Crossing Over

Saitama lay on the couch, his eyes half-open.

A trailer for the Dark Continent arc of Hunter x Hunter was playing on TV.

It was the seventh time that week.

Genos sat beside him with a notebook in hand.

"Master, I have fully mastered the six major Nen categories."

"Oh."

"Enhancement is data amplification. Transmutation is data transformation."

Saitama rolled over.

"Genos."

"Here."

"Where did you learn all that?"

"I memorized the Hunter wiki."

"...Oh."

The trailer ended, and the screen froze before the Hunter Exam arc opening appeared.

Saitama opened one eye.

"A rerun again?"

"Yes. The Dark Continent arc still hasn't come out."

"Didn't they say it would be this year last time?"

"It was delayed."

Saitama said nothing.

The Hunter Exam opening song began playing on TV. Gon was fishing, Killua was skateboarding, Kurapika was reading, and Leorio was running.

"Master, I have a question."

"Go ahead."

"Why has Mr. Yoshihiro Togashi been on hiatus for so long?"

Saitama was silent for three seconds.

"Don't know."

"I looked it up. The official reason is lower back pain."

"Oh."

"But he played mahjong countless times during his Weekly Shonen Jump serialization."

Saitama did not respond.

"There is a thread on the fan forum specifically tracking how many weeks he has been on hiatus. It started in 2006. By now, his total hiatus weeks have exceeded his serialization weeks."

"So?"

"So his lower back pain should be an excuse."

Saitama opened his eyes and stared at the ceiling.

"Genos."

"Here."

"When did you start researching this?"

"Just now. During the thirty seconds before you changed the channel, Master."

"...You found all that in thirty seconds?"

"My processor operates seven hundred times faster than an ordinary computer."

Saitama closed his eyes again.

"There is a section on Yoshihiro Togashi's fan forum dedicated to guessing when he will resume publication. Seventeen threads were created, and not one got it right. The record was forty-one wrong guesses in a row."

"And then?"

"Then that person was banned from the forum for spreading false information."

"Wasn't the forum itself asking people to guess?"

"Yes. So that section was later shut down."

Saitama said nothing.

"After it was shut down, the fans moved to another section and began guessing the reason for Yoshihiro Togashi's next hiatus. The top-voted answer was 'mahjong tournament.'"

"Seriously?"

"No. But a lot of people voted for it."

The opening song ended, and the screen switched to a ship. Gon stood on the deck, looking out at the sea.

Saitama glanced at it.

"So what episode is this?"

"Episode one. The Hunter Exam arc."

"We have to watch it all from the beginning again?"

"Yes."

"When exactly is the Dark Continent arc coming out?"

"The official statement says ten years from now."

Saitama sat up.

"Ten years. Last time they said five years. Before that, three years. Before that, they said soon."

"Yes."

"In ten years, I won't even remember what this anime was about."

"Based on the human memory decay curve, you will indeed forget most of the plot."

Saitama picked up the remote.

"Not waiting. We'll talk again in ten years."

The moment his finger touched the button, the TV screen erupted in white light.

"Master!"

Genos's mechanical eyes zoomed in instantly.

The white light poured out like liquid.

It covered the TV, then the walls, the floor, and the ceiling.

With his thrusters at full power, he lunged toward the couch.

His hand reached for Saitama.

The white light swallowed the entire room.

His fingertips brushed Saitama's shirt, yellow, a discounted T-shirt bought at the supermarket.

Pure cotton, 390 yen.

Then his hand was empty.

The white light vanished.

The TV returned to normal and continued playing episode one of the Hunter Exam arc.

Genos stood where he was and slowly lowered his head.

A tiny scrap of yellow fabric was caught between his fingers.

A moment later, he sat down and stared at the TV screen.

The opening song had already ended.

Onscreen was a rocking ship packed with people.

At the very back of the crowd stood a bald man in a yellow T-shirt.

In the lower-right corner of the screen was a line of translucent text.

[Viewing Mode: Enabled]

Genos thought for a moment, then stood up, walked into the kitchen, opened the refrigerator, and returned to the TV with a bag of chips. He sat down and tore open the package.

The ship rocked.

People were everywhere around him, tall and short, fat and thin.

Some carried swords, while others wore masks.

Saitama looked down at his hands. The remote was gone.

Then a cold voice suddenly rang out in his mind.

[Welcome to the world of Hunter x Hunter]

[Main Quest: Clear all story arcs]

[Final Stage: Dark Continent Arc]

[Clear Reward: Obtain what you desire most + return to your original world]

Saitama thought about it for three seconds.

"Fine."

[Volume One: Hunter Exam Arc]

[Objective: Pass the Hunter Exam and obtain a Hunter License]

[Suggestion: A Hunter License grants free access to all public transportation]

Saitama's eyes shifted slightly.

"Free rides."

[Yes. Including buses, subways, trains, and ships.]

"Fine."

He accepted the quest.

A large man beside him noticed him.

He was over two meters tall, with arms thicker than Saitama's thighs.

His face was covered in flesh, and his eyes were tiny.

"Kid, you here for the exam too?"

Saitama said nothing.

"Deaf?"

The man reached out to shove him, his palm pressing against Saitama's shoulder.

Saitama did not move.

The man froze for a moment, then shoved again with all his strength.

Saitama remained perfectly still.

He did not even sway.

The man's hand stiffened in midair as sweat began forming on his forehead.

"You fucking..."

Gritting his teeth, the man placed both hands against Saitama's chest and pushed hard.

Still nothing.

Saitama looked at him.

"Need something?"

Several examinees nearby turned to look.

"What the hell is that big guy doing?"

"He can't push him? No way."

"Who's that bald guy?"

The man's face turned bright red.

He withdrew his hands and took a step back.

The gazes around him pricked at his skin like needles.

"Acting all mysterious..."

The man clenched his right fist, his knuckles cracking.

"I don't believe this crap."

He pulled back into a stance and raised his fist.

It was bigger than Saitama's head.

"Watch out!"

Someone beside them shouted.

The fist came down with a howl of wind.

It shot straight at Saitama's face.

In front of the TV.

Genos stared at the screen.

The chip in his hand stopped halfway to his mouth.

He looked at the bag of chips. Barbecue flavor. Freshly opened.

Then he looked at the screen. The fist was roughly 0.3 seconds away from his master's face.

Several thoughts flashed through his mind.

First thought: Master had been transported to another world because he complained that Yoshihiro Togashi had been on hiatus for too long.

Second thought: If Yoshihiro Togashi had drawn the Dark Continent arc, Master would not have been transported. If Master had not been transported, he should still be lying on the couch instead of getting punched in the face inside an anime.

Third thought: Therefore, at its root, this was Yoshihiro Togashi's fault.

Genos felt that this logic was very clear.

He decided that once his teacher returned, he would write a detailed report titled <Causal Analysis of How Yoshihiro Togashi's Hiatuses Indirectly Led to an Interdimensional Travel Incident>.

Attached data charts.

Attached hiatus statistics.

Attached screenshots of deleted posts from fan forums.

Then send it to the Hunter Association.

He did not know whether they would accept it.

He stuffed a potato chip into his mouth.

Crunch.

On the screen, the fist was still smashing downward.

Genos ate another chip.

He began considering another question.

His teacher had been sucked into the television. A small piece had been torn from his T-shirt. The shirt had been bought at a supermarket for 390 yen, half price.

If his teacher could not return, this T-shirt would be a relic.

If his teacher returned, this T-shirt would be a memento.

Genos looked down at the yellow fabric in his hand.

Pure cotton. Average quality.

He decided to put it away for now.

Then he looked at the screen again.

The fist was roughly a tenth of a second away from his teacher's face.

Genos picked up the remote and pressed pause.

The image froze.

He got up, walked into the kitchen, and opened the refrigerator.

There were three bags of chips left inside. One barbecue-flavored bag and two original-flavored bags.

He did the math.

For his teacher to clear the entire story, judging by the length of the Hunter world's arcs, would probably take a long time.

Three bags might not be enough.

He took out his phone and ordered a whole case.

Then he returned to the sofa, sat down, and pressed play.

The fist continued smashing downward.

Genos stuffed a potato chip into his mouth.

Crunch.

A question suddenly occurred to him.

People in the Hunter world never asked who someone was before shoving them.

The last person who had shoved his teacher had cracked the bones in his hand.

This one using his fists probably would not fare much better.

Very rude.

Genos shook his head.

Then he ate another potato chip.