HxH: Ryomen... Satoru?

With less than an hour left until the exam ended, one of the screens showed the candidates making an unexpected move.

"Director! They're cheating! How can they do this?! They're destroying the walls!" one of the prison staff members shouted in alarm.

"Seems like a perfectly reasonable decision to me," Cyr cast an indifferent glance at the staff—or rather, the prisoners.

Breaking down walls to take a shortcut—how was that against the rules?

Nowhere in the exam regulations did it say destruction wasn't allowed.

"But… but…" The group stammered for a while but couldn't come up with a solid argument.

Rather than being unable to articulate it, they inexplicably felt too intimidated to argue.

"Thinking outside the box, breaking conventional limits—now that is interesting," Lippo remarked with appreciation.

With that, everyone else fell silent.

After all, Lippo was the examiner. His word was final.

Thanks to that bold strategy, Gon and the others, who were originally running out of time, managed to pass the exam at the very last second.

The doors of the Trick Tower swung open.

"Get the committee to send us a ship," Cyr suddenly remembered as he got up, instructing Maro.

"Understood, sir," Maro nodded and stepped aside to call the Exam Commission.

The Hunter Exam Commission, an organization dedicated to managing logistics for the Hunter Association.

Their chairman was also Netero.

"I swear, if I have to stay on that damn airship any longer, I'm going to hurl," Cyr muttered, stretching his limbs to loosen up his stiff muscles.

No surprise there. He had been sitting here for three days and nights watching other people take exams. Of course, he felt stiff.

"I'm outta here." Without looking back, he casually waved a hand at Lippo and left the Trick Tower.

Meanwhile, the candidates who had just emerged were quickly tricked by Lippo into boarding a ship, taking them to their so-called vacation destination.

"Are we really getting a break?" Leorio asked, full of skepticism.

"Could this actually be the fourth exam?" Kurapika stroked his chin thoughtfully.

Carrying the same doubts, the group boarded the ship, which brought them to Battleship Island.

Battleship Island

The waters surrounding the small island were littered with sunken and stranded ships.

The only available lodging was a shipwreck inn run by an elderly couple.

"The fourth exam will take place on Zeviru Island in three days. Until then, feel free to rest here," the elderly couple informed them.

After spending days on high alert, the candidates were relieved and happy to hear this.

Rest and recovery meant they could perform better in the next test.

At least, that was what they thought—right up until the elderly couple extended their hands and asked for payment.

One glance at the price, and the entire group screamed in horror.

"That expensive?! Are you robbing us?!"

"Ten million—just as a deposit?! This is worse than robbery!"

"Where the hell are we supposed to get that kind of money?!"

Accusations flew left and right, but the elderly couple remained firm.

They wouldn't let them stay for free—

However, they did offer a solution.

Treasure hunting.

Most of the sunken ships were merchant vessels, filled with all kinds of cargo. While much of it had rotted or lost its value, some items could still serve as room payment.

All they had to do was dive down and retrieve them.

Believing the elderly couple, the candidates plunged into the sea, hunting for treasure until they finally gathered enough for their lodging fees.

However—

On the very night they paid—

As they lay in bed at the shipwreck inn—

They heard the sound of an airship.

Panicked, they rushed outside to check—

Only to find the elderly couple had vanished without a trace.

The elderly couple left no messages, no clues—

And no way to leave the island.

Everyone was stranded.

To make things worse, a storm was coming.

The rain and ocean tornadoes could wipe them all out.

"I knew it… Never trust something called a 'vacation,'" Tonpa muttered in despair.

He had taken the exam so many times and never once heard of an actual break.

Of course, something had to go wrong.

They had definitely been scammed.

"We need to figure out how to survive this and get to Zeviru Island," Kurapika said.

The next exam was about to begin. If they didn't make it in time, they'd be disqualified.

"If we don't work together, none of us will pass!" Gon called out.

Driven by survival, the candidates started cooperating.

"Twenty-eight people passed the third exam, huh?" Cyr read the message from Lippo.

The Trick Tower and Battleship Island were both part of the third stage.

Made sense. Running a prison must've given the guy plenty of ideas.

"Judging by the time, they should be here soon… What's taking them so long?"

Sitting on the deck, Cyr cast his fishing line into the water.

After waiting a while, a battered-looking warship appeared.

The moment he saw it, he understood how they passed.

"Not a bad use of junk," he muttered, standing up and leaning on the railing.

The people on board looked exhausted.

As Cyr noticed them, they noticed him.

"Hey… isn't that the examiner from the second stage? And that so-called observer? Are they involved in this part too?" The three brothers whispered among themselves.

"That guy said he could give us extra points, but I never saw him do anything," the bald ninja scoffed.

What was up with that "bonus points" claim anyway?

"What use could some kid that young even have?" someone else muttered.

The two ships met.

The exhausted candidates got off, guided onto another ship by a blond young man.

"You sure took your time," Cyr said, yawning from his spot on the railing.

"But congrats on passing. Welcome to the next stage. I'm the examiner for this round."

"…What? Examiner?"

Wait—this kid was the examiner? What the hell was the Hunter Association thinking?!

"Wait, weren't you the observer?!" Leorio asked, stunned.

"Oh, that?" Cyr chuckled, covering his mouth with one hand while waving the other.

"I just made that up to mess with you. You actually believed it? When have you ever heard of an 'observer' in the exam?"

"Damn it, you examiners are all liars!" Leorio gritted his teeth.

This was the same guy who told them there was a vacation.

A complete scam!

"I said it before, didn't I? That blond guy only passed by clinging to someone powerful. If even a freeloader like him can be an examiner, then why wouldn't the guy he clung to be one?" Tonpa lifted his chin smugly.

He was the only one who saw through the truth.

Everyone else was just blind.

"Are you sure you're really an examiner? Or is this another lie?" Leorio suddenly asked.

Several candidates exchanged skeptical glances.

Lie too much, and people stop believing you.

"Think whatever you want," Cyr shrugged, looking completely unbothered.

"If you don't believe me, you can always sit this one out and wait for your 'real examiner' to show up."

But none of them dared to actually opt out.

They couldn't tell what was real and what was fake anymore.

But either way, the safest bet was to keep going.

At worst, they'd get tricked and exhausted. But if they backed out and it turned out to be real, they'd fail the exam.

They had come too far to quit now.

"Alright, time for the draw," Cyr cut off the chatter and got to business.

A blond young man rolled out a box with an opening on top.

"Let's see… We'll go in the order you cleared the Trick Tower," Cyr decided.

"Hisoka, you're first." He gestured for the red-haired man to step forward.

Hisoka reached in and pulled out a slip.

Then came the nail guy, the bald ninja… one by one, each candidate took their turn.

"Each of you has a number on your slip," Moro explained coldly.

"That number belongs to your target. In the next week, you must take their badge."

The candidates immediately tensed, clutching their own badges and hiding them away.

"Of course," Cyr continued, still smiling, "if you can't get your target's, you can always take someone else's instead."

"Let's say… a target's badge is worth three points. Your own badge is also worth three. Any other badge is one point each."

"As long as you reach six points, you pass."

"Honestly, twenty-eight people is still way too many. If we let this many pass, a Hunter License would lose all its value."

"So, do me a favor and work hard to eliminate each other, alright?"

His smile was full of bright, open malice.

°°°

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