The venue for the final exam was a large hotel that the Association had rented temporarily.
Ever since they boarded the airship, everyone had been guessing what the final exam would entail.
Because Bodoro reasoned that the last test might be a written one, the others began cramming at the last minute—rushing to the airship's library, burying themselves in books, and even writing little cheat sheets.
His reasoning was not without basis.
After all, a Hunter is expected to possess extensive knowledge in many fields, and none of the previous exam stages had tested that so far.
Aboard the airship, the ten candidates met Chairman Netero once more.
The questions for the final exam would be set by the old man himself; even the other examiners did not yet know what they would be.
Seeing these few people make it to the last stage, even the old man had to sigh that this year's candidates were exceptionally talented.
Just ten years ago, it was common for every candidate to be eliminated before the exam ended; no one could reach the finish line.
Now, ten provisional Hunters had appeared all at once—truly a rare sight.
Among these ten, seven were newcomers.
The four members of the protagonist group, plus Xiang Nan, Illumi, and Hanzo, were all taking the Hunter Exam for the first time.
People like Pokkle and Bodoro had taken the exam before.
Pokkle joined three years ago and was eliminated in the fourth stage.
Bodoro took the exam last year and was filtered out in the first round.
Hisoka goes without saying.
Next, the chairman personally received each of them one‑by‑one in the interview room on the airship, asking questions such as:
"What kind of Hunter do you want to become? Why do you want to become a Hunter?
"At this point in the exam, which person has caught your eye the most?
"Who do you most want to fight, and who would you rather avoid?"
Xiang Nan remembered this scene very clearly.
He was the first to enter the interview room and speak with Netero, and it was also the only time so far he could be alone with the old man.
He assumed Netero would ask him those standard questions.
Yet after stepping inside and sitting on the cushion,
Netero did not speak right away. Stroking his beard, he smiled and sized Xiang Nan up for several seconds in silence.
Only after this strange pause had lasted half a minute did he give a faint smile and ask, "Why do you want to be a Hunter?"
"Because I want to witness the world of Nen users and meet truly strong people—like you, Chairman,"
Xiang Nan answered honestly.
With the old man's eyesight, experience, and shrewdness, any disguise was meaningless.
Even a crafty fellow like Hisoka could be seen through at a glance, so there was no point in pretending here.
"Oho… given your background and experience, it's impressive you're still so driven. Youth really is formidable," Netero said.
Xiang Nan merely smiled in silence.
It seemed the old man already knew everything about him—probably information provided by the V5.
"Then… among these people, which one do you care about most? Whom do you most want to fight—or avoid?"
Netero asked while pointing at photos of the other candidates on the low table between them.
"I don't care about any of them, and there's no one I especially want to fight or avoid," Xiang Nan said flatly after one glance. "I entered the exam to join the Association. Besides meeting stronger Nen users, I want to encounter tougher opponents and raise my own level. If I'm allowed to choose outside the current candidates, the one I'm most looking forward to and most want to fight is you, Chairman."
Netero chuckled, closed his eyes as if pondering the reply, and kept rubbing his beard.
After a moment he opened one eye and fixed it on Xiang Nan. "Before I let you in, you already knew what I was going to ask, didn't you?"
"…"
At those words, Xiang Nan's expression changed.
How had the old man noticed? Or had he received intel?
Players foresee events because they know certain future plot lines.
Earlier Xiang Nan had tested this through Manman on Gon: besides being barred from revealing the system or game rules, players also cannot state future plot points outright.
According to Manman, when she mentioned Gon seeking his father Ging Freecss, the system blocked her words and Gon heard nothing.
That showed it is very hard for the plot characters to detect that players know the future.
Yet Netero had clearly picked up some clue or noticed something through observation.
After all, long before Xiang Nan's cohort, many players had already appeared.
No one knew whether the Association had interacted with them.
Even if words could not leak, certain player actions that unlocked plot lines—or their grasp of hidden facts—could still betray them.
Moreover, while the system does not want plot characters to learn future events, players can hint or warn them indirectly by changing their phrasing.
That part should be permissible.
But for the same reason, even if they spoke up, these characters might not believe it—there's no evidence, no credibility, just baseless claims.
Players as a group actually have little power in the Hunter world.
Though there is some activity, the impact is small.
"Is it because my identity and the level I've reached are different from earlier players? Did the old man see a strength in me that few players possess and seek to confirm his guess through my answers? The more status and power one has, after all, the more weight his words carry,"
Xiang Nan thought while meeting Netero's gaze.
He did not answer right away.
That was a good sign: it meant people like Netero and other major figures were at least curious about players, not ignoring them completely, and had noticed certain clues.
"No surprise it's him… if he discovered this trace on his own and came to confirm with me, his sense for future danger is truly frightening," Xiang Nan mused.
"Don't want to say? That's fine," Netero chuckled.
"It's not that—I did guess a little," Xiang Nan replied blandly, giving an ambiguous answer.
Sure enough, when he said that, the motion of Netero's hand stroking his beard paused slightly.
"May I ask you a private question?" Xiang Nan suddenly countered.
"Go ahead."
"The incident in Zaban City—doesn't the Association find it curious? Those mysterious people who appeared there out of nowhere… you must already have collected a lot of information, right?"
"Mm," Netero nodded serenely. "The Association takes the Zaban incident quite seriously, but the follow‑up handling is mainly for the local government and the state. All the Association can do is provide support and respond; we can't intervene directly, nor do we have the authority."
A smooth answer—one that sounded responsive yet said nothing.
Still, Xiang Nan gleaned something from it.
First, many areas used for this Hunter Exam were inside the Kukan'yu Kingdom, which is a V5 member nation.
In other words, the Zaban situation was to be handled directly by the V5.
The Association's stance therefore indirectly reflected the V5's stance, confirming Xiang Nan's earlier guess.
Both the V5 and the Association had some knowledge of the Reincarnation Dimension and the myriad worlds.
Their only source could be earlier high‑level Hunter players. But because the Hunter server had opened only recently, players' overall power was still low, their organization loose, and they lacked formal training routes. Even if they covertly passed intel to the V5 or the Association, their own ability was limited and they had experienced few worlds, so the information they held was scant.
Even if they talked, what the Association and V5 learned would be only a tiny bit.
The V5 must have been secretly monitoring these nameless folk and discovered they could vanish mysteriously—unnatural deaths that in effect weakened the players' collective strength and future potential.
"In the V5's eyes, they still need more confirmation… high‑level players dying in other worlds further convinces them that players aren't a big threat," Xiang Nan speculated.
But that revealed another issue:
For players to integrate into the Hunter‑world power structure—trusted by bodies like the Wizard Guild style Fairy Tail or Diamond Kingdom on Black Clover—was a long, difficult road.
The V5 was likely quite wary of them.
It would be hard to persuade the V5 to ally with players against threats from other worlds.
Up to now the main storyline hadn't begun, nor had large‑scale invaders appeared, and the players' own strength was still too low to be taken seriously.
The V5 was likewise arrogant and had not verified much intel.
But the Zaban incident would probably make them rethink.
"Seeing it this way, my choice of the Republic of Padokea—neither part of the V5 nor tied to the Hunter Association—was unintentionally wise. If one hopes to borrow the V5's power in the multiverse conflict, it won't be easy. The Hunter world's backdrop of nations and politics is pretty complex—different from other worlds," Xiang Nan thought with a grin.
In the Reincarnation Dimension model, players and the main world are one, inseparable.
Players fight abroad precisely to keep the main world from suffering.
But once invaders descend and the players lack 'defensive power,' the V5 will not escape disaster either.
All share in the glory and the loss.
"So if they choose to draw a line, let each side play its own game…" Xiang Nan narrowed his eyes.
"Your Nen training—did you also use Shingen‑ryū?" Netero suddenly laughed in his throaty way.
"So you saw through it…"
Xiang Nan arched a brow and admitted it.
The man before him, after all, was the founder of Shingen‑ryū.
"Oho… even I didn't expect Shingen‑ryū to branch out and benefit so many juniors," Netero said, entirely unconcerned, laughing.
"But Shingen‑ryū is only one training method—good for opening the door to Nen. How far you go after that is up to you. Frankly, Shingen‑ryū is just a path I groped out from my own insights and may not suit everyone. Someone like you, who laid his foundation with it, should find a road of his own for future growth," the old man advised.
"I wonder, once I join the Hunter Association, if you'd have time to give me personal guidance?" Xiang Nan asked bluntly, effectively stating his desire to become Netero's disciple.
"Hmm."
Netero's expression turned subtle.
"Honestly, I've met a few people like you in the past decades… but they all disappeared in the end, and I was quite sad. Ohoho."
"…"
Xiang Nan's heart stirred.
It seemed Netero's contact with Nameless Town players ran deeper than he'd thought.
"You, though, seem a bit special… let me think about it," Netero wheezed dramatically, then suddenly flashed a mischievous grin.
"I'm on a schedule. If you're not interested, don't string me along—so consider it quickly and give me an answer,"
Xiang Nan said, realizing the answer was likely no. He rose from the cushion, waved casually, and turned to leave.
He didn't slam the door on the conversation; the reply was within his expectations.
What Netero hesitated over was Xiang Nan's identity—his ties to Padokea's political power—and whether Xiang Nan had truly cut those military links.
If the old man agreed too readily, the V5 might exert pressure.
On that front he remained cautious.
"Oho… youngsters today really have no patience—such tempers," Netero chuckled.
Xiang Nan ignored him and stepped out of the room.
~~~
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