Sword Art Online - Ordinal Scale Volume 01 (manga)

Sword Art Online - Ordinal Scale Volume 01 (劇場版 ソードアート・オンライン -オーディナル・スケール- 1) is the first volume of the Ordinal Scale manga adaptation. The volume covers the events of the Ordinal Scale movie up to the end of Eiji's assault on the Fuurinkazan guild and the defeat of The Storm Griffin, the boss of the 11th Floor in Sword Art Online.

Summary
In the year 2026, a highly-advanced augmented reality console known as the Augma entered the market as an alternative to the most widely used virtual reality console, the AmuSphere. With the introduction of Ordinal Scale (OS), the first Augmented Reality Massively Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Game (ARMMORPG) for the Augma, the new console quickly became popular.

On April 24, 2026, having learnt about rumors of Sword Art Online (SAO) monsters appearing in OS from his friends, Kirigaya Kazuto (Kirito) decided to participate in a boss fight alongside Yuuki Asuna and Tsuboi Ryoutarou (Klein). As the players participating in the battle struggled with the boss, the second-ranked player in the game, Eiji, suddenly joined the fight, helping change the tide of battle.

The following day, members of the Fuurinkazan guild were ambushed by an SAO Field Boss while waiting for one of their own to arrive for an official Ordinal Scale boss fight. Although the guild was faring well against the monster, they were abruptly assaulted by Eiji mid-battle, who physically injured the players, before allowing the boss to defeat them in-game.

Prologue
One night in Sword Art Online, Asuna and Kirito were enjoying the night sky of Aincrad. As Asuna complained about having never seen shooting stars because her neighbourhood was too bright, Kirito remarked that there were several good places to see them in his area, and thus they made a promise to see meteor showers some day in the real world. Kirito additionally promised to have a gift for Asuna that day.

Chapter 1
In April 2026, more than a year following the end of Sword Art Online, Eiji observed as a group of players participating in an Ordinal Scale battle were shocked upon discovering that the monster they would be fighting was Illfang the Kobold Lord, the boss of the 1st Floor of Aincrad in Sword Art Online. In the aftermath of the battle, Ordinal Scale's artificial intelligence (AI) idol YUNA expressed to Eiji her desire to sing more, prompting the boy to assure her that she would soon have more opportunities to do so, as their revenge was only beginning. Meanwhile in a server room, Shigemura Tetsuhiro reminisced on the events of SAO and its creator, Kayaba Akihiko.

On April 24, Ayano Keiko (Silica), Kirigaya Kazuto (Kirito), Shinozaki Rika (Lisbeth), and Yuuki Asuna were strolling through a mall after school, when Keiko expressed her pleasant surprise at the fact that students of the SAO Survivor School were all granted free tickets for YUNA's upcoming first live concert at the New National Stadium in Tokyo later that month, in addition to receiving free Augmas. After being compelled to sing one of YUNA's songs in public by Rika due to being a great fan of the idol, Keiko recalled a rumour about Sword Art Online bosses appearing in Ordinal Scale. As the location of the boss battles was only revealed at nearly the last minute, Rika voiced a need for a method of transportation to reach one in time. At that moment, however, Asuna stated that they did actually have transportation at their disposal, giving Kazuto a meaningful glance.

At nearly nine o'clock later that evening, Kazuto drove Asuna on his motorcycle to the Akihabara Urban Development X (UDX), the venue of an Ordinal Scale boss battle, where they met with Tsuboi Ryoutarou (Klein) and the other members of the Fuurinkazan guild. As the battle was about to begin, the players launched their Ordinal Scale applications on their Augmas.

Chapter 2
The moment the clock chimed nine o'clock in the evening, Kagachi the Samurai Lord, Aincrad's 10th Floor boss spawned, thus confirming the rumors. Immediately after that, YUNA entered the scene via a drone and announced the start of the joust followed by her singing, which provided buffs for the gathered players.

While the players was able to hold their own against the boss, thanks to their knowledge about its attack patterns from SAO, Eiji calmly observed the battle from nearby, looking for the SAO Survivors in the participants list. A moment later, having heard his girlfriend's encouragement, Kazuto, who had been passive in the fight so far, decided to make an assault. However, the boy tumbled and failed to achieve anything due to lack of physical strength and quickness.

As the battle continued, a player fired a rocket, which was avoided by the boss, causing it to fly towards YUNA. At that moment, Eiji abruptly jumped in and protected the AI idol by deflecting the projectile. While everybody was surprised by the sudden appearance of the rank-two player, the boy began another assault on the enemy, urging other participants to support him. A few moments later, Asuna noticed an opening and run towards the boss. Having passed Eiji, who whispered the term «Switch» to her concurrently, the girl dealt the final strike and secured the final victory.