Only about ten minutes remained until the registration deadline.
Before this, Tonpa couldn't be sure if any new examinees would still arrive. In any case, he knew the only target he could still act against was Morrow.
Seeing Tonpa walk straight toward him, Morrow deliberately put on a slightly surprised expression while taking a small step back, perfectly displaying the defensive mindset of a newcomer.
Using this movement, Morrow naturally glanced around, quickly scanning the other examinees nearby.
This reaction seemed completely natural, exactly like someone who had just arrived for the first time.
Tonpa took in all these typical rookie behaviors from Morrow, feeling malicious intentions gradually rising in his heart.
He understood these newcomers' psychology all too well.
Every time they came to the examination venue, they were always impatient to obtain various pieces of information.
And Morrow's behavior of being influenced by the atmosphere and unconsciously observing the other examinees seemed perfectly natural in Tonpa's eyes.
Usually at times like this, as long as he revealed his veteran status and enthusiastically shared some important information with the newcomer examinee, he could basically gain their trust.
By this point, it was almost time to reap the rewards.
"How did you know this is my first time taking the Hunter Exam?"
When Tonpa approached him, Morrow stopped looking around, leaning back slightly to show a hint of defensiveness.
Tonpa wore a friendly smile on his face, but inwardly he was sneering maliciously.
"Haha, don't let my appearance fool you, I'm a veteran who's participated in thirty-five Hunter Exams."
Tonpa acted as if he hadn't noticed Morrow's wary gaze, speaking enthusiastically:
"So I can spot newcomers at a glance. You don't seem very familiar with the exam? Feel free to ask me anything. If nothing else, I basically know everyone here."
Then he suddenly lowered his voice: "Since it's your first time taking the Hunter Exam, let me give you a heads-up, there are quite a few dangerous people here. You'd better not provoke them if you can avoid it."
"Oh?"
Just as Morrow was about to speak, Beans, who was responsible for distributing number tags, came over and handed him one marked '502.'
502?
Morrow took the number tag, a flicker of doubt passing through his mind.
He remembered that in the original story, the number of examinees in the first phase should have been around four hundred, but now it exceeded five hundred.
"Thank you."
Morrow politely thanked Beans, his gaze sweeping past the number '16' on Tonpa's chest before pinning his own number tag to his chest.
After doing this, Morrow imitated Tonpa by lowering his voice, pretending to be nervous as he whispered: "Hearing you say that, I'm getting a little scared... Can you tell me which people are dangerous?"
"Of course, I can quietly introduce them to you, but you absolutely mustn't tell anyone I told you."
Tonpa adopted a cautious demeanor while also conveying seriousness.
However, inwardly he was already chuckling villainously.
Being nervous and scared is exactly right.
Let me, Lord Tonpa, give you a proper lesson!
Tonpa thought triumphantly to himself, though his facial expression remained completely unchanged.
This acting wasn't exactly masterful, but it showed no obvious flaws either.
"I understand, I understand."
Morrow nodded repeatedly.
Tonpa immediately secretly pointed toward a nearby tall man with dark skin and sunglasses. "Number 384 is Hunter Geretta. His blowgun is impossible to guard against."
"See numbers 197 to 199? Those are the Amori Brothers. They've taken many exams and always achieve decent results in each stage. You'd better stay away from them, with three of them, it's hard to deal with their numbers advantage."
"The one sitting by the wall, number 103, is snake charmer Bourbon. He holds grudges, so be extra careful."
"Number 68 in the white martial arts uniform is said to come from a prestigious martial arts school. He's very strong and nearly passed last year."
"Standing next to him is number 29, also from a martial artist background, equally formidable."
"See that number 444?"
Tonpa looked toward Hisoka, who was currently appraising buttocks in the crowd.
Though the other hadn't noticed them at all, Tonpa didn't dare point directly, only indicating with his eyes.
Morrow keenly caught the fleeting fear in Tonpa's gaze and followed it to see Hisoka, whom he hadn't seen in a long time.
Unlike the original storyline, Hisoka's assigned number this time was 444, likely having arrived at the exam venue only two or three hours earlier than him.
And...
What was this guy doing?
Morrow watched as Hisoka drifted through the crowd like a ghost, pausing each time to sweep other examinees' buttocks with intensely predatory eyes.
This bizarre behavior elicited starkly different reactions among the candidates.
Some examinees maintained tense expressions but allowed Hisoka to circle behind them without extreme reactions, clearly not experiencing this for the first time.
Others fled from Hisoka as if seeing a ghost, probably newcomers.
???
Watching Hisoka's increasingly perverted actions, Morrow's face gradually took on a subtle expression.
Though he realized it might be butterfly effects caused by himself, he still couldn't understand Hisoka's behavioral motivation.
"That guy is Hisoka, the most dangerous of all examinees."
Tonpa cautiously lowered his head, dropping his voice to a whisper.
This wasn't an act.
He was genuinely being extremely cautious and careful.
"During his first Hunter Exam last year, for some unknown reason, he started inexplicably staring at people's buttocks the moment he arrived at the test venue. Everyone privately calls him Spotted Hyena Hisoka. Didn't expect him to return this year, it's downright chilling."
Tonpa's voice trembled slightly as he spoke, clearly extremely wary of Hisoka.
But observers couldn't tell whether he feared Hisoka's strength or was simply creeped out by the perverted behavior.
"..."
Spot-spotted hyena?
The same spotted hyena known as the anal extractor and chief proctologist of the animal kingdom?
Morrow fell silent, nearly losing his composure.
Seeing Morrow seemingly rendered speechless by fear, Tonpa continued with grave seriousness to fully cement his helpful veteran persona:
"But honestly, Hisoka's strength is truly terrifying. As you can see, his behavior easily angers people. Last year, right after the first test began, several foolhardy guys went to pick a fight with him..."
At this point, Tonpa unconsciously swallowed, a bloody scene from last year flashing through his mind, causing him to shudder. "As expected, all those people were killed by Hisoka. Many witnessed the entire process, his overwhelming strength was simply that of a complete monster."
"With his level of power, he should have easily obtained the license, but strangely... right after the second phase of the exam began, he suddenly provoked the examiner and even ended up attacking them."
"What's even more terrifying is that the Pro Hunter examiner... was actually killed by him."
Tonpa spoke in a hushed tone, occasionally glancing furtively in Hisoka's direction like a thief.
After confirming that Hisoka still wasn't paying attention to them, he continued, "Everyone was stunned at the time. No one expected something like that to happen. Fortunately, he was immediately disqualified, or who knows what else that madman might have done."
At this point, Tonpa furrowed his brow deeply.
"Although the Hunter Exam has lenient registration requirements, someone publicly killing an examiner like Hisoka did last year... that was unprecedented. Who would have thought he'd be allowed to participate again this year? Look at the atmosphere in this exam hall, it's all because of his presence."
"Spotted Hyena Hisoka... is truly terrifying."
Morrow also lowered his head, his brow tightly knit.
From what Tonpa described, he could roughly guess why there were 500 participants in this year's exam.
Most likely, Hisoka had attacked the examiner prematurely during the test and even killed them directly...
This led to Hisoka's early disqualification, preventing him from slaughtering other examinees during the exam and somewhat altering the entire course of the Hunter Exam.
Therefore, the additional hundred participants this year were probably last year's examinees.
But then the question arose...
Why was Spotted Hyena Hisoka staring at other examinees' butts?
Although Morrow vaguely remembered Hisoka having a habit of staring at Gon and Killua's butts in the original story, it wasn't to this exaggerated extent.
Never mind, it wasn't important.
While these thoughts raced through Morrow's mind, he pretended not to notice the schadenfreude reactions of some veteran examinees around him, instead subtly scanning the candidates further away.
His gaze pierced through gaps in the crowd, taking in the appearances of each examinee.
He was looking for Illumi.
After a few seconds of searching, he didn't find Illumi, but he did spot Gon and Leorio who were taking the Hunter Exam this year, as well as...
Killua and Kalluto?
Even Kalluto came? Did he run away from home with Killua?
Morrow quickly shifted his gaze and finally spotted an examinee with extremely bizarre features, tall and strong-built, with a horse-like face, a fin-shaped hairstyle, dark lower eyelids, a wide elongated chin, and eerie sanpaku eyes. Even standing still, he seemed intimidating.
Based on these distinctive characteristics, Morrow could somewhat confirm this was Illumi in disguise.
However...
The clothing was different, and there were no beadhead needles visible on his head or body.
Morrow withdrew his gaze, lowering his eyelids.
Tonpa looked at Morrow, completely unaware of what he was thinking. After vividly describing Hisoka's danger, he felt the timing was about right.
"There are actually many other dangerous veterans, but since registration is about to close, I'll introduce them to you slowly later."
He naturally adjusted the shoulder bag on his body, then suddenly seemed to remember something. "Oh, right, I have some drinks here."
As he spoke, he pulled out two canned beverages but didn't immediately hand them to Morrow. Instead, he first glanced toward the deep underground passage.
"Looking at these pipes and structure..." Tonpa analyzed with the tone of an experienced veteran, "This should be the underground passage leading to the next exam site. Judging by my years of experience, this stage is likely an endurance test that will last at least four to five hours."
After offering this professional analysis, he finally handed the drink to Morrow. "I happen to have brought plenty of drinks. Take one, you'll need to replenish your energy along the way."
Before his words even faded, he had naturally opened the drink in his other hand and taken a couple of sips, as if demonstrating the beverage's safety.
With this series of actions, he had basically foreseen Morrow's fate.
Some veteran examinees standing nearby were secretly watching the show.
When they witnessed Tonpa's smooth, practiced routine, they couldn't help but silently acknowledge the weight of his reputation as the "Rookie Crusher."
Among the crowd, a small, chubby guy with slicked-back hair and black suspenders also noticed this scene.
Watching Morrow step right into Tonpa's trap, a conflicted expression appeared on his face.
As another first-time participant in the Hunter Exam, he had managed to look up Tonpa's notorious "Rookie Crusher" title on his portable computer and naturally wouldn't fall for the trick.
Now, seeing Morrow targeted by Tonpa, he wrestled with whether to go warn him.
In the end, the chubby guy silently averted his gaze.
After all...
Better to avoid unnecessary trouble.
Morrow looked at the drink in Tonpa's hand, a faint, unusual glint flashing deep in his eyes.
He remembered from the original story that the timing of Tonpa offering the laxative-laced drink was quite clumsy, only someone as naive as Gon would drink it without suspicion.
But now, to lure him into drinking the spiked beverage, Tonpa had flawlessly acted the part of a helpful senior.
When presenting the drink, he didn't use the lame excuse of "celebrating their friendship" but instead offered a reasonable suggestion about "preparing for the endurance test" to make it persuasive.
Such meticulous scheming was like pouring a lifetime of deceptive skills into this single moment.
However, thanks to Tonpa's "helpful" cover...
He had managed to discreetly identify the figure suspected to be Illumi in the crowd without drawing attention.
Thinking this, Morrow dropped his initial guarded demeanor and showed a grateful expression toward Tonpa, but he didn't reach for the drink.
Tonpa, however, wasn't in a hurry. Maintaining his posture of offering the drink, he smiled and said, "By the way, I haven't asked your name yet."
"Just call me Kakashi," Morrow casually made up a name, then pulled out a canned drink from his own belongings.
The bottle still had the logo of that restaurant from earlier printed on it.
"I have my own drink, but thank you anyway, Tonpa."
"..."
Seeing Morrow produce his own drink, Tonpa's smile stiffened slightly.
Damn it, I used my lifetime's worth of skills, and this bastard just pulls out his own drink?!
Wait, no.
This drink...
Tonpa looked at the logo on the bottle and recognized it as the exclusive beverage paired with the signature meal set from the restaurant upstairs.
Which meant... this guy had eaten the signature meal set at the restaurant before coming down to the exam site?
Considering this possibility, Tonpa was momentarily stunned.
"Ding ding ding..."
Just as Tonpa was lost in thought, a piercing bell suddenly rang through the underground passage.
Everyone followed the sound and saw a man dressed as a gentleman with a handlebar mustache standing on a pipe several meters high on the wall, though no one knew when he had appeared there.
Noticing the examinees' gazes gathering on him, the man turned off the portable bell in his hand.
"The registration period is now over. The Hunter Exam officially begins."
There was no lengthy introduction.
The moment he appeared, the man announced the start of the exam, simultaneously landing lightly on the ground.
The expressions of the examinees present gradually changed, with most becoming serious and solemn.