I was thoroughly confused about how I could have possibly passed the exam without even answering a single question.
"You four are now going to go through those doors there. You will be given your instructions for the next phase of the Gourmet Hunter Exams." Coco explained.
The other three left through the doors as Coco instructed, but I was still confused so I stayed behind to ask Coco what was going on. I don't know what the deal was with those other three guys, but I was sure that there was no way that I could have passed.
"Um, I have a question." I said with a puzzled expression.
"I'm sure that I don't know what you don't understand. I gave you very simple instructions." He replied bluntly.
"Oh, it's just that, I already wasn't too confident in my physical exam performance and when I didn't know any questions on the written exam I was sure that I would fail. I guess I'm just curious how I managed to pass."
Coco looked at me with a blank expression for a moment before giving a slight chuckle and saying, "Well as for your physical exam I guess they decided that you did good enough." He said as he chuckled again.
I was a bit confused as to why he was laughing like that but I was more interested in hearing how I made it through the written exam. "Ok, so what about the written exam?" I asked.
"This exam was about far more than just answering test questions. For starters why do you think we made the test two hours long when there were only ten questions?" Coco asked me.
"Um, I don't know. I guess because they were really difficult questions." I said unsure what the reason could be.
"That's true the questions were difficult, but I would imagine that you knew immediately that you didn't know the answers to them am I correct?" He asked and I responded with a nod of my head. "Exactly, you should have known whether you knew the answer or not immediately. In other words it shouldn't have taken you that long to finish your exam either way. Basically, the first purpose of the written exam was to test your patience. On a hunt you may have to wait for hours or even days when tracking your quarry, so if you can't wait two hours for your test then you aren't cut out to be a Gourmet Hunter."
"Furthermore, it was imperative to disqualify any participants that attempted to cheat. Anyone with questionable morals aren't cut out to become a Gourmet Hunter either." He continued.
"So it never mattered what I wrote down at all?" I asked.
"Not exactly." He replied. "Obviously if you knew the correct answers that would have been best, but in cases such as yours it's better to not answer if you don't know the answer. The reason for that is that in the field, recklessly taking action when you don't know what you're doing will get you or someone else killed. It's better to just stick to what you know in situations like that."
"Oh, I see." I said, then I went out the doors like Coco instructed. "I guess I got really lucky." I thought.
Meanwhile, there were a group of men that had been watching the proceedings on a video monitor.
"Coco wasn't lying, the things he mentioned are important and they are factors in this portion of the exam, but it's not exactly true that his answers on the exam didn't matter. We had made the exam harder this year in an effort to increase the level of rookie Gourmet Hunters. We made it so that they had to answer at least 8 out of 10 questions correctly in order to pass. In addition to all the things he mentioned." One of the men said.
"That's right, he shouldn't have passed. What's the meaning of this Ichiryu?" Another asked.
In the corner of the room a muscular man with a long blonde mustache was howling with hearty laughter. The man was Ichiryu the head of the IGO and one of (if not the) strongest men in the entire world of Toriko.
"That's true, we were planning on making the exams tougher this year, and technically based on his written exam we shouldn't have passed him through to the next phase of the exam. However, he also broke the record in every single physical exam that we put him through. Now people like me and the Four Kings aren't included in those records but even so, it's highly impressive. When it comes down to it you can teach all the things that were on the written exam, but you can't teach physical ability like that. The kids got potential so I made an exception and passed him through anyway. He reminds me a little bit of Toriko, or maybe he's more like Zebra?" Ichiryu said.
"I certainly hope he's not like Zebra. I doubt Honey Prison could handle a second person like that." One of the men said.
"Bahaha! You're right!" Ichiryu mused. "That's exactly why it's important to set these youngsters on the right path."
"Still putting aside this young man you made an exception for, the other three that passed are incredible as well."
"Yes I agree." Ichiryu replied while stroking his mustache. "They only needed 8 out of 10 but all managed to get perfect scores. Ten out of ten. What's more is, they're all under the age of 20. I have a feeling that we might be looking at the next generation of the Four Heavenly Kings."
"That would certainly be nice to see but we'll have to wait for the practical exam to see what they're really make of." One of Ichiryu's subordinates said.
"Yeah you're right, so let's get the party started already." Ichiryu was saying as me and the others boarded an aircraft which would be taking us to the location of the third an final phase of the Gourmet Hunter Exams.