I know you already know this but then again, Hunter X Hunter is not mine. This wonderful anime story is owned by Yoshihiro Togashi

CHAPTER 7: COOKING?

Right, when Satotz disappeared into the forest; the candidates turned their heads once they heard the grinding noise of the gates open.

Beyond the gate was a white mansion painted with a white and red color tiled roof. The windows were framed with white.

Just like a house of any rich people, it had a huge courtyard- with a big grassy bed, and trees lined up just next to the wall. But instead of a beautiful landscape of a garden and some fountains; there were countertops, gas stoves, and roasting spits lined up in the lawn.

The same setting you'll see in a cooking show.

"Will all the applicants who passed the First Phase please enter?" A woman's voice shouted.

In front of the mansion's main entrance, a woman sat down on a sofa – physically fitted body with turquoise colored hair tied at the back into five top knots and wearing a bikini top under a mesh shirt, alongside a daisy duke denim shorts. "I'm Menchi, the Second Phase Examiner."

"And I'm Buhara, the other examiner." Said by huge man, sitting behind the sofa. He had a hulking figure with a large potbelly.

There was a loud growl. Sam thought it came from outside the wall.

Menchi looked up at Buhara. "You must be hungry."

But nope. 'Ah, it was his stomach.'

"I'm starving..." He said like a child starved for a week.

The female examiner uncrossed her legs and stood up. "There you have it. Phase two will involve..."

She paused dramatically, creating tension among the candidates.

"Cooking!" She announced that took them by surprise. "We're Gourmet Hunters, so your mission is to satisfy our appetites by cooking us a meal!"

All eyes are on them, looking for any sense of humor but... found out it was not.

Sam continuously tapped a finger as stress started to build inside her. 'She seriously wants us to cook? Did someone even predict there's going to be a cooking test in the exam?' The idea never crossed her mind, not one bit.

'I don't know how to cook. Cooking was never one of my hobbies. Couldn't they just make us fight with each other, hunt something, or maybe anything that is not related to cooking?!'

"This has to be a joke. I don't know how to cook." Leorio spoke.

"I wasn't expecting this," Kurapika said.

"No one could possibly expect this." Sam pointed out.

"I take it you never cooked before?" The blonde teen asked obviously.

The girl crossed her arms. "I never really tried though since... you know." She waved a hand in front of her eyes.

Kurapika got her point.

"We still don't know what meal they'll ask." Gon pointed out optimistically. "For all we know, it must be a simple dish!"

Ah, his optimism is so strong that it hurts them to watch or listen to the boy. They even doubt it would be the case. They are after all, Hunters, and Hunters don't do simple things.

She can already smell 'failure'.

"Cooking? We didn't come here to cook!" Shouted a large, rotund man with a rounded face accompanied by slick back hair ending in a ponytail with each side of his head shaven. His number- 255- was pinned on his jumper. "Why do we have to cook?"

The complaints from other candidates played like dominoes. They chuckled at the examiners like it was a big joke.

"Because that's the theme of this phase." Menchi pointed out obviously.

Others immediately were silenced. That same man gave a displeasing look at the female examiner.

Buhara stepped forward. "The required ingredient is pork." The large man started. "I don't care what kind of pork it is, as long as it lives in Biska Forest. You must use the cooking facilities here to prepare the pork. And you only pass if we both find it delicious."

"And we will evaluate more than just the taste. Don't underestimate the intricacies of cooking, got it? When we've both eaten our fill, the exam will end." Menchi ended.

The man earlier has a smug on his lips. He waved his hand, gesturing to shut her from long speeches and go straight to the point. "We get it. We get it. Let's just start."

"So let the second phase begin!"

And with the gong sound from Buhara's belly, they raced back to the forest.

'Okay, so let's assume that the said pig is normal-sized... though this place is damn bewitched. I highly doubt it.' Sam thought as they wandered deep into the very forest they tried to escape from. Now exposed to danger just to hunt some pork meat.

"Are there pigs in here? I don't even see any four-legged animal walking around!" Leorio exclaimed.

Kurapika rustled between the bushes and was hoping to see something. "It's an exam. Of course, it'll be difficult to capture one!" He yelled.

Sam tiredly sighed. "Shut up you two! There's no pig around because maybe you're too loud- AH!"A surprised scream escaped her mouth as her feet slipped and went sliding at a sloppy hill.

Sam regained her control and was able to sit as she slid down. She halted as she reached the bottom.

Four boys were sliding toward her, and they were going to crash her down if they didn't stop.

"Incoming!" Gon yelled.

She hopped to the other side just to avoid getting squashed by them.

"Ow ow ow."

"Hey! You two are heavy!"

"Leorio, move!"

"Glad I jumped last."

Sam felt sorry for them. They sounded hurt. But now's not the time for that. "Oh shush it. We have a pig to hunt."

"There's no need," Gon told her.

"Huh? What do you mean?" Kurapika asked after standing up.

The boy points at something in front. "Over there."

Ahead, were abnormally huge pigs with a big and long snout that curved towards their head.

Leorio's jaw dropped and cursed. "Nobody told us it was this big?!"

"Can you just accept that this exam is not normal!?" Kurapika hissed.

Because of the noise they make, completely distracts the pigs from chewing bones.

"They're eating bones." Leorio stammered. "Surely it won't chase us right?"

GRAAAAR!

"It chased us!"

The boars suddenly charged every single one of them.

Sam dodged it and then moved around frantically, trying to find ways to capture it. Like hell, she'll let it eat her!

Every time she tried to turn her back on the ferocious beast, the boar would come and attempt to knock her over and gore her with its snout.

"Sam! Aim for the head! The head!" She heard Gon's voice. "The function of the large snout was to protect the weak forehead!"

But she was too preoccupied with running away. She didn't even realize she got separated from them.

'The head, huh.'

She dodged the boar once more, but when she got to her feet, she picked up a handful of earth and took out her metal stick. When the boar came back again, she tossed the dirt into the boar's eyes before jumping.

In a hurried blur, it was all over. The boar was on the ground, its head crunched from the hit Sam gave.

It collapsed on the spot.

She hopped down.

"How can I carry these?"

...

Buhara and Menchi were amazed by the number of applicants rushing inside the courtyard as they carried their captured dead pigs- each had their own style in carrying them.

Sam dragged hers.

The candidates hurriedly carried the pig, entering the large kitchen area where they would start preparing the roasted pig to feed the examiners. The brunette placed the pig with a huge 'hump' on the ground and made her way to start a fire.

And this is where the problem arises. It was her first time roasting a pig.

"Hey Sam, you need help?" It was Gon. He was first to arrive from the forest but he moved to the station beside her.

"Hmm? Oh say Gon, what are we going to do next with this?" She asked, hoping that Gon would know too.

Unfortunately, the boy wasn't too sure as well. One by one, some of the candidates arrived. Gon suggested observing the others as they started to cook. Sam had no choice but to agree with his idea.

The boy obligingly watched the others while telling Sam what to do. They noticed one thing common in what they were doing.

They just deliberately skewed the pigs and started roasting them above the blazing flame and the kids followed.

As time passed, candidates started to line up to present their dishes. Buhara gobbled down each one of those pigs and they couldn't help but watch in astonishment as he emptied every plate in front of him.

As for Menchi... they're having a very hard time pleasing her with their 'dishes'.

"No one has passed yet," Leorio said as he, Kurapika, and Gon watched Menchi keep on shouting.

"The hell?! Can't someone give something good?!" She screamed- giving into a rage.

With that, Kurapika snapped his fingers. It's like he finally got the gist of what must be done in this phase. "That's it! This phase of the exam is a cooking test, but they're judging us on originality and powers of observation."

Leorio hummed as what Kurapika said started to sink in.

"This is Leorio's special dish." Leorio, without a doubt, placed his whole roasted pig in front of the examiner with a mini flag of Hunter's Association pinned on its back.

With Menchi's raging temper, the woman became grumpier and threw the dish away without second thoughts. "Is this supposed to be a kiddy meal?!"

Now Sam wasn't too sure anymore if observing the others was a good plan. Menchi failed everyone who presented their roasted pigs and yelled nothing but 'disgusting' and 'inedible'. The little girl sighed. It might be hopeless.

"You fail!" The examiner yelled, throwing yet another dish without tasting the meat.

"Sam, I'm going to let them taste mine. Want to do it together?" Gon proposed.

Sam listened to Menchi's consistent shouting before returning her attention to Gon. "Maybe later."

Gon gave her an 'ok' and went up next, with his usual innocent smile. Menchi gave it a stare before throwing his dish just like the others. "You're on the same level as number 403!"

Gon returned to their station with a disappointed look. "I'm on the same level as Leorio."

That was because he did the same as Leorio's dish but with floral decoration at the pig's head and the plate.

"I think Leorio's level is not that bad. The rest of the candidates failed theirs too." Sam tried to comfort him and carefully chose her words. The last thing she'll ever do is hurt and upset Gon.

Right after Gon, Kurapika suddenly hyped up as he chopped something on his station before carrying the platter with confidence.

Instead of presenting a whole roasted pig- Kurapika sliced the meat that resembles into large patties, stuffed with vegetables. "Please judge my creation." He said.

Menchi looked at it with a skeptical stare as she twirled the sign. "Finally, something that resembles an actual dish..." She grabbed a fork and took a bite. But spit it out just right after chewing it. "Yuck!" His food was instantly thrown out.

Kurapika looked shocked.

"Appearance is important, but only if it also tastes good. You're no better than number 403!"

It's like lightning strikes Kurapika's whole being. He refused to accept being leveled the same as Leorio.

"Don't worry Kurapika." Gon reached his blonde friend and comfortingly patted his back. "I know how it feels."

"I'm not sure anymore if I fear getting a fail from her or being compared to Leorio's level," Sam told the two before cautiously making her way in front and deciding to present hers as well.

"What was that, brats?!" Leorio fumed.

In the end, she sliced the meat into smaller pieces and placed a small saucer beside it, with lots of sauce in it of course.

"You're the second person to show something a little bit presentable," She said.

"I just did what we always do when eating meat," Sam said. "But I'm a bad cook so I doubt it would taste good anyway. I just want to tell you before you throw it out."

Menchi tasted it but was rejected like everyone, though she was relieved that she wasn't compared to Leorio. The candidates ran out of ideas.

The woman drank some tea- maybe to calm herself more. "I'm full. I don't even know if it's the dishes or exasperation that made me full. All I know is that all of you failed! The Second Phase has already ended!" She announced. Her voice reverberated across the lawn.

The candidates all stopped what they were doing.