Phantom Troupe's Web

After meeting at the Hunter Exam, the pair rested against the wall waiting for the exam to begin officially. The sinister magician sat crisscrossed on the ground, busying himself with the deck of cards he usually had on hand, building a tower of cards while his female companion leaned against the wall beside him. Bored, an idea popped into the girl's head causing a smirk to form on her pale face as she moves her leg to the side; barely making contact with anything yet forcing enough wind for the magician's tower to collapse.

Unamused by her actions, Hisoka picks up the fallen cards and shuffles them back into his deck, refusing to glance her way. "You must be bored," he remarked with a deadpanned tone, rebuilding the tower. "Why are you even in disguise? No one knows about you," he added with a blank stare.

"You never know who we'll run into," she reasoned to the magician, averting her attention from the applicants to him with a fake smile. "Besides, the only people who need to know I'm here are you and my brother," the female shrugged, pushing herself off the wall.

Her emerald irises then find themselves attracted to an approaching figure who tossed a rectangular object to their shared acquaintance. "Here you go," Illumi, disguised as Gittarackur, says while pocketing the same object in the pocket of his pants.

The trio remained together without much discussion besides the twins who were talking about their family business and how it was going when the loud ringing of something resonated throughout the wide tunnel, earning everyone's attention easily. Once it had stopped, one of the walls began lifting to reveal a mouthless man with lilac hair and dressed in a purple, almost a deep violet, suit and red tie, standing with a head-looking bell in his hands.

"I apologise for the wait. The entry period for Hunter applicants has ended. The Hunter Exam will now begin!" he announced to the crowd. "A final caution. If you are short on luck or ability, you could very well end up seriously injured or even dead. Those who accept the risks, please follow me. Otherwise, please exit via the elevator behind you," the man further explained, gesturing to the elevator behind the large group, waiting to see if anyone would leave. When no one advanced to the cubicle, the suit-wearing man lowered his arm and lowers his head slightly before looking back up. "Very well. All 404 applicants will participate in Phase One," he then turned on his heel and began walking down the tunnel with everyone following after him.

Little by little the walk began turning into a light job then into a sprint so the applicants were able to keep up with the suit-wearing mouthless man. Among the crowd, Illuki remains near Hisoka and Gittarackur's sides as they jogged behind the man she assumed was the first examiner for the Hunter Exam. "I neglect to introduce myself. I am Statoz, the Phase One examiner," he introduced himself. "I shall lead you to the exam's Second Phase," he announced casually, maintaining a steady pace in comparison to the somewhat applicants behind him.

"Second Phase? What about Phase One?" one of the applicants who wore a ninja-like outfit with a red scarf around his neck, clarified the requirements of the First Phase which Statoz glimpsed over his shoulder to verify the applicant's inquiries.

"It has already commenced. You must follow me to Phase Two. This is the exam's First Phase," the lilac-haired mouthless man states. The ninja competitor repeated his instructions for clarification which made Statoz turn back to face the front. "Yes. I cannot tell you where or when you must arrive. You need to follow me," he finalised.

An hour or so, not like anyone was keeping track of the time, passed since the Hunter Exam began and a good chunk of applicants remained following the first examiner, Statoz to the next phase. Bored by the challenge presented to her, Illuki sighed disappointedly from beside Hisoka, turning to face the magician with a frown. "This exam is boring me already," she muttered, shifting back to keep an eye on the examiner everyone was pursuing.

Hisoka chuckled at her. "I assure you Darling~, it gets better," the redhead assured with a confident smirk, noticing the woman puffing out her cheeks and letting out a small 'hmph' sound.

Peeking over his shoulder, Statoz assesses the number of competitors, taking note of how many endured out of the original 404 participants the exam first started with. 'We've reached the 80-kilometre mark. It is now time to pick up the pace a bit.' he thought, twisting back around and begun taking extended leaps to distance himself from the applicants. Illuki stares unamused by the examiner's actions and adjusts her pace from jogging to skipping over a collective amount of steps to catch up with the male.

"Wait – are you serious?" she heard one of the participants ask out loud.

"Thay guy's insane," the ninja one says through pants. "That girl too," he added, staring at the petite woman who was now first in the race of competitors. "They're prancing up the stairs as if they're not even there," he further comments in disbelief.

"If he keeps up this pace, tons of people will fail," another said.

Nearing the end of the prolonged underground passage, Statoz almost reaches the final step when his eyes widen at the sight of a small woman blurring past him and the finish line. He blinks owlishly at her, bewildered by her speed and the way she naturally stretched her limbs and looked around. "Is this the Second Phase?" she asked no one in particular, glancing around.

As he pivots to see who else made it to the end, his shock increases at the sight of two children running past him. "Goal!!" they both cheered, beginning to debate with one another as to who won their last-minute bet. Undecided as yo who had triumphed, one of the boys turned to solicit the examiner who had been silently staring at the duo.

"That young lady reached the end first," the mouthless man revealed, gesturing to the petite figure leaning against the wall beside the tunnel entry. Her feet were crossed and her arms linked behind her as she observed her surroundings without care. "I believe that you crossed the finish line simultaneously as well," he added, answering the child's initial question.