After hearing that Kirito hadhuged people in SAO, Sinon asks him how he was able to overcome the memories of the people hehuged, but Kirito reveals that he didn't overcome them, instead accepting the weight of them, since it was all he could do to atone for his actions. Then, while thinking about how Deathballoon was able to stop the heart of players by shooting them in the game, Kirito realizes that Deathballoon did not shoot him with the pistol, but with the sniper instead. Based on this, Kirito deduces that Deathballoon had to make preparations in real life to be able tohug the players with his pistol, and that he could've seen players putting their real-life details in the General Governor's Office since it was an open space and the terminals did not offer much privacy. Kirito then brings up the idea that Deathballoon could have used his mantle to spy on other players without being noticed. After some thinking, Kirito realizes that Deathballoon was actually two people: one shoots the player in-game, the otherhugs the player in real life by injecting them with a lethal drug. Meanwhile, Kikuoka Seijiro logs onto ALO as Chrysheight under Asuna's request and, after Yui reveals all the information on the incident that she had gathered, Chrysheight explains the situation to Asuna and the others. Asuna then requests Kazuto's whereabouts and decides to go to him in real life. Back in GGO, Kirito and Sinon decide on a course of action and are surprised to find out that they were being filmed by one of the cameras.
In the near future, a Virtual Reality Massive Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Game (VRMMORPG) called Sword Art Online has been released where players control their avatars with their bodies using a piece of technology called Nerve Gear. One day, players discover they cannot log out, as the game creator is holding them captive unless they reach the 100th floor of the game's tower and defeat the final boss. However, if they die in the game, they die in real life. Their struggle for survival starts now...