Chapter 58: The Final Phase, Arriving Without Pause
"That kid who was eating pork rice bowl in my exam hall? He killed Rando? Don't make me laugh!"
Menchi, the Phase 2 examiner, was the first to object, and clearly still holding a grudge. She hadn't particularly kept track of who had shown up to attempt her sushi stage, but she remembered exactly who hadn't.
Badge 406 Ross. Badge 44 Hisoka. Badge 301 Gittarackur.
None of them had taken the exam.
"...While I do believe Badge 406 has considerable potential, if my perception was accurate, that young man appeared to have only awakened his Nen just before entering Phase 1. Even with exceptional talent and rapid development, defeating Rando in a direct confrontation would be beyond what's possible."
Satotz, the Phase 1 examiner, gave a measured and reasonable assessment.
"Seriously? So during Phase 2 he'd had Nen for barely more than a day?"
Buhara, the other Phase 2 examiner, looked completely incredulous.
Netero and his secretary Beans said nothing. Lippo, having listened to everything, laughed in his characteristic way, then looked at the Chairman.
"Chairman, did you read the report I submitted a week ago?"
"Mm. I read it. If he can truly materialize everything you described in full, he might actually have been capable of it."
Netero nodded. The hand stroking his beard was putting in noticeably more effort than usual.
He had already picked up during their brief encounter on the airship that Ross's ability involved video games, but at the time had only thought of it as a promising talent. If Lippo's report was accurate, this kid's ability might have strategic significance.
"Conjuration type? Special rules?"
Hearing that even Netero was leaning toward believing Ross could have killed Rando, Menchi caught the key detail in what had been said.
"Does anyone know about a game currently on the market called Greed Island? That game is reportedly designed specifically for Nen users to play, and according to intelligence, people genuinely die inside it. Badge 406's ability gives me a feeling that might be comparable to Greed Island."
After sending the candidates to Zevil Island, Lippo had gone onto the Hunter intranet and done some research. He made it sound casual. In practice, what he was referencing had cost him twenty million Jenny.
"In that case, the final phase will require some thought. Let's start by speaking with each of them individually."
Netero had made his decision about the final phase.
...
The Phase 4 passers had all boarded the airship. It was heading for Hunter Association headquarters.
Everyone had spread out across the cabin in small groups.
Then the intercom chimed with the same pre-announcement tone you'd hear at a train station or airport.
"Attention all candidates aboard: effective immediately, candidates whose numbers are called please proceed to the interview room one by one."
"Candidate 44, please proceed to the interview room."
Door opens. Hisoka enters. He was more cooperative than expected, or perhaps more precisely, more cautious.
After brief pleasantries, Netero cut straight to the point. He asked first about Hisoka's reason for wanting to become a Hunter, received "a Hunter license is a legal permit to kill" as his answer, then spread photographs of all Phase 4 passers face-up across the table.
"Which of these candidates interests you most?"
"Hmm."
Hisoka considered this seriously. His fingers passed over five photographs in sequence before settling on Badge 408, Urameshi Yusuke.
"There are too many good options. Ninety-nine and four-oh-five are both difficult to set aside, but if I have to choose, it's still this one. I genuinely hope I get to fight him someday."
In the original story, Hisoka had chosen Badge 99, Killua, as the candidate he found most worth noting. This time, he chose Yusuke.
Predictably, Badge 407, Kuwabara, was not considered.
"One final question."
Netero paused.
"If you had to choose the candidate you least want to fight, who would it be?"
Somewhat unexpectedly, with almost no hesitation, Hisoka's finger landed on Badge 406, Ross.
"In every sense of the word, he is the last person I should engage at this stage."
He said it without wavering, then his expression visibly shifted into something more unsettling, and he looked up at the Chairman.
"Incidentally, the person I want to fight most right now is you, Chairman."
"Good work. You may leave."
The Chairman absorbed Hisoka's pointed killing intent as if it were a light breeze, utterly unbothered. The complete lack of reaction gave Hisoka a brief pause.
One by one, the candidates were called in for individual interviews after that. Ross was the last.
"Why do you want to become a Hunter?"
Netero asked directly as Ross sat down cross-legged.
"I want to become a Secret Realm Hunter. It would let me travel all over the world finding Secret Realms."
Ross's eyes visibly lit up as he gave this answer, though the secret realms he was picturing were obviously not the conventional kind.
"Among these candidates, who matters most to you?"
"These two idiots. Can't separate them."
Ross tapped Yusuke and Kuwabara's photographs.
"And who among these would you least want to fight?"
"Three-oh-one. Absolutely three-oh-one."
Ross chose Illumi in his disguise form without hesitating.
His reasoning: Hisoka, given their existing arrangement, would probably pull his punches somewhat when it came to potential future collaboration. But Killua's brother had no such considerations and was genuinely untouchable. If he ran into Gittarackur, Ross would simply concede on the spot.
As for any matches within the friend group, those could be settled however. Rock-paper-scissors would probably be sufficient to determine the outcome.
Barring any major changes, the final phase would probably still produce only one failing candidate. Plenty of room.
"I see, I see..."
But just when Ross thought the interview was over, Netero spoke again.
"One final question from me personally."
"Go ahead."
Ross: cooperative student face.
"Badge 66, Shaolin. The demon Rando. Was that you?"
"...Strictly speaking, it was Yusuke and I who handled it in two stages. Honestly, it was close. Someone could have genuinely died."
Remembering the intense pain that had started in his abdomen and spread through his entire body from the poison, Ross shuddered involuntarily.
"And you chose to fight knowing he was a murderous demon?"
"Yes."
Ross nodded. The target was carrying a 3-point badge, there was the possibility of a loot drop, and his HP bar was showing. How was he supposed to walk away from that?
"...That will do. You may go."
Watching Ross's back disappear through the door, Netero began writing with an expression that gave nothing away.
By the time the airship had been flying for about twenty hours and was approaching the landing pad on the roof of Association headquarters, Netero had completed the bracket for the final phase.
"Chairman... are you serious?"
The examiners stared at the freshly completed bracket in collective bewilderment.
"Completely serious."
Netero showed a rare expression of genuine earnestness.
The atmosphere built steadily as the candidates and examiners filed into the trial hall. Netero wasted no time.
"The final phase will be conducted as a one-on-one elimination tournament!"
Still a tournament format. Still full-contact brawling. Togashi's preferred structure through and through.
On hearing that it was a one-on-one elimination tournament, the small group of candidates who had spent an entire night taking notes and making cheat sheets at the persuasion of a certain elderly candidate, Badge 191 Bodoro, all turned to look at him with undisguised hostility.
The cloth covering the whiteboard was pulled away, and the bracket that Netero had personally and carefully drawn up was revealed before everyone.
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