Board Thread:Suggestion Box/@comment-29759785-20161112085645/@comment-29788605-20161112152952

Qunow wrote: Let me do a quick translation of what Reki wrote:

この『Sword Art Online 外伝7』は、Web版SAOシリーズが下敷きとなっておりますが、一部キャラクター名が共通しただけの独立したファンタジー作品としてお読み頂けるよう構成されております.

Although this "Sword Art Online EX07" is base on web version SAO series, it is structured to be readable as an independent fantasy story with some character names in common (with the original works). Even for me that doesn't mean that they are the same characters. What he said is that the names are in common.Not necessarily the same characters.