In the year 2022, the new virtual reality massive multiplayer online role playing game, Sword Art Online, is released for a new gaming system called Nerve Gear. The system is a VR helmet that stimulates the brain's five senses, enabling the user to experience, in all aspects, a fully realistic world where they can control their in-game characters with their minds.
Players find that the final official release version of the game is a trap set up by Nerve Gear and SAO creator Akihiko Kayaba. The 10,000 players are informed by Akihiko that they cannot log out of the game; and should their in-game character die so will their real world bodies. The only way for players to log out of the game is to beat all 100 floors, a feat that may be near-impossible.
Kirito, a former public beta tester of SAO, quickly accepts the situation and decides to go it alone, while other gamers form guilds and alliances in hope of a better chance of survival. To see if Kirito can survive this death game, make sure to check it out on Animax.