Sword Art Online Light Novel Volume 10

Summary
After Kirito is attacked by Johnny Black, an old player of SAO, he is rushed to the hospital. He falls into a coma due to his injuries, and then mysteriously disappears from the hospital. Asuna tries to find his location with the help from her daughter Yui and Koujirou Rinko (the deceased Kayaba Akihiko's lover).

They discover that he is currently in the custody of Kikuoka Seijirou and Higa Takeru, who is currently experimenting with Soul Translator, the fourth generation FullDive technology.

On the other hand, Kirito and Eugeo journey south to the town of Zakkaria in order to find the location of the abducted Alice.

Chapter 2 (Project Alicization, July 2026)
Asuna, Sinon and Lyfa discusses Kirito's situation in ALO after being attacked. Kirito is transported to the hospital in order to receive emergency treatment from the poison that was injected into him. The doctors are successful in removing any lingering poison from his body and restore his heart beat. Soon afterward, he's transfered to a different hospital for better treatment, the ambulance leaves from the hospital but never arrives to the new one.

Asuna tries her best to search for his location with the help from her "daughter" Yui, Sinon and Lyfa by trying to figure out why he was kidnapped. They eventually reached a breakthrough, and determined that he is on a secret facility in the middle of the ocean - The Ocean Turtle.

With the help of Koujirou Rinko, Asuna infiltrates the Ocean Turtle. They managed to track down Kirito, who is currently under custody of Kikuoka Seijirou. Kikuoka Seijirou transported Kirito's body to a place where the fourth generation FullDive technology, Soul Translator, is being experimented with. Kikuoka explains that Kirito's heart and body have recovered from the poison, but that he has incurred brain damage by decrease in the amount of oxygen that reached to it due to his heart stopping. Kikuoka explains that they are currently trying to recover his mind, which was damaged, through the Soul Translator.

The workings of the Soul Translator is further explained. Kikuoka's goal of creating artificial intelligence (from bottom-up) to substitute front line soldiers is revealed. This is done through duplicating the "souls" of infants in "light cubes" and growing them in an accelerated virtual environment. Kikuoka further explains that the soul translator can accelerate a person's sense of time by 1,000 times. (1 hour in real time = 41 days in accelerated reality)

Nurse Aki is revealed to be working under Kikuoka, and is taking care of Kirito in his comatose state.

Chapter 3 (Zakkaria Sword Arts Tournament, 8th Month of Human World Calendar 378)
After a couple of months, Kirito and Eugeo are waking up in a barn in the town of Zakkaria. They have stayed in the barn for a couple of months, which is being taken care of by a pair of sisters.

Kirito and Eugeo will be participating in a swordsmanship competition, where the top two performers will be able to receive positions as guards in Zakkaria. This is as a stepping stone on their way to reach Centoria's Grand Church.

Chapter 4 (Master Sword Academy, 3rd Month of Human World Calendar 380)
Kirito has now spent almost 2 years in the Underworld, which is considered to be about 18 hours in the real world. Kirito and Eugeo are now in a swordsmanship academy, training themselves to be the top students.

Kirito is currently an entourage to a more senior student called Solterina Sorult.