The Dark Tunnel

The past few months have been both crazy and interesting. Sessions after sessions. Homeworks after homework. It's not that I'm complaining. I'm actually enjoying it. But I just wish I have more time to do them better and to actually do other stuff - like writing entries for this blog. So here's my latest entry. Another long post before it gets busy again.

***

I tried to recreate the story from a Hunter X Hunter. Specifically the Hunter Exam Arc. The story I’m about to tell you may or may not be true. I may have tried to recreate events, locales, and conversations from my memories of them. To maintain their anonymity in some instances, I may have changed the names of individuals and places, I may have changed some identifying characteristics and details such as physical properties, occupations and places of residence.

***

Gaer found himself standing at the grandiose face of the market. It’s facade gleaming with promises of vast riches... wild hunts... hidden treasures… the mysterious unknown… where people are captivated by the magic of those words are called ‘traders’. And then he whispered to himself.

“So this is the stock market, huh,
 And this is the crowd that it draws,”

That was his first shot at the stock market, and as he was standing there, he wondered if that was how the others felt before him.

He entered the huge and heavy glass doors and the receptionist looked straight at him. Clad in a shiny black tux, he greeted him cheerfully and politely asked for a deposit. He reached in his pocket and pulled out a gold coin. He examined it for a while with his fingers. Feeling every dents and details of it before putting it down on the shiny redwood desktop.

The receptionist signaled to an usher nearby and gestured to escort him to a room. Another guy in a black tux guided him to the back. He led him through this narrow hallway decorated with photos of famous people who made it successful in the market. As they reached the end of the corridor, Gaer saw a series of doors and other people waiting to get in them. Each door was painted with different colors. The guide looked at Gaer and looked back to the doors. Gaer assumed he was telling him to choose so he stepped forward near the door painted in blue and yellow. The guide followed and opened the door for him. Before he stepped in, Gaer saw the other people getting in their chosen doors. He bid goodbye to the guide and gestured a handshake.

“Well, good luck to you. I hope to be of service to you sometime soon,” the guide replied as he shook Gaer's hand.

Gaer entered the room and the guide closed the door with a smile. As soon as the latch clicked, he heard a loud thud and the room started moving down as if they were in an elevator. It was a small room. Maybe it was an elevator at after all. The ceiling was projecting surreal images of whales swimming in what it seems like, not water, but air, like they were floating. If they were real or not, he was uncertain. But they look real to him. He was distracted by them for a while before his mind went back to what the usher said before he left.

Gaer was puzzled. He went back to staring at the door. He thought the guide spoke as if he was so sure to see them again sometime in the near future.

“That explains it.” the voice came from the back. Gaer turned around.

“That bastard thinks he’ll see us soon because he expects us to fail,” a young man clothed in black blurted out. He was standing at his back, to his right, with his phone in his hand. Another brown-skinned man was standing on Gaer's other side.

“He’s right,” the brown-skinned guy spoke. “In a way…”

“Several years. That’s the amount of time a trader needs to be profitable in the market. Some can’t handle it. It’s too mentally and physically taxing. It is also not too uncommon for veterans to break the rookies so badly that they never try the market ever again. So that’s why people who want to be traders are willing to risk everything for it."

The elevator room stopped moving with another loud thud. The whales on the ceiling were gone and were replaced by a dark abyss as if you’re looking at the deepest depths of the ocean. The doors opened with a creaking sound. They walked out into this hallway into the main hall of the tunnel.

Upon reaching the main hall, Gaer walked around to look for a place to sit. Pairs of judging eyes were looking at their direction as they walk. Many have descended on the dark tunnel before them. Even the people who took the other colored doors ended up in the same tunnel. It was a strange atmosphere down there. It was dark except for the lights on the walls. They were welcomed by another guide that gave them their badge number.

“Here. Take a number. Be careful not to lose it,” the short guy said.

Gaer took his badge and pin it on his left chest. As he was looking for a place to sit, he saw different faces of people. Men and women. Young and old. Newbies and veterans. You can tell them apart by how battered their clothes are and by the number of scars on their faces.

Rrrrrriiiiiiiinnnnnnngggggggg…

And just as Gaer found a place to sit, an alarm blare across at the other end. The front wall blocking the tunnel moved and began to open up.

“I apologize for the wait,” the examiner said on the other side of the door. “The exam will now begin.”

“A final caution,” the examiner paused. “If you are short on luck or ability, you could very well end up seriously injured or even dead. Those who accept the risks, please follow me. Otherwise, please exit via the elevator behind you.” he paused for a while and waited for a few moments.

No one moved towards the elevator behind them.

“Very well. All 179 applicants will participate in Phase One.” the examiner announced while he started walking forwards.

Of course, no one turned around and left. But in his mind, Gaer hoped a few might withdraw.

The people in front started striding.

“Apologies. I neglected to introduce myself,” the examiner interrupted. “I am the Raze Keefs, the First Phase examiner. My responsibility is to lead you all to the second phase.”

“Second Phase!!?"  shouted someone at the back. "What happened to the First Phase?”

“The first phase is already underway,” Keefs revealed with his soft voice. Most people were surprised.

“The first phase is quite simple. All you have to do is follow me to the second phase. So try to keep up,” Keefs explained as he effortlessly stride through the dark tunnel.

“Follow you? That’s it. There’s nothing else?” another person asked.

“That’s right. I cannot tell you where and when you must arrive. You need only to follow me”, Keefs said cryptically as he continues to stride.

As Gaer tries to keep up on the group’s pace, he thought to himself, “This test is weird.”

He expected it to be an endurance test. But not knowing how far they’ll have to run was mentally stressful. To say nothing of the physical strain. This was a test of their mental fortitude as well.
No one knows how far they would have to go. Nevertheless, they struggle to match the leader’s pace.

To be continued on the next post - Into The Light.