1 Part 1: Becoming X A X Hunter

Secco's POV

The wind blew through my long messy blonde hair as I let out my fourth sigh. I have been sitting in one of these wooden boxes, waiting inside the ship for many hours and that man still didn't show up.

I looked around the large ship where I was and saw that every worker is really working on their feet, making me wonder if maybe, I can help too. So I jumped from my sitting place and approached one of my co-workers who carried a bunch of cargos. I looked at him with my sparkling eyes just to accept my offer.

"Hey! Can I help?~" I shouted childishly. I saw his sweat dropped on his forehead, still thinking if he will let me help or not.

"Sorry, Secco but... these cargos are deadly heavy. You can't carry them!" he said as he carried a huge cargo from the port. I frowned at myself and walked away.

Really, I am only eleven years old, but I am used to this cargo-lifting life in this ship so heavy cargos are nothing to me! Why can't they let me carry them? I madly grabbed a wet mop in the corner and just faking to clean the floor, which I already finished cleaning earlier.

Minutes passed and I saw him walking slowly towards my direction. My dull eyes started to sparkle like diamonds again and showed my face when I saw him and rushed to him before he does.

I stopped in front of him and gave my best enthusiastic smile. He is still wearing a sailor hat on his head, covering his white hair with the same color as his short beard. He put a cigarette into his mouth and move it out, releasing some smoke.

"Is this year right, Captain?!~" I smiled and so excited of what he's gonna say, with my both hands formed into a fist and lifted it to the level of my chest. I've been waiting for this time every year. I can't help but feel excited!

He nodded at my answer. "Today is the Hunter Exam so..." he didn't finish his sentence because I immediately shouted and jumped for joy.

"Yay! We will trim down the number of applicants!~"

I really can't help but feel exhilarated to this day. I've been waiting for this Hunter exam every year.

If you don't understand, an exam for hunters was being held in Zaban City. We were informed to trim down the number of applicants in the exam before they reached the exam site by questioning them during the travel. If we don't like their answers, they will fail immediately before the exam started.

"Hey, hey! I'm the one who's gonna question them, not you," the captain said to me with his thick eyebrows almost meet their ends and pointed his index finger to touch my forehead. "You'll just watch."

When he said that, I didn't care. As long as I can meet new amazing people that I've never seen before. I'm sure they will be amazing than I ever imagined.

But what's really bothering me is... what the hell are they joining the hunter exam? And what will they gain if they become a hunter? Will they gain a luxurious life? Will they gain power? Will they gain answers to their questions? Will they see someone they've never seen before? Will they gain exploration around the whole world?

These questions keep popping in my head, every time the Hunter exam is coming. I can't help but feel curious about what is the truth behind the Hunter exam.

"Now, set the sail!", the captain shouted to the workers who are in charge of the sails and they followed his order and set the sails. The stable ship is finally moving, leading us to our chosen destination. We arrived at our first destination which was just only kilometers away from our island.

We finally landed in the dock and I see some passengers wearing traveling bags and it looks like they were the examinees. This is so exciting! When will the captain question them anyway? I can't help but sparkle my eyes as I watched them ride to our ship. All the participants were looking amazing and like they were really ready for the exam. Hmm... some of them are farmers, workers from a shop, huh? They must be joining here for the money.

"Jeez... who is that girl? She's been looking at us all the time!"

"Yeah, I know... it's so creepy."

"And why is she wearing a dress?"

Some participants are starting to stare at me and all their faces were disgusted. Maybe I was looking at them too much, they started to think of me as a creep. So I pretended that I'm not looking at them and just lift up some light cargos from the port towards the ship.

I secretly took one of the heavy cargos since all of the workers are busy, but when I was about to lift it up, my feet are starting to shake and sweats are dropping all over my face down to my clothes. But I successfully deliver it without any scratches.

We already went to a few places to get some passengers and lifted some cargos. I even saw a good-looking teenage boy with blonde hair the same as mine, wearing some weird clothes and a tracksuit inside. He looks so serious all the time every time I took a glance at him, reading a book, thinking that maybe he is high-strung. Is he suffering from something? Hmm... based on his weird clothing, he must be in a tribe, a clan, or something. He doesn't look like a sociable person at all. I can't help but stare at him for so long that I can't even concentrate on my work.

But he suddenly glanced at me so I quickly averted my eyes away and just continued to work. Did he catch me into my action? I secretly looked at him in my peripheral vision and it looks like he went back to his routine. I sighed in relief.

I just couldn't help but to stare at people and tried to guess their identity just by looking at their appearances. That's called deducing. From their personalities to their background stories, you can identify it by just scanning their bodies and see them in action. I've been practicing this thing ever since I was a child, and I love doing it. When it comes to deducing, I'm a geek!

The next man that caught my attention is an old man with short black pointy hair, wearing some glasses and a suit, and he also carrying a briefcase. Is there some money on it or something valuable.

This man looks rich! No, if he's rich, then why is he joining the exam? Is he wanted to be rich, or he's just looking for something?

"Hey, Secco!", I heard the captain shouted to me so I turned my eyes to him. "Don't just stand there! Clean the whole ship!"

"Okay!", I went back to work.

Finally, we've reached our final destination, Whale Island. It is said that no one was living here before and those who were living there right now also came from the mainland.

We reached the dock and passengers started to ride in our ship, which looks like also participants in the hunter exam. They almost have the same clothing as the other participants. When I saw them keep piling up in our ship, I can't help but feel excited and I can't wait to listen to the captain's examining them about their intention of becoming a hunter. Why? Because that is the time that I will confirm my deductions.

"That kid is amazing! Catching the Master of the Swamp."

I heard the conversation of the newcomers while I was working on the ship. I secretly went closer to their position as I keep moping the wooden floor of the ship. A kid? Master of the Swamp? I don't know anything but it seemed that a kid just did something amazing!

"I've heard that he just caught it to get his permission to join the Hunter exam."

What?! He's also joining the Hunter exam?!

"It's possible that he will become a hunter, I mean, if his father could do it, then maybe he can too."

A-And his father was a hunter?! Amazing! That kid that they were talking about. I want to be friends with him someday. I mean, he's too amazing to be a kid. I wonder if he's now inside the ship.

I looked for a kid but I couldn't see anyone except some bunch of middle-aged guys, except the blonde hair I encountered earlier. Until we were about to leave the Whale Island since no one is coming anymore but I still couldn't see the kid that they were talking about.

Until I spotted a boy with spiky dark green hair and looks like we're in the same age, running towards the dock where the ship was staying earlier. Maybe he was the kid that they were talking about. Until I realized that we were already moving away from the dock without the boy. I approached the captain who is standing in the corner, watching the sea.

"Captain, there is a kid left behind! Are you gonna leave him?"

I argued to the captain but he just stood there, watching the sea.

"We can't waste time to a little boy, are we, Secco? He must find a way on how to get here."

That's what he said as I just gave him a pout, and moved away from him. He's rude as ever, no wonder he was tasked to trim down applicants for about 30 years.

I continued my work cursing the captain in my mind until I noticed that the green-haired boy was already running towards the cliff which is few meters away from our ship.

Wait! Is he going to jump? It's dangerous! I watched him do something while I was very worried about him. If he jumped, he sure will die.

Then suddenly, he grabbed a fishing pole hanging on his back and swing its hook towards our direction which gave me a shock. The next thing he did was the most surprising, he jumped towards us while his fishing pole gave him support, and landed safely on the ship. I can't help myself but drop my jaw because of what he did.

He was... really fabulously amazing!!

Not just me who noticed his actions, almost all the people inside the ship, even the exam participants and the workers, saw him jumped at a long distance.

Still holding the mop, I approached him and gave him my compliments as I can't help but to sparkle my eyes in amazement.

"Hi, I am Secco!~"

"I am Gon! Nice to meet you, Secco!"

He lends me his hand offering a handshake that I accepted immediately and shaking his hand violently that I can't even dare to let go of it.

"By the way, what you did earlier was really amazing, Mr.Gon!~"

"Hehe. Thank you! But you can just call me Gon."

"O-Okay... Gon!~"

He said, getting flattered, as he gave his nape a scratch. Did I say too much? Well, I don't care.

"Secco! Hurry up and work!"

I heard the captain shouted at me as he saw me just slacking off in the ship.

"'Kay!!~"

I spoke and bid goodbye to Gon who was now watching how brilliant the sea is, and started to work. I heard Gon told the captain that there is a storm coming, proving how the sea birds act, and the smell of the wind.

And a storm really is coming! He was really amazing! Not just he caught the so-called Master of the Swamp, or jumped on a cliff, but also identified if there is a storm coming. I thought that only ship workers like us can identify a storm since we're used to traveling in the sea, but Gon was really an exception.

All of the participants have seasick, except for Gon, the blonde, and the old man in a suit. The captain told me to prepare myself to watch his work as a questioner which gave me thrill. I just stood beside him while smiling, excited for the event, as he called for the three remaining participants to follow him in a room.

"Tell me what's your name and why do you want to become a hunter?" the captain asked and the first one to be able to answer his questions turns out to be Gon.

"I am Gon, and I want to find my father and to know why he chose to be a hunter rather than taking care of me!" he said lively. That was a very sad story and I fell sorry for Gon, left by his father, and chose to be a hunter rather than to be with him. But he didn't show some sadness and smiled widely.

"Why did you say your intention to a random person?" the blonde man spoke as he looked at Gon. The old man agreed and also didn't reveal his intentions.

"What if this is a part of the exam?" Gon said.

"Indeed, this is also a part of the exam. The Hunter Association hired us to reduce the number of participants."

I was amazed by how the captain acts like he was already one of the examiners. I was just standing in a corner, can't help but be galvanized.

The blonde let out a sigh and started to speak. "Sorry for my rudeness. I am Kurapika, and I want to be a Blacklist Hunter to catch the Phantom Troupe, who massacred my clan, the Kurta Clan." I knew it. He's from a clan, and he suffered because he witnessed the deaths of his family. It's really a sad story. But... Yay! Two points!

The captain just nodded.

"Why do you have to take the exam just for revenge, huh?" the old man asked but he was just trying to insult him.

"A licensed hunter has unfamiliar access to any information and places, and also has the freedom to do any actions that the law forbade.", the blonde named Kurapika was managed not to be mad. So that's why he wanted to be a hunter, to get some information.

Wait! Information? Maybe... I can also get access to information related to that thing?

The man understood and leaned over to us, the captain, and me. "I am Leorio. And I want to be a hunter to have... money!"

He stated, resulting in me being shocked and uninterested in his answer. I knew it, he's just here for the money. How can an old man who was just dreamed to be rich, manage to survive in the sea storm?

"What an unacceptable ambition you have there,

Leorio.", Kurapika teased as Leorio gave him a deadly glare which means he didn't like his comment.

"It was Mr. Leorio, kid. You were truly disrespectful. It's a shame that I'm not the first one massacre your clan."

"Say that again.", Kurapika also gave him a glare. Looks like they were about to kill each other and they went out of the room to fight.