Abyss of the Shrine Maiden

Welcome Back to SA:O, Welcome (Back) to Aincrad

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.”