Over a month has passed since 10,000 users were trapped inside the "Sword Art Online" world. Asuna, who cleared the first floor of the floating iron castle of Aincrad, joined up with Kirito and continued her journey to reach the top floor. With the support of female Information Broker Argo, clearing the floors seemed to be progressing smoothly, but conflict erupts between two major guilds who should be working together – the top player groups ALS (the Aincrad Liberation Squad) and DKB (the Dragon Knights Brigade). And meanwhile, behind the scenes exists a mysterious figure pulling the strings…
One month after Kayaba Akihiko's game of death began, the death toll continues to rise, two thousand players having already lost their lives to the ultra-difficult VRMMO world of Sword Art Online. On the day of the strategy meeting to plan out the first-floor boss battle, Kirito, a solo player who vows to fight alone to get stronger, runs into a rare, high-level female player. She gracefully dispatches powerful monsters with a single rapier that flashes like a shooting star in the night...
The skilled hunter Kikuru Madan has decided to retire out of fear of wasting his youth. One day, a guild staff member suggests that he go on a quest with a new female martial artist named Hitamu Kyan. However, she keeps getting hit by monsters one after another.
The Lost Ones are wanderers who come here from a distant world known as "Japan." No one knows how or why they leave their homes. The only thing that is certain is that they bring disaster and calamity. The duty of exterminating them without remorse falls to Menou, a young Executioner. When she meets Akari, it seems like just another job...until she discovers it's impossible to kill this girl! And when Menou begins to search for a way to defeat this immortality, Akari is more than happy to tag along! So begins a journey that will change Menou forever...
Japan, 2019, just before the dawn of a new era. Suddenly, a rift to another dimension appears in the sky, revealing an alternative world "Shinkoku Nippon," with the sky and the earth upside down. This parallel world keeps the former militarism, with its era being Eternal Showa. The military invades the real Japan with giant humanoid robots called "GARANN" and their gas weapons "GENMU", rendering our modern weapons ineffective. "Shinkoku Nippon" instantly seizes the government and achieves de facto conquest of Japan. The new era, "Reiwa," has not arrived for Japan.
The story follows a 34-year-old man who is killed after trying to save someone from getting hit by a car. He soon finds himself reincarnated in a magical world as Rudeus Greyrat, except that he gets his whole life reset, starting as a baby.
With all of his knowledge from his previous life, and a new heaping helping of magical ability, Rudeus quickly becomes a formidable warrior ready for adventure. Oh, and he's still a total pervert.
In the near future, a Virtual Reality Massive Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Game (VRMMORPG) called Sword Art Online has been released where players control their avatars with their bodies using a piece of technology called Nerve Gear. One day, players discover they cannot log out, as the game creator is holding them captive unless they reach the 100th floor of the game's tower and defeat the final boss. However, if they die in the game, they die in real life. Their struggle for survival starts now...