02 | A × SUPRISING × CHALLENGE
SATOTZ SAID HIS GOODBYES TO THE PARTICIPANTS, and the gated fence opened up to reveal a mansion with a sprawling garden that is set up for cooking. When entering, a man and a woman introduced themselves as Menchi and Buhara, who are Gourmet Hunters and the examiner for the second phase.
"The Second Phase involves cooking," Menchi informed and laughters filled the air. The applicants saw this test as a joke and mocked both of the examiner's profession.
Childish.
"What will we cook?" A man spoke up. He had a rounded face accompanied by slicked back hair ending in a ponytail with each side of his head shaven. He attire included a jumper, a pair of boots, trousers and knee pads.
"Pork from the Visca Forest Reserve around the mansion," Buhara tasked.
"We will judge the dishes by its taste and presentation," Menchi stated. "And the exam is finished if we are already full." She then gave out the signal, and all the applicants dashed into the forest in search for pigs to roast.
[Y/N] wandered around the forest, attempting to locate the pigs. She was alone, but she knew survival tactics and strategies. Instead of searching ground level, [Y/N] climbed in the trees. She scanned the areas, and saw a group a pigs gathering in an area. However, someone riled them up and intervened with their gathering and now, huge giants pigs were storming the ground.
Participants attempted to flee to avoid being trampled on but some weren't so lucky enough. The giant pigs knocked a couple of applicants down with their snouts, and some even when flying over. Looking closely down, [Y/N] spotted 99 and his friends were also being chased by the pigs. However, in the process of being hunted down, 405 discovered the pigs' weakness. Their weakness was their forehead.
[Y/N] waited for an opportunity to appear, and jumped from the trees. She slammed her fist into the forehead of the pig, rendering it unconscious.
[Y/N] dragged the massive pig back to the cooking station. She laid out all the proper equipments and ingredients that would help enhance the pig's flavor. Then, she washed and cleaned the pig's ears, nose, feet, mouth, and it's carcass. From there, she skewered the pig on to the spit, while the fire from below cooked the meat. [Y/N] rotated the metal rod so that all parts of the large animal was cooked without a trace of rawness. The rotation assisted with bringing out the pig's own juices, which made basting more easier and simpler. It lessened the amount of materials needed. She coated the pig in its fluids that poured from its body and used a basting brush to spread it. This helped with keeping its skin moist, full of flavor, and maintained color.
The girl glanced over to her right to see how the other participants were doing. Her eyes landed on 405 and his friends. The expression on their face was that of confidence. It's as if they were brewing a strategy that would wow the examiners, ultimately passing the second phase.
To [Y/N], this challenged seemed easy.
When the pig was fully roasted to a golden texture, she slid the animal off the skewer and placed it on the counter top of her cooking station. [Y/N] decorated the pig by placing an apple in its mouth and lettuce around its body for an aesthetic appearance. Once done, the girl carried the pig on a metal tray and presented it to the examiners. Buhara began eating the pig and gave it a thumbs up. Menchi, on the otherhand, was dissatisfied with the roast she presented and failed her.
I know I stated that I can cook before but I never said I was good one.
"You're no better than 99," she declared, shooing me away to judge another applicant's dish.
"99? Whose 99?" [Y/N] mumbled under her breath. She only knew certain people by appearance and some by numbers. When she glanced around the area, she realized that the silver-haired boy was 99.
After tasting the rest of the remaining candidates' dishes, Buhara gave everyone a pass but Menchi failed all of us. She was discontented with the fact that no effort was given into preparing the pig because majority of the examinees simply roasted their pigs over a spit.
With Menchi not being so compliant, one of the participants, Todo, destroyed his cooking station out of anger. The blue-haired examiner maintained her composure. "You have not exerted effort in creating a pork dish that both examiners find delicious," Menchi proclaimed.
"All pork dishes are the same," Hanzo commented.
The examiner felt insulted by his statement. "You are not worthy because you are not willing to take risks and try new things," Menchi concluded, but he continued to berate her. She dismissed him, which prompted him to attack her out of frustration. Buhara quickly retaliated by knocking him off with just a large sweep of his hand.
"Do not interfere," Menchi instructed.
"If I did not interfere, you would have killed Todo."
Menchi stood up and juggled her numerous knives. "Gourmet Hunters venture into danger to seek ingredients," Menchi said. "You all lack of focus and unwillingness to experiment are enough to disqualify all of you to be Hunters."
I can sort of agree with her on that.
An airship appeared from the skies, and landed the flying vehicle on the ground. The doors opened and an old man emerged. He announce that his name was Netero and that he's the chairman of the Hunter Association. The main purpose of his arrival was to correct Menchi's habit of being biased whenever the subject is related to food or cooking. Menchi proposed that the chairman removed her as an examiner, but he declined her offer and allowed her to keep her position only if she participated in the next event.
"Boiled eggs!" Menchi announced. "Chairman, could you take us to Mt. split-in-half in your airship?"
"Certainly, I can."
All of the applicants then boarded onto Netero's airship as they head to Mt. split-in-half.
━━━━ ⋆ฺ｡❀ TIME SKIP ❀｡ฺ⋆ ━━━━
The airship had finally landed on the mountain and everyone stepped out. Once we were all out, Menchi explained the new event. She instructed that the participants had to jump down into a potentially fatal ravine to retrieve eggs. Some were a bit confused by her words, so she demonstrates how to procure the eggs. The blue-haired examiner jumped from the mountain and onto the ravine as she dangled from the webs. She secured the eggs without falling, and timed her jump in time for the updraft to carry her up.
The applicants that showed confidence and were not fazed by the task, jumped down to recover the eggs. Unfortunately, not all of them waited for the updraft and instead, they had fallen to their untimely death. [Y/N] did some stretches before having to leap down into the ravine.
She gazed over at 405 and saw some of the applicants around him. She walked up to the small crowd, and 405 began to instruct the perfect time to jump down. On his que, everyone managed to successfully jump down, unscathed.
405 was in front of [Y/N], along with his teammates. They all grabbed ahold of the sticky stand of spider-eagle web. The girl, on the other hand, refrained from glancing down. She wasn't afraid of heights, but the aftermath may follow if her fingers were to slowly loose grip. The bottom of the ravine was filled with heavy fog, so there's no telling how deep the fall would be. Some of the examinees had already fallen from lack of patience or the web slowly growing weak and unsteady from the applicant's weight.
Tragic.
"Now!" 405 shouted.
Everyone let go of the spider-eagle web and took hold of the spider-eagle egg. It much larger than a regular size egg, at least three times it's height and width. The egg shifted uncomfortably in [Y/N]'s arm so she pressed it more firmly against her chest to secure the hold. The strong wind currents from below, carried the examinees upwards, and land on the platform safely.
Reaching land, she fist bumped the air. She was unharmed, thanks to Gon's instructions. He had a keen eye for survival, and [Y/N] admired that. At this pace, the boy would achieve a hunter license. All that courage and bravery wrapped in such a small boy, should be compensated. He was the reason for most of the examinees passing this event, and so were his friends.
[Y/N] dropped the egg into a boiling pot of water. She waited patiently besides to try the deliciousness that the participants speak of. Once done, she scooped the egg out and took a bite. The girl chewed it slowly to taste all the flavor that's jammed packed inside, but she was unsatisfied.
"Eh, it's alright,"I mumbled.
[Y/N] didn't understand what all the commotion was about. The people made it seem like heaven, but it just tasted a bit bland for her. It was good, but she was a bit selective with her food. The disappointed look on her face showed.
"Hey! You!" Someone said out loud, gaining my attention. It was the familiar silver-haired boy.
"Me?" [Y/N] asked, pointing a finger towards herself to get reassurance.
The boy rolled his eyes. "No, the tree behind you," he said, voice laced with sarcasm. "Yes, you."
She stared at him waiting for him to respond. She had no idea what he wanted. This was their first conversation with each other. "Are you going to finish that?" He questioned, pointing at my half eaten spider-eagle egg.
"No, I'm going to take it home and make a portrait out of it," she answered with sarcasm.
"Haha," he deadpanned. "But thanks."
She was perplexed at his response, until he snatched the egg from out her hands, and took a bite.
She crossed her arms, glaring at him. "Did I say you can have it?"
He ignored my glare. "Your face did."
She sighed. "Go to hell."
"Don't have to. I vacation there often." He said smugly.
[Y/N] huffed in annoyance, which made him laugh. He was amused, but she was upset.
"Fuck you," she mumbled under her breath, audible enough for him to hear. She was never one to dish out profanities, but when it came to him, the words just came out naturally.
"Was that supposed to hurt my feelings?" He responded, cocking his head to the side.
"That's what I was aiming for," she muttered.
"I'll give you a C for effort." He said as he pats my shoulder and walks away.
*
Chapter Two :) This chapter by far was the most difficult to write but thankfully google be on my side.
Leave a comment and tell me what you think! :)
(=^K•A•T•^=)