"Congratulations on passing the exam."
Once everything had settled, Bodoro was sent off for treatment. Netero stroked the beard that had already grown back and, smiling, first congratulated the successful examinees, then had Beans bring out nine Hunter Licenses on the spot.
Everyone looked at the licenses with different expressions.
Roy, Illumi Zoldyck, and Hisoka were calm.
Kurapika stared at the license, his eyes shining, while Leorio clenched both fists, looking like he wanted to punch the sky.
Android 18 turned the license over in her hand, looking at it from left to right, as if there were nothing especially remarkable about it.
Every examinee had their own reason for wanting a Hunter License. Looking at the licenses now within arm's reach, they could barely hide their excitement. Only Bodoro, who had left, was left with nothing but unwillingness and disappointment.
Beans walked up to them, took out a license from the box, and said, "Although one successful examinee is not present, we will explain everything to him afterward and deliver the license to him personally."
"First of all, this is the Hunter License."
Mr. Beans raised the Hunter License in his hand slightly higher and said, "The manufacturing process uses advanced anti-counterfeiting technology. Aside from that, its appearance is no different from an ordinary card."
"However, its functions are extremely powerful, as follows."
"With this card, you may enter 90% of countries that are normally off-limits, as well as 75% of restricted areas."
"You may use 95% of public facilities free of charge."
"You are granted financing limits on par with first-rate corporations."
"It can also be traded. If you sell the license, it can be exchanged for more money than an ordinary person could spend in seven lifetimes."
"These are the functions of the license, so please keep it safe, because a lost license cannot be reissued."
At this point, Beans raised one finger and said sternly, "According to our statistics, one out of every five successful candidates loses their license within a year. So the first test of becoming a professional Hunter is protecting your license."
"Next, I will explain the Association's Ten Rules…"
After the long-winded explanation finally ended, the licenses were at last distributed.
Roy held his license in his hand and toyed with it. Just as Beans had said, judging only by its material and appearance, it was practically no different from a normal card.
With this license, it was the same as having a permanent pass that allowed you to travel to almost every country and restricted zone.
Of course, if you had enough strength, you could go to any restricted area anyway. Only certain countries truly required the license. Otherwise, even finding a meal would be a problem, let alone lodging.
"If there were a Nen user with the ability to copy things, could they just duplicate a whole bunch of Hunter Licenses?"
For a moment, Roy's thoughts wandered, and a wild idea popped into his head.
And when he thought of that kind of Nen user, the first figure that appeared in Roy's mind was a Conjuration-Type user. A mysterious man who always hid his face behind long hair, showing only one eye.
Kortopi.
Member No. 12 of the Phantom Troupe, the owner of a copying Nen ability, Gallery Fake. By touching an object with his left hand, he could create a completely identical copy with his right. Although he could not copy living beings, he could reproduce the fixed outward appearance of living creatures. No matter the size, the copy would disappear after twenty-four hours, and copied objects could also be used as markers for En.
"Since Shalnark has a Hunter License, if Kortopi copied Shalnark's Hunter License and then used it as collateral at a bank, once the copy vanished after twenty-four hours and Shalnark went back to demand it, the bank definitely wouldn't be able to return the disappeared copy. Then they'd have to pay out a huge compensation fee~~~"
Roy suddenly felt there was a good chance Shalnark and the others had actually done things like that before, making a little pocket money off banks.
Though a bigger possibility was that they would just directly steal whatever they wanted~
After finishing the explanation, Beans stated that the examinees who had passed could stay in the hotel for free for three days, or choose to leave immediately.
Other than Illumi Zoldyck, no one was in a hurry to leave, so they chose to stay for the time being.
Hisoka held his Hunter License, and for once he was not smiling.
"Mmm, those fruits are delicious, but I still don't have the strength to pluck them yet. Better go train a bit more. Heavens Arena sounds good, and I can make some spending money there too~"
Hisoka might have been a pervert, but he was not stupid. He knew that if he foolishly went looking for Roy to fight right now, he probably would not live to see tomorrow's sun.
Watching Illumi leave the hall with his own eyes, Killua Zoldyck's face showed nothing, but inside, he really did relax.
After waiting a full day, Gon finally woke up, and everyone had rested enough as well.
"So this is the Hunter License!"
Gon held his own Hunter License in his hand, his eyes sparkling. With this, he had finally taken another step closer to his dad.
…
Killua looked uncomfortable.
"Yeah, just like Roy said. Since Killua's going out with us, we have to let his family know somehow. Mito obaa-san told me the same thing—if you're going out to play, you have to at least tell them first!"
Kurapika and Leorio exchanged a glance at the side and sighed.
"But the Zoldyck family is completely different from an ordinary family. And Killua stabbed his mom and his older brother before running away, so when you put it like that…"
At present, the group was already aboard an airship, on their way to the Republic of Padokea.
That was where Killua's home was located.
"By the way, where's Android 18?"
Only then did Gon realize that one person was missing from their group.
Roy answered, "She went to enjoy the benefits that come with the Hunter License. And while she's at it, she's planning to spend some time in Heavens Arena."
"Heavens Arena?"
"Heavens Arena is the fourth tallest building in the world. It has 251 floors and stands 991 meters high. The entire tower is made up of fighting arenas. It's a paradise for fighters. Up until the 200th floor, advancement is divided into groups of ten floors, and only those who win can move up. More than a billion spectators from all over the world come every year, and over four thousand challengers line up every day to register."
Kurapika explained it to Gon.
"Is Android 18 some kind of fight fanatic?"
Gon looked puzzled.
"No. Mostly because you can win astonishing amounts of money by winning at Heavens Arena."
"Money?!"
Leorio was immediately interested.
"Yeah. I heard the maximum prize can go up to several hundred million Jenny."
"Several hundred million Jenny?!"
Leorio's eyes lit up.
"Ah! I remember now. When I was little—when I was six—my dad threw me into Heavens Arena, and I made it all the way to the 200th floor in one go. I got two hundred million, or was it something around that much Jenny?"
Killua propped up his head and searched his memory.
"Oh!!!"
Leorio instantly fell into a spiral of limitless fantasy, while Kurapika beside him could not help shaking his head.
Still, bringing up Heavens Arena did calm the atmosphere.
And just like that, the group arrived in the Republic of Padokea.
(End of Chapter)
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