What can you know about a person? They shift
in the light. You can’t light up all sides at once.

Richard Siken

He cannot get the bullet out, he thinks, he can’t, and then he does.
A little piece of grit to build a pearl around.

Richard Siken

There were surprisingly many people in a small restaurant in Zaban city, the one that got itself stuck to a massive corporate building not far from the central market of the city. The city itself was a popular stop among tourists, the last and most well-developed city on the way to a big port, slightly elevated up the slope of the mountain providing quite a nice view. Its main attraction was a known flea market that more than once brought valuable historic relics back to light. Accidentally, of course. 

Usually it was a rather lively and busy place, both flea market and the restaurant, but at dawn, before sunrise (which, by itself, was a questionable time to be open for business), half a dozen people sitting around in the latters’ small hall was an unusual sight. Occupying a half of all seatplaces available - unreasonable, even. And yet all of the visitors were clearly where they wanted to be, wide awake and not the little bit in a hurry, slowly eating their meals or lazing around by full or almost full cups.

The small bell above the door chimed as two women walked in the warm room, all occupants slanting a glance at them. A tall, densely muscled woman with tanned skin, an olive shawl partially covering her soft pink hair, in sturdy, decidedly nondescript clothes and a slim girl, painfully obviously not out of teenagehood yet, with a bundle sticking out of her green medium-sized backpack and a pink beany over long black hair. The second one looked around warily, fidgeting with wide sleeves of an purposefully oversized olive coat, as the older put a hand on her shoulder.

“What’s your order will be?” asked a cook, barely giving them a glance while lifting a lid from the pot to check on the contents.

The woman gave a toothy smile to one of the men dispassionately eating his salad, before addressing the cook. “A steak for one.”

“How would you like it?”

“Cooked slowly, for us to see the light,” she clapped the girl’s shoulder, gently pushing her to walk further into the building, as the cook nodded and, putting back the lid, went back to stirring something out of the girl’s view.

Past one of the unlabeled doors, a table with four chairs around it stood in a three-by-three room. As the girl moved further, eyeing a small rectangle tableau over the door she just walked through, her guide stopped, staying on the threshold. She crossed arms, leaning against a doorframe, eyeing the brunette with a mirthless smirk.

“This is where my job ends and the actual challenge will begin. Sure you want to push your luck, kid?”

The examinee nodded. “Of course. No point in getting to the starting line only to give up.” Her expression morphed from a serious one into a grateful smile towards the woman. “Thank you for guiding me, Djumva. Whatever this exam will bring, I will do my best.”

The guide shrugged humorously, turning to close the door. “Your choice, but don’t overdo it. There is always next year, no need to die on your first try. Good luck, HeeJin.”

As the door closed, HeeJin put her backpack on the table, her determination only fueled by the disagreement she felt with the parting words of the recent acquaintance. Speaking objectively, the exam next year would happen, there never had been a year when one was canceled, it was a well-known fact. From Djumva’s perspective, HeeJin had no need to push herself past her limits and into the grave, this year being her first attempt. Statistics on pass to fail ratio was easily found from a simple google search, and the harsh truth was that passing on the first try was a rare occurrence, once in three years, on average, while both newbies and veterans of the exam got crushed physically or mentally each exam. Unfortunately, HeeJin had only one shot at it.

The girl looked up at the barely noticeable startle she felt and, glancing around, she saw the plate now counting up. An elevator, then. The starting line was going to be underground.

Not knowing how long the ride will take, HeeJin hurriedly tugged her backpack open to get the sticking bundle out, unfurling it. Bland sheath of her sable no longer felt alien after months of using it, even if she still felt bitter over the loss of the previous one. Despite her real treasure being the weapon itself, the scabbard held sentimental value, both of them given her six years ago by her siblings. Her two dear possessions that felt truly earned, a custom ordered present made when her parents deemed her skill to be worthy of a spotlight.

But that pride and personalization put in the order made them a liability now. Mostly the beautiful incrustation on the sheath, but the sable's guard still held the family's insignia on the spot where it morphed into a basket-hilt. It wasn't well-known, but still... Even if she masked the symbol to the best of her abilities, the old sheath had to go.

She hid the original sheath as soon as she was able to (“left behind” was a truer phrase, as she doubted it hadn't been found yet, but HeeJin was always a dreamer, her brightest trait, most glaring flaw).

Putting a familiar weight on her waist grounded her better than any of the simple breathing techniques she did on her way here. She will pass. HeeJin will give her best and take the license and never have to be this afraid for her future ever again.

The elevator slowly descended, HeeJin watching the numbers change, apprehension in the air, until it pinged, reaching one hundred.

Doors opened, the rush of chill earthy air and contrast of the scenery on the other side of the door making HeeJin blink. A shift from light and inviting room to the dim lights of a large hall, rough walls made off slabs of concrete arching into high ceiling, it pooled into unease in her stomach, which turned into knot when she stepped out and felt the attention on her. A crowd, most having some sort of weapon visible on them, their physique well-developed, stood there, turning their focus on her, some only glancing out of a corner of their eyes for a brief moment, others turning their heads and eyeing her openly. The air around them was completely different from the one people she saw on the train on her way here, the aura of competency in their stances and eyes, as they stood there, assessing the newcomer. Focused attention passed in a couple seconds, leaving her tense, but it was enough for her to have to consciously stop herself from gripping the straps of her backpack.

Experts in their fields, all of them. No doubts, those were the real contenders for the title.

A distant regret of keeping her natural hair color flickered in the background of her thoughts but passed unattended, already thought of and deemed unwise countless times before. Length of the hunter exam varied and while some ended in a week, others could last almost a month in an inhospitable environment. If she recolored and her natural black started showing, it would be more noticeable and memorable than being just another black-haired person. HeeJin had to use lenses since her eyes were rather vibrant, but nothing could be done here, she’ll just have to be extra careful and hope the exam will last less than two weeks.

On the upside, it seemed like she was disregarded as a competition, not viewed as a threat to the others, even if she knew not to entertain the idea of them missing her sable. Don’t get her wrong, it still stung, being so easily underestimated and mentally swept to the side, but she could use that later.

“Welcome,” sounded to her left, cheerful and polite. “Here is your tag.” Turning towards the speaker, HeeJin saw a short, three to four feet high, person of vibrant green color and unusually shaped bald head, wearing a business suit. They were holding out a tag, number 234 written on it. Gingerly taking it, HeeJin pinned it to her clothes. “Be sure to always keep it visible and safe - losing it leads to a disqualification.”

She took another second making sure it was secure and out of the way of her backpack straps. “Thank you,” she nodded to the person aiming to mirror their previous gentle politeness. They half-nodded back before turning around and walking away, leaving HeeJin to decide what to do now, while other participants arrived here.

She took a couple steps towards the crowd, aiming to wander around and see what the actual examinees looked like in person, silent and judging, before being interrupted once again.

“Hello, there!” another voice made her turn around, eyeing a soft-looking man in somewhat traditional-looking clothing, a round face adorning a friendly smile. “You are certainly looking the rookie part!” He joked in good humor.

“I suppose,” HeeJin couldn’t help but feel weary. His friendliness was off-putting compared with the cold scrutiny she received not a minute ago, the green person aside, as they were clearly not an examinee. As the man came closer, she hid her hands in pockets, a precaution against handshaking - some people take their welcoming etiquette very seriously and as much as HeeJin respected that and tried to abide by it in line with places she was in, rare handshakes she got always left her uncomfortable, mostly due to people’s reaction. (Logically, she was unlikely to get the usual reaction here, but for the last couple months it was rather an unconscious decision, that hid her hands, than a deliberate choice on her part)

“My name is Tonpa!” he introduced himself. Now, as he was closer, HeeJin saw his tag had 16 written on it. “You are rather young for taking the exam, don’t you think?”

HeeJin made a noncommittal sound. “The application rules do not have restrictions by age.”

Tonpa laughed, unfazed by her reserved answers and neglect of her own introductions. “Oh, I am well aware! I myself applied for the first time at ten!” 

Wait, what?

She blinked, examining him again, coming to a conclusion that the man couldn’t be younger than forty.

“I know, I know,” he raised both hands, his smile crooked despite his defensive gesture. “I am sort of a veteran of this exam.”

She felt confused, that was a hell of a time gap! And a horrible idea to let a ten-year old compete, but she already moved past questioning the absence of age restrictions two months ago. “You came back now? To fulfill your dream?” 

Tonpa waved his hand. “No, I am a regular here. This is my thirty-sixth time taking the exam.”

“That is fascinating,” answered politely HeeJin, plastering a friendly expression in return. What the hell. “You must have quite an experience then...”

She couldn’t believe that she, of all the people, had to think this, but doesn’t he have a job? There is a point in one’s attempts when they must let go and move on with their life and god knew, thirty-five sounded thirty too many past that point. And Tonpa looked healthy, posture strong, especially for the deceptive amount of fat the man had, his earlier steps were quiet and confident, which drew some unflattering conclusions - he was either a coward, a recruiter or a bad liar. Neither was the company she was interested in.

“… but as intriguing that is,” cut in HeeJin before he could say anything else. “I would rather not impose my company - it is both exciting and troublesome for me, this being the first attempt, and I make quite a poor conversationalist in this state.”

“Oh! Ah...” her answer took him off-guard for a moment, not having a prepared answer for that angle of her indifference. Although, she had to hand that to him, Tonpa gathered himself quickly, his smile morphing into a gentle and understanding one. His eyes, not so much. “No worries, few here are chatty folk. But, since I had so many attempts, I know many of the other regulars of the exam, maybe I can tell about them and calm some of that stress?” Turning towards the crowd, he looked over it for a second before pointing with his chin to the left, at the tall longhaired man with a spear. “For example, he...”

She hurriedly shook her head. “I am deeply grateful for your proposition.” If he kept insisting, she would be struggling to politely detach herself from his attention after another minute or two. Her hint wasn’t that much of a hint and she was sure her intention of concluding the dialog was heard loud and clear. That, plus insisting on sharing information on other examinees ruled Tonpa-coward out. Unless he was creative enough to make up characters on the spot (which she doubted). In any case, she would be socially obligated to listen to him further if she accepted his information, and HeeJin got stuck in such dialogs way too many times to not have a developed immediate rebuttal for them. “But what I meant to say was that I would really appreciate some solitude. My journey was an all-nighter one and I’d like to collect myself, if you don’t mind.”

“A. Ah, I see,” agreeably nodded Tonpa, deflating slightly. “Understandable, taking weeding out tests the first time is always difficult, and, note for the future, it is almost always all-nighters. Then, before you go, how about a quick toast to commemorate the new acquaintance?” He pulled out two cans of orange juice from his over the shoulder bag, holding one out to her, which she unflinchingly took. 

Bad liar it was.

“Thank you,” smiled HeeJin, gratefully dipping her head as she shrugged off the backpack to put the can in the outer pocket. “I’ll make sure to drink it when I’m thirsty - just drank a half a bottle of water on the way down,” she pointed her head in the direction of the elevator, apologetically smiling.

“Haha, good call,” Tonpa laughed, hiding his own can. “Well then, talk to you later?”

“Sure!” smiled HeeJin, stepping back.

He never had any close female friends for sure, to offer a stranger a drink of unknown origin while standing at the starting site of the most brutal exam in the world, or else he would not even attempt.

Heading towards the crowd, she waved to him, before turning away and scanning the people around. Moving through had been a tense thing as almost everyone around towered over her and watched from the corner of their eyes as she moved past them. The atmosphere around was inhospitable, to say the least. There was a brief flicker light on the rough arching ceiling coming from behind and she guessed it was the next applicant arriving.

---

As she moved through the less cramped area of the crowd, she heard footsteps approaching. Turning to the source, HeeJin froze, surprised gasp leaving her lips. A girl, her age, even! And visibly non-threatening, with her peach dress (which, what the hell?), knitted maroon elbow-high fingerless gloves and poncho-like shoulder cover, she was standing out with soft colors and materials of her clothes. Her burgundy hair was tied in two low ponytails, almost bouncing at her energetic step. Wide smile, showing way more teeth then would be considered perfectly comforting and the sheer force in her eyes, the girl looked wildly out of place here. The only part of her that was expected, were the knee-high boots that meant business and a tag on the poncho with number 10 written over it.

The girl was at arms length from her before HeeJin could even open and promptly erased that distance too, intertwining their arms by the elbow.

“Hello!” she chirped, tone upbeat and friendly. “Nice to meet you! Please say you aren’t going to drink that juice.”

HeeJin frowned. “No one with half a brain would.”

“Well, some, apparently would!” The girl rolled her eyes, sighing dramatically. “It is better for them to fail this early on, if they are that gullible. Poor boys.”

She scrunched her nose. Really? How did those people even get here? “What happened to them?”

“Ran to the bathroom and stayed there. With how fast it worked, some potent laxative in those cans.” The girl shrugged smoothly, tugging her in an unknown direction, somewhere back towards the elevator and closer to the wall. 

HeeJin nodded. She thought so too, anything other appearing a bit too much for the elimination of competitors even before the exam officially started.

“Aaa-nyy-way, I was not expecting there to be yet another teenage girl at the exam,” shared the girl, grinning coyly at HeeJin. “So imagine my surprise when you walked in! I am Chuu,” she introduced, “nice to meetchu!”

“Same,” the fact that the girl was closer to her in age put her in a better mood, more talkative one. She could see becoming friends with her, even. If Chuu is not a psycho murderer, that is, the contrast between her and everyone else jarring, and HeeJin really should stop baseless unflattering suspicions rising in her head, the girl hadn’t done anything to warrant any yet. “Nice to meet you too, Chuu, my name is HeeJin. Pardon me asking, but you don’t look fitting the situation?”

“Neither do you,” easily parried Chuu, eyes glinting and HeeJin let out an exasperated huff, smiling despite herself. Fair. Most of the getups around were either traditional or deliberately nondescript.

“But at least I am not in a dress. Are you sure in your choice of attire?” explained HeeJin, worried of the girl’s modesty, as her dress ended right above the knee and Hunter exam was notorious for its difficulty, which included strenuous physical activity.

She had doubts for any choice besides pants, that's all.

“Ooooooh, that’s what you mean,” cocked her head Chuu, furrowing brows in overdramatization, acting as if she did not understand what HeeJin meant previously. “Safety shorts. Why has noone ever heard of them?” Chuu grumbled the girl with a comically soured expression.

Oh, right. They exist. “I did, just never thought of them much, I suppose.”

“Highly recommend them! They save from so much headache, you won’t believe! Tragic that not everyone likes to listen to the voice of reason when wearing dresses but it’s not my problem,” assured her Chuu, grumbling the last part under the breath, clearly having someone else in mind, making HeeJin smile wider. She liked her energy. It was a breath of fresh air in contrast to her last weeks.

Bursting in a small open space near one of the walls, Chuu came to a stop, apparently getting to their destination.

In front of them stood another girl, with purple wavy hair gathered in two high ponytails and glinting purple eyes. Her tag read 81. When she saw she had HeeJin’s attention, she grinned, eyes full of enthusiasm, and made a little greeting handwave. “Hello! My name is Choerry!”

“HeeJin,” she introduced as both of them gave each other once-over, Choerry keeping a bright smile on her face all the while. 

Despite wearing something more sensible for the occasion, the girl still looked alien here. At least she wasn’t wearing a dress, instead opting for jeans with three translucent rings at the bottom and rather free straps going from the waist and over shoulders, partially pressed down by a laptop backpack. HeeJin had concerns over decisions like a breezy white blouse with wide open sleeves and sandals on two-inch heels, but otherwise nothing criminal.

Still, Choerry, especially with other examinees waiting further down by the pipes and cables on the wall, stuck out. Neither she nor Chuu looked nearly as dangerous as the crowd around and, furthermore, HeeJin couldn’t see any weapon on them either. Low hum of worry filled .

“Aren’t you going to critique her fashion choices too?”

HeeJin squinted at Chuu. “There is a line between “chose to wear a dress for a physically demanding exam” and ”looks like a student on a stroll in the park for the same exam”, easily identifiable, at that. One of those, by a small margin, is more sensible than the other. Very small margin.”

Chuu puffed her cheeks as Choerry laughed at her comment. “There was no rule to wear something bland for the exam and, trust me, I am used to wearing those through storms in Agyati forests, I’ll be fine.” HeeJin glanced at her sandals for the last time and sighed. That was a bold statement, one she had no means to verify or any want to. “If it brings peace to you, know that I’ve seen plenty of fighters with weirder fashion choices.”

HeeJin absolutely have not seen “fighters with weirder fashion choices”, not even many variations of fighters’ attires at all. Most of the combat-able people she had seen wore suits and they were fairly uniformed and bland. Maybe it was normal in certain circles? Or some people just liked some attires regardless how unfitting they were for a situation?

She looked back at Chuu, who hopped on one of the wide pipes running along the walls, seating herself on it, slightly overlooking the crowd. She was still puffing her cheeks at the answer, sending a mockingly stern glare, and HeeJin was unable to hold back a smile.

---

“In any case, forgoing appearances, it is still odd that you two are here - I was told it was rare for teenage girls to apply? Was that untrue?” HeeJin asked, shifting her gaze from one of them to the other.

Chuu moved her shoulder, thinking back to the exams her friends told her about. “I’d say, not as rare as civilians think.”

“Around one each year, probably,” piped in Choerry. “Teenagers trying to get the license isn’t far out of ordinary, most just wait until their twenties while they train and prepare for their specialization.”

The fact, that the Exam did not have an age limit requirement, was a statement in and of itself.

“Is this your first attempt?” Chuu smiled. HeeJin was a curious one and direct in her questions, too. And if Choerry had subtle prodding lining hers, swordswoman seemed more straightforward. At the very least, HeeJin was behaving like that in the beginning and was not trying to solve her right of the bat. Chuu found that cute.

She nodded. “Yep, my friends already took it, I am last to get a license.”

HeeJin blinked at that, as Choerry, who already knew that, went ahead and added: “Same here!”

Chuu momentarily squinted at her from the corner of her eye. She tried several times to discreetly make Choerry tell her more, interested in real Hunters, as they were a rare kind of bird with little solid information available on them. Some stories clearly born from collective exaggeration and others, more truthful and valuable, were kept secret, only found if you dug by name with appropriate access rights. Clearly, if Choerry had them, Chuu would like to listen. She understood that she could be lied to, but if so, it would only add some new entries to a list of uncountable fables she already knew, no skin off her back. And if she was honest, well, Chuu was all ears.

She would like to learn more, if the girl did not keep seamlessly getting out of the railroading questions!

HeeJin slowly nodded to herself, eyes glancing at their clothes again before going unfocused for a moment. Chuu felt corners of her smile twitch wider at the irony of HeeJin worrying about them while being the most likely to fail. Silly, you are at the start of the exam, there are experts in their fields around you and more than a half of those are killers. 

“Do you know anyone here?” HeeJin continued satisfying her thirst for information, looking over her shoulder. A cursory glance around would prove that the crowd surrounding them did not change much, newcomers mostly adding from the side of the elevator, as it became increasingly difficult to navigate between people without bumping into them. Chuu liked having a good vantage point. Choerry did too as they were both sitting on the pipes before HeeJin’s arrival, but the girl apparently decided to keep her company on the ground. “Besides Tonpa,” she clarified.

Clearly interested in the topic, Choerry eagerly rushed into answering. “Yes! Tonpa told me about some of them - he is rather chatty, or is so when he tries to poison someone,” Choerry leaned closer to HeeJin, lowering volume of her voice, but not dipping into secretive whispers. “See that large man in ashen clothes? Wearing a blue tuque, he just sat on the floor?..”

Tuning out Choerry, Chuu let her gaze move along pipes on the walls, wondering how much longer it was before the exam would begin. Since she was one of the earliest arrivals, she managed to see and follow each of the newcomers or a bit with her eyes, as well as get bored out of her mind doing so, since most of them were blander than dirt. She smiled at the memory of Tonpa’s fake friendliness as he tried to poison her, chatting for almost half an hour, waiting for the laxative to work. She even asked for a second can before he got a hint and left on his own. When the gathering just began the stream of applicants was slow, picking up the last few hours, it taking more than an hour and a half before Choerry arrived, and taking less than two after that before HeeJin did.

Speaking of, the arrival of girls of her age was surprising. Even more, given Choerry’s everything, Chuu was willing to bet she’d be able to pass the exam this year without breaking a sweat. Maybe the expectations she had would be proven wrong and she will have some actual challenge and-or fun here. Being the last one to apply for the Hunter license, she was forced to complete it alone instead of teaming up with Go Won last year. It was Yves’s decision to take that mission back then, after all, so off she went.

“... then, there is number 59 - watched her snap at 34 after he walked too slowly past her, a tense woman,” continued Choerry as Chuu zoned back, smile never fully dissipating. The conversation moved past the visible applicants and to the ones that could not be seen from the girls’ angle. “She is an ex-soldier, crippled one of the contestants last year. Be careful with her.” Choerry tilted her head to the other side, waving vaguely in a random direction. “Another three, Amori brothers, numbers 197 through 199…”

A cloud of bloodlust briefly settled over them, passing in a heartbeat, as the source somewhat regained his composure. Chuu consciously controlled her breathing, keeping it unflinching, while HeeJin startled and glanced over her shoulder anxiously. Several people around them also tensed. Choerry paused, looking where HeeJin did, arching her eyebrow, but then continued talking as if nothing happened.

Chuu deliberately did not spare a glance at Hisoka, focused on ignoring his existence for the duration of the exam. She hoped he could be professional (highly doubtful) and do the same for her, but she did not bet on it. As the man seemed overly volatile ever since he arrived - and didn’t it call to question what happened on his preliminary tests - Chuu had to keep her presence low, not liking perspectives of having to fight him. Another thing she hoped for - it wasn’t a far-fetched guess why he took the exam, so she preferred thinking it would be too bothersome for him to take the exam yet again. What was more likely than both of the above, was for him to kill some rando to cool down. Preferably far from them. 

Argh, she still could not believe she forgot Go Won’s warnings!..

“What were your tests?” She asked in the settled pause, as Choerry run out of examinees to talk about. “We were comparing ours and what we heard of other possible routes, trying to come up with other similar routes and overall costs for the preliminary tests.” Chuu leaned closer, adding clarification for a sudden subject change in conspirological whisper. “You have no idea how dull it is here.”

With a giggle, HeeJin complied. “Well, probably the first thing that was a test, was a train,” Chuu sent Choerry a meaningful stare, “it didn’t fully stop at the station, so we had to catch up to it.” It was Choerry’s turn to plaster a fake smile and bulge eyes out, staring intensely at Chuu. “There was also no actual stop, the slowest we got was on the slope of the mountain, before radio announced that the next stop would be in a city three stops away from the needed one... What are you two doing?”

Turning away from scowling at victorious-looking Choerry, who was raising eyebrows high and posturing as if she waited for a praise, Chuu explained, “Both of us - and some others whose stories we heard -  had a major travel means as their first test. She,” Chuu accusedly pointed straight at Choerry, almost leaning in the direction, “got a ship that had, you know, a little bumpy voyage, while I got an aircraft that ing crashed!” She held a pause to underline the irritation she felt over the difference of the two tests. “So, thinking about other logical ones, buses and trains, we agreed that the first ones can be used in different ways, but trains, they are on tracks, you can’t just leave them standing there or subtly loop. I suggested, Hunter Association could afford to crash one or two, as a more serious test, while Choerry believed that was not sensible at all!” she rolled her eyes, annoyed. “As if crashing an aircraft is sensible!”

HeeJin snickered. “Well, I wouldn’t call my trip very sensible either. Slopes were very steep, it was difficult to not just tumble down.” Her expression turned somber. “A couple of applicants broke their necks there. You weren’t far from a crash, I suppose. Then we had to find our way to the Coluc City, but none of us wanted to stay in a group so we dispersed and I headed towards it by myself, before finding a village. Locals  told me there was a predicament and asked for assistance in the search for a missing child, indicating that others, who already passed, refused to help. They said the kid last headed in the direction we came from...”

Chuu nodded along, not indulging in the theatrics with Choerry anymore, mutual voiceless decision to argue over whose guesses were closer afterwards. She was lazily softly kicking the pipe with her heels, when one tall man squinted in annoyance at their group. She caught his attention, making an eye contact, and grinned at him. He was tall, over two meters for sure, carrying what looked like a giant wooden hammer. He scoffed, baring his teeth, but looked away after a couple seconds of staring at her unflinching smile.

She hummed, returning to her familiar absentminded smile, making a cursory glance around, seeing if any other new examinee disliked their existence before facing HeeJin again.

The crowd around them had not changed much, some newcomers filtering in, listening up on any conversations around. Which was not many, people mostly keeping to themselves, only glancing at each other. Except from a couple instances, like their group, Tonpa and some sort of gathering back in the hall, few said more than a couple words, no doubt seeing others as a competition. It was probably rough - being them. 

She was keeping attention on the newcomers, just in case, but most were not worth attention. Most would be lucky to have a chance next year or were not as notably higher level above everyone else to really pay attention to them.

A barely-audible ping came from the elevator, notifying the arrival of another competitor. Chuu absentmindedly cast a glance to the entrance before snapping to reality and doing a double-take.

---

She pinned a tag with number 390 written on it on her outer long oversized t-shirt, almost a dress in its length, while she nonchalantly looked around. Not shy about her curiosity, HyunJin gathered her first impression of the real contestants, looking at their physique and weapons, while the front row of the crowd answered in kind, likewise unbothered by subtleties. As she made her first step forward, they looked away, but kept attention on her in the corner of their eyes. Moving deeper into the crowd, she concluded that this would be tough - examinees here looked more aggressively relaxed, muscles being better balanced than others on her way here, who seemed to only care to develop visible muscle mass.

She was ready, though. All last-minute preparations were done in the elevator, a two-minute ride used to braid her hair in two tight braids, as the last thing she needed was her hair getting in her eyes. With a recently accidentally cut lock on the right side, it was more than likely to happen if she chose to have a ponytail. She also checked one last time that her backpack was tightly secured, as was her waist pouch, hidden under a spacious cream t-shirt. Back home, on her last trip to the city before leaving for the exam, she thought for a while over wearing something more solid, like a jacket or something. In the end HyunJin decided to go with what she usually wore, including a skin-tight top, black sport knee-length leggings and fast-to-dry high-quality sneakers that she had to save for. Twice. The first pair was durable and exactly what she needed while not crossing the price range she was willing to pay for shoes, and she liked them for a solid month before they got chewed on by leprechaun lizards. The said oversized t-shirt was from a sturdier fabric than her original one and had served well back home - she had no intentions of fixing something that was not broken.

HyunJin left the area directly near the elevator and walked deeper in the hall, looking for a spot she can wait in. Other examinees were not much different from the ones close to the entrance, but some of them stood in pairs or decided to sit on the ground. As she passed them, she felt their attention, alert but not hostile.

Before she could walk further than halfway to the opposite wall, her eye caught a movement near one of the walls. A girl sat there on a pipe, waving at her. When their eyes met, the girl excitedly said something to the side and motioned to her invitingly.

That was intriguing. The girl seemed nonchalant over gaining attention from some other people around and even looked comfortable in her overlooking spot. Curious, HyunJin headed towards her.

She came to a clearing of three, two other girls also looking at her with unhidden interest. None of them looked like they belonged here, sticking out by virtue of a combination of being teenagers and wearing bright clothes. The one on the pipe didn’t even have a backpack, instead having a boxy bag over another shoulder, about eight inches in the side.

“Hi,” greeted her girl with purple hair and eyes, tag reading 81. She clasped her hands behind her back, rocking on her heels, two high ponytails swaying, “my name is Choerry.”

“Hello,” answered HyunJin, glancing back at the girl, who jumped down, tag 10 visible on her short poncho-like short cloak. “I’m HyunJin.”

“HeeJin,” nodded another, with a sable on her hip and tagged 234. She had black eyes and hair, long locks hanging free, a few inches above her waist.

“And I am Chuu!” The overseeing girl approached, putting hands on HyunJin’s shoulders, and looking dead in the eye, borderline uncomfortably close. Chuu was staring intently, almost searching for something in her face and eyes.

“Hello, Chuu,” raised an eyebrow HyunJin, unsure of a boldly tactile girl. She had red hair gathered in low ponytails and pastel orange eyes. HyunJin also felt a pang of surprise as, now being so close from her, she found out that the girl had barely any scent. This was unexpected, she only met a couple of people who deliberately chose to use scentless products in her entire life.

But she was at the starting site of a Hunter exam. HyunJin supposed she should have expected that. She inhaled again, focusing on her sense of smell,memorizing it. Interesting. 

Even more, on top of having no easily picked scent, Chuu was the tenth to arrive, how long ago was that, did the order of arrival matter? She would guess no, as the routes varied. HyunJin thought for a moment before deciding it wasn’t overly unsettling for her. This only proved to her that people here took the challenge of the exam seriously.

Chuu spent seven long seconds searching for something in her eyes before nodding, seemingly content, and stepping back, returning HyunJin her personal space.

“Do you happen to know how long it will take until the beginning?” asked HyunJin, interested in what kind of schedule Hunter Exam ran on.

Choerry shook her head, but offered her thought. “Eh, usually it starts around dawn or early morning. There were sometimes first phases that required them to be conducted during nighttime, but it is certainly not the case this time - as a rule, they give the participants around five to seven hours to gather before closing registration.”

It was almost five thirty in the morning.

HyunJin frowned and turned to Chuu, deciding to voice the question stuck in her head. “What time did you arrive at?”

“Twenty or so minutes after midnight.”

A ping and, in a couple seconds, loud “Ano!..” sounded from the elevator, her attention focusing on that for a moment. In passing, she noted it sounded like a child’s voice. So she, a teenager, was not that standing out. Good to know. What kind of a child would take the exam? “That was a long time ago. What have you been doing all this time here?”

Chuu dramatically rolled her eyes. “I know! It is a dreadfully dull place to wait in, too! Thankfully, Choerry arrived before I could go insane with boredom,” Chuu gently elbowed Choerry in her side, but the other girl sidestepped it, “since, as you can imagine, majority of the examinees here are standoffish and really, really not up for a friendly chat. It is enough to walk up to them and open your mouth to get glared at! And, besides them, well, this place dreadfully bland.”

HyunJin agreed. She was unused to being so deep underground, for one, and, secondly, this hall appeared to be purely utilitarian, no one cared to make it a little bit more hospitable. Dull grey walls and ceiling, built from blocks of concrete and floor, rough and uneven, were lit by the line of lamps in the middle of the ceiling and little wall lamps, all of them spaced out and rather dull. It provided enough light to see, even read, if needed, but the hall was far from being well-lit. Wide pipes and cables s along the walls, made sure to nail down that the room was here for a purpose different than to be aesthetically pleasing.

She cocked her head, musing over her last thought. “Why would they build this hall so deeply?”

“No idea,” replied Chuu as the other two shook their heads. ”But, since you asked, tell you what: the wall further back actually seems to have vertical seams in it on each side, floor to ceiling.”

So it could slide up or down? Which meant this hall might be a tunnel. That actually would make sense. Somewhat. Where did it go and why so deep? It was unlikely to be for the restaurant itself, but there was some important building close to it, maybe the tunnel went from there? Underground structure? She looked back to the wall with the elevator, searching for something, signs of another moving wall, when a scream full of shock and pain tore through the air, startling her.

All present snapped their heads towards the source, where closest to it people instinctively stepped back, forming a wide circle around a bald wild-shouldered tall man in a long cape.The scene was close enough for HyunJin to see what was happening in detail. He was standing on his knees, mouth wide open, only sounds coming from him were of distress. Not surprising, as the man, with a paled face and eyes full of fear, watched his arms slowly fall apart in petal-like slices. Starting from fingertips and creeping up, now nearly up to his elbows, his arms were dissipating into thin air.

In the otherwise dead silence, a deep voice sounded. “How peculiar. Now you see them, now you don’t.” HyunJin’s attention snapped towards the talking person, spotting him immediately, the only one amused by the situation. The man opened his arms in a “what can you do” gesture. “No smoke and mirrors here, ladies and gentlemen.” He lowered his voice to a low almost-purr, but in the silence of the hall, everyone heard him perfectly clear. “You should be more careful. Next time you bump into someone, it would do you well to apologize.”

With that, he turned around, leisurely walking away from the terrified man. Applicants divided before him without a word.

The man was tall and well-built, with wild pink hair. Wearing ice-blue clothes that resembled jester’s look, with puffy shoulders, a pattern of suits on the top and painted face. He gave an unforgettable impression. Every cell in her body screeched out that she should watch out.

HyunJin forcefully turned back to the group she found herself in. Chuu shifted beside her and Choerry caught her tense gaze.

“That was Hisoka. Tonpa called him Hisoka the Magician, the most dangerous contestant here. Seems like he was correct. Try to stay away from him,”said Choerry with a small reassuring smile.

HyunJin nodded as Chuu dropped a new alarming piece of information, causing tension in her stomach to intensify. “It is his second attempt. He was disqualified the previous year after nearly killing an examiner.”

“Scaaaaary,” whispered Choerry. Coupled with her smile, it was difficult to believe the girl was as intimidated by Hisoka as HyunJin was.

“He was allowed to try again?” asked HeeJin, looking properly alarmed.

Choerry carelessly shrugged. “Hunter License gives nice benefits and anyone, literally anyone, can make an attempt.. Wait, no, sorry! That was a lie. People holding governing positions or having direct potential to - like royalty - are prohibited from taking the exam, but everyone else is free to do so. I keep constantly forgetting about them! Each year there are different examiners, and you can pass them if you are qualified enough, but nobody does a morality test, that is way too subjective. Preliminary tests filter out complete scum or hopeless ones but that is about it.” Choerry appeared to be unbothered by implications of what she just said. “After all, Hunter Association themselves aren’t a rigid unit, and you meet all sorts of people! And they are very secretive, so not much is actually known about them besides the warning to not see them as being coworkers to each other.”

HeeJin frowned lightly at that, worrying her lip, visibly diving in her thoughts.

Deciding to think about that later, HyunJin turned to Choerry. “You sound like you know many Hunters.”

“A couple,” admitted Choerry. She opened to continue, but suddenly she made an alarmed noise and stood on tiptoes, putting arms in a cross, raising them above her head. HyunJin looked in that direction and saw a fat man near the most mismatched group she saw here, more than the girls were. A tall man in a dark blue suit, teenager in what looked like tribal clothes and an honest to God child with a fishing pole. All of them were holding cans. Chuu near her also started waving hands and, after a brief pause, when HeeJin found what was going on, began making “abort” motions above her head. Blond teenager saw them and stopped lifting the can, frowning, but the other two brought them to their mouths. Chuu growled and slapped her forehead in exasperation. HyunJin frowned. If she understood what was happening correctly, they just drank something, given them by someone untrustworthy? Were the drinks poisoned? Suddenly, the boy spluttered and let everything he just had in his mouth to pour out, saying something with apologetic expression. Tall man followed his suit, spitting out what he got. HeeJin and Chuu sighed with relief, returning to the conversation and HyunJin followed their lead, but paused. There was someone who nearly killed an examiner the previous year and cut one examinee's arms in this one. Now there was another person, who tried to poison participants. A quick glance showed that the man was bowing to the trio in an apology.

“Who was that?” she asked HeeJin, pulling her out of her thoughts.

“Tonpa, he attempted to make each of us drink his canned juice too.” HeeJin looked at the direction. “He is rather intrusive with feigned friendliness. Targeted several others and those, who drank the juice, run to the bathrooms and are yet to return.”

HyunJin hummed, satisfied with the answer, before blinking, her nose tickling as if before sneezing. She cringed on the inside, but the feeling passed.

One last glance at the mismatched group at the entrance, she returned to the conversation about Hunters, intent on learning more. She wondered if the information Choerry got was more legitimate than stories circulating on the forums.

Unfortunately, it turned out that the conversation, if it could now be called that, strayed away while she was in thought. Chuu was trying to weasel out answers from Choerry, who kept more or less intentionally ignoring the questions. Instead, she focused on one specific unnamed Hunter, going on and on talking about the work she did at sea, dreamily staring at the ceiling.

Soon, Chuu gave up on getting the answer she wanted, the girl began asking about absolute nonsense. Her questions had no logic, the girl clearly deciding to amuse herself if Choerry didn’t want to. Both were having fun.

As two one-sided conversations spiraled further and further out of hand, HeeJin snickered, breaking into giggles, and HyunJin felt the tension from the last couple minutes leave her too.

---

A loud shrill filled the room and the wall opposite of the entrance began to lift with a rumbling, almost completely drowning out the alarm. All around them participants, who decided to sit while waiting, rose to their feet. Fake wall revealed the source of the noise: at the center of the road there stood a man in a violet suit, his curled lavender hair standing out against a poorly lit tunnel behind him - it was stretching as far as the eye could see, pipes and cables and all. It was lit even worse than this section. What caught Choerry’s attention in the man himself was that, under an even curlier mustache, he seemingly had no mouth. Whenever she got a chance she would check if it was really absent or was it just a trick of light.

When the wall rose fully, man turned the shrilling alarm off and put it away, the second he spent doing it being the quietest since Choerry got here, this one uninterrupted by any whimpers or rustling.

"Welcome to the 287th Hunter Exam,” spoke the man, mustache twitching along the words. This did prove that he had a mouth, and Choerry sighed in light disappointment. “As of now, registration is closed and the Exam will begin. This way, please." He turned around and stepped into the tunnel with an unusual gait - it made him look like one of the moving wooden toys she played with in her childhood. It made her briefly wonder why he chose it.

“Just there’s no mistake,” his voice cut through a disunited rumble of the footsteps of the following applicants, “the Hunter Exam is very rigorous and may cost your life. If you lack the necessary ability - too bad. If you’re unlucky - again, too bad. And examinees are not above sabotaging each other, as you saw. If you’re okay with that, then you are welcome to continue. Otherwise, turn around - this is your last chance to leave.” Elevator behind them opened its doors with a ding, offering an exit. As expected, noone made a move to turn around. “Still with me? Good. You four hundred applicants may enter the first phase.”

Choerry was almost hopping as she walked, probably seeming overenthusiastic for other participants, - finally! She would finally get her license! God, she waited for so long! Choerry had no shade of a doubt that she would pass, even the possibility of it brushed aside with a scoff. The only way she would fail was if she tripped over someone like Hisoka in a truly unfortunate fashion, but she was better than that. Magician or no, he was a nen-user who had his bloodthirst and hunger blossomed in a beacon that was difficult to ignore. Even when he was the calmest, his presence was felt, unhidden. She wondered whether he was usually like that or was this a special occasion.

And Choerry was just a little unassuming girl with an indoctrinated person’s output, just as usual. Nothing to see here. No attention to catch, no harm to do. As long as she was herself, she was bound to be overlooked by the likes of Hisoka.

So was Chuu, at that matter, but the redhead was too confrontational to actually be believable. 

Gradually, ahead of her, the footsteps became footfalls, louder and more frequent. With yelps, other participants around them began to quicken their pace, too, until the whole crowd was running at a comfortable marathon speed. Great! If just running was their first phase, it would be a piece of cake! She can even continue to chat with the girls for it’s duration! 

A glance to the side proved that Chuu was thinking the same thing. HeeJin, though, looked contemplative. Choerry tried to catch eye contact but the girl just stared ahead.

“I am Satotz, your examiner for the first phase of the exam, as well as your guide to the second phase,” introduced himself the Hunter and Choerry dug through her memory, but was unable to recall his name. She was fairly sure she was never told of him, which was not really surprising. 

“Second?” exclaimed a loudmouthed shinobi, who previously shared his secret mission with everyone who would like to listen and people in three meters radius, who did not. “But what’s about the first?”

“This, what else? I told you the exam had begun, did I not? You’re now taking it. All you have to do is keep up with me. Simple as that.” A wave of murmurs rolled through the crowd. She saw HeeJin frown in a corner of her eye.

“For how long do we have to run?” pondered HeeJin barely audible.

“Who knows?” she answered the rhetorical question, giving the girl a supportive smile. HeeJin was no wimp or skilless, that much was clear by the fact that she got to the starting line of the Hunter Exam on her first try. But her getting the license on the first try? Doubtful.

Still, the girl was very nice and Choerry wanted to befriend her. She already decided to help a little in an emergency, a little push if HeeJin needed some motivation or a helping hand in getting to safety, if she was unwilling to continue. Same went for HyunJin, obviously. The girl was not all that talkative, but charming nonetheless.

Just because her best friends avoided making friends on their exams and were severely bored on them did not mean she was accepting to be bored too for its whole duration.
She was going to both have fun and become an official Hunter, easy!

Helping the girls was not a handicap for her. “Don’t worry, probably just a couple hours!” she cheered up HeeJin. The girl nodded.

Almost as if also hearing HeeJin’s earlier  question, Satotz added a short note, not turning to the participants. “Where we are going, and when we’ll get there, I can’t say. To find out… just follow, follow, follow.”