Chapter 33: Man-faced Ape
Satotz's repeated warnings put the vast majority of candidates on high alert, and Ray was no exception.
After all, he needed to successfully reach the venue for the second phase of the exam while hunting for ingredients.
Therefore, he had to plan his time carefully. Getting lost would be disastrous.
Just as the candidates were preparing to follow Satotz, a voice suddenly rang out.
"Don't be fooled, everyone!"
The crowd turned toward the voice and saw a heavily injured, ragged man leaning against the corner of a wall, slowly emerging from the shadows.
Seeing this, Satotz calmly turned his head to look at the man.
The man's face was filled with anger as he shouted.
"D-Don't be fooled! This guy is lying!"
Saying this, the man pointed a finger at Satotz, who stood at the front of the crowd.
"This guy is an impostor! He's not the real examiner!"
"I am the real examiner!"
This statement caused an immediate uproar among the candidates, who exchanged bewildered glances.
None of them expected someone to suddenly jump out and claim the examiner was a fake.
Ray watched the man—or rather, the Man-faced Ape—with great interest.
It really did look like a human. Moreover, it was quite intelligent and understood human psychology well enough to know how to sow discord and create chaos.
Under Ray's watchful gaze, the Man-faced Ape disguised as a man struggled to drag out a scrawny, seemingly dead monkey from behind him.
"Look at this, everyone!"
The monkey he dragged out had a face strikingly similar to Satotz's, even sporting the exact same mustache.
This caused many of the candidates to inevitably harbor doubts.
In response, Satotz never spoke up to defend himself; he merely watched the farce unfold in silence.
He had already repeatedly warned the candidates that the creatures in these wetlands would deceive their prey to turn them into food.
If anyone was still fooled under these circumstances, they only had their own lack of vigilance to blame.
He was an examiner for the Hunter Exam, not a babysitter. His previous warnings had fulfilled his duty; he had no obligation to be responsible for every candidate's safety.
Seeing that Satotz remained silent, the man immediately seized the opportunity and shouted loudly.
"This is a Man-faced Ape that inhabits the Numere Wetlands!"
"A Man-faced Ape?"
The candidates were highly confused.
Seeing this, the man continued.
"Man-faced Apes love eating fresh human flesh! However, their limbs are long and thin, and they are physically weak, making them no match for humans. So, they often disguise themselves as humans, using sweet words to trick people deep into the wetlands before teaming up with other beasts..."
Ray curled his lip. That statement was full of holes. If that were really the case, how could the man, acting as an examiner, have been injured by a Man-faced Ape!
Of course, that wasn't all. Earlier, when the man dragged out the Man-faced Ape playing dead, he was clearly struggling.
It was obvious that the man's physical strength was very weak.
It was just that not many people noticed this detail.
Just as the man was about to say something else, the sound of objects tearing through the air suddenly rang out!
Several playing cards shot toward Satotz and the man simultaneously.
Clearly, Hisoka had lost patience with this boring farce. Of course, it was more likely that he wanted to use the opportunity to test Satotz's strength.
Facing Hisoka's cards, the man couldn't react in time and was pierced through the head and chest.
Without even having the time to let out a scream, he fell straight down. His body twitched a few times on the ground before falling completely still.
Meanwhile, the cards aimed at Satotz were caught firmly in his hand.
"I see, I see."
A playful smile appeared on Hisoka's face as he looked at Satotz.
"Now the correct answer is revealed. This one is the real deal."
Of course, this was nothing but an excuse. Hisoka had known all along that Satotz was the true examiner.
He just wanted to test Satotz's strength earlier.
His strength was quite good, enough to get him excited.
In a great mood, Hisoka even took the time to explain with keen interest.
"Examiners are commissioned by the Hunter Association's Examination Committee and are all active Hunters."
"As a Hunter, how could he possibly fail to block an attack of that level?"
Satotz raised his eyes to look at Hisoka, his expression stern.
"I will take that as a compliment and gladly accept it."
"However, next time, no matter your reason, any attack directed at me will be considered an act of open rebellion against an examiner, and you will be immediately disqualified."
Satotz naturally knew about Hisoka as well.
That was precisely why he didn't disqualify Hisoka right away. Otherwise, there was a high probability that Hisoka would attack him.
"No problem..."
Hisoka replied nonchalantly, though a barely perceptible flash of killing intent flickered in his eyes.
Of course, Hisoka had no intention of attacking Satotz again anyway.
During the previous Hunter Exam, he had been disqualified because he couldn't hold back and severely injured an examiner.
Hisoka didn't want to be disqualified again and have to take the exam the following year.
While everyone's attention was focused on Hisoka and Satotz, Ray silently shifted his steps and walked toward the collapsed corpse of the Man-faced Ape.
As he approached, a faint scent of blood wafted over, which Ray paid no mind to.
Ray first reached out and pressed a finger against the Man-faced Ape's body. The sensation transmitted to his fingertip made him frown slightly.
No wonder the Man-faced Ape was so weak. Its muscle fibers were terribly loose, like rotten cotton soaked in water, completely lacking any firm elasticity...
"The muscles are purely for show. The meat is dry, tough, and loose, and even the fascia lacks toughness."
Ray muttered to himself, his frown deepening.
He took a light sniff. Aside from the smell of blood, a heavy, foul stench mixed with a faint earthy odor rushed into his nasal cavity. To Ray, it smelled like something that had been soaking in a filthy swamp for a long time, exuding a nauseating gamey reek.
"The stench is too strong. I'd probably have to repeatedly marinate it with dozens of spices and roast it over a fierce fire just to barely mask this weird smell. But if I actually did that, the flavor of the meat itself would be completely gone."
Straightening up, he glanced at the Man-faced Ape corpse, his eyes filled with undisguised disappointment.
"It doesn't inspire the slightest bit of appetite."
"Hopefully, I'll come across some good things that can actually be considered 'ingredients' next."
Ray clapped his hands and turned back to rejoin the crowd of candidates.
Naturally, a few nearby candidates noticed Ray's actions, but they merely curled their lips dismissively, assuming he was just curious about the Man-faced Ape.
At that moment, Satotz's voice rang out right on cue.
"Well then, we should be off. Please follow me."
With that, Satotz turned and began running deeper into the Numere Wetlands.
Not daring to slack off, the candidates quickly followed suit.