A Path Towards Destruction

The First Phase Begins, Part 2 (第1次試験開始(2), Dai Ichi-ji Shiken Kaishi (2))

The First Phase Begins, Part 2 (第1次試験開始(2), Dai Ichi-ji Shiken Kaishi (2))

The group stares at Tompa, the man who tried to poison them. Tompa goes down to his knees, bows and puts his hands together. "I'm sincerely sorry!!!" Tompa yells.

"No...! You don't have to apologize." Gon says. "But it's very lucky that I drank it first. I often ate plants and buds in the mountain. So I don't have any problems detecting weird tastes."

"Yeah, really lucky." Jun says and smiles at Tompa. "Don't worry about it."

"Yes! All the better!" Tompa says rubbing his head, trying to hide his annoyance and walks away from the group to go check his other victims.

"Gon." Jun says and his brother looks at him. "Don't trust everyone here. Not everyone has the best intent. It is a competition."

"But..." Gon says trailing off. "If I didn't trust anyone first without giving them a chance then we would have never met Leorio and Kurapika!"

Jun gives his brother a blank stare.

"LiLiLiLiLiLiLiLiLiLiLiLiLiLiLiLiLiLiLiLiLiLiLiLiLiLiLiLiLiLiLiLiLiLiLiLiLiLiLiLiLiLiLiLiLi" An loud sound echoed in the tunnels and everyone turned to see where the sound came from. A tall man was standing on a large pipe, holding a green face alarm clock with continued to let out it's alert. The man came from an opening in the wall and he had purple hair and a thin curly mustache. His eyes were closed and he was wearing a dark blue suit with a white undershirt, dark red buttons and a small dark red tie. The strangest thing was that he didn't have a visible mouth. Nothing that he had everyone's attention he turned off the alarm and opened his pale lavender eyes.

"Here I am. The time for the reception is over. Now, the exam can begin." The examiner effortlessly jumped down from the pipe and landed perfectly on his feet. "This way, please." He began walking to an unknown destination, no one moved. "Well... We'll begin with a short verification... It's an extremely difficult exam. Sometimes you can miss a chance and can end up hurting yourself, or can simply die... There are moments, like a little while ago, where we get irreparably hurt in an accident with companions. There are things that can't be avoided. Now, please follow me." All 405 examinees moved forward. "Count is ok. 405 participants for the first round of the exam."

"It seems obvious, but nobody abandoned yet. Nevertheless, I hoped that..."

"... It's weird." Kurapika said as Jun stared at the examiner. After a few seconds the man started moving faster and faster. His arms were bent while his legs stayed straight. Everyone rushed forward.

"What's happening here?" Leorio asked. "They're all so rushed to get out of here?"

"I was sure! The rhythm is getting faster progressively!" Kurapika said.

"The ones in the front have all started running!" Gon says.

"The exam begins." Jun says and started running forward.

"I forgot one detail: I'm Satotsu (manga name), and I'm in charge of the first round. So I must lead you to the place of the second round." The applicants stare at him confused.

"The second round...?" A tall muscular man with a bald head said. He wore a black, short sleeved shirt which showed his bulging muscles, long, tight dark grey pants and a dark red undershirt. He also had bandages on his wrist and ankles. "You mean the first..."

"The first has already begun." Satotsu said and looked back at them. "If you're able to follow me to the place where the second round stands.. You'll have passed the first. I can't tell you where or when we'll arrive. You must be content with following me."

"I see.." Kurapika said.

"This test is weird..." Gon mutters to himself.

"An endurance test?" Leorio asks. "I'm enjoying it! Where he goes, I go!"

Jun looks over at Kurapika who nods. 'We're going to be running into an unknown destination for an unknown amount of time, surrounded by people we don't know.' He looks around at the tunnel. 'No windows... No doors... Only out.. I wonder how many will last...' A burst of wind flies beside the group catching everyone by surprise.

In front of them was a boy around the same age as Gon with spiky white hair that stood up in different directions and fell down to his neck. He had narrow, blue and his body was lean and fit. He wore a short sleeved, baggy light blue shirt shirt which fell to his lower waist, a black, long sleeved turtleneck underneath, baggy, black shorts which fell to his to his lower calf, black and light blue shoes and had the number 99 on pinned on his shirt. His hands were in his pocket as he effortlessly moved on his green and black skateboard.

"HEY! KID!! THAT'S NOT ALLOWED!" Leorio screamed at the boy. "THAT'S CHEATING!!!!"

"Why?" The boy asked.

"'Why?'" Leorio asked. "'CAUSE IT'S AN ENDURANCE TEST!"

"You're wrong!" Gon yelled in the boy's defense. "He just asked us to follow him, didn't he?"

"GON!!! WHICH SIDE ARE YOU ON?!" Leorio yelled.

"The right side." Jun said. "He's still using his body to move, so it counts."

"You should conserve your energy. You're just noisy right now, so... The principle is that there are no principles." Leorio glared at them but he did shut his mouth. The boy slowed down and looked back at Gon.

"Tell me.." The boy said. "How old are you?"

"Almost 12!" Gon said happily.

"Hmmm...?" The boy said and stared off into the distance. "Just like me.." Gon sent him a confused look and the boy clicked his skateboard up into the air. "Finally, I'm also gonna run." He landed on his feet and caught the skateboard with his right hand.

"COOL!" Gon says happily.

"I'm Killua." He introduced himself.

"And I'm Gon!"

"And you, mister." Killua asked with a wide smile.

"'Mister'...." Leorio said. "HEY OI! I'M NOT THAT OLD! I'M FROM THE SAME GENERATION AS YOU!!"

"ARE YOU SURE?!" Gon screamed and Jun ran forward towards Kurapika. No one guessed that Leorio was actually around their age.

"ARGH!!! GON, IT'S FINISHED! I'M NEVER TALKING TO YOU AGAIN!" Leorio hissed.

"Let's pick up the pace." Jun said to Kurapika.

"Agreed."

"How old are you?" Jun asked him.

"I'm 17."

Jun sighs. "14."

The duo walk in silence as their group yells behind them.

Hours seem to pass and the group continued walking. They have ran about 40 km (24.8 miles) and people were beginning to feel the pressure. Especially Leorio. , after 3 hours he was sweating and having a mental breakdown. Leorio started going slower and Jun had completely forgotten about him... until...

"I'M READY TO DO ANYTHING TO BECOME A HUNTER!! YES!!!" Leorio yelled and ran beside Kurapika with all his might. Killua and Gon stayed a little behind from Kurapika while Jun took out his book and ignored his surroundings.

They had ran more than 60 km, 37 miles and not one of the contestants had dropped out.

Song: Hxh 1999 Original Soundtrack OST 1 - Track 09: Shizukana Taiketsu