Agil:
Yo! You're early, man!

Kirito:
What do you do?
Scare all your customers away?

Agil:
Very funny.
Man, at night, it's off the hook in here.

Kirito:
Well, I'm here. What's the deal with that picture you sent?

Agil:
Yeah, that's gonna take a little explain.
But first, check this out.

Kirito:
A game?

Agil:
It's an MMO for the Amusphere.
It's what replaced NerveGear on the market.

Kirito:
Huh. So, it's a VRMMO just like Sword Art.
Alf Heim Online?

Agil:
Er, actually, it's pronounced "Alv-heim."
Yeah, it means "Land of the Fairies."

Kirito:
Fairies, huh?



Kirito:
Land of the Fairies.
Sounds like a cute game.

Agil:
Yeah, that's not what I hear, brother.
For one, PKing's allowed.
And it's got this hard-core skill system.

Kirito:
What do you mean "hard-core"?

Agil:
I mean, the game's not level based, it's skill based.
You gotta use your skills over and over to improve them.
And combat depends on your real-life physical abilities.

Kirito:
That is hard-core.

Agil:
There's no sword skills.
Other than that, it's like SAO with magic.
What I hear, people are going nuts for it, 'cause in the game, you feel like you're flying.

Kirito:
Say what?

Agil:
You know how fairies have wings?
Well, the game's got this flight engine thing.
Once you figure it out, you can fly.

Kirito:
Whoa... How's the player control it?

Agil:
No idea, man.
I do hear it's a pain to get used to though.

Kirito:
Yeah, I bet.
How are you supposed to control something you don't have?
Maybe you have to use the muscles in your back.

Agil:
Ahem!

Kirito:
Right. Okay, getting back to Asuna.
What does she have to do with this game?

Agil:
Look familiar?

Kirito:
It looks like... Asuna.

Agil:
I kind of figured you'd say that.

Kirito:
Would you cut the crap?
Where the hell is this?

Agil:
ALfheim Online.
That was taken in the game.
Right in the middle, you got the World Tree.
At the top of that, there's this legendary castle.
Players are divided up into nine races.
Each one of those races is trying to be the first to get to the castle.

Kirito:
Why don't they just fly up to it?

Agil:
It's already been tried.
But the game's got a limit how long you can stay airborne.
Check it out.
These five players stacked up, bigger players on the bottom.
They tried launching themselves like a rocket.

Kirito:
Good idea.
It's insane, but kind of clever.

Agil:
Yeah, well, those cats didn't even make it past the lowest branch.
They did manage to snap a couple of shots though.
When they checked out the pics, they saw something weird.

Kirito:
A bird cage.

Agil:
You could call it that.
After zooming in on that as far as they could, they saw her.

Kirito:
Okay, but if it's really Asuna, what's she doing there?
RCT Progress?

Sugou:
Without getting into specifics, you could say I'm the one keeping Asuna alive.

Kirito:
Agil, can I borrow this for a couple of days?

Agil:
Sure, it's cool.
You think about going?

Kirito:
Yeah, I gotta check this out.
A game where it's okay to die shouldn't be that big of a deal.
Crap, I still gotta buy the hardware for it.

Agil:
Is compatible with what you got.
The Amusphere is just a NerveGear rig, but with better security.

Kirito:
That's a relief.

Agil:
The battle's not over till it's over.
You feel me? Get her and come back safe.

Kirito:
Sure. And when I do, let's all meet up here.



Suguha:
God, what am I doing? I'm so stupid!

Kirito:
Hey, I'm back.

Suguha:
Oh, where did you go...?

Kirito:
Here.

Suguha:
I-I thought I was gonna die.

Kirito:
You're such a spaz.
Those muffins aren't going anywhere.
Sugu, about last night...

Suguha:
Yeah. What?

Kirito:
I just... I don't know.
Thanks a lot.
Thanks to you, Sugu. I feel better.
You're right. I can't give up.
And I'll get Asuna back no matter what.

Suguha:
Well, good luck!
I'm looking forward to getting a chance to meet her.

Kirito:
When you do, I'm sure you'll hit it off.
Anyway, I'd better get going.



Sugou:
We're having the ceremony here on January 26th, a week from now.
Save the date.

Kirito:
I need your help again one more time.
Link start!



Guide:
Welcome to ALfheim Online.
Please enter your gender and the name you wish to be identified as.

Sugou:
Oh, you're the Kirito?
You're a hero. It's an honor.

Guide:
There are nine races of fairies to choose from.
Please select which race you wish to play as.

Kirito:
Hmm... That one looks good.

Guide:
You have selected Spriggan.
Your character's appearance will be decided at random.
Do you wish to continue?
You'll now be teleported to your hometown in Spriggan territory.
Good luck, player.



Kirito:
Now what?
What's going on?!



Kirito:
I'm back in another game.
Even after everything I just went through.
Wait. Where am I?
There it is. Thank God.
Okay. Where is the status window?
Huh? What is this? Oh, please don't be a bug.
It's all my skills and stats from SAO.
What the hell is going on?
Am I back inside SAO?
Uh-oh.
Oh, crap!
Come on. Please be here.
Hey, Yui. It's me.
You remember?

Yui:
I do. I remember you, Daddy.

Kirito:
Yui.

Yui:
Mommy.

Asuna:
Oh, you must be hungry. How about breakfast?

Yui:
Okay.
I like it.
Mommy... Daddy...

Daddy! Daddy! Daddy...

Kirito:
You're back. It's a miracle.

So, do you know where you are?
What's going on?

Yui:
Uh-uh.

Kirito:
Oh, well, we're not in SAO anymore.
We're in a totally different game now.
It's called ALfheim Online.

Yui:
I need a few seconds to access it.
From what I can tell, this world has been copied from the Sword Art Online servers.

Kirito:
Really?

Yui:
Yes.
The engine, programing and graphics format are exactly the same.
The Cardinal system needs updating.
That's the only thing that sticks out to me.

Kirito:
Huh. That makes sense 'cause Argus was the company running SAO.
They folded and RCT took over.
Yeah. And if RCT already got off Argus's technology, it figures they ported it over.
Although, when I checked, I still had my old skills and stats.

Yui:
Strange.
I'll take a look at your data and see what I find.
Very interesting. You're right.
This is the same character data you used when you were in SAO.
The formatting for save-data is almost identical.
Whatever skills you have that were similar in both games were ported over and merged.

Kirito:
Oh. That's why my dual-wielding skill's gone.

Yui:
Not just that.
All your items seem to be lost, too.
You might want to delete them before the error-detection program finds out about it.

Kirito:
Yeah, I'd better.
Okay, what am I gonna do about my skill level?
No one else can see them.
Well, no one except the game master and as long as he doesn't, you should be okay.

Kirito:
Oh, awesome.
I guess I'm not a beater anymore, just a plain old cheater now.
How are you being identified by the system?

Yui:
Let's see...
It's classified me as a player-support program.
In the world of the game, I'm a navigation Pixie.

Kirito:
Hey!

Yui:
This is what I look like as a pixie.

Kirito:
Wow...

Yui:
No Daddy, that's annoying.

Kirito:
You had admin privileges in SAO. Do you still have them?

Yui:
No. The system will only allow me to access the wide-area-maps and the reference database.

Kirito:
Oh...
Listen, Yui.
I think your mommy might be stuck in here somewhere.

Yui:
Mommy? Really?
What do you mean she's stuck?

Kirito:
After SAO was cleared, Asuna never woke up in the real world.
I found out she was seen in ALfheim.
There's a picture, but it's too blurry to tell.

Yui:
What are we going to do?

Kirito:
Well, I've got a pretty good idea where she might be.
It's something called the World Tree.
I think it's over there.

Yui:
Mommy's there? Really?

Kirito:
Hang on a second.
I was supposed to start the game in the town in Spriggan territory.
So, how come I ended up here in this forest instead.

Yui:
I don't know.
Your location data may be corrupted.
Or perhaps there was some interference?

Kirito:
Either way, it would've been nice if the game dropped me a little closer to the World Tree.
Well, let's go.
Wow, these are my wings, huh?
How do I fly with them?

Yui:
You have to access your controller first.
Raise your left hand.
Then, position your fingers like you're grabbing something.
Pull it toward yourself to elevate. Push it away to descend.
And move it left or right to turn.

Kirito:
Okay.

Yui:
Hold down the button to accelerate.
To decelerate, just ease up on it a little.
As long as your wings are shining, you can stay airborne.
But you can't fly forever.
After a while, you need to rest your wings.

Kirito:
This is great! I think I've got it down.
Do me a favor. Scan the map and see where the nearest town is.

Yui:
There's one in Sylph territory, west of here.
It's a town called Sylvain. It's the closest one.

Kirito:
Something wrong?

Yui:
There are other players near here.



Racon:
Hey, wait up for me! Leafa!

Leafa:
Hurry it up, Recon!
A little further and we'll be in Sylph territory.
Watch out, Recon!
Geez, they never give up!
Okay then, prepare for battle!

Racon:
Oh, what are you doing?
Sigurd and the others are already there by now.

Leafa:
I'll keep these guys busy.
You try to knock one of them down, okay?

Racon:
If you say so...

Leafa:
Show me how useful you can be.

Guy:
Damn it!

Leafa:
We can win this.

Idiot! Don't stop!

Racon:
Sorry!

Leafa:
Recon...



Kagemune:
Sorry about this.
We're on a mission though.
Give up your money and items, and we'll let you go.

Guy 1:
What are you acting like such a gentleman for, Kagemune?

Guy 2:
Yeah, we haven't fought a chicken forever.
Come on, let's waste her.

Leafa:
Go and try it.
But I'm taking one of you with me.
Whoever's not afraid of dying come on!
Step up and get some.

Kagemune:
You're a stubborn girl.
Suit yourself.

Kirito:
Ugh!
Damn...
I gotta work on those landings.
Phew...

Leafa:
What are you doing?
Go, get out of here!

Kirito:
Would someone tell me why three big guys are fighting one single girl?
It's pretty uncool if you ask me.

Guy 2:
What did you say?

Guy 1:
Better get your ass out of here, noob, fast!

Guy 2:
You asked for it. Get ready to die!
What the...?

Kirito:
See you.
Excuse me.
Hate to interrupt, you mind if I take care of this?

Leafa:
Um, I guess if you really want to.
It's not like they're gonna let you walk out here alive anyway.

Kirito:
Then, sit back and let me out.

Guy1:
Crap. Where did he go?

Kirito:
Okay, who's next?