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 (SAO).

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 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
Just as the rumours had claimed, Aincrad's 10th Floor boss, Kagachi the Samurai Lord, spawned at exactly 21:00. Arriving to the battlefield at that very moment via a drone, YUNA announced the start of the fight and began singing one of her songs, granting buffs to the players. As the battle was underway, Eiji secretly observed the players from the sidelines, identifying SAO Survivors among them.

Midway through the battle, the boss avoided a rocket launched by one of the players, causing the projectile to fly towards YUNA instead. At that moment, Eiji abruptly intervened, protecting the AI idol by deflecting the projectile. While the remaining battle participants were stunned by the sudden appearance of the second-ranked Ordinal Scale player, the boy began another assault on the enemy, urging other participants to support him. Noticing an opening created by Eiji a few moments later, Asuna rushed towards the boss to deal the final strike, hearing Eiji whisper the term «Switch» to her as she passed by him, before securing victory in the battle.

Chapter 3
With the boss defeated, Asuna prepared to return home, pondering on the words she had heard from the second-ranked player at the end of the battle when she saw his name on the rankings. Meanwhile, member of Fuurinkazan discovered a collectible in a parking lot. Just as the man was retrieving the item, Eiji suddenly entered the scene, challenging him to a battle by drawing his sword.

Later that night in ALfheim Online (ALO), Asuna, Kirito and Klein recounted the events of the boss battle to their friends, capturing the girls' interest in the boss fights when Kirito mentioned that YUNA was present there. As there did not appear to be any obvious danger involved with the SAO bosses appearing in Ordinal Scale, Kirito requested Yui to investigate the matter further, while the girls expressed their interest in participating in the next boss battle to have a chance to meet YUNA. Meanwhile in the real world, YUNA learnt from Eiji that the strange pieces of candy in her jar represented people who were impressed by her songs. As this claim led to the AI idol's increased desire to gather more of the them, the boy stated with assurance that she would soon have more opportunities to do so, as they would be exacting their revenge on the members of Fuurinkazan soon. The following day, Kazuto bid farewell to Suguha as she left for her kendo camp, before returning to his room to continue his research on universities he would want to enroll in. After accidentally finding an article on the Augma's creator Professor Shigemura while browsing the official site for the Toto Institute of Technology, Kazuto decided to halt his research and log into ALO, where he discovered that an in-game quest was postponed due to low player activity because of Ordinal Scale's popularity while chatting with Asuna and Yui. Having returned to the real world in the evening, Asuna received an invitation from Ryoutarou to join them for a boss fight. As the venue for the battle was near her home, the girl decided to participate in the battle.

Chapter 4
Arriving at the venue shortly afterwards, Asuna learnt that the Fuurinkazan were still waiting for their final member to join them and thus decided to proceed to the battlefield alone. Moments after the boss battle began, however, the Field Boss of the 11th Floor of Aincrad, Zehghi the Flame Caller, unexpectedly spawned near the members of the guild, engaging them in battle.

Although the Fuurinkazan was faring well against the boss, they were suddenly assaulted by Eiji, who disabled all of Ryoutarou's guildmates with martial arts. At that moment, Ryoutarou discarded his Augma and attempted to punch the unexpected assailant, but this resulted in his arm being caught and broken by Eiji. After putting Ryoutarou's Augma on him again, Eiji offered the injured man to the boss while holding him by the neck, thus allowing the boss to defeat him.

Meanwhile, Asuna and the other players were fighting against the Floor Boss of the 11th Floor of Aincrad, the Storm Griffin. Thanks to the girl's skillful leadership during the battle, the group was able to defeat the monster without much difficulty. As she was returning home after the fight, Asuna pondered on why Klein and his friends had not joined the battle in the end, unbeknownst to her that she was being observed by Eiji nearby.

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