Tonpa felt very uneasy.
For years, he had been toyed with by Law, but this time, he truly sensed something unsettling.
It was a subtle feeling… like dust lingering on fingertips, drifting in and out of the window light, indescribable yet unmistakable.
The only clear thing was the danger.
He had never felt it before.
And so, he was very uneasy.
When Tonpa took out a drink from his pocket and handed it to Law, his hand trembled slightly.
Law accepted the drink, observing Tonpa's shaking hand. A faint smile flickered in his eyes as he lowered his eyelids.
'Tonpa, who was long accustomed to ,y visits, wouldn't normally fumble while holding a drink. This unusual reaction… could it be that he sensed something?'
Click.
Law pulled open the ring of the drink, downed the laxative-laced beverage in one gulp, and then stuffed the empty can into Tonpa's satchel.
"Tonpa, do your best in the limited time you have left." Law said, patting Tonpa's shoulder with a meaningful tone.
"W-what do you mean?" Tonpa stammered. The word 'limited' sounded particularly harsh to his ears.
"Exactly what it sounds like." Law replied with a smile.
Teaching Tonpa Nen abilities was part of his plan, as he intended to exploit Tonpa's potential value.
However, he wasn't yet sure whether Tonpa had any worth to extract. Everything depended on whether Tonpa's unique Nen Ability manifested as he predicted.
Tonpa couldn't grasp Law's intentions at all, but he was certain it spelled trouble for him. His unease deepened.
…
Thirty minutes passed, and the clock struck noon.
The examiner for the first phase arrived on the scene… a bald man over two meters tall, wearing a white undershirt and camouflage pants.
Standing at the edge of the forest, he surveyed the nearly two thousand examinees before him. After a moment of observation, he walked straight toward a specific tree.
Law noticed the examiner's actions and recognized the type of tree he had chosen. A thoughtful glint flashed in his eyes.
Then, he watched as the examiner effortlessly snapped the tree with his bare hands, hoisted it up, and carried it to the front of the crowd.
He planted it firmly into the ground, using it as an elevated platform to stand on.
If it were just for a platform, there would've been no need to go out of his way to pick that particular tree. This meant the examiner had deliberately chosen it for a reason.
Malberry Tree.
That was the tree the examiner had gone out of his way to select.
Law knew about this type of tree, and his suspicions grew stronger.
Standing atop the bare, branchless trunk, the examiner coldly scanned the sea of examinees before speaking.
"The first phase's test is simple: stand under the sun for five hours."
"My requirements are as follows:"
"No speaking. No movement. Violators will be disqualified."
Hearing the examiner's instructions, Law's suspicions were confirmed. Meanwhile, the other examinees were practically overjoyed… this test sounded far too easy for them.
Tonpa, as a seasoned veteran of the Hunter Exam, knew better than to take the test at face value. There had to be more to it.
Out of tens of thousands of applicants, the nearly two thousand who had made it this far could surely stand under the sun for five hours without issue.
Many others shared the same thought… most of them were experienced examinees.
At that moment, Tonpa noticed Law pulling out a small bottle, pouring out a fine yellow powder, and lightly dusting it over himself.
"What's that?" Tonpa couldn't help but ask.
Law glanced at him and replied seriously, "Guess."
The corners of Tonpa's eye twitched.
…
The test began, and the first half-hour passed without incident… not a single examinee was eliminated.
But after nearly an hour, something unexpected happened.
At first, examinees near the forest's edge heard faint rustling sounds. Due to the examiner's strict rules, those who noticed the noise dared not move.
Behind them, a dark tide slowly advanced across the ground… a closer look revealed swarms of tiny black insects, each about the size of a fingernail, gathering like a creeping black flood.
The insects weren't just passing by. They had a target.
Forming a dense wave, they surged straight toward the examinees.
Those closest to the forest were the unlucky ones. Before they could react, the insects had already crawled onto their bodies.
"Aaaah-!"
Screams of terror erupted in waves.
Many examinees at the edge were completely covered in swarms of crawling bugs.
From atop the tree, the bald examiner watched the chaos with disdain.
These insects posed almost no physical harm to humans. The screams weren't from pain… they were from sheer terror at being covered in countless crawling creatures.
"If you're scared of bugs, what right do you have to call yourselves Hunters?"
The bald examiner coldly watched as many examinees below began to move.
Whether they had screamed or tried to escape the bugs, all of them were now disqualified.
The black tide of insects quickly surged toward the middle of the crowd. Those who had panicked earlier belatedly realized that the bugs were harmless… aside from causing unbearable itching.
Frantic, they swatted at the insects covering their bodies, but they already knew they had failed.
Only about an hour into the test, nearly half of the examinees had been eliminated due to the bugs. The remaining half, learning from the others' mistakes, suppressed their fear and endured the crawling sensation.
The bugs weren't dangerous.
The surviving examinees relaxed slightly… until an intense, bone-deep itch set in.
"I can't take this anymore!"
Within just a minute, one examinee who had barely overcome his fear began violently slapping the bugs off his body. The moment the insects fell away, the itching vanished instantly.
Stumbling out of the swarm, the examinee stood there in stunned silence.
The itching had been worse than the scorching sun overhead.
The number of dropouts gradually increased.
Soon, the swarm reached Law and Tonpa's area.
Tonpa gritted his teeth. Since he sensed no real danger, he resolved to endure.
The bugs crawled up from his feet, quickly covering his body up to his neck… and the itching began.
'As long as it's not pain, I can handle it!'
Tonpa steeled himself against the maddening sensation.
Then, he noticed something strange… the swarm avoided Law entirely.
'What?!'
Tonpa was stunned, and quickly thought of the powder Law had applied on himself earlier.
"Did he know the first phase's test in advance? Is that why he prepared? No… the Committee would never allow that."
Not just Tonpa… other suffering examinees noticed it too, as did the examiner, who had a clear view from atop the tree.
"Huh? Someone actually prepared beforehand?"
Looking at Law standing calmly, the bald examiner was surprised.
'I had designed this test myself… not even the Committee knew the details. There was no way the information could've leaked.'
At that moment, another swarm emerged from the forest. When they reached the examiner's tree, they avoided it too, instead targeting the examinees.
The Malberry Tree repelled these 'itch bugs'. That was why the examiner, perched atop it, remained unaffected… otherwise, mere bark wouldn't have stopped them.
"What did you do?! Why are the bugs avoiding you?!"
Every examinee had been swarmed… except Law. His untouched state, standing out like a crane among chickens, drew immediate accusations from the disqualified.
"Cheating! This has to be cheating!"
Some malicious examinees seized the chance to stir chaos, hoping to force a retest.
A few others speculated that Law might be the rescuer this year… but those rescuers were always ugly, while this guy was handsome, rivaling even Porcu, the famously gorgeous actor.
As the uproar grew, the examiner rubbed his temples, annoyed.
He guessed that the standout examinee must've used something related to the Malberry Tree. Maybe it was a coincidence… but he didn't believe in those.
The conclusion is that this examinee was exceptional.
But the angry crowd wouldn't see it that way.
Sometimes, logic just couldn't win against outrage.