"Ch-Chairman!" Menchi had never expected the Chairman to actually come in person, and on top of that, he had heard everything she had just said. It was unbearably awkward.
"Who's that old man?" Leorio looked at the old man walking toward them step by step and, for some reason, felt a trace of pressure.
"Examiner Menchi just called him Chairman, so that means he should be…" Kurapika analyzed.
"The Chairman of the Hunter Association. The strongest man in the world," Roy said.
"He jumped down from that height and he's totally fine. That's amazing," Gon said with admiration.
"Yeah. Falling from that high up and still being okay… that's probably 'that,' right?"
Killua seemed to have fallen into a kind of obsession now. Anything he couldn't reasonably explain, he lumped together under "that."
Still, he was basically right.
Very soon, the examinees also guessed Netero's identity, and the noise gradually swelled.
"Chairman." Satotz respectfully gave a gentlemanly bow from the side.
"Chairman." Buhara, who had been quietly standing by the whole time, also bowed.
"Ch-Chairman, I never thought you would really come in person."
Menchi no longer had the confidence she had shown on the testing grounds earlier, or on the phone before that.
Instead, she looked restrained and at a loss, completely different from before.
"Mm." Netero responded, then fixed his eyes directly on Menchi's ample chest and stared without restraint.
What a dirty old man!
Noticing where Netero's gaze had landed, Android 18 clicked her tongue in disdain.
Then she noticed someone looking at her as well.
She turned her head and found Roy smiling at her, silently mouthing a phrase.
"Not-as-big-as-yours."
Android 18 understood it. Her face instantly turned red.
"You're impossible!"
At that moment, Netero gave a light cough and said, "Though I am the Chairman of the Hunter Association, in most cases I count as someone working behind the scenes. I only come out once in a while when disputes arise and need to be handled."
With just that, he immediately set the tone, placing himself in a background role and leaving Menchi plenty of dignity and authority as an Examiner.
"Oh, right. Menchi," Chairman Netero said.
"Yes!" Menchi instinctively straightened her back and answered loudly.
While walking toward Menchi, Chairman Netero seemed to sense something. His eyes swept directly toward Roy. After seeing him, his gaze deepened for an instant, but he did not stop and simply continued toward Menchi.
The strong always had certain special instincts.
Then came Netero's admonishment, followed by Menchi's process of self-reflection.
She looked nothing like she had when she was boldly making that declaration earlier.
Which just goes to show: you can say whatever you want at the dinner table, but don't make reckless declarations. The reversal, when it came, was immediate.
So, after engaging in a profound round of self-reflection and self-criticism—
"Then let us do this. We will conduct another culinary test. I also hope you will remain at your post and continue presiding over matters here. However, there is one condition: the new challenge must be one that you, in your capacity as an Examiner, personally demonstrate and take part in together with the examinees. What do you think of that proposal?"
Netero swiftly came up with a method that would neither embarrass Menchi nor undermine the fairness and reasonableness of the Hunter Association, while also ensuring that the examinees would have no complaints.
Menchi also felt there really was no better solution than that, and it would conveniently allow her to make up for her earlier mistake.
As for the other examinees, they had already heard everything clearly from the side. They could not help rubbing their hands together, eager to retake the test at once.
As for Gon and the others, because they had long since guessed that this kind of result was likely, their emotions did not fluctuate too much. Of course, being able to take the test again still made them happy.
"I believe this method should be enough to convince everyone," Chairman Netero said. Although he had already heard the discussion among the examinees, he still turned his head toward them, as if seeking their opinion.
"Fine by me!"
"No problem at all!"
"I agree!"
"I'm satisfied!"
The examinees were fired up, each calling out their own opinion.
However, just as the retest was about to be finalized, Roy gave a light cough and stepped forward.
Facing the eyes of everyone present, Roy smiled and said, "What if I don't agree?"
The result of this test was not that no one had passed.
There had been two who passed.
So if the seventy who failed wanted fairness, then the remaining two who had passed would inevitably feel that they were the ones being treated unfairly.
"So what if you don't agree? This is Chairman Netero's decision."
The first person to speak against Roy's words was not Netero, but the Braided Man, the very same person who had first raised an objection earlier.
Perhaps because he had taken the credit for turning the test result around and made it his own, the Braided Man had gotten somewhat swollen with self-importance and dared to cut in before Netero could speak.
Roy suddenly turned to look at the Braided Man, his gaze as sharp as a hawk's, and said, "Did anyone ask for your opinion?"
At that one glance, the Braided Man felt as though he had been locked onto by some terrifying beast. He staggered back several steps in fright, cold sweat soaking through his clothes in an instant, his face unable to hide its fear.
(End of Chapter)
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