ALfheim, Neutral Territory
Central Capital, Arun
The World Tree...
Yeah,
this is Arun!
The center of ALfheim, the biggest city in the world.
We're finally here.
I've never been to a city this size.
Me, either.
The ore light looks like stardust...
The server will be down today, January 22nd,
from 4:00 AM to 7:00 AM for scheduled maintenance.
Players are asked to log out ten minutes in advance.
Repeat: The server will be down today, January 22nd,
That's all for today, huh?
from 4:00 AM to 7:00 AM...
Let's log out at an inn.
Yeah...
Well, let's find an inn.
I blew all my cash, so nowhere too pricey.
That's because you were showing off by giving all your money to Sakuya.
You should have saved money for an inn.
You heard your dad.
Is there a cheap inn nearby?
Hmm...
There's a super-cheap one down there.
S-Super-cheap, huh?
Let's go.
Ah, wait, Kirito-kun...
The Truth of ALfheim
That's...
Morning, Sugu.
Morning, Brother.
You look really sleepy.
When did you get to bed last night?
Let's see... Four, I think?
A kid shouldn't stay up that late.
What were you doing?
I guess I was on the Internet...
Don't spend too much time on it.
Not that I should talk.
Hey, Sugu.
Turn around.
Just do it.
Like this?
How far does this go?
Is this a map?
Somewhere...
Somewhere there's a console where I can log out.
Experiment?
Brother, you should buy me a green tea shaved ice and a raspberry parfait to apologize.
Be sure to, okay?
Sure.
Okay, then.
Then want to get it today?
I have to do something in the afternoon.
And I'm planning to go to the hospital this morning.
Oh...
Hey, Brother...
Could I come with you?
Oh, sure.
I'm sure Asuna will be happy.
Yeah.
All right, let's eat!
This is...
By expanding the brain's control regions,
it's possible it could control thought, emotion, even memory.
They're suffering!
All of these?
Awful...
How awful!
He won't get away with this.
No, I won't let him!
Just wait a little.
I'll save you, okay?
Now, how's it going?
He's having another dream of Spica-chan.
The B-13 and B-14 fields are off the scale.
Same with 16.
High excitement.
Sure it isn't a coincidence?
It's only happened three times.
No, it's due to the emotional inducement circuits.
If it's happening at this rate, he's over the threshold.
For now, we'll put him on the list for continuous monitoring.
Next Bus Arriving Soon
Hey, Brother, what about school?
School?
Weren't you supposed to start high school last year?
Well...
They said something about using one of the city schools
that shut down as a special school
for the students from SAO.
Now departing.
You can get in without any exams,
and if you graduate, they'll let you take the test for university.
Oh, I see.
That sounds like a good deal...
But they'll be putting lots of different students together.
We all spent
two years trapped within a deadly game.
They don't know what it did to our minds.
Maybe they want to observe us.
Seriously?
But if I wanted to attend a normal high school now,
I'd have to spend the whole year at cram school.
But if I wanted that, I'm sure I'd have that choice.
I'm sure you'd do fine.
Your grades are good.
"Were." Past tense.
I haven't studied for two years.
I could be your tutor!
Then maybe you'll help me with math and information processing.
That's...
A system console?
Good, they haven't seen me yet.
Please!
This is it!
Detach Virtual Laboratory
Logging out will terminate all services. Cancel Log Out
What a big hospital.
It's amazing inside, too.
Like a hotel.
"Yuuki Asuna-san."
Her character shared her real name.
Not many people do that.
You know a lot about it...
Asuna's the only one I've ever known to do that.
I'll introduce you.
This is Asuna.
Vice Commander of the Knights of the Blood Oath,
Lightning Flash Asuna.
I never was able to match her sword speed or accuracy.
Asuna, this is my sister, Suguha.
N-Nice to meet you, Asuna-san.
Log Out
Who are you?
What are you doing here?
Hey, put me down.
I'm a friend of Sugou-san.
He was letting me look around.
I'm leaving now.
No one notified me about this.
What about you?
Nothing.
He wouldn't want outsiders seeing this anyway.
Wait a second.
You're that girl
Sugou-chan keeps at the top of the World Tree.
I've heard about that.
It's so unfair that the boss
gets to have all the fun with the cute girl.
Come on, keep still.
Stop it!
Let me go, monster!
That's so mean...
We're in the midst of an experiment on deep-sense mapping.
You're scientists, aren't you?
You aren't ashamed,
participating in this illegal, unethical experiment?
I think it's more ethical
than sticking electrical probes into an exposed animal brain.
They're all just dreaming.
That's right.
Sometimes, we show them the most wonderful dreams.
I wish I could have them.
You're insane.
The boss is on a trip, right?
Get back to the other side, and see what he wants us to do.
Fine...
Hey, don't have any fun while I'm gone.
Got it, got it.
Get going.
Release me!
Let me go!
Let me out!
I can't!
The boss would kill me!
Just forget it.
Why don't we enjoy some electro-drugs?
I'm sick of dolls.
Stop it!
What are you doing?
Stop...
Stop!
Fine! Fine...
I forgot I turned off the pain observer.
What are you doing?
Nothing.
What did the boss say?
He was pissed.
He said to return her to the birdcage above the lab, change the pass,
and keep an eye on her 24/7.
And I was just about to have some fun...
Let's at least walk her back instead of teleporting her.
I want to enjoy this feeling a little more.
You're having fun, aren't you?
Come on, no more struggling.
Stay put.
I said release me!
She's so pretty.
It's a shame that she's still asleep.
Maybe I shouldn't have come.
I don't know how I feel.
I thought if I met Asuna-san, I'd know.
However,
do I want to be a good sister?
Or do I...
Brother.
Bye.
Let's play again if we have the chance.
I won't lose, Kirito-kun.
I will never give up.
I will escape this place!
Leafa?
What's wrong, Leafa?
Um...
Um, Kirito-kun...
I... I...
I have a broken heart...
I'm sorry,
saying all this to someone I just met.
It's against etiquette to bring real world problems here.
Whether here or in the real world, you can cry when it hurts.
There's no rule
that you can't show feelings just because it's a game.
Kirito-kun...
I'm in love with my brother.
But I can't share those feelings.
I have to bury them deep in my heart.
So that I can forget them someday.
I'm okay.
Thanks, Kirito-kun.
You're nice, you know?
People often say the exact opposite about me.
Want to log off for today?
I think I can make it the rest of the way myself.
No...
I've come this far.
I'll go the rest of the way.
Now, let's go.
Yui, you here?
Good morning, Daddy and Leafa-san.
Morning, Yui-chan.
Hey, I was wondering yesterday...
Do Navi-Pixies sleep at night?
Of course not.
But when Daddy's not here,
I shut down my input circuits, and process accumulated data.
It could be similar to human sleep.
But you just yawned...
That's what humans do during their boot-up sequence, right?
On average, Daddy's last for eight seconds.
You don't have to be strange.
Let's head out.
Yeah.
There are tons of people here.
I guess it really is the center of ALfheim.
It seems that all the fairy races from around the continent are here.
That's the World Tree.
Yeah.
Seeing it up close, it's amazing.
Isn't there a city up there?
And also...
The Fairy King Oberon lives there with the light fairies, the Alf.
And they say the first race to meet with the king will become Alfs.
You can't climb up it?
The area around the trunk is off-limits,
so you can't climb it.
And your wings' flight limit would expire
long before you'd make it up.
I heard that a bunch of people
passed the limit by launching off each other's shoulders...
Oh, you heard about that.
They made it close to the branches.
But the GMs freaked out and patched it.
Now there's a wall just above the clouds.
I see...
Let's head to the trunk for now.
Yeah, got it.
Once you pass through that gate, you're at the world's heart,
the central district of Arun.
Hey, Yui.
What's wrong?
Mommy...
Mommy is
here.
You're sure?
I'm certain.
This player ID belongs to Mommy.
The coordinates are right above us!
Kirito-kun!
Wait!
Kirito-kun!
Next Time: Grand Quest