Men always had a few ways to relieve stress.
Because of that, most of the examinees had their attention fixed on Menchi. She was petite, but her figure was undeniably good.
It was only when Buhara's stomach let out a series of thunderous growls that the examinees finally realized there was also a gigantic burly man sitting behind that beautiful female examiner.
"Sorry to keep you all waiting," Menchi said, greeting the examinees with surface-level politeness.
But Roy knew what she was really like. She was the kind of violent woman who would draw her knives the moment she disliked someone and turn them into a dish.
Looking at the warm and friendly expression Menchi was showing the examinees now, Roy could not help shaking his head.
Sure enough, the prettier a woman was, the better she was at fooling people.
Of course, his own wife was the exception. Roy glanced at Android 18 beside him.
And Menchi was nowhere near as pretty as his wife anyway.
"So? You're starving, aren't you, Buhara?"
"Grrrgl…"
"You heard that. My stomach's growling already, Menchi." Buhara was already getting impatient for the examinees to start cooking.
A man who could devour seventy whole roast pigs in one sitting—when it came to eating, perhaps only Son Goku, Luffy, and Toriko could put up a fight against Buhara.
"All right then, since that's the case, the second phase of the exam is about to begin!"
The moment the exam was mentioned, Menchi's expression changed at once. Her previous friendliness was tossed straight out the window, replaced by a stern look.
"You can all see for yourselves. For the second test, the examiners are the two of us Gourmet Hunters."
"Gourmet Hunters?" Leorio looked puzzled. "That's a Hunter profession? Food? There's even a profession like that among Hunters?"
"What's that? Is it like Mr. Satotz being a Ruins Hunter?" Gon also asked in confusion.
"Gourmet Hunters are one of the branches within the Hunter profession. Bounty Hunters, like the kind Kurapika mentioned before, are another branch," Roy explained.
"As for Gourmet Hunters, they pursue ingredients and cuisine from all over the world, while constantly creating ever more refined delicacies for human enjoyment. And of course, a Gourmet Hunter is also a top-tier chef."
"On top of that, in order to seek out rare food, Gourmet Hunters inevitably have to step into dangerous restricted zones and ruins, and they also have to study all kinds of rare beasts and magical beasts. In order to hunt their prey, they themselves possess considerable strength. Since food is involved, they also need some knowledge of plants and medicine. And in order to gather more information about cuisine, they even study ancient texts."
Roy immediately launched into another grand speech.
"In other words, Gourmet Hunters are basically all-rounder Hunters. Every single Gourmet Hunter is terrifyingly powerful. One part of that strength refers to their personal combat ability, and the other refers to the knowledge they study and master. In professions like Ruins Hunter, Environmental Hunter, Beast Hunter, Archaeological Hunter, Plant Hunter, and so on, you can practically find traces of Gourmet Hunters doing research in all of them."
Back when Roy had identified the real and fake examiners, he had already left all the examinees with the impression that he was "extremely knowledgeable." Now, hearing him explain everything so fluently and seriously, with no obvious flaws in what he was saying—
These people, whose own education levels were not especially high and who knew little about Hunters, all believed Roy's words completely. For a moment, the way they looked at the two examiners became as tense as if they were facing formidable enemies.
Buhara, who was sitting on the ground, had naturally heard Roy's words as well. He wore a completely blank expression.
So… I'm… that amazing?
"Well said!!!"
A clear, excited voice rang out. It was Menchi, who had abruptly risen from the sofa, her face full of approval and admiration for what Roy had said.
"It's so rare to see an examinee who holds us Gourmet Hunters in such high regard. Ah, I'm so moved. And this examinee is even quite handsome…"
Android 18 suddenly sensed something. Instantly, the gaze she turned on Menchi became full of danger.
"Menchi!" Buhara called out cautiously, snapping Menchi back out of her fantasy.
Menchi froze for a second, then came to herself and coughed lightly.
"That's right. Just like Examinee No. 406 said, every Gourmet Hunter is strong and hardworking. After you become Hunters in the future, I hope you'll choose to walk our path. All right, enough talk. We'll now begin the second test. Since we are Gourmet Hunters, then the content of our test is… cooking!"
"Cooking?"
Quite a few examinees who had been on full alert were stunned when they heard the contents of the second phase.
Some people, however, had clearly been mentally prepared.
For example, Kurapika and the others, who had already guessed based on the examiners' Hunter professions, as well as a certain bald ninja.
"As expected. Since both examiners are Gourmet Hunters, then the second phase is making food. But no matter how you look at it, cooking doesn't seem to fit the Hunter Exam at all. What a headache. It'd be great if the test happened to be a dish from my homeland. Honestly, to think they'd set a problem like this…"
That bald ninja with the big mouth kept muttering to himself under his breath.
There were also some people who were very dissatisfied with the test content, but because Roy had just painted Gourmet Hunters as overwhelmingly powerful, they kept their complaints to themselves and did not voice them.
Hisoka, who had also been talked into taking an interest in Gourmet Hunters by Roy, gave Buhara and Menchi his own internal rating, then curled his lips. There might indeed be some fun in fighting them, but compared to the sort of "strength" he had imagined, they still fell rather far short.
Still, this was good too. With the examinees keeping quiet, there were at least fewer flies buzzing in his ears.
(End of Chapter)
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[[email protected]/Zukooo]
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