Boom!
Not far from where Bodoro and Ponzu stood, a crater appeared, dust billowing high into the air.
"Cough, cough—so dusty…"
Through the haze came an energetic, elderly voice.
Moments later, a powerful gust swept away the dust, revealing a bald old man with a long, well-groomed beard and a high ponytail.
"So that's how it is."
He looked around, nodded, and stroked his beard thoughtfully.
Sensing a powerful presence nearby, Hisoka instantly froze.
After blinking a few times, he found himself in a half-crouch, one arm extended, holding a playing card mid-strike.
As for me, none of that mattered.
All I could do was stare at the card that had slightly pierced my forehead, a thin stream of blood running down both sides of my nose.
I kept breathing heavily through my mouth, fixated on the card—or rather, on the thread attached to it, which was slowly shifting from black to white.
I… survived?
The moment that thought crossed my mind, the power sustaining me vanished.
My strength drained, my brain shut down, blood gushed from my nose, my eyes rolled back, and I collapsed to the ground, foaming at the mouth from shock.
Had I not received immediate medical attention, I probably would have died.
But at that point, I didn't care anymore.
I had finally earned my rest after that torturous, all-consuming battle.
Hisoka, still looking at me in confusion, withdrew his hand.
When he recalled everything that had happened since yesterday, a flicker of genuine surprise crossed his face.
His mouth formed a small "O", which he quickly closed with a faint smile.
"Your friend called you Mousse, right? Seven points for the fight… and a perfect hundred for courage. I'll remember your name."
He picked up the same card, licked the remaining blood off its edge, and gracefully turned toward the old man.
At least 140…
Hisoka's eyes widened as he deliberately unleashed his bloodlust in that direction—only to be met with a dull, uninterested stare.
That look alone felt like being dunked into icy water, extinguishing his fighting spirit entirely.
Casting one last glance at the boy lying unconscious and near death, Hisoka slowly walked toward the nearest tree, leaned against it, crossed his arms, and closed his eyes.
"Ho-ho…"
Netero—the old man who had fallen from the sky—chuckled at the scene, his gaze shifting to the boy who had caught his attention.
Was it him who pulled me here?
Judging by his Nen nodes, he hasn't even fully awakened yet.
How fascinating.
He could tell just by instinct.
"Mousse!"
Turning his head, Netero noticed two people rushing toward the boy.
Ponzu immediately began checking his condition, pulling out a small first aid kit to treat his wounds.
Well, I suppose the exam can wait for now. We'd better deal with the injured first.
***
When I slowly opened my eyes, I saw a black-and-white ceiling above me.
My entire body felt heavy, and I could barely sense anything.
"Oh, you're awake already?"
The moment I tried turning toward the voice, sharp spasms shot through my neck, forcing me to give up on the idea.
"Well, looks like you'll need some more time to recover. No rush."
Hearing the soft tapping of wooden sandals distancing away from me, I had a pretty good idea who it was—but honestly, I couldn't bring myself to care right now.
All I could do was stare blankly at a single point on the ceiling, right where the black and white colors met.
Soon, drowsiness crept in, and I fell asleep again.
It didn't take long to recover—only about ten days.
During that time, I managed to fully open the Nen nodes in my brain, and the awakening of the rest of my body's nodes progressed in great strides.
Thanks to that, I could efficiently use Zetsu, accelerating my recovery severalfold.
As for the exam…
Most of the surviving participants after this incident gave up soon after.
The examination committee was still sorting out the situation and hadn't yet officially disqualified Hisoka at that moment.
They didn't particularly care that he'd beaten up an examiner—but since he had violated the examiner's rules by killing a dozen participants, he was banned from continuing the exam.
Togari pushed hard to have Hisoka permanently prohibited from ever taking the Hunter Exam again, but his proposal was rejected.
The real headache for the committee was the unprecedented situation they now faced.
A third of the candidates were eliminated thanks to examiner Togari.
Another third were killed by Hisoka.
The remaining third—those who survived on their own or because of me—almost all withdrew after the incident.
In the end, only four participants remained, including myself.
Because of that, it was decided to skip the Fourth Phase and move directly to the final one.
Since there had been no successful candidates at the previous year, Chairman Netero decided that only one person would fail.
The finals were structured as blitz matches, where each participant would face a random opponent.
There were to be five rounds in total, and in case of a tie for last place, matches would continue until a loser was determined or someone surrendered.
To be honest, I was considering forfeiting.
Even though I could walk now and had unlocked my Nen nodes, my body still ached terribly.
And because of the overheat of my brain from the fight, I couldn't concentrate well enough to maintain Ten.
It was so bad I could barely eat properly—my multitasking ability was shot, and my vision had turned black-and-white.
Classic backlash of Nen ability, though I'm not sure if it's just a recoil or repercussion of a Risk.
Fortunately, I was told the effects were temporary.
Though, given how easily I drift off-topic, maybe not that temporary.
Back to the exam—
The final fourth remaining participant was the youngest of Amori Brothers, who surrendered immediately after the match began.
He said it was his way of repaying me, then bowed deeply, thanking me for saving his life and promising not to waste it.
And so, our trio became Professional Hunters.
If this were a dream, I probably would've woken up by now.
But this is life—and it always moves forward in the most unpredictable ways.
Speaking of unpredictable…
"Yo, kid. So, ready to continue your Hunter Exam?"
Just when I was about to head out on a journey with my teammates—and had returned to my room to grab my forgotten Hunter License—I found none other than Chairman Netero sitting there.
Wait—don't tell me… the head of the Hunter Association himself is going to be my Nen teacher?!
***
"Achoo!"
A short young man in a long purple hoodie sneezed loudly while slurping noodles in front of his computer.
It was Agoniro Turp, a 1-Star Professional Hunter, who had overseen the Second Phase of the Hunter Exam and taught Nen to one of the examinees.
"Ugh, must've gotten seasoning packet powder up my nose…"
"I just hope Biscuit manages to meet Mousse before that obnoxious eccentric old geezer does…"