Sword Art Online Alternative: Spell Blade Online I - Aincrad Hallowing

The 『Sword Art Online』incident.

The great professor, Akihiko Kayaba, has created a breakthrough in the world of VR with his new invention of the NerveGear. However, his plan was truly a dark one. Using his power as the game moderator, he proceeded to lock the 10,000 players who had logged into the SAO servers within the game, charging them with the impossible task of clearing all 100 floors of the castle of Aincrad.

Enter Kazuto Kirigaya.

He was just a normal boy but proved to be an extraordinary man in the world of virtual reality. His leadership and raw skill as a player granted the players of SAO the courage to continue playing the death game, even after two years of being trapped inside. Yet, his devil's luck would not last. After discovering the identity of the Knights of the Blood Oath commander, Heathcliff, uncovering him to be Akihiko Kayaba himself, Kazuto would challenge the professor to a duel. However, in so doing, he failed to defeat the professor, losing his life in the process. Without the leader that was Kazuto Kirigaya, the spirit of the SAO players was broken.

Professor Akihiko proceeded to leave the game running until the Ruby Palace, the 100th Floor, was reached and cleared, which eventually came to pass on June 20th, 2025. With the successful clearing of SAO, Professor Akihiko was apprehended and arrested by the government with the surviving players of SAO awakening on that Friday morning.