Welcome (back) to Ainground, though it is probably more appropriate to say to welcome back to Aincrad since that's where the story will be taking place mostly. Technicalities aside, welcome to Abyss of the Shrine Maiden, the follow up to War of Underworld and not named Unital Ring. Yeah... That second English volume comes in October, and unless we get the anime adaption first, it is gonna be a long while (if ever) before I adapt it. If I could read Japanese or if there was a realiable fan translation, we'd be in business. I should finish the first novel in the arc first though.

In previous stories that included the video games, Integral Factor and technically Alicization Lycoris excluded, I beat all story content for the game before writing. If I had not played a game, I either (1) in the case of Lost Song, alluded that it happened, or (2) in the case of Hollow Fragment, ignored it. Fatal Bullet I mostly ignored except for some main story parts and its DLC. Alicization Lycoris got the main story written and the DLC is slowly getting worked on as the big update comes, but Hollow Realization is different. I've obviously beat the main story, but the DLC... Yeah, I didn't touch it, not until recently, some time agp while working on WoU and deciding what to do next. So, for once, I have no clue what is happening prior to writing a story of a finished game. I mean... about 10-15 percent of what's coming, which is the events of the first four chapters which I've played and something else, so the other 85-90 is unknown territory. I like to play things first so I'll know how to write what's happening, but this time, I'll be write as I play. So updates may eventually take a while.

Currently, the first four chapters are similar to my version of WoU, where another character gets the POV instead of the usual Jaymes. Koharu rules the story for now, and I know chapter five really begins the next part of the story, so idk if I'll switch back to Jaymes POV or not. Writing Progressive Factor with no first person POV has been fun, but also with the writing on the Moon Cradle/Ancient Apostles/Mystosis story with Jaymes' POV at times (which, fun fact, I almost decided to publish and focus on first since it is the immediate sequel to WoU, but there's still material missing, unplayed, and unread. I don't even have a title in mind), so I don't know. Maybe I'll go with the mixed approach.

Anyway, enough rambling. A little synopsis of the past times here in Ainground, then the story begins. Enjoy!

Sword Art: Origin.

From her understanding, it is a VRMMORPG built straight from the assets of the original Sword Art Online. Part video game, part research project, it pins players on the continent named Ainground, its residents are NPCs with their own artificial intelligence. Because of this advanced AI system, no two NPCs are the same, not even if they have the same occupation. Furthermore, if an NPC is somehow killed, they do not revive but are replaced with a new AI.

Back in January, when SA:O was in beta, Kirito, Asuna, Jaymes, and their friends met a certain AI named Premiere. She was unusual in that her settings were set to null. Being who they are, the friends set out to help Premiere and complete her mysterious quest, finding out that the Cardinal System (also ported from SAO, not the version the Seed Nexus uses) was 'adjusting' her purpose. Premiere's quest turned out to be the backstory of Aincrad's formation, a tale of two divine priestesses, six jewels, and a prayer to separate the land. That story is something she has heard before, titled "The Great Separation". Cardinal planned to carry out not just the creation, but the final destruction of Aincrad as well, just as prescribed by the original SAO's creator, Akihiko Kayaba.

While they gave up on the quest to prevent Ainground's destruction, another player, Genesis, came to the same conclusion and sought to use Premiere's twin sister, Tia, to complete the myth. With Tia firmly under his influence, Aincrad was reborn and the world faced destruction. But Premiere wanted to save Ainground, and with her help, the friends stopped Genesis and Tia from destroying SA:O.

That was five months ago. In the meantime, Origin was ported over to the Seed Nexus and adopted its Cardinal System. In April, it was officially launched, and it quickly gained a huge player base in early May, days after the Ordinal Scale incident with SAO bosses. Along with ALO and GGO, it is now one of the big virtual MMORPGs in Japan. And just two days ago, it launched a massive update.

Until now, the incomplete Aincrad was inaccessible in the official version of the game, but now it has opened up as a high-level area. Unlike ALO's New Aincrad, which has been a near 1:1 recreation of the original with elements from ALO, SA:O Aincrad is different completely from its counterparts. How different remains to be seen, but the forums from SAO survivors make it clear the floating, incomplete castle is not the same, starting with the first floor, the Stalvatos Ruins, and its floor quest, "Warriors of the Sky".

"And that's just to catch you up," Argo says while stretching her arms. "The new level corresponds to Floor 15 of the original Aincrad. I haven't been up there myself, but my contacts have given me a description of the area. Standard grassy area with a bunch of ruins from an old civilization. But to be sure, I checked out New Aincrad, and yeah, not the same area. Of course, the Floor 15 I remember from back then was not high level at all. Late 20s, early 30s at best, right?"

The black-haired girl sitting across from her nods. "Sounds about right… But what about the message you sent Asuna? This 'Tia' possibly being on Aincrad?"

Argo sighs, sips her drink and crosses her arms. "To be honest, I'm only speculating based on facts I know from those guys. When they defeated Tia, it was on Aincrad, and she disappeared there. When I first heard this news, it didn't strike me as good info since there are NPCs all over the world, why not Aincrad? But as I heard more and more that first day, I figured there had to be something. NPCs, in general, don't just stare at players aimlessly, not here in SA:O. One source said her party tried communicating, but the NPC walked off."

"Not a quest NPC then?"

"Possibly, but not that I can tell. She appears at random places at random times. It's been three days, and all we have is that she's a girl. Oh, a girl with white hair."

"White hair?"

"Yes. With the information I had, that detail made a connection to your friends' final encounter with Tia. Just to be sure, I even asked Premiere myself if that was true just before messaging Asuna. She confirmed it."

"Hmm. An NPC acting strange for an NPC in this game, white hair, and on Aincrad… Makes sense." The other girl finishes her drink and stands up. "Thanks, Argo. I'll relay all this to the others, and we'll go check out Aincrad ourselves, see what's up. We're going to check out the Stalvatos Ruins anyway while Kirito, Asuna, and Jaymes handle some real-world business… So how much do I owe for this?"

Argo chuckles and looks off to the side. "For you returning for the dead, Koharu, nothing. But I do deserve payment… I'll message your boyfriend and put it on his tab."

Koharu laughs bashfully. "You know he dislikes you, right?"

"Oh, he loves the Rat, especially at times like this." Argo stands up and hugs Koharu, the shorter girl barely above the other girl's breasts. "I'm happy to see you, Koharu. I've missed you too, you know. Seeing Jaymes and even Asuna and Kii-boy without you attached to him has been weird."

Koharu smiles and hugs Argo back. "I'm sorry for all that, Argo."

"No biggie. But speaking of you and the red wonder… You know, Origin does have the same system as SAO, so how some intel on a few date spots to spice up your evening before...you know…"

Argo's eyebrow-raising and sly smile makes Koharu blush. "Argo!"

"It's free."

"Um…"

"Done. Sent to you." Argo closes her window and steps away, laughing and waving at the embarrassed Koharu. "Don't worry. If he doesn't get the idea, at the first restaurant, there's a drink called the Drops of Ascertainment. Order for two. Philia recommends it."

Koharu somehow feels uneasy about Argo's advice, but waves back. "O-Ok…"

"Good work, everyone!" Coming from the Town of Beginnings, Koharu bears witness to the cheerful group of girls ahead of her out in the field close to the new Aincrad teleporter. The remains of a knight-like monster disappears as Koharu approaches the group of eight. Guess there was some trouble coming out this way that she avoided, but it is great to see that the girls can handle themselves without the four males and Asuna. Then again, she speaks mostly of Lisbeth and Silica; Strea, Rain, and Philia were alone and a group in SAO, Sinon, and Leafa played GGO and ALO long before they were part of the circle, and Premiere...well, Koharu is sure the little AI can handle herself.

The blonde younger sister of Kirito notices Koharu first as she approaches. "Koharu, hi! Did you meet with Argo?"

"Yes. Here's what she told me." Koharu recounts the details of her conversation with Argo, especially that of the NPC they believe to be Tia. "Honestly, I don't know what to think of it, but I know Argo wouldn't lead us on with unverified info. There's a female NPC on Aincrad for sure."

"Seems like we got a mystery on our hands, gang," Lisbeth says. "There's nine of us, so we should be able to handle it without the guys and Asuna. If not, we got the girl who gave PoH a good thrashing here." Lisbeth eyes Koharu and gives her a smile of indeterminate meaning. "I'm sure you'll do fine out there as party leader."

Koharu bites down on her first retort in place of a more peaceful and innocent but still petty comment. "Sure you want that, Liz? I wouldn't want to intrude on you and the others by assuming leadership. I mean, I do have more experience than you on clearing floors on Aincrad, or actually doing anything risky as life and death, but I'm sure even you can handle being party leader.

Before Lisbeth can bite back, Sinon nods in agreement with Koharu. "We're counting on you and your experience. Be the Kirito-Asuna-Jaymes for us, but don't let that overwhelm you."

Silica elbows the blacksmith. "Just blame Liz if anything goes wrong."

"Huh?"

Koharu giggles. "I'll do my best. Asuna and the boys are counting on us to investigate, so let's give them good news on their arrival. And, hopefully," Koharu turns to Premiere, smiling at her, "we can reunite the sisters. Sounds good, Premiere?"

Premiere. "That sounds excellent, Koharu."

Strea cheers and touches the teleporter to Aincrad. "Let's go!"

As the nine girls materialize on the new 15th Floor of Aincrad, Koharu watches as Strea, Silica, Rain, and Premiere run towards the nearby underdeveloped edge of the floor. Lisbeth and the remaining girls walk behind them while Koharu lingers behind. The 15th Floor… In her memories, this floor in SAO comes just after she and Jaymes met (well, met again) their friend Sanya, the Silver Witch of SAO. The Knights of the Blood Oath were making their ascent as a top guild alongside the Aincrad Liberation Squad and the Dragon Knight Brigade. Kirito, Asuna, and Jaymes were still her party members despite the four now pairing off more and more. Oh, and the animosity that began brewing in the background, the first stirrings of PKing by PoH and Laughing Coffin.

She finds her feet taking her over the metallic, undeveloped part of the floor with everyone else, stopping beside Rain, and gazes over the edge. To her memory, she's never been to an edge of the first Aincrad's floors before, not in the official game, that is, maybe in the beta. But she's seen how the world looks from New Aincrad in ALO, but that is a complete Aincrad. The floating ruins of this castle are much different from previous iterations, so much so that it feels like they're indeed on a different castle.

"Wow, this is incredible," Rain says. "Look, you can see the ground peeking out through gaps in the clouds!"

Koharu nods. "It's certainly reminding me of where we are."

"Aincrad, the floating castle...and the site of the death game where most of us met."

"I'm not really sure how to feel about this. New Aincrad didn't invoke this feeling, maybe because it is a different game, but Origin is SAO except in name and infamy. I thought I never wanted to come back, but now that I'm here, even though it has only been a 'month' for me, I think I kind of missed this place."

"Well, we did spend two years here. Aincrad is just another reality for us, as real as the real world. Besides, it is where you met him."

"...Yeah."

"Hey, Rain, Koharu! Get away from the edge, or you might slip and fall!" Koharu and Rain look at each other and laugh as they turn and rejoin the girls, now gathered in a circle.

"The ground just cuts off suddenly there. Maybe it's because this Aincrad was never completed?"

"From here, it looks like the floors above and below us are also missing pieces."

"Seems the devs really preserved the Aincrad that formed here."

"Do you think that will make it hard for us to complete our quest?"

Lisbeth crosses her arms. "That brings up something I've been wondering about. The admins didn't make Aincrad, right? Then why is there even a quest here to begin with?"

"The Cardinal System," Koharu answers. "SAO and the Seed games were all built using it as their core program. Cardinal has the ability to automatically generate quests appropriate for all sorts of settings and player levels. It has access to a massive database of information, so it can come up with fun quests the devs could never dream of… Why are all of you looking at me like that?"

Philia cringes. "You sound just like Kirito and Jaymes with that detailed explanation."

"Well… Imagine how many times I heard the explanation myself."

"So," Silica continues, "I guess Cardinal designed this quest so that we can finish it, even with how damaged Aincrad is."

"Hmm, this is really weird," Philia notes. "We have grasslands and ruins behind us, and then the open sky's totally visible here."

Leafa nods. "I never saw anything like this when we fly around New Aincrad in ALO."

"Visuals aside," Sinon interjects, "we should get this show on the road. I am interested in this NPC, Tia or not. And remember, girls, the monsters here are serious business. No boys or men to run to in you're in trouble."

Rain puts a fist in a palm. "I think we'll be fine. We all can handle ourselves in a fight. If anyone's in trouble, we'll all be here to help out."

Silica nods. "Yeah! We're friends! That's what friends do!"

Sinon sighs with a smile. "Indeed, but our priority is to watch over Premiere as well, so don't… Premiere? Huh? Where'd she go?"

Lisbeth points to the girl nearby, continuing her sight of the sea of clouds around Aincrad. "Well, Sinon, she's checking out that vista you don't seem to care about."

Koharu clears her throat. "I'll go get her. Let's get ready to properly explore Aincrad for the third time." Koharu pivots and walks over to Premiere, saying nothing as she stands with the young AI, eyes fixated on the sky.

"...Incredible."

"Yeah, it really is beautiful, isn't it?"

"The sky seems to go on forever. When I look down, the size and beauty of the world stuns me. I wonder if Tia stood here once, too."

"Maybe. And if she hasn't, we'll just have to come back and show her once we find her, right? Same with Kirito, Asuna, and Jaymes."

Premiere looks up to Koharu and smiles. "A wise plan. Let it be so."

Koharu nods excitedly. Her feet might be on familiar soil, but the world around it is new. Her life and the lives of those around her are not threatened. There isn't a war to be fought, but a new adventure to be found. The first one for her since waking up in the real world. "All right then. Let's get back to questing, shall we?"