"Hello."
Roy returned a smile. He sat cross-legged on the chair and also took out a book to read seriously. It wasn't a travelogue, however, but his grandfather Zigg's notebook. He flipped to the "Fishing Without a Hook" page and studied it carefully.
The 50 points of "Life Energy" gained from killing Meritonio were temporarily stored in the panel. The waiting hall was crowded and full of prying eyes, most of whom were candidates for the Hunter exam. They were all competitors. Rushing to absorb it and putting himself into a temporary state of weakness was not a wise choice.
Even with Gotoh on guard beside him.
Ding-dong... The airport broadcast announced that it was now ten o'clock at night.
More and more people poured into the waiting hall. At a certain moment, Roy's gaze shifted slightly, and he looked towards the entrance...
Two tall figures, one on the left and one on the right, guarded a young man as he walked in through security, attracting the attention of many people.
The young man also had beautiful blond hair, a straight back, exquisite clothes, and a standard handsome face, like one of those celebrities from his previous life just stepping out, accompanied by two bodyguards. With a slight smile, he charmed a crowd of young female fans.
"All three are Nen users," Gotoh whispered, noticing Roy's gaze.
It was just as he said...
The trio's "aura" was released without any concealment, as if afraid others wouldn't know. The young man was the most arrogant of them; the "aura" visible above his head was as thick as a water bucket.
Roy stared at the young man noncommittally for a while. He seemed strangely familiar, as if he had seen him somewhere before.
The blond youth's intuition was indeed sharp enough. He also swept his gaze over, the corner of his mouth pulling up into a smile...
"Hey, little Hill. You smiled. I told you, you should smile more. That way, we can also bask in the adoring gazes of the girls..."
"Shut up, Clark!" The thin bodyguard reprimanded the fat bodyguard. He frowned at the youth and said, "Pariston, what did you find?"
Based on his understanding of the blond youth, the other party wouldn't make a meaningless gesture. A sudden smile meant someone was about to suffer misfortune,
Or was on the way to suffering misfortune.
"I found someone interesting..."
The blond youth retracted his gaze and stepped on a leather ball that was rolling towards him... The huge waiting hall wasn't just filled with Hunter exam candidates. A father and son were taking flight "L754" to the Gukanyu Kingdom. They were passing the time before boarding by kicking the ball around.
Unfortunately, the little boy failed to stop the ball, and it rolled straight between his legs, ending up right at the blond youth's feet... He said very politely, "Big brother, can you please give me back my ball?"
The blond youth smiled gently. "Alright."
He lifted his foot and stomped down hard. Then... BANG!
The leather ball was directly burst by his foot. Bits of rubber flew everywhere. All that remained was a small, pointed leather shoe and the little boy,
staring blankly!
"Waaah...." After three seconds, the boy burst into tears... The blond youth's eyebrows rose, and he revealed an expression of extreme enjoyment.
'Destruction... The cuter something is, the more it must be destroyed... Ah... Subarashii...'
He spread his arms, lifted his chin, and closed his eyes. The boy's father angrily confronted him, but was pushed aside with one slap by the fat bodyguard named Clark...
"Who is this guy? His personality is so vile..."
"Damn, he's so punchable..."
"Keep it down, don't let him hear. I guess he's some rich young master from some corporation, here for the Hunter exam just for thrills..."
The whispers swelled... The boy's father, having been slapped, knew he couldn't afford to provoke them and hurriedly fled with his child.
Gathering everyone's gazes, the blond youth felt no shame. Instead, he seemed to enjoy it even more, as if...
From the moment he stepped into the waiting hall, this place had become his "performance" stage, and everyone's reactions were part of his calculations.
This still didn't seem to satisfy him. The youth opened his eyes, cleared his throat, and looked around. He placed his right hand on his chest, bowed to everyone, and then straightened up, announcing loudly, "Hello everyone. Please allow me to introduce myself."
"My name is Pariston Hill, and I am a candidate for this year's Hunter exam. I'd like to ask everyone for a small favor."
The youth paused, noticing that everyone looked at him when he mentioned the Hunter exam. He smiled with satisfaction. "Please, everyone, withdraw from this year's Hunter exam. Ensure that I can pass."
Shhh— It was as if someone had hit the mute button on the waiting hall. It instantly fell silent.
The man wrapped in bandages... the snake charmer with a cobra around his neck... the bare-chested muscular man... the bald man dressed as a ninja... every single one of them frowned.
Including... the girl sitting to Roy's right. She finally seemed willing to pull her attention away from the travelogue in her hands. Her brow furrowed as she looked at the youth, and two words could faintly be heard from her mouth—'Scum!'
That's right, scum!
Gotoh deeply agreed. He reckoned that anyone present who was a sane, normal person was thinking the same thing. He pushed up the glasses on his nose and subtly moved closer to Roy, glancing over with the corner of his eye...
The young master was watching this scene quietly. He seemed... surprised?
It was indeed... somewhat beyond Roy's expectations.
He really hadn't expected to run into the infamous Vice Chairman of the Hunter Association, the future Zodiac Rat, in this exam. Two of his famous quotes couldn't help but surface in his mind.
"I'm the kind of person who only feels happy when hated."
"Honestly, as soon as I see something cute, I can't control the urge to hurt it, and for no reason at all."
Pariston said it, and he certainly did it. In the Chimera Ant arc, his scheming to get Netero killed... it couldn't be said that he and Beyond didn't have a hand in it. What was even more ironic was that one was the "capable subordinate" Netero personally promoted, specifically to oppose him and find some fun, and the other was the rebellious son who would do anything to go to the Dark Continent...
"Humanity's Strongest"... he really had his hands full in this life.
"Who the hell do you think you are? Telling us to withdraw just because you said so? Do you think the Hunter exam is run by your family?!"
"Young people these days just don't know their place. They think they can solve everything just because their family has some stinking money. It's ridiculous."
"Hey! If you've got the guts, come spar with me! Let me see what you're made of, daring to talk so big!"
An uproar exploded! Pariston had incurred public anger!
If looks could kill, there was no doubt... he would be sliced to death on the spot, not even bone fragments would be left!
'But... this is exactly what he wanted...'
'Subarashii... That's right... this is the feeling... Hate me... despise me... Please, let the curses come even more fiercely...'
The blond youth buried his head, enjoying it immensely, trying hard not to let himself laugh too loudly. When he looked up again,
he raised one finger, scanned the room, made a "shh" gesture, and said sincerely:
"I think everyone has misunderstood me... I... I'm just helping everyone save time. After all—"
"Everyone sitting here is trash, right?"