Hunter x Hunter: Infinite Growth

"Alright, everyone, I am the examiner for the second exam. You can call me Captain."

At this point, the second examiner spoke.

"The second test begins the moment the ship sets sail. This test is simple: the ship will sail at sea for three days and three nights, and if all goes well, it will reach its destination on the morning of the fourth day, which is the location of the third test."

"However, resources on the ship are limited. There are only two hundred boxed meals prepared in this box next to me. Each person can only take one box. I will throw away the rest in front of everyone."

"The staff area is separate from your activity area. There are no supplies on the ship. All you have to do is hold on until you reach your destination."

"Remember, each person can only take one item. No stealing from others or fighting is allowed. I wish you all a smooth few days."

After saying that, the captain and Wahachi walked towards the captain's cabin without looking back.

A staff member wearing sunglasses and a black suit handed out boxed lunches to the test takers one by one. Immediately afterwards, some people grabbed their lunches and hurriedly ran downstairs.

There are also some people who didn't look for available tools at the beginning, or who rushed to arrive just before departure.

Kevin and the others were not in a hurry, standing on the deck watching the rising sun over the sea.

They were already fully prepared and had selected the necessary items.

"Ah, what a rare and beautiful sight! My inspiration flows like a spring," Basho suddenly exclaimed poetically.

Ignoring the strange looks from the three people around him, he pulled out a long, narrow notebook from somewhere, picked up a pen, and started writing.

After finishing writing, he muttered to himself.

"Standing at the bow of the ship, the sun shines brightly on the ocean, and the sea surface ripples with the wind and waves."

After reading it aloud, he was extremely captivated, his voice lowering slightly: "Perfect, simply too perfect."

"What is this?" Kevin asked, puzzled. To be honest, he didn't understand what kind of literature it was.

"Haiku, a form of poetry from my hometown, I think I did a good job, right?" Basho was clearly satisfied with his work, and confidently turned to ask, "What do you guys think?"

Kate silently pulled his newsboy cap down a little. Although he came from and grew up in the slums, he had still managed to learn quite a bit on his own later in life.

Forgive him, perhaps he did not receive a good education from childhood and could not understand Basho's "masterpiece".

Gorenu managed to squeeze out a few words: "It's...okay."

Although he didn't know what haiku was, he couldn't bring himself to call it "good".

Kevin was quite obliging, asking, "Is it a form of poetry? It sounds like a 5-7-5 format. But it can't be that simple, can it?"

“Oh! You know quite a bit about this. On the surface, it’s just a syllable format, but of course there are more in-depth requirements, such as ‘seasonal words’ and ‘rhyme schemes’.” As he spoke, Basho enthusiastically chatted with the group about his favorite things.

"The format is as I just mentioned, consisting of 17 syllables in total, written in three lines. It also needs to include seasonal words, which are words or characters related to the seasons. In addition, it needs to include pauses created by particles, and it also needs to have lingering resonance."

He spoke eloquently, and the three listened quietly, for it was, after all, a sharing of knowledge.

"For example, in my hometown, there is a haiku poet with the same name as me. He has a work that, even when translated into standard language, is in a standard format: [Beside the quiet ancient pond, a frog jumps into the middle of the water with a splash.]."

He repeated it in his hometown dialect, which, although not the common language, sounded somewhat like Japanese that Kevin had heard before.

“Then this revision of the haiku you just wrote might better meet the requirements.” With that, Kevin made some changes: “Standing alone at the bow of the ship, the rising sun shatters the blue waves, and the ripples sway in the light.”

"Isn't this more poetic? It should also fit the format of haiku."

After listening, Basho fell silent.

Kate and Gorenu couldn't help but look at Kevin.

They had a general understanding of the format of haiku, and judging from the tone and expression of common language, Kevin's revised version was much better than Basho's original, and it was more like a poem with a classical charm.

They still don't understand, but at least it sounds better.

"You...you wouldn't happen to be some kind of haiku master, would you?" Basho's face was full of obvious surprise. The other person was able to create a work that was much better than his after only hearing a few simple explanations from him.

"It seems that's all my talent is worth," Basho said, somewhat disheartened.

However, before anyone could comfort him, he regained his energy, clenched his fist with a serious expression, and said, "I will not be discouraged. I will become a haiku saint, just like my name suggests."

After saying that, he picked up a comb and tidied his exaggerated airplane-shaped hair.

After a while, Kevin and the others leisurely returned to their room.

The room they chose was in a great location, with a balcony and close to the sea, making it convenient for fishing or escaping by boat afterwards.

They ate their boxed lunches casually, simply filling their stomachs.

Outside, the candidates had already begun to scheme and plot against each other.

Inside the captain's cabin, two examiners were observing the situation on the ship through a monitor screen.

“Those guys who arrived first are really taking it easy.” Wahachi looked at Kevin and the others’ relaxed appearance, then pointed to the details on the screen and said, “They took two pieces of rescue equipment. Looks like they’ve already guessed what you’re going to do next.”

The captain, arms crossed and a pipe dangling from his mouth, said nonchalantly, "What's so strange about that? If you observe carefully and pay attention to some details, you'll find that this ship might sink just before reaching its destination."

Moreover, he deliberately left some small clues as hints.

After all, this is an exam, and each examiner has a lot of autonomy to design the exam they are responsible for and to select candidates according to their own ideas.

The captain hopes that through this test, the candidates will understand what teamwork is, how to quickly find suitable teammates, how to identify whether teammates are trustworthy, and whether they can trust others.

Of course, the ability to think, observe, and respond is also a basic requirement, including the collection and analysis of intelligence.

"I'm really looking forward to it. I wonder how many people will pass this time," Wahachi muttered to himself, looking at the monitor screen.

This exam was a perfect opportunity for the Dongba priests.

He was, after all, a veteran who had taken thirty exams and had experienced all kinds of tests. In fact, many examiners had taken the exams with him.

He quickly found several other candidates who had also taken many exams, and the group gathered together.

"Hey, you guys have all noticed, haven't you? This ship is definitely going to sink. It seems none of you have any survival supplies," Dongba said to the group of five.

Such information is not difficult to deduce and analyze from existing information.

One of them looked at Dongba and replied directly, "When the ship sinks, some of the materials themselves can be used as rescue supplies."

For someone who is a good swimmer and considers themselves capable, this is really not something to worry about.

"Haha, even so, having some life-saving supplies is always better than nothing, isn't it?"

"What exactly are you trying to say?" We're all seasoned veterans; we both know what's going on.

Dongba revealed a sinister smile and said, "Let's play around with those new examinees. Although robbing is not allowed, it doesn't say stealing is not allowed either. And as long as you're not caught, it's not considered stealing."

Hunter exams have always had this rule: anything not explicitly prohibited is allowed.

"Besides, we can exchange items, right? There's no rule against candidates exchanging items." Dongba already had a detailed plan in mind.

"You're still as awful as ever." One of the older students curled his lip and said with some disdain, but he didn't refuse.

Soon, the group finished their discussion and went their separate ways.

At this point, Kevin and the others didn't stay in the room for long. After chatting together for a while, they went about their own business.

Kate seemed very confident in his fishing skills, so he took the fishing rod and sat on the balcony to start fishing.

The critical life-saving valves are kept in a guarded room.

They had clearly thought of that; they couldn't rob, but they could steal.

The rules state that fighting and looting are prohibited. Stealing while someone is guarding the property is considered robbery and will result in disqualification.

Once an item is stolen, the original owner cannot take it back, nor can they use force to retrieve it, because fighting is not allowed.

But apart from that, there are almost no other restrictions.

The banana leaves will remain in the room for the time being.

Kevin and Gorenu took five life jackets out, intending to exchange them with the other examinees.

“Now let’s think about what we need. First, we can confirm that there’s no fire or fire-starting materials on the ship. If we don’t want to eat only sashimi for the next few days, we’d better get some fire-starting equipment,” Kevin said.

Golinu nodded and recalled, "I saw one of the examinees carry a charcoal stove, but I don't know if they had any resources to start a fire." Golinu had a good memory, and from the beginning he had made a point of observing what everyone was holding.

They then searched for targets throughout the cruise ship.

This is a cruise ship, quite large in area, and according to its previous scale, it should have carried thousands of people when it set sail.

Currently, most areas are only used by about a hundred test takers, making them seem exceptionally empty.

When they got to the deck, they saw a group of examinees gathered in one area, talking to each other.

Each candidate held a different item in their hand.

Clearly, those who come here are not stupid; they have all come up with feasible ways to trade items here.

However, there were many useless items on the ship, and not everyone could get what they wanted.

Upon seeing Kevin and his group approaching with life jackets, some astute individuals immediately gathered around.

"Want to exchange? We have fishing nets here," asked a muscular man who looked burly; his number was 313.

Kevin shook his head and refused outright.

The muscular man didn't press the matter further, but simply nodded regretfully.

As soon as he left, someone else stepped forward and said, "I saw what you took—fishing rods and harpoons—so you must have plenty of food. I don't have any fire starters here, but... we have this."

As he spoke, the somewhat thin man took out the item he was going to exchange—a packaged set of condiment bottles.

"What's the use of this thing?" Gorenu curled his lip and said disdainfully.

The thin man was a little embarrassed, knowing that the item he had was of low value among all the items available for exchange.

After all, the entire exam only lasts three days and three nights, and most people have trouble even getting food, let alone exchanging precious items for his seasoning.

Only those who have no worries about food and drink would consider it.

"You can't say that. For those who need it, this is a very worthwhile product to exchange for," the thin man said, trying his best to sell it.

"So how do you plan to change it?" Kevin asked.

The skinny man's eyes lit up: "Three life jackets."

"Then you can keep it and season it yourself." Kevin completely ignored him.

"No, no, no, just two pieces, just two pieces," the thin man hurriedly said.

“One life jacket. If life jackets could be disassembled, I’d only give you half of one,” Kevin said bluntly.

The thin man still tried to argue: "I saw them all. These five items count as one item. Giving only one item is unreasonable."

"Are you going to change or not?" Kevin asked directly.

The value of these two things is obvious to anyone who isn't a fool.

"Change? Why not change?" With no other option, the thin man had to complete the exchange with Kevin.

Gorenu happily accepted the seasoning kit. Clearly, he didn't think it was useless, unlike he had initially appeared.

Soon, other people came over wanting to trade, but they were all things that were not very useful to Kevin and his friends, and in some ways, they were not as good as this seasoning kit.

For example, fire axes and various weapons are of limited use on a ship where fighting is prohibited. Moreover, Kevin and his men are far more capable than these melee weapons.

Dongba was also mingling in this small trading market, his eyes darting around. Many others shared his thoughts, including the examinees exchanging items; they too were searching for targets.

Before long, Gorenu found their target. However, what the other party offered in exchange was not the stove they wanted, but a radio.

There were even people with radios.

"You have a stove, right? How about we trade it?"

The other person looked at the two of them warily.

Kevin crouched down and said, "Don't rush to refuse. You should be able to tell that many people want to exchange these life jackets with us."

"I believe you're not stupid; you should understand what this means. These life jackets must be important. Observe carefully and think calmly, and you'll understand."

The other party clearly understood something as well, and after a little thought, they would know why so many people wanted to change into life jackets.

Many people guessed that the ship might sink, so life-saving equipment was hidden away carefully.

This is why many people wanted to trade things with Kevin and his group as soon as they appeared.

"I believe that as long as we have life jackets, we won't have trouble getting anything in return. It's just that your stove is more practical for us."

Clearly, this person was somewhat tempted.

But his companion frowned and said directly, "No, we don't need it. We just want to exchange it for this radio."

Upon hearing this, Kevin pursed his lips helplessly and shrugged.

If they're not tempted by this, it's clear that some of them have already received the rescue supplies.