"It's good to see you all again!" with a slight smile on his tired face Gon waved towards us as he along with Leorio and Kurapika hurried over towards the small patch of shade I and Killua were standing in whilst waiting to turn in our badges.
"Good to see you guys as well, I'm glad you're still all in one piece… though you still look a bit rough around the edges." commenting about the numerous lumps and inflamed portions of his body from his encounter with Barbon's snakes I teased Leorio a bit as we moved towards the line up at the hunters association boat.
"That's rich coming from you bastard!" from behind me I heard the angry grumblings of Leorio.
"Hey, I am just calling it as I see it! Speaking of which, what exactly happened to you guys? Both you and Gon look like you got caught in an angry swarm of bees." with a light chuckle at the end of my sentence we continue to discuss our experiences on the island.
"Can 16th place please come to the boat, I repeat, can 16th place please come to the boat. Thank you." interrupting our discussion however was the female exam staff who sent us off a week ago. Seeing that she was calling for me I quickly excused myself from our group and walked over at a quick pace to exchange my badges.
"Hello, I will need your badge number and name to confirm your identity before proceeding." with a short almost practiced sentence the exam staff professionally questioned me whilst referencing her clipboard which most likely had all the examinee's information on it.
"Contestant number thirty-eight, Magenta Magenta." out of courtesy I replied with the same swift manner so as to not waste any time. After which she flips a few pages on her as her eyes scan the page, eventually she looks up to me and nods seemingly confirming that I am indeed myself.
"Next I need any and all badges you have on your person at this time." sticking her hand palm upwards in expectation I quickly took my two badges out of my waistband and put them in her hand. Afterward, she quickly looks at the badges and confirms both their numbers and authenticity, and shortly afterward a small practiced 'customer service' smile on her face appears.
"Congratulations you have passed the fourth exam, please now make your way onto the boat." steeping aside the exam staff gestured to the small board serving as a bridge to the boat.
"Ok." moving onto the boat and sitting down on the deck in a similar manner as I did on the way to the island I began to wait around for the rest of the contestants to get on board.
'Man I hope they provide some food and a shower house sometime soon… also a bed could be pretty nice. Though it probably isn't best to relax before this whole thing is done but unwinding a bit before the finale will certainly be nice.' looking back at the beach I saw that there were only a few people left that had to make their way onto the boat.
{timeskip to evening}
Sitting in a small lounge area was our small group as we sat around and enjoyed each other's company as we were waiting. In particular, we were waiting to be interviewed as we were first told when we were brought into this manor that we needed to be on standby. Though the first thing I did was take a shower, and thankfully since the Hunter Association is practically made of money there were some spare clothes I could change into whilst waiting for my stuff to get washed. Soon after that, I met everyone else in the cafeteria for a late lunch where we all rested up and celebrated getting this far while exploring the large manor owned by the Hunter Association. Leading to the present, we were all sitting in a lounge room we occupied for ourselves as we all sat around a table while playing cards. A weird thing to note was that while apparently, some basic games from my past life existed here, various sub versions or obscure games. Like they had poker and all that but they didn't have texas hold em' though that might just be because it's called something else here… but some favorite games of mine weren't even here!
"Ha! I win! Fuck you!" placing the last card in his hand down Leorio stood up triumphantly while punching his fist into the air. However, while he was too busy celebrating he didn't notice the shit-eating grin on my face.
'Man giving penalty cards is what makes this game my favorite and is probably why Uno is a close second when it comes to card games' because although at a first glance it might seem like we are all playing Uno or a version of it we were certainly not.
"Talking, didn't say Mao, swearing…" as I began saying a series of various phrases all the joy from Leorio's face is instantly drained as he stares dumbly at me while sitting down in shock. For each and every phrase said I dealt one card to Leorio, putting him back into the game with three cards.
"What do I have to call something out for my final card? I thought it was when you only had one card left!?" not understanding what happened to his victory he confusedly asked about the rules, or in particular the rules he didn't follow.
"Talking, talking about the rules, didn't say thank you!" after he was done speaking I began to count off more rules he broke while dealing him more cards bringing him up to six cards.
'Man I love this game…' said game being Mao, a very customizable game that is designed to be painful for new players while being a blast for people who know what they are doing. The best part being whoever won a round could create a new rule for the following rounds. Some games can even be ongoing with tens of customs rules at play…
*creak* pulling me out of my thoughts I turned around hearing the sound of the door opening to see another contestant pokkle walk in.
"Uh… sorry if I interrupted something but I am here for a… Magenta Magenta? You need to go to the main floor for your interview. Well, see you around and best of luck!" having said all he needed to he turned around and left the room.
"YES! I don't have to play this game anymore hahaha! See you later bastard!" waving me off with glee Leorio was in his own little world
"Talking, swearing." dealing Leorio two cards was Kurapika as he smiled at the aspiring doctor.
AN: this is a filler chapter and could really be skipped but I wasn't sure what to put here… I didn't want to rush from one event to the next to quickly or I was worried the pacing could be thrown off? Side note have any of you guys played Mao? If not I recommend you do, it's great fun. (that is as long as you don't join an ongoing game as your first time playing, I made that mistake and it was rage-inducing, to say the least… even worse than when I play smt hardtype somehow?)