Sword Art Online

Volume 1 Cover

Sword Art Online (ソードアート・オンライン, Sōdoāto Onrain) is a light novel series written by Reki Kawahara and illustrated by abec.
The series has currently 13 volumes.

It was written as a Web novel with the penname "Kunori Fumio" since 2002, and was published in 2009 at the same time as Accel World, in the label Dengeki Bunko.

The Sword Art Online series is also available in the following languages:

• Deutsch (German)
• Česky (Czech)
• Polski (Polish)
• Русский (Russian)
• Bahasa Indonesia (Indonesian)
• Italiano (Italian)
• Português Brasileiro (Brazilian Portuguese)
• Tiếng Việt (Vietnamese)
• Español (Spanish)
• Français (French)
• Filipino (Tagalog)
• Nederlands (Dutch)
• Bikolano
• Lietuvių (Lithuanian)
• Magyar (Hungarian)
• العربية (Arabic)

Story Synopsis

Escape was impossible until it was cleared; a game over would mean an actual «death»―.
Without knowing the «truth» of the mysterious next generation MMO, «Sword Art Online» (SAO), approximately ten thousand users logged in together, opening the curtains to this cruel death battle.
Participating alone in SAO, protagonist Kirito had promptly accepted the «truth» of this MMO.
And in the game world, a gigantic floating castle named «Aincrad», he distinguished himself as a solo player.
Aiming to clear the game by reaching the highest floor, Kirito riskily continued alone.
Because of a pushy invitation from a female warrior and rapier expert, Asuna, he teamed up with her.
That encounter brought about an opportunity to call out to the fated Kirito―.

The legendary novel made an appearance with browsing numbers exceeding 6.5 million page views recorded at the personal website.

Timeline

Warning : This page is full of spoilers related to the story. You have been warned of its content.

Translation

Registration

Those who wish to contribute are asked to first notify a supervisor beforehand.

Translators are asked to register which chapters they're working on

Format Standards

Every Chapter (after editing) must conform to the general format guidelines.

• General Format/Style Guideline
• Project specific Guidelines: Names and Terminology (might contain spoilers)

Updates

• July 10, 2013 - Volume 12 Chapter 7 Completed
• May 25, 2013 - The Fourteenth Autumn Completed
• March 21, 2013 - Progressive Volume 1, Aria in the Starless Night Completed
• March 16, 2013 - Volume 11 Author Notes, Volume 11 Completed
• March 13, 2013 - Volume 11 Chapter 6 Completed

Older updates can be found on the Sword Art Online Updates page.

The Sword Art Online series by Reki Kawahara

You can find the PDF, EPUB and MOBI version of the Volumes in the forums here. If you are interested in sharing your version in any format please post in that topic or contact Carj.

Volume 1 - Aincrad (Full Text)

• Novel Illustrations
• Prologue
• Chapter 1
• Chapter 2
• Chapter 3
• Chapter 4
• Chapter 5

• Chapter 6
• Chapter 7
• Chapter 8
• Chapter 9
• Chapter 10
• Chapter 11
• Chapter 12

• Chapter 13
• Chapter 14
• Chapter 15
• Chapter 16
• Chapter 17
• Chapter 18
• Chapter 19

• Chapter 20
• Chapter 21
• Chapter 22
• Chapter 23
• Chapter 24
• Chapter 25
• Author's Notes

Volume 2 - Aincrad (SAO Side Stories) (Full Text)

• Novel Illustrations
• Prologue
• The Black Swordsman (Aincrad 35th Floor, February 2024)
• Warmth of the Heart (Aincrad 48th Floor, June 2024)
• Morning Dew Girl (Aincrad 22nd Floor, October 2024)
• Red-nosed Reindeer (Aincrad 46th Floor, December 2023)
• Author's Notes

Volume 3 - Fairy Dance (Full Text)

• Novel Illustrations
• Prologue
• Chapter 1
• Chapter 2
• Chapter 3
• Chapter 4
• Author's Notes

Volume 4 - Fairy Dance (Full Text)

• Novel Illustrations
• Prologue
• Chapter 5
• Chapter 6
• Chapter 7
• Chapter 8
• Chapter 9
• Author's Notes

Volume 5 - Phantom Bullet (Full Text)

• Novel Illustrations
• Prologue
• Chapter 1
• Chapter 2
• Chapter 3
• Chapter 4
• Chapter 5
• Chapter 6
• Chapter 7
• Author's Notes

Volume 6 - Phantom Bullet (Full Text)

• Novel Illustrations
• Chapter 7
• Chapter 8
• Chapter 9
• Chapter 10
• Chapter 11
• Chapter 12
• Chapter 13
• Chapter 14
• Chapter 15
• Chapter 16
• Author's Notes

Volume 7 - Mother's Rosario (Full Text)

• Novel Illustrations
• Prologue
• Chapter 1
• Chapter 2
• Chapter 3
• Chapter 4
• Chapter 5
• Chapter 6
• Chapter 7
• Chapter 8
• Chapter 9
• Chapter 10
• Chapter 11
• Chapter 12
• Author's Notes

Volume 8 - Early and Late (Full Text)

• Novel Illustrations
• A Murder Case in the Area (Aincrad 57th floor, April 2024) (SAO Side Story)
• Caliber (Alfheim, December 2025) (ALO Side Story)
• First Day (Aincrad 1st floor, November 2022) (SAO Side Story)
• Author's Notes

Volume 9 - Alicization Beginning (Full Text)

• Novel Illustrations
• Prologue I (7th Month of Human World Calendar 372)
• Prologue II (June 2026)
• Interlude I
• Chapter 1 - Underworld (3rd Month of Human World Calendar 378)
• Author's Notes

Volume 10 - Alicization Running (Full Text)

• Novel Illustrations
• Chapter 2 - Project Alicization (July 2026)
• Chapter 3 - Zakkaria Sword Arts Tournament (8th Month of Human World Calendar 378)
• Chapter 4 - Sword Mastery Academy (3rd Month of Human World Calendar 380)
• Interlude II
• Author's Notes

Volume 11 - Alicization Turning (Full Text)

• Novel Illustrations
• Chapter 5 - Seal of the Right Eye (5th Month of Human World Calendar 380)
• Interlude III
• Chapter 6 - The Knight and The Prisoners (5th Month of Human World Calendar 380)
• Author's Notes

Volume 12 - Alicization Rising

• Novel Illustrations
• Chapter 7 - The Two Supervisors (5th Month of Human World Calendar 380)
• Chapter 8 - Central Cathedral (5th Month of Human World Calendar 380)
• Author's Notes

Volume 13 - Alicization Dividing

• Novel Illustrations
• Interlude IV (July 6, 2026)
• Chapter 9 - Integrity Knight Alice (5th Month of Human World Calendar 380)
• Chapter 10 - Integrity Knight Commander Bercouli (5th Month of Human World Calendar 380)
• Chapter 11 - The Secret of The Senate (5th Month of Human World Calendar 380)
• Author's Notes

Side Stories

Note: Please be advised that these stories might or might not be canon and might also have details that are slightly different than the volumes above.

• Aria in the Starless Night (Aincrad 1st Floor, December 2022)
• Rondo of the Transient Sword (Aincrad 2nd Floor, 8 December 2022) (16/40)
• Sound of Water, Sound of Hammer (SAO Lisbeth Side Story) (Aincrad 48th Floor, August 2024)
• The Fourteenth Autumn (Aincrad 35th Floor, 4 October 2024)
• The Day Before (Aincrad 22nd Floor, 24 October 2024)
• Caliber SS (Failure Side)
• A Spot of Sunshine in the Winter (New Aincrad 22nd Floor, 31 December 2025)
• Versus (Roppongi, April 2026) (Accel World crossover)
• There is but one ultimate way (Underworld, August 2026) (Warning: Alicization spoilers)
• The Day After (on translator's site tap-trans)
• The Celeste Fairy (on translator's site tap-trans)
• Story pencil board (Dengeki Bunko v30) (on translator's site tap-trans)

Sword Art Online: Material Editions

The Material Edition (ME) series is a series of doujinshis created by Kawahara Reki himself using the pen name "Kunori Fumio" (the same pen name he used when he wrote the web novel of SAO). Material Edition 1 and 3 have no links because they are not text, they are in manga format.

• ME1: The Progressers
• ME2: Early Characters
• ME3: Ceramic Heart
• ME4: Cold hand, Warm heart (Aincrad 50th Floor, September 2024)
• ME5: Salvia (Kawagoe, January 2025)
• ME6: Algade Showdown (Aincrad 22nd Floor, October 2024)
• ME7: Continuation: Aria in the Starless Night (Aincrad 2nd Floor, 4 December 2022)
• ME8: Rondo of the Transient Sword - first chapter (Aincrad 2nd Floor, 8 December 2022)
• ME9: Concerto of Black and White - first chapter (Aincrad 3rd Floor, 14 December 2022)

The Sword Art Online: Progressive series by Reki Kawahara

Sword Art Online: Progressive is a reboot of the SAO Aincrad Arc starting from a day or two before the clearing of the First Floor Boss, and continuing onwards. The first chapter was included in the Anime despite not being part of the main Light Novel series.

Note: Please be advised that the side stories in this series have some changes from the original web versions, which have also been translated for your pleasure. Links above.

Volume 1

• Novel Illustrations
• Aria in the Starless Night (Aincrad 1st Floor, November 2022)
• Intermission - Reason for the Whiskers
• Rondo of the Transient Sword (Aincrad 2nd Floor, December 2022)
• Afterword

Web version

Aincrad

Prologue-1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8-9-10-11-12-13-14-15-16-17-18-19-20-21-22-23-24-25

Fairy Dance

With 7 chapters

The Death-Gun

With 6 parts including 55 chapters

Alicization

With 8 parts + end including 308 chapters

Side Stories

• EX1: The Black Swordsman
• EX2: Four Days
• EX1.2: VRMMO開発悲話
• EX3: Warmth of the Heart
• EX4: Zekken
• EX5: A Murder Case in the Area
• EX6: Red-nosed Reindeer
• EX7: Cradle of the Moon (9%)

Project Staff

• Project Administrator: Vaelis
• Project Supervisor: Sharramon

Translators

ACTIVE

• Tap
• Pryun
• Shichiya

RETIRED

• Sharramon
• BeginnerXP

M.I.A.

• BakaSama
• Thinklife
• Aiko
• Thunder
• Black Cats of the Full Moon
• Teh Ping

Editors

ACTIVE

• Kirito (Please email work that needs to be edited)

INACTIVE

• Aorii
• Black Cats of the Full Moon
• Saorian
• Thinklife
• DrFaust

KIA

• Zero2001

Series Overview

Sword Art Online series

• Volume 1 - Aincrad (April 2009) - ISBN 978-4-04-867760-8
• Volume 2 - Aincrad (August 2009) - ISBN 978-4-04-867935-0
• Volume 3 - Fairy Dance (December 2009) - ISBN 978-4-04-868193-3
• Volume 4 - Fairy Dance (April 2010) - ISBN 978-4-04-868452-1
• Volume 5 - Phantom Bullet (August 2010) - ISBN 978-4-04-868763-8
• Volume 6 - Phantom Bullet (December 2010) - ISBN 978-4-04-870132-7
• Volume 7 - Mother's Rosario (April 2011) - ISBN 978-4-04-870431-1
• Volume 8 - Early and Late (August 2011) - ISBN 978-4-04-870733-6
• Volume 9 - Alicization Beginning (February 2012) - ISBN 978-4-04-886271-4
• Volume 10 - Alicization Running (July 2012) - ISBN 978-4-04-886697-2
• Volume 11 - Alicization Turning (December 2012) - ISBN 978-4-04-891157-3
• Volume 12 - Alicization Rising (April 2013) - ISBN 978-4-04-891529-8
• Volume 13 - Alicization Dividing (August 2013) - ISBN 978-4-04-891757-5

Sword Art Online: Progressive series

• Volume 1 (October 2012) - ISBN 978-4-04-886977-5

More Information

Wikis

• Sword Art Online English Wiki

Wikipedia Articles

• English Sword Art Online Wikipedia Article
• Japanese Sword Art Online Wikipedia Article
• Chinese Sword Art Online Wikipedia Article

Reki Kawahara

• Reki Kawahara - Japanese wiki info on author.
• Reki Kawahara Q&A 1 - SakuraCon Interview for Sword Art Online and Accel World
• Reki Kawahara Q&A 2 - SakuraCon Interview for Sword Art Online and Accel World
• Reki Kawahara Q&A 3 - Interview with Anime News Network