Hunter X Hunter: Grounded

Chapter 48



….
In the end, Machi and Sub have just some casual talk. Karla glares now and then, but he doesn't mind this while Machi is slightly put out by it. This is due to Karla's strength raising. It is already comparable… and even beyond Machi if only raw power is taken into account.


This is the difference in talent, because while Sub can keep up and surpass Karla due to his ability to always work hard with no problem. Machi isn't like that at all, because while she is very talented, compared to Karla she just seems about average.


Fwish!


That is when out of nowhere, from most people's view a petite older woman wearing a karate uniform appears. She has a calm look on her face and pulls out a brown pot as she says. "Take a paper from this pot, the ones who have a red tip you will be allowed to pass in the next round.."


Everyone lines up and starts walking forward while Sub frowns at this slightly and looks forward. This isn't a test of anything, it just depends on luck. 


'At least on the surface.' Contemplates Sub, in the end, he thinks and decides to go to take a paper. If he gets it wrong he will just take it from someone else who got it wrong. 


….
He is at the middle of the line and as his turn comes along he frowns as the selection truly seems based on luck. Some had a red paper and some a white one. It isn't dependent on strength at all, as some weak people had a red while some muscular people had white.


"Oy! Old hag! What the hell is up with this?!!" Yells out one of the contestants, he seems like some type of bodybuilder while another person next to him also nods at it.


The old woman doesn't even look at them. "Those are the rules, if you don't like them try next time."


"You damn old hag!!" Yells out one of them as they both charge at the petite old woman. Sub just looks at this from the sidelines not planning to get involved. Saving the lives of the two guys just sounds like a lot of work to him.


Baaam!!


With one gaze and the old woman can easily push away the people, the guys break some bones as they smash into the wall.


'Emitter.' Sub immediately analyzes her most likely affinity. She used a Nen wave to push the two guys away and was delicate enough to not kill them immediately.


In the end, Sub just goes forward and he picks up a slip of paper from the urn. Which is positioned in a way in which he can't see anything.


His eyes widen as his fingers clasp into a paper. The old petite woman smiles.


'The paper sucks a minuscule amount of Aura and it turns the paper red. This is a test that needs someone to have at least an average amount of talent in Nen or someone who can already use Nen.' Analyzes Sub, understanding what this old woman is looking for.


He is no longer worried about whether Karla will pass this part of the exam or not. She will pass.


…
Half an hour later and every one of the hundreds of contestants has finished the exam. Around half of them passed. 


Sub looks at Karla and nods. She gets the message also, His gaze lands for a split second on a man wearing a karate uniform and he is wearing a big panda bear head costume, just the head part. While in his arms he is holding a puppet. This is the 4th Nen user, the one that Sub doesn't know about.


No one else is looking so Karla has her bandages dig underground and as the man is leaning on a wall, without anyone noticing bandages wrap around his neck.


*COUGH*

*crack*


Sub coughs out loudly as the man's neck is broken by Karla. While at the same time she uses her bandages to keep his body posture straight and due to the plushie panda head he was wearing no one can see his face and notice that he is dead.


Only Machi noticed this, and she did so because she was already paying attention to Sub and Karla. She just shrugs at that, the three of them grew up learning assassination. But something even stranger happens because while Machi looked away from the man's dead body for a split second it no longer was there. 


'How did they do that?!!' Machi is shocked at that but on the outside, she is still calm. 

Sub smirks at this, he just used his weak earth manipulation to bury the body in the wall. He also made sure no one saw what happened, even the old woman didn't notice… at least yet. By the time she notices anything, she won't know who exactly did it. 


….
The next challenge is even weirder as everyone walks into some dojo room with different machines all around. There were three types of machines, a punching machine, a rock-paper-scissor machine, and a Karaoke machine.



The rules were simple this time also, only those who get a score higher than a twenty in two of the machines will be able to pass.


The old woman narrows her eyes as she looks at Sub, Karla, and Machi. She already noticed the dead man, the cameras were all covered by rocks 'coincidentally' as they fell at that time. She knows that one of them did it but doesn't say anything in the end.

'Well, they are Arlon's problem now.' Thinks the old woman as a man with an old-style punkish style of clothes comes in and a very outdated haircut.


"Oy! You brats!!" Calls out the man, an angry look on his face. 


As they hear that the contestants start whispering between each other.

"Wuh? What did we do?"


"Why is he angry for nothing?"


"Also… that haircut… wasn't it out of style years ago?"


"WHAT THE HELL DID YOU ALL SAY?!!" Yells the exam proctor.


The petite old woman sighs at this and walks away. 


…
Like the previous time, Sub waits for the others to go first. Immediately he sees that not even ⅓ people pass. Making it only around fifty who seem probable to pass. The highest score in a machine up till now is a thirty 


Sub goes there first of his team and casually punches forward.


BAAM!!


The score climbs up to 175, shocking everyone in there. 


"What the hell?!! That kid got such a high score!!" 


"He looks like a kid… but look at muscular body though." 


"Yeah, he seems like someone who trains."


"You think he is one of those people that is trained from birth?"


"Probably."


People from the sidelines continue talking with each other. Sub ignores them all. Machi goes next, and unlike Sub which does it casually, she takes a deep breath before punching. She gets a score of 115.

Karla goes next and she has a mischievous look in her eyes. She uses a little Nen to enhance the power of her punch, making her score 150. This makes her smile triumphantly.


Sub only smirks, he can see that Machi is stronger physically than Karla. After all, not only is she older, but Machi always has had some abnormal strength. She is stronger than Chrollo physically and always beats him in arm wrestling competitions. Also as a Transmuter, Machi has an 80% compatibility with Enhancement.


….
The other scores are also high, Sub doesn't try the Karaoke part of the exam because he didn't need to. Also, he isn't exactly confident in his singing. 


The examiner just couldn't stop laughing as he sees some people trying the karaoke machine… he also calls them names as most of them have horrible voices. 


Sub can see that the man most likely put the karaoke machine for fun in here.


…
The next part is with an exam proctor that looks like a caveman. He says to the people that they just need to pass through this forest and reach the other side.


Sub, Machi, and Karla team up and charge straight through it. 

…

In the middle of the journey, they meet a giant gorilla who talks. "Stop where you are!! If you wanna pass there are two ways, either by answering my riddle or you will have to defeat me."


Baaam!!


Sub doesn't even wait as he punches the giant gorilla in the chin with enough power to knock it out as the gorilla's brain rockets through inside his skull. 



Then they continue their charge, they are all on a whole other level. They already know Nen and are extremely skilled at it, so now the exam is extremely easy.


….
When they arrive at the end of the forest they see a giant resort building with the caveman-looking exam proctor. 


"You defeated Brock?" The man seems slightly surprised that they were able to beat his strongest defender. But once he sees their Auras… he calms down and a slight chill appears inside his heart. 'Damn… three monsters like them appeared this year. I don't think this has ever happened before.'


"Anyway, you can rest till the others arrive." Says the man, as he points with his thumb at the building behind him.



….
Two days and finally five other people come out of the forest. Sub can already guess that most of them likely got killed by some poisonous animals. 


As that happened, every one of them is called in the hallway of the resort building. Sub, Karla, and Machi looked completely relaxed as they had spent some time swimming in the pool and playing around most of the time. 

"Okay now… this is the final part of the exam." Says a man behind, this makes Sub's heart almost stops beating in panic as he turns around.


There he sees Netero with a playful look on his face. Like he didn't know how he made everyone panic. 


Sub's fist clenches at this. He can still instinctively feel it. The difference between him and the old man in front of him… is still too huge.


Machi has a strange frown on her face as she feels a strange chill in her heart as she looks at the old man in front of her.