Chapter Summaries

After the entrance test, Lu Mingfei learned that Chu Zihang and Caesar had placed third and fourth, while Kazama Shizuka took second. The freshmen were transported to a grand hall to receive their assignments, where Lu Mingfei met a girl named Kamijou Eriy.

• Fingel told Lu Mingfei that killing students let him claim half of their future gains, and revealed that Chu Zihang and Caesar had ranked third and fourth.
• Lu Mingfei checked the rankings, found Kazama Shizuka in second place, and tried to recruit him as a crew member.
• Kazama Shizuka accepted Lu Mingfei as a partner while privately considering how the alliance might draw the attention of Kazama Ruri, who had ranked fifth.
• Chu Zihang called Lu Mingfei and the other freshmen interesting opponents, while Caesar dismissed Lu Mingfei as a lucky coward and vowed to defeat him.
• The freshman test ended, and the students were transported to a grand hall to receive their learning assignments from Wang Yan (Projection No. 1).
• A girl beside Lu Mingfei introduced herself as Kamijou Eriy.

Lu Mingfei met the mysterious freshman Kamijou Eriy at Panda University, where Principal Wang Yan revealed that first-years would have to kill the Bronze and Fire King as an assignment. Lu Mingfei discovered that classmates Li Xiong and Li Hu were tied to the Dragon King’s legacy and was left terrified at the prospect of facing a Dragon King despite being an esports student.

• Lu Mingfei recognized Kamijou Eriy as the freshman who had scored zero in the testing hall and introduced himself, offering to play games with her.
• Principal Wang Yan told the freshmen that their identities no longer mattered because they were all Panda University students, then announced their first assignment was to kill a dragon.
• Wang Yan summoned and restrained the Bronze and Fire King, while Kamijou Eriy explained that it was a First Generation Dragon King captured from another point in time and would be revived after each trial.
• Lu Mingfei used cheat codes to investigate Li Xiong and Li Hu and discovered their aliases and histories linked them to the Bronze and Fire King as its twin heirs.
• Lu Mingfei connected the name Ronald Tang to a friend from StarCraft and wondered whether parallel worlds existed, then lamented that esports students also had to face a Dragon King.

At Panda University, Lu Mingfei cultivated in Sword Art Online with Kamijou Eriy and discovered his character, Lu Mingze, had reached level 35. Meanwhile, Ye Fan’s reputation spread across the Big Dipper Star Domain, and just as Saintess Yao Xi questioned his priorities, a girl announced that someone was looking for him.

• Kamijou Eriy invited Lu Mingfei to cultivate, and he reflected on how much he had changed since enrolling at Panda University.
• Lu Mingfei logged into Sword Art Online as Lu Mingze and found that his character had gained levels and items while he was away.
• Kamijou Eriy praised Lu Mingfei for secretly leveling up to protect her, and he let her keep believing it.
• Lu Mingfei and Kamijou Eriy prepared to meet Kirito and raid Aincrad’s 36th Floor, with Lu Mingfei intending to help power-level him.
• Ye Fan’s strength and diplomatic reputation spread through the Big Dipper Star Domain after he defeated challengers from the Six Great Grotto Heavens and the Shaking Light Holy Land.
• Saintess Yao Xi asked Ye Fan why he spent his efforts helping mortals, but a girl interrupted to say someone was looking for him.

Ye Fan welcomed Hinata and Sakura while little Nannan stayed by his side, and Earth viewers watched the reunion unfold. Meanwhile, Genos and Saitama turned Tang San into a student of their ideals, and he eventually became the People’s God Emperor and a Reincarnator.

• Ye Fan recalled little Nannan’s hardship and the danger posed by rumors that she was a Divine Infant, then welcomed Hinata Hyuga and Sakura as friends.
• Hinata and Sakura appeared in Ye Fan’s livestream, prompting Earth viewers to discuss them, cultivation, and the Big Dipper Star Domain.
• At Shrek Academy, Genos and Saitama found Tang San unconscious, and Genos decided to reform rather than eliminate him.
• Genos made Tang San study books of revolutionary ideals, and Tang San gradually accepted their teachings while pretending to comply.
• Over the next decade, Tang San grew powerful with Genos and Saitama’s help, defeated the old feudal forces, and became the People’s God Emperor.
• Tang San left Douluo Continent with Xiao Wu and his friends as a Reincarnator, and Hinata Hyuga later adapted his story into the manga “Douluo: Red Flag Rolls.”

Wang Yan seized control of SAO and its World Tree Seed, then used the game and his company to prepare players for a vastly expanded public beta. Kirito’s training and ideological classes had gradually made him colder and more accepting of violence as SAO officially launched.

• Wang Yan confronted Kayaba Akihiko, demanded the World Tree Seed and control of SAO, and pressured him into complying.
• Wang Yan told Kayaba not to kill himself and dismissed his plan to use a few thousand players to test SAO as too small-minded.
• Financial conglomerates poured money into recruiting and training gamers, while rumors spread that SAO concealed another world and the secret to immortality.
• Kirito joined Wang Yan Esports Company, where he trained in combat and physical skills and attended dark ideological classes that subtly changed his personality.
• After a month and a half, the public beta of SAO launched with a map expanded by several hundred times.

Wang Yan rejected Kayaba Akihiko’s plan to make SAO’s players die in a conventional death game and instead announced a scheme called “Killing Permission.” The chapter then shifted to Kirito at home, where Yuki Asuna called to ask whether he had seen the announcement.

• The narration described players using SAO skills in reality and suffering severe physical injuries, while becoming fascinated with the game’s rumored bloodlines and other powers.
• Kayaba Akihiko asked whether SAO’s added content could be brought into reality and proposed launching a death game after the player count exceeded one million.
• Wang Yan rejected Kayaba Akihiko’s proposal and introduced “Killing Permission” by posting an announcement on SAO’s official website.
• Kirito received a call from Yuki Asuna, who asked whether he had seen the announcement.

Kirito learned that SAO’s top ten players had Killing Permission, meaning their in-game kills would cause deaths in reality, and discovered that Xiao Yan ranked first with the hidden class Dou Qi Cultivator. As Kirito agreed to accompany Yuki Asuna to dinner with Sugou Nobuyuki, his darkened mindset turned toward killing him; meanwhile, Xiao Yan removed his Game Helmet in Wutan City, exhausted but hopeful.

• Kirito checked SAO’s announcement and found himself ranked third, behind Lu Mingze/Lu Mingfei and Xiao Yan, whose hidden class was Dou Qi Cultivator.
• Kirito confirmed that Killing Permission and laws shielding SAO-related killings were real as players worldwide protested the announcement.
• Yuki Asuna told Kirito her parents opposed her returning to SAO, but she planned to persuade them because she had reached the top hundred with his help.
• Yuki Asuna revealed that her family wanted her engaged to Sugou Nobuyuki and asked Kirito to accompany her to dinner with him that night.
• Kirito agreed to go with Yuki Asuna while inwardly considering killing Sugou Nobuyuki, unaware that Wang Yan’s training had led him into darkness.
• In Wutan City, Xiao Yan removed his Game Helmet, looking exhausted but hopeful.

Xiao Yan completed his novice mission, bound the Game Helmet as his personal item, and renewed his resolve to rebuild his cultivation. In Aincrad, Lu Mingze exposed Sugou Nobuyuki’s claims about inside information by showing players Xiao Yan’s grueling cultivation video, and Lu Mingze appeared ready to confront Sugou before stopping himself.

• Xiao Yan chose to keep the Game Helmet instead of taking reward points and a Destiny Gem, then bound it as his exclusive item.
• Xiao Xun'er reassured Xiao Yan that she would always support him, and he promised that he would love only her.
• Sugou Nobuyuki claimed to know Sword Art Online secrets from Kayaba Akihiko and tried to recruit players into his guild.
• Lu Mingze dismissed Sugou’s supposed inside information and showed the crowd a recording of Xiao Yan cultivating for hours at a time.
• Sugou mocked Xiao Yan’s hidden class, while Lu Mingze began to raise a hand as if to activate PK Mode, then stopped because someone else seemed about to act.

Sugou Nobuyuki stirred a crowd into attacking Lu Mingze by accusing him of hoarding beta-test knowledge, but Lu Mingze crippled the attackers with his Word Spirit. Kirito confronted Sugou, and the chapter ended as Lu Mingze recognized Wang Yan, the principal, applauding nearby.

• Sugou Nobuyuki incited players to demand Lu Mingze's information and equipment, and several approached to attack him.
• Lu Mingze used Word Spirit: Dismemberment to sever the limbs of the attackers, leaving the crowd terrified.
• Sugou Nobuyuki accused Lu Mingze of being a murderous maniac after seeing his Killing Permission in action.
• Kirito appeared before Sugou Nobuyuki, who feared the black-clad swordsman intended to kill him.
• Someone applauded from the southeast, and Lu Mingze recognized Wang Yan, the principal.

Wang Yan confirmed he was the administrator of Sword Art Online and allowed Kirito to act without restraint. Sugou Nobuyuki failed to log out, attacked Kirito, and was killed before he could use a potion.

• Wang Yan dismissed Sugou Nobuyuki's accusation and praised Lu Mingze's handling of the situation.
• Wang Yan told Kirito to do as he wished, then disappeared from the game.
• Sugou Nobuyuki tried to log out but canceled when warned that forcing an exit could separate his body and consciousness.
• Sugou Nobuyuki imagined abusing Yuki Asuna and defeating Kirito to gain fame, then prepared to attack him.
• Sugou Nobuyuki reached for a Medium Strength Potion, but Kirito struck him and emptied his health bar.
• As Sugou Nobuyuki died, he realized Kirito wanted revenge because Yuki Asuna's parents had called him a kid who only knew how to play games.

After Kirito killed Sugou Nobuyuki with Killing Permission, the game’s lethal real-world consequences became clear, and Sword Art Online’s player count plunged. Kirito and Asuna discussed her parents’ decision to let her keep playing, as Asuna celebrated his reputation as a heroic swordsman.

• Sugou Nobuyuki died after Kirito used Killing Permission, which destroyed his real-world brain with an electric current.
• Wang Yan explained that Sword Art Online concealed advanced technologies, including ways to preserve consciousness and memory in a quantum computer.
• News of Sugou Nobuyuki’s death spread worldwide, and Sword Art Online’s player count dropped by 23%.
• Kirito asked Asuna what her parents had said, and she told him they had agreed to let her continue playing.
• Asuna said her parents trusted her safety because Kirito had killed Sugou Nobuyuki, and she called him the first Great Swordsman renowned across the world.

Wang Yan watched public opinion settle after Sugou Nobuyuki’s death, while Xiao Yan stayed silent about his Killing Permission. A month later, Xiao Yan met Kirito’s party on the thirty-first floor and invited them to join a small guild.

• Wang Yan reviewed global protests against the top ten players’ Killing Permission and saw governments prioritize Sword Art Online’s benefits over public concerns.
• The other top-ranked players promised to use Killing Permission only when necessary, while officials turned Lu Mingze’s and Kirito’s brief responses into elaborate public statements.
• Kirito became popular after the public accepted his killing of Sugou Nobuyuki as an act of love, while Xiao Yan remained unreachable and made no statement.
• A month passed without any of the ten players using Killing Permission, and ordinary players hesitated to provoke Xiao Yan, Lu Mingze, Kirito, or Asuna.
• Xiao Yan found Kirito’s party in Stuart’s safe zone on the thirty-first floor and invited them to join the small guild he wanted to form.

Xiao Yan recruited Kirito, Lu Mingze, and Yuki Asuna to form a small guild, hoping their combined strengths would help clear the fortieth floor and boost his cultivation. Wang Yan established the first guild in Sword Art Online, but named it "Protagonist Group No. 2" without asking Xiao Yan.

• Xiao Yan explained that he wanted a friends-and-family guild whose members could support one another, and Kirito agreed after considering the guild's bonuses.
• Lu Mingze and Yuki Asuna joined, and Xiao Yan told Asuna he came from China but was not there now.
• Kirito contacted Wang Yan, and Xiao Yan recognized him as the transmigrator promoting a movie in Wutan City.
• Wang Yan used Xiao Yan's guild token to establish Sword Art Online's first guild, "Protagonist Group No. 2," and granted registered members the title "Primordial Veteran" and exclusive benefits.
• Xiao Yan complained that Wang Yan had chosen the guild's name without asking him.

Xiao Yan, Kirito, Asuna, Lu Mingfei, and Kamijou Eriy discovered that they came from three different worlds and formalized their guild as they prepared to raid Stuart Floating City. The chapter ended with the group heading toward the city to face the powerful Dragon BOSS Fenrir.

• Xiao Yan briefed Kirito and Asuna on the fortieth floor of Stuart Floating City and its Dragon-type boss.
• Lu Mingze changed into Lu Mingfei, who learned that over a month had passed for the others while only a day had passed for him and Kamijou Eriy.
• Kirito invited Lu Mingfei and Kamijou Eriy to join Xiao Yan's guild, and Xiao Yan concluded that they came from another world.
• Lu Mingfei, Xiao Yan, Kirito, Asuna, and Kamijou Eriy compared their worlds and realized they came from three different worlds.
• The group assigned guild positions, with Xiao Yan as Guild Master, Lu Mingze and Kirito as Vice Guild Masters, Asuna leading combat, and Kamijou Eriy leading logistics.
• Xiao Yan led the group toward Stuart Floating City to face Fenrir.

Lu Mingfei, Xiao Yan, and their companions defeated Fenrir in SAO, but Lu Mingfei learned that killing a player could kill them in real life. Back in Wutan City, Xiao Yan used the raid reward to plan his next steps and decided to visit Wang Yan.

• Lu Mingfei explained that mercury could increase the team's damage against Fenrir, and Xiao Yan revealed that he had transmigrated to the Dou Qi Continent.
• With Kamijou Eriy enchanting their weapons, the group defeated Fenrir on the fortieth floor of Stuart Floating City and divided the loot.
• Lu Mingfei killed a player who tried to incite others against the group, then learned from Kirito, Asuna, and Xiao Yan that the victim had died in real life.
• Xiao Yan completed the Main God's second mission, received 1,300 Reward Points and a D-rank Destiny Gem, and considered how to grow stronger for Xiao Xun'er.
• Xiao Yan decided to visit Wang Yan in Wutan City, believing that someone who existed in three worlds could not be ordinary.

Xiao Yan decided that the Main God did not forbid Reincarnators from revealing its existence and considered visiting Wang Yan, but Wang Yan arrived at the Xiao family first. Wang Yan offered to resolve the hidden danger behind Xiao Yan’s declining cultivation, leaving Xiao Zhan shaken with hope.

• Xiao Yan realized that the Main God Space allowed Reincarnators to share information about it and considered introducing Xiao Xun'er to the space once his own life there stabilized.
• Xiao Yan decided to meet Wang Yan, but Xiao Xun'er told him that Wang Yan had come to see him.
• Xiao Yan and Xiao Xun'er joined Xiao Zhan, the elders, and younger members of the Xiao family in the reception hall, where Xiao Yan recognized Wang Yan.
• Wang Yan announced that he had come to help resolve the hidden danger in Xiao Yan’s cultivation, and Xiao Zhan reacted with intense excitement.

Wang Yan offered to help Xiao Yan resolve the hidden problem affecting his cultivation, while Xiao Zhan silenced the Xiao Family elders and accepted his offer. The chapter ended with Xiao Xun'er secretly emitting golden Dou Qi radiance from her palm.

• Xiao Yan stayed calm about Wang Yan's offer because he believed he could solve his cultivation problem, but he took the offer seriously.
• The Xiao Family elders mocked Wang Yan and opposed his attempt to help Xiao Yan, while Wang Yan refused to engage with them.
• Xiao Zhan silenced the elders and stood firmly by Xiao Yan, then apologized to Wang Yan for their behavior.
• Xiao Zhan trusted Wang Yan because he had earned a reputation in Wutan City by giving ten perfect-grade Qi Refining Body Tempering Pills to a cultivator who carried a log across the city.
• Wang Yan said he would help Xiao Yan without asking for payment, and Xiao Xun'er secretly began glowing with golden Dou Qi from her palm.

Wang Yan revealed that the soul in Xiao Yan’s ring had been draining his dou qi and used his power to awaken it. Xiao Yan learned the soul’s name was Yao Chen.

• Wang Yan suppressed Xiao Xun’er’s dou qi, then sent the Xiao clan members out of the reception hall.
• Wang Yan urged Xiao Yan to cherish Xiao Xun’er and warned him against chasing other women.
• Wang Yan explained that he was a projection like other versions of himself and told Xiao Yan a soul in his ring had been absorbing his dou qi.
• Wang Yan poured energy into the ring and awakened the soul, who introduced himself as Yao Chen.

Wang Yan helped Yao Chen regain a tangible spirit body, while Xiao Yan planned to use Sword Art Online and Wish Power to grow stronger and support Yao Chen. In the Great Dragon Ball World, a powerless Wang Yan prepared to meet Dr. Briefs at Capsule Corporation, hoping to find a way to survive.

• Wang Yan restored Yao Chen's spirit body, asked him to look after Xiao Yan, and then departed.
• Xiao Yan introduced Yao Chen to the Main God Space and explained how Wish Power and game items could help him obtain Heavenly Flames and become famous.
• Xiao Yan and Yao Chen agreed that Yao Chen would power-level in Sword Art Online using a Brainwave Disguise Device while Xiao Yan pursued his growth elsewhere.
• In the Main God Space, Wang Yan noted that his projections were thriving and opened five new Plane Channels.
• In the Great Dragon Ball World, Wang Yan waited at Capsule Corporation to meet Dr. Briefs, hoping to use the scientist's help to overcome his lack of abilities.

Wang Yan recalled how he had struggled to grow stronger in the Dragon Ball world, discovering that nutritious food and time with Little Goku had helped him break past his limits. After reaching West City and applying to be Bulma’s bodyguard, he met Dr. Briefs for an interview.

• Wang Yan remembered that his ordinary Earthling body could not endure Master Roshi’s harsh training, though a year of basic instruction had made him somewhat stronger.
• Wang Yan spent a year living with Little Goku on Mt. Paozu, where he cooked the boy’s prey and steadily improved by eating its energy-rich meat.
• Wang Yan realized that food had driven his gains, but after his progress stalled, he left Little Goku and traveled to West City.
• Wang Yan came to Capsule Corp, where he applied to become Bulma’s personal bodyguard.
• A Capsule Corp employee escorted Wang Yan to meet Dr. Briefs.