Disclaimer: I wish I owned Hunter but it already belongs to Yoshihiro Togashi :( I just own my idiotic OC, Hitomi... yay...

Chapter 23: New Game x New World x Welcome to Greed Island

After hearing the instructions, Hitomi went downstairs. She found herself staring at a huge prairie, of which she couldn't see the end of. Somehow, it looked much alike the real world.

Except of a feeling... She felt like more than one person were observing her.

"Hitomi!" she hear her name being called.

She turned around to find Gon, grinning widely at her. She smiled at him, making her way towards the boy.

"Hey," she said. "By any chance, do you feel being observed?"

"Yeah," he nodded. "But I can't find from where."

"Ah, that," she pointed at two ways. "There and there. Maybe we should head there after Killua arrives."

Gon stared at her, in amazement.

"How did you know?"

"I don't know, I just feel like that," she shrugged. "Surveillance takes a lot of endurance, so it's common do that from a place near a city. Because all the stamina you have to have for this task, the people usually have to swift turns. Maybe that's the reason that we can feel a lot of eyes on us."

She sat on the floor, and Gon did the same next to her. He was still thinking about it, but he just couldn't understand it completely.

"Hey, don't overdo it. You will overheat soon..." she sighed. "Anyway, did your father left you something?"

"Yeah!" he nodded happily. "He left me a message! He told me to enjoy the game."

Her face fell, but didn't say anything. That was kind of useless.

Time passed by and more people left the place. Finally, both of them stood up at the sight of Killua, who made his way to them.

"We are being watched," he said as soon as he met his friends. He pointed at two directions. "From these ways."

"Yeah, Hitomi said the same but..." Gon trailed off.

"He didn't understand a word of what I told him," she completed.

Gon just laughed nervously as the other two sighed.

"Well, if they're detected from so far away they shouldn't be that great," Killua commented.

"Maybe," Hitomi said. "But it also could be that they want us to go to either these ways. Which way should we go?"

"This way," the boys said at the same time, pointing at opposite directions.

Hitomi facepalmed, shaking her head and releasing a sigh of annoyment. The other two played Rock, Paper and Scissors. Killua ended up losing.

"You never learn, do you?" Hitomi snickered while looking at Killua.

"Damn it..." he cursed under his breath.

And like that, they departed to the way that Gon had chosen. After walking a bit, Killua conjured his book and grinned.

"So, what about your saved data?" he asked Gon. "How many cards do you start with?"

"About that, I only received a message," Gon replied.

"Really?! No hints whatsoever?" his face fell. "We have to start from scratch?"

"Yeah, Ging told be to enjoy the game," he smiled, before walking away.

"Enjoy the game on which we could have an awful death," Hitomi rolled her eyes. "Once again, nice father."

They walked chatting about the game for a few more minutes before they stopped in their tracks. A beam of light fell from the sky and it vanished. Inside it there was a boy with a book.

"If this is the prairie near the starting point then..." he said. "You guys there, is this your first time in this game?"

"Hmm, I don't know about that," Killua replied.

"You are holding a binder, then you must be a player too," Hitomi said.

"I guess so," he smirked.

Like her friends, Hitomi stood still. The only thing she was sure of was that guy wanted to take advantage of them. Maybe because they were rookies there. Maybe because they were kids.

Or maybe both.

Anyway, the boy put a card in his binder and his smirk widened.

"So you are Killua-kun, Gon-kun and Hitomi-chan," he said.

"Hey, how'd you figure out our names?" Gon asked.

"Hmm, I wonder how..."

Hitomi narrowed her eyes. He had used a card... did that meant that they could be used for fighting as well?

He then raised a card, making her snap out her thoughts.

"Trace on!" he shouted. "Attack Killua!"

"What?" Killua stepped back.

"Killua!" Hitomi and Gon shouted.

A multicolored ray of light shot from the light to Killua, who started to run away from it. However, it started to follow him.

"Idiot!" the boy shouted. "You can't run away from a spell in this game!"

"Spell?" Hitomi raised an eyebrow.

The light hit Killua, but he just stood there unscratched, looking at himself.

"Are you okay?" Gon asked, worriedly.

"What did you do to Killua?" Hitomi looked at the boy, with her red eyes.

The boy stepped back, looking at her demon-like appearance. However, that wasn't the thing that scared him the most. He looked at Killua's blood-thirsty form. An evil aura surrounded him as he made his way towards him.

"What have you done to me?" he muttered, in a scary voice.

Killua jumped to attack him, but the guy raised another card in the air.

"Return on!" he yelled at the top of his lungs. "To Masadora!"

The three kids watched at their enemy as he flew away and vanished from their sight. Hitomi sighed, returning her eyes to their natural tonality.

"So there are cards that let you use spells like that, huh?" Killua said, quietly, before smiling at his friends. "He did say something like 'spell', right? Maybe it has something to do with magic spells."

"You look too calm," Gon said.

"Of course he is. The only thing that happened was that a rainbow-like beam, which was shot from a card of a game in which the people constantly told us that we could die, hit him," she said, sarcastically, but still a little worried. She then looked at Killua with a serious expression. "Just kidding. Do you feel any different?"

"I don't feel any changes right now," he shrugged. "We'll probably find out sooner or later."

That sentence took Hitomi out of guard, making her stare at her feet for a bit and walk a little slower. She released a long sigh, before stopping and giving the boy a stern look.

"You are an idiot. How can you be that calm?" she asked. "You could be seriously injured and even die. So, why?"

They both turned at her, but Gon didn't say anything. Killua on the other hand, sighed as well and looked at her in the eye.

"Even if that happens, there's nothing we can do about it," he told her, making the girl gaze at the ground. The boy smiled softly. "I'm okay, for real. Don't worry about it."

"I wasn't worried about you, stupid~" she stuck her tongue at him. "At first thought that the game would be difficult without you here, but now I realized how wrong it was. Gon and me are more than enough to pass the game with flying colors. So you can die happily now, Snow-head."

"What do you mean with that, Miss Non-Barbie Girl?" he replied annoyed, as Gon laughed nervously.

After walking a little more, Hitomi looked at Gon in amusement. He was grinning widely and she could bet that his eyes were sparkling for some reason.

"What are you that excited for?" she asked.

"It's just that I wonder now we can get a hold of cards that let us use magic like that," he said, eagerly.

"All in good time," Killua said, before pointing somewhere ahead. "We'll find something out once we get there."

The place that Killua was pointing at was a huge city. Once they arrived there, they found themselves been surrounded by a lot of people. In the entrance, there was a huge sign:

"Welcome to Antokiba, The City of Prizes."

"Prizes?" Gon asked, confused. "Why is that?"

"Because of that," Hitomi replied, pointing at something with her finger.

The two boys looked at the walls, which were papered by millions of listings. In fact, they were all jobs or events, which offered prizes for them.

The three approached a large sign, which contained various events with different prizes. One of them caught Gon's attention.

"There's a Rock, Paper and Scissors Tournament for September," he commented.

"But it may not be September in the game," Killua said.

Hitomi sighed, turning around to a random guy. "Excuse me, could you tell me today's date?" she asked.

"It's September 11th," he replied in a monotone voice.

"See?" she turned again to her friends once again. "Same day."

The three boys looked at the chart and found out that the prize of the Tournament was a card called 'Sword of Truth'. They then looked around and noticed that some of the players hired by Battera were there as well, looking at the same sign that them.

"Though it's still four days away, want to give it a shot?" Gon asked.

"Of course!" Killua shouted. "If it's Rock, Paper and Scissors, then everyone will have a chance."

"That's it then," Hitomi grinned.

The three kids got hungry, so they went to a restaurant. As Killua said before, they could eat, gather information and getting prizes there, all three in one shot.

As soon as the giant plate of pasta was put in front of her, she realized how hungry she was. Not long after, the owner of the restaurant brought another two and put them in front of the other kids.

"If you eat it all within thirty minutes it will be free of change," he told them. "We'll also present you a 'Gatgida' card. Well then, begin!"

She then started to eat the huge plate, along her friends.

"Hey, Mister," Killua called. "Roughly how many people attend these monthly competitions?"

"If you have the time to talk, you're better off eating quicklier," he chuckled. "Well, it's different every month. There are times when less than ten people participate, but in September there's a chance for everyone to win, so more than one hundred people compete."

"A one in one hundred chance, huh?" Killua murmured, between bites. "By the way, how do you use magic?"

"'Magic'?" he tilted his head to a side, in confusion. "What's that?"

Killua's face fell. "Am I going to have to ask around until I find the person who knows?" he thought, irritated.

"Then who is the most knowledgeable person in this city?" Gon asked.

"'Knowledgeable'? What's that?"

Hitomi was getting a little annoyed as well.

"Knowledge! To know something, for goodness sake!" she snapped, irritated. "Do you know at least what a dictionary is?"

"'Dictionary'? What's that?"

"I guess no then..." she sighed.

Gon blinked at that while Killua just shook his head at her actions.

"Is she trying to argue with a character... for real?" he facepalmed.

After a bit, they finished eating. Killua was the first to do so in ten minutes, being closely followed by Hitomi with eleven minutes. Gon was the last one, eating it all in thirteen minutes. The people who worked there started to applaud them, as one of them gave the kids the three glasses of water they had asked.

"That man's lacking vocabulary, isn't he?" Gon asked.

"He is the most annoying and ignorant person in the world! How come he-?" her eyes opened. "Wait, what if he isn't even a person-?" after realizing that, she resisted the urge bang her head against the table. "Oh, dear. He wasn't real..."

"You didn't realize it until now, idiot?" Killua sighed. "I still can't believe you wasted your energy arguing with a character."

"Uh... I guess I got a little carried away," she sweatdropped. "But now that I think about it again, it was kinda obvious..."

Gon just blinked at them, confused. Killua turned around to face him and explain the situation a little bit, so he could understand.

"He's just a character in the game," he said. "Meaning, he can only answer certain questions. For all other questions, he replies 'What's that?'"

"What?" he asked. "What should we do?"

"We might have to go around the city and ask everyone."

"EH?!" he shouted in a mix of surprise and confusion. "Are there games that difficult?!"

"All RPG's are like that..." Hitomi trailed off. "Or so I think..."

"You think...?" Killua sighed, irritably.

After a while, the worker got closer to them and gave each kid the promised card. They stared at it for a little, before he started to explain.

"The '1217' on the left is the card's number. The 'F-185' is the difficulty level of obtaining it. There are ten levels and F is the third from the bottom. The number next to it is its maximum card limit."

"Let's see..." Gon said. "That means that this card is..."

"Just a crappy item," Killua's eyebrow twitched.

"It sure is..." Hitomi facepalmed, annoyed as well.

After that, they started to walk away from the shop, when the owner stopped them for doing so. They turned around to see what he wanted.

"Your pasta was certainly free but the iced soda you ordered were not," he told them. "That will be 1020 jenny."

"Oh, okay," Killua took his money out of his pocket and handed it to them. "Here, give me change for 10,000 jenny."

"What's that?" he asked, as he hold a card for them to see. It had money drawn on it.

Killua's face fell. Hitomi shook her head while Gon blinked in confusion.

"On this island you can only use this kind of money!" he stretched his hand at them. "I demand 1020 jenny in a valid card."

And like that, they ended up washing dishes. Through that experience, they learned that they could earn money by exchanging cards in the Trade Shop for money. After they work was finished, the worked waved at them while they walked away.

"Damn it," Killua cursed under his breath. "If we had just exchanged the 'Gargida' for money then we wouldn't have had to wash those dishes..."

"How do you think you could have exchanged the card before we even received it?" Hitomi sighed, but keep that to herself.

"But if we didn't wash the dishes, he might not have given us the information," Gon grinned.

"It's common for games to have you do a certain task in order to trigger another event," Killua smiled.

"That's why I hate games-" Hitomi was about to say, whining.

BOOM!

All the people in the streets looked at the direction of the explosion. The three kids found themselves in front of a crowd, so they did their best to look what was in the middle.

There was a man, with a huge hole in his stomach, from where blood poured and tainted the floor in a disgusting way. They soon realized that he was the first one who passed Tsezugera's Exam.

"Hey," Killua asked a character. "What happened?"

"His body just exploded all of sudden," he replied. "It went 'BOOM!' from inside him!"

Hitomi just stared at the dead body.

"It's only been a few hours since we started the game and someone died already," she gulped. "I have the feeling we are the next ones."

Killua and Gon didn't say anything about that.

"This is not a game, it's a battle field," Hitomi looked at Gon. "Did Gon's dad created it?... More importantly, he made his own son play it? Oh... he sure loves him..."

Something snapped the girl out of her thoughts. A light shone in the dead guy body and he disappeared not long after that.

"He disappeared..." Gon mumbled.

"He's returned to the real world," Killua explained, before looking at his friends with a serious expression. "Game over... In other words, he's dead."

"Hey, Killua, could the spell cast on you earlier...?" the boy trailed off.

Hitomi frowned, as she looked at the place where the dead body was. She imagined Killua's bloody body lying in its place, lifeless. The image repeated again and again in her mind, and she swore that she was going to become insane if it continued like that.

And before she realized it, her feet started to move on their own.

"Where are you going?" Gon asked.

"I'm going to look for who casted the spell," Hitomi replied, angrily. "That dread-guy is now a dead-guy."

"But if you go you'll be a dead-idiot!" Killua argued, grabbing her shoulder. "You have no spells or whatever either!"

"I will get killed then!" she shook her shoulder to get free from the boy and turned around to face him. "I refuse to let a friend die! At least not again!"

Gon looked at both of them, but didn't find the correct words for a situation like that. The other two, on the other hand, just stayed there, glaring at each other.

Then a man walked and stood behind them.

"Rest assured," he said, making the kids turn around to face him. "Such a spell doesn't belong to this game."

Hitomi released a sigh. "At least Killua's stomach won't suddenly explode and splash blood and organs to us..." she narrowed her eyes. "But..."

"That was done with Nen, by some other player," he continued.

"Does that mean that players are killing each other?" Killua asked.

Gon gulped at the thought.

"It's called player hunting. I bet you've heard that there are limits to each card in this game, right?" he explained. "The rarer the card, the less chance you'll obtain it as the number of players increases."

"So, the fewer the players, the higher the chances," Hitomi commented.

"Yes. And because of that, extreme players had started appearing," the man nodded. "People who've just entered to the game are more likely to be the target. We're the opposite; we travel in number and never shed blood. How about that? Care to join us? There's a way that will definitely let you clear the game."

The three kids just stared at him, and he promised to tell them about the spell casted in Killua. Because of that, they agreed to follow him.

They arrived at a place. There were a few players hired by Battera, including the twin-tailed girl. In the middle, there was a man with glasses.

"First off, let's address what you guys are most worried about right now," the guy with glasses said. "His death wasn't caused by a spell. In this game, there are no spell cards that can hurt or kill anyone. Therefore, there's no chance of being injured or killed by a spell."

"Yeah, I think we got that," Hitomi said, feeling a little impatient, "What is a spell card anyway?"

"There are forty kinds of them, varying from attack to moviment to defense and much more," he explained, before looking at Killua. "The one that cast on you belongs to the survey attack. It was either 'Trace' or 'Adhesion'. That spell gathers information about the person it's cast on, such as your current position or what kind of cards you have."

Killua remembered that the man had, indeed, said 'Trace on', so the glasses-guy was right.

"There are people that keep a constant lookout around and starting point to cast these spell on new players. These guys would then appear the instant you obtain a valuable card and try to take it from you by force. In the worse case, you'll lose your life."

"Remembering that we can die here..." Hitomi rolled her eyes, "... again."

"The one who was killed recently wasn't one of them. They're the most extreme kind of player hunters," he said. "They choose a target beforehand and kill that person without being noticed. From the different ways the people are killed and the conditions of the corpses we've concluded there are at least four people who do this. The person who killed him is one of them. Because of the possible bombing style of killing, we call him the Bomber."

"Oh, that was original," Hitomi said, sarcastically.

Killua raised an eyebrow at her, and she grinned.

They told them about the violence of the game for a bit more, before asking them if they wanted to join them and promised to undo the spells cast in them. Puhat agreed, and Abengane did the same not long after that.

"How about you, guys?" they asked the trio.

Gon gazed at his feet for a little.

"Killua, Hitomi, I'm sorry," he murmured, making them look at him. The boy then looked at the men. "No, thanks. I'll play on my own."

Gon then walked away. Killua and Hitomi looked at each other for a second, before nodding. The boy turned to the men and grinned.

"The leader said he won't, so I'll pass too," he said, before following Gon.

"Hey, who made him the leader?" she complained, before looking at the men. "Either way, I'll pass too. I feel this group-thing like cheating. Cheats makes the game boring."

After that, she ran to catch with her friends. They all walked for hours, in silence, giving Hitomi a feeling of uneasiness. Not able to bear it anymore, Hitomi stopped walking.

"That's enough with the silence! It's really annoying!" she shouted, before looking at Gon. "What the hell is wrong with you, Gon? Spit it out already!"

He stared at her for a few seconds, before scratching the back of his neck.

"I'm sorry, guys," he spoke for the first time in a while. "I just couldn't stand them any longer."

"I don't get what are you sorry for," Killua sighed.

"Because, now you'll still have that spell that was cast on you for a while longer, Killua," Gon said.

"It doesn't matter, it's not poisonous or anything," he assured.

"Anyway," Hitomi said. "What's with the short fuss back there? You looked angry."

Gon looked at the ground once again.

"Because they called the game that Ging made a massacre. They only look at the negative aspects," he said. "I thought that we should just enjoy the game, like Ging told us to. It's true that some players died, but what's scary is not the game itself, but the player's mentality."

"You think so? I think that's okay," Killua said, making his friends look at him like he was nuts. "That's why is an exclusive game for Hunters, right?" Gon looked down. "Hold on, killing is all wrong, I agree with you there. But let's say, if each player puts out a card and battles with a set rule whereby the winner gets the loser's cards. How about that?"

"I see the point," Hitomi smiled. "It's no different that we take the cards, what's different is that we're not using brute force, right?" he glanced at Killua. "Even the guy who casted the spell on Killua was playing fairly."

Gon nodded, still a little upset. The other boy punched him lightly in his chest.

"Well, anyway, let's leave them be and enjoy this game a little more," Killua turned around, placing his arms behind his head, starting to walk away.

"Sure thing," Hitomi smirked, walking beside him.

Gon nodded again, this time smiling as always.

"Killua, Hitomi," he called, making them stop in their tracks and look at him. "Thank you. I'm really happy that you guys are here with me. No... I'm just really fortunate that I met you!"

They stood there, speechless. Not long after that, Hitomi smiled at him, while Killua just turned around, blushing a little.

"Stop it, idiot!" he said. "It's embarrassing."

"Why?" he stood beside them. "That's what I really think!"

Hitomi laughed a bit and rested her arms in her friends' shoulders. Her grin widened.

"Don't mind him, Gon, he is just shy," she said, and he glared at her. "I can say the same, Gon. I'm very happy to have met you..." she glanced at Killua. "Both of you."

Hitomi ruffled the boys' hairs and started to run beside Gon. Not too far from them, Killua was following them with a tiny smile in his features.

"It's just the opposite, guys," he thought. "It's me... Gon... Hitomi... I'm really glad that I met you two."

But there was something that they didn't know. Meters behind them, the girl from before was staring at them.

"I see... That's why he was angry. Nonetheless, isn't that just sweet? A young kid's true friendship..." she grinned evilly. "It's kinda itching me to destroy it."

That night, the girl couldn't sleep.

Hitomi sighed, still looking at the sky. Even though she knew that it was a game, the stars looked real. Their shine and beautifulness were exactly like they used to be back in her world.

How much had passed since she had seen such a wonderful night sky? She had no idea.

"Can't sleep?" a voice next to her said.

She looked beside her to see Killua, wide awake as well.

"I'm not as lucky as Gon," she glanced at Gon, who was snoring next to them.

"He sure is..." he commented, chuckling a little bit.

They stayed in silence again, but not and an unpleasant one though. It was kind of comforting.

"Can I ask you something?" he asked, almost in a whisper.

"Hm?" she looked at him, in curiosity.

Silence again. The boy looked at the ground for a minute or so.

"Back then," Killua said after a while, still a little unsure. "Were you worried... about me?"

She blinked a few times at him, with a reddish tint in her cheeks. "Well, yeah," she replied, looking away.

"May I ask... why?"

"Why do you think, moron? You are my friend, Killua," Hitomi smiled fondly at him. "I'd never let a friend die."

Killua couldn't help but blush a little at her warm smile.

"Well, I think I should get some sleep," she said. "You should too."

After that, she turned around and some minutes after, she was asleep. Killua just stared her back for a little, with a slight smile in his face.

"You look cute together," a voice behind him said, making Killua flinch. "So, you like Hitomi, don't you?"

He turned around to see Gon, grinning at him. His eyebrow twitched when he realized that he was overhearing the conversation.

"Of course I do," he tried to play dumb. "She is my friend, like you are."

"You know I don't mean that way. I mean like like," Gon poked his cheek. "So, you have a crush~?"

"I don't!" he yelled, in embarrassment.

Or at least, he wasn't going to admit it that easily.

There was a moment of silence and Gon started laughing hard. Killua frowned in a pouty way, glaring at him in confusion.

"Killua," he chuckled.

"What?" the boy was getting really annoyed.

"Your face is all red."

Since Hitomi was a lazy person, she didn't bother to participate in the tournament. Killua was the one who won, thanks to his technique to counterattack Gon's one.

"Hey," Gon said, cheerfully. "Let's go somewhere other than Antokiba already."

"You are right..." Killua commented. "We've entered the contest for a few days, but we still haven't gotten many good cards, so... In the end, the only card we got for the designated pocket was The Sword of Truth."

Hitomi looked around and found some other players observing them. It was obvious that they wanted to steal that card. The boys noticed as well, so the three kids walked away.

"Can they be a little more obvious?" Hitomi sighed, as they noticed players following them.

"I wish everyone was as easy to spot as they are," Killua agreed.

"But we can't afford to let our guard down," Gon said. "Because even if our opponent is super weak, we can't do anything if they use spell cards, right?"

Killua smirked. "That many not be the case," he said. "The cards that steal cards... I kinda understand how they work. If everything goes well, we'll be able to prevent it without using spell cards ourselves."

"Wow," Hitomi teased. "As I expected from such a game maniac like you."

"I'm telling you, I'm not maniac!" he shouted, annoyed. "I'm just normal!"

"If you say so..." she rolled her eyes.

They talked for awhile and designated a plan. Right after that, a man jumped out from his hiding spot.

"Hold it! You three kids over there!" he shouted. They turned around. "Hand over The Sword of Truth! If you listen to what I say, I won't harm you!"

They gave him a long look.

"That's all?" Hitomi grinned, before teasing. "Oh, no! I'm very scared! That old man wants to harm us!"

"No way," Killua said. "Idiot."

The comment hit the man really hard. He stood there, frozen, for a while and the kids started to walk away.

"Wait!" he shouted again as he took of his book. The other did the same. "That's all bluff! I already know that you three are beginners."

"Oh man!" Hitomi joked. "We're doomed!"

"Thief on!" he shouted. "Attack Killua! Steal The Sword of Truth!"

However, nothing happened. The card just disappeared into the thin air.

"You don't have to put a card into the designated pockets," Killua smirked. "Even if it's a designated card, old man."

"So you put it in your free pocket!" his face fell.

And like that, he fell into his knees. Another player came out, saying that he had already listened to their conversation.

"Pick Pocket on! Attack Killua!" he shouted, before the card vanished as well.

"The card that I won doesn't necessarily have to be placed in my binder," Killua explained, and Gon grinned.

"Idiot! I have more Pick Pocket cards!" he replied, taking another card. "Pick Pocket on! Attack Gon!"

A beam of light directed to Gon and came back to the card. He looked at it, just to see that he had only stolen a rock.

"Yeah, it's the rock I picked up in the prairie," Gon's grin widened.

"Come to think of it, you did pick up a lot of things on the way here," Killua commented.

Another man came up, since the other was cursing under his breath.

"I see... so you have no moves left? In that case, leave it to me," he smirked. "By using Sight Vision, I've already sure that neither Killua's binder nor Gon's contain The Sword of Truth. Also, I've made sure that it is in Hitomi's free pocket using Steal," he took off a card. "Then, I can obtain the card for sure using this card. With Rob I can steal any card I choose from any of my opponent's pockets."

Hitomi smirked.

"Rob on!" he shouted. "Attack Hito-!"

Before he could even finish his sentence, the card in his hand was stolen. Hitomi grinned, moving the card around.

"Weren't you training? You weren't able to follow me with your eyes, right?" she sighed, before breaking the card much in the man's surprise.

"You're an amateur, right?" Killua commented. "She's a professional Hunter. You rely greatly on spell cards, so I'm certain that your spell card will be taken from you before you can cast the spell."

The girl grinned, before walking towards the boys. The man raised a card, and they three glared at him before he could do anything else.

"That method will only work on players that are weaker that you are," he told them. "There are millions of players here that are stronger than you are! And most of them are not even able to get out the game even though they are itching to do so!"

And the kids walked away.

"Why did you broke the card?" Gon asked the girl. "You could have keep it."

"Yeah, but that man was annoying the hell out of me," she said, before grinning. "Also, the look on his face at that time was pretty amusing!"

"That was pretty stupid," Killua shook his head. "Either way, he was right at that time. If we aren't stronger than our opponents are, then it will be impossible to steal their card before they cast it on us."

"Eventually we'll have to buy spell cards for defense..." Gon commented.

"Sure thing..." she sighed. "What a hassle..."

Right after she said that, a lot of players surrounded them, holding books. They were experienced players, sure thing.

They stole The Sword of Truth little after that.

"Welcome," the man said.

The kids kept their distance. To be honest, that guy was a little creepy to be just a character in the game. Either way, they asked for the location of the next city, Masadora.

"If you want to know the location of Masadora, it'll cost you three thousand jenny."

"That's too much!" Killua complained. "Bring the price down a little, will you?! We came here many times-!"

"It'll cost you three thousand jenny," he repeated.

Reluctantly, Killua gave him the money. Hitomi sighed.

"As far as I remember, he was the one to tease me about arguing to a character..." she sweatdropped.

When the man received the money, he took it.

"From this city you'll have to go over this mountain and if you go south about 80 km, then you'll see a lake," he said. "And if you follow that lake northwest, then you should get to Masadora. There will be two small cities along your route, so you should rest there."

"If it's just 80 km, then we'll get there in a day, right?" Killua smiled at his friends, who nodded.

"That's if you make it there alive," the man told them with a severe tone. "There's a bandit hideout in the mountains, and they'll take everything, even clothes. Even if you are lucky to get past them, once you get past the mountains there will be many monsters."

And they walked away, closing the door behind themselves.

"Monsters!" Gon exclaimed.

"I wanna kick some bandit's ass right now!" Hitomi cheered.

"Yeah!" Killua grinned. "This is starting to sound like an RPG!"

Gon started to run, Killua and Hitomi close following him. After a while, they heard a girly voice asking them to stop, so they turned around.

Hitomi's eyebrow twitched at the sight of the girl from before, the one with twintails.

"Umm..." she trailed off, looking away. She then looked at them with watering eyes. "W-Will you let me join you?"

"Eh?" the trio blinked at the girl.

She walked closer to them and smiled cutely.

"Please?" she asked.

"Ah, sorry!" Killua said, smiling in a cat-like way. "That's not possible."

"What?" she stepped back, dramatically. "W-Why?"

"Because you'd be in our way," he replied, with a deadpan expression.

A vein popped up in the girl's head. "This brat, saying something so rude! Does he even know how many more years I lived compared to him? If I get just a little serious, I can finish you off easily with one hand!" she thought. "That's it! I was just going to stir up your friendship a little bit, but now I'm going to screw it up until it's unfixable!"

"Bye-bye," Hitomi waved the back of her hand at her, as she walked away with her friends.

"Please wait!" she returned to her good-girl act. "I'll try my best not to get in your way so..." they didn't pay her attention. "Hey, you! Wait! You-! Please wait!"

End of chapter 23!

SoulXHunter: Thank you a lot for reviewing! I hope you liked it!

kri: Thanks for the review! The dodgeball game won't appear until another couple of chapters... Anyway, I wish you enjoyed this chapter!

JokeLover123: Sorry if I confused you last chapter, but her lame Hatsu will be explained next chapter further. Thank you for leaving a review and I hope you enjoyed this one :)

alice: Thanks! I wish you liked it :)

Elisablackcat: I'm sorry if I dissapointed you with it :( Thank you for reviewing and I wish you liked this chapter :D

Silent Readers: Thank you all for paying this fic a visit! Let's just hope you had fun :)

Well, see you all later!