"If I have a reason, I'll fight anyone. If I don't have a reason, then I don't want to fight anyone. But if I had to choose, the ones I'd least want to face would be No. 405 (Gon) and No. 406 (Roy)."
That was Kurapika's answer.
"I wouldn't choose No. 99 (Killua), No. 404 (Kurapika), No. 403 (Leorio), No. 406 (Roy), or No. 407 (Android 18). As for someone I want to test myself against... mm, no one!"
That was Gon's answer.
"The person I least want to fight is Gon, because I just can't bring myself to hit him. As for Roy, he'd definitely come up with some method that would leave me completely convinced, so fighting him wouldn't really be a problem either."
That was Leorio's frank answer.
"The person I least want to fight, and the person I most want to fight, are both No. 406 (Roy)."
That was Hisoka's contradictory answer.
When the last examinee finally left, Netero recorded every answer.
"So nearly all of the examinees don't want to face Roy?"
Holding a brush, Netero's hand flew across the board, arranging groups based on each examinee's answer.
"This is even more interesting than I imagined."
Roy and the others continued resting while waiting for the final test to begin, while Chairman Netero busied himself after finishing the interviews.
"Everyone's preferences are even more concentrated than I expected."
The Chairman kept writing and drawing on a whiteboard, no one quite sure what he was doing.
Then he called the Examiners over.
"Chairman, what are you doing?" Satotz asked curiously when they arrived and saw him hard at work.
"I'm arranging the bracket for the final exam," the Chairman replied, brush in hand.
Before long, the grouping was complete.
Netero looked at the arrangement written on the board and revealed a satisfied expression.
"The bracket for the final exam?" Buhara said.
"Chairman, are you making the examinees fight in one-on-one elimination matches?" Menchi asked.
"Hahaha, exactly right. Take a look."
The Chairman turned the whiteboard toward the Examiners.
"Ah...?!"
The Examiners' eyes widened as they stared at the bracket Netero had arranged. They could hardly believe it. There was actually a way to do it like this?
"Chairman, are you serious?" Even honest old Buhara couldn't help reacting when he saw such an obvious trap.
"I'm very serious." Chairman Netero's expression turned solemn.
"The Chairman's eyes do look very serious..." Buhara said, looking rather conflicted.
The other Examiners all wore nearly identical expressions. None of them could believe the Chairman could come up with something this twisted.
Judging from this bracket alone, never mind the fact that it would ultimately produce only one eliminated examinee, the arrangement process itself was chaotic and completely irregular. Every person had at least two chances, while some had three or even four.
At a glance, the entire structure of the bracket looked like it would drive anyone obsessed with orderly tournament brackets insane.
In any normal competition bracket, only one champion would emerge. By common sense, that person would be the final one to pass.
Netero, however, had done the exact opposite. It wasn't the winner who would advance, but the loser. As long as an examinee eventually "advanced" all the way to first place, that person would be the one eliminated, while everyone else would pass.
In other words, in this final exam, ten people would pass and only one would be eliminated. Compared to the first three phases, it was an unprecedentedly gentle test.
Netero did not explain this point to the Examiners, so naturally they found it absurd and exaggerated.
The final exam did not begin immediately. Instead, the examinees were first given three days to rest and gather their strength.
Three days later, the airship landed at a luxurious hotel in a desert oasis. This place was one of the Association's properties, and also the venue for the final exam.
"Examinees, thank you for waiting. We will soon arrive at the venue for the final exam."
The voice coming through the broadcast reminded everyone that they were almost there.
"Let's go. Time to head down," Roy said as he stood up.
Even he didn't know the final bracket.
After all, knowing it in advance would take away a lot of the fun.
"We're here." Gon was the first to jump to his feet.
"Finally." Leorio stretched and put on a serious expression. At last, they had reached the final test.
"As long as we're here, that's what matters," Kurapika said.
The group of examinees followed the Examiners off the airship and all the way down into a vast and spacious hall that had clearly been prepared in advance.
Inside the grand chamber, everyone gathered in one place. Not only were the Examiners from the previous phases present, but so were the ten black-clothed Examiners who had tracked and observed the examinees during the third phase.
Netero was in charge of the final exam. Looking at the examinees, he said, "The final test will be one-on-one combat."
As he spoke, he lifted the notice board beside him and said, "The bracket is as follows. The condition for passing the final exam is very simple: you only need to win once."
"In other words, the winner of a match will not need to fight again, while the loser will 'advance.' The one who advances all the way to the top will be the one who fails. Understood?"
(End of Chapter)
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