The tunnel narrowed as they ran. The air had grown heavier, the silence between footfalls sharper. Ahead, a faint fog coiled from cracks in the floor — the edge of the swamp.
But Satotz stopped.
No one noticed at first. Only Renzo, who ran nearest to him, caught the change in rhythm. The examiner's head turned slightly.
"405," he said quietly, without looking back.
Renzo slowed. "Yes?"
"Keep pace for another fifty steps. Then veer left. A door will open for you. Enter it."
Renzo didn't ask why.
Jack had taught him to listen when the world spoke quietly.
Fifty steps later, a seam in the wall cracked open with a hiss. Renzo slipped inside. No one saw him go. The door sealed behind him without a sound.
The corridor was narrower. Older. Lit by pale strips of embedded crystal.
Ahead stood a silent man in examiner black, face hidden behind a cloth mask. He didn't speak. Only gestured forward.
Renzo walked.
The corridor stretched long and dim. Every step echoed faintly. The walls were smooth, but bore scratches — as if others had once failed here.
A voice crackled from a speaker overhead. Calm. Measured.
"This path is not part of the main First Phase. You've been selected for parallel observation."
Renzo kept walking.
"You are not disqualified. But your presence raised certain questions. This is a test of control."
He paused. "Control of what?"
The voice didn't answer.
The lights dimmed.
From ahead, something stirred.
Not a person. Not a beast.
Something in the corridor itself.
A shadow walked out of the wall. It looked like a person. Moved like one. But it had no face. Just eyes — black rings of emptiness.
Renzo's heartbeat kicked.
The shadow took a stance. His stance. From the moment before he'd struck that memory — the one he couldn't recall.
The voice returned.
"You may not use Ren. Not Ten. Not any form of aura release. You must walk past your shadow without raising your hand."
The figure advanced. Slow. Deliberate.
It wasn't threatening. It was… accusing.
Renzo's fingers curled, then relaxed.
His jaw clenched.
The shadow moved again. Faster. Mimicking the walk Hisoka made — that glide, that smirk, that scent of danger.
Renzo's shoulder twitched.
He forced it still.
Jack's voice rang in his mind. "Flame without shape is a wildfire. Hold it close. Guard it."
The shadow lunged—just a feint.
Renzo didn't react.
But inside? His bones screamed to counter. To strike first. To destroy before being destroyed.
He gritted his teeth. Walked forward. One step. Then another.
The shadow passed through him. Cold. Empty. But not resisted.
And then it was gone.
The lights rose.
The voice crackled again. "Candidate 405. Observation complete."
A wall slid open ahead, revealing a staircase.
"You may rejoin the main path."
Renzo exhaled slowly. His knees trembled, but he kept walking.
As he emerged onto the stone path near the swamp, fog curling around his feet, he saw the others ahead—still running. The First Phase continued.
Gon turned as he approached. "There you are! Thought we lost you."
Renzo nodded once. "Took a wrong turn."
Kurapika didn't ask.
Leorio just groaned, "If we die here, I'm blaming you."
Renzo smiled faintly, but his mind wasn't in the fog.
It was still back in that corridor.
With a shadow that had looked exactly like him.
And a warning: if he ever let go—whatever was inside him might not stop.