Kevin had indeed never heard the term 'Guide' before, as he only had a general understanding of the Hunter Exam and hadn't delved into its details, nor did he plan on taking any shortcuts.
"Guides are beings who know the exact locations of the exam venues; they are employed by the Hunter Association and screen the participants on the necessary routes leading to the various exam cities," Goreinu patiently explained.
Hearing Goreinu's answer, Bajiao smacked his lips, as if recalling an unpleasant experience.
"So there's such a mechanism," Kevin couldn't help but exclaim, not expecting that just finding the exam venue would be like a small test or trial.
He had originally thought that traversing the easily confusing jungle under the cover of night, passing through the perilous wilderness, and arriving at the city was already quite a test.
The three of them talked as they quickened their pace through the forest.
Unconsciously, the sky began to brighten, and they were already nearing the edge of the forest.
Walking a bit further, they might see a village and approach the outskirts of the city.
"Strange, does this year's exam not require a Guide?" Bajiao asked, full of doubt.
After all, they had only participated in the previous Hunter Exam and failed, so they weren't exactly seasoned veterans.
Moreover, being "seasoned" in this context didn't seem to be a compliment.
Goreinu also couldn't answer this question, his heart filled with confusion.
That was until they saw the edge of the woods.
Standing at the entrance where they were about to exit the woods, Kevin stopped.
"What's wrong?" Bajiao asked.
Kevin didn't respond, only looked up through the branches and leaves above.
"That bird has been following us the whole time."
"A bird?" Goreinu looked puzzled and followed suit, looking up.
Indeed, nestled among the intertwined branches and leaves was a bird with emerald green feathers.
If it weren't for the slightly bright sky at this moment and Kevin's reminder, they would have certainly found it very difficult to spot this bird.
Its feather color blended with the surrounding environment, and it moved silently; it would have been completely undetectable at night.
After all, this was a forest, and it was common for birds to be present; their perception wasn't sharp enough to easily spot such cleverly hidden birds.
"So it's you, you stupid bird! You couldn't possibly have been hiding on purpose, could you?" After seeing the bird clearly, Bajiao's expression changed, and he cursed loudly without politeness.
"You know it?" Kevin was very surprised.
"Stupid pompadour."
A clear voice rang out.
Kevin looked in astonishment at the bird that flew down; it had actually spoken.
This wasn't simple mimicry, but clear expression with high intelligence.
"How unlucky, consider yourself lucky to have met this guy, otherwise I definitely wouldn't have shown myself. If you guys hadn't found me, you'd be waiting to not even find the exam venue this year," the small green bird landed on Kevin's shoulder and said with a rather conceited tone.
"You bastard, you're really nasty, abusing your authority?" Bajiao complained with a face full of dissatisfaction.
"I am the Guide, and if I say someone is unqualified, they are unqualified!" the little bird declared haughtily.
Then, it turned around on Kevin's shoulder, looked at Kevin, and asked, "You're quite sharp. I hid myself so well, how did you find me?"
"I sensed it from the moment you started following me."
"Is that so? I didn't expect you to have discovered me from the beginning," the little bird didn't doubt Kevin's words.
"You are very sharp, qualified," the little bird said, looking at Kevin.
Then, it looked at Goreinu: "You are very lucky, also qualified."
Finally, it stared at Bajiao, and Kevin even felt he could read disdain in the bird's expression.
"You got incredibly lucky, I'll grudgingly count you as qualified."
Even if Bajiao wasn't qualified, what could he do? Anyway, the little bird was taking Kevin to the exam venue, so Bajiao could naturally find the place by following behind.
Bajiao just let out an annoyed "Tch" and didn't say anything more.
After all, if it weren't for the grudge between him and this bird, the few of them might have really missed the exam venue because they couldn't find the Guide.
"Let's go, I'll take you guys in, let's go to the city first," the little bird said. Then, the few of them quickened their pace and rushed towards the city.
As soon as they entered the city, a salty, humid sea breeze hit them.
Most of the buildings in the entire city were low-rise; although it was a port city, commerce didn't seem prosperous.
Most of the people on the streets were local residents, and there seemed to be very few tourists.
"Why are there so many soldiers here?" Goreinu noticed something unusual and asked in confusion.
"Didn't you check the information about this city? This is a port city where the local country's naval military base is located."
Kevin listened quietly, took out a handful of small nuts from his pocket, and fed them to the little bird.
"Oh, thank you, you're so nice," the little bird said happily, not expecting such a delicious treat.
The group thus arrived at an inconspicuous seafood market, walked through the bustling crowd, and came to a seafood stall.
"Buy the fresh red sea fish caught at six o'clock this morning."
The fishmonger boss heard this and looked at the little bird, his face showing no trace of surprise.
He waved his hand, signaling an employee to lead the few of them into the back of the shop.
The little bird also flew onto the employee's shoulder and said to the group, "This is the exam venue entrance."
After speaking, it gave Bajiao another look of disdain: "If you don't pass this time, you won't have such good luck next time."
After saying that, it followed the employee inside, and then the door was closed.
Immediately after, a downward passage appeared in the wall.
The few of them walked down the passage.
Kevin asked Bajiao curiously, "How exactly did you get into a feud with that little bird?"
"Last year, the first time we met, it pooped on my hair," Bajiao said with a serious face, and as he spoke, he took out a comb and tidied up his hairstyle again.
So that was it, no wonder he had such a deep resentment towards this bird. It seemed he cared quite a bit about his pompadour hairstyle.
The few of them passed through the dark passage and quickly arrived at a very spacious basement below.
When they walked into the basement, many of the examinees present turned their heads to look at them.
There weren't many examinees, they were scattered, seemingly less than fifty people.
"Hmm, looks like we arrived quite early this time," Bajiao let out a soft whistle, his tone carrying a hint of excitement.
Goreinu also nodded in agreement.
His number last year was 413, which was a very late batch.
At this moment, a small person in a suit, shaped like a green bean, walked over and took out three number tags from a nearby backpack and handed them to the three of them.
"Here, these are your numbers."
Kevin bent down to take the number tag, and at the moment his hand slightly touched the other person's, a strong craving surged in his heart.
The intensity of this craving was comparable to when he obtained the crystal hand bone before, at least a reaction triggered by a B-grade material.
"You--what do you want to do!" The green bean person was so scared that he quickly backed away several steps, looking at Kevin in terror.
"Cough," Kevin lightly coughed, quickly suppressing the expression of craving that had shown on his face.
He had just been caught off guard for a moment, startled by this sudden craving.
However, he could now freely control this feeling of craving and wouldn't be swayed by it.
"Sorry, I was just too surprised. I've never seen a-um, intelligent life form like you outside."
"Oh, you scared me, it's good that you're okay," the green bean person let out a long sigh of relief, pretending to wipe away sweat that wasn't there from his forehead.
Kevin's eyes just now had really scared him, making him think Kevin was going to swallow him.
Kevin watched the green bean person leave.
"This world really is full of wonders," the white-haired Kate came to Kevin's side at some point and said with emotion.
At this time, Kate had a single-digit number tag pinned to his chest.
After speaking, he looked at Kevin, smiled, and then said apologetically, "Sorry, I said before that I wanted to fight you. But I watched the recording of your first fight on the two hundredth floor, it was very impressive, much stronger than my first fight."
Kevin waved his hand dismissively and said with a smile, "It's okay. I'm more curious, how did your trial go this time? Have you found your Master?"
Hearing this, Kate shook his head somewhat helplessly.
"I've only found some traces of him, but it's close. I feel like I'll be able to find him very soon."
"Haha, then I wish you an early completion of your trial."
The two chatted for a while, then Kate looked at the two people behind Kevin.
"You guys--you look familiar, you were examinees who participated in last year's exam, weren't you?"
Kate, who had also participated in last year's exam, obviously recognized them.
The two also nodded, indicating that they also recognized Kate. After all, Kate's performance in last year's exam was extremely outstanding, it was hard not to remember him.
Facing the conversation between the three, Kevin just smiled and didn't interject. At this moment, he felt a gaze cast upon him and turned his head to look.
It was a short, fat man carrying a backpack. His number was also very early, and he was sitting in place. Seeing Kevin's gaze, he smiled and nodded.
"Oh, it's that guy. If you had come alone, he would have definitely come over," Bajiao also saw the short, fat man's gaze, his tone full of disdain.
"What's wrong with him?" Kevin asked.
"That man is Tonpa, he's an old hand at the Hunter Exam," Kate added, seemingly familiar with the man. "It's said he's participated in over thirty exams so far."
"He's a very despicable guy," even Goreinu, who was usually quite easygoing, commented on him.
It seems this man named Tonpa indeed doesn't have a good reputation.
The four of them leaned against the wall, gathered together and chatted.
As time passed, more and more examinees entered the basement, and the number of unfamiliar faces kept increasing.
They even saw a Nen User.
Kevin witnessed Tonpa's actions firsthand.
He used a seemingly kind attitude to talk to the new examinees, then took the opportunity to drug them.
This guy really had a bad character.
However, coming here meant officially entering the exam stage, and everyone was a competitor.
Tonpa being able to do this clearly fell within the scope of the exam rules.
But Kevin didn't even know the specific rules of the Hunter Exam yet.
It wasn't until 8 PM that the exam entrance finally closed.
"Gua gua gua!"
A strange frog croak echoed throughout the entire area.
Everyone looked in the direction of the sound.
A woman wearing a frog headdress appeared on the wall at some point, sticking to the wall as if she were glued there.
She was dressed very lightly, with a large number of colorful patterns drawn on her exposed skin. All sorts of strange and bizarre patterns were present, as if she had covered herself in stickers.
"Hello! Hello!" she shouted in an extremely lively voice.
"The first stage of the Hunter Exam is about to begin! I am the examiner for this exam - Wa Hachi, and I'm twenty-two years old.
Speaking of which, this is my first time being an examiner, and I'm a little nervous and excited. I hope all the examinees will be understanding.
Don't look at me like this, I became a Hunter three years ago, and now I'm a One-Star Hunter! Pretty amazing, right?"
This examiner was like a chatterbox that had been opened, chirping non-stop and switching between various topics at will.
As she spoke, she made various gestures on the wall, matching her words. One moment she was very happy, the next she was pretending to be shy, and in the blink of an eye, she became serious.
Later, she even started introducing her preferences.
"Actually, I really like strawberry fruits, but I don't dislike the sweet and sour green jujube fruits either, and..."
"Enough! How long are you going to keep talking to yourself up there?!" An examinee finally couldn't stand it and questioned her loudly.
The examiner was startled by the sudden shout and looked at the examinee in shock. Then, she actually started crying with a wronged expression, tears gushing from her eyes like a bursting dam.
"How could you do this... I just wanted to get to know everyone properly."
Saying this, she cried louder and louder.
"Hey, you, why are you crying?!" The examinee who had just been shouting was immediately flustered by the sudden situation, completely at a loss.
He scanned his surroundings with a pleading look, seemingly trying to prove to others that he hadn't done anything excessive and that the other person had suddenly started crying on their own.
Just then, the examiner had somehow appeared in front of him. She swung her leg and kicked him hard in the face. This kick sent the examinee flying directly away.
The examinees around reacted very quickly. The moment she kicked, they all made a straight path, allowing the examinee to fly to the wall without any obstruction, where he then fainted.
At this moment, the examiner had completely lost her tearful, shy, and weak appearance from before. Instead, her face was filled with violence and irritation.
"Honestly, how dare you interrupt me."
Kevin couldn't help but feel a little speechless.
Does this examiner have a dual personality? He never expected to encounter such an unusual person.
Bajiao complained with a face full of irritation, "Another troublesome examiner."
Goreinu also sighed helplessly.
Even Kate silently pulled his newsboy cap down to express his helplessness at this moment. In a short period of time, everyone deeply felt how difficult this examiner was to deal with.
The key was that examiners had a great deal of autonomy during the exam.
"What are those expressions?! Do I make people dislike me?! Huh?!" The examiner questioned them with dissatisfaction. All the examinees shook their heads in unison.
"Hmph, I knew it. Follow me, the exam has begun."
After saying that, she walked straight outside.
At this moment, an upward passage appeared in front of the spacious basement.
A total of 443 examinees, oh no, now it's 442 examinees, followed behind the examiner.
They walked towards the outside.
The upward sloping passage wasn't long. In less than a minute, they arrived outside.
By this time, night had completely fallen, and the moon hung high in the sky.
The salty sea breeze blew in their faces.
There was a tall lighthouse on the distant sea cliff, and its searchlight cast a strong beam of light, slowly rotating in the darkness.
They were currently standing on a beach.
The examiner walked to the edge of the beach, put her hands on her hips, and pointed to the opposite shore of the sea, saying, "Look ahead, do you see it?
There is an island in the distance.
Your exam task is to swim to that island and enter the location for the next stage of the exam. I will be waiting for you there."
As soon as she finished speaking, an examinee immediately reacted and hastily asked, "Wait a minute -- isn't that a naval military base? That's a heavily guarded area. Trespassing will get you arrested as an intruder and sent to court!"
Hearing this, the examinees immediately became agitated.
The examiner stood with her hands on her hips impatiently and said with a displeased face, "Then just don't get discovered, isn't that enough?"
"Yes, yes."
"What do you mean 'yes'! Someone will definitely get caught. What will we do if we get locked up in prison?!"
"Is this what the Hunter Exam is about?"
"They're actually making examinees infiltrate a military base?"
The content of this first stage of the exam made many examinees frown, after all, this was no joke.
Kevin was also quite surprised, not expecting the exam content to be so unexpected.
Are they making people infiltrate a military base right from the start?
He looked at the people next to him and asked, "Was the last exam this outrageous?"
Goreinu shook his head, "No, the last one mainly tested physical ability and rock climbing skills."
Clearly, they were also very surprised by the change in the exam content this time.
"Haha, the Hunter Exam isn't child's play. If you're scared, hurry up and drop out," a strong muscular man said with a laugh.
The examiner nodded with satisfaction, "Yes, that's right. If you understand, hurry up and begin."
After saying that, she plunged into the sea like a sharp arrow, creating two splashes on the surface of the water and quickly swimming towards the opposite shore.
Many examinees also jumped into the water and swam hard towards the distant goal.
Fortunately, Kevin and the others were traveling light. After taking off their shoes, they jumped directly into the water.
They swam quickly in the water, moving towards the distant target.
As they got closer and closer to the military base, they soon heard the sound of patrol boats.
Several military patrol boats shuttled back and forth on the sea, and the soldiers on them held searchlights, constantly sweeping the surface of the sea.
"There! There are intruders!" A soldier on a patrol boat obviously spotted two examinees, quickly drove the patrol boat over, and the soldiers directly took out special nets, netting the two examinees on the spot, dragging them onto the boat, and tying them up.
As expected, it wasn't that simple. It was obvious that this military base had already prepared for unexpected visitors tonight.
Seeing this, a large number of examinees submerged themselves in the water and dispersed again.
Kevin and the other three gathered in the dark part of the sea surface.
They had successfully passed through the outer patrol boat circle.
The island where the military base was located was close at hand.
However, various searchlights were constantly sweeping the area, and there were many patrol personnel walking back and forth on the shore.
It was extremely difficult to get onto the island.
Furthermore, there were even underwater warning nets set up on both sides of the military base, which meant it was impossible to go around from either side. They could only quietly infiltrate from the heavily guarded patrol area in the front.
And the unspecified destination should also be inside.
"This is troublesome," Bajiao's hair had spread out in the water, and he said with a frown.
"Don't worry, our current position is just right. We won't have patrol boats passing by, and we won't be illuminated by searchlights.
"It's obvious that this exam was carefully planned. Our position in this circle is meant for careful observation and finding gaps in the patrols."
Kate analyzed calmly, while also carefully observing the situation on the shore.
It seemed he had found some flaws.
"How long can you use Aura Extension underwater?" Kate asked.
"25 minutes," Bajiao replied.
"30 minutes," Goreinu said.
"I think an hour should be fine," Kevin said after thinking for a moment.
In the past, such numbers would have been unimaginable, but in this world, nothing was that outrageous.
Moreover, Kevin could use his powerful Nen control ability to construct a hollow, straw-shaped object.
As long as he could maintain his Nen, he could breathe normally underwater.
"Then that should be enough time."
After Kate finished speaking, he led the others to continue swimming towards the target.