AN: This story is dedicated to one of my friends because she's a fan of both Hunter x Hunter and Sword Art Online. With no doubt, this will contain MAJOR spoilers for those who have never seen SAO or have not completed the entire series. If you'd like, I encourage you to watch it because it's a very good anime. Like I said in the description, this is a crossover fic. That means there will be interactions between the HxH and SAO characters. Please R&R! I'd appreciate it! Thank you and enjoy! :D

"LINK START!" Gon shouted so loud that his dog woke up from its sleep.

Millions of colors flashed and sped away before his eyes. Settings had been confirmed. Sight, ok. Sound, ok. Touch, ok. Taste, ok. Smell, ok. Language: English. More beams of colors sped by.

XxXxX

Ring, ring, ring! The telephone was ringing loudly. Mito, Gon's aunt, picked it up and held it to her ear.

"Hello, who is this?" she asked.

"Hi, Aunt Mito. Is Gon there?" Kurapika, Gon's neighbor, answered.

Kurapika was a senior high school student who attended a private Catholic school. He usually was in charge of himself at home since his parents were working overseas. He was a handsome and cute young man with golden blonde hair reaching the nape of his neck, flawless, milky skin, and stormy gray eyes. He had extraordinary talent in computers, fencing, playing the tenor saxophone, and singing. This made him one of the most popular students in the entire school especially among the ladies. He was also extremely intelligent as he had a love for books and thirst for learning. Even though he was mostly friendly and lovable, he enjoyed teasing people like Gon when he could.

"I'm sorry, Kurapika, but Gon can't talk to you right now. He's in the middle of playing Sword Art Online and he's been dreaming of playing it for a while now so we can't distract him."

"It's fine, Aunt Mito. I was wondering if you can give him my birthday present since it's his birthday today!"

"Aw, that's so sweet of you. Gon is grateful to have someone like you."

XxXxX

Gon was in a crammed room with dim night walls displaying tons of computer-like circuits outlined in bright green. Floating right in front of him was a small, round black table with no legs shaped like an upside down cone.

"Please enter your name," a feminine, robotic voice informed.

Gon typed in his name using the black table's touch screen keyboard. After pressing 'ok,' the voice said,

"Welcome to Sword Art Online, Gon. Proceed to create your character."

Immediately, there came a list of many features he could customize which appeared vertically like it would on a computer screen. It included eyes, hair, skin, and more. He pressed 'ok' again once he finished and a picture of his character showed up.

"Are you sure you want to use this as your character?"

Gon's character was a rather handsome, tall man who looked much older than twelve years old, his actual age. His hair, in a crew cut, and eyes were as green as limes and peas. His skin was tan like beach sand just like in reality. He wore a green long-sleeved shirt covered by silver chest plate armor, black gloves, navy blue pants, and milk chocolate boots.

"Yes," he replied and pressed 'yes.'

Suddenly, the floor and the walls began to crumble.

"What's this?" Gon asked in a worried tone as he was shaking around.

A light had shone and blinded his eyes. After it faded away, Gon slowly opened his eyes and found himself lying down in a wide meadow. When he stood up, he spotted a huge chunk of floating land towering above him.

"What in the world is that?" he asked himself in fear.

"That is Aincrad, the world of Sword Art Online," a deep, manly voice said.

Gon looked to his right and realized that a very tall middle-aged man with a blue crew haircut, aqua eyes, and circular glasses rimmed with a gray frame had answered that question.

"Really? It looks so... intimidating but fascinating..."

"You sound like you haven't beta-tested this game," the man pointed out.

"Beta-testing? What do you mean by that?"

"To beta-test a game means to test the game prior to it's official release."

"Ah, now I understand. No, I haven't beta-tested SAO."

"Since you never played SAO before, would you like me to show you the basic ropes of this game?"

"Yes, please! I'd really like that, sir!" Gon beamed.

"All right! First things first. Use your right index finger to swipe down midair. This is how you'll see the menu."

"Okay!"

When he did this, a list of several options appeared such as inventory, equipment, and settings.

"Go to inventory."

Gon found a new item in his inventory: a one-handed short dagger.

"Choose that item and press equip."

The dagger appeared in Gon's right hand.

"Wow, that's so cool!"

"Wanna know something even cooler?" the man grinned.

"Tell me, sir!"

"Even though there's no such thing as magic in SAO, you can perform all sorts of tricks and super powers with just one sword!"

"Awesome!"

"See that boar over there?" he asked, pointing it out. "I'll teach you how to kill it in an instant."

"I'm all ears, sir."

"First, concentrate your energy into your dagger by grasping it very tightly."

"Got it."

To focus harder, Gon shut his eyes.

"You should feel some vibrations if you're doing this correctly."

Gon opened his eyes and looked down at his dagger. It was vibrating and he also noticed that the blade was gradually changing into luminescent purple.

"It's feeling heavier and heavier!"

"That's a good sign. Now, keep your eyes locked on the boar. To release the accumulated energy, move the dagger backwards and quickly aim forward. When I say three, you release the energy. Understood?"

Gon prepared his dagger and answered, "Got it!"

"Ready? One, two, THREE!"

At three, the dagger transitioned forward swiftly and a thin but long ray of energy penetrated through the boar. The boar let out its final squeals and got knocked out.

"You did it! Great job! I'm sure you'll become a talented swordsman because of this game!" the man cheered and pat Gon on the back.

"Thank you so much for helping me! If it wasn't for you, I would've died by now!" Gon said with relief.

"Anytime, man. Oh, you still have to get your loot from the boar. Go check out what you receive."

Gon walked to the carcass and a list of items popped up. He got 20 copper and boar meat.

"You got meat, huh? I could cook it for both of us because I have some experience in cooking. It'll taste great!"

XxXxX

The two of them finished their hunks of boar meat all the way to the harder-than-concrete bone. The man burped loudly for a couple of seconds. Gon giggled so hard that his sides started to hurt. The man started to chuckle too. When they finished, he asked,

"What's your name, young man?"

"I'm Gon and that's actually my name in the real world!"

"I see. I'm Leorio in both this game and the real world too. Since you have such a childish voice for a grown man, I'm guessing you're still a kid."

"Yes, I am, Mr. Leorio. I'm currently twelve."

"Wow, I think you might be one of the youngest gamers in SAO. Don't you think?" Leorio said nervously.

"There could be younger kids," Gon shrugged. "How old are you, Mr. Leorio?"

"You may not believe when I tell you this but..." he scooched closer to Gon's ear.

"Tell me!"

"I'm only... nineteen..." he whispered as softly as possible.

"EH!? NINETEEN!?"

"SHHH!"

"I thought you were in your early forties!"

"Gon, that's so mean! Forget it, we're not friends anymore!" Leorio scolded. "I'm gonna log out now!"

When he opened the menu, the logout button was nowhere in sight. Suddenly, a sound reminiscent of a town bell echoed across the entire land. Gon and Leorio were teleported to the Town of Beginnings, the starting location for all the novice gamers. The other thousands of players had arrived earlier and made a heck of a crowd. Their conversations seemed to sound worrying and puzzling.

"Why are we here?"

"Did an accident happen?"

Everyone went silent as a red computer barrier arched over the Town of Beginnings. Some sort of red substance, similar to blood, was secreting from the barrier's highest point and formed into something unexpected. There were definitely bad news coming according to everyone's instincts. A gigantic being with a long scarlet cloak obscuring all of his face and body rose over the frightened and horrified gamers. The only thing you could see were his hands.

"Attention players," the booming voice announced. "Welcome to my world."

"My world?" Gon thought. "Does that mean..."

"My name is Kayaba Akihiko. As of this moment, I am the sole person who can control this world."

"He created SAO! No wonder he sounds familiar!" Leorio thought.

"I'm sure you've noticed by now that the logout button is missing from the menu. But this is not a defect in this game. I repeat... it is not a defect in the game. Actually, it's a feature of Sword Art Online. You cannot log out of SAO yourselves. And no one from the outside can shut down or remove the NerveGear. If they attempt to do this, the transmitter inside the NerveGear will emit a powerful microwave destroying your brain and thus ending your life. Unfortunately, several friends and families ignored this warning. Because of this, two hundred and thirteen players are forever gone from Aincrad and the real world. News organizations across the world are reporting all of this, including the deaths. If your HP drops to zero, your avatar will be forever lost and simultaneously, the NerveGear will destroy your brain."

Everyone's eyes widened.

"There is only one means of escape. There is a total of one hundred floors in Aincrad. If you defeat all of the Floor Bosses as you work your way up, then you win the game."

"One hundred floors? Impossible! The beta-testers never made it that high!" Leorio hollered.

"I've added a present from me to your inventory. Please see it for yourselves."

Gon, Leorio, and everyone else had gotten a mirror from Kayaba. When they stared into their mirrors, they got shrouded in blue smoke and whimpered for help. The smoke disappeared so Gon looked back at the mirror. He realized that it reverted him back to his true appearance. He had a very cute and childish face for a preteen. He viewed everything with his rather big, round, innocent, milk chocolate eyes. He was tan since he enjoyed the outdoors and nature. His spiky, black hair protruded upward and it made him look taller. His thin, flexible black eyebrows always matched his current mood or emotions.

"Gon?" Leorio asked, shocked to see how the tall man looked in reality. "Is that really how you look?"

"Leorio? You don't look that much different than before..."

The RL Leorio still kept his crew haircut and glasses. Instead, he had black hair like Gon and dark brown eyes.

"That's true," Leorio lightly chuckled.

"All of you are probably now wondering why I would do all of this," Kayaba continued. "It's simple. I created this world for one reason: to intervene in it. This ends the tutorial for the official Sword Art Online launch. Good luck, players."

His last words left everyone in complete silence as the barrier and Kayaba faded away.

"What'll be your future plans, Gon?" Leorio asked.

"I'm going to become stronger that's for sure! What about you?"

"I have classmates from medical school who are playing SAO. I promised that I would meet up with them to form our own guild."

Gon looked bewildered. "Why medical school?"

"You see, we want to reach our dreams of becoming some sort of brain doctor."

"You mean psychiatrists and neurologists?"

"Right! So we've been given a project in which we observe and study how video games like SAO can affect one's psyche or personality. We're not striving to beat the game just so you know."

"That sound really interesting, Mr. Leorio! I guess we'll go our separate ways from here..."

"If you need me, just come see us at the Dragon Egg Inn in the Town of Beginnings. Got it?"

"Yes, sir!"

"I do hope that you can complete all one hundred floors and put an end to this world. You have tons of potential in you, Gon. I can see it and I know you'll do it. Trust me."

"Thank you, Leorio! I'll see you soon! Good luck on your research!"

They waved at each other and Gon advanced to the roads of potentially dangerous wildlife. As soon as he spotted a rabid-like and vicious wolf, he penetrated it with his dagger's plentiful energy in a flash.

"I will... SURVIVE IN THIS WORLD!" Gon screamed at the top of his lungs, never hesitating to keep running.

AN: *squeals* I really liked how I described Kurapika in the beginning. He will appear in far future chapters and be mentioned several times by Gon. He will be a protagonist in the second arc. I hoped you guys liked the first chapter and I'm looking forward to write the next one. It's all because Killua will be introduced! See you next chapter!