My eyes snapped open, a jolt running through my body. I was sitting on a hard wooden bench, the kind you'd find in a park or some kinda waiting area. The air smelled like salt and something vaguely fishy.
Disoriented, I glanced around, trying to get my bearings. Where the hell…?
Something crinkled on my lap. I looked down and saw a piece of paper, folded neatly. Picking it up, I unfolded it, my brow furrowing as I read the words scrawled across the surface.
Goddess Task 1: Participate in the Hunter Exam.
From now on, every door entry will produce a task via a piece of paper on your person upon arrival. Sorry I can't talk to you directly, things are crazy right now!
Before I could even process what the hell a "Hunter Exam" was, the paper burst into flames. No heat, no smoke, just a sudden burst of light, and then it was gone, leaving nothing but a faint wisp of ash that drifted away on a gentle breeze.
What the…
"Last call for the Hunter Exam boat! Get your butts on here!" a voice boomed through the air.
I stood up, stuffing my hands in my pockets as I surveyed my surroundings. I was on a rickety wooden pier, surrounded by a crowd of people. They were all shapes and sizes, dressed in a weird mix of clothes, from fancy suits to raggedy robes. Some of them were giving me side-eye, like I was the weird one.
A massive ship, its sails billowing in the wind, was moored at the end of the pier. A line of people snaked up the gangplank, eager to board.
I shuffled onto the boat, joining the throng of people already packed onto the deck. The air crackled with tension, a nervous energy that set my teeth on edge. I caught snippets of hushed conversations in languages I didn't recognize, saw eyes darting back and forth, assessing, judging, dismissing. These weren't your average boat-goers. These were… competitors. Predators.
And I was stuck in the middle of it, with nothin' but my wits and whatever scraps of street-fighting skills I'd managed to pick up in Kamurocho.
"OI! Ight you imbeciles!" a booming voice roared, cutting through the murmurs and the uneasy silence. A man, built like a brick shithouse, stood on a raised platform at the front of the deck. He wore a simple white tank top that strained against his bulging biceps and a pair of cargo pants that looked like they could hold a small arsenal.
"There are about 100 boats headed to near the Hunter Exam area in this sea alone," he continued, his voice like gravel on concrete, "So as a preliminary judge for the Hunter Exam, I'm gonna just say it! Hunter Exam has already damn started, and unlike some of my colleagues, we doing this the direct way! I ain't just gonna drive us into a storm and see how you guys fare and who remains standing in a massive friggin' storm like those pansies. Instead, it's time for you morons to fight, and the remaining ten get to stay on the boat!"
He paused, letting the words sink in. A collective gasp rippled through the crowd. I felt a shiver crawl up my spine. This was insane.
And then, all hell broke loose.
The crowd erupted in a frenzy of motion, a chaotic melee of flailing limbs and desperate shouts. People shoved and clawed their way towards the nearest target, weapons materializing in their hands as if by magic. I saw gleaming swords, wicked-looking staffs, and even a goddamn chainsaw revving menacingly in the hands of a skinny dude with a crazed grin.
It was on. The examiner dude hadn't even finished his little speech before the first punk took a swing at the guy next to him. Me? I wasn't about to be caught off guard. This whole "Hunter Exam" thing seemed like bad news, but I knew the score: stay on the boat, stay alive. Simple as that.
So, I planted my feet, lowered my center of gravity, and waited. My hands itched to grab something, anything, to use as a weapon, but I figured it was best to see how things played out first.
Turns out, those stat boosts I got for dying and then not being dead? No joke.
These guys weren't messing around. Every single one of them moved like they'd been training since they were kids. Punches whistled through the air, kicks landed with bone-jarring force. A couple of guys were packing some serious heat too—swords, staffs, even a wicked-looking pair of tonfas.
But me? I was moving different. Faster. Stronger. Every time some overeager idiot tried to take me out, I was one step ahead.
One guy came at me with a flurry of punches, each one aimed at a vital point. I slipped past his defenses, my fist connecting with his jaw before he even knew what hit him. He crumpled to the deck like a discarded puppet.
Another one charged, a hulking dude built like a wrestler. I sidestepped his tackle, grabbed his arm as he barreled past, and used his own momentum to flip him over my shoulder. He landed with a thud, the wind knocked out of him.
Another one came, he was twirling knives with a strange tempo, but I was faster. I gripped both of his arms mid-swing and used his momentum to twirl him off the side, sending him splashing into the water below.
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It took a full hour for the chaos to die down. By then, the deck was slick with sweat and blood, littered with groaning bodies. I was breathing hard, but it felt good. Like a workout after weeks of slacking off. Those stat bonuses were insane. If 0.5 was the average athlete, and I was at a 0.9… what the hell would a full 1.0 feel like?
"Not bad," a gruff voice boomed from behind me.
I turned to see the examiner, arms crossed over his massive chest, a grim smile playing on his lips. His eyes swept over the ten figures still standing, bruised and battered but defiant.
"The ten of you," he said, his voice laced with a hint of respect, "In my office. Five minutes."
The ten of us who were left standing on the blood-stained deck followed the examiner as he led us through the bowels of the ship. The air down here was thick with the smell of engine grease and sweat, a far cry from the salty tang of the open ocean.
We reached a heavy metal door, and the examiner barked, "Five minutes. Don't be late." Then he disappeared inside, leaving us to wait.
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Most of the others just slumped against the wall, exhausted from the fight. But me? I was antsy. Plus, I figured this was my chance. I mean, how often do you get to chat with a guy who could probably bench-press a small car? This was like meeting a real-life pro wrestler!
I pushed open the door and stepped inside. It was a small, cramped office, dominated by a massive metal desk that looked like it belonged on a battleship. The examiner was behind it, shuffling through a stack of papers.
There were three chairs lined up in front of the desk and a single, fancier-looking chair off to the side. Now, I wasn't born yesterday. I knew a power move when I saw one. Sitting in that lone chair, right in the middle of things, that was just asking for trouble.
So, I took the bench seat next to it. Figured it couldn't hurt to be close enough to hear what the big guy had to say.
"Yo, so, about this Hunter Exam…" I started, trying to sound casual.
The examiner didn't even look up.
I cleared my throat. "Pretty intense first round, huh? Not sure those guys were ready for…"
Silence. He just kept shuffling papers.
Fine, be that way.
A few minutes later, the rest of the finalists shuffled in, taking their seats on the remaining benches. The examiner finally looked up, his gaze sharp and assessing as it swept over each of us.
"Why do you ten want to be Hunters?" he asked, his voice a low rumble.
One by one, the others answered. Some talked about money, some about fame, some about power. I'd heard it all before. Same shit, different day.
Finally, it was my turn.
"My name's Ichiban, and I need to be stronger," I said, meeting the examiner's gaze head-on. "And if I'm gonna get stronger and live, this seems like the only way. Also, that fight was pretty damn awesome."
The examiner grunted, a flicker of amusement in his eyes. He gestured to the eight guys who'd answered before me. "You eight. Out. You wanna be Hunters for all the wrong reasons. Get lost."
The guys sputtered and started to protest, but the examiner cut them off with a wave of his hand. "You think being a Hunter is about getting rich and looking cool? You're in for a rude awakening. Now, get off my boat! OFF WITH YE!"
They shuffled out, grumbling under their breath but clearly wise enough not to piss off a literal mountain.
The last guy, the one with the scary eyes and a wicked scar running down his cheek, just smirked.
"Well? Are you gonna answer or fail?"
"I wanna be a Hunter so I can kill without consequence." He smiled dementedly and his eyes widened in some kind of sick glee.
The air in the room seemed to crackle with tension. The examiner's face hardened. In the blink of an eye, he was across the room, his massive hand wrapped around the guy's throat.
"Now, why did you go and tell me that?" The examiner asked, his voice dangerously calm. "That rule, that Hunters aren't prosecuted for murder? It's to protect everyone else when a Hunter goes rogue. It's for other reasons too, but it's also to catch shits like you. I ain't got time to hunt you down later, so let's cut to the chase, shall we?"
A sickening snap echoed in the small office. The examiner released his grip, and the guy crumpled to the floor, his eyes wide and lifeless.
The examiner turned his gaze to me, a chilling grin spreading across his face. "I like you, Ichiban, you said? While those others are swimming and this one's cooling, I'll give you a hint. The easiest way to pass the exam is to go to the big tree behind the city. Don't take those stupid busses, they're traps."
He grinned at me and spoke further. "Name's Noran. Blacklist Hunter. Single Star, at your service."
He puffed out his chest, clearly proud of that title. Single Star- What was that, some kinda ranking system? Like in Dragon Quest, when you leveled up and got stronger?
Before I could ask, he kept talking. "You've got guts, kid. I like that. Got a good head on your shoulders too. You'd make a damn fine Blacklist Hunter, I reckon."
He leaned back in his chair, which creaked ominously under his bulk. "Tell you what, if you make it through this whole Hunter Exam mess, come find me. Got a spot saved at my bounty office, just for you."
A bounty office… I could get behind that. Hunting down bad guys for a living? Sounded a lot better than getting my ass kicked in back alleys.
"Hold on, back up a sec," I said, holding up a hand. "Blacklist Hunter? What's that? And what other kinds are there?"
Noran chuckled, a deep, rumbling sound. "You really are green, ain't ya? There's a category for just about everything. You got your Gourmet Hunters, obsessed with finding rare ingredients 'n cookin' em up. Treasure Hunters, always chasing after lost artifacts. Even got those weird-ass Beast Hunters who dedicate their lives to studying creatures. Bunch of weirdos, if you ask me."
He paused, then seemed to realize he'd said too much. "Ah, but that's getting ahead of ourselves. You gotta pass the Hunter Exam first, then the Professional Hunter Exam, then you can start thinking about specializations."
Noran paused and then waved his hand dismissively. "Ah, I wasn't supposed to tell you that. Oops."
I rolled my eyes. This guy…
"So, about those Blacklist Hunters," I pressed. "What's their deal? They sound kinda like superheroes or somethin'."
Noran grinned, "Are you daft, boy? That's the whole reason Hunters are famous in the first place! They're the ones who take on the big bads, the bounty hunters who kick the ass of all that's bad in the world and put 'em in the ground."
"Sounds good," I nodded, picturing myself taking down monsters and criminals. "I think that's what I'll be."
"Good choice, kid," Noran said, giving me a hearty slap on the back that nearly dislocated my shoulder. "You can pick any other specialization too. Any hunter can also be any other type of hunter. Just gotta take the test for any category. Eh, but Gourmet Hunters are kinda prickly. Friggin' Menchi is nuts."
The ship lurched, and I stumbled slightly. We must be getting close to wherever this exam was taking place.
"Well, Ichiban," Noran said, standing up and heading for the door. "It's been a pleasure. Don't die out there, alright? I'm counting on seeing you at the office."