Soon, as time passed, two hours had elapsed since the start. Many had already dropped out, and even among those still following, quite a few were starting to pant heavily.
Umaru, running beside Takeru, was also beginning to breathe heavily.
"Are you alright?" Takeru, whose demeanor hadn't changed from the start, asked Umaru.
"I'm fine. I just never imagined the first test alone would be this difficult. And most importantly, everyone here is so strong!" Hearing Takeru, Umaru replied with a sense of awe, looking at the people running around them.
At that moment, a little boy with greased-back hair, holding a notebook, ran ahead with a confident smile.
According to his calculations, this test was roughly 40 kilometers long, and they had already covered over 30 kilometers. He therefore deduced the finish line was just ahead.
'I underestimated the Hunter Exam... Everyone here is a monster. This is practically a gathering of monsters!' Leorio thought, sweating profusely.
Just then, Killua glided past him on his skateboard, instantly sparking Leorio's anger.
"Hey, kid, stop! Are you looking down on this test?!" Leorio shouted, his voice laced with frustration.
"What do you mean?" Killua looked at Leorio, confused.
"That skateboard! It's cheating, isn't it?!" Leorio stated bluntly.
Hearing Leorio's voice, Umaru glanced over curiously. Noticing the skateboard under Killua's feet, she couldn't help but feel a pang of envy. Having that would have probably made this first test much easier...
"Why?" Killua, hearing Leorio, was even more puzzled, unsure what rule he had broken.
"This is an endurance test!" Leorio retorted, a vein pulsing on his forehead.
"No, it's not," Takeru interjected with a smile. Hoping to build rapport and potentially trigger some story developments, he joined the conversation.
"That's right. The examiner only said to follow him, after all," Gon added earnestly.
"Damn it, why are you all taking his side?" Leorio grumbled, annoyed by Takeru and Gon's remarks.
"Hey, how old are you?" Killua, intrigued by Takeru and Gon's intervention, first glanced at Takeru before his gaze settled on Gon. As if drawn by fate, Killua slowed his pace and came alongside Gon, asking curiously.
"Twelve," Gon answered seriously.
Hearing this, Killua was momentarily stunned, not expecting to meet someone his own age here.
Umaru, however, stared at Gon in shock. She had thought Gon simply looked young for his age, but she didn't expect he was really a twelve-year-old child... and one taking this exam...
"I'll run too, then." Upon learning Gon's age, Killua executed a cool flip, dismounting from his skateboard and, in one smooth motion, kicking it up into his hand.
"Wow, that's so cool!" Gon exclaimed with an admiring smile.
"I'm Killua," Killua introduced himself directly to Gon.
"I'm Gon!" Gon replied with a matching smile.
"Damn it, are you kidding me?!" Perhaps feeling ignored, Leorio grew angrier.
"This is absurd! My calculations can't be wrong! But why...? Could I really be eliminated? No way... impossible!" Some time later, the previously confident little boy was now a mess of snot, tears, and drool, unable to believe his judgment had failed him.
"Hey, rookie!" Noticing the boy's state, a trio of brothers who had been lagging behind slowed down and surrounded him.
"How pathetic, kid!"
"Running out of steam this early? That's rare!"
"Worthless to the point of being commendable!"
"In the Hunter Exam, someone like you will always be dead last no matter what!"
"Don't come back, trash!"
The three brothers took turns hurling insults at the boy.
"Ahhhh!" The boy, utterly crushed, clutched his head and let out a despairing wail.
All of this unfolded clearly within the perception of Takeru's Observation Haki. He understood perfectly that this was all orchestrated by Tonpa, who was now standing nearby, handing over money to the brothers with a cold smirk as payment.
"You know, Tonpa, you really enjoy crushing newcomers, don't you?" said the youngest of the trio, Imori.
"Hmph! It's my reason for living!" Tonpa declared with pride.
…
As time continued to flow, another two hours passed. The group still moved through an endless-seeming tunnel. The number of those who could keep up had dwindled even further.
Leorio was teetering on the edge of his physical limit, as was Umaru beside Takeru. However, thanks to the early reminder and her knowledge of pacing from track experience, Umaru still retained a decent amount of stamina...
Soon, Leorio came to a complete stop. Seeing this, Gon instinctively halted as well. Killua, noticing Gon stop, also paused.
Takeru, glancing at Umaru beside him, did not stop because of Leorio.
"Don't worry about him. Let's go!" Killua frowned at Leorio, then urged Gon.
"Don't be ridiculous! I swore I'd become a Hunter!" After catching his breath for a moment, Leorio's burning desire to become a Hunter ignited a final surge of potential. He charged forward with renewed speed.
Watching Leorio resume running, Gon smiled. Then, with a deft flick of his wrist, his fishing rod's hook shot out, effortlessly snagging Leorio's briefcase from about five meters away.
"That was awesome! Let me try it later!" Killua's eyes sparkled with excitement.
"You have to let me try your skateboard too!" Gon replied with equal enthusiasm.
...
Meanwhile, in the other Hunter Exam World, Rikka and Yuta, who had initially underestimated the test, were now forced to stop completely due to exhaustion.
Rikka's attribute points were heavily biased towards Spirit, making Stamina her weak point. As for Yuta, despite having Chakra, his consecutive poor performance in previous missions meant his training time was too short, and his Chakra couldn't compensate enough.
Yukino glanced at the two, took a deep breath, and continued following the group ahead.
Yui and Taihei were also struggling mightily. However, Yui's consistent good performance had given her substantial attribute boosts, so she still had some stamina left. Taihei, with his Knight-like attribute distribution, also managed to hold on.
Ui and Hachiman's situation was different. Ui's strength was arguably the highest after Takeru's.
Being an assassin-type, while stamina wasn't her greatest asset, she was still far more capable than the others and followed the group with ease. Hachiman, though also nearing his limit, managed to barely keep up with sheer willpower.
…
As time wore on, Takeru's group had now covered 80 kilometers. By this point, a significant number of people could no longer continue. Takeru, however, still appeared remarkably comfortable.
Perhaps due to his Constitution reaching 126, his recovery rate was greatly enhanced. Therefore, the toll of the entire run wasn't as severe as one might expect.
They had now entered the final stretch: an extremely long staircase. Satotz continued leading with his peculiar gait at the front, his long legs easily clearing five or six steps at a time, forcing everyone behind to sprint frantically to keep up.
Umaru was now running purely on willpower. As they were nearing the destination, Takeru could only watch as she pushed herself forward in this final mad dash.