A New Adventure [HxH x Male Reader]

Chapter 9

"Well gentlemen, everyone rested up? Good. Now then, the Hunter Exam Committee runs this hotel, so I want all of you to make yourselves at home until the battles have concluded" Netero said to the group of 10 candidates. "For the final phase of the Hunter Exam, you'll be competing in a one-on-one tournament," Netero said as he revealed a whiteboard with the battle plans.

"Wait a minute, so only the last person standing passes?" Leorio asked with a confused look. "No, you only need one win to pass this phase" Netero answered while holding up one finger. "Really?" (Y/n) asked with a relieved look, realizing he only has to beat up one person to pass. "How lame..." Sukuna complained, having wanted to battle at least half the competition.

"Wait, so in this tournament..." Leorio trailed off, trying to wrap his head around Netero's answer. "See, it's the winners who will drop away, and the losers who will advance to the next round. This means the person who finishes at the top will not pass" Netero explained while pointing to the top of the symmetric graph.

"You're saying that only one person will fail the Exam" the ninja summarised, wanting to make sure he understood the assignment. "Exactly" Netero responded, confirming his statement, leaving the room in tense silence, waiting to see who is against who. "Here is the bracket we've put together," Netero said as he revealed the list, with pictures of everyone on it.

On the right side of the bracket, it was Contestant 294 against 405, whoever loses goes against 53, then 99, then 301. On the left side, it was a similar pattern, with Contestant 98 going against 44, the loser going against, 404, then 101, then 403. Then it all lines up at the top. In short, Gon and (Y/n) will be up first against two strong opponents, to say Sukuna was excited was an understatement.

The trio, Gon, Kurapika, and Leorio, looked to (Y/n) in worry, knowing Hisoka is a strong opponent. (Y/n) looked nervous, but not for the reasons they might think. He's more nervous about the place turning into a battlefield than losing, as he knows who will win in the fight. Plus, even if he did think Sukuna would lose, he'd be lectured by the said demon until his brain exploded.

"Impressive, yes? You see under this format, every competitor has at least two chances to win a round" Netero said, sounding proud about his thought-out plan. "Yeah, but some people get 5 chances to win, like Numbers 294, 405, 97, and 44" Number 53 pointed out. "Couldn't you have used a more balanced bracket?" Number 191 added in, agreeing with the other contestant.

"Hm... Now that's a fair question, this bracket was carefully assembled based on each of your individual performances, throughout the Hunter Exam. To put it simply, those whose performances were rated highly will have the most chances to win" Netero explained, causing Killua to gasp in realization.

"I'm not convinced, could you explain exactly how you scored our performances?" Killua asked while giving Netero a blank stare. "Hm... NOOOO!!!!" Netero exclaimed while making a weird face, freaking Killua out, having not expected the reaction. Meanwhile, (Y/n) is chuckling beside him, amused by the display.

"Why not?! Also, quit laughing!" Killua exclaimed as he glared at his sibling, now pissed off. "Haha, I can't say because your scores are classified. I can't reveal your actual scores" Netero said with an amused smile. "Now, here are the rules, weapons are allowed, cheating is forbidden, and if your opponent admits defeat, you win. However! If you kill your opponent, you will be disqualified without hesitation" Netero announced, which helped ease up some of (Y/n)'s worry.

"If that happens, the Exam ends, and the remaining applicants pass. Got it?" Netero asked, making sure his rules were clear. (Y/n) sweatdropped as he felt Sukuna's excitement die down, having learned he can't kill anyone. "Let the Final Phase of the Exam begin!" One of the staff announced, wasting no time to start the last phase.