Before them lay an incredibly vast wetland plain.
The air was shrouded in a white, misty haze, and in the distance, one could vaguely see layers of lush green mountains and trees.
"Welcome to the Shimeile Wetland, also known as the 'Nest of the Scammers.' Many of the rare and strange creatures living in this region feed on humans. They are cunning and greedy, so please be extra careful," the examiner said.
"This is the only path to the second test venue."
"Once you fall into a trap, your life is forfeit! The creatures in this wetland will go to any lengths to deceive and capture their prey for food! This is an ecosystem made up of creatures that hunt through deception!"
"If any of the candidates want to withdraw, you still have the option. But once you step in, any danger to your life will be your own responsibility," the examiner with a mustache explained expressionlessly.
At this point, it was impossible to back out.
Everyone here had come with the intention of becoming a professional hunter.
After running over 100 kilometers in this ultra-long marathon, it was impossible to give up so easily.
"Scammer!! He's a liar!! He's lying!!" A hoarse roar suddenly echoed from a distance.
Everyone turned their attention toward the source of the sound.
They saw a man, covered in injuries and with short hair, struggling to walk toward them, holding a monkey-like creature in his hand.
The man pointed at the examiner and roared in anger.
"He's an impostor! He's not the real examiner; I am the real examiner here!"
The sudden development left all the candidates stunned.
Gon, Killua, Leorio, Kurapika, and others were all shocked.
Even Hisoka, Hanzo, and others were momentarily stunned.
"This guy is a man-faced ape that inhabits this wetland plain! The man-faced ape likes to eat human flesh, but because its limbs are long and weak, it has to disguise itself as a human, leading humans into the wetland before joining forces with other creatures to hunt them down."
"His goal is to capture all the candidates gathered for the hunter exam!"
The wounded man spoke with great passion and anger, his emotions and performance exaggerated.
Before he could finish, a figure shot out in an instant.
The Fish Killer knife flashed.
Puchi!
A line of blood appeared in the middle of his forehead, and the man's body split open like a ripe fruit.
When his body fell, his appearance quickly changed, revealing the monkey-like creature that he had been dragging.
It was a man-faced ape!
Name: Man-faced Ape
Traits: [Shape-shifting] (Blue), [Imitation] (Blue), [Human Flesh Eating] (Green)
[ Ding! You have killed the magical beast, the Man-faced Ape, and randomly acquired this species' traits. ]
[ Ding! Congratulations, you have acquired [Shape-shifting] (Blue), [Human Flesh Eating] (Green). ]
[ Ding! You chose to forgo [Human Flesh Eating] (Green), and it is automatically exchanged for [Shape-shifting] (Purple) experience. Detecting that you already possess [Shape-shifting] (Purple), it is automatically absorbed, and the trait's growth has increased. ]
...
A celestial-like voice rang in Li Ke's mind.
The sudden attack left all the candidates in shock.
Especially Hisoka, who was about to act, couldn't help but raise an eyebrow.
"Gah!?"
The man-faced ape, who had been pretending to be dead in the man's hand, screamed in terror and tried to escape.
But the Fish Killer knife flashed again.
It was immediately slaughtered.
[ Ding! Congratulations, you have stolen the traits [Shape-shifting] (Blue) and [Imitation] (Blue). ]
[ Ding! Detecting that you already possess [Shape-shifting] (Purple), it is automatically absorbed, and the trait's growth has increased. ]
...
"Feels good!" Li Ke thought with satisfaction.
[Imitation] (Blue) was one of the abilities of the man-faced ape.
One had to admit that the traits of these magical beasts were far stronger than those of humans.
Especially the magical beasts with specific abilities, the only issue was their low intelligence.
Of course, this was because the human population was vast. Although most humans only had white or green traits, there were also purple, gold, or even red traits.
This was why the world was still dominated by humans.
But for Li Ke, these beast traits were the real treasure!
Perfect!
If [Imitation] could be upgraded to purple or even red, would he become a "copycat" hunter like Kakashi?
"..." Li Ke's sudden outburst stunned the other candidates.
Before they could react, Li Ke had already resolved the crisis.
Even the examiner, Satoz, couldn't help but feel impressed.
"Wow... impressive! Li Ke, you're amazing!" Gon shouted excitedly.
"To think… he could see through the disguise in an instant? Li Ke, you're so strong…" Killua muttered, amazed.
Leorio was completely confused, "How… how did you tell? That guy looked more like the real examiner!!"
"What's really impressive is Li Ke's decisiveness. If that guy was the real examiner and attacked the examiner, he would have been disqualified! Especially if the attack was fatal!" Kurapika said calmly, though he was also shocked.
Not just him—Hisoka, Nail-headed man, and Hanzo were all taken aback.
At least in that moment, none of them had been able to tell the difference.
Hisoka, the toilet war god, even considered attacking, planning to strike regardless of whether the examiner was real or not, thinking the real one would naturally take the blow.
However, man-faced apes were weak magical beasts and couldn't resist.
But to his surprise, Li Ke was even more direct, delivering a fatal blow without hesitation!
Yet he didn't attack the examiner with a mustache.
That meant that in that brief moment, Li Ke had already judged the truth!
This judgment ability…
It stunned Hisoka, Nail-headed man, and Hanzo, who were all BOSS-level figures.
"Impressive! You're the most decisive candidate I've ever seen. That judgment ability is remarkable!" Satoz praised.
"Thank you. So, can the exam continue now?" Li Ke smiled elegantly.
The corpse of the man-faced ape quickly attracted some magical vultures, who began feasting on it.
This scene made the other candidates exchange uneasy glances.
It seemed that if they died here, they might end up as the next meal for a man-faced ape.
"Alright, everyone. That was just a warm-up. This wetland plain is shrouded in dense mist, so please stay close to me!" the examiner, Satoz, said as he began walking.
But this time, it was different.
The thick mist obscured their vision. As soon as they distanced themselves from the examiner, they couldn't see the figure ahead.
With everyone unfamiliar with the terrain, the group quickly dispersed in all directions, lost in the fog.
Everyone thought they were still following the examiner.
But in reality, they were already surrounded and separated by various strange magical beasts.
Li Ke was in a great mood.
He stepped boldly into the mist.
This…
This was truly heaven for him!