Hunter x Hunter: Tonight, Germain joins the hunt

Chapter 301 Kurapika's Strange Exam Journey
In early November 1999.

"Music Hunter" Melody and "Amateur Hunter" Kurapika come to the town where this year's professional hunter exam is held - Port Dore.

Melody was short and fat, with most of his long hair bald, revealing his smooth scalp, and two buck teeth like hamster incisors protruding from his lips.

She is definitely not beautiful, but she does have a voice that can be called beautiful.

If you close your eyes and just listen to her voice, you will definitely think she is a mature, charming and beautiful lady.

"Kurapika." Melody pointed to the hotel not far away and said gently, "I will stay here and wait for you during the days when you take the exam."

Kurapika was no longer wearing the traditional clothing of the Kurta tribe, but was wearing an ordinary white shirt, looking like a tourist visiting Dore Port.

He glanced at the hotel, then looked at Melody and nodded.

"I don't know how many days this professional hunter exam will last. Please wait for me here."

Melody shook her head and smiled.

"It's nothing... Besides, it might be over soon... After all, you are the disciple of 'Mr. Germain'."

German passed the professional hunter exam last year in just a few days and was the only candidate who passed that session.

Melody said this jokingly. As a disciple of Germain, Kurapika might be able to pass the professional hunter exam quickly.

Previously, Germain had told Kurapika that he could invite Melody to go to Greed Island together.

Since the teacher said so, Kurapika revealed his relationship with the teacher to Melody and conveyed the teacher's wishes.

To be honest, Melody was surprised when she heard that Kurapika was the disciple of Germain, who had become famous in the past year.

That German, due to his achievements in defeating the Chimera Ants, has now entered the power center of the Hunter Association - the "Twelve Branches".

He is in a high position and has incredible strength, both of which make Melody sigh in admiration.

And it is unbelievable that the blond handsome boy in front of him, who has been his partner for some time, is actually the disciple of Mr. German!

However, Melody eventually believed Kurapika because she could hear other people's "heart melody", thus confirming that Kurapika was not lying.

Melody hesitated for a moment and then agreed to German's invitation.

That German, probably because I have been taking care of Kurapika, wanted to see me and show his goodwill.

This is actually a good thing for the melody.

She also wanted to meet the legendary German and hear what made his "heart melody" different from that of ordinary hunters and why he could perform so well.

So she agreed.

However, before that, Kurapika had to take part in the professional hunter exam, and Melody accompanied him, which led to the current conversation.

Because Melody is a professional hunter, through her channels, Kurapika learned a lot about what happened to Mr. German recently.

So, after hearing Melody's teasing, he was actually happy from the bottom of his heart, but he was also a little worried.

If I fail the professional hunter exam, will it bring shame to Mr. Germain?

Melody didn't know whether she saw or heard what Kurapika was thinking, she smiled and said: "Kurapika, you are too cautious."

"Don't worry. Perhaps accompanying me on missions for a long time will give you the illusion that you are surrounded by scary Nen users."

"But, in reality, there aren't that many people with Nen ability in the world, and even fewer who haven't taken the Professional Hunter Exam yet."

"You are taking the professional hunter exam now, just like a tiger in the mountains being thrown into a flock of sheep. Don't worry, you will definitely pass it."

"Go take the exam. I'll be waiting for your good news here."

"Okay." Kurapika thought so, "Then I'll be off."

"Go ahead." Melody waved at him with a smile on her face.

With a little trepidation, Kurapika embarked on the journey of the professional hunter exam and successfully passed the test of "guide".

The "guide" asked this question casually while leading him to the first test site.

"Your name is Kurapika, right?"

Kurapika gave him a suspicious look and replied, "You know me?"

"I don't know him." The "guide" smiled, then pressed a button and walked out of the room. He waved to the confused Kurapika and said, "Now I know him." Clank——

After the "guide" pressed the button in the room, the entire room descended. Kurapika then realized that the entire room was an elevator.

Even when the elevator came to a complete stop, Kurapika still hadn't figured out what the "guide" meant.

After stepping out of the elevator, Kurapika was stared at by many eyes for a while, and then they all looked away.

These eyes belong to the candidates who came to take the exam like him.

Kurapika looked around at the group of examinees with different appearances and observed them silently for a while. Then, he slowly and couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief.

If my judgment is correct, it seems that there is only one powerful Nen user...unless there is another powerful Nen user who has been hiding well from the beginning to the end.

Melody is right, most of my competitors are not strong... No, no, no, I can't think like that, I must not let my guard down.

It's no big deal that I failed the professional hunter exam. But if it also brings shame to Teacher German, that would be a big deal. I must not make such a low-level mistake.

At this moment, a green head suddenly appeared in front of me.

"I'm Doumianren, in charge of the logistics of this exam." He looked like a pea in a suit, and stretched out his hand to Kurapika, "You must be Kurapika."

Kurapika didn't shake hands with the bean-faced man, but frowned and asked, "How do you know me?"

"Ah..." The bean-faced man realized that he had let the cat out of the bag and quickly covered his mouth with both hands. Then he hurriedly took out a number plate and handed it to Kurapika, "This is your test number. Be sure to keep it safe!"

The bean-faced man gave a few simple reminders, then suddenly ran away and slipped into the crowd of examinees.

Ok?
Just ran away?
It's getting weirder and weirder...

Afterwards, Kurapika met a hedgehog-haired boy named Gon who approached him in a very familiar manner to chat, and an "uncle" named Leorio who carried a suitcase.

Gon and Leorio are both very enthusiastic and talkative people, and they established a good relationship with Kurapika on their own.

In addition to this, there is a suspicious character named Dongba who, like Gon and Leorio, takes the initiative to approach them and try to get close to them.

However, unlike Gon and Leorio, Dongba wanted to give them a few cans of drinks.

Kurapika refused on the spot. Gon took a sip, found the taste a bit strange, and spit it out. Leorio also spit it out.

So the three of them didn't drink Dongba's drink.

Dongba muttered a few words under his breath, then left angrily.

Soon after, Kurapika and the other two met a white-haired boy named Killua, and the four of them started the first level of the test together - the tunnel long-distance run.

While Kurapika was running, he chatted with Gon, Killua, Leorio and the others while looking ahead carefully.

He was multitasking, but his aura remained stable as usual, which made Killua next to him look at Kurapika a few more times.

In front of them, the tall man in green clothes, who was identified by Kurapika as a "powerful Nen candidate" and a "dangerous person", had needles all over his face and ran like a mechanical doll that was not fully lubricated.

He must be my biggest rival, Kurapika thought.

The following several levels indeed proved that Kurapika's judgment was correct. The man with needles on his face was the most terrifying opponent.

However, fortunately, this was a professional hunter exam, and Kurapika didn't have to fight this man unless necessary.

He continued to pass the levels smoothly, but two unexpected things happened during this period.

The first thing was that Kurapika noticed that no matter where he was, there would be eyes staring at him from time to time, but they were usually not malicious, but more like... curiosity?
Since I took part in this exam, I have been receiving excessive attention from the Hunter Exam officials... These people seem to know me...

Kurapika thought about it for a while and slowly came up with an idea. At this point, with so many strange circumstances, this was the only possibility...

The second thing is that Gon, Killua and Leorio, like him, have all passed all the levels and reached the nominal "final level".

Unexpectedly, the three people who initially approached him all had good qualifications.

As for the sneaky Dongba, he failed at the middle level and went back home.

Kurapika has a good impression of Gon and the others, and sincerely hopes that they can pass this year's professional hunter exam.

However, before that, he had to ensure that he passed successfully.

(End of this chapter)