HxH: Ryomen... Satoru?

"This is Hisoka's personal channel. As you can see, our resident predator is currently pruning the branches of these trees…" Cyr narrated into his phone while recording, his commentary flowing smoothly with practiced ease.

Suddenly, as if realizing something crucial, he stopped the recording mid-way.

"Wait, are the examiners still alive?" His expression turned a bit peculiar.

Hisoka had been on a killing spree along the way, and the remaining life energy signatures in the area all seemed... pretty weak.

There wasn't even a way to tell who was stronger or weaker—because they all looked equally feeble now.

The only place where there seemed to still be some survivors was where the examiners were conducting the gourmet evaluation.

I haven't technically passed the Hunter Exam yet, have I? Cyr thought. If those examiners are dead, then my exam is over too… and this whole trip will have been pointless.

…Well, not entirely pointless.

At least he'd successfully "checked in" with the legendary scenery of the Hunter x Hunter world—Hisoka himself. Though it wasn't during Hisoka's iconic post-bath scene, this "check-in" still counted.

In fact, seeing him in person proved Hisoka was even more insane than in the anime.

Experiencing something like the thrill of collecting signatures at a convention in another world… not bad at all.

"Well then, I'll be heading off," Cyr said, leaving behind the frenzied Hisoka and vanishing in a flash.

In his current state, Hisoka would attack anything that got close. Cyr didn't know how long this effect would last, but he was slightly curious about Hisoka's reaction once he regained clarity. Unfortunately, he wouldn't be around to see it.

For now, the potentially dying examiners were more pressing.

As he walked, Cyr passed the corpses of many examinees, most of whom had died in the same manner—with playing cards lodged in their bodies.

A few were still breathing but gravely injured. Without immediate medical attention, they wouldn't make it.

Cyr, however, paid them no mind, focused entirely on finding the examiners.

Finally, he found three individuals—or rather, one examiner barely clinging to life and two corpses.

This is bad. Only one left.

Cyr quickly rushed over to the sole surviving examiner, Hoshou, and began digging through his bag for medicine. He poured it into the examiner's mouth while cheering him on.

"Hang in there, don't die on me just yet!"

"At least wait until you announce me as qualified before kicking the bucket, alright?"

"I'm definitely in first place with the treasure I found, right?" Cyr propped open the guy's eyelids, forcing him to look at the loot Cyr had brought along.

He had taken all the treasure chests he'd seen next to the corpses of examinees along the way. Combined with the fact that no other examinees were left to compete with him, who else could possibly take first place?

"Say something, Examiner." Cyr shook Hoshou's head urgently.

"If you keep shaking him like that, he'll really die," a man's voice called out as someone leaped down from a nearby tree.

The newcomer wore a long-sleeved hoodie with the hood up, his plain appearance so unremarkable that one might forget him the moment he left. His presence was almost ghostlike.

"So, what's the deal with this exam? I've been taking it seriously, you know. It wouldn't be fair if someone else's rampage invalidated my effort," Cyr said lazily, his tone void of enthusiasm as he glanced at the man.

He wasn't surprised by the man's appearance. From the start of the exam, this guy had been shadowing him. Not just him, though—Hisoka, and even the two other non-human examinees, also had someone tailing them.

He was probably part of the examiner team, assigned to keep tabs on dangerous participants.

'Wait a second.' Cyr thought. 'That has nothing to do with me. I'm not dangerous at all.'

Cyr gave the idea some serious thought and concluded: he was incredibly harmless and friendly. Certainly not the type to warrant constant monitoring.

It must be that he was too exceptional, which earned him the honor of being closely observed.

"If I don't pass, I'll be very upset, you know." The white-haired, blue-eyed boy sat cross-legged next to Hoshou's, his head propped on one hand as he lazily gazed downward, his eyes half-closed in a languid manner.

In sharp contrast to his relaxed demeanor, a dangerous aura emanated from his entire being.

Reddy Yuno, one of the assistant examiners for the 286th Hunter Exam, couldn't help but break into a cold sweat.

Faced with this boy, he felt an unfamiliar sensation: fear.

He had seen firsthand how Cyr had fought against Hisoka. Even Hisoka had been forced to maintain his distance and continually shift positions to avoid Cyr's relentless attacks.

'I should've known better than to take on this assistant examiner gig for a bit of extra pay,' Reddy thought with regret. 'This is basically blood money.'

Most of the other assistant examiners were already dead. Reddy was only still alive because he'd been tailing Cyr from the start and Cyr hadn't bothered to deal with him.

"As for your performance, we've all seen it," Reddy explained cautiously, stepping back a couple of paces as he spoke. "The footage has already been sent to the Hunter Association for review."

"Is that so." Cyr rose to his feet, brushing off Hoshou without another glance.

Seeing this, Reddy instinctively stepped back several more paces, silently praying: 'Just let him pass already. If he comes back next year…'

"Relax," Cyr said with a faint smirk, glancing at him. "If I wanted to kill you, you'd already be dead."

For some reason, those words actually made Reddy feel a bit relieved. At least it meant Cyr had no intention of killing him.

"I feel like I've forgotten something…" Cyr muttered, pausing where he stood to think.

What had he forgotten?

"Congratulations, you've passed." Reddy answered a phone call with a serious expression, exchanged a few words with the person on the other end, then turned and addressed Cyr.

"Oh, I just remembered—Maro's missing," Cyr said, a sudden realization dawning on him.

"Are there any survivors?" Reddy couldn't help but ask.

"There are, about… twenty or thirty people left," Cyr replied calmly.

That count included Maro, Tonpa, the two non-human participants, and a few severely injured but not yet dead individuals.

"I need to find someone first. Wait here for me," the white-haired boy said. Before Reddy could respond, Cyr's figure disappeared into thin air.

"Thirty or so survivors, huh…" Reddy muttered to himself, lost in thought.

He decided it was best to call for help to retrieve the remaining living examinees.

Three minutes later, Cyr found Maro near the coastline.

When Cyr had told him to run far, Maro had really run far.

"Sir!" Maro was leaning against a tree, his expression blank. Upon seeing the sudden appearance of the white-haired boy, he perked up and ran toward him excitedly.

"What should we do next?" he asked, skipping any questions about the fight or offering any opinions, focusing solely on what came next.

"Ah, Hisoka killed a bunch of participants, most of the examiners are dead too, and the rest are too injured to move. If nothing unexpected happens, the only ones who passed this round are you and me," Cyr said with a yawn. Grabbing Maro by the collar, he then whisked them both back at high speed.

Reddy, who had wisely stayed in place as instructed, watched them return without a word of complaint.

Cyr let go of Maro, who stumbled slightly, looking dazed as he shook his head.

"When will we get our Hunter licenses?" Cyr asked.

"Next, you'll need to board an airship to the final venue. The licenses are only issued after the interviews," Reddy explained promptly, relieved to see them back.

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