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As Mika was practicing Nen and conceptualizing his Nen ability, the number of people passing the test around him gradually increased.
After thirty hours had passed, Mellie's figure appeared in Mika's sight.
"Congratulations, you've passed the third phase," Mika said.
"Hehe, this is my true ability!" Mellie laughed lightly, patted the dust off her clothes, and sat down beside Mika.
"By the way, you must have encountered a criminal too, right? How did you get through it?" Mellie asked curiously.
"A criminal, huh!" Recalling the criminal he encountered, Mika's lips curved into a cheerful smile. "That guy wanted to fight me to the death."
"Ah, isn't that just asking for death? The examinees who made it to this stage are no pushovers. He chose the most foolish method," Mellie said with a mocking smile.
"What about you?" Mika inquired.
"The guy I met was particularly interesting, a very clever fellow. He actually challenged me to a battle of wits. It was hilarious," Mellie said, continuously describing her encounter.
Watching her smiling face, Mika listened attentively. Only after she finished did he respond with a smile, "That sounds interesting indeed."
"Right? Playing games is always more fun. Fighting to the death is too boring," Mellie agreed.
"I wonder what kind of opponent Airmid will face. I'm really looking forward to it!" Mellie continued. "Speaking of which, why are Airmid and the others so slow? I remember their group was quite strong!"
Recalling Airmid's group's strength, Mellie couldn't help but furrow her brows. Logically, given their abilities, they should have reached the endpoint quickly!
"They must have encountered some trouble," Mika said thoughtfully.
...
Just as Mika said, Airmid's group indeed faced a challenge.
The sealed room that trapped Gon and the others for fifty hours in the original story didn't appear. After Airmid's victory, Gon, who followed, also won easily.
Seeing the opponent quickly backed into a corner, and that Airmid and Gon, who were about his age, had already taken action, Killua couldn't resist participating in the third round.
Kurapika and Leorio naturally didn't object to this. After all, things were going so smoothly on their side that even if they lost one round because of Killua, they were confident they could win it back.
Therefore, Killua replaced Kurapika as the contestant for the third round.
On the criminals' side, due to the quick defeat of the first two, the dismembering serial killer who was originally planned to be the final challenger couldn't hold back anymore and decided to take action personally.
The fraudster who was supposed to fight in the third round was pinned against the wall for questioning this decision.
As a result, the two who were supposed to meet in the fifth round in the original story encountered each other in the third round.
The outcome was, of course, not unexpected. The most terrifying killer in Zaban City's history, responsible for over a hundred deaths and sentenced to over 900 years in prison, was instantly defeated by Killua.
Thus, the fifty hours lost due to Leorio in the original story didn't occur.
The group of five quickly arrived near the exit. Here, they encountered the choice question from the original story.
Option One: All five pass, entering a passage that would take at least 45 hours to reach the end.
Option Two: Three pass, tying the other two to the wall of this room, then entering a passage that would take only 3 minutes to reach the end.
In this room, the examiners had thoughtfully prepared various weapons.
Faced with this choice question designed to strain their relationships, the five chose the first option without hesitation, entering the passage that would take 45 hours to reach the end.
After all, they still had plenty of time left!
Without Tonpa's influence, the five's progress was even quicker, to the extent that they hadn't even used up twenty hours so far.
So, after spending sixty hours, Airmid and the other four finally reached the endpoint.
"I see," Mika said, his face showing sudden understanding after hearing Airmid's account.
Compared to the original story, without Tonpa, Airmid's group of five progressed more smoothly, to the extent that when they encountered that choice question, they still had ample time.
This made their choice without any hesitation. After all, they all trusted their companions.
This also led to them not discovering the shortcut from the original story.
Because the two passages were placed side by side at the choice question, they could have opened the five-person passage and then used the weapons on the wall to break through the wall between the two passages.
But this was also normal.
After all, in the original story, Gon was able to think of this method because Tonpa and Leorio had easily cut into the surrounding walls when they were fighting with weapons.
Now, without a reason to fight, the five naturally couldn't discover the shortcut.
"But this is fine too, after all, they've all passed," Mika thought casually.
Seeing Airmid sit down beside him, Mika skillfully lay down on her lap.
Although he had also lain on Mellie's lap during breaks from training earlier, this side was indeed more reassuring!
As Airmid's group of five reached the endpoint, the remaining ten hours quickly passed.
After the examiner announced the end of the third phase test, Mika, waking from his training, looked around and surprisingly found Tonpa's figure.
"As expected of someone who has had multiple chances to become a true Hunter, he indeed has some skills," Mika thought.
"But he hasn't chosen to give up this time. Is he still planning to cause trouble for Leorio?"
"Isn't he being too persistent?"
Shaking his head, Mika threw these thoughts out of his mind.
With the end of the third phase test, the fourth phase test seamlessly began.
At this time, there were still twenty-seven people participating in the Hunter Exam.
It was exactly the twenty-four people from the original story plus Mika's group of three.
The first thing they had to do was draw lots in the order they reached the endpoint in the third phase.
Mika, being the third person to reach the endpoint, naturally drew third.
After everyone had completed drawing lots, the examiner of the third phase test announced the rules for the fourth phase test to everyone.
In the next seven days, the twenty-seven of them would be dropped onto an isolated island to engage in a hunt and be hunted number plate battle.
The condition for victory was that at the end of the seven days when the test ended, the examinees would bring the corresponding number plates to where the examiner was located.
The numbers they had drawn now were the numbers they needed to hunt.
Different numbers had different point values.
The number plate they carried and the hunting number they drew were both worth three points.
Apart from these, other number plates were only worth one point.
Therefore, the easiest way to win was to keep one's own number plate, obtain the hunted person's number plate, thus gaining six points, and then hide until the seven days were over.
After hearing the examiner's words, the vast majority of people quickly hid their number plates.
Only a very few people who were extremely confident in themselves didn't make any moves.
"Number 53, I remember that's Pokkle, right?" Mika thought seriously, looking at the number plate he had drawn.
According to the original story's development, Pokkle was also one of the people who ultimately obtained Hunter qualification.
"But he probably won't be able to become a Hunter this time."
Mika was very confident about this.
"However, not becoming a Hunter this time might not be a bad thing for him!"
In the original story, after becoming a Hunter, Pokkle died at the hands of Neferpitou during the Chimera Ant arc, which led to the Chimera Ants learning about Nen.
If he couldn't pass this time, he would have to wait until two years later.
This way, not encountering the Chimera Ants, he probably wouldn't die.
After all, next year?
Next year's spot should be Killua's.
"Looking at it this way, this might be a good thing!" Thinking of this, Mika couldn't help but smile.
...
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