"That was quite a brief farewell," Kurapika remarked, dusting off his clothes. "So all the doors led to the same room..."
After a short fall triggered by the pressure plates, they found themselves in a small room with brick walls. The only things inside were a monitor and a table with five watches.
Gon began reading the text on the screen. "The five of you must follow the will of the majority to reach the goal!"
"The five of us?" Leorio questioned. "Look... there are five stopwatches." Gon pointed at the table.
Kurapika picked up one of the watches. "There's an O and X button on this, and it's counting down from 71:19:00—this must be the time left in the 72 hours we have to reach the tower's base."
Leorio's calm demeanor shifted as realization struck him. "Could it be that we won't be able to leave this room until another person drops in?"
"That is correct!" said a voice from a speaker high on the wall.
"Who's that?!" Leorio exclaimed.
"My name is Lippo. I'm the prison warden here, as well as the Third Phase examiner," a man with sunglasses revealed, sitting behind a bank of screens.
"Prison warden?" Kurapika asked, skeptical.
"Yes, and multiple routes through this tower have been prepared. You've chosen the path of majority rule. Cooperation will be crucial if you wish to clear this phase of the exam."
"This doesn't sound that hard," Leorio said, relieved. The examiner responded, "One person's selfish behavior can derail an entire group. And you can't start until you have five members. Best of luck, gentlemen!"
---
Elsewhere, Fang found himself alone in a room. He approached the monitor and read the message.
"You must follow the path of riddles to reach the goal!"
"Riddles? Ugh, I hate riddles," Fang grumbled, picking up the stopwatch. After a quick scan of the room, he entered a narrow hallway, which led to a white door.
Upon entering, Fang was taken aback. The room was large and entirely white, including the numerous buttons that covered the floor, walls, and ceiling.
The buttons blended into the background, making them nearly impossible to distinguish without careful observation.
Fang pressed a random button on the wall. It emitted a sound and turned red, only to revert to white moments later. He continued pressing buttons until one finally stayed green.
Ten minutes later, Fang concluded, "Alright! So I need to press the buttons in the right sequence, and they turn green. If I don't press the next one within five seconds, it resets everything." He glanced at his stopwatch.
"I've got over 71 hours left. I'll solve this and take first place. I can already see Togiri's and the others' surprised faces. Hahahaha!"
Fang laughed to himself, his nose held high like a third rate villain in a story—though the examiner watching him noted that the red-haired boy had an immense sense of justice and was very upright.
"I'll brag about this forever. Solved a riddle and still took first place in the Third Phase," Fang muttered. This habit of talking to himself reminded others of Togiri's own tendency to narrate aloud.
Fang took off his shoes and socks, placing them in his backpack. He opened the white door and left them outside.
"Okay! Let's go!" Fang began hopping around, pressing random buttons until he grazed one, which turned red again.
---
Elsewhere in the Trick Tower, Togiri stood before two doors with a monitor between them. 'I forgot, not everyone was in a group test. I remember that many, just like Hisoka, came out alone.'
"So I can either go left or right. Hmm..."
Togiri pressed X, choosing the right door. He walked for a while before arriving at a labyrinth made of black walls.
"So it's a maze that shifts every few hours or minutes? Not very original." Togiri stepped inside, and suddenly the lights went out, followed by loud noises.
"So I can neither see nor hear? Still not very difficult." Togiri pulled out a flashlight from his backpack, but it failed to work as expected.
"So the black walls don't just keep me from breaking out or shifting routes—they absorb light? Not bad."
@Don't you also have glow sticks? You've got paper, fire stones, a lighter, and so much more.@ 'Yes, and I could just break the room apart, but this is good training. Sensory deprivation, real danger, and so many unexpected variables.'
Togiri closed his eyes, advancing slowly. He concentrated on the air he felt, the feel of the wall under his hand, and the pressure of the floor beneath his feet.
*CLICK* 'Pres-' *FU FU FU* Togiri heard the faint sound of dozens of crossbows firing. He immediately activated a small bubble of En around him.
Arrows entered his En bubble from behind, two from the front aimed at his stomach, four from above, and the rest from the left.
'All arrows aren't aimed at vitals, but since I have the body of a kid all the arrows are deadly'
Thanks to Togiri's detection bubble, he easily dodged, caught, and blocked the incoming arrows.
En is an advanced application of Ten and Ren. Ren usually envelops only a small area around the user's body. En extends Ren, creating a larger aura field, which Ten then shapes, typically into a sphere.
A skilled user of En can sense anything within their aura field with precision and detail, depending on their skill level.
Togiri had trained to notice even the smallest details. Although he was weaker than Fang in many aspects of Nen, Togiri's precision far surpassed Fang's in most areas.
Since Togiri had less to work with he focused on honing his control.
Comparatively, Fang's Nen was like a chainsaw, while Togiri's was like a steak knife. Both could cut wood, but depending on the size and durability, Fang usually came out on top.
"Now this is getting interesting. Flying arrows as the first trap? Now that's something worthy of my time."
---
While Fang was busy in his riddle room and Togiri in his labyrinth, the rest of the group waited for their fifth member.
Leorio was growing increasingly frustrated. "It's been two hours... What if the others all took different routes? Only a fool would still be at the top of the tower!"
"Calm down, Leorio. Complaining won't help," Kurapika tried to soothe him.
"But... what if no one shows up before we reach our time limit? Hey!" Leorio was interrupted by the sound of the pressure plate above them. Someone was testing it.
*CLICK* Someone dropped from the ceiling.
"Yare yare (Good grief)," said an older man with a big belly.
"Tonpa-san!" Gon exclaimed.
"Oh." Killua's disappointment was palpable. Kurapika didn't say anything but looked as let down as Killua and Leorio.
"It's the old man," Leorio muttered, energy draining from his voice. "Haha," Tonpa laughed nervously until the sound of the brick wall shifting silenced him. A single door appeared.
The monitor lit up again, and Gon read aloud, "At this door, select O to open, X not to open."
"They're forcing us to use the majority rule already? The answer should be obvious..." Leorio stated.
The group then voted. The result was O: 4 | X: 1. Leorio snapped, "What?! Who pressed the X button?"
"Sorry, that was me. I pressed the wrong button by mistake," Tonpa admitted. Leorio grabbed his collar. "How can you accidentally press the wrong button?! HUH?!"