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| Elucidator [Kirito's black sword] and Lambient Light [Asuna's rapier] (Picture taken from theanimegallery.com) |
Sword Art Online takes place in the year 2022, a year in with virtual reality gaming has become a norm. In the anime, VR gamers are enjoying the release of the next big game: Sword Art Online. The game seems to be a very normal game on the surface, being a hack and slash, kill monsters and level up type of game. Unfortunately, for the gamers whom logged into SAO, there was no log out button as Kirito and his new in-game friend Klein discover when Klein tries to log out. Moments later all players that were online were moved to an arena in which the creator of SAO, Kayaba Akihiko, informs them that every single one of the players was in a death game. They all were trapped inside the game unless someone climbed the levels and beat the game. The catch is that if one dies in the game, the VR console fries their brain, and they also die in real life. Along with a skilled partner-player, Yuuki Asuna, and her guild, Knights of Blood Oath, Kirito aims to beat the game, whether or not people truly had his back.
