We landed somewhere on the outskirts of Zaban city. The Kirikos didn't want to be seen and thought it too risky to get closer than this. So we had to walk the rest of the way. Well, most of the Kirikos wouldn't actually walk; we only needed one of them to guide us from here on out. The son took that role, and the other three left us in his care.

"How long does it take to get to the hunter exam from here?" I asked our guide. "About an hour." He said and began walking.


Although it was still early in the day, Zaban city was brimming with life. Street merchants have set up stands everywhere, probably trying to profit off of hopeful hunter candidates trying to find the exam site. Gon and I were jumping from stand to stand, looking through things the merchants were trying to sell. There were jewels, carpets, monkey paws, and some other strange things, all of which were useless for passing the hunter exam.

We continued to look through the stands until our guide called us over. We had reached our destination. We were now all standing in front of a ramen shop. "Are you sure this is the place?" Leorio asked our guide sceptically. "Of course, let's get on in." He said, and we followed him. After a short exchange with the chef, we were told to go to the back of the restaurant. Our guide led us to the room, which was a small dining room with four seats and a circular table. Above us, on the wall, hung a blank display.

"I'm really looking forward to the food." Gon said as we walked in, and I had a hard time holding back a snort. "That wasn't an actual order, Gon; it was a passcode to get to this room." Kurapika helpfully supplied, to which Gon made an 'ohh' sound. "That's correct, but before you four move on to the actual exam, I want to congratulate all of you. One in 10,000 are the odds of a candidate finding the exam site. You did a remarkable job finding it, but be warned that the challenges from here on out are only going to become harder. If you aren't able to pass the test this year, it would be an honor to guide you again next time." Our guide said, and we all thanked him and said goodbye before he left the room.

Shortly after he did it, we could feel that the room began to move and the display behind us showed a number that was slowly increasing.

We all took a seat and waited, but soon after we did, Leorio and Kurapika began arguing about what kind of hunters they were going to become.

The argument wasn't going anywhere, so they turned to Gon and me to ask what kind of hunter we wanted to be. "I come from a small island in the middle of nowhere. There was nothing to do or see on the island, and I always dreamt of traveling the world. Discovering new places that no one has seen before and looking through ancient ruins no one has set foot on in centuries. That's the kind of hunter I want to be." I answered them, and just before they could move on to Gon, the lift came to a stop and the door opened.


We stepped out of the lift into a wide underground hall. The walls were lined with thick metal pipes, stopping them from caving in. The hall itself was filled with hundreds of people, all candidates who had made it to the exam site before us. "Take this number plate and put it on please." A small, green bean-like man said, handing Leorio a plate with the number 403 before moving on to Gon, Kurapika, and finally to me.

"First time here huh. I've never seen your faces before." A small, fat man, sitting on one of the higher pipes, called down to us. "He then jumped down and extended his hand to us in a friendly handshake. "My name is Tonpa, I'm something like a veteran of the hunter exam." The man said with a smile. "How many times have you tried the exam?" Gon asked the man."35 times" The man said in a proud tone. "Is that something to be proud of?" Leorio whispered to me and Kurapika, while Gon made an impressed 'whoa' sound.

"Then you can surely tell us something about the stronger contestants." Kurapika said to Tonpa. "Of course I will help you newbies out." Tonpa said and began listing off the names of strong candidates. Well, strong in his eyes, they didn't really pose any threat to me. After his explanation, screams rang through the hall, and the group of candidates began backing away from the middle of the room.

In the small circle that was created stood two men. The arms of the one that was screaming were currently disintegrating into small red flower petals. "Oh, what is that? His arms are turning into flowers, and there is no trick nor any illusion at work. That is why you should always apologise after running into someone." The second man said with a sickening smile.

"That's Hisoka the magician. He was a favorite to pass the test last year too, but he attacked an examiner and was disqualified. I would advise you to keep as far away from him as possible." Tonpa said in a serious tone. "You can believe me when I say that I wasn't planning on." I told him with a deadpan look on my face. "Well then how about we celebrate our new friendship. You guys must be thirsty how about some limos?" Tonpa said and held out four cans of limos. We all accepted and cracked open the cans. Gon was the first to take a sip and immediately spat it out.

"I think the limo has gone bad." Gon said to Tonpa, who made a shocked expression. "Oh, I'm so sorry. I didn't realize some of them expired." Tonpa said, scratching the back of his head. "Too bad; I was really looking forward to it." I said, tilting the limo side ways and spilling its content all over the floor. Right before Tonpa could answer, the back wall of the hall began lifting up, revealing a man in a suit.

"With this, the sign-up phase of the hunter exam is over, and we will now begin with the real hunter exam." The man said. He was a relatively tall man. His arms and legs were quite lanky, but the weirdest part about him was his mouth, or rather the lack of one. He had eyes, a nose, and even a beard that vibrated when he talked. But no mouth. "My name is Satotz. I am the conductor of the first test, and will be taking you to the second test site. If you would please follow me, and keep in mind that anyone who can't keep up with me will be disqualified." The man said, turned around, and began walking down the dimly lit tunnel.


We have been following Satotz for quite a while now. Suddenly, we heard the sound of wheels coming from behind us. Leorio and I turned our heads to see where the sound came from and saw a pale, white-haired boy riding a skateboard. "Hey, you over there using a skateboard is cheating; you have to run like the rest of us!" Leorio cried while pointing at him accusingly. "No, he doesn't. Satotz only said that we have to follow him; he never said we had to run after him." Gon explained. "Why are you on his side? You are my friend, Gon!" Leorio screamed angrily. "But, Gon is right. If he really was cheating, he would have already been disqualified." I backed Gon up. "Not you too, Jojo. Is the only nice person I found so really this Tonpa guy?" Leorio asked himself sarcastically.

"Tonpa isn't a nice guy, Leorio." I said in a serious tone. "What do you mean, Jojo?" Gon asked. "Yeah, it isn't his fault the limo had gone bad." Leorio followed up. "The limo didn't go bad; he intentionally spiked it." I whispered to them. Leorio made a shocked expression that then turned angry. "Where is this guy I'm gonna..." I cut Leorio off before he could continue and said, "You are gonna focus your energy on running, besides it would be a waste to finish him now." Leorio calmed down at that but was left a bit confused. "Why would it be a waste? He is probably gonna try and sabotage us further." Leorio whispered back to me.

"Well, yeah, but he probably gets a kick out of destroying newbies. So, when he gives advice that is intended to harm us, we will act like we are thankful. If we don't follow his advice and make it through the test, he will eventually become frustrated, but he won't have a choice except playing the nice guy that just wants to help. At some point, he will probably use a trick to attack us, thinking that we trust him completely, and in that moment, we strike and get our revenge." I explained to Leorio, who nodded along.

Killua did a trick, caught his board, and began to run alongside us. "It's a solid plan, but you would need to be able to pass the hunter exam before it can take effect." He said, "I'm confident that we can make it." I said with determination.

"I'm Killua and who are you?" Killua asked with a look to me and Gon. "I'm Gon and this is Jojo" Gon said, pointing at himself and then at me. "How old are you two?" He then asked. "We are both twelve." Gon answered again. "Me too. Is it okay if I run with you?" Killua then asked us. "Fine by me" I said with a nod. "Sure, that was a really cool trick by the way." Gon said with a huge smile.


Killua, Gon, and I have been running together for quite some time now, and more and more people have been dropping out. "Man, this is way too easy; I hope the next test will be harder." Killua complained. At that moment, we overtook Leorio, who seemed to be on his last leg. He was slowly but surely getting further away from the group, and then he collapsed to his knees.

Gon stopped running and looked back at him. Killua and I had stopped too. "Come on, Gon, that guy is finished, and we have to catch up to the group again." Killua said to Gon, but then Leorio got back up and started running faster than he had before. Gon used his fishing rod to grab Leorio's briefcase, and we all started running again as well.

"That was really cool, can I borrow your fishing rod sometime?" Killua asked Gon. "Only if I can get your skateboard." Gon replied, and we all laughed. "Do you have anything cool with you, Jojo?" Killua asked me. "I have Tetris on my phone." I said, raising my shoulders. "I love Tetris." Killua said excitedly. "Uh, what is Tetris?"


After a lot more running, we finally reached a huge staircase. Leorio and Kurapika were running a little further ahead, so we sped up to catch up to them.

"How's it going?" I asked them once we caught up. "I've never been better." Leorio said, taking deep breaths between words. He had taken off his jacket and dress shirt and tied them around his waist. "I can't complain." Kurapika said calmly, though she was sweating a bit.

"I can see light up ahead; we are nearly there." Gon exclaimed. "Wanna race to see who is there first?" I asked. Killua and Gon nodded, while Kurapika and Leorio shook their heads.

"We will see you there, too." Gon said. "Bye Blondie, bye old man." Killua added.

"Old man!? I'm still a teenager like the rest of you!" Leorio screamed out, and for a moment we were all frozen in shock. Then I took off, gaining a small head start. Killua and Gon rushed after me and soon caught up again. We sprinted after Satotz to the top of the staircase, and as he was turning around, we all passed him while screaming "I won.".