Chapter 9: Sushi X and X Fishing
"Delicious! Oh, This one as well! Mmm~ very nice " Inside the exam hall for the second phase of the Hunter Exam there was only silence except for the sounds of someone scarfing down food. The sound of eating was only interrupted by words of gratitude, only to return to the noisy sound of eating. Many contestants were stunned by how quickly Buhara was gorging himself on the wild pigs that were already many times their size. However, after eating the last pig presented by an examinee Buhara let out a sigh of satisfaction.
*Burp!* "Ah~ what a great meal everyone! I am finally full!" after saying so he closed his eyes and leaned back on the comically large pile of pig skeletons using it as a makeshift backrest.
*Bong~~* seeing that her fellow examiner was done, Menchi struck the gong to her left side.
"Finished! 58 whole roasted pigs completed and delivered!" having delivered the announcement Menchi stepped off the stage as she began prepping the next phase. During this time the examinees began to converse.
{P.o.V Change]
'It seems like fewer people passed the first part of the exam, I suppose it was because I didn't monologue about its weakness out loud so nearly everyone could pass?' was all I could really piece together, seriously what is it with anime protagonists announcing the solutions to problems so mob characters could survive longer?
"Just as expected, Hunters are truly capable people arent they?" snapping out of my reverie I looked down at Gon who seemed weirdly impressed with Buhara's feat of eating.
"yeah…Though I don't think I want to be like that" was all Killua could say in response to Gon's overall enthusiasm.
"The human body cannot even physically eat that much… I should know I am studying to become a FUCKING DOCTOR!!" on the other hand, Leorio was going through the five stages of grief for whatever reason…
"Just don't think about it" was the universal fix-all counseling coming from Kurapika.
"So the clown that has… 'interesting' sexual preferences who killed an entire group of armed men with a playing card wasn't that crazy? However, some guy eating a lot of food is? The man's like 10 feet tall…seems realistic enough" was all I could contribute to the topic
" "I mean… eheheh…" " was the joint response of the group, with the exception of Killua who seemed indifferent to the situation.
"Oh? It looks like the examiner is stepping back up on stage" said another contestant who was nearby our group, after hearing him we all looked to the stage to see Menchi walk towards the center of the stage.
*Bong!* striking the gong again, Menchi got everyone's attention.
'What's with her and that gong? It's like the fifth time hitting it within a span of 10 minutes…' I complained in my mind with a slight frown on my face
"I want everyone to know that I am not like Buhara; I'm going to be a little harder to please! I'm going to judge strictly as well. Therefore, for the second half of the second exam, my menu item will be… Sushi!" she excitedly exclaimed, looking forward to the creative dishes that will be created by the examinees.
" " "..." " " on the other hand, said contestants were in a state of silent confusion. Having never heard of the dish they had no idea what it was they were supposed to be doing.
"Hu Hu~ you all seem quite perplexed hmm? Well, it's not all that surprising, it's a traditional dish of the formerly isolationist island country of Jappon! Well, I might as well give everyone a hint to level the playing field… first look to your prepared cooking stations!" the examiner smugly informed everyone
"All necessary ingredients and utensils have been prepared for you alongside the main ingredient, Sushi rice, has been placed at all your workstations. As for the biggest hint, I will only be accepting Nigiri Sushi, the kind made by pressing the rice with your hand." with that she began to walk back towards her seat beside Buhara, though before she left she turned around and addressed the crowd.
"Alright, begin!! The exam will end when I am full. Until then, you can make as many dishes as you want!" having said everything she needed, Menchi sat down in her chair and crossed one leg over the other as she began to inspect the movements of the examinees.
{slight time skip}
"So we need to source some sort of fish… Does anyone know how to navigate towards that lake we saw during the hunt for pigs?" after being assigned sushi as our dish our group went out of the exam hall back towards the forest to procure ingredients
"I only know basic orienteering skills… and I don't have a compass or a map of the area. I think this is more of Gon's area? I mean you have been carrying that fishing rod around the whole time no?" I suggested
"Un! I can smell the scent of the lake blowing in the wind most likely." after saying so Gon stood still and closed his eyes to sniff out the location. And after a moment pointed a bit to our left, after doing so we began to move towards the presumed location of the lake.
"Huh, the nose of yours sure is convenient no? Well, now we need to get our fish… since we all collectively know nothing about cooking let's just grab any old fish and try to make something passable?" I said unsure of what to do, I never liked seafood in my past life so I really only know what sushi looked like and not went into it. Even my limited cooking skills don't encompass seafood so we really have to hope that there will be a redo on the second exam.
" I guess… Gon can you fish them out for us? Speed is of great importance, unlike the other examiner I am afraid Menchi-San may get full quickly. That is why we should try to get back to cook as soon as possible." suggested Kurapika, who was also concerned about his lack of knowledge concerning the dish.
"Yeah I can hook a few fishes for us, how many do we want?" replied Gon as he began to take off his backpack and prepare his fishing equipment.
"Maybe we should try to pick any wild ingredients around here while Gon fishes? Might as well try something to make our dishes stand out?" I proposed, seeing as we were all sitting around doing nothing while Gon did everything.
"Hmm? Sure, sounds good to me." was Leorio's response to the idea. Following that the four of us rooted around the nearby greenery looking for anything usable for a good while.
AN: Sorry for the late update, I wrote about half of this last night but I have been procrastinating finishing it today. It also did not help that I have been spread thin with late semester work from my college. I will upload sometime tomorrow though. Besides that, I will try to finish the second phase sooner than later as I never really liked that part in particular. I am looking forward to the trick tower part though as I want to split the mc from the main group during that part.
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