Chapter 49
While Haruto considered the implications of the rules, a burst of static crackled from a speaker in the corner.
A man’s voice followed.
"My name is Lippo. I am the warden of Trick Tower and the examiner overseeing the Third Phase."
"This tower contains several possible routes to the bottom. The one you have selected is known as the Partners’ Path."
"It can only be opened by a team of two. From this point onward, both partners must make exactly the same choice at every checkpoint."
"If your choices differ, you will lose a considerable amount of time. I strongly advise both of you to remember that."
"Now then, I wish you a pleasant journey."
The moment Lippo finished speaking, the heavy stone wall beside them rumbled.
Gears ground noisily as the entire section slowly rose, revealing an iron door hidden behind it.
A display mounted on the door clearly listed the rules.
’Select O or X to open this door.’
’If both selections match, the door will open immediately.’
’If the selections differ, you must wait five hours before choosing again.’
This challenge obviously depended on communication.
Haruto glanced at Hisoka and felt his scalp tingle.
Having to cooperate with this deranged fruit farmer was asking far too much of him.
Unfortunately, he had no other choice.
Forcing a stiff smile onto his face, Haruto kept his voice as even as possible.
"How about we choose O?"
All he wanted was to clear the route quickly and put as much distance between himself and Hisoka as possible.
"Fine with me..."
Hisoka drew out the words, a smile curling across his lips.
They raised their hands and pressed the O buttons on their wristbands at the same time.
A quiet click sounded, and the iron door swung open, revealing a long, dim passage beyond it.
Haruto was about to enter first when a thought occurred to him.
He stopped and looked back at Hisoka.
Hisoka paid no attention to his hesitation and simply walked into the passage ahead of him.
...
After following the corridor for around fifteen minutes, they reached another stone chamber similar to the first.
Haruto and Hisoka both looked toward the new rules displayed on the wall.
’Choose your direction.’
’O: right-hand passage.’
’X: left-hand passage.’
’If your selections differ, you must wait ten hours before choosing again.’
It was the same arrangement as before. They still had to reach a unanimous decision.
Haruto cautiously suggested, "O again?"
Hisoka offered no objection.
They pressed O together, and the passage on the right opened.
The two of them passed through several more checkpoints requiring shared choices before eventually reaching somewhere entirely different.
Instead of another cramped stone chamber, they emerged into a spacious arena.
Two figures wearing heavy cloaks stood on the opposite side. Their wrists were bound in thick iron shackles.
Lippo’s voice once again came through the speakers.
"Applicants, listen carefully."
"The people standing before you are convicted criminals imprisoned within Trick Tower. They have also been officially employed by the Hunter Association as examiners."
"You must now make another choice. O means accepting the challenge, while X means refusing it."
"If your decisions differ, you must remain here for twenty hours before choosing again."
"If you both select X and refuse the challenge, you may continue after waiting forty hours."
Forty hours was completely unacceptable.
Almost the instant Lippo finished speaking, Haruto pressed O.
Hisoka did the same.
Their immediate acceptance was entirely within Lippo’s expectations.
Once both choices had been registered, his voice returned.
"Since you have accepted, I will explain the rules."
"This will be a two-against-two match. Any method is permitted, and a draw is impossible."
"One side wins when every member of the opposing team either surrenders or dies."
Haruto was speechless.
Lippo claimed that any method was allowed, but the rules were clearly designed to force them into a fight.
"There is one more detail. These prisoners have signed contracts with the Association. For every hour they delay you, one year will be removed from their sentences."
"If the applicants lose but survive, forty hours will still be deducted from their remaining time."
Inside the surveillance room, Lippo glanced toward someone standing behind him.
With Hisoka on the applicants’ side, there was practically no chance they would lose.
Still, the test had been designed long before Lippo knew who would enter this route.
...
As Lippo finished explaining, the shackles around the prisoners’ wrists unlocked.
The two men threw off their cloaks, revealing large, muscular bodies beneath them.
"Hey, you two don’t mind settling this with a straight fight, do you?"
The prisoner on the left had a broad, brutal face. He shouted across the arena at Haruto and Hisoka.
"Not at all..."
Hisoka answered lazily, without the slightest interest in his eyes.
Neither prisoner had awakened Nen.
Hisoka could not bring himself to care about ordinary men like them.
Then he glanced toward Haruto, and an unsettling smile spread across his face.
"You can deal with both of them, can’t you?"
Hisoka had sensed no bloodlust from Haruto.
That almost certainly meant he had never killed anyone before.
As a responsible fruit farmer, Hisoka naturally felt obligated to provide a little "assistance" so that his unripe fruit could grow properly.
Haruto looked at him and more or less understood what he was thinking.
After a brief silence, he reluctantly agreed.
"Fine."
Haruto walked to the center of the arena and studied the two prisoners.
They were both ordinary men. Defeating them would be easy.
The real problem was that strength alone would not end the match.
One side had to surrender or die before a winner could be declared.
Haruto drew a deep breath and addressed the prisoners as they eagerly cracked their knuckles.
"I don’t want to hurt either of you. Surrender."
If they were sensible enough to concede, there would be no need for violence.
The two prisoners exchanged looks before bursting into loud laughter.
The broad-faced man spat contemptuously onto the ground.
"Kid, you’re barely old enough to grow hair on your dick, and you’re already talking that big?"
Both men had killed more than a dozen people.
They could immediately tell that there was no murderous intent in Haruto’s eyes.
He had clearly never taken a life before.
And this inexperienced brat thought he could threaten them?
Of course, they had no intention of killing Haruto immediately.
Every hour they delayed the applicants reduced their sentences by a year.
If they could drag the fight out until the exam was nearly over and then kill both opponents to win, they might have more than a century removed from their punishment.
They might even leave Trick Tower alive one day.
At that thought, the prisoners’ expressions grew even more vicious.
They slowly advanced toward Haruto, intending to subdue him first.