On December 20, 2025; Kirigaya Kazuto (Kirito) and Yuuki Asuna had a date at Andrew Gilbert Mills's (Agil's) cafe. When they started talking about their old home in Aincrad, Andrew told them about the revealed contents of the upcoming ALfheim Online update, including the introduction of the 21st-30th floors of New Aincrad.
On Christmas Eve when the update took place, Asuna challenged the Floor Boss of the 21st Floor with the hope that their old home on the 22nd Floor remained unchanged. After a fierce battle, the group managed to successfully reach the 22nd Floor. There Asuna and Kirito rushed to the place of their old home and purchased it again.
Lisbeth and Asuna talking about Absolute Sword.
On January 6, 2026; Asuna, Leafa, Lisbeth and Silica were doing their homework at Asuna and Kirito's log house, while Kirito was sleeping on the rocking chair with Pina and Yui on top of him. As Kirito's aura of sleepiness was making everyone else sleepy, Asuna made some tea and the girls stepped outside. Lisbeth then asked if Asuna had heard about the stories about Absolute Sword.
Kirito fighting Absolute Sword.
As Asuna had been away during the New Year and did not have access to the Internet, so she could not have heard such stories, Lisbeth explained that Absolute Sword was a strong player who had likely converted from another game and was challenging other players at an island on the 24th Floor. Although many players challenged them, including Leafa and Lisbeth, they were all beaten easily. However, Silica explained that players would likely continue to challenge the mysterious player as they were betting an 11-hit Original Sword Skill, having a higher combo than the previous top Original Sword Skill, General Eugene's 8-hit «Volcanic Blazer». After hearing that Kirito had also fought the player and lost, after saying something to them, Asuna decided to challenge the player herself.
At that moment, Asuna noticed that it was already past her dinner time, but before she logged out, she asked Lisbeth if the player could be a former SAO player. Lisbeth answered by saying that she had asked Kirito what he thought about the player after battling them and his response was that the player could not have been an SAO player, as the «Dual Blades» skill would have been given to them instead of him.
A lot of the dialogue in the log house was not part of the novel, including the reference to Kazuto working on a device for Yui to be able to experience the real world.
The scene in the Dicey Cafe was not part of the novel.
In this episode, Andrew mentioned that he had met his wife via an online game when she was still in America. However, in the 2005 web version interview, it was said that they had met each other because both of them were foreigners and they lived close to each other.
The New Aincrad's 21st Floor boss in the anime looks different from its counterpart in the manga adaptation.
The pun about the nickname absolute sword (絶剣,Zekken?) sounding like a sportsman's number (ゼッケン,Zekken?) was omitted.
Leafa drawing on Kirito's face was not part of the novel.
Errors[]
The MMO Tomorrow report about New Aincrad was labeled with a Zaskar icon, despite the game being managed by Ymir.
MMO Tomorrow's @ tag was written as "@MMO_today" instead of "@MMO_tomorrow".
The 22nd Floor was incorrectly called the 21st Floor on the Forest House purchase window.
The word "Paid" was misspelled as "Paied" on the Forest House purchase window.
This is corrected in the BD/DVD version.
The time for the raid of the Floor Boss of the 21st floor of New Aincrad was erroneously written as 2024-12-24 instead of 2025-12-24.
For every floor in Aincrad, there should be a door to push open before the new floor can be reached.
Cordial Chords (2017, OS BD/DVD) - Distant Journey (2019, Alicization BD/DVD Vol.1) - If We Could Walk Together (2020, Alicization WoU BD/DVD Vol.8) - If You Were Here (2019, Alicization BD/DVD Vol.8) - If You Wish It (2020, Alicization WoU BD/DVD Vol.2) - Rainbow Bridge (2014, Extra Edition BD/DVD) - Sugary Days (2015, Season 2 BD/DVD Vol.5) - Sisters' Prayer (2015, Season 2 BD/DVD Vol.9) - The Day After (2013, Season 1 BD/DVD Vol.9) - The Day Before (2012, Season 1 BD/DVD Vol.1)
How LLENN Stopped Fretting and had Her Fire for Combat Sparked by Pitohui (2018, AGGO BD/DVD Vol.6) - The Mountain Rabbit Never Sleeps ~I shouldn't have paid him any attention~ (2025, AGGO2 BD/DVD Vol.2)
Girl Meets Gun ~P90 ni tsuite Yoku wakaru Online (PYO)~ (2018, P-90 Airsoft Gun bonus) - Her step, step (2019, ReoNa's Prologue Album) - Minami no Island Online (MIO) (2018, Dengeki Island!) - MZO (2016, Dengeki Splash) - Pitohui, Elsa, and a Fine Day for Handguns (2021, AM.45 Airsoft Gun) - Sugoimizugi Jam (2015, Dengeki Girls Swim Wear Festival) - The Untold Tale of the Vorpal Bunny's Birth ~Otherwise Known as the Worries of Two Gun Nuts~ (2020, Vorpal Bunny Airsoft Gun bonus)
Idle Talk - The Shinobi's Reckless Remarks (2017, Dengeki Bunko Magazine Animate bonus) - The Story of the Matchmaking Bakeneko (2016, Clover's Regret Vol.1 Animate bonus) - The Strange Tale of Makuwa Melons (2016, Clover's Regret Vol.1 Melonbooks bonus)
The Story of the Mysterious Jam Vendor (2023) - The Story of Eating a "Tanmen"-Inspired Dish at a NPC Restaurant (2023) - The Story of Making "Dongpo pork" with "Frenzy Boar" Meat (2023) - The Story of "Pot Helm", an Armour Equipment That Can Also be Used For Cooking (2023) - Service Meatball (2024)
Melodies Go Beyond the Forgetting Curve... - The Grand Plan for a Summer Festival Performance! - The Grand Plan to Overcoming Picky-Eating! - When Asuna and Yuuki Changed into Swimsuits (2015)
Ichiban Kuji Ordinal Scale
A Brief Instant of Reminiscing Right Below the Concert - From Asuna's Diary on a Certain Day in Late April (2017)
SAO x KYOTO NIPPON FESTIVAL
The Great Barrier of the Old Capital of Kyoto (2019)
