We immediately began fighting about who won the race, until Gon asked Satotz who passed first. He told us that we all passed the finish line simultaneously. After that, we had to wait another thirty minutes until the gates closed. And thus, the first test ended.

We were in some kind of swamp, but there was so much mist around that it was hard to make out more than a few trees. "The area we are in now is called the Numere wetlands. It is home to numerous dangerous beasts that will try to lure you into a trap and kill you. To get to the next test site, we will have to pass through here, so make sure to follow me closely." Satotz said.

"Don't believe him; he's trying to fool you!" Someone screamed from behind the group. We turned around and saw a hurt man holding up an ape-like creature with the same face as Satotz. "I'm the real examiner. This is a human-faced ape. It's weak, so it lures humans into the swamp and then gangs up on them to kill them." The new guy explained, and there was a murmur that ran through the crowd. Then four cards flew through the air. Two flew at Satotz, who caught them easily, and the other two flew at the fake instructor, who was pierced by them and died.

"That settles it. This man is the real examiner." Hisoka said while shuffling a deck of cards. "The examiners are Hunters that were hand-picked by the Hunter Association to conduct these tests. So it's only natural that the real guy would be able to block this attack." Hisoka said with a creepy smile directed at Satotz. "I will take that as a compliment, but any further attacks on me will lead to immediate expulsion. Now please follow me." Satotz said and began walking.

We all began running; it wouldn't be good to lose sight of Satotz in this kind of environment. Gon and Killua were running a little bit ahead of us. I was hanging back together with Kurapika and Leorio. These two weren't able to run as fast as us, and Hisoka was going to start his killing spree soon. His killing was still subtle but it was rising continually. He was going to strike soon.

"Guys, Killua said we should pick up the pace and go to the front." We heard Gon scream back to us. "Doesn't he think we would do that if we could?" Leorio said a little bit ticked off. "We should at least increase our distance to Hisoka." I said to them. "Why is that?" Kurapika asked me. "Can't you feel it? Hisoka will start killing soon." I answered him. Kurapika and Leorio made a concentrated face until they came to the same realization.

And then Hisoka started. The heads of the people in front of us started rolling. You could now feel Hisoka's bloodlust rolling off of him. It was too late now. We came into a small clearing, Hisoka stood in the middle of it, and around him lay a ring of corpses.

"Are you three also here to test me?" Hisoka asked us with a creepy look on his face. He checked the three of us out one after another and when his eye landed on me he licked his lips. "Leorio, Kurapika, go on without me." I said in a serious tone. "Jojo, what are you talking about? You can't possibly fight this guy alone!" Leorio screamed at me with concern. "I'm not going to fight him, now go!" I screamed back at him.

"Are you certain you can manage this?" Kurapika asked. "I have no doubt about it. Now go." I replied calmly. After a short argument between Leorio and Kurapika, the two left, and I was alone with Hisoka.

"So you just want to talk?" Hisoka said, with a creepy smile never leaving his face. "Listen, I don't want to fight right now, but I'm willing to make a deal." I said, pulling down my cap. "A deal? What do you have in mind?" Hisoka asked me, raising an eyebrow. "I'm planning on going to Heavens Arena after passing the Hunter Exam. If you come there as well, I will fight you then." I stated. "And why shouldn't I just fight you right now?" Hisoka answered. "Because we are on a time limit, and if you choose to fight me now, we both won't pass the Hunter Exam." I replied to him. "Fine, I agree, I have some business there anyway." Hisoka said, turning around and walking away.

I exhaled a sigh of relief. I was certain the others would be able to find their way to the second exam site, so I decided to follow Satotz's presence.

When I made it to the second exam site, I was greeted by my very concerned friends. "Are you okay, Jojo? We thought you wouldn't make it when Hisoka came back with that disgusting smile on his face. How did you make it out alive?" Kurapika asked me. "I'm fine, but I had to make a deal with Hisoka." I answered. "You made a deal with that guy?" Killua asked, a bit surprised. I just nodded, signaling that I didn't want to talk about it further.

"This is the place where the second test will be held. Just walk through this gate; that is where the second examiners are waiting for you. I wish all of you good luck." Satotz said, pointing to the big gate in front of us. We walked through the gate and were greeted by the sight of a lot of Kitchens. The mist wasn't present here anymore. The new examiners were seated behind a long table standing on a podium. One of them was a woman with turquoise hair, and the other was a huge man wearing a yellow shirt.

"Hello, I'm Menchi, and this is Buhara. We are the examiners for the second test." The woman said in a cheerful voice. "For this test, you will be cooking us a dish, and when we both say it's good, we will let you pass." She continued with a smile. "The main ingredient will be pig. The test starts now." Buhara added. "You can't be serious. This is the hunter exam; why do we have to cook?" One of the candidates screamed in outrage. "Of course, we are serious; we are proud gourmet hunters after all." Menchi replied, less cheerful now. A few of the candidates began laughing. "I don't want to become a lousy gourmet hunter; I want to become a blacklist hunter." The man screamed again angrily. That visibly ticked the woman off. "Well, that's too bad for you, cause this is my test, and now go!" She screamed, and we all scrambled into the direction of the second gate that let into a forest.


It took us quite some time to find the pigs, but Gon managed to find out their weakness relatively fast. Soon we were all back in the kitchen and started cooking. I wasn't a particularly good cook, so I knew it didn't really matter how good my dish was. I took some time but soon Menchi made all of us fail the test. The guy who had been screaming at her before tried to attack her, but he got kicked into the air by Buhara.

"This is an unexpected situation that puts us in front of a problem." A megaphone-enhanced voice rang out. A huge blimp appeared in the sky above us, and a man jumped down from it. "Chairman Netero?" Menchi asked with surprise. After a small discussion, it was decided that the second test would be repeated. We boarded a blimp and were brought to the split mountain.

"Okay, the new test will be to get the eggs of the spider eagle that makes its nest between the two sides of this mountain." Menchi explained. "I will show you how it's done." Menchi said and

jumped down the cliff. She held on to one of the strings of the spider eagle. She waited for a bit before letting go. On her way down, she grabbed one of the eggs and was then carried up again by a strong gust of wind. "And that's how it's done." Menchi said, holding out the egg.

"I've been waiting for something like this!" Gon screamed as he, Kurapika, Killua, Leorio, and I all jumped down the cliff. "Hey wait, I wasn't done explaining yet!" Menchi cried out after many of the other candidates jumped after us. Some went for the eggs thinking they would be carried up by a gust of wind. They only began screaming after they realized that wasn't the case.

"How do we know when to let go?" One of the candidates said with concern. "Not yet." Gon said while sniffing the air. The weight of all the people hanging onto the string made it become looser by the second. Just before it was about to snap, Gon gave a sign to jump and we all let go. I managed to grab one of the eggs and we were soon brought back up by the gust of wind.

At the top, Menchi was already waiting for us. She made a fire and on top of it sat a pot to boil the eggs. Soon, all the eggs were cooked and they tasted fantastic. Everyone who got an egg passed the exam, and we were told to board the blimp again to get to the next test site.


The remaining candidates were rounded up in a big hall within the blimp, where the Chairman explained that it would still take a few hours until we reached the third exam and that we should get some rest. After that was done, I went to explore the ship, together with Gon and Killua. We were sitting in front of a window, enjoying the view.

"Killua, what is your reason for becoming a hunter?" Gon asked, his look now directed at Killua. "I don't really want to become a hunter. I just wanted to do it because people said it is hard. But so far, it has been a disappointment."

Killua answered, "Oh, really? But aren't your parents worried about you?" Gon continued asking, "I don't. I ran away from home, so I haven't talked to them in a while." Killua replied, scratching his cheek a little. "Why did you run away?" Gon continued asking. "Well, they wanted me to take over the family business, but I didn't want to. So I stabbed my mother in the face, my brother in the side, and ran away."

"That's pretty violent, but say, Killua, what is your family's business?" I interjected. "My family business is assassinations." Killua said with a dark look. "Are both your parents assassins?" Gon asked innocently, causing Killua to laugh out loud. "What's so funny?" Gon asked, a little offended. "Well, no one ever asked me something like that. They normally get scared and don't want to talk to me anymore." Killua explained. After that, I became a little distracted by the presence of the chairman sneaking around. He was first approaching us from the right, but he just rushed around us and is now coming from the left. I was pretty sure Killua had noticed too.

"You are fast, old man." Killua said as the chairman came closer. "I don't know what you are talking about." The chairman said while stroking his beard. "Well, why are you here?" I asked him. "I was bored and I saw you three sitting around here and wanted to invite you to play a game." The chairman answered with a smile. "What kind of game?" Gon asked. "I'll tell you if you play with me." The chairman answered. "I'm out. Have fun you two." I said and stood up. "Now wait for a second, little girl. I will up the stakes if you manage to win; you will become a hunter." Netero said with a glint in his eye.

"Then I'm still out." I said as I walked away.

The last thing I heard as I was walking away was Gon asking Netero why he called me a girl. I would have a lot of explaining to do once they are done.