Killua rode his skateboard, leaping nimbly between branches like a ghost.

"They're just a bunch of stupid pigs. Why not attack them from above?"

Only Luo Ye had found himself a comfortable fork in a tree, where he sat with his legs crossed, watching the farce below with interest.

"Tsk, tsk. Isn't this better than watching a show?"

He even had the leisure to offer commentary.

"That guy using fire has the right idea. Too bad pig hide is fireproof."

"And that one wants to trip it with a rope? So naive. These guys have a stable chassis."

"Luo Ye! You still have time to make smart remarks?"

Leorio was about to explode.

"If we don't catch a pig soon, we'll be eliminated!"

"What's the rush?"

Luo Ye yawned.

"You eat one bite at a time and catch one pig at a time."

"Art requires patience."

Just then, a lone Great Stamp spotted him.

Perhaps the pig felt that this human lounging in a tree was a tremendous insult to its dignity.

It pawed the ground, blasting two streams of white vapor from its nostrils.

Boom!

Like an out-of-control truck, it slammed straight into Luo Ye's tree.

The entire tree shook violently.

"Luo Ye! Watch out!"

Gon cried out in alarm.

Luo Ye didn't move.

He even shifted into a more comfortable position.

"Don't panic. It's no big deal."

As he watched the pig below keep ramming the tree, his eyes lit up.

"Well, well. This one's got quite a temper."

"I like it."

After ramming the tree for ages without getting a reaction, the pig grew even angrier.

It backed up a few steps, preparing for an even harder hit.

The instant it lowered its head and charged, Gon made his move.

He jumped down from the tree, swinging his fishing rod in a beautiful arc.

The hook struck the pig's enormous head with perfect precision.

A crisp crack rang out.

Then something miraculous happened.

The swaggering Great Stamp looked as though someone had hit its pause button.

Its enormous body froze in place. Then its four legs buckled, and it collapsed with a thud.

Foam spilled from its mouth, its eyes unfocused, looking utterly broken.

Once again, a deathly silence fell over everyone.

"So... its weak point is its head?"

Leorio stared, dumbfounded.

A look of realization appeared on Kurapika's face as well.

"The head is its weak point! That huge, hard nose is there to protect its vulnerable head!"

"Tch. And here I thought they were tough."

Killua curled his lip and jumped down from the tree.

Luo Ye finally deigned to leave his "throne" as well.

He walked over to the unconscious pig and nudged it with his foot.

"Tsk. That's all you can take, and you still came out here trying to be a boss?"

With their weak point discovered, the rest was easy.

The five of them divided up the work clearly.

Gon and Killua drew the pigs' attention.

Kurapika analyzed the best timing and angles for attacks.

Leorio was responsible for... shouting "You can do it!" from the sidelines.

Meanwhile, Luo Ye picked through the herd of plump, sturdy Great Stamps.

"This one's too fat. Too much grease when you roast it. It'll be cloying."

"This one's too muscular. The meat's bound to be tough and get stuck in my teeth."

"This one's too handsome. No good. It'll ruin my appetite."

At last, in a corner, he found a small pig that looked malnourished, was little more than skin and bones, and had a rather misshapen face.

The little pig was trembling behind its mother.

Luo Ye's eyes lit up.

"You're the one!"

He lunged forward and, as the little pig stared in terror, landed a precise knife-hand strike on its small head.

The little pig passed out without so much as a grunt.

When the five returned to the manor carrying their respective "spoils,"

Leorio had one of the fattest pigs slung over his shoulder.

Kurapika carried a well-proportioned pig that was neither too big nor too small.

Gon and Killua had each chosen a pig that looked delicious as well.

Only Luo Ye dragged along a scrawny little pig that looked thoroughly unappetizing, his face full of satisfaction.

"Luo Ye, why did you pick that one?"

Gon was puzzled.

"That pig looks so pitiful."

"You don't understand."

Luo Ye wagged a finger, an inscrutable smile spreading across his face.

"My dish isn't going to taste good."

"It's all about performance art."

Looking at this "perfect" ingredient in his hand, he had already begun planning his culinary abomination.

Everyone else was pursuing delicious food.

So he would go in the opposite direction.

He would create the ultimate terrible dish, one that could make even a Gourmet Hunter question their life.

Art was torture.

In the kitchen, a true disaster was only just beginning.