SWORD ART ONLINE II

Summoned by Kikuoka of the Virtual Division at the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications, Kazuto learns of a series of bizarre murders linked to the popular VR game, Gun Gale Online (GGO), the only game in Japan played by pros. After being shot in-game by a player calling himself Death Gun, two prominent GGO players have mysteriously turned up dead...

Sinon is making a name for herself as the No. 1 sniper in GGO. When her squadron ambushes another squadron, she succeeds in taking out her first target. But when she takes aim at her second target, a robed “Behemoth,” he dodges the bullet. The Behemoth reaches for the heavy machine gun he’s been hiding beneath his robe, and overwhelms Sinon’s squadron with devastating firepower.

In real life, the player Sinon is a high school student named Shino Asada. On her way home from school, she’s dragged into an alley by delinquent girls. Their leader, Endo, tries to extort money from Shino, but she bravely refuses. At this, Endo points her finger at Shino like a gun, and shoves it in her face. Shino turns pale and starts to tremble.

Kikuoka has recruited Kirito to investigate GGO, and so he logs in. To lure Death Gun into targeting him, he hopes to enter Bullet of Bullets (BoB), a tournament to decide the most powerful gunman in GGO. But as a first-timer, he doesn't know his way around this game, and soon loses his way, when he catches sight of Sinon and approaches her. Sinon helpfully agrees to guide Kirito.

To register for BoB, Kirito starts entering the required information into a terminal, but is astounded to see that the form includes columns for his real-world name and address. He is temporarily torn when he realizes that without this info, he won't be eligible for the top prizes, but in the end he submits his registration without filling in those columns.

After witnessing the fight Kirito puts up while winning his first preliminary match, a man clad in a ragged cloak asks him, "Are you the real deal?" This man, who sports a tattoo from Laughing Coffin - a Player Killing guild that formerly existed within SAO - leaves Kirito with the words "Someday, I'll kill you" and vanishes.

The man in the ragged cloak is an SAO survivor, and he might also be a player Kirito fought with to the death... This thought consumes Kirito, and his anguish is palpable - to the point that it worries Suguha. Meanwhile, Shino can't shake off her irritation towards Kirito, and she launches into a tirade against him to Kyoji, swearing that she'll defeat him in the final.

Certain that both Death Gun and the man in the ragged cloak are competing in the BoB final, Kirito approaches Sinon beforehand about exchanging information, and begins to investigate the other players. Sinon, sensing that something is up with Kirito after having seen him acting strangely after his first match in the prelims, pushes him to come clean, and learns that he’s an SAO survivor.

After the man in the ragged cloak shoots the Pale Rider, the latter is eliminated even though he should still have some HP remaining. The man in the ragged cloak reveals himself to be Death Gun, and announces that he’ll be bringing on real-life death. Watching the BoB live stream, Asuna and the others are stunned to realize that Death Gun is the former head of Laughing Coffin.

Attacked from behind by Death Gun, Sinon has her back to the wall. Death Gun's weapon, the Type 54 Black Star is, oddly enough, the same gun that Sinon used to kill the bank robber. Death Gun tries to kill Sinon, stunned by flashbacks of the incident, in order to agitate Kirito. But just before he pulls the Black Star's trigger, Kirito barely manages to rescue Sinon.

After escaping from Death Gun, Kirito and Sinon lay low in a desert cave. There, Kirito speculates on how Death Gun murdered the other players. Since Death Gun switched from the Black Star to a rifle when he attacked him, Kirito deduces that some kind of condition must be met in order to kill a player in the real world. As he ponders further, he hits upon a certain terrifying possibility.

BoB has reached its last stage, and the field of survivors has been narrowed down to Kirito, Sinon, Death Gun, and Yamikaze, the previous tournament's runner-up. Since it's possible that Death Gun has multiple accomplices, and Yamikaze himself is another target, Kirito makes up his mind to defeat Yamikaze before Death Gun, and then take out the latter as well.

Subjected to Death Gun’s Star Splash, an SAO swordplay skill that doesn’t exist in GGO, Kirito is in dire straits. He is driven into a corner due to Death Gun’s prowess not only as a gunman, but as a swordsman, too, and he is beginning to lose all strength. Sinon, unable to snipe after Death Gun destroyed her scope during their one-on-one, can only watch as Kirito and Death Gun battle it out.

Kyoji attacks, intent on ending his own life after first killing Shino. But just in the nick of time, Kazuto bursts through the door, and tackles Kyoji. As they struggle furiously, Kyoji shoves the poison-filled syringe against Kazuto, but thanks to a miraculous accident, he avoids being injected and narrowly escapes disaster.

It's reported that the Holy Sword Excalibur has been discovered inside ALO. Several months earlier, Kirito and Leafa had found this sword in Jotunheim, an underground realm, where they had saved a beast-type god named Tonky. Hearing the news, the siblings make up their minds to take possession of Excalibur before other players get to it first.

Kirito and the others are tasked with subjugating the Frost King Thrymr, and a quest to recover Excalibur. It's Yui's guess that this isn't a quest planned by the game admins, but something automatically generated by the system. And if that's the case, depending on the outcome of the quest, there's a chance that ALO itself could be destroyed...

Kirito and the others are taking on Thrymr, the Boss lurking at the bottom level of the dungeon. But unable to make much of a dent in Thrymr's HP, they soon find themselves in grave danger - getting blasted by a freezing air attack. Just then, their new ally, Freyja, raises her voice. She informs the party that to defeat Thrymr, they will need her tribe's secret treasure, the Golden Hammer.

ALO issues an update, unlocking Floors 21 - 30 in New Aincrad. Asuna, who in the past lived with Kirito and Yui in a log cabin on Aincrad's 22nd floor, is hopeful that her dream of living there again will come true. And then the day of the update, Christmas Eve, arrives. Asuna, along with Kirito and the regular members of their party, defeats the 21st floor boss and reaches Floor 22.

Hearing rumors about a brilliant player known as Zekken, Asuna decides to mount a challenge. Zekken has been calling for opponents to play for an ultra-fast 11-hit combo Original Sword Skill, and has defeated every single challenger until now. But when Asuna logs out, upon her return to the real world, she's told by her mother to take an exam to transfer into an academically-oriented high school.

Asuna is asked by Yuuki to help the guild that she leads, the Sleeping Knights. Due to its members’ various personal reasons, the Sleeping Knights are planning to disband soon, and so in order to create a lasting memory for themselves, they’re attempting to launch a single-party boss raid.

Asuna and the Sleeping Knights prepare to raid the 27th Floor Boss, but another guild specializing in boss raids is on to them. Not only has this guild acquired the Sleeping Knights' intel, they're also blocking anyone from getting to the boss before them. Asuna and her comrades soon find themselves in dire straits. Just then, Kirito and Klein come to their aid.

Several days have gone by since Yuuki vanished from Asuna’s sight and stopped logging in to ALO. Asuna asks Sleeping Knights member Siune why Yuuki disappeared. Rather than explaining in any detail, Siune answers vaguely, saying only that “Yuuki probably doesn’t want to see you again.” A few days later, Asuna, still longing to see Yuuki one more time, receives a text from Kazuto.

As a tester for the world’s first medical-use Full-Dive device, the Medicuboid, Yuuki has been diving into virtual worlds from the hospital. Terminally ill and unable to leave her sterile hospital room, she longs to go to school one more time. To make that wish come true, Asuna enlists the aid of Kazuto and some friends from school, and Yuuki is able to experience a day at their school.

Now that she is able to experience the outside world, Yuuki’s daily life is more rewarding than it’s ever been before. She spends her days in ALO enjoying cookouts and quests with numerous other players. In the real world, she attends classes with Asuna and the others, and even joins them on trips to Kyoto. As the month of March is nearing its end Asuna receives an email.