It took me so long to think about what the exam entails haha but anyway please enjoy :)

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It took a while finding the location of the Hunter Exam. But they found out that they were supposed to go to a certain hotel and knock with a certain rhythm to a certain door. It led them to a large underground basement. Zushi was number #339, Tana was number #340 and Kazumi was number #341.

They were considered early, as hundreds of people started streaming in, and in the end, the total number of candidates were around 1000.

"I didn't know that there would be this many people!" Kazumi said in surprise.

"It's so surprising that there are actually so many people who wants to be a Hunter." Tana commented.

"I heard that it comes with a lot of privileges." Zushi said. "Such as access to confidential information or to secret places and stuff like that."

"I heard that there's this training place that's reserved just for Hunters too." Kazumi added.

"Okay, I'm all excited to becoming a Hunter now." Tana said, grinning. "Plus, looking at all these people here, I'm really confident that I will be able to defeat them all in combat."

"Try not to use Nen, alright?" Zushi reminded. "Let's pass this exam fair and square."

Tana rolled his eyes. "Che, being all just and wise. Whatever."

"Are you guys first-timers?" The three of them turned around to find a fat middle-aged man. "I haven't seen you around before."

"Osu!" Zushi replied. "So you're not a first-timer?"

"I've participated in the exam for about 42 years already." The man said proudly (although Zushi did not find that to be a very proud achievement). "My name is Tonpa!"

"My name is Zushi!" "Tana." "My name is Kazumi."

"Eh, I thought everyone here is a first-timer. Repeating an exam sounded like such a drag." Tana said.

"Tsk tsk." Tonpa shook his head. "Don't you know that statistics have shown that only once in every three years does a rookie like you pass the exam? I'd say it's a lot rarer for a person to be a first-timer in the Hunter Exam."

"The Hunter Exams are that hard?" Zushi asked.

"It's a real physical and mental test. But it can be really fun." Tonpa said. "Actually, I've already given up trying to complete the exam; I've passed my prime, after all. I'm just doing it for the excitement."

"I see."

"Anyway, are you guys thirsty?" Tonpa asked, taking out four cans of juice. "Let's drink to toast our friendship."

"Nah, it's okay." Tana said.

"Sorry, but I don't want to have to pee in the middle of the exam." Kazumi said.

"Thanks anyway, Tonpa-san." Zushi said.

Tonpa frowned. "You guys sure? You'd probably be stuck here for quite some time though."

"We'd look for you if we're thirsty." Tana said, dismissing him. Tonpa walked away unhappily.

Zushi looked around. Now that Tonpa had told them, the people here indeed looked like they were experienced in this exam. "Now I'm a little uncertain of whether we can pass this." He said, slightly worried.

"It's fine." Kazumi said. "And we don't even need all of us to pass. Just one of us will do."

Suddenly, pieces of paper started shooting out from nowhere and aiming at the candidates at a very high speed. "Whoa!" Zushi managed to grab the one that was aiming for him. There were a few candidates who were knocked out by the paper and collapsed on the ground.

Tana and Kazumi did not manage to grab their pieces the first time, and hence had to suffer a few tackles. "Argh, these papers are controlled by Nen!" Tana exclaimed.

They looked around and realized that the majority of the candidates were still struggling and reaching for their pieces of paper in vain. Slowly, more and more candidates collapsed and fainted.

Zushi carefully unrolled his piece of paper and read.

Sandy has herpes.

"Huh?" He frowned. "What does this even mean?"

"I don't get mine either." Kazumi said. They were about to show each other what was on their paper before a voice sounded above their head stopped them.

"Welcome to the 303th hunter exam! I am your first examiner, Haruhi. The piece of paper that you all are holding on, or are trying to get a hold on, has a little secret written on it. Hunters are information gatherers, and also secret keepers, hence, the aim of the exam is to keep your secret safe while you try to find out two more person's secret using whatever method you want (although no killing is allowed). Once you are done, you can tell the gatekeepers your three secrets, and then they will lead you through the door. The time limit is one hour, after one hour we will collate the results and announce the candidates who can move onto the next exam. Remember, keep your own secret safe."

The gatekeepers were standing at the end of the basement, guarding the door.

By then, most people who were still up and about had already grabbed a hold of their paper and reading them.

"Thank goodness we didn't read each other's paper!" Kazumi said in relief. "Or we would have both failed this exam!"

Tana started to shred his paper into pieces. "Better get rid of my secret in paper." Zushi and Kazumi followed suit.

Many people were also tearing up their paper. Soon, the entire room was filled with tiny shreds and it was impossible to piece back them back.

"We just need to find out two more secrets, and then we can share it among ourselves." Zushi said.

"Provided if you kids can keep your own secrets." The trio spun their heads to face two tall and beefy men smirking menacingly. Various skirmishes had already started around them as people tried to torture one another for information.

"Perfect." Kazumi smiled. "Each of you takes down one of them." She ordered.

"Hey! What about you?" Tana snapped, starting another argument.

"Don't get cocky!" The two men shouted angrily and lunged at the three of them. Zushi punched the both of them and sent them flying across the room.

"Oops, I reacted by reflex." Zushi said. "I think I knocked out both of them."

"You idiot." Tana grumbled. "We can't force information out of unconscious people!"

"Sorry." Zushi stuck out his tongue. "You know, we can eavesdrop." Zushi suggested. "Since so many people are fighting it out, let's just eavesdrop on any secrets spilled."

"Sounds good!" Kazumi said. "Let's split up and meet back here after we've each found a secret!"

"Osu!" The three of them ran off in different directions.

Zushi spotted a skinny, nerdy-looking man being tortured by two other burly men. His face was already bloody and gruesome and he was begging for his life. So Zushi crept near them.

"Please stop! I'll tell you! I'll tell you what's on my piece of paper!" The man pleaded. "Peter can't read! Peter can't read!"

"What sort of stupid secret is that?" One of the men growled. "You must be lying!"

"I'm not! I swear I'm not lying!" The man trembled and fell to his knees.

"Okay, heard that? Let's go find one more!" The other man said, releasing his grip on the poor man.

"Yeah, this is easy!"

When the two men left, Zushi approached the bleeding man. "Are you alright?" He asked.

"Yeah, I can…I can still move." He said, struggling to get up. Zushi grabbed his hand and lifted him up.

"I can help you to where the gatekeepers are. Maybe they'll let you out of the exam early, so you can get treated."

"T…thanks, boy." The man smiled. Many of his teeth were missing. "But it's okay…" He leaned forward. "I still have a chance of passing this exam."

"Oh." Zushi said, feeling slightly sad. So the secret that he had just overheard was false. "That's great. My name is Zushi, what's your name?"

"Peter."

So people will be giving false information everywhere, huh. How were they going to tell if the information was trustable?

"So you are trying to overhear secrets, huh?" Peter asked.

"Hm? Yeah, I am." Zushi said, slightly embarrassed.

"That's a pretty good idea, only you're not going to know if what you hear is correct. Most people are not going to say out their real secret." Peter said exactly what was worrying Zushi. "But what's written on a paper would be the real thing. Some people did not tear their pieces of paper, for some reason. Maybe they have a bad memory. You can try finding such people and reading their paper."

"That sounds quite hard, though. There are so many people here." Zushi said.

"Or you could exchange secrets. Let's say you found yourself reliable information. You could use the information to ask for people's extra secret."

"Trading, huh? But I'm not going to know if it's reliable too."

"Then you're going to have to gather as much secrets as possible. This exam tests on your ability to sift through information to determine which one is reliable. People who are overconfident will not pass, like the two guys that beat me up."

Zushi mused over what Peter had said. "Thanks for the tip, Peter!"

Either way, Zushi thought sticking to his original intention would be the best. There seemed to be a lot lesser people in the basement already. Most people seemed to have already gathered enough 'secrets' to tell the gatekeepers. Zushi wondered what was on the other door. What if the exam did not end there?

Amabelle's mother died. Nana is bankrupt. Hoko just won first prize in a singing competition. Rem just passed the Hunter Exam.

The secrets Zushi overheard were all so random, it was impossible to tell if any of them were real or fake. Zushi met Kazumi and Tana at the meeting point.

"I heard Gato is the murderer." Tana said. "Although I have to confess I cheated by using Zetsu and hid by the ceiling to overhear the exchange, which was annoyingly in a very soft whisper."

"In a whisper, huh? That might be reliable." Zushi said. "Just in case I overheard four secrets, and they were all the result of torture."

"How cruel." Kazumi cringed slightly. "I tried going to the gatekeeper to overhear what people said to the gatekeeper, but it was impossible. Then I tried telling another candidate a fake secret, and the gatekeeper actually let him pass. So basically, you won't ever know the secret you overheard was real or not until they announce who passed the exam."

"You told another candidate a fake secret?" Tana repeated in shock.

"Yeah, I pretended that I was in love with him or something." Kazumi shrugged. "Perks of being a girl."

Tana nudged Zushi. "Aren't you jealous?" He whispered cheekily. Zushi nudged him back angrily.

"I also asked the gatekeeper if more than three secrets could be told. He just said he needs three secrets, so I guess, no."

"What if we don't tell him our own secret?" Zushi asked. "Since, you know, the examiner said that we must keep our secrets safe. Who knows what's behind the door? Maybe the exam continues."

"You always think of such complicated stuff." Tana said. "I don't get it, we already have so many secrets, why are we still thinking so much?"

"Alright, then, let's just pick two reliable secrets." Kazumi sighed. "Zushi, tell us one of the secrets that you think is the most reliable one."

Zushi thought back. He remembered how the man pretended to have went to the gatekeepers and confirmed that the information received was wrong, and then kept on beating the boy until he said Nana is bankrupt.

"Nana is bankrupt." Zushi said softly.

"Okay then, let's go tell the gatekeepers." Kazumi said. "Fingers crossed!"

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Erps I feel so stressed writing about the Hunter Exam. Nothing can beat the real thing! Hope you enjoyed anyway. :)