Board Thread:Questions and Answers/@comment-103.14.61.39-20150113191308/@comment-6697950-20150123164000

His job was to test a FullDive machine. But since the actual reason he was hired was to test something for a secret military project, his memories of the real world during the dive and his memories of dive after it were suppressed. However, when he went into a coma and was connected to the Soul Translator again, his memories of the real world were not supressed, so he did remember everything from his real life... aside the latest events like the outcome of his encounter with Johnny Black.

But, at some point of the story, an accident happens in the military base where the Soul Translator is held and Kirito kind of becomes a veggie in the virtual world as well. At least for awhile. In this state, he can barely even chew, let alone remember much of anything.