Gourmet Hunter (HxH Fanfic)

People who spend their lives navigating treacherous waters often possess an exceptional tolerance for solitude. The monotonous days of sailing passed quickly, and before they knew it, five uneventful days had gone by.

It has been a smooth journey.

Law recalled that the ship Gon was on had encountered a storm, and the captain of that ship regarded the storm as a test, making him think that the Goddess would also go out of its way to encounter a storm.

However, the smooth sailing over the past few days made him realize he'd been overthinking.

In his spare time every day, Law would fish off the side of the ship. Once he caught a fish, in addition to feeding Buhara, his ever-hungry companion, he would also share it with the crew. After a few visits, he became familiar with the crew.

The vacation-like atmosphere allowed Law to fully relax.

Thinking back, ever since arriving in the Hunter x Hunter World, he had been constantly on edge, focused solely on getting stronger to survive in such a perilous world. His days were filled with intense training.

'Guess I've been slacking off a bit...'

Law lay sprawled on the deck, watching seagulls play among the clouds, exuding an air of laziness.

Buhara, much like a loyal shadow, stayed close to him. Wherever Law went, he followed, and whatever Law did, he imitated.

Now, Buhara lay beside Law, taking up a significant portion of space with his large frame.

Had Law not already gotten on good terms with the crew, they might have been told to move for 'illegally occupying the road'.

"Law, aren't you going to fish anymore?"

After lying down for a while, Buhara began to think about the fish.

Law said lazily: "Are you still not full?"

Buhara rubbed his stomach and said, "Not really."

Hearing this, Law rolled his eyes, 'If I didn't catch a lot of fish every day, with the fixed amount of food provided by the Goddess every day, you might starve to death.'

"Go fish yourself."

Law wasn't about to keep indulging him, as Buhara had grown far too accustomed to being catered.

"Eh?" Buhara looked despondent. It wasn't that he didn't want to fish, it was that he wasn't any good at it.

On the deck, the crew went about their duties while most of the examinees stayed out of sight, dispersed across the ship. Some enjoyed the sea breeze or gazed at the ocean, but few were as relaxed as Law and Buhara, casually lounging on the deck.

But no matter what these candidates were doing, they would occasionally glance at Law.

When they boarded the Goddess that day, they all witnessed Law's performance.

In fact, they didn't understand reef racing, so they didn't understand the difficulty of reef racing. But with the more than 300 people who were wiped out as a comparison, it was not difficult to see how powerful Law was.

In addition to this group of examinees who were paying attention to Law, there was another person who was always observing Law, and that was the old captain.

Of the 300 people aboard, the old captain's attention was fixed solely on Law.

From his unspoken intuition, the old captain believed Law had a high chance of passing the Hunter Exam.

Seeing that they would reach their destination in half a day, the old captain handed over the helm to his crew. He decided to personally speak with Law and offer him a hint.

Under the crew's shifty gaze, the old captain approached Law with a bottle of liquor in hand.

Before he even arrived, the smell of alcohol wafted through the air.

Law raised his head slightly and watched the old captain with white hair and beard striding towards him.

The old captain had a stern face and sat down next to Law. The whole ship belonged to him, so there was no need to be polite.

After sitting down, he took a large swig from the bottle, then tilted his head to look at Law lying on the deck and said in a deep voice: "Kid, you're pretty impressive."

Law and Buhara both silently looked at the old captain. After a moment, they turned back to gaze at the sky, leaving the captain in an awkward silence.

The crew watching from a distance stifled their laughter, almost failing to contain themselves.

"Cough."

The old captain cleared his throat to hide his embarrassment, then continued, "Your name is Law, right? You've got great reef-racing skills. How long have you been practicing?"

Sitting up, Law finally acknowledged the captain. After thinking for a moment, he answered in an uncertain tone: "Probably ten days?"

When the old captain heard this, his eyes suddenly widened, the bottle mouth got stuck in his lips, and his arms were stiff and motionless.

Law did not notice the old captain's expression. He turned his head to look at Buhara and asked, "Buhara, how long did I stay in the reef zone?"

Buhara replied earnestly: "Nine days."

"Oh, so it's nine days." Law nodded.

"Cough, cough…"

The old captain quickly put down the bottle, as he's almost choked to death.

"You seem to cough a lot. Could you have chronic bronchitis?" Seeing the old captain coughing all the time, Law asked with genuine concerned.

Back when the captain announced instructions to the examinees, Law recalled there had been a couple of coughs before he started speaking. Now, the pattern repeated itself with only a short gap.

'Chronic bronchitis, your @s$!'

The old captain's face darkened. He wiped the alcohol off his beard and swiftly changed the topic, "You really only practiced reef racing for nine days?"

Law was very confused why the old captain asked this question, but he still nodded.

'Nine days... and he's already that skilled?'

The old captain's eyelids twitched, and he instinctively raised the bottle to his lips, hoping another swig of liquor would steady his nerves.

Though Law hadn't seen the captain since boarding, he knew the white-haired man beside him is the captain who commanded the Goddess.

Law hesitated for a moment and asked curiously, "Captain is the figurehead at the bow of the ship your dream lover?"

"Cough, cough..."

The old captain almost spit out the drink he had just taken a sip of, and then he started coughing again.

"Law, I think the captain might really have chronic bronchitis," Buhara said earnestly.

Law rolled his eyes at Buhara and asked, "Do you even know what chronic bronchitis is?"

Buhara admitted honestly: "No."

"Figures." Law massaged his temples. If chronic bronchitis had anything to do with food, Buhara would probably be an expert on it.

The old captain finally calmed down his cough, glared at the two cheeky troublemakers before him, and said angrily: "Can you two talk properly for once?"

Law shrugged innocently: "You keep coughing. It's hard not to notice."

The old captain's face turned even darker, and he said sternly, "You've got some nerve, kid. Practicing for just nine days and already that good."

"It's just so-so." Law said modestly.

"Do you want to know the exact location of the first test?" The old captain said directly without any hesitation.

Law's eyes changed slightly, and a faint smile appeared at the corner of his mouth. Then, he said lazily: "I'd rather know if that figurehead really is your dream lover."

"Once you get to Inner Fang Bay, look for a guy named Amato." The old captain felt he couldn't say any more, so after tossing up the hint, he picked up the bottle of wine and left directly.

Law looked at the old captain's retreating figure and said in gratitude loudly: "Thanks for the tip, Captain! Once we reach Inner Fang Bay, I'll be sure to look for a guy named Amato."

The other examinees on the deck turned to look in Law's direction, as they all heard what Law said.

The captain glanced at the onlookers, and his face twitched as he returned to the captain's quarter with a stern face.

Law watched the old captain return to the captain's quarter with a smile in his eyes, and then lay down again.

'The more people, the better...'

He looked up at the blue sky, thinking silently.

…

The next day, the Goddess reached Inner Fang Bay, which is a fan-shaped inlet lined with wooden houses built over the water.

As Law disembarked, the old captain gave him a farewell dripping with sincerity: "Kid, don't let me see you again next year."

Law turned around and gave the old captain a big smile, and said seriously: "No promises."

All the examinees took action immediately after getting off the ship, trying to find the guy named Amato.

At the entrance of Amato's residence.

A thick-browed, square-nosed man in his thirties stood outside a wooden house, muttering to himself, "Looks like there are quite a few examinees this year. This should be fun, heh heh."

Then, the man said narcissistically, "I wonder how long it'll take them to find me."

However, just as he finished, there was a commotion behind him.

The man looked in the direction of the sound and saw a large group of people rushing towards him.

"That's Amato's place!"

The man was utterly dumbfounded when he heard the voice coming from the crowd.