File:Aincrad (LN).png

Summary
The original design of Aincrad in the Light Novel.

A coloured illustration on page 8 of Sword Art Online Volume 01.

Latest image source: Ruranobe

Original image source: Gsimenas

Translation
Gargantuan Game Castle; Aincrad

An iron-and-stone made castle consisting of 100 floors. Inside it are numerous cities, small towns and villages, forests, grasslands, and lakes. One stairway connects each floor to the previous and succeeding floor, and all of them are in dangerous labyrinth zones where monsters wander about. Players in this world rely on one weapon as they run past them, find the way to the upper floors, and take down strong guardian monsters, single-mindedly aiming for the top of the castle. Aside from battling with monsters, there are many scopes of play from manufacturing like smithing, leathercraft and sewing, to hunting and cuisine, to music. This is not merely adventuring in a vast field, «Life» is literally possible here.

«Aincrad» is the world set as the stage for «Sword Art Online», declared as the world's first in the VRMMO game genre.