About two kilometers from where Luo Ye had made his "broadcast."
Inside a hidden cave, Pokkle trembled all over, his face as pale as paper.
"Crazy... this guy is a complete and utter lunatic!"
He clutched his head in both hands and curled up in the shadows at the very back of the cave, as though that could give him a shred of security.
Luo Ye's arrogant voice still echoed endlessly through his mind, like a demonic refrain.
The moment he drew the card marked [406] aboard the airship, Pokkle felt as though his heart had stopped.
Luo Ye.
His hunting target was the very man who had acted like a monster throughout the Hunter Exam, someone who defied all common sense.
He had seen Luo Ye take Hisoka's attacks head-on in the Numere Wetlands, wearing an expression that said, "Is that all?"
Hunt a target like that?
How was that any different from willingly sticking his head into a tiger's mouth?
So, from the moment he set foot on ZIBI Sweat Island, Pokkle had settled on the only viable strategy.
Hide.
He would find the most secluded place possible and hide there for seven whole days, as still as a stone.
He didn't need badge [406], worth three points.
All he had to do over the coming days was carefully hunt down three of the weakest, unluckiest background candidates, each worth one point. Those three points, added to his own three, would be enough to pass.
It was a rational, cautious plan with the best chance of survival.
He had even felt a little pleased with his own cleverness.
He had spent an hour finding this exceptionally well-hidden cave.
He had also set a few simple warning traps at the entrance.
He had thought he was safe.
Until Luo Ye's damned voice rang out through the entire jungle.
"H-how does he know I'm nearby?"
"No, impossible! It's just a coincidence! He's bluffing, trying to lure everyone over so he can catch them all at once!"
Pokkle desperately tried to reassure himself.
But his body betrayed him.
His heart pounded like a drum.
His palms were slick with cold sweat.
Even the hands holding his bow and arrow trembled slightly.
He didn't dare go outside.
He didn't even dare poke his head out for a look.
All he could do was huddle in his cave like a frightened rabbit and pray that the demon would never find him.
Yet fate seemed to love playing tricks on people.
"Rustle..."
Soft footsteps approached from a distance and stopped at the entrance to his cave.
Pokkle's heart leaped into his throat.
Through a gap at the entrance, he saw a figure.
The figure stood with his back to the moonlight, his face obscured.
But Pokkle would never forget that flippant air, as though the whole world were nothing more than his playground.
It was Luo Ye.
He had actually found him!
"Hey, my bow-wielding friend in there."
Luo Ye's voice was lazy, yet it struck Pokkle's chest like a sledgehammer.
"Time to stop playing hide-and-seek. If you don't come out soon, it'll be dawn."
Pokkle's mind went blank.
Fear engulfed him like a rising tide.
I'm done for.
"I figured it was you."
Luo Ye seemed in no hurry to make a move. He plopped down on a rock at the cave entrance and started talking.
"Your expression on the airship when you saw my badge number was priceless. Drawing me must've felt like hitting the jackpot, huh? Except it was the cursed kind."
"I was actually looking forward to it. I wondered how the 'hunter' who drew me would try to hunt me. A carefully laid trap? A surprise attack? Would you try to outsmart me or overpower me?"
"And what did I get?"
Luo Ye's tone brimmed with disappointment.
"This? Hiding in a pitch-black cave like a turtle tucked into its shell? You've really let me down."
His words made Pokkle shudder.
Humiliation.
Utter, undisguised humiliation.
A rush of hot blood surged from his chest to his head.
He sprang out of the shadows, nocked an arrow, and aimed his bow at Luo Ye by the entrance.
"D-don't get so full of yourself!"
His voice was hoarse with fear and anger.
"Oh?"
Luo Ye finally seemed a little interested.
He turned to face the pitch-black cave entrance and the arrowhead gleaming coldly in the moonlight.
"Finally willing to come out? I thought you were planning to hibernate in there."
Rather than dodge, he spread his arms, leaving his chest fully exposed to the arrow.
"Come on. I'll give you a chance."
A smile appeared on Luo Ye's face, one Pokkle would never forget for the rest of his life.
There was no killing intent in that smile, no anger, only pure anticipation of whatever new amusement awaited him.
"I'll stand right here without moving and let you shoot three arrows."
"If even one of them makes me bleed, not only will I leave your badge alone, I'll help you steal other people's badges, get you all six points, and make sure you pass the exam safe and sound."
"But if I'm completely unhurt after three arrows..."
Luo Ye's smile grew even brighter.
"Your badge is mine."
"What do you say, my 'lucky winner'? Is this game exciting enough for you? Do you dare play?"
Pokkle gripped his bow so tightly that his knuckles had turned white.
As he stared at the man standing in the moonlight, inviting him like a demon, his mind descended into unprecedented turmoil.
Reason told him this was a trap, a cat toying with a mouse.
But his pride clamored for him to loose the arrow.
Shoot or don't shoot?
It was a dilemma that filled him with more despair than any choice he had faced in Trick Tower.
Before you continue