'That blimp, it has the emblem of the hunters' associates..! It must be the committee!' the group whispered. 'Who is that old man though? Is he also from the committee?'

"That old man your talking about is the chairman! Show your respects!" Menchi said.

"It'd be a disappointment to fail every single applicant here," Netero chuckled, sticking his arms through the opposite sleeves. "What's happen he-"

"PLEASE GIVE US A TIME OUT!" Gon suddenly exclaimed, raising his hand.

"Time out?" the old man repeated.

"Hey, kid! I said show your respects!" Menchi exclaimed.

"I want to pass! I need to! I want to find and see my dad!" Gon reasoned.

"Well, I'm sorry for you! But look here, the right to decide belongs to the proctor, which is me. You got that, kid?"

"That's why all you have to do is reevaluate the test for us!" Gon said.

"NO MEAN'S NO! THE. TEST. IS. OFFICIALLY. OVER!" Menchi exclaimed. "THAT INCLUDES ALL OF YOU! SERIOUSLY, JUST LEAVE!"

"NO ONE IS GOING TO ACCEPT THAT, YOU USELESS GOURMET HUNTERS! WE'RE SURE ALL YOU DO IS SIT THERE AND EAT!" some man yelled.

"That's it. I'm going to kill someone if this keeps going on. NETERO-SAN, PLEASE MAKE THEM LEAVE!" the young woman exclaimed.

'This woman is irritating…!' Kuromi muttered, wanting to attack.

'Leave her be… I'm sure the man over there would stop her from throwing a fit,' Kiyoko replied.

'Yeah right.'

"What is the chairman doing out here though?" Pokkle decided to ask.

"Oh well, I mainly work behind the scenes and all, but I also appear when there is a problem like this!" the man said in a happy tone.

"A chairman that turns out to be an old geezer… Interesting…" Killua said, smirking a little.

"So what seems to be the problem here, Menchi-kun?" Netero asked. "You seemed to have failed everyone here because you disapproved their hesitation to try new things?"

"Uh. Y-Yes..!" the woman replied. "My objection was to pull them through the unknown subject of cooking and have them discover new things without using only brute strength!"

'Look at that! She appears to be nervous around him!' Leorio whispered to Kurapika.

'That proves how important that man is to the proctors.. That also means he's a savior to us all..' the boy whispered back.

'I can see his eyes trailing her bust right now…'Kuromi said in disgust.

'Pervert…' Kiyoko muttered.

"That's why I've decided to give them a challenging subject to deal with! But…"

"But?" Netero urged.

"Well… I…."

"You seemed to judge them with that goal in mind…."

"I just lost it when one of the candidates insulted the Gourmet Hunters…" the woman concluded. "I seemed to have made it harder than I planned to at first."

"So, to conclude your statement, you are aware that the exam you put up was unacceptable," the old man said.

"Yes, sir.. When it comes to cooking, I always tend to lose control over myself. I am not qualified to be a proctor and I will step down from that duty as an examiner," Menchi said. "Please redo the second phase!"

'Kuro, want to switch?' Kiyoko asked, sighing with relief.

'Feeling any better, Kiyo?' Kuromi thought.

'Yes, much.'

The two switched roles unnoticed as the conversation between the proctor and the chairman continued.

"You are an honest young lady, if you haven't noticed. I do see some problems as a proctor, but I understand. You being a Gourmet Hunter with the title of Single Star Hunter, it proves that you are very passionate about cooking. It will be difficult to find another examiner on such short notice, so.."

"I'm sorry, Chairman Netero.." Menchi said, bowing a little.

"Let me propose this one idea. I'd like you to continue serving your job as a proctor, must you participate as well in the new test you suggest; a demonstration that is! Is that acceptable?"

The group stared at the young woman with hesitation and curiosity as the old man continued to talk.

"I'm sure with this new proposal; the participants will accept the results of their new test. It'll also be a lot easier to judge!"

"I was worried about what was going to happen to us just now…" Leorio said.

"We're still going to be tested by our ability in cooking, so we can't take it easy just yet," Kurapika reminded the man.

"We're going to have another test!" Gon exclaimed.

"Aren't you glad about that, Gon?" Killua chuckled.

"Yup!"

'At least I'll be the one handling this..' Kiyoko thought, looking at her covered finger.

Todo stood up from the spot her fell and rubbed at his bloodied mouth with irritation.

"That is quite true….. Well then.. The new test will be boiled eggs!" the woman said, smiling.

"Boiled eggs?" the group said in unison.

"YAY!" Gon exclaimed

"Well, gee.. That's…" Killua started.

'I just had to give you the harder test.. I'm sorry, Kuro!' Kiyoko giggled silently.

'Just my luck…' the counterpart grumbled.

"Netero-san, may I ask if you can take us all to that mountain, Mt. Split-in-Half, in your airship?" Menchi requested.

"Mt. Split-in-Half? I see.. I most certainly can, that can be easily arranged immediately!"

Everyone immediately headed in to the airship and headed to the mountain where there was a giant split in the middle of nowhere on the mountain.

The participants were all looking down the cliff of the mountain with hesitation or determination written clearly on their faces.

"Here we are!" the female examiner exclaimed.

"Ummmm… Where the hell are we?" a male voice asked.

"What is it like to be down there..?" Todo asked in alert.

"Don't worry, there's a river down there. Everyone, look carefully down there," Menchi said.

At first the cliff was foggy until it began to clear up a second later, revealing thick webs creating horizontal ladders below.

"W-what is that…?" one of the applicants asked.

"A Spider Eagles' web" the young proctor said casually.

"W-webs? They build webs? Down in that pit?" Hanzo asked.

A strong gust of wind suddenly blew upwards into the hunter and hunters-in-progress's faces, Todo flinching and falling backwards. Killua and Gon were still glued to the floor, looking down the cliff curiously.

"Look below the web," Menchi said.

"Those are…." a male participant asked.

"I see sacs of eggs down there…?" Kiyoko asked.

"Those are Spider Eagle eggs," Menchi replied, patting Kiyoko's back a little forcefully.

'Oof. Ugh. Auck!' the girl grunted silently every time her back made contact with Menchi's hand.

"Spider Eagles always build their webs in deep canyons like these to protect their eggs from land predators," the woman explained, halting her action. "This makes their eggs one of the most strenuous ingredients to get our hands on just like the moss on a Big Horn Bear's horns."

Kiyoko cautiously rubbed her back to stop the tingling sensation lingering around her skin, not wanting Menchi to see.

"These eggs are also known to be dream eggs," Netero added.

"W-wait just a minute.." Todo said. "What you're saying is- You mean we're all going to-"

"I sure do," Menchi cut the man off.

"W-WHAT?"

Menchi stepped closer to the edge and took off her heels swiftly, turning around to face the others.

"Well, I'll be going ahead!"

And with that she leapt into the ravine head first and caught onto a thick rope of web, everyone in panic.

"HA!?"

The woman sighed once she was able to get a grip on the web.

"Even if she's able to grab some of the eggs, how is she going to get back up?" Leorio asked.

"I guess that's why we're watching, to see how.." Kiyoko said. "If there was no way back up, why would she jump off down there for?"

"Err… Kiyoko or Kuromi..?" Leorio asked awkwardly.

"Guess!" the girl exclaimed.

"It's Kiyoko, dimwit," Kurapika answered.

"Ding, ding, ding! That's correct!"

Menchi continued to hang on the same rope of web, waiting patiently for another gust to come quickly. Just a small quiver of air moved a thin lock of her green hair, indicating that a gust was coming soon. The woman immediately took the chance to let go and dropped to the bottom, grabbing an egg on the way down.

"AHHH!"

Todo covered up his eyes with an arm and looked away frighteningly, everyone else leaning in further to watch.

"S-she jumped!" Leorio announced in shock.

"Are you a reporter or something?" Kiyoko asked, still having her gaze fixed on the demonstration.

"B-but she jumped! Is she trying to kill herself?!" the man asked.

"No, she's not.." Kurapika replied, still watching.

"Huh?"

A strong gust of wind immediately began to blow the young proctor back up to their level, Gon and Killua watching with interest and excitement.

"Haaa!" Gon said.

"Ooh..! That looks fun…!" Killua exclaimed.

"This gulley has updrafts that will help hatched chicks fly back up to their web," Netero explained as Menchi landed in front of him. It's quite a height and the chicks usually never touch the water below. It does happen, but rarely."

"There you go! Now all I need to is to boil this egg!" the female examiner concluded, showing the giant dirty white egg that sat in her hand. "Oh, also, if you fall into the river, you'll be washed out into the sea that's kilometers away from here. It moves quite fast really."

"Y-you're joking. You must be," Todo stuttered, Menchi looking over. "You say it as if it was easy! No sensible person would commit a half-hearted suicide for this…."

"I'm actually glad! I've been waiting for this moment!" Gon exclaimed.

"It's actually a lot easier than running and cooking random unknown dishes…" Leorio said, looking down the cliff.

"I actually agree with you," Kurapika said.

"It's not too bad. It's just grabbing an egg and getting back up to boil it," Kiyoko said casually.

"I'm going ahead. YAHHHHHH!" Leorio screamed.

Leorio went full speed ahead and jumped off the cliff with confidence, Killua remained silent and casually stepped off the cliff with his hands still in his pockets, and Gon literally knelt down and dived right off the cliff. Kiyoko just watched the three drop until Kurapika raised up his right hand and hid his left behind his back.

"I'm going to. Let's go, Kiyoko," the boy said, falling off the cliff backwards.

"Oh, why not?" the girl said, smiling a bit.

Her hands were still on her hips as she took a small hop and dropped quickly to the bottom where the web was built. Todo looked at the five applicants with shock on his face, thinking they were all crazy.

"Ah!" Menchi urged out, but it was too late. "I wasn't finished with my explanation of everything to do!"

"Count me in!" Hanzo exclaimed, jumping into the gorge with some of the other participants. "Here I go!"

"How about the rest of you? Are you going to drop out?" Menchi asked, looking at the remaining participants.

Gon was able to grab onto a rope of thread and bounced upwards a little.

"It also takes a lot of courage to quit this exam. Don't worry there will be another exam next year," Netero said, facing behind him.

Killua was able to land on the stretchy rope of web perfectly fine on his feet as Kurapika caught the rope with a single hand. Leorio grabbed onto a rope with his entire body, his arms hugging it close to him and his legs crossed together to stop himself from falling and secured. Kiyoko grabbed onto the web with a single hand as she slightly swung herself upwards and hung upside down, legs locked in case she dropped.

"I-I'm going too!" Todo exclaimed, jumping off as well.

Several of the applicants that dropped and never got a grip of the web fell into the river, being pushed away quickly by the rushing water. The cluster of humans hanging on the web waited silently for the updraft, several people becoming impatient.

"That's it! I'm going!" a man exclaimed, letting go of the web and falling into the river with an egg.

"I'll go get my egg first before the wind comes," Killua said, dashing off on the web to grab an egg near him.

"That's quite a good idea," Kiyoko agreed, flipping off from the rope of web she hung from and grabbing the one below her to launch herself up higher with momentum.

Leorio, Kurapika, and Gon nodded at each other and pull themselves up onto the web and carefully yet swiftly ran to the closest eggs they had access to, everyone still remaining from the drop either doing the same thing or just hanging until it was time to drop. Todo growled and followed the group, trying to find a cluster of eggs near him.

"Should we go now? WAH!" Leorio asked impatiently, slipping and grabbing onto the web quickly.

"Not yet….." Gon replied.

"Eh? Why not?"

"There's no wind," Killua responded.

"There isn't always an updraft," Kurapika answered.

"Would you like to fall into the river too, Leorio-san?" Kiyoko asked, bouncing on the web like a child.

"N-no.."

"I thought so."

"When is the next one then…?" Leorio groaned.

"Wait," Gon suddenly said.

Everyone went quiet again and looked over at him as a small gust of wind blew past the people. He smelled the air again like the time he predicted the storm on the boat, certain ropes of web beginning to rip from the amount of people hanging on it.

"What?!" Leorio exclaimed with surprise.

"The web isn't going to hold us all!" Kurapika exclaimed.

'It's a good thing you're on a web of your own,' Kuromi muttered.

'Oh hush. It'd be bad if those guys fell into the pit..' Kiyoko replied, grabbing the web she stood on and dropping to hang.

"Gon? It's not here yet?" Killua asked, lowering himself to Kiyoko's level.

"The threads of web is going to rip soon.." Kiyoko said worriedly, the silver haired boy looking at her.

"I can't wait for an updraft any longer, damn it!" a man exclaimed, dropping off the web with two other people.

'Looks like they're goners..' Killua muttered.

'That's true..' Kiyoko whispered back.

The three regretted dropping and began to scream as they landed in the river. Only a few strands held the web to the side of the canyon, causing panic to everyone.

"G-Gon…. IT'S GOING TO SNAP SOON!" Leorio exclaimed.

"... NOW!" the boy exclaimed.

The remaining hunters below let go of the web to head down and grab an egg or just dropped to the bottom with an egg in hand to be blown back up by the strong gust of wind. Todo missed grabbing an egg in the process due to his anxiety and was blown back up empty handed, disappointed in himself.

"Alright! Show me all the eggs you've gotten!" Menchi instructed as Buhara got a pot ready. "You are all going to boil the eggs for yourself and just so you know, it's not like boiling an ordinary egg as they boil in different times. Boiled eggs are fine dishes too. Boiling time is the most important point in cooking this dish. A half cooked egg and an overcooked egg means you fail."

The hunters grabbed a net as they groaned and circled around the gigantic pot, dropping in their eggs.

"Is it time yet….?" Leorio growled impatiently.

"Not really," Kiyoko answered.

'Impatient bastard,' Kuromi thought.

"Just a little longer…" Kurapika added.

"I don't even know how to boil an ordinary egg int it's assigned time…" Killua stated, leaning in to look at the eggs.

Kiyoko giggled a little and ruffled the boy's already messed up hair.

"I guess this is something new for you then," Kiyoko said, the boy looking at her curiously.

The eggs began to hop around in the pot as Buhara leaned in a little anxiously.

'Ooh….'

The participants slowly turned their heads over to the big man with curiosity.

"He just said 'ooh!'," Gon pointed out.

"Then that means…" Leorio said.

"IT'S READY! HURRY! IT'LL OVERCOOK! I DON'T WANT TO FAIL THIS TEST!" the applicants yelled, reaching in to snag an egg with their net. "I GOT IT!"

"Go ahead and try it!" Menchi offered.

Everyone began to peel open their eggs and took a bite of the Spider Eagle's eggs, eyes widening up a little.

"This is so damn good," Hanzo exclaimed with his mouth full. "A lot better than the eggs you buy in stores…"

"I can see why they are called dream eggs," Kurapika said.

Kiyoko allowed Kuromi emerge and take half of her body for the time being as she ate a bit of the egg.

"This isn't bad.." Kuromi said.

"Mhm. It is good," Kiyoko agreed.

"Is just me or is she talking to herself?" Killua asked, taking another big bite from his egg.

"Ahaha, not really, kid," Leorio said. "They are one person, but at the same time they aren't. Kuromi has a sharper and ruder sounding voice and Kiyoko's voice sounds warmer and calm."

"Rude? What a joke, what about you?" Kuromi asked.

"Kuro, calm down.." Kiyoko said.

Kuromi began to grumble to herself as she listened to her positive self.

"I see what you mean.." the boy said.

"Todo-san!" Gon exclaimed.

"Huh?"

"Would you like to try some?"

Menchi looked over to the two and smiled at Gon as the man grabbed the egg and tried a bite.

".. It's delicious…!" the man said, his eyes opening wide.

"And so you've now experienced the overwhelming joy of uncovering a new ingredient and how it can taste so good," Menchi said, strolling over to the two. "We Gourmet Hunters risk our lives for that one particular joy. It's just like a Blacklist Hunter experiencing their victorious capture of a criminal, becoming overwhelmed with happiness. That's why we are proud to be a Gourmet Hunter"

".. I-I've been outdone this year…. I'll be back for the next exam though!" Todo exclaimed, walking away.

"That. IS SO COOL!" Gon exclaimed, looking at the woman next to him.

"Well, I am suppose to be a genius Gourmet Hunter. I need to prove myself to be a good proctor as well," the young woman said. "Chairman."

Netero nodded at the woman.

"Phase two, forty-two of you passed this phase! Menchi's menu is now over!"

"Thank god!" the group exclaimed, chatter filling the open space as they headed back to the airship.

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Sorry I haven't updated for a while on this one!

~lilyblizz