Disclaimer: This is only the third time I'm doing this, yet...I'm kinda lazy doing it. Hunter x Hunter is not mine!

Enjoy~


A loud chiming sound that strangely resembled an airport announcement woke Sora up from her deep and peaceful slumber. Still groggy after waking up, Sora glanced around in confusion for a bit before her eyes landed on Gon, who was lying not far from her, eyes fully open.

She was still in the gym like room apparently. In the exact same spot as she was hours ago. But long after Sora fell asleep, a sudden wave of killing intent abruptly woke her up. After that, her eyes were peeled open for any possible threat that was approaching. But tiredness dragged her back into void of darkness and she fell back sleeping.

"Morning Sora!" Gon greeted her cheerfully.

"Morning Gon," The girl responded with a smile and sat up, leaning her back to the wall.

"I apologize for the long wait, the airship will soon arrive at the destination," A voice from the speaker announced.

In contrast to Sora who slowly put her jacket back on, strapped back her weapons and slung back her bag, Gon began bouncing around the room and started clinging to a wall like a monkey, staring outside of the window.

Sora shook her head fondly at the boy's unpredictable amount of energy and quietly left the room, heading toward the dining hall in hope of getting some food. Apparently, the Hunter Association didn't serve any breakfast. Sora walked away to join the others, disappointed. And she was definitely not pouting!

The girl had stopped in the bathroom to wash her face before joining the others, erasing any traces of sleepiness and refreshed her mind. Her hair was still slightly unkempt like usual, maybe even more unkempt now. Still, she didn't bother to fix it.

Once she was done, the girl exited the bathroom and went to where the participants gathered together. The blimp landed on top of a really tall cylinder building with no doors or windows. Participants slowly filed out of the blimp and looked around curiously.

"Everyone, the exam's third phase will begin here at the top of Trick Tower," Bean announced after clearing his throat to gain attention. "To pass this phase, you must reach the tower's base alive. The time limit is seventy-two hours. With that, we will now begin the Third Phase. I will pray for your success."

And with that, the blimp along with the still unknown species mini green guy left them on top of the tower, not before wishing them good luck.

Gon was the one who kneeled down and looked over from the edge, followed by Sora who again leaned down too far, much to Leorio's chagrin. Killua had once again grabbed her hood involuntarily, forcing the girl to land on her butt. Sora briefly sent a glare at him which the boy stuck his tongue out at.

Fatherly instinct or what, Leorio patted the girl's head out of relief, missing the girl's glare who sharpened. Sora placed her hood back with a huff and sighed. What's with people and touching her head?

"Are we supposed to climb down?" Leorio asked in fear, regarding their current task.

"That would be suicide..." Kurapika reasoned out.

"Maybe for a normal person," A voice stated out suddenly from behind them and simultaneously, the little group turned their heads to it. A muscular man with the number 86 pinned to his chest was standing with his arms crossed, a smug look clearly planted on his face.

The man started to climb down in a fairly fast pace, impressing the three youngest kids.

"But for a top-class rock climber can handle this, no problem." He had proudly as he bragged about his ability.

Shortly after that, a strange winged creature swooped down on him and carried him away. Obviously to fill up its stomach with the newly captured prey.

"Thought so..." Sora blurted out after a few moments of silence at watching the flying creature away.

"G-guess we can't climb down on the side," Leorio shakily said. Others nodded in agreement.

"You expected this to happen?" Kurapika asked her. Sora shrugged lightly.

"It's called Trick Tower, it wouldn't be possible if you could climb down without any obstacles," She answered, "I'm sure it's a lot harder than that."

Kurapika agreed with her reasoning and the group split up to search for any way down. At a closer look, the number of examinees slowly became less and less. Somehow, the participants found their way inside the tower and were heading to the exit somewhere downwards. Sora was completely aware about it and silently, she was anxious. There is nothing there at all.

Sora walked around alone, away from Gon and Killua for a while. Before long, she accidently came upon a loose tile that descended slightly when she stepped on it.

Noticing it, the girl retraced her steps back and crouched down beside the tile, pressing her palm onto it. The tile descended again and Sora finally realized what was going on.

The tower was solely made out of tiles, some of which were trapdoors. The participants needed to enter through one of the trapdoors to move on. The tile she had come upon was used by someone already so no matter what she did, the tile wouldn't flip open.

It seems Gon has noticed this too for he had called her and both Leorio and Kurapika to gather around him.

Sora approached Gon slowly but before she could even reach him, a tile flipped open underneath her and she fell through it. After shrieking in panic and shock, of course.

I should have expected this to happen too!


The boys stared at the spot where the girl had disappeared into. Three in expectedness and one in shock.

"That's what Gon is trying to tell us just now," Killua said. "But seems like Sora found out about it already."

Kurapika nodded in thoughtfulness while Leorio was still left flabbergasted. Gon then explained what he had discovered whilst pointing out four different spots around them. Gon also stated that the tile Sora went through is farther than any other four tile so the chance of it being a trap is highly possible.

A certain albino kid put his hands into his pockets at Gon's statement, then looked away. He wouldn't express it aloud, but he was kind of worried about her. Let's just say the boy had developed more care for the girl than he had expected, due to her surprising declaration of being his friend. He knew the girl could defend herself even when she faced danger, judging from her performance in the blimp.

Sora would handle herself just fine. And with that, all thoughts of worry disappeared.

The four boys then picked one of the doors to their choice, bid their farewell and jumped on them. Unexpectedly meeting again a few moments later.

There was no sign of the hooded girl.


With a 'thud', Sora landed hard on her butt. The girl mentally scowled when she randomly noted it was the second time she fell on her butt that day.

Gon's prediction wasn't right but it wasn't wrong either. Sora did land in a different room from them, but clearly it wasn't a trap.

The room was too dark for her to see anything and she stood up blindly. After a while, her eyes successfully adjusted to the dark and she looked around.

Small, stuffy and full of bricks was what she observed from the room. Even when her eyes have adjusted to the dark, she could barely see more than three meters from where she stood. She needed something, something that would help her see…

Fire! How could she forget about her precious matchbox?

Having that thought in mind, Sora fished out the small box and struck one match, lighting it up. Though it was a small fire, it helped to brighten up the room slightly and Sora saw a closed door and a counter at a corner on her right. The fire also helped her to relax and cheered her up lightly.

Walking closer to the counter, the girl spotted a stopwatch placed on top of it. A little tilt upwards and you could see a red light blinking slowly. Sora suspected the red light was a surveillance camera used to monitor their actions.

Her suspicion was spot on when the red light seems to follow every movement she made. Sora tapped the camera lightly, signaling the person behind it that she knew he or she was watching. Not long after she did that, a male voice blared out in the room.

"I praise your sharp senses even with the help of your little tool," The voice said. Sora turned her head toward the source of the voice, a speaker placed on another corner of the room.

"Welcome, I'm Lippo, this phase examiner. You may start your phase now, good luck!" The voice introduced and instructed. With those words, a crackle sounded and silence fell back into place. Her match died down without warning and Sora lit up another match, throwing away the useless one.

"He said to start the phase but what should I do?" Sora said to herself, glancing around then glanced down at the stopwatch, sitting there harmlessly. There must have been a reason why it was put there. Maybe she should try wearing it?

As soon as she slipped the stopwatch to her wrist, numbers appeared on it. Seems like the numbers was the countdown for her time inside the tower. Below them were two buttons, O and X.

She noticed there was a closed door as the screen of the watch sparked to life. The screen was bright enough to light up the whole room. Sora stared at the fire sadly as it slowly died down like before. She decided not to struck another match, saving them for later use. What would she do if she ran out of matches?

It would definitely become hell for her.

Fixing her attention back to the screen, Sora began to read what was written on it.

"Questions will be given and your choice will determine your fate, be careful of what you have chosen," Sora read aloud in a low mumble.

"Questions?" She questioned, her eyebrows creased into a frown.

The words then disappeared slowly before they were replaced by another set of sentences.

"Which button do you think will open the door? O or X?"

The question read.

Sora raised an eyebrow at the question and pondered over it. Obviously, the answer is O but, like she stated before, this is Trick tower. It won't be as easy as that. In the end, Sora chose to press the X button after debating with her own thought.

A spike thrust out of the door and Sora dodged before it could impale her. The spike hit the other side of the room with a 'clank' then reverted back to its former place.

The girl paled as she stared at the unexpected trap that was set up. If she was a few seconds late, she'd have metal impaling her. Wrong answers would trigger surprise attacks that are lethal, Sora concluded.

The girl quickly pressed the other button and spikes thrust toward her for the second time in a different place. They rained down from the ceiling and Sora barely got time to crouch down. The spikes quietly went back up.

Disbelief look was seen on her face as she looked back and forth between the stopwatch and the screen. Why didn't it open the door? Did she press the wrong button earlier?

Another press in the X button and spikes appeared from beneath her. Luckily, she jumped back in time.

With a twitching eye, Sora pressed the O button again and rolled over when a spike attempted to impale her from her right side, barely missing her torso.

Countless of dodging after that and finally, Sora figured it out. The girl pressed the buttons at the same time just as she dodged a spike from below.

The door cracked open slowly in a very dramatic motion.

Sora could only think about two things on her mind.

Should I be happy that I opened the door or be annoyed at the answer?

She chose to do neither, a deadpan look on her face, and approached the door. The screen showed a text, a different one again this time.

"Congratulations! You have passed the first question!" Sora read out loud. So it seems like the questions are really messing with her.

.

.

.

Right, now she was definitely annoyed.

The screen slowly died down, engulfing the room in black. The long road ahead of her was as dark as the room and Sora had no choice but to step inside.

Torches flared up as soon as she stepped to the another side. Walls were lined up beside her, forming a somewhat narrow corridor but wide enough for two people to fit in.

You could probably guess what Sora was doing.

Either staring at the torches or attempting to touch the flickering fire. She failed in doing the second one obviously. Her eyes were twinkling in deliriousness and a flash of madness in her eyes, but it quickly disappeared.

The door connecting the room and the corridor closed with a 'thump.' The girl took a few seconds to process it before realizing that the door had indeed closed by itself.

Finally snapping out her trance, Sora continued her journey down the path. What awaited her was probably endless challenges, which were designed to manipulate the mind and drive a person to insanity and madness.

It was a shame that it was too late.


Sorry for the shorter chapter guys :( I want to end it in cliffhanger but it seems like I failed xD

Anyway, thank you so much for everyone who have fav, follow and review the last chapter! I'll be replying to your reviews now~

Mayagi: Thank you! And it's fine, take as long as you like to read it :) I'll accept you as my beta reader~ and thanks for betaing this chapter :D

ASimpleRaven: I am very happy with your thought. Never expected anyone to score my fanfic xD but I really like your opinion about it. Unfortunately, I'll be rejecting your offer as a beta reader DX I'm sorry... I'll be sure to ask questions to you to improve my fanfic.

CaN'T-lIFe: I'm really glad you like Sora and the characters development~ They'll interact soon again. When is, I haven't decided yet xD

havanatitiana: Thanks for your review and your thought about it~

Thanks again for those who have fav, follow and review last chapter~ all of them are appreciated :D

See you again!