Note: If you want the continuity of this story consider to join Pãtreon/Flokixy to access advance Chapters and To Support The Daily Update
As Pariston struck up a conversation with Illumi, Tonpa squeezed over.
"You're new too, right? I'm—"
"The Rookie Crusher, Mr. Tonpa~"
Before Tonpa could finish, he was interrupted by Pariston, who even called him by his nickname. Pariston looked at Tonpa with a gentle smile on his face.
"I'm currently conversing with these two gentlemen. Could I trouble you to distance yourself from us a little?"
"This is for your own good, you know."
Tonpa looked at the insincere yet gentle smile on Pariston's face. For some reason, a sense of fear welled up in his heart, and cold sweat beaded on his forehead.
"Uh, heh heh..."
Tonpa's mouth twitched as he retreated backward, step by step, moving away from the three of them.
"Damn it, what's with this year's rookies."
Standing within the crowd, Tonpa looked at the three figures at the very front, couldn't help but grit his teeth, and then revealed a sinister smile.
"There's no rookie I can't handle. You just wait and see."
"Rumble, rumble..."
With a deafening roar, the wall in front of the crowd slowly rose, revealing a middle-aged man in a light green suit standing behind it.
"Thank you all for waiting."
"From now on, the registration period for this Hunter Examination is officially closed."
"Well then, next, the 270th Hunter Examination officially begins!"
The examiner spoke, then directly turned and walked towards the other end of the passage, simultaneously saying,
"Next, on the road ahead, everyone can use any means to prevent others from advancing."
"Whether it's weapons or anything else, there are no restrictions."
"Additionally, I am the examiner for the first phase of this Hunter Examination, Simms Newtoral."
"Examinees are not allowed to assault or attack the examination proctors; otherwise, their qualification for the test will be immediately revoked."
"Please be sure to pay close attention to this point."
More than three hundred examinees followed behind Simms, listening attentively to his explanation of the rules. The quiet passage instantly filled with a dense patter of footsteps.
"Ah!"
Just as Examiner Simms finished speaking, someone immediately let out a bloodcurdling scream.
"What happened?"
Most of the examinees in the crowd stopped and looked back, only to see a man lying on the ground, his eyes rolled back, his body twitching uncontrollably.
Soon, he stopped breathing.
"He's been poisoned!"
Someone shouted, pointing at the back of the fallen man's right hand. There were two small fang marks on the back of his hand, and the poison was spreading from the wound towards his shoulder.
"She did it!"
A young man wearing a hat nearby pointed at a voluptuous black-haired beauty in the crowd, his face filled with terror.
"I saw it! A poisonous snake came out of her sleeve and bit that person to death!"
The sexy black-haired beauty glanced at the young man who spoke, scaring him so much that his face turned pale, and he stumbled back three steps.
The other examinees all looked at her, their expressions changing. It was best not to get close to this woman.
"Ah, the examiner is gone!"
At this moment, someone at the front of the crowd shouted.
"What!?"
The examinees no longer paid attention to the man who had fallen from poisoning. They turned to look towards the front of the passage; the examiner's figure had long since vanished without a trace.
"Idiots. While you were all focused on that fool, the examiner already went much further ahead."
One examinee was the first to run out, simultaneously sneering at the others. He wanted to be the first to reach the second examination venue.
...
And in the passage ahead, Examiner Simms was not without followers.
Illumi, King Bradley, Pariston, and in addition, a small group of thirty other examinees were still following behind the examiner.
"Not affected by the sudden situation, advancing with determination."
Examiner Simms observed these people behind him from the corner of his eye, a look of gratification on his face.
"Well then, might as well eliminate the other three hundred examinees in one go."
Simms thought to himself and quickened his pace again. The speed of his legs even created afterimages.
"Tap, tap, tap..."
For a moment, crisp, rapid footsteps echoed one after another in the quiet passage. The expressions of the remaining thirty-odd examinees changed slightly, and they had no choice but to quicken their running pace once more.
"Hehehe, all the useless ones can just come back for the next exam."
Among the remaining thirty examinees, half were veterans, and Tonpa was naturally one of them.
"Just you wait, you two stinking brats."
Tonpa looked at the backs of Illumi and Pariston ahead, a sinister idea forming in his mind.
Perhaps sensing something, Pariston, who was ahead, turned around, looked at Tonpa, and gave a gentle smile.
"Ugh..."
Tonpa's expression froze. For some reason, every time he saw this brat's smile, he had a bad premonition, as if he were being stared at by a venomous snake.
"This brat is probably not easy to deal with."
Tonpa mentally abandoned the idea of targeting Pariston and instead turned his gaze towards Illumi, letting out a low, sinister laugh.
"Finally... are we reaching the end?"
The thirty-odd examinees looked at the light at the end of the stairs, a sigh of relief in their hearts.
"Swish!"
Simms was the first to step out of the passage and stood on the fresh grass, looked at his watch, then turned back to look at the remaining thirty-odd examinees.
"There are still ten minutes left before the first half of the first test ends."
"For now, everyone can rest here for a moment and recover your strength."
"If no other examinees catch up after ten minutes, it means only you thirty-three have passed."
Except for a few examinees, everyone else either lay prone or sat down, resting on the grass, panting heavily.
"Help... help me..."
A moment later, a man with a crew cut and a bloody face struggled out of the passage, extended his right arm, and cried out to the other examinees for help.
"Tap... tap..."
The sound of high heels echoed from behind him. The crew-cut man's expression changed drastically, his tone becoming desperate.
"Save... save me... he will..."
"Thump!"
A figure in high heels stepped on the back of his head, then lifted sharply. With a "squish," that person had used their high heel to make a hole in the back of his head.
The crew-cut man's mouth gaped open, his head lolling lifelessly to the ground. Blood pooled out, and the light faded from his eyes.
"I will kill you, hehehe..."
Moving the gaze upwards: high heels, tight leather pants, a bare, strong upper body, a black choker around the neck, purple lipstick, pink eyelashes.
A masculine appearance, yet exuding a feminine aura.
A man dressed like this was clearly a pervert.
At this moment, from the shadows of the passage behind him, another black-haired beauty stepped out. She glanced at the perverted man, then emotionlessly walked past him onto the grass.
"Mm~ An excellent woman."
"My actions just now were truly impolite."
The perverted man stuck out his scarlet tongue and licked a drop of blood from his lips. His voice was deep and carried a magnetism unique to mature men. His speed and tone of speech were like those of a nobleman.
"By the way, Mr. Examiner."
The perverted man looked at Examiner Simms and winked at him.
"There's no need to wait anymore, because the people behind have all..."
"Mmmh~"
He placed his hands on his groin and chest, striking an extremely alluring pose, and moaned.
"Died."