𝖌𝖚𝖒𝖚𝖘𝖘𝖊𝖗𝖛𝖎

t w o

"we'll continue this later.."

the doors slid open, revealing hundreds of hunter applicants which whom swivelled their heads towards the four, their gazes sharp compared to the thick atmosphere. the four new hunter applicants steadily stepped forwards, most of the four well aware of the tense atmosphere.

"stange atmosphere down here," leorio stated, observing the crowd.

"they clearly differ from the hunter applicants we saw at the port and in the city. each is a master in their own right.."

gon stepped forward, attempting to interact with the grim, unpleasant crowd, only to finally realise the atmosphere and attitude of the fellow hunter applicants and be ignored.

"everyone's really tense," gon claimed.

[name] irked at the remark, making sure to note the oblivious nature gon possessed. she awkwardly coughed before crossing an arm over the other and strolling her way over to the walls of the large passageway.

"hello, please take your number."

"here you go."

"here."

"you too."

the girl looked down at the green-headed.. thing.. she dipped her head as a 'thank you' and accepted the badge, carefully observing the item, furrowing her eyebrows for a second before clipping it onto her clothing.

"be sure you wear this on your chest at all times. be careful not to lose it!"

[name] huffed, sticking her bottom lip out and shifted in surprise when a friendly, purposefully-made high pitched voice called out.

"haven't seen you guys before!"

leorio, kurapika, gon and [name] shifted their attention towards the direction of the voice, which lead them to a man sitting atop one of the large pipes located on the passage walls.

"you can tell we're new?" gon queried.

"more or less. after all, this'll be my 35th attempt," he answered, smiling at the four rookie hunter applicants.

"35th attempt?!" 

the man took the reaction lightly.

"well, you could say i'm an exam veteran."

leorio, kurapika and [name] conversed quietly with one another about how being an exam veteran with a total exam attempt of 35 isn't something to be bragging about.

"if you have any questions feel free to ask."

"thank you!"

the two exchanged names and gon also additionally introduced the three other hunter applicants behind him.

"hey! are there others who have taken the exams a bunch of times like you?"

"well, i have the most experience here, but there are a few others. for instance, there's him," tonpa started, using his index finger to direct the vision of the four. "number 255, todo the wrestler. he's unmatched in strength and he's smarter than he looks."

"on the other side, we have number 103, bourbon, the snake charmer. he tends to hold grudges, so you don't want to get on his bad side," he continued. "and then, number 191, bodoro, the kung fu master. he's getting old, but there still isn't a better martial artist around."

"then you have the three brothers, amori, imori and umori. they perform consistently well, thanks to their excellent teamwork. and number 384, gerreta, the huntsman. he specialises in killing all manner of creatures, by blow dart and club."

"there are many more, but they have taken the test the most times."

as tonpa finished explaining, [name] noticed a man walk by, donned with noticeably large shoulder plates and a cape which held an eye-catching purple pigment. the male aggressively bumped shoulders with another hunter applicant, not bothering to apologise. her eyes widened and she unconsciously began to scrunch her face in distaste.

the man's screams echoed and bounced off the passage walls. eyes travelled and made their way towards the man, who had both arms cleanly cut off. he fell to his knees, eyes wide and mouth agape.

"oh, how strange. he doesn't have any arms," a tall man with cherry-red hair and peculiar clothing said. "no smoke or mirrors here. do take care. when you bump into someone, you really should apologise."

the man's cherry-red hair was messily slicked back with gel and, upon closer inspection, he had a mint-green tear drop painted on his left cheek and a pink star on his right. a smile stretched his face.

"that psychopath's back again," tonpa groaned.

"again?"

"does that mean he took last year's exam?"

"number 44. hisoka, the magician. last year, he was a virtual lock to pass the test until he almost killed an examiner he didn't like," the veteran hunter applicant explained.

"a-and they're still allowing him to retake the exam this year?"

"of course. every year, the examiners and test content change, and the examiners are the ones who choose the new content. the devil could pass if that were the examiners' determination. that's just how the hunter exam works," he disclosed. "anyway, no one likes him. you should stay away, too."

the five applicants momentarily went silent, staring as the figure of the magician grew smaller. [name] narrowed her eyes into a sharp glare, which was directed towards the slender, cherry headed man.

"oh, right.. a little something to mark our acquaintance, how about it?" tonpa added, retrieving a tangerine orange can, most likely filled with soda or some sort of carbonated drink. the rookie hunter applicants' faces light up after seeing the drink.

"oh, much appreciated," leorio said, taking the can in his hands. "as it happened, i was thirsty."

the three other applicants were handed the same drink, one after the other thanking the man. quiet snickers and conversations were heard from a group of other hunter applicants from only a few metres away, though the four rookies did not hear.

"best of luck to all of us!" tonpa declared, raising his can with the four rookies following suit.

the five popped open their drinks, preparing to chug the substance. tonpa silently waited, a sly smirk slowly etching onto his face. three of the four rookie hunter applicants steadily lifted the can to their mouths while one did not. tonpa noticed this.

"oh? [name]? are you okay? you've just been staring at your drink? feeling sick?"

[name] frowned, shaking her head to disagree. she gently extends her arm to return the drink.

"i'm sorry, tonpa-san. it is tradition in my country or rather my occupation to not accept food and drinks from someone else. though i am rather thirsty, i'm afraid i cannot accept your offer," [name] explained, a guilty expression appearing onto her face, suddenly turning slightly sinister, "but you can drink it for me!"

"BLEEGGHH!"

"huh?"