SWORD ART ONLINE NOVEL PROGRESSIVE (2025)

"The runaway best-selling fantasy light novel franchise that topped the charts in 2012! One month after Akihiko Kayaba's game of death began, the death toll continues to rise, two thousand players having already lost their lives to the ultra-difficult VRMMO world of Sword Art Online. On the day of the strategy meeting to plan out the first-floor boss battle, Kirito, a solo player who vows to fight alone to get stronger, runs into a rare, high-level female player. She gracefully dispatches powerful monsters with a single rapier that flashes like a shooting star in the night. This volume contains three stories, including 'Aria of a Starless Night,' which details how Kirito came to be called the Black Swordsman, and 'Rondo of a Fragile Blade,' the tragic tale of a young blacksmith that takes place before the second-floor boss fight."

"The runaway best-selling fantasy light novel franchise that topped the charts in 2012! Having cleared the first and second levels of Aincrad at great cost, Kirito, Asuna, and the rest of the players ascend to Level Three. New challenges await them even as tenuous new allies appear, in the vast forest that encompasses the entire level. Meanwhile, the first player-wide strategy meeting on the new level forces Asuna and Kirito to make a difficult choice."

"Having reached the second floor of Aincrad, Asuna decides to have a player-controlled blacksmith upgrade her beloved sword, a rare Wind Fleuret - but when the unimaginable happens and the sword is shattered in the attempt, Kirito suspects foul play. Did the blacksmith really just happen to destroy an incredibly valuable item? And if not, is there any way to get it back? If there is a conspiracy of thieves, how can they be stopped before they spread too much mistrust? The game of death is bad enough already!"

"After successfully untangling themselves from a dangerous encounter with the Black Poncho Man and clearing the fifth floor of Aincrad, Kirito and Asuna head to the next challenge, an area filled with...puzzles? What's more, because of the precarious balance of power between two large guilds aiming for the same item, 'The Flag of Valor', there's also a murderous PK group to be wary of. As the problems seem to pile up, Kirito and Asuna face the sixth floor of Aincrad completely unaware of the malicious trap awaiting them!!"

"At long last, Kirito and Asuna have reunited with Kizmel the dark elf. But the happy reunion doesn't last for long. With remaining keys to collect, the appearance of AI that seem a little too lifelike, and a 'secret quest' to deal with, Kirito and Asuna will have their hands full as they attempt to clear the sixth floor in one piece! Age 13 and Up."

"The seventh layer of Aincrad-a massive casino where over half of the game's beta testers dropped out before launch. Kirito, too, lost everything in its Monster Arena back then. When an informant named Argo seduces Kirito and Asuna with knowledge that could aid in their investigation, the pair soon plunge into the casino's dark underbelly once more. Meanwhile, the Elf War Quest also reaches a sudden turning point when a flurry of crises rock the Dark Elves' home!"

The protracted secret feud between the Nachtoy and the Korloy families, who control the casino on the seventh floor, takes an unpredictable turn when Kirito and Asuna intervene. But when Kirito attempts to expose the misdeeds of the Korloy family, he ends up stumbling into a trap. Now he has just two days to unravel a mystery, put an end to an unscrupulous conspiracy, and defeat the floor boss. It's all leading up to a showdown in the arena where everything's on the line!