Cordis looked at Gon admiringly. "Wow! That was amazing, Gon!"
As he spoke, he reached out and gave Gon's head an encouraging pat.
Gon blushed slightly and chuckled bashfully.
As they drew closer to the finish line.
The fog gradually began to clear.
A shaft of sunlight appeared before them, revealing the other examinees sprawled on the ground, panting for breath.
Kurapika had laid Leorio beneath a tree.
He himself paced near the finish line, looking around.
Two familiar figures came into view.
"Cordis! Gon!"
Gon spotted Kurapika too and waved enthusiastically.
"Kurapika!"
"I thought you two weren't coming back!"
Cordis walked up to Kurapika and waved a hand breezily.
"Oh, Hisoka wasn't that strong. With my skills, taking him on was a piece of cake."
Kurapika poked the wound Hisoka's playing card had left.
"Ah!! Ow, ow!"
"Kurapika! What are you doing?!"
Cordis staggered back several steps, clutching his wound with a miserable expression.
"Didn't you say Hisoka was easy to handle? I thought you weren't afraid of anything."
Cordis pouted and huffed twice to show his displeasure, then went off to sulk by himself.
That was when he noticed Hisoka leaning against a tree stump, watching him.
When Hisoka saw Cordis looking his way.
He formed a heart with both hands and even threw in a flirtatious wink.
Cordis felt as though his body and mind had both taken a blow.
This guy already hurt my body. Why did he have to hurt my soul too?
Kurapika and Gon noticed that Cordis didn't look well.
They assumed he was a little dizzy from losing too much blood.
Gon in particular grabbed Cordis when he saw his pale face and led him beneath the tree where Leorio was resting, making him sit down.
Even Cordis's insistence that he was fine did no good.
Frowning, Gon forced Cordis to sit and rest.
Just then, Leorio began to wake up.
The moment he opened his eyes, he saw Cordis sitting beside him, holding his briefcase.
Seeing that he was awake, Cordis gave the briefcase a little shake.
Leorio took it back. "Why does this feel a little lighter?"
Cordis instinctively looked away and said guiltily, "You're imagining things."
"Am I?"
"Gon, Cordis."
Killua's voice came from behind them. He approached with his hands in his pockets and his skateboard tucked under his arm.
He was visibly startled when he saw all the wounds on Cordis.
"Hey! How'd you get those injuries?"
Cordis said proudly, "Heh-heh! I went and fought Hisoka!"
"I punched him from the left, then from the right, and chased him off!"
He even stood up and threw a few punches to demonstrate.
Seeing him act like that, Killua looked at the others skeptically.
Apart from Kurapika.
Leorio and Gon both looked shocked and impressed by what they heard.
"Cordis! I had no idea you were that strong!"
"Really? Great! You got him back for punching me!"
Killua watched Kurapika sigh helplessly at them and knew what had happened without needing to ask.
It looked like Hisoka had probably beaten Cordis to a pulp.
Just then, Satotz's voice rang out.
He extended a hand, his little mustache twitching.
"This is Piskas Forest Park, the venue for the second phase of the exam."
Behind him stood an enormous gate.
"Well then, this is as far as I go. I wish you all every success."
With that, Satotz strode off toward the Swindlers' Nest.
As Satotz departed.
The gate behind him slowly opened.
A lively female voice rang out.
"This is the venue for the second phase of the exam. Please come inside."
Sure enough, Menchi sat on a sofa with her legs crossed, with the enormous Buhara seated behind her.
Menchi introduced herself. "I'm Menchi, an examiner for the second phase."
Buhara spoke from behind her. "I'm Buhara, your other examiner."
Just as the examinees were asking what the second test would be.
A thunderous rumble rang out.
It was so loud that even the ground shook twice.
Menchi looked at Buhara. "Sounds like you're hungry."
Buhara rubbed his belly miserably. "I'm absolutely starving."
"Then the task for this exam will be..."
"Cooking!"
Her words drew a chorus of startled cries.
After all, no matter how they looked at it, cooking had nothing to do with the Hunter Exam.
Someone voiced an objection. "What does cooking have to do with the Hunter Exam? Does it really have to be cooking?"
Menchi stood with her hands on her hips. "Because... we're Gourmet Hunters!"
That set off a wave of laughter.
Apparently, none of them believed that the mysterious Hunters could include something like Gourmet Hunters.
Menchi frowned in displeasure.
She looked at Buhara, who sat beside her.
Buhara stood and addressed the examinees. "Your task for this exam is cooking."
"The required ingredient is pork. Any pig living in Piskas Forest Park will do."
"If you can make me happy with your food, you pass."
Quite a few of the examinees were confident in their cooking skills.
Everyone thought this test was ridiculously easy and rolled up their sleeves, ready to get to work.
Buhara slapped his belly and said, "Begin!"
Everyone shot into Piskas Forest like arrows.
They searched all over Piskas Forest, but never mind a pig-they couldn't even find a single pig bristle.
Gon and the others were searching hard too.
A downward slope caught Gon's attention.
The group slid down it.
An entire herd of enormous pink pigs, nearly two meters tall, appeared before them.
Kurapika stared at the herd in disbelief.
"Are they chewing on bones?"
Cordis stood to one side without much of a reaction. He rubbed his chin in thought for a moment, then explained to the others.
"They're called Rhinonose Pigs, the most vicious breed of pig in the world. Those huge, sturdy noses can send their enemies flying."
"Then what do we do?!" Leorio asked nervously.
"I suggest we run, and fast."
Before Cordis could finish, the Rhinonose Pigs roared and charged at them, their enormous noses leading the way.
Meanwhile, the other examinees were searching everywhere for any sign of pigs.
Suddenly, the ground began to shake.
Along with the tremors came Leorio's screams, drawing closer and closer.
Everyone looked toward the source of the noise and saw Killua and the others running their way.
An enormous herd of pigs with huge noses followed behind them.
None of the examinees had ever seen pigs like these. They turned tail and ran without a backward glance.
The Rhinonose Pigs charged with their enormous noses thrust forward. Wherever they went, neither trees nor people escaped those massive snouts.
Killua stood with his hands in his pockets, looking cockily at the readers before him.
"You've read the whole thing, and you still dare not to leave a good review?"
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