Long time no see; or perhaps it is more proper to call this the first meeting. I am Kawahara. Thank you very much for reading «Sword Art Online 2: Aincrad».
After volume one was published, I received a large amount of valuable advice regarding "How can I continue this from this sort of ending?" No matter how you look at it, the game was completely cleared, and the world had also collapsed. Even while I, myself, was reading it, I felt there were absolutely no elements that could be continued further.
Then, there was the sequel that hurt my brain, or namely, this book. My apologies, the time was turned back to the past. And moreover, it was a collection of short stories. I'm truly sorry about that.
I have previously also played some online games. But no matter in what game, I have never been part of a high-ranking group. I merely envied those eternally strong players with the best equipment and reputation, one after another easily defeating monsters, and afterwards feeling that they were "So skilled! So strong!" (haha)
Therefore, I wanted to write about not only the volume one's protagonists Kirito and Asuna and their «Game Clearer» type of top players, but wanted even more to write something about the stories of ordinary mid-level players; and this second volume's four short stories, have precisely this kind of content. Regardless of which story, they are basically about Kirito debuting and causing a big stir; and feeling that he is "So skilled! So strong!" like Silica and Lisbeth felt, is precisely what I have felt every year since becoming an MMO player. Really, and once would be enough, I really want to know what it feels like to show off to others a weapon of which there are only three copies in the entire server.
Besides that, there's one more thing that I must apologize to everyone about. Even though the four female characters in this book are all different female players, their male counterpart, as discussed earlier, was always Kirito-san. Even though there is no way for me to explain myself to everyone properly on this point, I painfully excuse myself, and ask that everyone please use the "even though the criminal and victim change every time, the detective is always the same person" mindset you have when reading detective novel series... you can't do it right? Sorry, sorry.
Lastly, to abec-sensei who drew all the constantly appearing new heroines with personality and cuteness, and to Miki-san who gave me many ideas with regards to all the strange and complex game system settings: you have taken care of me yet again.
And to you who read this book to the end, I am truly thankful.
May 26, 2009 —Kawahara