It shouldn't affect my looks, right?

"Gon, you've grown."

The Gon before him was still the Gon from Hunter x Hunter, yet something about him seemed to have changed.

He was growing up faster.

That should have been a good thing.

Those words made Gon pause as he added wood to the fire.

Blushing, he kept tossing firewood into the flames and said,

"No, I haven't."

Cordis didn't answer that.

"Gon, aren't you curious about where I came from? Maybe I'm not even from this world."

Gon stopped feeding the fire.

He shook his head indifferently. "I don't care. I know you're a really good person."

"Just like... Aunt Mito!"

Whenever Gon thought of Aunt Mito, a happy smile always spread across his face.

Cordis rested his head on his knees and looked at Gon, who was grinning goofily.

"I really envy you, Gon."

Gon looked at Cordis in confusion.

Cordis went on talking to himself.

"I wish I had someone like your Aunt Mito."

Puzzled, Gon said,

"You're really nice, Cordis, just as nice as Aunt Mito. Shouldn't lots of people like you?"

Cordis shook his head, a trace of sadness in his eyes.

"They always say there's something wrong with my head, that I'm crazy. But I'm really not."

As he talked,

a wave of drowsiness washed over him.

Perhaps because he was too exhausted, Cordis fell asleep with his head resting against the hollow of the tree.

Gon, still a child, soon fell asleep too.

By the time they woke again, it was morning.

Only two days remained until the exam ended.

Cordis spent a day recovering from his injuries, but unfortunately, it didn't help much.

With only one day left, even Gon's insistence that Cordis stay in the hollow tree and rest did no good.

In Cordis's own words,

"Rather than resting when it isn't helping, we might as well find Leorio and the others. Leorio is studying medicine, after all."

That didn't sound at all like something someone with a broken elbow would say.

But Gon eventually agreed to Cordis's request.

"All right! Let's check out the finish line first!"

Cordis raised his one remaining usable arm excitedly.

The two came to a hilltop and surveyed the area.

Sure enough, people all thought alike.

Standing on the hilltop, they saw quite a few people hiding near the finish line, watching.

Of course, they also spotted Kurapika and Leorio, who were closest to the finish line.

Kurapika and Leorio were shocked to see Gon and Cordis covered in injuries.

The sight of Cordis's broken elbow, in particular, left them utterly bewildered.

After all, no one would actually go for the kill in the fourth phase of the exam.

But Kurapika quickly realized something, his expression turning grave.

"It was Hisoka, wasn't it?"

Cordis could only nod helplessly.

At the mention of Hisoka's name, Gon instinctively clenched his fists.

Leorio examined Cordis's broken elbow.

Regretfully, he said,

"It's a complete break. It'll be difficult to heal, and even if it does, it might never be as strong as it used to be."

A flicker of disappointment crossed Cordis's eyes.

But he quickly leaned toward Leorio again and asked nervously,

"Then will this arm affect my looks?"

The question stunned Leorio, who stared at Cordis in disbelief.

"Your arm's in this state, and instead of worrying about whether it'll be okay, you're worried about whether it'll affect your looks?"

Even Kurapika looked baffled.

Seeing their reactions, Cordis scratched his head sheepishly with his left hand.

"I guess I care more about my appearance than my body."

Leorio couldn't really say much to that, so he gave Cordis some basic treatment.

Since their medical supplies were rather limited,

he had to make a simple splint out of sticks and strips of rag.

Then he gave Cordis a few instructions on what to watch out for.

Kurapika asked Gon,

"Gon, have you collected all your points?"

After all, Gon's target was Hisoka, and that man was no easy opponent.

Last time, even with the fog providing cover, Cordis had still been injured.

This time, his elbow had been broken outright.

That made Kurapika worry about Gon's points.

If Gon hadn't collected enough points either, Kurapika wouldn't mind helping him find another three badges.

Gon frowned at the question.

He instinctively glanced at Cordis beside him.

He didn't answer.

Cordis, on the other hand, was incredibly excited, as though he was even happier than when he'd obtained his own badge.

"Of course he has! Gon practiced for days. Hisoka really isn't as strong as you think, okay?"

Then he proudly patted his chest.

"I'm the best proof of that."

Beside him, Leorio retorted, speechless,

"What about this time, then? Don't tell me you just slipped up?"

Before Cordis could speak, Gon answered for him.

"Cordis didn't lose! He hurt Hisoka too!"

Though he only hurt him a tiny bit, Gon added inwardly.

That made Cordis puff out his chest proudly again.

Those words did make Kurapika see Cordis in a somewhat different light.

"I didn't expect you to be so capable."

"By the way, you've collected all your points, right? Otherwise, you wouldn't be here," Cordis asked.

At the mention of points, Leorio's face filled with worry.

"Kurapika has all of his, but I don't have mine yet."

Leorio's target, number 246, was a woman named Ponzu who was skilled with drugs.

The two had been searching for her all along.

But no matter how hard they searched, Ponzu seemed to have vanished into thin air.

They couldn't find her anywhere.

That had been troubling Leorio for quite some time.

He was so worried that, despite being a handsome young man of only nineteen, he was losing hair every day.

Cordis rubbed his chin and thought for a while before asking,

"Is she a girl wearing a yellow hat?"

Leorio nodded repeatedly, looking at Cordis in excitement.

"Yes, yes! Have you seen her?"

After another bout of intense thought,

Cordis suddenly snapped his fingers.

It came to him in a flash!

"I think I've seen her! I saw her go into a cave, but I don't know what happened after that."

Leorio nearly jumped off the ground when he heard that.

He hurriedly urged Cordis to take everyone to the cave.

Cordis led everyone to the entrance of a cave.

The journey there was quite difficult too.

By the time they arrived, it was already evening.

There wasn't much time left in the exam.

Looking at the pitch-black cave a short distance away,

Cordis asked,

"What do we do now?"

"Of course I'm going in alone!"

As he spoke, Leorio handed his briefcase to Cordis.

He cautioned him,

"Don't lose my things again this time."

Those words made Cordis glance guiltily to the side.

Having said that, Leorio picked up a branch from the ground and headed toward the cave.

Ponzu was skilled with poison and very good at setting traps. He had to be careful.

Oh yeah! Finished!

I've decided!

I'm going to make him someone everyone falls for!

Just what you'd expect from me. I'm a genius!