Ring, ring, ring, ring, ring...
A loud ringing sound abruptly cut through the conversations.
Emiya looked up. Examiner Satotz was standing high above them, holding a strange alarm clock and looking down at all the examinees.
Once the sound had fully drawn everyone's attention, Satotz turned off the alarm clock and spoke calmly. "That ringing sound marks the end of registration. I now announce that the Hunter Exam has officially begun."
He jumped down from the tall pipe and pointed toward the depths of the tunnel, where the exit couldn't be seen.
"Please come this way."
He turned and started walking. All the examinees followed behind him.
Emiya and his group were naturally among them.
As they moved forward, Satotz continued speaking. "First, I must make this clear. The Hunter Exam is extremely rigorous. Those who are unlucky or lack strength may be killed or seriously injured. Conflicts between applicants are not uncommon, and some injuries may leave people unable to recover for the rest of their lives..."
He was clearly referring to what had happened earlier.
That unlucky guy who had bumped into Hisoka hadn't apologized.
Most people who came here were capable individuals. Arrogance came with that. They wouldn't easily apologize after bumping into someone, since that would make them look weak.
The problem was that the person he bumped into was Hisoka.
Among all the examinees, Hisoka was without a doubt the most dangerous.
So Hisoka cut off both of the man's arms, leaving him permanently crippled.
Emiya hadn't intervened.
Hisoka was cruel, but the man who lost his arms wasn't a good person either.
Emiya wasn't particularly kind. He definitely wasn't a saint.
That man wasn't his friend or relative. There was no reason for him to meddle.
Satotz's words were meant to scare off a few people, but those who had made it this far were confident in themselves.
Naturally, no one backed out.
"If there are no problems, please continue to follow me."
Seeing that no one withdrew, Satotz stopped talking and led the way.
Everyone followed closely.
As time passed, Satotz's pace gradually increased. Before long, he started pulling away from the group.
The examinees couldn't allow themselves to fall behind. One by one, they sped up.
Emiya summoned an electric scooter and rode it forward.
The moment he sat down, Robin casually walked over and sat behind him, smiling.
"Mind giving a beautiful lady a ride?"
"Of course not. Please hold on tight, my beautiful lady."
Emiya smiled and accelerated, quickly catching up to the examiner.
Satotz glanced at Emiya with surprise but didn't say anything about cheating.
In his view, as long as they could keep up, the method didn't matter.
Looking away, Satotz spoke while running. "I haven't introduced myself yet. I am Satotz, the examiner for the first stage. I will lead everyone to the venue for the second stage."
A bald examinee couldn't help asking, "The second venue? What about the first test?"
Satotz turned his head and smiled.
"Anyone who can follow me to the second venue will have passed the first test. I won't disclose the location or the arrival time. All you need to do is follow me."
Emiya already knew this.
So he wasn't surprised.
In his opinion, the first test was the simplest part of the Hunter Exam.
There was no real danger. No one would die here.
If someone fell behind, they could simply leave and try again next year.
From the second stage onward, the danger would rise sharply. One mistake could mean death.
Sakaki followed alongside Emiya, glancing at the electric scooter.
"What a convenient ability," he said enviously.
"Want me to make one for you?" Emiya replied.
"No need. If it's just running, this exam won't be a problem for me."
Sakaki sounded relaxed.
He had abundant stamina and a special technique to restore his energy. Running for an hour-or even seven or eight-wouldn't make him collapse.
Soon, an hour passed.
Then two hours.
No one had dropped out yet.
The examinees who made it through the preliminary selection were all outstanding. This level of stamina was normal.
But this was only the beginning.
Another two hours passed. Still no one quit.
Everyone was desperately keeping up, unwilling to be eliminated just like that.
Emiya's group maintained a steady pace, following behind the examiner.
Robin checked the time and spoke from behind him. "It's been four hours already. Are we still not there? How long is this tunnel?"
"This tunnel is very long," Emiya replied. "Long enough to make a group of examinees despair. And there's something even more despairing ahead."
Robin looked at him.
"You sound like you know a lot about this exam."
"More or less," Emiya said with a smile.
After another two hours, the group had run nearly eighty kilometers.
Then, after turning a corner, the scenery finally changed.
The endless tunnel ended.
What appeared before them was a staircase that seemed to stretch upward without end.
When the examinees saw it, many who were already breathing irregularly stared in disbelief.
The stairs were simply too tall.
Just looking at them made people want to give up.
Emiya dismissed the electric scooter. It couldn't be used here.
He activated Nen, lifting both himself and Robin into the air.
Since there were no forks from bottom to top, they instantly passed the examiner.
"We'll go on ahead."
With that, the two of them vanished from Satotz's sight in the blink of an eye.
Satotz stared at Emiya's back, his pupils contracting slightly.
"Flying...? What kind of Nen ability is this?"
He had never seen a human who could fly.
Even in the modern era, flight without any tools was still a dream.
He had seen countless Nen users, but none like this.
This year's exam was turning out to be more interesting than usual.
Not long after, Emiya and Robin reached the exit.
A foggy, damp wetland spread out before them.
"What is this place?" Robin asked.
"The only path to the second test venue. The Milsy Wetlands. Also known as the Swindler's Swamp. Strange and exotic beasts that don't exist outside live here."
"Then why is it called the Swindler's Swamp?"
"Because many of those creatures are cunning. They deceive humans and eat them. A lot of people lose their lives here."
"I see."
Robin nodded in understanding.
"But there are also plenty of good things here," Emiya said. "Let's take a look."
Without waiting for the examiner to arrive, he led Robin into the swamp.
Robin asked, "What kind of good things?"
"You'll see soon."
Once they entered, thick fog quickly obscured their vision.
But with Observation Haki, neither of them was affected.
Emiya soon found what he was looking for.
"Over there."
He led Robin forward.
A giant turtle came into view.
Human-shaped strawberries grew on its shell.
"What's that?" Robin asked.
"One of the wetland's specialties. The Man-Eating Turtle. It moves through the fog and uses those strawberries to lure people in before eating them."
As he spoke, a Nen-formed hand flew out, plucked several giant strawberries, and returned.
Each one was about the size of a human head, looking incredibly tempting.
Emiya handed one to Robin.
"Try it. It should taste good."
Robin took it, then glanced at the turtle crawling toward them.
"Before eating, shouldn't you deal with that first?"
"No problem."
Emiya's Nen flipped the Man-Eating Turtle onto its back.
With all four limbs flailing uselessly, it couldn't attack them.
He sliced the strawberry into a dozen uneven pieces with Nen, picked one up, and put it into his mouth.
Sweet.
That was the first impression.
There was also a hint of sourness beneath it.
The flavors blended perfectly. Better than any strawberry he'd ever eaten.
As expected of a strange and exotic beast.
The strawberries growing on its shell were naturally rare.
If this were the world of Toriko, the Man-Eating Turtle would have a capture level of at least two.
"Your turn," Emiya said, offering Robin a piece.
She took a bite and nodded.
"It's really delicious."
After finishing the strawberry, Emiya found several more Man-Eating Turtles and collected all the fruit from their backs.
He returned to the DanMachi world and gave them to Erina Nakiri.
Then he came back to the wetlands and continued searching for other delicacies.
In the original plot, the dangerous creatures here included Man-Eating Turtles, Human-Faced Apes, Waiting Giant Frogs, Hypnotic Butterflies, Landmine Mushrooms, Lying Crows, and more.
But a wetland this large obviously held far more than that.
As Emiya wandered deeper, he encountered many dangerous beasts that never appeared in the plot.
The one that left the deepest impression on him was a venomous snake.
Its body could change color like a chameleon.
It could even conceal its life aura.
When Emiya first saw it, he thought it was just an ordinary tree branch.
He walked past it casually.
Then it suddenly launched an attack from behind him.
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