Chapter 58: Gon's Signature Omelet Rice
"Um… could you please go on?" Osren interrupted softly, his voice calm yet firm enough to cut through the rising murmur of complaints. His timing was perfect — defusing chaos before it escalated.
Menchi blinked, caught slightly off guard by the boy's polite tone.
"Yes, please continue," Gon added quickly, nodding earnestly beside him.
Menchi exhaled, then straightened her posture and explained, "It's simple — the exam ends when we've eaten our fill. As long as both of us think your dish tastes good, you pass."
Her eyes flicked toward Osren again — perhaps curious about the calm young man who'd spoken up instead of shouting like the others. For once, she didn't sound irritated.
---
"The big guy looks like he can eat a horse," Hanzo muttered, side-eyeing Buhara's mountain-sized frame. "But the lady… not so much. That means most people here are doomed."
He crossed his arms, muttering on as usual. The man could turn any situation into a podcast.
"Tch… I've never cooked anything in my life," Leorio groaned, rubbing the back of his neck. "When you grow up broke, you eat whatever you can find — but cooking? Nope. That's new territory."
Kurapika's expression was unusually serious. "I didn't expect a cooking test," he murmured, brow furrowed. "This might be harder to analyze than any combat scenario."
---
"I've eaten Osren's cooking before — it's amazing!" Gon said brightly, eyes shining. "We can follow his lead. I can cook too!"
Leorio perked up immediately. "You can? Osren, buddy, you gotta teach me. Please."
Osren chuckled softly. "Don't worry. Just watch me when the time comes. But trust me — the cooking part won't be the hardest challenge. Finding proper ingredients will."
"That… actually makes sense," Kurapika admitted. "This is a Hunter Exam, after all. If it were just simple cooking, the difficulty would be too low."
"Exactly," Osren replied.
"Then we stick together," Kurapika concluded, and the others nodded in agreement.
"Killua, you're with us too," Osren added, glancing toward the silver-haired boy standing off to the side.
Killua hesitated for a moment, then smirked. "Sure. Feels better to stick with friends anyway."
But something still tugged at his curiosity. "Hey, Gon," he asked casually, "you said you can cook too? What can you actually make?"
He'd tasted Osren's food before — simple, clean, dangerously good.
But Gon? He didn't exactly strike Killua as the type to hang around a stove.
If Gon really could cook, then that meant… Killua was now tied for last place with Leorio in the "domestic skills" department.
He didn't like that thought one bit.
Leorio looked equally intrigued. "Yeah, you don't look like the cooking type. What can you make?"
Gon puffed up proudly, his grin dazzlingly bright. "I can make a lot of things! But my best dish is Special Omelet Rice!"
For a moment, everyone froze.
Leorio blinked, rubbing his temples. "Did I… did I just hear that right? Omelet rice? That's your specialty?"
Kurapika smiled awkwardly, always the diplomat. "Well… technically, that is cooking…"
But before he could finish, Leorio burst out laughing, one hand covering his eyes like he couldn't bear to look. "Hah! C'mon, seriously? That's the best you've got? Anyone can make omelet rice!"
Gon's face puffed up indignantly. "That's not true! Aunt Mito says my Special Omelet Rice is amazing! And Osren said it was delicious too!"
He turned to Osren with an expectant look, his wide green eyes shining with childish pride.
Osren chuckled, raising his hands in mock surrender. "He's right. It was delicious."
The others stared at him in disbelief.
Killua groaned. "You're kidding."
Kurapika smiled faintly. "Somehow, I believe it."
Leorio just sighed dramatically. "Great. Our survival in the Second Phase depends on omelet rice. We're doomed."
Osren only smirked and said, "Don't underestimate a simple dish, Leorio. Sometimes, the simplest things can change the game — if done right."
And as the heavy forest air filled with tension and the smell of wild herbs, Gon's determined grin said it all —
Whatever this test turned out to be, he was ready to give it everything he had.
Even if that meant conquering the Hunter Exam…
with an omelet.
---
Killua didn't know much about cooking, but he had heard of omelet rice. No matter how "special" it was, it was still just… omelet rice, right?
Still, watching Gon go on so enthusiastically about it — his eyes bright, his smile innocent — Killua couldn't help feeling oddly amused. Somehow, Gon's excitement was contagious.
"Gon's Special Omelet Rice," Osren said, his lips curling in a knowing grin, "isn't just food — it's the fighter jet of omelet rice. Trust me, it's surprisingly good."
The others blinked, half-skeptical, half-intrigued.
"Alright, you've convinced me," Leorio said, rubbing his chin. "Next time we've got a proper kitchen, you're making it for us. But I doubt today's test involves that. No way the exam's about omelet rice."
That thought alone was ridiculous enough to make him shake his head.
"I'd like to try it too," Kurapika added, smiling warmly. He didn't know if it really was that good — but if Osren vouched for it, it must be. And even if not, he wasn't about to crush Gon's cheerful spirit.
"I want some too," Killua said suddenly, his tone light, lips quirking upward. "If it's good enough for them to brag about, I'm not missing out."
"Really?" Gon's whole face lit up with delight. "Then I'll make it for everyone next time!"
He looked genuinely happy — for him, cooking wasn't just feeding people; it was sharing joy.
And then, the mountain moved. Literally.
"Well then," rumbled a deep, thunderous voice. Buhara rose from his seat, his shadow spilling over the clearing. "The dish I want is… a whole roasted pig!"
The ground actually trembled as he stood. With his enormous frame and booming voice, he didn't just enter a room — he rearranged the landscape.
Just from the way he looked, no one doubted for a second that this man was a Gourmet Hunter.
---
"Did he just say… roast a whole pig?" Hanzo's jaw went slack. The idea of each person roasting an entire pig was so absurd that his brain refused to process it.
"Osren," Gon whispered, tugging his sleeve. "Is roasting a pig the same as grilling fish?"
It was an innocent question — one that made Killua snort.
Osren chuckled. "More or less. But there are quite a few differences. Just watch me later; it's easier to show than explain."
"Got it," Gon said, nodding seriously as if preparing for battle.
Leorio, Killua, and Kurapika all let out a subtle sigh of relief. Cooking wasn't their thing — they'd rather fight monsters than deal with seasoning and temperature control.
---
"This is my favorite food," Buhara declared dreamily, his voice reverberating through the clearing.
The way his eyes sparkled — and the drool glistening at the corner of his mouth — made it clear this wasn't just a craving. This was true love.
"And not just any pig," he continued, holding up a finger for emphasis. "I want the most ferocious beast in this entire forest — the Great Stamp!"
The crowd collectively froze.
"The… what?" someone whispered.
Even Osren raised an eyebrow.
Apparently, "ferocious" was an understatement — these boars were infamous. Massive, aggressive, and fast enough to tear through trees, they were the apex predators of Bisca Forest.
Of course, to Buhara, they were just… dinner.
He was practically drooling at the thought, eyes glazing over as he imagined dozens of perfectly roasted boars laid out before him, skin crisp, aroma filling the air.
His stomach growled like thunder in approval.
---
"'Great Stamp?'" Most of the examinees looked utterly lost.
They wouldn't be confused for long.
Reality was about to give them a very personal introduction to the creature in question.
Osren glanced toward the treeline, where the undergrowth began to tremble.
"Well," he murmured, cracking a faint grin, "looks like it's showtime."