In 2022, Akihiko Kayaba has created a virtual reality online game named Sword Art Online (SAO). On launch day, thousands of excited players log in with high expectations, only to discover they can`t log back out. They have been trapped inside the game, as part of Akihiko`s masterplan. He only allows them to leave if they beat all 100 floors of the game, set inside the grand steel castle of Aincrad. The players are warned that if they die in-game or try to forcefully log out, they will die in the real world too.