In the year 2022, 10,000 gamers found themselves trapped inside Sword Art Online, a virtual reality metaverse. For the players to regain their freedom, they must fight monsters and conquer one hundred floors in the vast world of Aincrad. The catch though is that if they die in-game, they die in real life.

In the novel, we now journey with the gamers in this maddening task. Eventually, the players were split into 4 rough categories, the majority of which were the waiters; those hoping they would be rescued by people outside/in the real world. They decided to stay put and live off with their initial allotment of money because somebody from the outside will surely rescue them soon right? The second group were players who decided that cooperation was the best chance of survival and created big clans to fight monsters and share resources with. Those who resisted joining any organized band and squandered their resources with drinking and eating were part of the third group of people who started living a life of crime. The fourth smaller portion were a mix of crafters, traders, and solo adventurers like our main protagonist, Kirito.

Amazingly fascinating concept and a cute read! Reminded me of my Ragnarok days during my teens.