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Synopsis

A cutting-edge full-dive system called the Soul Translator links directly to a user’s Fluctlight, the technological analogue of a human soul, rather than merely transmitting signals to the brain. The private research organization Rath recruits Sword Art Online survivor Kazuto Kirigaya to evaluate the device. Employed part-time, Kazuto explores the Underworld, a vivid virtual domain produced by the Soul Translator. Under a strict confidentiality agreement, any experiences or memories formed inside the Underworld are erased upon returning to the physical world; nonetheless, Kazuto retains a faint recollection of a single name—Alice—which stirs unease in his waking life. After escorting Asuna Yuuki home one night, Kazuto encounters a known adversary, is gravely injured in the confrontation, and loses consciousness. He awakens to find himself fully immersed in the Underworld with no apparent means of exit and begins a journey to find a path back to reality.