Alfheim • Neutral Zone
Central Metropolis • Alne
Yggdrasil.
No doubt about it.
This is Alne, the heart of Alfheim and its largest city!
Yeah, and we finally made it.
I've never been to a city this big before.
Me neither!
Those mineral lights look just like stardust.
The server will be shut down today, January 22nd, from 4:00 AM until 3:00 PM for scheduled maintenance.
We request all players to please log out ten minutes in advance.
Once again, the server will be shut down today, January 22nd...
I guess we should call it a day.
Let's log out at an inn.
Yeah.
All right, let's look for an inn.
But I'm dead broke right now, so nothing fancy.
That's because you had to act cool and give Sakuya your entire fortune.
You should've at least saved some for lodging.
You heard him.
Is there an affordable inn nearby?
Let's see...
If you go down that way, there's one that's dirt cheap.
D-Dirt cheap?
Come on, let's go.
Hey, Kirito-kun!
The Truth Behind Alfheim
What's that?
Morning, Sugu.
Good morning, Onii-chan.
You look really tired.
When did you sleep last night?
Um... around four o'clock, I think.
A kid shouldn't be staying up that late.
What were you doing?
Um, I was on the 'net...
Know your limits, okay?
I'm hardly one to talk, though.
Sugu, can you turn around?
Just do it.
Like this?
Just how deep does this tunnel go?
This is... a map?
Where?
Where can I find a console to log myself out with?
Experiment?
Onii-chan, you're treating me to some green tea shaved ice and a raspberry cream pie for what you did.
And you're not allowed to refuse.
Fine.
Good.
Wanna do that sometime today?
I have something I need to do this afternoon.
And I'm thinking of going to the hospital this morning.
I see.
Hey, Onii-chan.
Can I come with you to the hospital?
Oh, sure.
I'm sure Asuna will be delighted.
Yeah.
All right, let's eat!
What is this?
By expanding its neural control, you can control people's thoughts, emotions and even their memories.
It's suffering!
Are all of them...
How...
How terrible!
He can't get away with this.
No, I won't let him!
Hang in there, I'll save you soon.
All right, let's see what happened.
Oh, this guy's dreaming about Spica-chan again.
Fields B13 and 14 are off the charts.
16 is pretty high up there, too.
He's really excited.
Isn't it just a coincidence?
This is just the third time.
No, this is due to the emotion-inducement circuits.
Its frequency has already exceeded the threshold.
Anyway, we'll put him down as a sample for continuous monitoring.
Onii-chan, what's happening with school?
The next bus will be arriving soon.
Destination: Shintokorozawa Station East Gate
Shintokoro 02 Bus 55 Late Night
Weekdays
Saturdays
Sundays and Holidays
School?
You were supposed to start high school last year, right?
Let's see...
I believe they're using one of the public high schools closed due to reorganization,
reopening it as a special school for middle and high school students who were trapped in SAO.
Now departing.
You can be admitted without testing in, and if you graduate you're allowed to sit for university entrance exams.
Ah, I see.
That's good to hear...
but maybe a little too one-size-fits-all.
Well, we did spend over two years inside a brutal life-or-death game.
There's no telling how it might've affected us mentally.
Maybe they want to watch over us.
No way.
But if I wanted to sit for a high school entrance exam like everyone else,
then I'd have to take a year's worth of courses at a cram school.
Of course, I could just go ahead and take the test myself.
I'm sure you'd do fine.
You have good grades, after all.
I had good grades, you mean.
I haven't studied in two years.
Then I'll be your tutor!
Let's do some math and data processing, then.
Is that...
...a system console?
Good, they haven't noticed me yet.
Please!
This is it!
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Tokorozawa General Hospital
What a huge hospital!
Wait till you get inside.
It's like a hotel.
Yuuki Asuna
Yuuki Asuna-san.
So her character name was her real name?
There aren't many people who do that.
Wow, you know your stuff.
Asuna's the only one I know who used her real name.
Here she is.
This is Asuna.
The vice commander of the Knights of Blood, Asuna the Flash.
Her sword speed and accuracy were superior to mine, even to the very end.
Asuna, this is my younger sister, Suguha.
N-Nice to meet you, Asuna-san.
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Who are you?
What are you doing here?
Put me down right now!
I'm Sugou-san's friend.
I came here for a visit and was just about to leave.
Oh? That's news to me.
Did you hear anything?
Not a word.
Besides, outsiders aren't supposed to see this place.
Wait, I know you.
You're the one Sugou-chan keeps at the top of Yggdrasil.
Oh, I've heard about that.
It's not fair that our boss gets to have such a cute girl to himself.
Hey now, stop struggling.
Stop!
Let me go, you freaks!
Ow, that hurt.
We're in the middle of an experiment on deep sensation mapping.
Aren't you scientists?
How could you participate in such illegal and inhumane research?
Do you have no shame?
I think this is more humane than planting electrodes into exposed animal brains.
All these people are just dreaming.
That's right.
Sometimes we let them have really pleasurable dreams.
I wish I could have them too.
You're insane.
The boss is on a trip right now, isn't he?
Log out and ask him what we should do.
Fine.
Don't have fun while I'm away, got it?
Sure thing.
Now get going!
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Let me go! Let me go!
Let me out of here!
I can't do that. The boss would kill me!
How about playing around with some electrodrugs instead?
I'm sick of using dolls.
Stop it!
What are you doing?
Stop!
Stop—
Fine, I get it!
Looks like I forgot to turn off the pain absorber.
What are you doing?
Nothing at all.
So what did the boss say?
He's super pissed, man.
He told us to put her back in the cage, change the passcode, and keep an eye on her round the clock.
Just when I thought I'd get to have some fun.
Let's at least walk her there instead of using the teleporter.
I want to hold her a little longer.
Guess you're smitten with her, too.
Come on, stop struggling.
Calm down.
Let me go!
She's so pretty.
I can't believe she's still in a coma.
Maybe I shouldn't have come.
I'm not even sure of how I feel.
I thought I'd know once I saw Asuna-san.
But...
Do I want to be a good sister to Onii-chan?
Or do I...
Onii-chan.
See you.
Let's have some more fun next time.
I won't lose, Kirito-kun.
I won't give up, no matter what.
I'm going to get out of here!
Leafa.
What's wrong, Leafa?
Um...
You see, Kirito-kun...
My... My...
My heart's broken.
I...
I'm sorry.
I shouldn't have said that to someone I've just met.
I know it's against the rules to bring real-life problems here.
Whether here or in the real world, it's okay to cry if you're sad.
There's no rule saying you can't express your emotions in a game.
Kirito-kun...
I love Onii-chan.
But I can't tell anybody these feelings.
I have to bury them deep within my heart.
So that I can forget about them one day.
I'm all right now.
Thanks, Kirito-kun.
You're really kind, you know.
People usually tell me the opposite.
Why don't you log out?
I should be fine on my own.
No.
I've come all the way here, so I'll accompany you until the end.
Come on, let's go.
Yui, you there?
Good morning, Papa, Leafa-san.
Good morning, Yui-chan.
I've been wondering since yesterday, do navigation pixies sleep at night?
No.
But whenever Papa's not around, I shut off my input circuits and organize my stored data.
I suppose it's quite similar to human sleep.
But you just yawned.
Don't humans normally do that during their startup sequence?
Papa's ones last about eight seconds on average.
You didn't have to say that.
All right, we're off!
Okay!
This place is full of people!
That's the heart of Alfheim for you.
Looks like there are fairy races from all over the land here.
So that's Yggdrasil.
Yeah.
It's amazing seeing it up close.
So, uh, there's supposed to be a town up there, right?
And...
That's where Oberon the Fairy King lives with the Alfs, fairies of the light.
The first race to hold an audience with the king can transform into Alfs, apparently.
Can't you climb the tree from the outside?
The area around the trunk is off-limits, so climbing it is impossible.
As for flying up there, you'd reach your flight limit long before making any real progress.
I heard something about a bunch of players who broke the limit by flying piggybacked.
Oh, that.
They were pretty close to reaching a branch.
Apparently that freaked the GMs out, so they quickly patched the game.
There's a barrier just above the clouds now.
I see.
Let's head over to the base of the tree for now.
Yeah, sure.
Once we pass through that gate, we'll be in the central district of Alne, the heart of the world!
Yui, what's wrong?
Mama...
Mama's there!
Are you sure?
I'm certain.
Um...
This player ID corresponds to Mama.
Her coordinates are right above us in the sky!
Kirito-k—
Hey!
Kirito-kun!