Sword Art Online: Integral Factor

Sword Art Online: Integral Factor (ソードアート・オンライン インテグラル・ファクター) is an Android and iOS freemium game, announced during Tokyo Game Show 2017 on September 23, 2017. It was released for iOS and Android in Japan on November 30, 2017, globally on March 27, 2018 and for PC on Steam on August 22, 2023. The game takes place in Sword Art Online, where players can use their own avatar to clear the game, alongside a partner named Koharu (コハル). The game allows players to create their own story of clearing Aincrad from the start of the SAO Incident in 2022.

Game Structure
Integral Factor features a standalone and original timeline for the Sword Art Online series, set in Aincrad, the world's first FullDive VRMMORPG. The story takes inspiration from the Progressive series, as well as the rest of the Aincrad Arc and its events primarily focus on the game's protagonist and their adventure throughout the floors of Aincrad.

The game features three separate narrative aspects;


 * Main Story: This is a single, chronologically told storyline, canon to the events of SAO:IF.
 * Character Quests: These stories take place after a given floor clear, but otherwise without a clear chronological placement. They act as side stories, sometimes tying into the Main Story and act as canon extensions of SAO:IF.
 * Event Stories: These stories are non-canon narratives tied to limited time events, either commemorating real world holidays, other Sword Art Online multimedia projects or crossovers with other series. These events are never referenced by the canon stories of the game and exist as standalone or overarching narratives.

Prologue/Beta Test
On the final day of the Sword Art Online Beta Test, the Protagonist was progressing through a Labyrinth Tower, when he stumbled upon a female player named Koharu. Finding the Labyrinth area too difficult to handle, the girl was delighted to encounter another player in the dungeon. Persuading the boy to teach her the basics of the game, Koharu spent some time grinding alongside the Protagonist, until an unexpectedly powerful monster abruptly spawned in their area. As the duo were being outmatched by the monster, another player rescued them with a swift attack and advised them to relocate to an easier place, letting them know that much tougher enemies periodically spawned in the Labyrinth. Koharu and the Protagonist thanked him for his help and introduced themselves, and asked for his. The strong player introduced himself as Kirito. After sharing his name, Kirito promptly continued to explore deeper in the dungeon. Koharu had a chat with the Protagonist, talking about how she wanted to get much stronger when the game fully released, after being impressed by Kirito's power. Agreeing to see each other in the full-release version of the game, the two of them shared their farewells as the announcement for the ending of the beta period rung in their ears.

Floor 1
On November 6th, the Protagonist dived into the full release of Sword Art Online and spawned in the Teleport Gate Plaza, wondering if Koharu has already logged in. They stumbled upon another player while lost in thought about Koharu's whereabouts, promptly apologizing from him. The red haired player, who introduced himself as Klein, suggested they should look around the plaza as it was the designated meeting spot for a lot of groups. Complaining about how he was the only one online so early from his group, Klein sent the Protagonist off on their search wish good luck wishes.

As Koharu had decided to use the same avatar to be recognizable for the Protagonist, who had the same mindset as well, the search did not take long. After a quick catch up, Koharu requested a refresher on how to battle in SAO due to feeling rusty since the beta test was a long time ago. The duo headed out to the nearby plains to train. Klein, who was nearby training with Kirito, saw Koharu was struggling and invited them to "Kirito's battle lesson", much to Kirito's inconvenience.

After a training session together, Klein decided to log-off for the day, citing the pizza he had ordered beforehand. But a quick glance from Klein at his menu showed that the log-out button was nowhere to be found, nor was it visible for Koharu or the Protagonist. As Kirito found the circumstances of an "unexitable game" to be suspicious without any emergency announcement, the quartet heard the bells of the Town of Beginnings and were forcefully teleported into the Teleport Gate Plaza, where Kayaba Akihiko greeted them, as well as every other player present in the game who also got forcefully teleported into the plaza, in a huge, red robed Game Master avatar.

Welcoming all the players to his world, Kayaba revealed that the lack of a logout button was no error and that the players were now stuck in the world of Sword Art Online. He informed them that there would not be any rescue coming from the outside, as he had taken measures for the NerveGear devices to fry the players' brain, if there was any attempt to remove the helmet, follow by the notice of 213 deaths from the real world, caused by parents and friends who did not heed the warnings. The only positive notion that Kayaba uttered was that the players' real bodies would be allowed transport to hospitals during this time.

The plaza roared in protest, but Kayaba continued his speech, that Sword Art Online was no longer a game, but a reality the players would be living in until they cleared all 100 floors. Should their HP drop to zero, their avatars would be burst into polygons and simultaneously, the NerveGear would fry their brains. Following his shocking announcement, Kayaba provided a gift to all players to remind them that SAO was now their reality, a hand mirror appearing in everyone's grasp.

Engulfed in white light, players slowly realize that their avatars now feature their real looks, rather than the avatars they created in SAO. The protagonist mentioned that Koharu did not change at all, prompting a response that she had simply used her avatar from a VR clothes shopping app for the beta. She also added that while she felt embarrassed, she decided to use the avatar in the full release too, so that the Protagonist could recognize her easily. But the chatter ended promptly, when Kirito realized that Kayaba's plan was very thorough to make people feel like this was their reality now. At that moment, Kayaba wished luck to all the players, and disappeared, as the plaza got overwhelmed by screams, crying and sheer panic.

As Koharu lost her composure after Kayaba's announcement, Klein and the Protagonist carried her away from the crowded plaza. When she came to herself later, she found out that Kirito was no longer with them as he went off to do his own thing, per Klein's explanation. As the duo made sure Koharu was feeling okay, they were suddenly approached by a hooded figure. She had a clean face, brown eyes, and curly golden-brown hair and introduced herself with a nasal voice as Argo.

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