Kisho and Amos arrived in front of the commercial complex.
Before the gilded revolving glass doors, the "Temporarily Closed" sign that used to be there had disappeared at some point.
In its place were decorative trees set on both sides of the entrance, draped in red and green ornaments.
Staff members wore oversized mascot costumes, holding stacks upon stacks of flyers, smiling warmly as they stuffed flyers into the hands of every passerby.
Kisho took a flyer from the giant mascot's hand, then rubbed the plush fur around the mascot's neck, grinning at it.
The mascot lifted its huge hand and rubbed Kisho's head in return, then turned sideways and handed another flyer toward Amos. Amos waved his hand and pointed at Kisho.
"I'm with him. One is enough."
Kisho smiled and said, "Thanks," then quickened his steps and entered the commercial complex together with Amos.
Inside the brilliantly lit first-floor lobby, Kisho walked while turning his head to look at Amos.
"Amos."
"Huh?" Amos glanced at him sideways.
Kisho smiled.
"How do you think the second pre-exam test will be conducted?"
Amos swept his gaze across the sea of people packed shoulder to shoulder around them.
"With this many people gathered here, I think at least four-fifths will get eliminated."
Kisho smiled.
"So?"
"I'll just make a simple guess about how they'll eliminate most people."
Amos looked at Kisho and raised his index finger.
"First possibility: the examinees have to find a specific person hidden somewhere in the mall."
He paused, then raised another finger.
"Second possibility: the examinees have to buy a specific item in the mall—either a limited edition, or something only sold during a specific time window."
Kisho nodded in agreement.
"Whether it's the first or the second, they'll definitely give the examinees clues. Otherwise it'd be like searching for a needle in the ocean."
"So," Amos stared at Kisho, "how do you think the clues will be delivered—subtly, but without any omissions—to everyone who might be an examinee?"
After he asked that question, both of their gazes fell on the flyer in Kisho's hand.
Kisho shook the flyer lightly, thought for a moment, then said,
"Using flyers to deliver clues means every examinee has an equal chance of getting them. And even if someone who isn't an examinee gets one, it wouldn't seem out of place."
"After all, these things are everywhere, and lots of people just toss them as soon as they get them. Plenty don't bother reading them carefully."
Amos glanced at a trash can in the corner, already stuffed full of flyers.
"If you throw it away without even thinking, you probably won't have much of a chance to find the clue."
Kisho said,
"And besides, getting one isn't hard. The key is finding the information related to the exam inside it."
Amos nodded.
"Not bad. Moderate difficulty."
Kisho rolled his eyes.
"...'Moderate difficulty,' huh. That top-student tone of yours really is irritating."
Then the two fluffy heads leaned together and began studying the clues on the flyer.
The orange-red-themed advertisement leaflet densely listed all the items participating in tonight's celebration discounts.
"Here."
Amos took the flyer from Kisho, flipped it over, and pointed at the last line of tiny red-highlighted text.
"The number in the final tier of the event is different from all the ones before it."
Kisho murmured an "Mm," then softly read out the last line.
"Spend a total of Jenny to participate in the lottery at the rooftop celebration event."
Amos analyzed,
"The number '281' clearly corresponds to the current Hunter Exam number. That part's easy to figure out. The real point worth paying attention to is this '100 Jenny.'"
Kisho frowned.
"100 Jenny… to be honest, I don't really have a sense of that number's purchasing power."
Amos looked at him.
"What, did you crawl out of a primeval forest where money isn't used?"
Kisho sighed.
"It's mainly that over there, no matter what kind of transaction it is, they use 'ten-thousands' as the unit."
Amos said,
"Truly worthy of… ah, each and every one of them is a filthy rich tycoon."
Kisho knew the one unspoken word was "Spider." He laughed.
"Forget it, I'm actually poor. I basically owe money to almost every one of them."
He raised an eyebrow.
"Let's not talk about something so unpleasant. So, what's wrong with that number?"
Amos thought for a moment, then continued,
"100 Jenny would probably only get you a box of low-quality candy or a bottle of water at a street shop."
He took a 100 Jenny out of his pocket and waved it in front of Kisho's eyes.
"It's the kind of thing no one would bother picking up even if it fell on the ground."
"So according to you…"
Kisho looked puzzled.
"In a big mall like this, would there really be something that only costs 100 Jenny?"
Amos raised a finger and tapped the number on the flyer.
"That's exactly the problem. Look at this description: 'shopping amount reaches Jenny.'"
"Since they've specified this number, the final total purchase amount probably has to land exactly on it. Even one extra unit wouldn't count as passing."
"So besides meeting the previous 280,000 Jenny, you also have to find an item that's worth exactly 100 Jenny. That's the exam's answer."
Kisho smiled at Amos.
"Then—"
"Yeah." Amos nodded in agreement.
"Let's each go buy our own things. Items worth 100 Jenny will definitely be in limited supply and hard to find. Good luck."
"Alright, see you on the rooftop."
"Mm."
They clapped hands once, then each headed off in a different direction.
...
Product Area.
Kisho's figure weaved through the shelves, his eyes sweeping over rows upon rows of price tags.
"100 Jenny, 100 Jenny…"
"Oh~ found it!"
At the end of a shelf filled with drinks, there were canned "trial-size" juices on display, with a label below that read, "Special Price 100 Jenny, limit one per person."
Only a single can stood there all alone. Judging by the look of it, the rest had long since been snatched up by others.
Kisho quickly stepped forward and reached out toward that can of juice—
Suddenly, he sensed someone approaching, and that person's target was the same small can of juice.
In a flash of lightning, Kisho's figure vanished and reappeared at a speed too fast to discern.
When he reappeared, the can of juice was already in his hand.
He turned around and smiled at the other "competitor."
"Hehe, sorry about that~"
Standing in front of the shelf was a brown-haired man wearing a gray shirt with a blue sleeveless vest over it, a yellow sling bag slung diagonally across his body. In the shopping basket behind him were around a dozen cans of juice.
He looked dejectedly at the hand that had missed its chance.
"Ah, it got snatched."
As he spoke, he looked over at Kisho with a surprised expression, then revealed a simple, honest smile. His thick brows and big eyes were filled with an air of sincerity.
He stared at Kisho. A trace of contemplation flashed through his eyes, then was quickly concealed.
"No problem. I'll just go buy something else."
Kisho tossed the juice can lightly in his hand.
"Alright. Good luck."
After saying that, Kisho turned around.
He hadn't missed the flash of surprise and anger in that man's eyes when he failed to get it. Although he didn't know why the man later concealed his emotions—
This guy was probably also an examinee.
Kisho curled his lips upward.
Judging by that split-second change of expression alone, this guy definitely wasn't as honest and simple as he looked.
With the key item secured, all that remained was to make up the 280,000 Jenny.
If shopping normally, that would mean buying a huge pile of things.
But Kisho didn't want to buy too much and burden himself. He furrowed his brow and thought for a while, then snapped his fingers.
"Got it!"
He bought an entire set of high-end cosmetics for Mito; high-grade health supplements for Grandma; and then, for Gon, he bought every problem workbook available in the mall, from this world's elementary school all the way to middle school—making sure he'd never have to spend money on textbooks again.
"No need to thank me too much, Gon. Playing around in the mountains all day isn't really a solution, right? Kids still have to study when it's time to study!"
Kisho took out his phone and tapped on the calculator for a bit. After confirming everything was correct, he pushed the shopping cart—stuffed to the brim—toward the checkout area, completely satisfied.
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Pls Drop some Power Stones
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