In the crowd, Illumi—who had been absentmindedly tilting his head bad forth, produg faint "click-click" sounds—suddenly stopped. His expression, which had remained ral up until now, turned slightly curious. "...Larry." Where had he heard that name before?

  Satotz quickly snapped out of his initial shock, forcibly reining in his posure. He cleared his throat and turned back to the room, now filled with murmuring examinees. With a firm, authoritative voice, he cut through the he Hunter Exam has now officially begun."

  Instantly, the room fell silent. Satotz sed the crowd with sharp eyes. "One final warning." His voice was steady, carrying across the hall. "This exam is not for the weak. If you ck the skills or the luck to survive, you will be injured—or worse, you will die." A brief pause. "This is your st ce to turn back. If you wish to withdraw, you may take the elevator back up now."

  Silenot a single person moved. "...Good." Satotz adjusted his tie, then raised his head. "In that case…" All 405 of you will proceed to the First Phase."

  Normally, there should have been 406 didates in the exam now that Larry had joined. But befon and the others had even fialking to Dongba, an unfortunate partit had already been taken out—his arms crushed by an irritated Hisoka.

  So by the time Satotz made his official annou, the number had quietly dropped to 405. Then, without further dey, Satotz suddenly turned around and—ran. His movements were unnatural, almost puppet-like, as he spread his arms and legs in an oddly stiff yet fluid manner. "For the first phase of the exam, follow me to the location!" he decred, his voice carrying through the tunnel.

  The didates took off immediately, surging forward like an unstoppable tide. From above, the endless wave of runners looked like a massive swarm, stretg into the distance. Larry g the crowd around him and sighed. "Hah… Yeah, no thanks. This kind of b running is exactly why having a mount is so useful."

  Muttering to himself, he casually reached out."HEY! What the hell is that?!""Damn, am I seeing things?!""Is this some kind of magic trick?! How did something that big just appear?!"

  At the front of the crowd, right o Satotz, a massive e beast suddenly materialized like a fsh of light, keeping pace effortlessly with the examiner. It was Are. Its thick, fiery-e fur looked warm and soft, almost too perfect to be real. Its massive bck-striped tail swayed rhythmically behind it, and every step it took was both elegant and powerful. And perched fortably on its back, looking pletely at ease, was Larry.

  Jogging at his own pace, Hisoka tilted his head slightly and gazed at the creature. His sharp, narrow eyes fshed with undisguised i. "...A Ne?" To the ordinary partits, the sudden appearance of Are was nothing more than a sleight of hand—some fshy trick that made no sense. But to Nen users, it was something far more terrifying. Especially to Hisoka.

  The sight of this majestic beast instantly brought back the memory of that monstrous steel-pted creature he had entered earlier. Hisoka was certain. This too… was Larry’s beast. And even though it seemed more docile than the previous ohe sheer pressure radiating from Are was undeniable. It was strohan him. Even the dog Larry was riding… was strohan him. Hisoka’s lips curled into a twisted smile. The more he looked at Larry—his rexed posture, his easy-going expression, the carefree way he rode his beast while others struggled to run—the more terrifying the gap between them seemed. "Mr. Larry… is this also a Ne?" Satotz's voice wavered slightly as he turo g the giant dog running beside him.

  The hot air it exhaled was enough to distort the space around its breath, creating a visible heatwave iunnel. Even though it wasn’t doing anything threatening, Satotz couldn’t help but feel its presence pressing down on him. A chill ran down his spihis beast… was dangerous.’ Even his normally fluid running rhythm stuttered slightly. What Satotz didn’t know was that Are had a natural "Intimidation" ability.

  Eve wasn’t trying to exert pressure, its sheer presence was enough to ule people around it. A, Larry simply patted its head and grinned. "Yeah, this is Are. It’s my mount. Cute, right?" He ruffled the thick, fluffy fur on its head with both hands, clearly enjoying the sensation.

  "WOOF!" Are let out a happy bark, its massive tail wagging so fast it blurred. Sparks of electricity crackled from its mouth. Satotz could only stare. Larry etting a creature that exuded a preserohan most Hunters.

  At this point, Satotz was numb to being surprised by Larry. But there was ohing that had genuinely caught him off guard earlier. Larry… wasn’t even a Hunter yet.

  Just moments ago, in front of everyone, Satotz had uionally revealed his shock at seeing Larry here. The reason? He had assumed Larry was already a lised Hunter. Just like Menchi before him, he had taken one look at Larry and believed he was someone who had passed the exam long ago. The idea that someone like him was only now taking the Hunter Exam was absurd. A, here he was.

  As if reading his thoughts, Larry raised an eyebrow. "Hmm? What is it?"

  Satotz snapped out of it and exhaled. "Actually, Mr. Larry, there’s something I should inform you about." Larry g him curiously. "After Pyorn and I submitted our reports about your past achievements, the Hunter Association reviewed them. As a result, they’ve officially drafted your merits and submitted a proposal for your rank."

  Larry’s eyebrow twitched slightly. "My merits?"

  "Yes. You’ve made three major tributions. First, you elimihe Death aura iing the Karym Ruins, also known as the 'Land of Death.' Sed, you purged the lingerih aura from the Solvren Ruins. And finally, you took down two S-Css criminals from the infamous 'Seven Deadly Sins'—Envy and Wrath. Given the significe of these achievements, the Association has deemed your tributions exceptional." He paused briefly, the out a wry smile. "Because of that… they’ve decided to directly promote you to a Two-Star Ruins Hunter."

  Larry blinked. "...Huh?" To bee a Oar Hunter, you had to make a major tribution in a specific field. To reach Two-Star, you o train a Oar Hunter as your disciple—airely different level of prestige. But Larry… had skipped all of that. His achievements were so overwhelming that the Association had decided to make an exception and award him the Two-Star status directly. It was unpreted.