Two near-simultaneous sounds echoed as two figures stepped out of different corridors:
An older man gripping a long spear—Gozu—and another person: Pokkle.
By now, nearly thirty hours had passed. Ron's gaze fell on Pokkle. As for Gozu, Ron had no particular impression of him. But he did remember Pokkle vividly. Among normal people, Pokkle's talent was fairly good—otherwise, he couldn't have passed the Hunter Exam.
Yet his luck seemed terrible: while on a biological survey, he ran into the Chimera Ants and ended up as their nourishment. Not only was he killed, but he also inadvertently shared a good deal of Nen knowledge with them, greatly accelerating their growth.
In the original story, Pokkle's companions died alongside him. One of them, Ponzu—the girl who used bees—was here for the Exam as well. She ended up crushed by even the Captain-level Ants, never mind the higher-ranked ones. She was older than Gon and Killua, presumably with more accumulated knowledge, but once she learned Nen, she still lagged far behind them—chalk it up to raw talent.
Ron withdrew his gaze.
He turned to see Kurapika waving at him. By now more than sixty hours had passed.
"Kurapika, congratulations."
Kurapika sat down beside Ron. They hadn't talked much along the way, but they'd met on the exam ship and established at least some level of rapport. Among those who'd already passed, Kurapika only really knew Ron.
"There's free food and water over there from the Association," said Ron.
After a bit of rest, Kurapika grabbed some refreshments and returned to Ron's side. "Hope Gon and the others are okay."
He cracked open a soda, taking a big swig that seemed to restore his strength. Ron glanced at the various trap-doors.
In the original storyline, Gon and the rest all made it through, but things had changed because of Ron's presence. Chairman Netero had arranged for Old T of the KUTO Thieves to be Ron's opponent; naturally, Gon and his group's path was altered too. The likelihood of Killua and Gon passing was high, but Leorio was less certain. He had no special backing and was just an ordinary fighter at this point—Pokkle now easily surpassed Leorio in actual power. In the original, Leorio had made it largely thanks to luck and tenacity.
Another corridor opened.
A short, stout middle-aged man emerged—Tonpa. He scratched the back of his head, glancing around before zeroing in on Kurapika.
"So that rookie passed too?" Tonpa smiled. "Didn't expect any real newbies to get this far. Well then, my plan can continue in the next round…"
By "newbie," he meant Kurapika. Ron and Illumi might also be first-time participants, but Tonpa didn't see them as ordinary rookies—he was wary of them, not planning to toy with them. Kurapika evidently sensed the hostility in Tonpa's look and frowned slightly.
Netero arrived in the chamber where Ron had fought. Old T's corpse lay on the ground.
"What a promising young man," Netero remarked. "Though Old T's been rotting in a cell for years, losing his edge, he was still an A-level Nen user. Yet Ron handled him with ease—mainly using two Beasts: one with flame powers, one with lightning. Both had extremely destructive force. There was also another Beast guarding him, plus that spatial transfer ability… It's not even Ron's full power. He's gone beyond what I anticipated. Another person with Ging's talent it seems…"
A figure appeared behind Netero. "Chairman, what should we do with the body?"
"Burn it," Netero said. "Then scatter the ashes in the river. They came into contact with that system—no need to risk letting them contaminate anything further."
Time ticked down. By the time the hall filled with more than twenty candidates, around eighty hours had elapsed. Then for a long stretch, no one else emerged; low voices murmured.
"Seems is probably it. No one else is coming," someone observed. "So these must be our competitors. Wonder how many passes they'll hand out. It could be as few as one or two, or as many as four or five, but never this many. We're all basically rivals now."
Ron paid no attention. Instead, he glanced at his crystal ball, noting the progress had risen nicely.
"At last, I've passed thirty percent. Old T's appearance really boosted the 'quality' of this exam. Without him, it wouldn't have grown so fast."
As time neared ninety hours:
Killua stepped into the hall, looking slightly disheveled—clothes tattered, coated in dust. Illumi's eyes flickered. Kurapika waved excitedly.
Killua nodded. "Gon and Leorio haven't shown yet?"
"Not yet," Kurapika answered. "They may have encountered more time-consuming routes, but I'm sure they'll make it."
Killua soon noticed the ranking on the wall:
1. Gittarackur (Illumi)
5. …Hanzo, Pokkle, and others were scattered in the top ten
By the time ninety-five hours elapsed, Gon and Leorio were still nowhere in sight.
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