Gourmet Hunter (HxH Fanfic)

Injecting a powerful laxative directly into the body made it take effect much faster than oral ingestion.

Before Tonpa could even process Law's words, 'See you next year', his stomach erupted in violent rebellion, as if a stampede of shits were galloping through his intestines.

At that moment, Tonpa remembered the fear that had once dominated him, and he finally understood something.

'So that's how it is…!'

Tonpa's face and body stiffened as he slowly raised a hand to clutch his stomach. Then, like a malfunctioning robot, he turned and began walking stiffly toward the exit.

The last thing burned into his mind was Law's smiling face.

'If I can't afford to provoke him, at least I can afford to run!'

With endless sorrow, Tonpa strode towards the door with difficulty, not even daring to move too violently. It was not because he was afraid that the stuff in his stomach would burst out, but because he was afraid that Law might take drastic action if his reaction was too dramatic.

Law looked at Tonpa's mechanical movements with amusement, 'It would be a fun thing if I could see Tonpa every year. Or rather, it would probably be a bit dull if Tonpa was missing from the Hunter Exam.'

No longer paying attention to Tonpa who had decided to leave, Law glanced at the examinees present, and then sighed in disappointment.

He had played the role of a cafeteria worker in hopes of helping all the examinees pass, intending to convert them into pages during the second stage.

However, he did not expect that the examiner of the first round would be so ruthless. From the very beginning, he had set the pass limit at 300.

He originally thought that this year's Hunter Exam was a bit too lenient, but he didn't expect that the brutality had just been redirected. All he could hope for was that the second stage would be more reliable.

During the first test, if Law had wanted to, he could have destroyed all the other dishes after completing his own, and then become the only examinee who passed the first stage, thus naturally get the Hunter License directly.

This is what happens when the rules are too flexible.

Among the 300 examinees who passed the first stage, some were veterans who recognized Tonpa. They had no idea what had happened, but they saw Tonpa, who had already passed, slinking away in shame.

They knew it must be related to Law.

Though Law had helped them, those veteran examinees silently marked him as dangerous in their minds.

Five minutes later, the examiner for the second stage arrived at the restaurant on time. He was a slovenly man with greasy, shoulder-length hair, a few flies buzzing around him, wearing a filthy white T-shirt and trendy jeans riddled with holes.

His face was partially obscured by his unkempt hair, and the most visible thing is his scraggly beard. At first glance, it was hard to guess his age.

He looked like he hadn't taken a shower in a while, and there were several flies flying around him. Fortunately, Adini was not there, otherwise, he would have definitely kicked the man out immediately.

"I'm the examiner for the second stage. Follow me."

The man said listlessly, then turned and walked away without another word.

'Is this the examiner for the second round?'

Many examinees felt their eyes twitch in disbelief, but they had no choice but to follow.

'This year's exam is really…'

Law rubbed his temples and followed the group.

The examiner led them to Santa Maria Square. As evening approached, there were obviously fewer people in the square and the pigeons were also nowhere to be seen.

An airship was parked in the square, and the orange-red twilight covered the spaceship, as if it had been painted with a layer of color.

The Hunter Association had plenty of airships, so it's no big deal to free up one to serve for the Hunter Exam.

The slovenly man led everyone onto the airship without bothering to check if anyone was missing.

Once everyone was on board, the airship lifted off, left the Santa Square, and headed towards an unknown, perilous destination.

…

Ten days later, the results of the second stage came out. A total of 298 examinees passed the second test, setting a new record for the lowest elimination rate in history.

There were 300 examinees who passed the first level test, but 298 of them passed the second stage. Only two were eliminated from the first to the second stage, and both of them had given up, not eliminated.

The two eliminated examinees were Tonpa and Law.

In a sense, both of them were considered to have voluntarily withdrawn. The difference was that the former withdraw before the second stage began, while Law gave up at the end of the second stage.

As for why the pass rate was so absurdly high, it's of course because Law is messing up the exam again!

As the head of the Review Committee, Netero didn't follow the examiners and examinees around, but he did need to stay updated on the process and results.

He talked to the slovenly man on the phone and listened to his report patiently, but this time, he couldn't laugh.

The theme of the second stage is survival. Examinees start with no equipment, not even a pocketknife. Then, they had to cross a treacherous swamp and reach a temporary camp within a week to pass.

In order to cross the swamp, in addition to knowing how to avoid danger, they also have to find a way to find food and manage their stamina wisely.

The rules of the test are equally arbitrary. There's no restrictions on examinees killing each other, nor do they are prevented from cooperating with each other.

The slovenly examiner had dumped all the examinees at the starting point and then flown off alone in the airship to wait at the temporary camp for results.

On the fourth day after the exam began, examinees began arriving at the camp one after another and successfully passed the second stage.

Four days was the most reasonable estimated time to reach the endpoint. If anyone hadn't arrived by the fifth or sixth day, their chances of making it dwindled to almost nothing.

On the morning of the sixth day, the slovenly examiner counted the examinees who had arrived at the camp, and there were twenty-one examinees in total.

He thought that this number was the final number of examinees who had passed the second stage. And even if more examinees arrived at the end point later, the number would basically not exceed thirty.

He was very sure of his judgment, but starting from noon on the sixth day, his face kept getting slapped.

When he saw Law throwing the examinees into the camp one by one, he felt terrible, and those examinees who had already passed and were waiting inside were also dumbfounded.

On the evening of the seventh day, a total of 298 examinees had arrived at the camp. After Law dropped the last examinee off at the camp, Law simply left without giving the slovenly examiner any chance to speak.

This is the reason for the exaggerated pass rate. No matter how many examinees earned their Hunter Licenses in the end, both the examiners and examinees of this year's Hunter Exam would remember Law forever.

As for how they remember it, that is another matter.

The reason why Netero couldn't laugh was not because of the exaggerated pass rate in the history of the Hunter Exan, but because Law had voluntarily withdrawn again.

He may not care whether 298 examinees passed the second exam, but he cared whether Law could get the Hunter License.

When Netero first learned that Law was going to take the Hunter Exam this year, he was very surprised. He thought that Law had taken time off from Linne to take the exam in order to obtain the Hunter License, but the result was contrary to his expectations.

Netero placated the furious slovenly examiner, rejected the other party's proposal that Law should be banned from participating in the Hunter Exam for life, and then hung up the phone.

A moment later, he dialed Law's number.

At this time, Law was in a small village. When he received Netero's call, he was having a meal at a hospitable villager's home.

Law put down his bowl and chopsticks, then picked up the ringing phone. He stretched out his hand to stop the enthusiastic villager from trying to set him up with his daughter, and then answered the call, "Did you have fun?"

Netero's faint voice came from the other end of the phone.

"Hello? Huh? Why can't I hear any sound? Is the signal so bad? Hello? Say something? Why aren't you talking?" Law talked nonsense into the phone and then hung up decisively.

On the other end of the line, Netero looked at the beeping phone and shook his head in resignation.

On the side, Beans couldn't help but chuckle, "If you hadn't said anything, I would've thought you were calling Ging."