"You… you look ahead…"
A candidate running at the front suddenly saw a large mass of green, glowing lights appear ahead. Thinking that others had come to pick them up, he became overjoyed.
"That's great! Someone finally came to get us!" another candidate exclaimed happily. Like an arrow released from a bow, he dashed forward with a whoosh, afraid that someone else would get there first.
"Wait!"
Kurapika was running behind them, but thanks to his excellent eyesight, he noticed two red lights hidden among the green glow. Instinctively sensing danger, he tried to stop them—but the others, who thought they saw hope, ignored him.
"ROAR—"
What had just been regarded as a lifeline instantly became a death sentence. The green lights belonged to gigantic Strawberry Turtles, each as large as a mountain. Using the thick fog, they had deliberately set a trap to lure prey—and plenty of prey delivered itself right to them.
Several Strawberry Turtles opened their gaping mouths, clamped down on a few people, and swallowed them whole, completely unconcerned with such trivial matters as "washing food before eating."
Those who were a step slower and hadn't yet been swallowed were so terrified that their legs and hands went limp. They couldn't move at all and could only let out futile, miserable screams.
"Ahhh—!"
"What was that sound?"
Gon heard the loud wail coming from behind and instinctively stopped, turning around to look back with concern for Kurapika and Leorio.
As for Lu Ou, Gon believed that if he wanted to, he could appear at the second test site at any moment. There was no need to worry—Ou was very strong.
"Most likely someone fell for a trap," Killua guessed. With so many traps around, it wasn't strange for someone to trigger one.
By coincidence, the Amori brothers were running right behind Gon and Killua at that moment. Thinking of their later encounter with Killua on Zevil Island, even if Lu Ou were here, he would probably sigh and say, "What a twist of fate."
"Hey, hey—where did all the people who were behind us go?"
The second brother of the Amori trio also heard the screams and looked back, only to find thick fog blocking his vision completely. He couldn't see anything at all.
"No way. There were at least a hundred people behind us," the youngest brother said, not believing it. He turned around to look—and indeed saw nothing.
No human shadows. Not even ghostly ones. If it weren't for the constant screams echoing behind them, it would feel as though the entire wetland now contained only the five people in front of them.
The hunt had begun.
All kinds of creatures in the wetland extended their sinful claws toward the candidates. This was a rare chance to feast, and none of them intended to let it slip by.
Several candidates panicked and ran onto a patch of green grass scattered with broken stones. Unfortunately, this wasn't a safe place at all—it was merely another animal's hunting ground. Naturally, those candidates were instantly finished.
BOOM—
A green, shark-like fish snapped its jaws shut, and the candidates were swallowed whole, entering the cycle of reincarnation.
"Ah…"
Even though he was mentally prepared for the Hunter Exam not to be easy, witnessing such diverse and brutal hunting methods firsthand was still too much for Leorio to handle.
"It looks like the candidates who were originally behind us have already fallen into traps," Kurapika analyzed the situation calmly.
"You can still think about that right now? We're in the same situation!" Leorio couldn't stand Kurapika's composed demeanor.
"It's fine. For now, we're relatively safe. I'm just not sure how Ou is doing." Kurapika frowned slightly. Even though he knew Lu Ou was capable, the fact remained that he was alone.
"He should be fine… right?" Leorio recalled having just seen Lu Ou earlier, but he wasn't entirely sure either.
Soon, however, neither of them had time to worry about that.
Not far away, there were some brightly colored mushrooms. They hadn't planned to go that way, but before they could decide, several people rushed over first—and tragedy followed.
The moment they stepped on the mushrooms, explosions erupted. The people were blown into the air, their fates unknown.
They were explosive mushrooms. The wetland was truly dangerous everywhere.
Kurapika and Leorio looked at each other, unsure of what to do. After hesitating for a long while, they finally chose a direction and cautiously began running, hoping to catch up with the earlier candidates.
Hidden in the shadows, Lu Ou watched as they safely passed through the area. Without changing his expression, he tossed away the small stone he had been holding and prepared to go do his own thing.
After all, he had already spotted his target—a lone one. Perfect timing.
Meanwhile, in the middle group of candidates, Gon and Killua were also running headlong through the thick fog. They hadn't encountered any strange animal traps. If they did, they avoided them in advance—neither of them was inexperienced.
"Ou… Kurapika… Leorio…"
Gon muttered their names as he ran, worried about what they might be facing.
"Gon, you still have the energy to worry about others?" Killua stated bluntly. "With fog this thick, if we get separated, we'll be eliminated."
"…Yeah."
Gon hesitated. He knew Killua was right, but it was hard not to worry about his friends.
"All we can do now is pray for them," Killua said.
In a situation like this, that was the only option.
Lu Ou moved alone like a thief, tiptoeing along a forest path. His head swiveled left and right as he carefully scanned his surroundings. That overly cautious posture was something else entirely.
"This acting should be decent enough," Lu Ou thought to himself while maintaining his exaggerated, step-by-step vigilance.
"Looks like I do have talent for acting. I could make a living with my acting skills, yet I insist on surviving on my brains instead. Truly one of a kind."
Lu Ou thought about how he would need the help of the Face Ape next. He remembered that in the original story, the Face Ape followed the examinees all the way, tricking quite a few people, and even tailed them to the second test site, lingering near the entrance and refusing to leave for a long time.
Faced with so much easy prey, no creature would willingly walk away. That was only natural.
To lure out the opportunistic, deceptive Face Ape following behind him, Lu Ou had no choice but to play the fool. There was no helping it—monkeys and apes might not be closely related anymore, but traits like bullying the weak, fearing the strong, and being sly were etched into their bones.
"Chatter, chatter…"
In a silent place, even the slightest sound would be infinitely magnified. Anyone without spiritual perception would notice it—let alone Lu Ou, whose five senses were extremely sharp. Pretending not to hear it was impossible.
"This Face Ape really is something. If you're going to put on a show, at least commit to it—no professional ethics at all," Lu Ou thought.
Regardless of its professionalism, the thing Lu Ou had been waiting for had finally arrived.
He adjusted his expression, fully aware that the real show was about to begin.