Sword Art Online

A virtual reality gaming system known as the Nerve Gear is finally released to the public alongside the world's first virtual reality game called Sword Art Online (SAO). Kirito, one of the game's beta-testers, logs-in to Aincrad, the world of SAO and quickly befriends novice player Klein, to whom he teaches the basics of the game. After a few hours, Kirito and Klein discover that they cannot log-o

One month since the start of the fun-turned-deadly game, 2,000 players have already died, and the first floor has yet to be cleared. Kirito attends a meeting organized by fellow beta-tester Diabel, who announces to the attendants that his party has found Illfang the Kobold Lord, the boss of the first floor. Parties are formed, and Kirito teams up with a young girl named Asuna.

After saving the Moonlit Black Cats guild from a monster attack, their leader, Keita, thanks Kirito and asks him to join their guild. Kirito accepts the invitation, but hides the fact that his level is twice the average level of the Moonlit Black Cats guild. Kirito bonds with his new friends, especially Sachi, who confides in Kirito that she is afraid to die. Kirito assures her that he will protec

A beast tamer named Silica quits a party after arguing with their leader, Rosalia. Later, Silica is ambushed by a group of monsters while making her way alone through the forest, and her dragon familiar, Pina, is killed while trying to protect her. Kirito arrives and saves Silica. He tells her of an item at the Hill of Memories on the 47th floor, which can revive her familiar within three days of

Asuna offers to buy dinner for Kirito, but their meal is interrupted by a scream. They rush out of the restaurant to find a player, Kains, hanging outside a church, impaled with a spear. He dies immediately after. Fearing there is an unknown player versus player skill, they began to investigate the murder.

Kirito and Asuna continue to investigate the murder of Kains and Yolko, who were members of a disbanded guild called Golden Apple. Kirito wonders how it is possible to kill someone in a safe zone. Schmit, another former member of Golden Apple, declares that the killer is the ghost of Griselda, their deceased leader. After watching a dropped sandwich vanish, Kirito deduces how Yolko and Kains died,

At the 48th floor, Asuna visits her friend, Lisbeth in her blacksmith shop before going off adventuring. The next day, Kirito arrives at Liz's shop in search of a custom-made sword to buy. Much to Lisbeth's shock, Kirito's sword, Elucidator, irreparably breaks her strongest sword. Lisbeth persuades Kirito to let her accompany him to the Western Mountain on the 55th floor to get a rare mineral from

After adventuring on the 74th floor, Kirito finds a rare S-class animal with top grade meat. Since he cannot cook well, Kirito decides to sell it to Agil, but he changes his mind when Asuna arrives and tells them that she has mastered her cooking skills. Kirito asks her to cook the meat in exchange for a share of the meal.

Kirito teams with Asuna as they clear the dungeon and discover the boss room on the 74th floor. The room contains a formidable beast - a humanoid chimera with ram's horns, a gigantic sword, and a living snake for a tail - the Gleam Eyes. They flee from the room to another part of the dungeon, where they encounter Klein and his guild. The Aincrad Liberation Force appear, visibly exhausted from expl

The duel between Kirito and Heathcliff is held at an arena where a large crowd is gathered. Asuna warns Kirito to be careful about fighting Heathcliff, as he has also a unique skill called Divine Blade, which grants him maximum strength and defense.

After the incident caused by Kuradeel, Kirito and Asuna's friendship has grown stronger and they marry in-game. Asuna is granted a temporary leave from her guild. They go on a vacation and stay at their new home in a village on the 22nd floor. The couple later find a lost girl in the forest and see her suddenly collapse. As they approach the unconscious girl, they discover that she does not have a

Kirito, Asuna, and Yui are resting at the church, where Sasha takes care of the younger children, until Yulier, second-in-command from the army, suddenly arrives. Yulier explains that the army under their leader, Thinker, had good intentions of helping players but as the army grew, its members began abusing their powers.

While fishing near a lake, Kirito encounters Nishida, an avid fisherman. He remarks that, despite honing his fisherman skills, he is unable to cook delicious dishes with what he catches. Kirito invites him to his home for Asuna to cook the fish he caught for them. During their meal, Nishida mentions a huge fish he tried to catch many times before but failed, and he asks Kirito to help him.

After a hard fought battle and many losses, the Knights of Blood Oath and other allies defeat the Skull Reaper, boss of the 75th floor.

Two months after the end of the original SAO incident, Kazuto's sister, Suguha, continues to worry about him. Kazuto goes to the hospital to visit Asuna who, along with 300 other players, has yet to wake up after the SAO incident. It is there that he meets an associate of Asuna's father, Shouzou; and Nobuyuki Sugou, who works for him. Much to Kazuto's fury, Sugou tells him that he intends to be ad

A new MMO allows users to fly and encourages player killing. Kirito has joined this new game in search of Asuna and is pleasantly surprised with what he finds.

Leafa, a Sylph player, thanks Kirito for saving her from the attack of player-hunting Salamanders and teaches him how to fly properly. They travel to the sylph territory (Sylvein), where they meet one of Leafa's party members, Recon. Leafa and Kirito go to an inn and have a conversation about how he can get to the top of the World Tree. Seeing Kirito's determination to reach the top of the tree, L

Suguha reminisces about how she started virtual reality gaming, and meets up with Recon's real-life persona, Shin'ichi Nagata. She informs him that she will be leaving their party to join Kirito. Later, she logs-in as Leafa and begins to lead Kirito to the World Tree, which stands in the center of Alfheim.

While en route to the World Tree, the pair first pass through a large cave. Leafa receives a message from Recon cautioning her to take care. She and Kirito realize that they are being followed, only to be cornered by a large group of Salamander players. Kirito asks Leafa to support him with her magic while he fights the group by himself.

The Sylphs and the Cat Siths are holding a secret meeting, with the goal of forming an alliance in order to clear the Grand Quest, completion of which grants entry into the World Tree. A force of Salamanders plans to attack the meeting and Kirito and Leafa reach the meeting place just before the Salamanders attack.

Kirito and Leafa finally reach Central Arun, the capital of Alfheim, located directly beneath the World Tree. However, an emergency shutdown for server maintenance prompts the two to find a nearby inn and log out. The next day, Suguha accompanies Kazuto to visit Asuna at the hospital.

Upon hearing from Yui that Asuna is at the top of the World Tree, Kirito rushes up but finds it blocked by a barrier. Desperate, Yui calls out to Asuna, who hears her cry and throws down the administrator's key card, which Kirito catches.

Kazuto thinks back to the time when he was 10 years old and learned that he was not related to Suguha, which resulted in him becoming detached from his family and increasingly engrossed with online gaming. Wanting to sort things out, Kazuto asks Suguha to meet him in ALO. As Leafa contemplates whether she should stop seeing her brother in-game, she challenges Kirito to a one-on-one duel.

Arriving at the top of the World Tree, Kirito and Yui finally reunite with Asuna. However, they are suddenly hit by high gravity magic, which forces Yui to retreat, and they are confronted by Oberon.