A gunshot was heard out of nowhere to catch attentions.

"You all did an excellent job making it here alive and well! Phase two will be taking place here in Biska Forest Park. Now then, I shall take my leave," Satotz announced.

'Finally...' Kuromi muttered.

"Best of luck to you all," the man said, walking away from the tired mob.

'I don't want to run ever again...' Kiyoko said, holding her head in pain.

'Don't worry, I'll take over this phase.'

Kuromi, unaware of the next challenge, walked over to Gon and rested her arm atop his head. The boy looked up at the girl curiously and continued to stare. Kuromi looked down at the boy and kept her straight face on, her eyelids lowered a little. Gon flashed a smile at the negative girl brightly, Kuromi softening her face a little.

'... W-what...?' Kuromi asked trying hard not to break her masked expression.

"Kuromi, you're a very nice person aren't you?" Gon suddenly asked.

Kuromi's remained the same as his question slowly seeped into her head. The girl frowned once her brain processed the suddenly asked question.

"Don't go implying random descriptions of me if you don't know if it's true," Kuromi said, pouting a little and looking away.

Gon giggled a little and reached up to grab Kuromi's hand hanging above his face. The girl flinched at the touch, her eyes widening in surprise, and relaxed her muscles after a little while. Kiyoko smiled at the two and urged Kuromi to do something back, earning a mental groan of displeasure. The cynical girl hesitantly held the young boy's hands back and awkwardly looked away, a small light blush tinting her cheeks.

'Eh, is she going to throw the kid or something?' Leorio muttered, rubbing his swelled up cheek.

Kuromi shot daggers at the man and tightened up her free hand into a fist, her knuckles turning white.

"Idiot, she's going to throw you instead," Kurapika answered.

"Hey, you. Since we're just standing here waiting for the gate to open, what's your name?" Killua asked, sounding a little too demanding.

Kuromi fixed her gaze onto the boy, not bothering to change her face expression.

".. And who are you?" Kuromi asked in a monotone voice.

Her answering his question with her own ticked the boy off a little. Killua decided to answer her question then asked again and kept himself from snapping at the girl.

"My name is Killua. Again, who are you?" the boy asked again even though her already knew her name.

"Killua, don't you think you're sounding a little bit... rude?" Kuromi asked, smirking a little.

Killua frowned a bit and curled his fingers together into a fist, waiting for an answer. Kiyoko's smirke died down as she took in a deep breath, releasing it with force.

"Kuromi. Kiyoko isn't present right now, so you can't meet her just yet, Snow Pile," the girl answered, looking back forward.

"W-wha.. Snow Pile?!" Killua exclaimed, leaning forward in anger. "Why you old hag!"

Kuromi's composure snapped, the girl trying hard not to display a frown and yet failed horribly at it. Killua smirked and stuck his hands into his pockets, leaning even lower and closer to her as he took notice of her expression.

"Oh? Did I strike a nerve or something?" the child taunted.

'Kiyoko, can I kill him?!' Kuromi thought.

'No, Kuromi, you can't. We'll get disqualified and of course it'll backfire later on,' Kiyoko reasoned.

'Does that mean I can kill him later?'

'No!'

The gates finally began to open slowly, revealing kitchen sets from the inside and two other examiners of the hunter exam. Everyone looked at the sets and tabled with confusion written on their faces, wondering what the next phase was all about. A skimpy looking female proctor was seated on an out of place couch with a giant male proctor standing behind the couch. The participants began to whisper to each other in disappointment as the woman before them switched and recrossed her legs.

"Will every passing attendees pass through this gate to begin the second phase?" The female voice rang.

'What is all this...?'

'Is this a prank..?'

'A kitchen? In the middle of no where?'

The participants continued to mumble questions as they all walked into the field of cooking utensils. Gon didn't bother letting go of Kuromi's hand and dragged the older girl in the area with him, the girl followed hesitantly.

"Welcome, all participants!" the woman began.

A loud noise was heard echoing all around the mob and behind the green eyed woman.

"What... was that just now..?" Killua asked.

"You must be really hungry," the female examiner said, facing the man behind her.

"I'm starved..."

"And there you have it!"

"Wait, what's going on?" someone asked.

"What do you mean? It's obviously the second phase," the woman replied. "Look around you and tell us what you see."

Everyone eyed every identical kitchen set carefully and thought for a bit.

"Aren't they just kitchen counters?" they all asked in sync.

"What about them?" a random man asked.

"Well, let's start with introductions first.. I'm Menchi and this guy here.." Menchi introduced.

"I'm Buhara! We are the examiners for the next phase," the man answered.

"The next phase is going to be all about..." the woman with green hair said.

"TADA! COOKING!" the two examiners exclaimed, showing and gesturing the kitchen counters behind the mob.

"Eh?" everyone exclaimed.

"This must be a joke! C-cooking?" Hanzo hollered.

"Cooking?! We're here to become hunters not become decent or even better cooks!" Todo exclaimed.

'I should have just taken over during the marathon even if Smarty here didn't let you switch places with me! You just had to back out and listen to him and now I'm stuck cooking,' Kuromi sobbed inwardly.

'Ma, ma, don't worry. Just try your best...' Kiyoko hesitantly said.

Kurapika, Leorio, Gon, and Killua looked over at the girl to see tears streaming down her angered face. The boys smiled awkwardly at Kuromi's reaction after she heard the word 'cooking' except for Killua who just looked away and snickered at the girl.

"That is correct! You're test is to prepare a satisfying dish for us both! You said you're here to become hunters? Well we are gourmet hunters," Menchi said proudly.

Everyone went quiet and stared at the two examiners, the participants bursting out laughing afterwards excluding the small group.

'How rude...' Kiyoko said softly.

'Idiots will always be idiots, but why cooking?' Kuromi muttered, pissed.

"What was that?" Gon asked, smiling at the girl like usual.

"Nothing."

"What a disappointment!" a person said. "Gourmet hunters? More like gourmet pigs."

Menchi stared in surprise at the participants and frowned angrily, heaving a heavy sigh. The laughter died down to snickers as the woman glared at the rude attendees.

"IF YOU DON'T WANT TO PARTICIPATE IN THIS NEXT PHASE THEN GO HOME AND TAKE THE TEST NEXT TIME. OTHER THAN THAT, DON'T COMPLAIN!" Menchi hollered.

"What's a gourmet hunter?" Gon asked, finally letting go of the girl's hand.

"A gourmet hunter is a hunter that looks for ingredients around the world to create new cuisines," Kurapika explained.

"Great, more knowledge from the Bookworm..." Kuromi gritted, earning a small glare from the boy.

"So, gourmet hunters, what do we have to make to satisfy you're hungry stomachs?" Todo asked mockingly.

"Hm... Buhara," Menchi growled.

The man stepped forward and shook the ground once he set his foot down onto the ground.

"Each one of us will ask for a dish and taste test your culinary skills. The required ingredient for me is pork, not just any pigs, but the most dangerous pigs in this forest, the Great Stamp," Buhara announced.

"After you pass Buhara's test and earn satisfaction, you will move onto my test," the young woman continued. "Now, go! Second phase begins NOW!"

'Eh? Where the hell are we going to find pigs in the forest?" the mob muttered, walking out of the gate in disappointment.

"So where are we going to look first?" Leorio asked.

"Don't look at me, how should I know?" Kuromi muttered.

The man grumbled something unnecessary and looked away from the girl, turning to Kurapika instead.

"I'm with her. I don't have a clue either," the boy said immediately.

Leorio frowned at the two and gave a long sigh.

"Hey, Kurapika, check my face. It hurts.. You only checked my arm earlier," the man complained.

Kurapika turned his head over and looked at the man for a good half minute, looking away and lowering his eyelids irritably.

"It looks the same as ever. Now, quit complaining," Kurapika said, sounding as calm as ever.

'That sounded like a lie.. And it sure doesn't feel normal to me,' the man muttered angrily.

'Poor Leorio-san..' Kiyoko said, giggling a little.

'There's nothing to pity him about at all...' Kuromi told Kiyoko. 'In fact there's actually too much to take pity on him to the point where it's too much and you end up not pitying him for anything.'

Kiyoko smiled and shook her head. The group made their way down a slope and slid to the very bottom, Gon being the first to slide down the side. The boy stood at his place as everyone else followed him down, bumping into each other in the process.

"Agh! Ow!" Kuromi exclaimed.

"Hey! Watch it!" Killua said, glaring at the girl.

Kuromi returned the expression to the boy, but changed it into a cringe after the other two boys made contact with them all, squishing them together and toppling each other down.

"Oof!" Kurapika grunted.

"Ah- Whoa!" Leorio exclaimed, falling over everyone.

The group were now sandwiched together as they tried picking themselves up from the ground slowly and in pain, Gon still staring out in front of him.

"Hey, Gon, next time... DON'T JUST STAND THERE! MOVE OUT THE WAY!" Leorio exclaimed furiously. 'Now, where are those damn pigs?!'

Gon pointed out in front of him to a group of giant pigs with snouts large enough to cover their faces.

"Over there," the boy said casually.

Everyone looked at the pigs in shock, their jaws dropping to the ground. The animals were munching on bones peacefully until one of them spotted the little group of humans, snapping a bone in half with it's jaws. Leorio flinched and whimpered at the sight, the colors of his face draining into white.

"What now? Are you going to piss in your pants or something, Mr. Courageous?" Kuromi snickered.

Leorio had the urge to scream, but couldn't, his voice hitched up in the back of his throat. The pigs completely stopped what they were doing and began to chase after the tiny group, making them run off and away from the herd.

"Hey, buta-chan... Huh? What's going on?" Hanzo asked, looking up from the bush he was looking through.

The participants stopped their search and looked at where the shaking was being created.

"Is it an earthquake?" a participant asked.

"AS IF!" Tonpa exclaimed.

Dirt clouds were flying all over the place as five silhouettes, a girl and four boys, came running towards them quickly with bigger shadows behind them following after them.

"Ah. We found them," Kuromi said casually, running past everyone without a single huff of tired breath.

The participants didn't get what she said and stared at her confusedly, fixing their gazes to the others with her.

"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" Leorio screamed as he sped by every single thing in the way.

"Ehh... Is this what we have to do?" Killua asked, sounding a little uninterested as he passed by everyone with his hands behind his head.

Gon came running next to Killua with a straight face on, watching Leorio scream off his head.

"I advise you all to run. That's if you don't want to die," Kurapika said, following the other four.

The pigs finally got close enough for everyone to see, causing them all to panic and follow after the little group of newly made friends. Every participant split apart from each other to get the pigs off their hinds, the pigs doing the same to chase after their picked human prey.

"It looks like this little piggy wants to play with us," Kuromi said as she turned around quickly, making her slide backwards as she planted her feet firmly into the ground to halt.

The pig stopped in it's track and huffed a little, pawing the ground several times before charging after the girl. Kuromi jumped out of the way from the animal, making it collide it's giant nose into a tree and delaying it's movement for a second.

"Wow, this pig is like a bull.. It must hate my red hair," the girl said calmly, holding up her hair a bit to look at.

Kiyoko gave a weak chuckle and shook her head a little, making Kuromi smile at herself.

"Feeling any better, Kiyo?" Kuromi asked.

'Yes, just a little tired still,' Kiyoko replied.

Kuromi kicked the incoming pig with her subservient left leg at it's large snout and caused the dangerous animal to topple downward to the ground. The girl set her hands on her hips and leaned a little on her left leg, her right leg being the injured one from earlier.

'You shouldn't worry too much about our brother's thoughts. He's already gone, but even if he wasn't, he wouldn't want his little sister to be worried about his own opinions instead of her own thoughts,' Kuromi thought, knowing this topic was a little too personal to be said out loud.

The pig stood back up onto it's legs, looking ever so angry at Kuromi and huffing a breath through it's nose.

"You are one stubborn pig..." the girl muttered, growing out her tail and knocking the creature off it's feet again.

"HEY, YOU OLD HAG!" Killua called out.

Kuromi's nerves were struck again as the young boy called out to her, making her hide her tail quickly.

"GON SAID TO ATTACK IT'S HEAD! THAT'S IT'S WEAK SPOT!"

Kuromi sighed and bent down to take out her staff from the wrapped ribbon around her leg, extending it to it's fullest and whacking the Great Stamp on it's forehead as hard as she could.

"Is that so?" Kuromi asked herself.

The pig dropped dead onto it's side after the hard contact with the weapon. One by one, each pig tipped over onto to the ground dead as they got hit on the head really hard by the participants. Everyone dragged the dead pigs back without a struggle and went straight to roasting the pig, not caring if it was burnt or still raw.

"I didn't expect this many to pop up.." Menchi said to Buhara, a little impressed.

"I'm hungryyyyyy..." Buhara complained as he eyed the roasting pigs.

'I bet some of the meat got burnt,' Kuromi muttered, looking at the other's dishes.

'Pay attention to your own or yours would burn too,' Kiyoko warned.

'Right...'

Each participants began to line up in front of the examiners with their roasted pig in hand, eager to hurry up and pass the so-called Second Phase. Kuromi met up with the others in the middle of the field and headed over to the long line, waiting for their turn patiently. It was now Kuromi's turn to present her dish, the girl awkwardly scooting towards the two examiners and setting down her dish.

'I feel like an ant near him..' the negative girl thought.

'I would've of also if I was in that position... In fact, I feel like one anyways!' Kiyoko responded.

Buhara hobbled down the roasted pig hungrily even though he already ate more than thirty of the same dish.

"Yhep! you pash!" the man said, his mouth full of meat.

Kuromi nodded and walked away a little disgusted by the man's action.

"Pass! Pass! Pass! Pass!" the giant examiner repeated.

"Is this even..." Kurapika started.

"An exam anymore?" Leorio finished.

Kuromi gave a quiet shrug and scratched her head a little confused.

"I'm a really bad cook and yet, to pass me just like that, I have no idea anymore," the girl said.

"Since fifty of you guys got passed by Buhara, It's now my turn to test you all," Menchi said. "My dish would be... sushi!"

Everyone went quiet and looked around to look for reactions, getting the same expression as themselves. Menchi smirked and stood up from her seat, crossing her arms together. The mob began to ask each other and mutter 'What the heck is sushi?' as Menchi stood in her place and listened.

"I'll give you a hint. All the tools you need to prepare the dish are already out. I've also already provided the rice for you lots and now for the type of sushi? Nigiri Sushi," the woman said in a smug attitude.

"Hmmmm, how would you prepare this dish...?" Leorio thought out loud.

"What's sushi?" Gon asked as everyone went over to the stationed counters.

"Kid, you ask about everything..." Kuromi said between her teeth.

"I actually agree with the old hag here," Killua said.

"You little faggot, quit calling me that!" the girl hissed.

"I remembering reading it somewhere before, but I don't know the exact shape of it..." Kurapika started.

The attendees were curiously looking at their rice spatulas and playing around with the cooked rice as Hanzo looked around with excitement, trying hard to cover it up, but failed miserably.

'What a dope..' Kuromi muttered.

'If I recall... I believe Nigiri requires fish, no?' Kiyoko asked.

'Then we'll find fish, I guess,' Kuromi responded.

"So what you're saying is that we need fresh fish?! Where on earth do we get that? We're in a forest!" Leorio exclaimed.

Kurapika suddenly threw his rice spatula at Leorio's face, trying to make him shut up. Everyone in the area stared at the two for a while and then began running out of the gate once again.

"Idiot," Kuromi said out loud, walking away.

"FISH! WE NEED FISH!"

The mob began to shove each other out of the way to go find a water source and fish for the ingredient they needed most.

"YOU ARE SO LOUD!" Kurapika yelled.

"THEY WERE EAVESDROPPING!" Leorio exclaimed.

'I might as well keep my mouth shut then!' the boy growled.

"Aren't you glad, Gon? It's fishing and you're good at it!" Killua exclaimed, following Kuromi in the forest.

"Yeah!" the boy answered.

'This is going to take a while...' Kuromi sighed.