"He killed an examiner and they allowed him to participate again?" Leorio's voice was full of disbelief as he heard Tonpa describe about Hisoka's past attempt.
"This is the hunter exam. As long as the examiner agrees, even a demon from hell would be allowed to participate."
As they were talking, the wall at the end of the tunnel opened and a man with weirdly curled mustache wearing a suit appeared in front of everyone.
"Hello everyone. I am Satotz, the examiner for the first phase of the Hunter exams. Please follow me."
The moment Satotz began walking, the atmosphere in the underground tunnel shifted from tense anticipation to chaos. What had seemed like an orientation gathering instantly revealed itself as the beginning of the exam. There was no signal flare, no dramatic declaration beyond the simple instruction to follow.
The participants did not hesitate and followed Satotz. At first, the candidates were simply walking but as time went by the pace increased from slight jog to full on sprint.
Kitse fell into stride almost lazily, matching Gon's pace without effort. The steady rhythm of hundreds of footsteps echoed against the tunnel walls, forming a dull roar swallowing any individual presence. Some examinees surged forward recklessly, eager to prove something. Others conserved energy, eyes fixed on Satotz's back.
Gon seemed almost delighted. His steps were light, elastic, like someone running through open fields rather than an endless concrete tunnel. Leorio, in stark contrast, was already muttering under his breath, attempting to regulate his breathing while preserving what little dignity he felt he had left. Kurapika maintained a measured pace, neither too fast nor too slow, his composure intact but his eyes constantly observing.
Kitse watched all of it with quiet detachment.
The group continued to run in silence when a foreign presence approached them with relative ease.
Gon turned around and saw a young boy of his age and a grin naturally formed on his face.
Kilua, who was using his skateboard with relative ease, also spotted Gon and he slowed down to meet Gon's pace.
"Hey! How old are you?" he asked.
"I'm 12." Gon had starry eyes as he looked at the skateboard.
"Hmm."
Kilua stepped hard on the back of the skateboard and flipped it to get off the board. He caught it effortlessly and started running besides Gon.
"Guess I'll run too then." He clearly wanted to be nonchalant but his competitive voice was recognizable to everyone.
"Can I use that?" Gon asked, with his eyes still on the skateboard.
Kilua looked at the boy and the fishing rod at the back and grinned.
"Only if you let me use that fishing rod."
....
This test was not about endurance alone. It was about uncertainty. The lack of a defined distance gnawed at the human mind far more effectively than exhaustion. Muscles could endure more than people believed; doubt, however, eroded resolve quickly.
Several minutes passed. Then an hour. Then more.
The examinees began thinning not because they collapsed outright, but because they broke in smaller ways. Some tried to accelerate, thinking the end must be near. Others slowed too much, conserving energy for a finish line that did not exist. Satotz's pace never changed. That consistency was its own form of cruelty.
Kitse felt two distinct gazes on him for a whine now.
It was not the curious glance of a competitor nor the irritated stare of someone measuring stamina. It was sharp and playful predatory interest,. When he finally shifted his gaze slightly to the left, he found the source immediately.
Hisoka.
Even among hardened examinees, the magician stood out. His expression held the faint curve of amusement, but his eyes were something else entirely. They were not looking at Gon as they had in the original timeline of Kitse's memories. They were fixed on him.
Kitse did not slow down. He simply met Hisoka's gaze.
There was a brief, silent exchange, an assessment conducted without words. Hisoka was testing for fear, curiosity, hostility or anything that would hint at flavor. What he received instead was stillness.
It was the look of someone who had already weighed the outcome.
Kitse turned his eyes forward again as though the interaction had not warranted further thought.
Behind the paint and smile, something in Hisoka sharpened.
A few meters back, another presence observed more discreetly. Illumi Zoldyck did not stare openly. Unlike Hisoka's hunger, Illumi's attention was analytical. He catalogued irregularities the way others catalogued weaknesses. Kitse's footsteps were too even. His breathing too stable. More concerning than that was the faint suppression Illumi sensed.
"Still okay?" Kitse asked quietly, glancing toward Gon and Kilua.
Gon beamed. "Yeah! This is just like running through the forest back home!"
Kilua flashed his characteristic smile and gave a thumbs up.
Leorio groaned. "Your 'forest' must be hell."
Kurapika's breathing remained controlled, though a faint sheen of sweat had formed along his brow. "We should maintain this pace. If we accelerate now, we may regret it."