Lono observed the aftermath without emotion.

  He shook his head lightly.

  "If they cannot handle thirteen meters," he muttered to himself,

  "They have no chance of living to see the ter stages of the Hunter Exam."

  "If they are injured, they should consider themselves lucky and train more or stop trying to become hunters."

  "If they are dead, that is that; they accepted the risk." Lono thought.

  For hunters like Lono who are also examiners, the applicants could not handle such a simple physical test.

  It would only mean that they would certainly die in the ter stages of the exam.

  "If they are lucky enough to just get injured and leave here alive at the first exam, then that is a call for them to train more and let go of their dreams of becoming hunters in the first pce."

  Medical staff were already entering from concealed doors along the walls.

  Lono did not look concerned.

  He pressed a control on the railing in front of him and then leapt down from the observation ptform.

  He nded softly among the remaining applicants.

  No dust.

  No sound beyond a faint tap of shoes against metal.

  "The First Exam Falling Floors is over," Lono announced calmly.

  His eyes swept over the injured.

  "Those severely injured will be transported to a hospital."

  "Consider yourselves lucky if you are still alive but just disqualified."

  Lono did not forget to comment on his earlier thoughts to people.

  Applicants that had passed hearing him tell the disqualified and injured ones that they were lucky nodded subtly.

  Nobody said anything, but they thought the same.

  If you are injured seriously enough to not continue the exam at the first stage, then you are dead meat in the ter stages.

  It is just better to train and try it again or just stop taking the exam further on.

  His gaze lingered briefly on the motionless bodies.

  There were at least ten.

  Perhaps more.

  "The dead will be cleaned."

  He said it as if commenting on spilled water.

  A few applicants swallowed hard.

  Lono turned his back to them.

  "The Second Exam will take pce in another location."

  He gnced over his shoulder.

  "I will continue as the examiner."

  Conrad smiled faintly.

  "The first phase sted less than thirty minutes," he thought.

  "Different from Gon's year."

  The 287th Hunter Exam, Gon's year, had emphasized endurance through running and psychological pressure.

  "I cannot assume structure repetition."

  Conrad reminded himself.

  "And I cannot assume the same examiners."

  The wall at the far end of the chamber split open again with a heavy mechanical sound.

  A wide corridor revealed itself.

  Approximately twenty meters across.

  Lono began walking, and the remaining applicants followed him without making any sound.

  Thirty minutes passed as they walked.

  Finally, Lono stopped.

  He pulled out a small device, something like a phone but more like a pager.

  He pressed a button on the device.

  "Beep" with a signal sound.

  A section of the wall ahead vibrated and split apart, revealing a new passage.

  Above the entrance, digital letters were illuminated in red.

  Second Exam – Hell Way.

  Conrad's eyes narrowed slightly.

  "Likely an endurance corridor," he thought.

  Lono turned to face them.

  "Applicants, you will proceed through this road."

  He gestured toward the dark passage.

  "When you reach the end, the Second Exam will conclude for you."

  Murmurs rose instantly.

  "Only one needed to finish?"

  "Interesting."

  "From this point onward," Lono continued, "you have one minute to enter the hallway."

  "If you remain in this chamber after one minute…"

  He smiled faintly.

  "You will be disqualified."

  A digital timer appeared above the entrance.

  00:59

  00:58

  Some applicants immediately sprinted forward.

  Conrad walked in without much thought.

  He knew that he did not need to have any kind of thought at all.

  He crossed the threshold into Hell Way with steady steps once again, keeping space between himself and Hisoka.

  -