Chapter 53
The yacht docked along the shore of Zevil Island, and Haruto put away his fishing rod as he prepared to disembark.
Their guide, Kara, appeared before the applicants.
"Thank you for your patience! We’ve arrived safely at Zevil Island!"
"You will disembark in the order you cleared the Third Phase!"
"Each applicant must wait two minutes after the person ahead of them has entered the island before leaving the ship!"
"You will remain here for one week. Make sure you collect badges worth six points and return to this ship before the deadline!"
"Now, we’ll begin with the first applicant!"
As the first person to clear the Third Phase, Hisoka left the yacht ahead of everyone else.
Two minutes later, Haruto stepped onto the island.
Once he was out of sight, he did not venture deeper into the jungle.
Instead, he climbed a tree positioned where he could clearly observe the yacht without being easily noticed himself.
Pokkle’s placement had not been particularly low, so Haruto would only need to wait a little while.
Sure enough, it was not long before he saw Pokkle disembark.
Haruto erased his presence with Zetsu and quietly followed the direction Pokkle had taken.
Pokkle noticed nothing.
After carefully surveying the surrounding jungle, he began making his way deeper into the island, completely unaware that someone had already marked him as prey.
Once the distance between them had narrowed to roughly thirty meters, Haruto released Zetsu.
His body became a blur as he charged toward Pokkle.
"Who’s there?!"
Pokkle sensed the danger almost the instant Haruto moved.
He spun around, swiftly drew an arrow from his quiver, nocked it, and fired toward the approaching figure.
The arrow tore through the air with a sharp whistle, flying directly toward Haruto’s face.
Haruto merely turned his wrist and caught the shaft firmly in one hand.
By the next moment, he was already beside Pokkle.
He raised his other hand and struck the back of Pokkle’s neck with perfect precision.
Pokkle released a muffled grunt before collapsing limply to the ground, unconscious.
...
"I’m doing this for your own good."
"At least if you fail the exam, you won’t end up having your brain opened and your body eaten."
Haruto spoke earnestly to the unconscious Pokkle while searching his pockets.
He quickly found the badge.
"Six points secured."
Haruto weighed the badge in his palm, pleased with how easily things had gone.
"Now I only need to wait for the week to end."
He turned and headed back toward the edge of the island.
Haruto intended to spend the next several days fishing and experimenting with seafood dishes.
For the remainder of the week, he stayed near the coast.
Occasionally, another applicant would be drawn toward his camp by the aroma of food.
Once they realized Haruto was the one cooking, however, they wisely turned around and left him alone.
...
The week passed quietly.
At last, Kara’s voice echoed from speakers across every corner of Zevil Island.
"Attention, all applicants—"
"The Fourth Phase of the Hunter Exam has officially ended. Please return to the starting point as soon as possible."
"You have a one-hour grace period beginning now. Anyone who fails to return before it expires will be disqualified."
"Once you reach the starting point, all further exchanges of badges will be considered invalid. Anyone discovered attempting one will be immediately eliminated."
"Please keep that in mind."
As the announcement ended, the successful applicants began making their way back.
Since Haruto had remained near the coast the entire time, he was naturally the first to arrive.
...
Kara was waiting at the starting point with paper and pen in hand.
"We will now inspect the badges of everyone who has returned."
The process went quickly.
Haruto, Hisoka, Gittarackur, Killua, Hanzo, and Bodoro each presented the badges they had collected, confirming that they possessed the required six points.
Near the very end of the grace period, Gon, Kurapika, Leorio, and Pokkle—who should have been eliminated—arrived just in time.
After inspection, all four were also found to have collected six points.
Haruto gave Pokkle a complicated look.
He had never expected the man to scrape together enough points with his target’s three-point badge and three unrelated one-point badges.
Still, something about the total seemed wrong.
After thinking it over, Haruto realized what must have happened.
His presence had altered the original course of events.
Rather than advancing with three miscellaneous badges, Hanzo must have taken his designated target’s badge instead, leaving enough available badges for Pokkle to qualify.
Haruto sighed helplessly.
So Pokkle was still destined to have his brain opened in the future.
’Should I warn him?’
The thought barely surfaced before Haruto dismissed it.
He and Pokkle were hardly know each other.
Even without Pokkle, some other Hunter would likely be sent there and die in his place.
Besides, the Chimera Ant incident involved far too many complications.
It was better not to invite trouble.
...
After the successful applicants were confirmed, everyone boarded the yacht and returned to the area near Trick Tower before transferring to the Hunter Association’s airship.
Inside one of the airship’s lounges, the examiners had gathered around a table for a meal.
"Hohohoho!"
Netero laughed heartily, his eyebrows bouncing with delight.
"Seven of the ten remaining applicants are rookies! What an exceptional harvest!"
A result like this was extremely rare.
Buhara looked curiously toward the Chairman.
"Has anything similar ever happened before?"
Netero stroked his beard and thought for a moment before slowly answering.
"Yes. There tends to be a pattern. Whenever ten years pass without a single rookie succeeding, a large group of exceptionally promising young people suddenly appears."
"I’ve witnessed this happen four times since becoming Chairman."
A satisfied smile covered Netero’s face.
Many of the young Hunters who had emerged during the previous three occasions had grown into capable professionals.
This group would probably be no less impressive.
"By the way," Satotz said, looking toward Netero with curiosity, "what exactly will the Final Phase involve?"
Normally, the examiners would already know the contents of the remaining test, but Netero had yet to reveal anything this year.
"That’s right," Buhara quickly agreed, anticipation filling his eyes. "You haven’t told us anything yet."
"What sort of test will it be?"
"Well, about that..."
Netero suddenly grinned, a cunning gleam appearing in his eyes.
"I intend to have them participate in a rather unusual series of duels."
It was an idea he had devised only recently.
This year’s applicants were unusually talented.
It would be a shame to follow the customary standards and allow only one or two of them to pass.
"Unusual duels?"
Satotz blinked, his curiosity growing even stronger.
Netero, however, chose to keep them in suspense.
"First, I need to speak with each of the ten applicants individually..."