The 287th Hunter Exam, officially the final stage, was presided over by a man dressed in eccentric attire yet wearing a serious expression.
He wore a round-brimmed hat and a high-collared jacket, both covered in black-and-white cow-like spots. His hat even had a pair of decorative horns.
Everyone had the same thought… This guy was weird.
However, the applicants who had made it this far were no fools. Not a single one dared to underestimate the man before them based on his appearance.
Anyone who judged by looks alone had already been eliminated in the earlier stages.
"My name is Mizaistom Nana." The "Ox" held a clipboard, flipped it open, glanced at it briefly, and began his introduction.
"I am the Vice Chairman of the Hunter Association and the examiner for the final stage of the 287th Hunter Exam."
Only then did the applicants realize his status was far higher than they had expected.
As Mizaistom Nana spoke, his mind briefly drifted back to a month ago.
After the victory celebration for the Chimera Ant Extermination, Chairman Netero vanished without a trace. Then, just as suddenly, he reappeared and used his authority as Chairman to make an official appointment.
Cheadle and Mizaistom Nana were both assigned as Vice Chairmen of the Hunter Association, tasked with overseeing various association affairs.
Shortly after, Chairman Netero disappeared again—this time taking Morel, Knov, and other members of the extermination squad with him. No one knew where they had gone.
That said, it wasn't uncommon for an independent organization to have one chairman and multiple vice chairmen.
Besides, both Cheadle and Mizaistom Nana were highly reputable and reliable, so their appointments faced little resistance.
However, outspoken figures from the "Anti-Chairman Faction"—Tredin Neutral, Bushidora Ambitious, and Lupe Highland—raised objections.
They argued that ever since former Vice Chairman Pariston had resigned for personal reasons, Chairman Netero had been monopolizing power.
Netero has once again appointed loyal members to key positions like Vice Chairman, turning the Hunter Association into his personal domain.
In reality, Cheadle and Mizaistom are not as blindly obedient to Netero as some claim, but that's only in comparison.
To the "Anti-Chairman Faction," anyone who doesn't try to completely distance themselves from Netero is part of the "Chairman's Faction."
This contradicts their core belief of rejecting blind worship of Netero.
However, appointing a Vice Chairman is within the Chairman's authority. Netero had already broken opposition once when he put Pariston in that position.
Now that he's doing it again, no one can say anything.
The Anti-Chairman Faction's core trio can only protest verbally. Without Pariston's ambiguous stance, they have no way to counter Netero.
The delicate balance within the Hunter Association has now been completely shattered.
Mizaistom has noticed that Netero is now openly asserting his influence.
The Anti-Chairman Faction wasn't entirely wrong—Netero is trying to gain even more control over the Association.
The old Netero wouldn't have done this, at least not so decisively and thoroughly.
On the surface, he seems to be stepping back, delegating power to Cheadle and Mizaistom.
But everyone knows that on many matters, they still follow his lead.
He has a habit of suddenly stepping in on certain affairs to express his opinion.
For example, the final stage of this year's Hunter Exam was personally designed by Netero himself.
First, he had Mizaistom ask the candidates who they most wanted to fight and who they least wanted to face.
After collecting this information, Netero devised the exam structure and only sent it to Mizaistom last night.
What else could Mizaistom do? Deciding the Hunter Exam format is part of the Chairman's authority.
He had no choice but to quietly discard his original plan and implement Netero's instead.
Looking at the exam plan, Mizaistom Nana first furrowed his brows. Then, he understood Chairman Netero's intentions. In the end, he chose to trust him.
Given Chairman Netero's nickname, "Swift Ear," he must have already learned about the candidates' outstanding performances in the previous rounds. Taking their own wishes into account, he came up with this plan.
It was a rather unusual exam format.
First, the candidates had to compete in one-on-one matches in a fixed order.
Killing was strictly forbidden. Anyone who killed their opponent would be disqualified.
To win, they had to make their opponent admit defeat.
In theory, if everything went smoothly, only one candidate would be eliminated, and everyone else would pass the Hunter Exam.
When Mizaistom Nana read out what seemed like a plan Netero had come up with on a whim, it immediately caused an uproar among the candidates.
However, in the end, they all accepted it. They had no choice—refusing would mean automatic surrender.
The sunk cost was too high. Everyone who made it this far refused to give up.
The first match was between Gon and a ninja named Hanzo.
Although the battle was overwhelmingly in Hanzo's favor, Gon refused to surrender no matter what.
His fearless spirit, free of hatred or resentment, deeply moved Hanzo.
In the end, Hanzo voluntarily admitted defeat.
Though Gon passed out from exhaustion, he won the match and officially became a Hunter.
While Gon was taken for treatment, the exam continued in an orderly manner.
Kurapika was the second to take the stage.
His opponent was Killua.
Killua stepped forward, full of confidence at the start.
He had noticed before that Kurapika stood out among the examinees. He had long wanted to challenge Kurapika and determine a winner.
However, he was quickly and inexplicably defeated by Kurapika.
That moment of powerlessness reminded him of how he had lost to that man named Germain months ago.
Kurapika, however, did not feel much joy. After all, under Germain's guidance, he had become a Nen user.
As long as he didn't let his guard down, there was no way he would lose to Killua, who didn't know about Nen yet.
Just as Melody had said, for him, taking the professional Hunter Exam was like a hungry tiger entering a flock of fat sheep—a complete mismatch in power.
Still, he had passed the exam, which made him breathe a sigh of relief. At least he hadn't disgraced Germain.
As for Killua, Kurapika didn't rush to comfort him.
He could tell that this defeat was a heavy blow to Killua, and he had a good impression of him.
But no matter what he said now, it would only sound like a victor showing pity to the loser. That would be nothing but humiliation for Killua.
So, Kurapika chose to remain silent.
Later, Hanzo faced off against an archer named Pokkle and successfully forced him to surrender, securing his own victory in the exam.
When Killua stepped onto the stage next, it was clear he was still frustrated from losing to Kurapika.
From the very start, he unleashed his full power against his opponent, the martial artist Bodoro.
Bodoro initially wanted to hold on stubbornly, just like Gon did.
But when Killua revealed his ruthless assassin nature, Bodoro's mental defenses finally collapsed.
In the end, Killua also passed the exam, but he still cast an unwilling glance at Kurapika.
He wanted to know how Kurapika, who was only a few years older than him, had gained such overwhelming strength.
The exam was still ongoing.
Soon, the man with needles all over his face stepped forward. His opponent was Pokkle, and he won easily.
After that, Leorio entered the stage. His opponent was Bodoro, who had already been physically and mentally crushed by Killua. Leorio won without much effort.
The final match was Pokkle versus Bodoro. In the end, Bodoro suffered another defeat.
With everything settled, the only one eliminated was Bodoro, whose spirit had completely collapsed.
However, Kurapika felt that this might actually be a good thing for Bodoro.
Because for those who passed the exam but didn't know Nen, the "true final test" was about to begin—learning Nen.
Bodoro was already quite old. Learning Nen at this stage would be too difficult, but he likely wouldn't have much room for growth.
If someone like him recklessly stepped into the dangerous world of Nen users, he would soon die at the hands of one.
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