The examinees looked at the tournament chart on the notice board. At first, they had all been alarmed, thinking only one person could pass, but after hearing Netero's explanation, they immediately understood.
"The key point is that only one person fails, right?" Hanzo said, stroking his chin. "Looking at it that way, the pass rate is absurdly high."
"Correct."
Netero nodded with a cheerful smile.
After getting confirmation, the examinees instantly felt reassured. Out of eleven examinees, there were ten passing slots. It was practically a blessing.
Roy carefully examined the bracket, then shook his head.
There were eleven examinees in total, split into two groups: a left-side bracket and a right-side bracket.
In the far-left bracket, the first match was Roy versus Gon. The loser of that match would face Hanzo in the second match. The loser of that match would face Killua in the third. The loser of that one would face Pokkle in the fourth. The final loser there would become the left-side bracket's ultimate loser.
On the far-right bracket, the first match was Kurapika versus Hisoka, and the second match was Android 18 versus Illumi.
The third match would be the loser of the first match against Leorio, while the fourth match would be the loser of the second match against Bodoro.
Then the losers of the third and fourth matches would duel each other, determining the final loser of the right-side bracket, who would then face the ultimate loser from the left-side bracket to decide who would be the one person eliminated.
If he wanted to face Illumi, then he would have to lose several times in a row, and he still might not even get to fight Illumi, since Illumi's first opponent was Android 18.
That was pretty interesting. Roy would not even need to make a move himself—Android 18 alone would be enough to make Illumi question his entire life.
That old man Netero really had gone and overturned his wishes after all. His very first opponent was Gon.
The opponent he did not want to fight had been placed right in front of him from the start, while the opponent he did want to fight had been thrown all the way to the ends of the earth.
Gon and the others had obviously noticed the arrangement as well.
"My first match is against Roy?"
Gon's eyes were serious, and the others' expressions were all a little complicated.
"This..." Even someone as easygoing as Leorio did not know how to put it.
"Relax. I'll come up with a way to decide the match that both of us can accept."
Roy's words immediately put Gon and the others at ease.
"Yeah, Roy. But I'm not going to hold back!"
"Same here."
...
Meanwhile, Killua naturally did not voice any more dissatisfaction with Chairman Netero's method of grouping.
By his own estimate, he could not beat Roy, and he could not beat Hanzo either.
As for Gon, Killua had already realized back at the entrance to the Milsy Wetlands in the first phase that, against Gon after he had learned Nen, he had no desire to keep fighting.
So he naturally did not question Netero's grouping.
"The rules are simple and clear. Any weapon may be used, and there are no restrictions of any kind. As long as you can make your opponent surrender, you win."
Looking at everyone, Netero raised one finger. "However, if you kill your opponent, you will be eliminated immediately, and all remaining examinees will automatically pass. The exam will also end on the spot."
"Understood?"
Everyone nodded one after another.
"Then..." Netero smiled. "The final test begins."
An Examiner dressed in black took over as referee and walked to the center of the arena, then invited Roy and Gon onto the field.
The black-clothed Examiner watched Roy walk to the left side. During the third phase, he had been assigned to observe Roy, and in the end he had wound up like an idiot, doing absolutely nothing for an entire week alongside Roy at the starting point of the third phase.
"This man's opponent is No. 405. The gap in strength is way too huge. There's absolutely no suspense at all. I have no idea why the Chairman arranged it this way." The black-clothed Examiner glanced at Gon.
Roy came to a stop and looked at the eager Gon, a strange glint flashing through his eyes.
Leaving aside the fact that he could never torment Gon the way Hanzo had in the original story, even if he did torment him, with Gon's personality, he would stubbornly refuse to surrender to the bitter end.
"How about we play hide-and-seek?" Roy suggested with a smile.
"Huh?"
In this one-on-one duel, the victory condition required the other side to surrender. That was the most troublesome part.
If the opponent was someone who understood the stakes clearly, or someone timid, then winning would not be difficult. But if you ran into a one-track-minded person, then this rule was a complete disaster.
And among that kind of stubborn fool who would dig in to the very end, Gon's level could practically be called maxed out.
Netero had clearly seen that point, which was why he had arranged for Gon to face him.
But Roy's suggestion had plainly taken everyone present by surprise.
When Gon heard it, he looked utterly baffled. "Why are we playing hide-and-seek?"
"Because if we don't use this method, there's no way you'd ever surrender," Roy said.
"Yeah." Gon nodded seriously.
"In that case, one hour." Roy raised one finger.
"For one hour, the two of us will play hide-and-seek. I won't counterattack, and I won't use Flight either. I'll just move around inside this arena. If you touch me, I'll surrender. But if you can't touch me within one hour, then you lose. How about it?"
Can you even do that...?
Leorio and Killua: "..."
They had nothing to say. Still, maybe for Gon, this really was the best possible way to decide the match.
Kurapika, meanwhile, thought about it for a moment, and in the end understood Roy's intention.
Very quickly, the examinees watching from the sidelines also reacted. They were all startled. Just from hearing those two lines of dialogue, they immediately realized how troublesome the duel rules really were.
"The victory condition sounds simple and easy to understand, but if you think about it carefully, it's extremely difficult. After all, you can't kill your opponent, and it's not a point system. If your opponent just refuses to surrender no matter what, then how are you supposed to win?"
"So that's how it is."
Leorio and Killua suddenly understood.
With Gon's incredibly bullheaded personality, this style of match was the most suitable one for the two of them.
Hanzo pondered the matter, but he did not need to worry about that at all. For him, torture and forced confessions were routine. In his eyes, a brat like Gon would cave and surrender after just a few rounds.
"So? Hide-and-seek?" Roy said.
Gon thought it over carefully for a while and realized that there really was no method more suitable for the two of them. He could not bring himself to seriously fight Roy, and he was not Roy's opponent anyway. Now Roy had offered him such good terms that he felt he could completely accept them.
It was just that...
(End of Chapter)
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