The airship flew for an entire day and night before hovering above the top of a circular tower.
This tower had no spire. Instead, it was a towering cylindrical structure, slightly narrower at the top and wider at the bottom.
The open space at the top was as large as a football field.
The examinees descended by parachute, dropping down one after another like dumplings falling from the sky.
After all the examinees had landed, the airship left behind a single line—"We wish you all success in the exam"—before disappearing into the horizon.
"Cough, cough."
Above the tower, a voice came from an electronic screen that had appeared at some unknown time, drawing everyone's attention.
On the screen appeared a short man wearing glasses, with a tuft of purple hair on his forehead.
He put down the potato chips in his hand, his face covered in crumbs, leaned closer to the screen, and slowly began to speak. His voice fell clearly into the ears of every examinee observing the situation:
"Welcome, examinees, to the second round of the Hunter Exam. I am Lippo, the examiner in charge of this test."
He paused slightly and lifted his head. A cold gleam reflected off his lenses.
"Without further ado, the condition for passing this round is to descend from the top of the tower to the bottom alive within 72 hours."
"Oh!"
Kisho suddenly let out a surprised exclamation.
Amos looked at him.
"What?"
"What the examiner just said reminded me of a really ancient game I once played."
Amos immediately grew interested.
"What game?"
"If you're a man, go down one hundred floors."
Amos: "…Never heard of it."
"Hehe!" Kisho rubbed the back of his head. "Not important~ Let's hear him out."
Lippo stuffed another chip into his mouth.
"Now then, the third trial officially begins. I wish all of you a smooth pass."
To everyone's surprise, there were absolutely no instructions on how to descend the tower or proceed further.
After Lippo delivered his utterly insincere "blessing," the screen suddenly went dark, folded up, and retracted back into the tower.
The examinees were left standing there, staring at one another in confusion.
However, after the elimination of the first round, no fools remained.
After more than ten seconds of silent stillness, the examinees began taking action one by one.
...
Kisho approached the edge of the tower and looked down.
"Whoa, that's high!"
He pondered.
"And the walls are really smooth. There aren't many footholds."
Amos walked over.
"Bisky said the second exam's theme is 'stage-clearing.' There's no way we're supposed to pass it like this."
He stared at Kisho.
"And you felt it too, right?"
"Yeah!"
Kisho nodded. "There are magical beasts down there. Their aura is pretty terrifying. Fighting on flat ground would be fine, but if we had to battle while climbing, our chances of winning would be close to zero."
Amos nodded in agreement.
"Though, if we just jump down, the magical beasts probably wouldn't be able to catch up."
He turned to Kisho with a grin.
"What do you think? If I take a leap of faith, could I become the first examinee to clear it?"
"Go ahead and try."
Amos sneered coldly. "If you find out the plan works after you get down there, remember to call me. If it doesn't, at least appear in my dreams and tell me where you died so I can collect your body."
"Tch, tch, tch! That's so mean!"
Kisho shot him an annoyed glare.
Amos gave a cold laugh and pressed a hand on Kisho's head.
The two returned toward the center and regrouped with C·L and Tonpa.
Kisho fully trusted C·L's knowledge and faithfully upheld the principle of "When in doubt, ask C·L." He looked at him and asked:
"Mr. C·L, do you have any clues?"
"Trick Tower." C·L answered with a smile.
"This tower is located on a small island near the Saint Lence Continent. It serves as a prison for serious criminals sentenced to more than one hundred years."
"Wow!"
Kisho's eyes widened. "So this is my future home, huh? Then I'd better take a good look around later!"
Amos: "…"
Unable to tolerate it any longer, he punched Kisho on the head.
"Heh~"
C·L looked at Kisho with a meaningful smile before turning serious.
"Some examinees around us have already disappeared."
He concluded, "Let's search around. There should be mechanisms nearby that lead inside."
Kisho and Amos began surveying the surroundings.
Sure enough, in the few minutes they had been bantering, nearly half of the more than two hundred examinees who had been on the tower top had already vanished.
With the top student having highlighted the key point, the problem was practically effortless.
Kisho quickly discovered a movable stone slab that led into Trick Tower.
However, he was surprised to find that the slabs seemed to be coated with some kind of material—or perhaps influenced by a Nen user—because even "En" couldn't probe inside.
Kisho stood beside the slab he found.
"I found one."
Amos followed right after.
"I found one too."
C·L said nothing and simply tapped the ground in front of him with his foot.
The three of them then turned simultaneously to look at Tonpa, who had found nothing.
Tonpa: "…"
Stared at by three pairs of unreadable eyes, he showed a panicked expression.
"Hey! Don't abandon me!"
Amos spread his hands. "But you're really completely useless."
"This stage doesn't allow carrying. Looks like they're all solo instances."
Kisho looked at Tonpa and gave him an encouraging smile.
"It's time to overcome the challenge on your own, Mr. Tonpa! You can do it!"
Tonpa: "…"
The two utterly heartless boys exchanged a knowing grin and leapt high into the air—
"Hey—!"
Before Tonpa could finish, the sound of stone slabs flipping echoed, and the three vanished from sight.
...
Kisho landed on the ground, stepping lightly to buffer the impact, then looked around at his surroundings.
It was a room of about five square meters. The floor and walls were lined with solid stone bricks.
In one corner stood a stone platform, upon which lay four white wristbands. On the electronic screen above, "72 hours" was counting down second by second.
Behind him came familiar voices.
Amos straightened up from a half-crouch and looked at Kisho with a smile.
C·L stood elegantly, raising a hand toward Kisho and Amos in greeting.
"Meeting again, you two."
...
After some "long time no see" pleasantries, the three walked to the stone platform with the wristbands and each picked one up.
A stone plaque hung above it:
"A four-person team stage-clearing game. Each person may participate only once. After voluntarily stepping down or losing once, that person permanently loses the opportunity and may not re-enter."
"If during the challenge all four members fail, the exam is considered failed. Conversely, even if only one person remains upon clearing, the entire group passes."
After reading the rules, Kisho wore an expression that practically said, "That's it?"
"I feel like the second round is even easier than the first. Isn't this just a role-playing game with four lives?"
"Not exactly."
"In a video game, the player doesn't consider the feelings of each playable character. They have only one goal: clearing the game."
C·L smiled faintly and explained, "But if the four are strangers who don't know one another, and they don't know how many stages there are, then clearly the last person to go has the greatest advantage."
"In such a situation where people aren't united, 'clearing' won't be their primary objective. 'Self-preservation' will be."
"That's right."
Amos nodded. "The examinees might start fighting each other just over who goes first."
After Amos finished, C·L continued,
"When the first defender clears a stage and sees the others pass effortlessly right behind him, that sense of disparity may very well lead him to voluntarily give up and pass the defender position to the second person."
He paused briefly. "And then the vicious cycle begins."
Kisho nodded. "I didn't think that far. It doesn't matter to me which order we go in. I can carry anyway."
"Then you carry."
Amos happily took it easy. "This rule actually suits an Enhancer like you perfectly."
Kisho grinned and looked over.
"Does Mr. C·L agree?"
C·L nodded with a smile. "Of course. Your strength is more than sufficient. We'll leave it to you."
Amos: "…"
Tsk. That tone—like a black-hearted boss hyping up an employee.
Look at Kisho—he's practically floating with joy.
The three put on their wristbands.
"The problem is we need four people."
Amos spoke quietly. "So when is the fourth person coming?"
Even C·L couldn't answer that.
The three sat down in the room and waited.
Time passed second by second.
After a while, Kisho grew a bit impatient.
"Hurry up and let someone come already!"
He stood up and looked toward the ceiling. "Whoever it is, I can carry them. Even if Tonpa shows up, I'll carry—"
Before he could finish, the stone slab above flipped open, and a blue figure descended from the sky—