Gon stepped out first. I let out a sigh of relief. knowing the chance of death is high- especially for untrained kids- is very nerve-wracking for one ex-sensei. even if I just met them. Killua next, with Kurapika following behind. however, Leorio and that fat guy didn't. I resisted the urge to jump them when I heard faint shouting coming from the same entrance. I snapped my head back.

to anyone without good hearing, I would just look like an idiot.

Lerorio pushed past Tonpa, who walked out at the very last second. the door slammed behind the two only for another to open. 

as I waited for everyone to exit first (never turn your back on potential enemies) I looked down at my badge. number 40 huh? I promptly took it off and discreetly sealed it in a scroll. I've got a feeling and I'm not sure if it's good or bad.

once I cleared the door, it slammed behind me. 

"Hello everyone, I'm Lippo. I congratulate you on making it this far." the man had a purple mohawk and librarian glasses... well - everyone is unique in their own way, right?

there was a cart with a box on top behind him, flanked by (what I assume are) two bodyguards. the box had a hole about the size of a hand, presumably for us to reach into. (but what if we have big hands--)

"everyone will draw a card based on which place you exited the building from. the first person to exit please step forward." I walked up to the box and reached in. (though I did have to bring my fingers together to make them fit- )

I pulled out a card with tape over the top of it. I figured I'd wait to pull it off. "Next to leave the arena." Hisoka did the same as I did and backed away. 

This continued until The Fat Guy™ got the last card out of the box.

I quickly glimpsed at all the number cards I could see, as a precaution, before the group all peeled the tape off at once. mine said 198. That's one of the brothers with the marks under their eyes. "This will be the person you will hunt. you need six points to pass. your own badge will be three points, while your targets will also be three points. for every extra tag you get will be one point. theoretically, you could win without getting your targets tag or without your original. everyone, please enter the boat behind me. It will be a two-hour ride until you get to the arena, Zevil Island." 

as the man was speaking, most of the remaining contestants hid their badges. A few didn't, such as Hisoka and Killua, but many were pretty cautious. the aforementioned ship pulled up behind Lippo and let down a ramp for us to climb.

a red-headed woman awaited us at the top. "Hello everyone! My name is Khara and ill be accompanying you to the next phase of the Hunters' Exam! we will arrive at Zevil Island in approximately two hours." you could see the island in the distance, it looked like Tsunades'-- no, I will not sound like Jiraiya, I don't care if it's just a thought. "all twenty-five applicants who've made it this far get are granted an open invitation to join in next years hunter exam no matter what! We encourage you to try again if you fail this time around." Khara looked at the crowd noticing no one was paying her any attention. she grew mushrooms, like the first Hokage if you would. 

I feel sorry for her. I started clapping, followed by Gon and Killua. Leorio had his face in icha-icha while Kurapika pretended he didn't know any of us. Khara shot me a grateful look "For the next two hours your free to do whatever you like. have a nice day." She awkwardly waved as she entered a room away from us. 

"Looks like the competition has already begun." Leorio looked over to the blonde boy. he blushed a little but quickly sobered his expression. "Hypothetically, if you were to be my target, don't expect me to show you any mercy." Kurapika smirked. "of course not. the same applies to you."

Gon hopped up. "What if we showed each other our cards. if we got one another, we could just get other people's cards and win like that!" I shrugged. "It's a solid plan. and if we have other people's numbers we could always work together and help one another out, right?" 

Killua sighed and crawled closer to Gon and me. Kurapika and Leorio did the same. "On three." we all put our cards facing down. "One, two...three!" we all flipped the cards at the same time. 

"Poor Gon."