The waiting lasted the entire night, until the first rays of dawn on the second day finally fell.
"Kisho, look over there."
Amos seemed to sense something and opened his eyes.
He lightly tapped Kisho on the shoulder.
"Ah… what?"
Still half-asleep, Kisho rubbed his eyes and looked in the direction Amos was pointing.
On top of the cliff stood a… little girl?
She wore a pink dress with a small vest, her golden curls tied into twin ponytails. Sitting leisurely on the cliff with her legs dangling, she looked down at the examinees with wide eyes from above.
Perhaps sensing Kisho and Amos' gaze, she turned to look at the two boys as well.
"Mhm~ not bad, not bad~"
A smile appeared on her face, like she had discovered a shining gemstone, her eyes sparkling brightly.
"The white-haired boy—his 'Ten,' whether in thickness or density, is astonishing~"
She shifted her gaze to Amos and nodded.
"The brown-haired boy's 'Ten' isn't bad either. Though slightly inferior to his partner's, it's definitely far beyond others his age."
"Mmm~ adorable gemstones, glittering gemstones~~"
The little girl hummed a strange tune, then nodded to herself as if she had made a decision.
"Listed as observation targets~ After watching their exam performance, I'll decide whether to be the examiner for their secret experiment~"
On the other side.
Kisho frowned. "Did she just appear out of nowhere?"
Amos nodded. "Yeah. No idea when she showed up."
"Then she should be the examiner for the first test, right?" Kisho said.
"Probably. You can tell from her aura." Amos gave a slight nod. "Among everyone here, her aura is the most conspicuous—almost impossible to ignore. And—"
"If she weren't an examiner, she wouldn't be standing that high, staring at the examinees with that kind of look."
Amos said coldly, "—like she's picking. Pretty annoying."
"Hahaha~" Kisho laughed.
As he spoke, he looked around.
"There are probably over five hundred people already… and there are only a few hours left until January 7th. Before the exam officially begins, it should exceed six hundred."
Amos raised an eyebrow. "So what? In the end, the ones who get a license will definitely be the two of us."
"So confident."
Kisho looked at him as he spoke, and the two exchanged a smile.
Then, amid the startled cries of the examinees, the little girl leapt down from the cliff and landed steadily at the open ground ahead.
"Hey~ examinees, I am the examiner for the first round of the Hunter Exam, Biscuit Krueger."
"Now then, please confirm something~" Biscuit smiled and winked.
"In the Hunter Exam, if you're unlucky, you might get seriously injured—or even lose your life~"
"If you want to give up or withdraw now, it's not too late~"
Silence.
"Mhmm, wonderful~ Then for the 281st Hunter Exam, total examinees: 658. All participating~"
"Now I declare the first test officially begins. The content is to cross Blackrock Canyon and reach the gathering point at the other end. The deadline is noon, three days from now."
Faint discussions rose among the examinees.
But before they could ask further questions, Biscuit vanished from sight at astonishing speed along a narrow passage behind the valley.
The other examinees set off as well, some in groups, others alone.
Kisho stood up, exchanged a glance with Amos, and nodded.
He then looked at C·L, who might have been reading this whole time, and at Tonpa, who was sleeping soundly with his shoulder bag covering his face.
"You two, we're setting off!"
...
Blackrock Canyon was divided by towering rock walls into countless narrow passages. After entering from the entrance, the examinees were quickly scattered.
Within this canyon, there were only pitch-black rock walls and black stones fallen from weathered cliffs. The soil was saturated with insect venom; even the hardiest wild grass could not survive here.
All one could see were black scorpions as long as an arm, or black ants the size of fists with mandibles and wings, crawling through the crevices of the rocks.
The four of them moved through the canyon, maintaining a constant state of "Zetsu."
"We've been running for nearly four hours straight, haven't we?"
Kisho glanced at Amos, who kept pace at his side.
"Even though we didn't use Nen to increase speed to accommodate Tonpa and C·L, there's still no end in sight."
Amos nodded, then discreetly glanced at C·L.
Clearly he had no Nen, yet he ran with his hands in his pockets more effortlessly than anyone else.
"By the way, Mr. C·L, aren't you tired? Mr. Tonpa has already asked to rest several times."
Kisho also looked at C·L as he asked.
C·L met his gaze and smiled slightly. "I'm fine."
Kisho looked him up and down. Indeed, fine—his clothes weren't even wrinkled.
"I… am… not… fine…"
Tonpa's face was pale as he gasped, barely catching his breath. "
Slow down, slow down—how about we… rest a bit?"
Kisho and Amos stopped and turned to look at him.
Amos showed no sympathy at all.
"So useless, Mr. Tonpa. You're not even as good as two kids."
Tonpa: "…"
He didn't even have the strength to retort. Taking advantage of the pause, he braced his knees and gulped down air.
"Blackrock Canyon is approximately 180 kilometers long."
C·L glanced at Tonpa and said, "At your current speed, you've likely covered about a quarter of the distance."
After a pause, he added slowly, "If you're not in too much of a hurry, you could rest briefly before continuing."
His expression grew serious again. "But not too long. Ten minutes is the limit. Otherwise, the insects here may discover you at any moment."
Kisho looked at Amos for his opinion. "What do you think?"
"Yeah, let's rest a bit. Mr. Tonpa really looks like he can't go on."
Amos shrugged indifferently.
"Besides, you wouldn't be willing to leave someone behind and head off on your own anyway."
Kisho grinned. "Hehe~"
...
Because venomous insects could emerge from the black soil at any time, even during rest, they remained standing and alert.
Bored, Kisho kicked apart a weathered black stone with his foot, then suddenly turned to C·L.
"Oh right, Mr. C·L, can I ask you something?"
C·L looked at him. "What is it?"
Kisho asked, "Why do you know so much?"
C·L seemed amused by the question.
"Perhaps I've simply read more books."
"That makes sense."
Kisho nodded thoughtfully. "Come to think of it, I also know someone who loves reading. He reads everything—maybe the two of you would have something in common."
C·L smiled. "Oh? Is that so?"
Resting nearby, Amos suddenly opened his eyes and looked at Kisho speechlessly.
Every time he thought this guy had finally figured something out, the guy would surprise him all over again.
"...Hmm, maybe not."
After thinking it over, Kisho shrugged. "For your safety, it's probably better not to get close to the guy I know."
C·L smiled but did not continue the topic, instead looking at Tonpa.
"That's about enough time. Mr. Tonpa, we need to go."
"What? That's barely anything!"
Tonpa lifted his head in frustration.
"Can't we get three more minutes? Just three more minutes before we set off!"
C·L neither agreed nor refused, but his brows knitted slightly.
At that moment, Kisho's expression changed drastically.
"Tonpa, move!"
With a quick step, he rushed forward, grabbed Tonpa, and leapt aside.
At the spot where Tonpa had just been standing, cracks spread across the thin black rock layer on the cliff behind him.
The rock surface shattered, revealing what had been hidden behind it—causing Kisho and Amos' expressions to turn cold instantly.
And Tonpa's face turned even uglier.
Covering the entire rock wall were thousands upon thousands of earth-brown spider eggs.
Black spiders the size of fists crawled out one after another from the shattered eggs.
Dense and endless, forming a writhing mass.