Hitting the Jackpot X Laser Room X Playing Cards

"What should I do?"

At that moment, Kaya stood pressed against the wall with his arms spread, cold sweat pouring off him.

Hisoka covered his mouth as he giggled at Kaya, his excitement plain to see.

When it rained, it poured. Kaya wanted to slap himself hard across the face.

Why had he had to go poking around? Wouldn't sticking with Gon and the others have been better?

If Hisoka, who was grinning like a lunatic, suddenly snapped, Kaya would be done for.

"Heh heh heh."

No matter how many times he heard that laugh, it always felt creepy and utterly perverse.

"It's-you, Ka~ya~"

Hisoka took a step forward. "We really must be destined to meet."

Kaya raised a hand to stop him. "Don't come near me, or I'll go berserk. When I go berserk, I even hit myself."

"Really? How terrifying~"

"Did you deliberately follow me because you wanted to challenge me early?" Hisoka stopped, a faint, ambiguous smile on his face.

Kaya had no idea where he had gotten such a confident conclusion.

Anyone with half a brain could figure out that no examinee would want to be alone with him in a cramped space.

"I didn't, I'm not, don't go making things up."

Kaya shook his head like a rattle.

"Oh?"

Hisoka seemed a little disappointed by Kaya's reaction. He pointed at the two wristbands hanging beside the stone door.

"Don't be so nervous~ Go put that thing on."

Only then did Kaya notice the instructions on the screen ahead: both people had to put on their wristbands to open the stone door and begin the exam.

He relaxed a little. That meant they were partners, at least for now.

"I was originally planning to kill my poor little partner the moment he put on his wristband."

Hisoka's words sent Kaya's heart leaping into his throat again, but what followed surprised him.

"But since it's you~ I'll hold back for now. Hee hee."

"..."

"Crunch, crunch."

Sitting in the surveillance room, Lippo grabbed some chips from the table and stuffed them into his mouth.

Every move the examinees made was now laid bare before him.

The scar-faced man beside him stared fixedly at Hisoka on the monitor, his eyes full of fury.

"When do we start?" the scar-faced man couldn't help asking.

Lippo flashed a strange smile. "Don't be so impatient. The game has only just begun."

"Beep."

Once they had put on their wristbands, the stone door slowly opened.

Hisoka walked in front, while Kaya followed behind, deliberately keeping some distance.

"What's your relationship with Killua?"

Hisoka turned his face halfway back as he asked, partly for himself and partly for Illumi.

???

Why was he asking about Killua? As far as Kaya remembered, Hisoka and Killua had barely had anything to do with each other.

Besides, he and Gon were the ones who had fought Hisoka in the Numere Wetlands. If Hisoka was going to ask about anyone, it should have been Gon.

Hisoka seemed to notice Kaya's confusion.

"Confused~ Are you?"

"Don't overthink it. I'm only asking about him because your fight last night was wonderful. If not for certain special circumstances, he would also be..."

Hisoka raised a hand, idly spinning a card.

"You were there yesterday too?" Kaya asked.

"The whole time. Your adaptability surprised me. It seems I picked the right person."

Yesterday, Hisoka had sat on the airship's gas envelope the entire time, watching the two of them fight.

Remembering how quickly Kaya had adapted to his surroundings filled him with anticipation again.

"Then you picked the wrong person. I didn't sense your presence at all."

Kaya had only said that to take a little jab at Hisoka's confidence.

Of course, Hisoka knew how keen Kaya's and Killua's senses were, so he had used Zetsu to make himself completely undetectable.

That way, he could properly enjoy their fight.

Even so, Hisoka stopped and raised the card between two fingers, putting on a murderous air.

"Is that so? Then I'll have to make my move~"

"Nice acting!" Kaya wasn't worried in the slightest that he would attack. If Hisoka had really intended to, Kaya would have been dead long ago.

Hisoka put away the card, his face instantly breaking into a smile. "You saw through me?"

The first few obstacles were nothing more than concealed projectiles, rolling boulders, and intermittent jets of flame. The two cleared them with extraordinary ease.

The advantage of being paired with Hisoka became apparent: he always led the charge, while Kaya enjoyed the fruits of his labor.

Except for the rolling boulders, of course!

The two moved incredibly quickly, as though they were racing to make progress.

They only had a few minor disagreements at forks where they needed to reach a unanimous decision.

But Hisoka's lethally "kind" gaze always persuaded Kaya.

As they walked down a dim passage, the overhead speaker suddenly came to life.

"Hello, everyone. I'm Lippo, your examiner for this stage. All forty-two examinees have now entered Trick Tower."

"This exam features different routes, including group routes and solo routes. Each route has its own difficulty."

Watching the feed of Hisoka and Kaya, Lippo said, "Some examinees are already halfway through."

Then he glanced at Gon's group, who were stuck in a five-on-five contest. "Some examinees have encountered a little trouble."

"I will explain the rules whenever a group is required to make a life-or-death decision."

"I hope I enjoy watching-oh, no, I mean, I hope you all have fun."

As the stone door rumbled shut behind them, the two entered a dim chamber.

The moment he stepped inside, Kaya realized that he and Hisoka were trapped like prisoners, surrounded on all sides by iron bars and barred gates.

A massive electronic lock hung on the only gate leading out, impossible to miss.

Beyond the cage stretched a long, narrow corridor, with an immensely sturdy iron door standing at its far end.

The corridor's floor tiles were entirely different from the black stone inside the cage.

They were pristine white tiles carved with assorted patterns, stretching all the way to the iron door.

Hisoka stood where he was and gave Kaya an imperious look.

Kaya understood instantly.

"Tch! Making me do all the grunt work. You really think you're the boss?"

Although he grumbled inwardly, he wasted no time searching the cage for a key.

"Don't bother looking. That's an electronic lock."

Lippo's voice came over the speaker.

"I'm sorry to inform you that this room contains a specially designed laser corridor."

The instant he finished speaking, the ceiling farther ahead burst open, leaving a huge iron ball suspended in midair.

Almost simultaneously, red laser grids appeared from all sides and swept rapidly toward the iron ball.

Under the lasers' savage cutting, the iron ball was instantly sliced into scores of fragments that scattered across the floor.

Kaya felt as though he had seen a scene like this in a movie back on Blue Star.

"How thoughtful, giving us a demonstration. Not very original, though."

His words sounded casual, but Kaya's expression was incredibly stiff.

Lasers covered all 360 degrees, without a single blind spot.

Kaya suspected that even someone as powerful as Hisoka would end up sliced into pieces.

Lippo continued, "The special feature of this room is that only one person is allowed through. The white floor tiles automatically detect footsteps. If two people step onto them at the same time, the room's laser system will activate automatically.

"When that happens, you'll have nowhere to run."

"Oh, I forgot to tell you. To enter the corridor, you must vote using both of your wristbands. The electronic lock will only open if your votes are unanimous."

"Of course, each person must operate his own wristband, or the vote will be considered invalid."

"Good luck."

With that, Lippo switched off the microphone, took a bite of a cookie, and watched Hisoka and Kaya on the screen with a wicked grin.

Could these rules possibly be any more twisted?

First, requiring a unanimous vote meant that one person had to voluntarily give up on the Hunter Exam and willingly let the other pass.

Requiring each person to operate his own wristband simply meant that the stronger one couldn't kill the weaker one and cast his vote for him.

That completely eliminated the possibility of the examinees fighting it out first.

None of the examinees who had entered the Hunter Exam and made it this far would willingly give up, yet strength couldn't determine who passed this stage.

In other words, as long as Kaya refused, both he and Hisoka would fail.

"Oh dear~ This is a problem."

Hisoka simply sat down and began building a house of cards.

He neither offered to let Kaya pass nor threatened Kaya into letting him pass, which was very much in character.

After all, in the original story, Hisoka hadn't particularly liked using his strength to coerce opponents.

He preferred to find pleasure in combat.

One-sided slaughter had never been his preferred approach.

Especially with this delicious little apple before him-he simply couldn't bring himself to kill him.

Kaya had spent the past few hours getting along with Hisoka.

Combined with Hisoka's words in the Numere Wetlands-"You pass. Make sure you become Hunters"-that gave him a rough idea of what Hisoka was thinking.

He wouldn't take his safety for granted, but he felt much more relaxed.

Since he had no solution yet, he would take his time thinking.

"Building a house of cards is boring."

Kaya sat down cross-legged.

Hisoka glanced at him and stopped what he was doing.

"How about we play a card game?"

Kaya took a piece of bread from his bag and offered it to Hisoka.

When Hisoka didn't take it, Kaya didn't mind and began munching on it himself.

"Actually, I only know how to play Old Maid~" Hisoka finally said quietly.

"Pfft!"

Kaya sprayed the food out of his mouth. Luckily, he reacted fast enough to turn his head!

Otherwise, Hisoka's hair, which wouldn't budge even in a gale, would have been covered in breadcrumbs.

If Hisoka lost his temper then, Kaya wouldn't be able to handle it.

"Come on, I'll teach you something different."

Before transmigrating, Kaya had only been an elementary school student, but he knew how to play Fight the Landlord, Hundred Points, and Race to the Top.

Rolling up his sleeves, Kaya took the deck Hisoka handed him.

He wasn't actually in the mood to play cards. He only wanted to keep Hisoka patient while he thought about a loophole in this stage.