The trek toward Zaban City was a grueling transition from the spray of the ocean to the suffocating heat of the mainland. The path the Captain had suggested was not the direct route—Leorio knew this—but a winding trail through a series of tests designed to weed out the mentally fragile.
Gon, Kurapika, and Leorio moved in a loose formation. Gon led the way, his nose twitching as he took in the scents of the forest. Kurapika followed closely behind, his eyes constantly scanning the terrain for traps or competitors. Leorio brought up the rear. His pace was rhythmic, his breathing deep and controlled. Even without his Nen fully active, his body was a well-oiled machine. He carried his suitcase in one hand, the weight of his medical tools and the katana at his hip serving as a constant reminder of his dual nature.
Internal Monologue: The Quizzing Lady. The "Choice of Two." It's a classic psychological filter. In the original story, Leorio almost lost his temper and attacked her. I have to stay composed. My mind is that of a man who has sat through ethics board hearings and surgical reviews. A riddle is nothing compared to a malpractice suit.
As they crested a hill, the scenery changed. The lush forest gave way to a desolate, rocky plateau. In the center of the path sat a group of figures shrouded in white robes, their faces hidden by grotesque masks. At the center sat an old woman, her skin like parchment and her eyes obscured by the shadow of her hood.
"Wait," the woman rasped, her voice cutting through the wind. "To pass through here to Zaban, you must answer my quiz."
A few other examinees had caught up to them. One man, a tall, arrogant-looking brawler with a scarred face, stepped forward. "A quiz? Out of my way, hag! I don't have time for games!"
"You have five seconds to answer," the woman said, ignoring his outburst. "If you fail, or if you refuse to answer, you are disqualified from this year's exam."
The brawler sneered. "Fine. Give me your best shot."
The woman tilted her head. "Your mother and your lover have both been kidnapped. You can only save one. Which do you choose? 1: Your mother. 2: Your lover."
The man laughed. "That's it? That's the riddle? Obviously, I'd choose my mother. You can always find another lover, but you only have one mother. That's the 'correct' social answer, right?"
The woman remained silent for three seconds. "You may pass."
The man smirked at Leorio's group as he walked through. "See? Easy. Good luck, kids."
Leorio watched him go, his eyes narrowing.
Internal Monologue: He's gone. He didn't pass. He was led down a side path that leads away from the city. The 'silence' is the only true answer to a question with no right choice. It's a test of whether you understand the cruelty of the world without being crushed by the binary logic of it.
"Now," the woman said, her masked followers shifting closer. "It is your turn. One answer for the three of you."
Kurapika stepped forward, his jaw set. Gon looked confused, his brow furrowed in deep thought.
"The question," the woman began. "Your son and your daughter have been kidnapped. You can only save one. Which do you choose? 1: Your son. 2: Your daughter."
The silence that followed was heavy.
Beside him, Leorio felt the familiar prickle of irritation. Not at the woman, but at the situation. It was a cruel, reductive question—the kind of "triage" choice he had actually faced in the ER. Two patients, one ventilator. Who gets to breathe? He felt Kurapika tense up. The blonde's hands were trembling slightly. For someone whose entire family had been slaughtered, a question about choosing between loved ones was a psychological needle to a raw nerve.
Internal Monologue: Steady, Kurapika. Don't let the anger cloud your judgment. She isn't looking for a choice; she's looking for the realization that the choice is a lie.
"Five," the woman counted.
Gon was still staring at the ground, his eyes wide.
"Four."
Leorio tightened his grip on his suitcase. He saw Kurapika's eyes flash a hint of scarlet. The blonde was about to snap.
"Three."
Leorio stepped forward, placing a heavy, grounding hand on Kurapika's shoulder. He didn't speak. He just stood there, his presence like a stone wall. He used a tiny fraction of Ten, a subtle shroud of aura that acted as a calming influence, projecting his own surgical coldness into the air between them.
"Two."
"One."
"Time is up," the woman said.
The silence stretched on. It was a vacuum of sound that seemed to swallow the wind itself.
Suddenly, the brawler from earlier—the one who thought he had passed—could be heard screaming in the distance as he realized he had been led into a trap.
The old woman let out a soft, dry chuckle. "You may pass."
Kurapika exhaled, his shoulders slumping. "The silence... that was the answer. Because there is no correct choice. Any answer you give is a betrayal of the other."
"I knew it!" Leorio said, his voice loud and boisterous, though his eyes remained sharp. "I was just waiting for the timer to run out! I wasn't worried for a second!"
"Really, Leorio?" Gon asked, looking up. "I'm still thinking about it. What if it really happened? What if I really had to choose? I don't think I could."
Leorio looked down at the boy. The innocence in Gon's voice was a stark contrast to the darkness of the question.
"That's why you're here, Gon," Leorio said, his voice softening. "You're here to become a Hunter so that you never have to make that choice. Power isn't just about winning; it's about having enough options so that the 'two-choice' riddle becomes irrelevant. If you're fast enough, strong enough, and smart enough... you save both."
It was a surgeon's philosophy. You don't choose who dies; you fight until everyone lives.
The old woman stood up, her robes fluttering. She pointed toward a small, nondescript shack at the edge of the clearing. "Inside that house, you will find a couple. They are the Navigators. They will take you to Zaban City... if they deem you worthy."
"Thank you," Kurapika said, bowing respectfully.
As they walked toward the shack, Leorio lingered for a moment. He looked at the old woman. She was watching him with an intensity that suggested she had sensed something during those five seconds of silence.
"You have the eyes of a man who has already chosen," she whispered, so low that only Leorio's enhanced hearing could catch it. "But your hands... they are the hands of someone who wants to undo every choice the world forces upon us. Be careful, Doctor. The path to saving everyone often leads to saving no one."
Leorio didn't respond. He simply nodded and followed his companions.
Internal Monologue: She's right. My 'Gate of Otherworlds' is the ultimate cheat code for that riddle. If I have the powers of other worlds—the healing techniques of a Hashira, the RCT of a Jujutsu Sorcerer—I can break the rules of this reality. But I'm not there yet. I'm still just a man with a sword and a dream.
They reached the shack. It was a humble, worn-down structure that smelled of damp wood and something wild—the scent of the Kiriko.
Before they could knock, a scream tore through the air.
"Help! A monster!"
A creature—a large, man-sized fox-like beast with massive wings—burst through the window, clutching a woman in its talons. A man lay on the floor inside, bleeding from a jagged wound in his side.
"My wife!" the man gasped, reaching out a blood-stained hand. "Save my wife!"
Gon didn't hesitate. He was out the window in a flash, his fishing rod already in hand, chasing the beast into the woods.
"I'll go after the monster!" Kurapika shouted, heading for the door. "Leorio, take care of the man!"
Leorio was already moving before Kurapika finished the sentence. He dropped his suitcase and knelt beside the injured man.
Internal Monologue: Let's see what we have here. Laceration to the left oblique. Depth: 3 cm. No arterial spray, so the descending aorta is intact. But the breathing is shallow—possible tension pneumothorax or just shock.
"Stay still," Leorio commanded. He didn't use the panicked voice of a bystander. He used the voice that had commanded surgical theaters in Manhattan. "I'm a doctor. You're not going to die today."
He opened his suitcase. Inside were sterilized tools he had meticulously maintained. He pulled out a bottle of high-grade antiseptic he'd synthesized himself and a roll of gauze.
As he worked, he noticed something. The "blood" on the floor was the right color, but the scent was off. It lacked the iron-rich pungency of human blood. It smelled... floral?
Internal Monologue: A test. Another one. The 'monster' is a Kiriko, and this man and woman are part of the family. The wound is a masterpiece of makeup and theater. But the pulse...
He reached out and felt the man's wrist. The pulse was steady. Strong. A man with a wound this deep should be in tachycardia.
Leorio smirked to himself, but he didn't stop the charade. If they wanted a performance, he would give them a masterclass.
"The wound is deep," Leorio said loudly, making sure the "injured" man could hear him. "I need to debride the area and apply a pressure dressing. If the infection sets in, we'll have to amputate."
He watched the man's eyes flicker with a momentary spark of amusement.
Leorio reached for his needle and silk. He began to sew the "wound" with the same horizontal mattress stitches he had practiced on the mountain. He worked with a speed that was almost supernatural, his hands moving in a blur of precision.
"You're... very good at this," the man whispered, his voice losing some of its "dying" rasp.
"I've had a lot of practice with casualties," Leorio replied. "Usually, they don't look this healthy after being mauled by a beast."
He finished the stitch and stood up, wiping his hands on a clean cloth. He looked out the window. He could sense Kurapika and Gon in the distance. Kurapika was likely fighting the "husband" Kiriko, while Gon was chasing the "wife."
Leorio turned back to the man on the floor. "You can get up now. The 'blood' is starting to dry, and it's going to ruin your floor."
The man stared at him for a long beat, then broke into a wide, toothy grin. He sat up, his "injury" completely ignored. "A doctor who can see through a Kiriko's disguise? That's a first. Most examinees just panic and start swinging."
"I don't swing unless there's a reason," Leorio said, picking up his suitcase. "And I don't panic. Panic is a luxury for people who don't have lives in their hands."
Outside, the sounds of the struggle died down. Gon and Kurapika returned, followed by the "monster" and the "wife," who were now walking calmly side-by-side.
"You found us out!" Gon laughed, rubbing the back of his head. "I thought something was weird when the monster started talking!"
Kurapika looked at Leorio, then at the "injured" man who was now standing perfectly fine. "You knew, didn't you?"
"From the moment I smelled the fake blood," Leorio said, leaning against the doorframe. "But I figured I'd give him a few stitches for the effort. He's a good actor."
The Kiriko family—husband, wife, and their two children—shifted into their human-like forms. They looked at the three applicants with a mixture of respect and curiosity.
"The boy has the instincts of a wild animal," the father Kiriko said, gesturing to Gon. "The blonde one has the sharp mind of a scholar. But the doctor..."
He looked at Leorio, his yellow eyes glowing in the twilight. "The doctor has the soul of a veteran. You didn't just see through the trick; you treated it with the same respect you would a real life. That is a rare quality in a Hunter."
"Does that mean we pass?" Gon asked, jumping up and down.
"Yes," the Kiriko mother said, her wings folding neatly against her back. "We are the Navigators. We will fly you directly to the secret entrance of the exam in Zaban City."
As the massive Kiriko took flight, clutching the three of them in their powerful talons, Leorio looked down at the world shrinking below him. The lights of Zaban City were visible in the distance—a sprawling metropolis of neon and shadow.
Internal Monologue: Phase One is about to begin. The tunnel. Satotz. The long run. My physical conditioning is ready. My mind is focused. But I have to remember—the real threats aren't the Kiriko or the quizzes. The real threat is the man with the pins in his head and the clown with the cards.
He looked at Gon and Kurapika. They were talking excitedly, the bond between them tightening with every trial they overcame.
"Leorio-san!" Gon shouted over the wind. "Are you excited? We're actually going to be Hunters!"
"I'm excited for the exam, kid!" Leorio yelled back, maintaining his refined persona. But inside, he felt a surge of genuine warmth.
He was 19. He was a neurosurgeon from another world. He was a Water Breathing master. And for the first time in either of his lives, he felt like he was exactly where he was supposed to be.
"Hold on tight," Leorio muttered, his hand resting on the hilt of his katana. "The real exam is just getting started."
As the Kiriko banked toward a tall, unremarkable building in the heart of the city, the System in Leorio's mind flickered with a single, ominous line of text.
[PREPARE YOURSELF: HUNTER EXAM INTIATED]
Leorio took a deep breath, his lungs expanding with the Total Concentration he would need to survive the chaos to come. The Doctor was no longer just a spectator; he was a player in the most dangerous game in the world.