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Those few words at the end of the chapter were like a key turning in a lock, opening a whole new world for Haruto's readers. Sword Art Online did not just end with the SAO arc; there were other chapters yet to come.
How was that even possible?
The fans who had rushed to buy the latest issue of Kiyozawa that morning were electrified. Within minutes, the light novel forums were completely buried under a landslide of new threads. ƒгeewёbnovel.com
"The ALO arc? What the hell is that? Is Takahashi-sensei playing 4D chess with us?"
"Man, I really thought the series had committed narrative suicide. I did not think there was any way out of that corner."
"It really was a case of being too close to the forest to see the trees. We were so locked into the SAO framework that we assumed the story had hit a dead end. Heroine dead, protagonist dead, the final boss defeated in a climactic showdown, it felt like the end. No one could have predicted that Takahashi-sensei would just close the book on SAO and start the ALO arc. It is a total game-changer."
"Honestly, we all got played. Looking at the logic in the SAO setting, the story definitely should have ended. Asuna's HP hit zero and her avatar shattered, which means the NerveGear should have fried her brain within ten seconds. Kirito also hit zero and should have met her in the afterlife. How could we have known Kayaba would use his administrator privileges to spare her at the last second?"
"As for Kirito, that whole willpower surpassing the system thing was insane. He died and still managed to one-shot the Commander. At least the Incarnation mechanic was foreshadowed in earlier chapters, so it did not feel like a total ass-pull."
"The real MVP here is Akihiko Kayaba. He is the god of that world. Kirito and Asuna briefly broke his laws through sheer spirit, Asuna moving through paralysis and Kirito refusing to stay dead, and it seemed like Kayaba reached a state of enlightenment. He finally saw the thing he had been searching for. Sparing them was basically his gift to them for beating his system."
"Takahashi-sensei really led us around by the nose. He chose that specific cliffhanger to make us think the SAO arc had collapsed and the series was going to have a garbage ending. Then he drops the bomb: SAO was just the first act. There are entire other worlds to explore. He is a devious bastard, and I love it."
"I am still trying to process why he ended the SAO story so early. They only got to the 75th floor! There was so much more content he could have milked. The series is at the peak of its popularity; I do not know what is going through his head."
"I think he did it because the dungeon-crawling was starting to get repetitive. If you think about it, most of the story was the same cycle: Clear the floor, Kirito and Asuna being cute, a honeymoon, a fight with a PK guild. That is fun for a few months, but eventually, readers would get bored. This shift prevents that fatigue."
"Speak for yourself! I could watch Kirito and Asuna on their honeymoon until the death of the universe."
"That is just you, man. Realistically, clearing floor by floor would have been a slog. But unmasking the final boss in two chapters and ending it right there? The pacing is lightning-fast."
"Whatever the reason, Asuna is alive, and that is all that matters. I am happy. I am staying on this train next week for sure."
"The ALO arc... what could it mean? SAO stands for Sword Art Online. If everyone thinks the series is just about that one game, then what is ALO? Based on the naming convention, it has to be another VRMMO."
"I guess we will just have to wait and see."
"I knew it! I knew Takahashi-sensei would not let us down. I love this man!"
"Lmao, look at the guy above me. I saw your posts last week calling him Bastard and The Sadist. The 180-degree turn is real. I actually miss the aggressive, defiant version of you from seven days ago."
"Success brings out the fake fans; the dark times reveal the true believers! I said last week that if Asuna suffered even a scratch, I would eat ten pounds of dirt. You guys did not believe me and flamed me for it. Now look who is laughing!"
"Don't get cocky. Just because the story moved to ALO does not mean Asuna is safe. Remember Natsuki from Initial D? Haruto is a loose cannon. We have to stay vigilant."
"But wait... what if they wake up in the real world, meet up, and then break up immediately? Or what if Asuna had a boyfriend before she got trapped in SAO?"
"Shut up! Don't you dare put that evil on us!"
That night, the Sword Art Online fanbase in Japan completely shed its previous hostility. If last week was a day of mourning and hate toward Haruto, this week was a festival of praise and adoration. Light novel fans are a fickle, yet adorable, bunch.
Kiyozawa Library did not waste a second.
This kind of sudden reputation reversal was a marketing goldmine, and they used the momentum to skyrocket the series' visibility even further. Popularity and brand recognition are things you have to push whenever the iron is hot.
Suddenly, the light novel industry was dominated by a single topic.
The flagship titles of rival giants like Hoshizora and Seisawa, The Otherworld Reformer and Eyes of the Nebula, were completely eclipsed by the SAO hype train.
Even though those two rivals still held a slight lead in terms of total volume sales, averaging 23 million and 21 million respectively compared to SAO's 20 million, they had been running for over four years. Sword Art Online had reached that level in a fraction of the time. Anyone with eyes could see where the wind was blowing. Within a few months, the crown for the highest-selling ongoing light novel in Japan would have a new owner.
While Kiyozawa's marketing team was working overtime, the editorial department and Haruto's personal manager, Ms. Hime, were facing a fresh set of anxieties.
Haruto was unlike any other author they handled. He was not tied down by a long-term exclusive contract. In the publishing world, it was rare for a writer to have the leverage to tell a major publisher no. There would be no repeat of the famous falling out between legendary creators and their magazines; if Haruto did not like a publisher's attitude, he would just take his hits elsewhere.
Because of this, when the latest manuscript for the ALO arc arrived, the editors who read it were left dazed. Haruto was always punctual, but his content was consistently unpredictable. The editors only got to see the chapters a couple of days before the fans, and the new direction left them reeling.
The protagonist, Kirito, waking up in the real world was fine. SAO was officially over, the servers had been purged by Kayaba, and the death game was a thing of the past.
The revelation that Kirito had a sister was not a problem either. Even though the narrative painted her affection for her brother with a somewhat ambiguous, lingering tone, it could easily be interpreted as a sister's deep attachment to a brother who had been comatose for two years.
Even the introduction of Sugou Nobuyuki, a man Asuna's family had arranged for her to marry while she was still a teenager trapped in the game, was manageable. It was frustrating, sure, but he was a clear-cut villain. How the author chose to kill him off later was just a matter of a few sentences.
But the actual content of the new chapter...
To be honest, it was beyond anything the staff had imagined.
Kirito had woken up, but Asuna had not.
And in the real world, a contact had sent Kirito a screenshot from another game, a title built on the remains of Kayaba's virtual world technology called ALO. In that image was a character who looked exactly like Asuna, locked in a cage.
