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~10 years later~
The irritating buzz of a cellular device broke the silence in the small motel room, where it was almost completely dark, the only exception being a bright chink of light coming from between the drawn curtains. A lump under the covers groaned, shifting slightly. It sighed in contentment when the buzzing stopped. All was quiet. The figure under the covers was finally starting to drift back off to dreamland, where all was warm and peaceful and-
~Buzzzz...buzzzz...buzzzz~
The lump growled and a hand shot out from under the comforter, knocking over several pillows and precariously stacked notebooks and pencils. The hand groped around on the surface of the nightstand (knocking over more notes) before alighting on the offending cell phone. The lump began to migrate up to the headboard, and a poofy mess of ash blonde hair emerged. The hand pressed a button and held the device up to the side of the mass of hair.
"What the hell made you decide to call me so early in the morning?" growled the figure in a deeper, but distinctly feminine voice. The person on the other end chuckled good-naturedly.
"Ronnie, it's nearly half past noon." 'Ronnie' harrumphed.
"Gimme a break, Gramps, I was up late last night. I had a lot of material to translate before getting it all back to the library; hell, I still have more left over. Anyway, why are you calling in the first place?"
"I just thought I ought to let you know that the Hunter Exams are coming up in the next few days..."
"And?"
"...and we need someone to score the applicants throughout the course..."
"And?"
"I've decided that you'll be perfect for the job." sitting up abruptly, Ronnie puffed up with indignation.
"What?! Why me?!"
"I thought I might put a little spin on things this year." Ronnie sighed, irritated.
"Don't you always put a spin on things? Your head isn't exactly screwed on properly." The person on the other end chortled.
"I'll be expecting you in two days' time- I think you'll do just fine. Oh, and don't think you can just play hooky and fly off to wherever- this is technically a summons from a superior; no ignoring it this time~. See you later~!"
"No, wait-!" whoever was on the other end hung up, and Ronnie sighed, hanging her head.
"What a drag..."
Forty-eight hours later, Ronnie was pouting against the wall of the huge underground basement (although it looked more like a bomb shelter than anything) of a small inconspicuous bar, where the Hunter Exam's First Phase would begin. Ronnie looked around at all the Hunter Exam applicants and sighed exasperatedly. I could be running from giant leopards in the jungle right now...
Ronnie's outfit consisted of a cream tank top and grey cargo pants tucked into light brown knee length boots. A dull maroon scarf was wrapped loosely around her neck and bandages were wrapped around her forearms. Her mane of hair was now tied back into a high ponytail with her bangs framing her heart shaped face and a pair of goggles rested on her head like a headband. A long spear was strapped to her back, the sharp blade glinting in the light.
Ronnie bent down to grab her small backpack, which contained a booklet for scoring the applicants. Each applicant had a number tag, and next to the corresponding number in her booklet were several boxes where Ronnie could dock a number of points from an applicant's starting score of one hundred. However, she would be going undercover within the First Phase of the Exam, so she had received a fake number tag. Taking a moment to grimace at the hideous number pinned to her chest (#157, of all numbers) she rummaged through her bag, finally digging out a pencil and jotting down the numbers of the new applicants walking out of the elevator.
#403...#404...#405... she snapped the booklet shut and sighed again, not really paying any attention to the hopefuls anymore. It had brought her a small amount of amusement at first to see their anxious and insecure faces, but had since lost its luster. In other words, Ronnie was bored. That is, until a scream rang through the air.
A man was kneeling on the ground, screaming in pain as his arms dissolved into... flower petals?
I guess I've seen everything now... thought Ronnie, watching with mild interest at the scene playing out in front of her. One of the other applicants, #44, chuckled.
"Oh, how peculiar... his arms seem to have become flower petals. No smoke and mirrors here," he addressed the screaming man. "Do take care. When you bump into someone, you really should apologize." Ronnie's head tilted to one side as she examined #44. He had bright red hair and extremely pale skin with narrow yellow eyes, akin to a snake's. However, the way he dressed was odder still, consisting of mainly white and bubblegum pink. His white shirt had a black spade and a black club on the front, and a red heart and a red diamond on the back. He looked rather like a clown, to be honest, and the fact that he had a teal teardrop painted underneath one eye and a pink star under the other supported that fact.
Weirdo... thought Ronnie, feeling mildly disturbed by the smug snakelike look on #44's face. Grinning wickedly, she slipped out her booklet and docked some points from his score just for being creepy.
It wasn't long after the creepy clown incident that an alarm rang out loudly from somewhere in the room, echoing and nearly giving poor Ronnie a heart attack. One of the far walls of the abnormally large and dungeon-esque basement began to rise up into the ceiling, disappearing from sight, all the while making a dull scraping and grinding noise that was not so nice on the eardrums.
After the cringe-worthy scraping had faded into silence, Ronnie looked up to the front, where the proctor for the First Phase stood in front of a tunnel the same height and width of the 'Waiting Room' as Ronnie so creatively dubbed it.
Approximately fifteen hours before any applicants had arrived, Ronnie had briefly met with all of the proctors for the Exam, and the only conclusion she had drawn from that meeting was that these poor applicants had no idea what they were getting into.
The first proctor, whose name Ronnie vaguely remembered started with an 'S', was very tall and thin with long and lanky arms and legs. He was wearing a bright violet suit and had an extremely neat mustache that was curled up at the ends.
"I apologize for the wait," he said, mustache wiggling up and down with every syllable. "The entry period for Hunter applicants has ended. The Hunter Exam will now begin!" many of the applicants straightened up at these words, determined looks appearing upon their faces. Ronnie just grinned and stretched her arms up to the ceiling, hearing satisfying pops from her back. Most of those confident faces will be wiped clean off just an hour in... she thought, a smug look appearing on her face.
"A final caution," continued Mr. Mustache (as Ronnie decidedly called him in her head; she just couldn't remember his name for the life of her).
"If you are short on luck or ability, you could very well end up seriously injured or even dead. Those who accept the risks, please follow me. Otherwise, please exit via the elevator behind you."
Ronnie yawned, scratching an itch that had appeared on her jaw. No one moved toward the elevator.
"Very well. All 404 applicants will participate in Phase One." Snickering quietly, Ronnie watched as Mr. Mustache turned on his heel and began to walk down the tunnel, taking long strides. The applicants began to follow him, looking dreadfully confused. Then, little by little, Mr. Mustache began to pick up the pace, making everyone start to speed up, eventually beginning to run after the man in the purple suit.
"I neglected to introduce myself," announced Mr. Mustache. "I am Satotz, the Phase One examiner," So that's what he's called! thought Ronnie, mentally kicking herself for not remembering such a funny name.
"I shall lead you to the exam's Second Phase." Said Satotz.
"Second Phase?" asked someone near the front. Since Ronnie was somewhat in the midst of the crowd, she couldn't see who it was. "What about Phase One?"
"It has already commenced."
Murmurs of disbelief began to echo through the crowd.
"You must follow me to Phase Two. This is the Exam's First Phase."
"Follow you? That's it?" asked what sounded like the same person as before. As Ronnie ran along with the 'puny noobs', the smirk on her face threatened to widen at the edges. Oh, it's a bit more complicated than that.
"Yes," answered Satotz. "I cannot tell you where or when you must arrive. You need to follow me."
Ronnie knew that they would be running for quite a while; no normal human could ever hope to make it to the end of the tunnel in time. After all, if you wanted to be a Hunter you couldn't just be some average Joe. And even after this First Phase, it was only an uphill climb from then on out. So to speak. She thought, inwardly grimacing at the unintended pun.
It had been two hours since the start of the Exam, and Ronnie had watched with enjoyment as many of the hopefuls dropped to the floor like flies. The remaining applicants had travelled over thirty kilometers, and only a few were still going strong. Ronnie, for instance, was still moving along with a spring in her step, but that was mainly due to the fact that she had much experience traveling on foot and sprinting away from large and dangerous beasts, each for an extended period of time. She also had perfected the art of darting through numerous booby traps in ancient temples and ruins, where she collected texts in very old and (almost) forgotten languages to translate and send to libraries all around the world.
Something pale flashed in the corner of her eye, and Ronnie looked around to spot a white haired kid cruising along on a yellow skateboard. Her face went blank.
...Why didn't I think of that?
She looked away when one of the other applicants began to yell at the kid on the skateboard, calling him out for cheating. It isn't technically cheating... she thought. All the instructions said were to follow Satotz, they didn't say how.
Ronnie turned back toward the seemingly never-ending tunnel and sighed. Just hold out until this tunnel ends Ronnie, and then you can run off and do whatever until the Second Phase.
Two more hours had passed, and Ronnie was now bored out of her mind. She had a sour look on her face as she watched the backs of those in front of her without really seeing them. She sighed. They had to have travelled around seventy kilometers by now. Even more applicants had fallen behind, and some were still running.
Focusing on the tunnel once more, she almost cried at what was before her in both relief and in anguish.
Hundreds upon hundreds of stairs rose up ahead of them, a sign that the journey was almost over, but at the same time... they were stairs. It wasn't the fact that it took more effort to climb stairs than run along a flat surface that scared her. It was the fact that if the people in front of her suddenly passed out or tripped, she would in turn trip over them, creating a domino effect and knocking everyone back down to the bottom while also severely wounding her pride.
And I can't just run up in front of everybody, that'll look too suspicious. She thought, wiping sweat from her forehead with the corner of her scarf. Her foot alighted on the first step, and she started to bounce up them, taking two at a time. At that moment, Satotz began to speed up further, prancing up those stairs like they didn't exist. Showoff... grumbled Ronnie internally.
Suddenly, a flash of white and a flash of green whizzed past her on both sides, and she was momentarily taken aback at the skateboard kid and some other twelve year old boy racing each other up the stairs.
Well... if they're having fun... thought Ronnie, watching the two twelve year olds approach the bright daylight at the end of the tunnel at high speed. I guess I'd better pick up the pace as well. Not long after that thought, she raced upwards toward the light, coming in fourth. She tried not to let her pride take any damage, but the effort was in vain. Even if she had purposefully slowed herself down throughout the First Phase so as to not blow her cover.
To hell with keeping up my cover from now on, she thought, irritated. I just have a little ways to go and I won't have to worry about pretending to be someone else.
It was a little over ten minutes when all of the remaining applicants had gotten to the top of the stairs, and Ronnie was now leaning idly against the entrance to the tunnel, jotting down notes in her booklet. She snickered quietly.
Hmm... who shall I dock points from this time? Eenie, meenie, miney, moe, I don't like your big fat nose! She thought, giggling and docking a few points from an older fellow with a rather large nose that was shaped almost like a square. She docked a few more points from some of the other applicants, although not all of them were for 'having a big nose' or 'breathing too loudly'. Ronnie had indeed been paying attention to how some of the older Exam applicants had been treating the first-timers, and there was a particularly nasty bunch who often liked to bully the younger ones into dropping out, and that group included the one who had that strange square nose.
Shoving her booklet into her backpack, Ronnie looked around at the thick fog surrounding the crowd of applicants. She could barely see anything more than twenty feet in front of her. Then, as if by some miracle, it began to clear, revealing an extensive swamp that stretched out for what was sure to be several kilometers. Ronnie felt jittery, the thought of freedom for the next couple hours or so (at least until the Second Phase began) filled her with a sense of approaching relief. Pretending to be weak with noobs like these is such a drag...although... Ronnie turned to look at a select few, who had taken little to no damage to their scores. Some of them are certainly cut from the right cloth. She looked ahead at Satotz once more. Just a little longer...
A/N: See, I told you it would be longer than the prologue~