The Hunter Exam facility was unlike anything Dean had expected. It was a sprawling complex located in a remote area, designed specifically to test candidates from multiple angles: physical ability, mental fortitude, strategic thinking, and moral character. The examiners had created an environment where candidates would have to push themselves to their absolute limits while facing challenges that tested not just their strength, but their judgment, their ethics, and their ability to work with others.
Dean arrived at the examination site early in the morning, his appearance deliberately unremarkable. He wore simple clothes, nothing that would draw attention or suggest that he came from a wealthy family. He carried minimal equipment, just what was necessary for survival. To any observer, he would have appeared to be just another candidate hoping to become a Hunter, no different from hundreds of others who had come before him.
But beneath this ordinary exterior, Dean was acutely aware of every detail around him. He could sense the Nen of the examiners, could feel the magical wards that had been placed around the facility, could perceive the subtle ways that the environment had been designed to test candidates. His Adaptive Evolution ability was already subtly active, preparing him for whatever challenges lay ahead.
The first examiner he encountered was a woman named Menchi, a professional gourmet who had been tasked with overseeing the first phase of the exam. She was shorter than Dean had expected, with an intense expression and sharp eyes that seemed to miss nothing. She explained the first test: candidates would have to hunt and bring back specific ingredients within a time limit. It was a test of hunting ability, resourcefulness, and survival skills.
Dean participated in the first phase without drawing particular attention to himself. He found the required ingredients efficiently, using his knowledge of the environment and his ability to sense danger to avoid unnecessary conflicts. He completed the task well within the time limit, but deliberately didn't finish first. He wanted to remain unremarkable, to avoid standing out in any way that might draw the attention of other examiners or candidates.
The second phase, overseen by an examiner named Gourmet, took place in a massive swamp filled with deadly creatures and hazardous terrain. Candidates had to navigate through the swamp and reach a specific destination, all while dealing with the environmental dangers and other candidates who might see them as threats or competition.
Dean moved through the swamp with calculated efficiency, using his Nen to sense danger before it became an immediate threat. He avoided the most dangerous creatures, taking routes that were safer but longer. He helped other candidates when doing so wouldn't compromise his own progress, earning their gratitude without making himself memorable.
But there was one moment that tested his resolve.
A group of candidates had gotten trapped in a section of the swamp where the terrain was particularly treacherous. One of them, a young girl who couldn't have been more than fifteen, was about to be attacked by a massive creature that had been drawn to the group by the noise of their struggle. Dean could have ignored them. He could have continued on his way and reached the destination without getting involved. That would have been the pragmatic choice, the choice that the Zoldyck family would have made.
But Dean wasn't a Zoldyck anymore. Not really.
He moved with speed that surprised even himself, intercepting the creature's attack and redirecting it away from the girl. The creature turned its attention to Dean, and for a moment, he considered using his full power to eliminate the threat. But instead, he used just enough force to scare the creature away, to make it retreat back into the deeper parts of the swamp.
The group of candidates stared at him in shock and gratitude. But Dean didn't linger. He helped them find a safer route through the swamp and then continued on his way, reaching the destination well within the time limit.
It was a small act of kindness, barely noticeable in the grand scheme of the exam. But it was the kind of choice that defined who Dean was becoming. Not a cold assassin who saw other people as obstacles or resources to be exploited. But someone who used his strength to protect others, who understood that true power came not from domination but from the ability to make a difference in people's lives.
As Dean progressed through the subsequent phases of the Hunter Exam, he continued to demonstrate a balance of competence and restraint. He was clearly one of the strongest candidates, but he never dominated in a way that would have drawn excessive attention. He won his matches in the combat tournament, but he did so with efficiency rather than cruelty. He answered the moral questions in the final phase honestly, revealing his true values rather than telling the examiners what they wanted to hear.
And when the results were announced, Dean had passed the Hunter Exam. He was now officially a licensed Hunter, with all the rights and privileges that came with that status. But more importantly, he had proven something to himself: he could succeed in this world on his own terms, without relying on the Zoldyck name or the family's resources.
He was truly free now.
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