Feet pounded endlessly against the metallic floor, and the constant roar of the Wall of Fire behind them drowned every other sound.

  Then, without warning, the Wall of Fire stopped.

  The roaring ceased.

  The heat that had been chasing their backs for hours faded, and the massive metal door in front of the remaining applicants slowly split apart with a deep mechanical groan.

  Fresh air rushed in.

  One by one, the survivors slowed down, stumbling forward rather than running now.

  Muscles trembled.

  Some colpsed to their knees the moment they crossed the threshold.

  On the other side stood Lono, hands behind his back, smiling as if he had just finished watching a stage performance.

  "Great," he said, his voice echoing lightly in the now silent hall.

  "150 of you have survived…"

  Some had been impaled by the sharp barricades that shot from the walls and ceiling.

  Others had simply tripped once, just once, and paid the ultimate price.

  Lono's eyes scanned the exhausted crowd.

  "Now that you guys are here, the second exam is over. From that door, you will be outside, and the new examiner will take my pce."

  He stepped aside slightly.

  "I wish you all good luck."

  A vast, open grassnd stretched endlessly beneath a bright sky.

  Several applicants inhaled deeply as if they had just been reborn.

  Standing at the center of the grassnd entrance was a woman in her middle age.

  Her long bck hair flowed down her back.

  "I am Elina," she said.

  "Third examiner of this current year."

  For Conrad himself the open ndscape felt almost nostalgic, simir to the wide grassnds of Greed Isnd when Gon and Killua first stepped into that mysterious world and looked around in awe.

  After surviving corridors of death, the openness felt calming.

  Elina's gaze hardened slightly.

  "This exam is… collecting Bck Centipede eggs."

  "Bck centipedes are dangerous and poisonous, group-forming creatures. These grassnds, and the north and east regions beyond them, are called the Bck Mist Forests. That is where they reside."

  She pointed toward the distant treelines barely visible on both horizons.

  "They live in rge colonies. They are known to prey on humans if they encounter any one of them and even rger animals and magical beasts. They are aggressive, territorial, and highly protective of their nests."

  "Each applicant," Elina continued, "must collect three Bck Centipede eggs within two days and return here with the eggs unharmed and intact."

  A murmur passed through the group.

  She raised her hand slightly, silencing them.

  "Fighting is not prohibited. Killing is."

  Her eyes sharpened.

  "If you kill anybody, you will be disqualified immediately."

  The weight of her words pressed down on them.

  "Attacking others and putting them to sleep is acceptable.

  "Disarming, restraining, and stealing eggs are acceptable."

  Her tone did not change.

  "Just no killing."

  The rules were clear.

  Conrad understood that in most of the cases, Hunter Exams did not allow applicants to kill each other.

  But of course this was his mere belief and nothing more than a thought and idea.

  Because he did see the isnd exam in the series, and there people did kill each other, and it was to be expected.

  While Conrad thought about these things, Elina continued to speak and tell more about the third exam that the applicants will take.

  Conrad believed it would be best to listen and concentrate.

  It seems like he will have enough time to think about what he wants to think in this next exam.

  "After you obtain the eggs," she continued, "you will remain within the grassnds. You may not return here before the two-day period ends."

  She looked around at all one hundred fifty survivors.

  "When the two days are over, you will have three hours to reach this location."

  The wind picked up again, rustling the field as if echoing her warning.

  "Only after you return and present the eggs intact will the exam be considered complete for you. Only then will you pass the third exam."

  Silence followed.

  Two days in a forest filled with giant, human-hunting centipedes.

  No killing allowed.

  And one hundred fifty exhausted applicants who had just survived hell.

  Behind the calm scenery, the third exam had already begun in their minds.

  Elina stood unmoving, watching them like a hawk observing prey.

  The grassnds no longer looked peaceful.

  They looked like the beginning of another battlefield.

  -

  Note

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