He did not need to create the danger.
It was already coming for them.
All he had to do was receive it the right way.
Tonpa went over everything he remembered about the Hunter Exam, trying to arrange the events he had watched years ago.
His memory was far from perfect, but he knew the major developments, the characters who would appear, and several of the traps awaiting them.
He possessed advance knowledge of the future, yet he had spent the first few hours after his transmigration handing out lies to random applicants in exchange for one or two points at a time.
‘I had been holding a treasure map and using it as a fan.’
He did not need to deceive people stronger than him directly.
He could choose the place, the timing, and the danger involved, then arrange his actions so that the others reached the conclusion he wanted on their own.
Trust did not require honesty.
It only required convincing evidence.
He continued running as he rebuilt his plan, but the growing pain in his legs forced him to postpone the details.
His chest rose and fell violently, and beads of sweat ran from his temples down his neck.
Despite that, his body maintained a steady rhythm that surprised him.
He was far from comfortable, but he was not on the verge of collapse either.
Tonpa glanced down at his stomach as it bounced with every step, then called up the relevant stat in his mind.
[Endurance: E]
He had mocked the rank at first, but he was beginning to reconsider its value.
The original Tonpa had attempted the Hunter Exam more than thirty times and reached the later phases during several of those attempts.
He had never passed, but repeating the exam for so many years had clearly left its mark on his body.
‘He never learned how to win, but he mastered surviving long enough to ruin everyone else’s victory.’
It was a strange kind of competence, but it was still more than Asnos had possessed in his previous life.
Years spent working behind a screen had not prepared him to run dozens of kilometers, while Tonpa had devoted his life to chasing rookies through exams designed to break ordinary humans.
Time crawled inside the tunnel, and the thunder of footsteps gradually thinned.
Some applicants slowed until they disappeared behind the group.
Others sat against the walls after losing the strength to continue.
Satotz never looked back or adjusted his pace for anyone.
Gon and Killua remained near the front as though the distance meant nothing to them.
Kurapika and Leorio had fallen back slightly, though they had not become completely separated from the others.
Tonpa made sure to remain in the middle of the pack.
He did not approach the group again, nor did he attempt to deceive anyone else.
After his previous failure and Hisoka’s attention, pretending to be an ordinary applicant seemed like the safest investment available.
After an amount of time he could no longer estimate, a faint change appeared at the end of the tunnel.
Several applicants raised their heads as a thin gray strip stretched out before them.
The light gradually widened until it revealed a massive exit, prompting cries of relief from the runners.
Their footsteps quickened, as if merely seeing the end had breathed life back into their exhausted bodies.
Tonpa did not share their enthusiasm.
He knew the tunnel had only been the safe part.
He passed through the exit with the remaining applicants, and damp air struck his face.
A vast expanse of shallow water and dense grass stretched out before him, broken by twisted trees and exposed roots.
White fog covered the edges of the wetlands, hiding everything beyond the first few layers of vegetation.
Satotz finally stopped.
The applicants spread out behind him.
Some bent over with their hands on their knees, while others dropped into the mud without caring where they landed.
Tonpa remained standing despite his legs’ strong desire to join the second group.
Satotz turned toward them and spoke in his usual calm voice.
“The region ahead is known as the Numere Wetlands.
Veteran applicants often call it the Swindlers’ Swamp.”
Uneasy murmurs passed through the crowd.
Satotz gestured toward the fog behind him.
“The creatures living here rely on deception to hunt.
Some imitate human voices, while others mislead their prey about their appearance or location.
If you become separated from me and blindly trust what you see or hear, you will not leave these wetlands alive.”
Tonpa felt several people glance in his direction at the mention of swindlers.
He ignored them.
‘Finally, a place with a respectable name.’
Satotz continued his warning, instructing them to remain close and not allow themselves to be lured away by any voices they heard.
He was about to resume moving when a rough voice came from the rear of the crowd.
“Don’t believe him!” Get faster updates on g.com.
Everyone turned.
An injured man forced his way between the applicants, dragging the body of a long-limbed black creature behind him.
Scratches covered his face and arms, and his breathing came in ragged gasps.
Nevertheless, he pointed at Satotz with absolute confidence.
“That man isn’t the real examiner.
He’s one of the creatures from the wetlands!”
Whispers spread rapidly.
The man lifted the creature’s corpse for everyone to see, revealing a distorted face that looked like a grotesque mixture of ape and human.
“This is a Man-Faced Ape.
They can imitate human appearances and voices, then lure applicants into the wetlands so the other creatures can devour them.
This one attacked me when I discovered their plan.”
Several applicants’ eyes widened, while others began backing away from Satotz.
“If he’s telling the truth, where’s the real examiner?” someone asked.
The injured man answered immediately.
“I’m the examiner assigned to the first phase.”
Doubt stirred throughout the crowd.
Satotz made no attempt to defend himself and merely regarded the man in silence.
Tonpa, however, was watching neither of them.
He was searching for Hisoka.
Tonpa found him a short distance to the right, standing among the applicants with an uninterested expression.
Several playing cards had appeared between his fingers, though Tonpa had not seen him draw them.
‘Here we go.’
Hisoka flicked his wrist.
Almost no one noticed the motion before the cards sliced through the air with a sharp whistle.
Half flew toward Satotz, while the others shot toward the injured man.
Satotz raised his hands and caught the cards between his fingers before they touched his face.
The other man failed to do the same.
The cards pierced his neck and face.
His voice died in his throat, turning into a strangled gasp.
He stumbled backward two steps before collapsing onto his back as terrified cries erupted from the applicants around him.
A moment later, the corpse he had been dragging twitched.
The black creature sprang to its feet and rushed toward its fallen companion.
As the deception faded, the dead man’s features began to distort, revealing another face similar to those of the apes inhabiting the wetlands.
The surviving creature released a shrill cry, lifted its companion, and disappeared into the fog.
A heavy silence followed.
Hisoka turned toward Satotz, ignoring the fear surrounding him.
“It seems you’re the real examiner after all.”
Satotz held up one of the cards he had caught.
“And what led you to that conclusion?”
A faint smile touched Hisoka’s lips.
“The examiners are Hunters chosen by the Association.
It would be difficult to believe that a real Hunter couldn’t stop a simple attack like that.”
His voice remained calm, as if he had not killed a creature disguised as a human only moments earlier.
Satotz studied him for a long moment before allowing the cards to fall from his hands.
“I’ll regard what you did as a method of verification this time.
But if you direct another attack at me, I’ll consider it an assault on an examiner, and you’ll be disqualified immediately.”
Hisoka raised his hands in lazy surrender.
“Understood.”
Tonpa watched the body disappear into the fog and felt a sense of relief he had not expected.
In any sane world, watching someone get killed with playing cards should have made him more anxious.
Here, it served as reassuring proof that events were still following the course he remembered.
‘Wonderful.
The murder happened right on schedule.’
It did not guarantee that the future would remain unchanged, but it meant his presence had not destroyed the sequence yet.
As long as the major events stayed the same, his knowledge would retain its value.
Satotz turned toward the wetlands.
“We will now resume the first phase.
Stay close to me.”
The fog did not take long to swallow them.
The distant trees vanished first, followed by the edges of the crowd.
The sound of footsteps became distorted, seeming to come from several directions at once, while the cries of unseen creatures rose from among the branches.
Tonpa accelerated until he caught up with Gon and Killua.
Killua noticed him immediately and glanced at him from the corner of his eye.
“You’re following us.”
Tonpa tried to steady his breathing before answering.
“The examiner told us not to get separated.
You two happen to be the fastest people ahead of me.”
“You could run beside someone else.”
“I could, but most of them don’t know where they’re going.”
Gon looked at the surrounding fog, then back at Tonpa.
“Do you know?”
“No.
That’s why I’m following you.”
The answer was honest enough that Gon did not object, while Killua made a quiet sound that still carried plenty of suspicion.
“Keep the juice inside your bag.”
“I wasn’t planning to offer you any.”
‘Not in the usual way, at least.’
The three continued running.
Every so often, Gon guided them using Satotz’s voice or scent, while Tonpa made sure to remain close.
The sounds of the other applicants gradually scattered, and he could no longer see Kurapika or Leorio behind them.
Then he noticed the sign he had been waiting for.
A circular patch of ground lay slightly lower than its surroundings, covered by a thin layer of mud and grass.
It was not an actual pit.
It was the mouth of a massive creature that had buried itself beneath the wetlands and left its jaws open while waiting for prey.
Gon and Killua were heading directly toward it.
Tonpa slipped one hand into his bag and closed his fingers around one of the orange bottles.
‘There you are.’
His timing needed to be precise.
If he warned them too early, they would simply leap over the trap, and his actions would look like nothing more than another piece of advice.
If he moved too late, all three of them would end up inside the creature’s stomach without anyone witnessing him save them.
Gon stepped onto the edge of the circular patch.
The ground trembled beneath him.
Killua’s eyes widened as he recognized the danger at the same moment, but the buried jaws had already begun to close.
The mud split apart, revealing a dark maw beneath it and a broad tongue surging toward them.
Tonpa moved.
He could have pushed them away in silence, but what was the value of a sacrifice if the people involved did not hear about it?
“Waaatch ooout!”
His shout came out louder and more terrified than the situation strictly required.
It was hardly the right moment for a polished performance, but volume was free, and good impressions were rare.
Tonpa drove his exhausted body forward with everything he had left.
His shoulder slammed into Gon’s back while his other arm reached for Killua.
The two boys were knocked away from the trap’s edge, one to the right and the other to the left.
Tonpa’s momentum carried him forward.
Gon twisted around in midair, shock written across his face.
“Tonpa!”
Tonpa watched the jaws rise around him and smelled the foul, damp odor pouring from the creature’s throat.
For one brief moment, he wondered whether he had placed too much faith in his memory.
‘Trust needed a price.’
His fingers tightened around the bottle of juice.
‘Fortunately, I intend to get it back.’
The frog closed its mouth around him, and Tonpa vanished between its jaws before the creature sank beneath the mud once more.
He slid down a slimy throat before dropping into a warm, foul-smelling darkness that made his eyes water.
The muscular walls shifted around him, and burning liquid began gathering beneath his feet.
Tonpa raised the orange bottle he had managed to bring with him and felt for its cap with his thumb.
‘All right…’
He began unscrewing it as the frog’s stomach contracted around him.
‘Let’s see how well you handle laxatives.’