Recaps

Feng Chen befriended a girl in the Labyrinth Area, rescued her from a stealthy elite Lizardman, and then searched for the first-floor boss with Higanbana and Bella. He challenged the Horned Dragon but was thrown back by its unexpectedly powerful attack, leaving his Familiars to face the level 5 monster.

• Feng Chen told the girl that Familiars were companions, not weapons, and accepted her friend request.
• Feng Chen killed a stealthy elite Lizardman before it could attack the girl, then pointed out that she had been too careless to notice it.
• The girl left, and Feng Chen discovered her identity on his friend list before returning to leveling up.
• Feng Chen sent Higanbana and Bella to search for the first-floor elite monster and found the Horned Dragon.
• Feng Chen slowed the Horned Dragon with Time Fracture, but its attack sent him flying; Higanbana and Bella then grew to its size and attacked, only to be crushed.

Feng Chen fought through the Labyrinth Area, nearly died battling a Red Lizard Leader, and was saved by Kirito. After they shared the treasure chest’s contents, Kayaba Akihiko announced that players could no longer log out of SAO.

• Feng Chen continued into the Labyrinth Area, recalled Higanbana and Bella, and then found a Red Lizard Leader guarding a treasure chest.
• Feng Chen wounded the Red Lizard Leader but was nearly killed when it kicked him into the red zone and grabbed him by the neck.
• Kirito defeated the Red Lizard Leader and saved Feng Chen, and the two recovered and divided the treasure chest’s contents.
• Feng Chen and Kirito were teleported to the Town of Beginnings, where Kayaba Akihiko announced that the Log Out button had disappeared.
• Kirito asked Feng Chen whether he had known about the announcement, and Feng Chen said he had only guessed Kayaba Akihiko’s purpose.

Feng Chen defied Kayaba Akihiko’s death-game announcement, drew the developer’s attention, and persuaded Silica to join him. After the game began and players’ appearances changed to their real faces, Feng Chen teleported with Silica to the second floor of the Labyrinth Area and gave her a short sword.

• Feng Chen tried to use a Teleport Crystal after Kayaba Akihiko’s announcement, then challenged Kayaba to watch him clear all 100 floors.
• Kayaba Akihiko revealed Feng Chen’s achievements and called him the [Beta Tester among Beta Testers], then gave every player a mirror that restored their real-life appearance.
• Feng Chen invited Silica to form a party, persuaded her to accept, and teleported with her to the deepest part of the first floor’s Labyrinth Area.
• Feng Chen and Silica reached the second floor, where he gave her a short sword made from materials they had found.

Feng Chen and Silica fought monsters on Floor 2 while he showed off his Familiars and unlocked a new skill. After Silica struggled to level, Feng Chen helped her defeat a Horned Dragon and let her take the final hit for the experience and drops.

• Feng Chen showed Silica that he had two Familiars, Higanbana and Bella, and explained that Silica's Pina was a Support-type Familiar.
• Feng Chen reached Level 6, unlocked a skill slot, and equipped the Black Xuanyuan Sword's Time Slash.
• Feng Chen and Silica returned to leveling; Silica reached Level 5 but struggled to kill monsters quickly and lacked weapon proficiency.
• Feng Chen rushed to Silica when he heard her cry and found her facing a Horned Dragon.
• Feng Chen weakened the Horned Dragon with repeated attacks, then let Silica deliver the final blow so she could gain experience and collect drops.

After a month of clearing Aincrad’s first Floor with Silica, Feng Chen attended the first Floor Strategy Meeting, where Yao Wang accused him and the Beta Testers of hoarding resources. Kirito and Silica defended Feng Chen and explained why beta-test knowledge could not guarantee an easy boss fight.

• Silica landed the final blow on a Treasure Monster, reached Level 6, and received its unusually powerful armor drops from Feng Chen.
• Feng Chen and Silica spent the next month exploring the first Floor, with Silica struggling to keep up with Feng Chen’s relentless leveling.
• At the Strategy Meeting, Yao Wang accused the Beta Testers of selfishness and demanded that Feng Chen surrender his supposed hoard of Labyrinth Area treasures.
• Feng Chen challenged Yao Wang’s assumption that the game had stayed unchanged since the beta test and warned that beta knowledge might get players killed.
• Kirito revealed that the Labyrinth Area’s monsters and difficulty had changed since the beta test, while Silica said Feng Chen shared equipment with lower-level players.

Feng Chen joined Kirito, Asuna, and Silica in a damage-focused party for the first-floor boss fight, then led them into battle against the Beast King. The fight began to turn dangerous when Kirito drew the boss’s attention with an attack.

• Silica gave Feng Chen better armor, and he joined Kirito and Asuna in a party with Silica as their healer.
• Agil joined Feng Chen’s party, which entered the first-floor boss room with the other players.
• Diabel ordered the tank party to distract the Beast King while damage dealers attacked its guards, but the guards proved unusually strong.
• Feng Chen summoned Bella and attacked the Beast King with Kirito, while Silica sent Pina to heal the wounded and Agil helped clear the guards.
• Kirito wounded the Beast King and drew its aggro just as its bone axe closed in on him.

Feng Chen, Kirito, Asuna, and the Strategy Group fought the Beast King while Feng Chen directed the battle and dealt heavy damage. The BOSS entered its final phase, and Diabel ordered everyone to fall back as its HP reached the last bar.

• Asuna and Feng Chen interrupted the Beast King's attack on Kirito, and Feng Chen warned the group to clear the guards before the BOSS summoned monsters.
• The tank squad struggled to pull the BOSS's aggro from Feng Chen, so he held it while Kirito and Asuna attacked the guards.
• Feng Chen used Star Platinum: The World and [Time Slash] to kill guards as the tank squad drew the BOSS away and the damage squad attacked it.
• Feng Chen, Kirito, and Asuna became the main damage dealers, with Asuna restraining the BOSS while Feng Chen and Kirito handled its summoned monsters.
• Asuna, Kirito, Agil, and Feng Chen struck the BOSS until its HP fell to the final bar, and Diabel ordered everyone to retreat.

Feng Chen intervened when the First Floor Boss entered its final phase, but Diabel ignored his warning and was badly injured. Feng Chen then disabled the Boss and helped Silica deliver the finishing blow, leaving the First Floor cleared.

• Diabel tried to land the final blow, but the Boss switched to a great katana and attacked him; Feng Chen intercepted the strike and warned him to retreat.
• Diabel pressed his attack despite Feng Chen's warning, and the Boss's rapid strikes pushed Diabel's health into the yellow zone.
• Yao Wang tried to reach Diabel, but Kirito and Agil held him back while Feng Chen organized the party's attack.
• The Boss roared and reduced the players' accuracy, but Silica, Kirito, Asuna, and the others struck it until its health reached the yellow zone.
• Bella knocked Silica out of the Boss's path, and Feng Chen used [Time Slash] and a flurry of punches to disarm and cripple the Boss.
• Feng Chen pulled Silica close and guided her short sword into the Boss's heart, defeating it and clearing Aincrad's First Floor.

After the Floor 1 boss raid, Silica confronted Feng Chen for giving her the final hit, and he deflected her questions by claiming he was a lolicon. Feng Chen joined Kirito, Asuna, Agil, and Silica’s party as they entered Floor 2, where they found a prosperous town and no monsters.

• Silica questioned Feng Chen for giving her the boss’s final hit, and he said he had done it because he was a Beast Tamer like her.
• Feng Chen leaned close to Silica and told her he was a lolicon, prompting her to shove him away and run off.
• Feng Chen caught up with Kirito and Agil, then asked Kirito and Asuna about their plans and added the group as friends.
• Feng Chen, Kirito, Agil, and Asuna agreed to enter Floor 2, and Feng Chen went looking for Silica.
• The party entered Floor 2 and found a prosperous town with no monsters.

Feng Chen repaired his equipment with Kirito and Agil, then entered the Labyrinth Area to keep Silica safe and claim its treasures. After learning about the Black Xuanyuan Stigmata’s abilities, he agreed to form a guild with Kirito and Agil, naming it [St. Freya].

• Feng Chen, Kirito, and Agil waited until evening to repair their equipment after the boss battle, while discussing Feng Chen’s reputation and Kirito’s [Beater] title.
• Feng Chen admitted he planned to enter the Labyrinth Area to watch over Silica and reach its treasures before other players, so Kirito and Agil joined him.
• Feng Chen asked the system about the Black Xuanyuan Stigmata and learned that its abilities boosted attacks, agility, and stamina recovery within a Time Fracture.
• Agil proposed forming a guild, and he and Kirito chose Feng Chen as its guild master.
• Feng Chen suggested naming the guild [St. Freya], and the group decided to find members before creating it.

Feng Chen and Kirito discussed Silica’s refusal to join their guild and prepared for a raid on Aincrad’s twenty-fourth floor with Klein. The chapter ended as the group set aside rumors and began the raid.

• Kirito reminded Feng Chen that he had called himself the [Beater] to share the pressure after Kirito’s equipment upgrade.
• Feng Chen said Silica had rejected his repeated guild invitations, while Kirito noted her reputation as the [Blue Dragon User].
• Feng Chen told the guild to prepare for the rising difficulty beyond the twenty-fifth floor and remarked that they needed a support teammate.
• Feng Chen and Kirito arrived late to meet Klein because Feng Chen had argued with Silica, who accused him of being a lolicon.
• Klein and Kirito calmed the attention around Feng Chen and Silica, and Klein started the raid.

Feng Chen spent Valentine's Day with Sakura in Yae Village, where they shared a tender, teasing moment before Sakura vanished. A mysterious woman recorded the failed experiment and began considering a new one about humanity's greater good.

• Feng Chen woke in Yae Village, realized he was outside the [Sakura Cycle], and embraced Sakura, who told him he still belonged in the [Honkai], [Aincrad], and [reality].
• Sakura made Feng Chen rice balls for Valentine's Day, and she surprised him by feeding him one mouth-to-mouth after he pretended it tasted sour.
• Sakura teased Feng Chen about being a virgin and asked him to call her Big Sister, then asked him to let her be selfish just once.
• Feng Chen agreed, but Sakura began turning transparent and disappeared before his eyes as he sank into darkness.
• A woman recorded that the experiment had failed and reflected on Sakura's reason, selflessness, and satisfaction before considering an experiment about humanity's [Greater Good].

Feng Chen and Klein organized an expedition into the 24th-floor Labyrinth Area to hunt Criminal Players, while Feng Chen remained wary of the powerful Red-named Players. After Silica insisted on forming a party with him, she finally confessed that she liked him.

• Feng Chen explained that the expedition's main purpose was to subdue Criminal Players and warned that Red-named Players could rival him and Kirito.
• Feng Chen told Klein to divide the members of Wind Forest Volcano and St. Freya into groups of three and begin the expedition.
• Klein and Agil pulled Kirito away, leaving Feng Chen and Silica together.
• Silica confronted Feng Chen for refusing to form a party with her, and Feng Chen privately recalled that her favorability was 80 and at the Smitten level of Dependence.
• Silica grabbed Feng Chen by the collar, made him listen, and confessed that she liked him.

Feng Chen and Silica fought Criminal Players in the Labyrinth Area, then reconciled when he accepted her party request and promised to treat her as a true companion. As they embraced, a Red-named Player watched them from among the trees.

• Silica tried to pass off her confession as a joke, but Feng Chen moved on and she vented her frustration by ambushing monsters.
• A Criminal Player attacked Silica with a poisoned Flying Sword, but Feng Chen countered and pinned the Orange-named Player to a tree.
• Bella taunted the captured player while Feng Chen detected and sent several nearby Orange-named Players to prison.
• Silica asked to join Feng Chen's party, and he teased her before finally accepting and apologizing.
• Silica told Feng Chen she was upset that he treated her like a child, and he promised to treat her as a true companion before she hugged him.
• A Red-named Player watched from the trees and remarked on the rumors about Feng Chen and Silica.

Bronya reunited with Feng Chen in Changkong City and spent Valentine’s Day with him, but he vanished again because of [Time]. She returned to St. Freya with his encouragement to become an A-rank Valkyrie, while a woman prepared another experiment.

• Bronya left St. Freya and followed her instincts to Changkong City, where she found Feng Chen.
• Feng Chen took Bronya to nearby cities, and they enjoyed various attractions together.
• Bronya gave Feng Chen a box of chocolates for Valentine’s Day and nearly buried her face when a waiter called her his little sister.
• Feng Chen told Bronya he could not return to St. Freya, then disappeared as [Time] took effect.
• Bronya clutched her Hoom doll and promised to work hard, while a woman concluded her second experiment had failed and considered a new one.

Feng Chen and his allies encountered Red-named Players in the twenty-fourth-floor Labyrinth Area, and Bella's attack drove one attacker away while revealing a planned ambush. After the Strategy Group regrouped, Feng Chen prepared them to investigate nearby enemies as the Red-named Players continued disrupting their progress.

• Bella rushed toward a red glow in the woods and was badly wounded by an unseen attacker.
• Feng Chen ordered Bella to unleash her [Dragon Form], sending the Red-named Player flying and allowing them to escape.
• Feng Chen warned Silica, Kirito, and Klein that other Red-named Players were likely nearby, and Klein recalled the guild members.
• Feng Chen and Silica leveled up after Bella's wide-area attack killed many monsters, reaching levels 42 and 40 respectively.
• Klein reported that several returning members were injured, so Feng Chen ordered them healed and sent uninjured players to search within five meters.

Feng Chen led the Strategy Group through the Criminal Players’ encirclement while Kirito, Klein, and the others helped clear a path. He stayed behind with Silica to face the attackers, revealing that the ambush was exactly what he had wanted.

• Feng Chen caught an Orange-named Player preparing to attack a scout, then ordered the Strategy Group to break through the encirclement.
• Kirito, Silica, Klein, Agil, and Feng Chen charged as the Criminal Players attacked, and Feng Chen told the group to counterattack only when attacked first.
• Kirito and Silica fought through the enemy line while Feng Chen used his powerful skills and weapon to protect the group.
• Feng Chen carried Silica away from three attackers and told Kirito and Klein to lead everyone out while he and Silica caught up.
• A skull-masked Criminal Player challenged Feng Chen, who revealed a triple-tomoe mark and said the ambush was exactly his purpose.

Feng Chen used Higanbana to overwhelm the Criminal Players, but their fight exposed the nearby Key Monster, which killed several of the people thrown into its path. Higanbana and Bella defeated the monster and returned with its drops, while Silica demanded an explanation for Higanbana’s enormous form.

• Feng Chen called himself Sasha of the Red Eye and confronted the Criminal Players while protecting Silica.
• Feng Chen summoned Higanbana, whose fiery five-tailed attack collapsed the ground and disrupted the Criminal Players’ escape.
• Red Eye fled the maze as Feng Chen ordered Bella to take the surviving Criminal Players to prison.
• Silica told Feng Chen that the Key Monster was nearby and had killed several people who had been thrown toward it.
• Higanbana and Bella fought the Key Monster and brought back its dropped items.
• Silica questioned Feng Chen about Higanbana’s huge form on the way back.

After the twenty-fifth-floor boss fight cost the Strategy Group another player, Feng Chen met with Kirito, Silica, and Klein to plan for the next floor. Asuna brought the Blood Oath Knights into the Strategy Group, but Feng Chen refused their request to lead the first Key Monster fight, and Silica applied to join St. Freya.

• The Strategy Group defeated the twenty-fourth-floor Key Monster and cleared its BOSS's room without deaths, but a player died during the twenty-fifth-floor BOSS fight.
• Feng Chen summoned Kirito, Silica, and Klein to discuss how to address the players' falling morale before challenging the twenty-sixth floor.
• Asuna asked Feng Chen to admit the Blood Oath Knights to the Strategy Group, and Feng Chen approved the guild's seventeen members, all above level forty.
• Asuna also asked for the Blood Oath Knights to defeat the first Key Monster on the twenty-sixth floor, but Feng Chen refused because he had to protect St. Freya's reputation.
• Feng Chen asked Silica and Klein to vote, and Silica applied to join St. Freya; Klein agreed.

Feng Chen condemned Asuna and the Blood Oath Knights for recklessly raiding the twenty-sixth-floor Key Monster without his approval, though their victory boosted morale. After Zahard of the Holy Dragon Union insulted the new guild, Asuna challenged him to a duel, and he accepted.

• Klein sided with Feng Chen and agreed to discourage the Blood Oath Knights from raiding the Key Monster before St. Freya.
• Kirito told Feng Chen that the Blood Oath Knights had found and begun raiding the twenty-sixth-floor Key Monster.
• Asuna led the Blood Oath Knights to victory by luring the Key Monster into its own trap, while Feng Chen judged their approach reckless.
• Feng Chen greeted Asuna after the raid and asked about the Blood Oath Knights' absent Guild Leader.
• Zahard insulted the Blood Oath Knights and their Guild Leader, prompting Asuna to challenge him to a duel; Zahard accepted.

Feng Chen intervened when Zahard challenged Asuna, and he secretly helped her win their duel so Zahard would recognize the Blood Oath Knights as a qualified Strategy Group guild. Afterward, Asuna thanked Feng Chen for protecting her guild’s reputation.

• Feng Chen offered to fight in Asuna’s place, then provoked Zahard into agreeing to a duel.
• Asuna chose First Strike Victory Mode, and Zahard began the duel by throwing a packet of paralysis powder.
• Feng Chen used his ability to knock the powder back onto Zahard, leaving him paralyzed while Asuna struck him with a three-hit Flash combo.
• Asuna won the duel and demanded that Zahard acknowledge the Blood Oath Knights as a qualified Strategy Group guild.
• Zahard apologized to the Blood Oath Knights, and Asuna later thanked Feng Chen for helping protect her guild’s reputation.

Feng Chen secretly followed Kirito to discover who had been making him so happy, while Silica joined the investigation. They found Kirito with a black-haired girl, and Kirito admitted he had avoided the guild base because Feng Chen kept watching him.

• Feng Chen suspected Kirito had a girlfriend and trained his Stealth skill to follow him unnoticed.
• Feng Chen tried to see the girl Kirito was meeting, but a guild member startled him and Kirito disappeared.
• Silica rushed to the Labyrinth Area after hearing that Feng Chen was acting strangely, and rumors began spreading through the guild.
• Feng Chen and Silica followed Kirito, and Feng Chen accidentally pulled Silica close while trying to stay hidden.
• Feng Chen stopped time to think, then Silica saw the black-haired girl meeting Kirito.
• Kirito revealed that he had sensed them following him and said Feng Chen's constant watching had kept him from returning to the guild base.

Feng Chen and Silica helped Kirito and Sachi make their relationship public, then Feng Chen stayed up eavesdropping on their conversation. He overslept on the day of the Labyrinth Area raid and hurried there with Silica, where the waiting group prepared to clear the final two floors.

• Feng Chen asked Kirito whether he and Sachi were dating, then offered them ways to handle their relationship publicly while Silica counseled Sachi.
• Silica told Sachi she liked Kirito and urged her to make her relationship with him public, and Kirito and Sachi announced they were dating that day.
• Sachi asked Kirito whether Silica really liked him, and Kirito explained that Silica liked Feng Chen instead.
• Feng Chen secretly listened to Kirito and Sachi talk through the night, took notes on Kirito's answer to Sachi's question, and went to sleep exhausted.
• Silica woke Feng Chen at one in the afternoon, and they rushed to the Labyrinth Area for the planned raid on its final two floors.

Feng Chen pushed himself through an exhausting Labyrinth Area grind until he reached level 62, then collapsed and slept while Bella protected him. As Asuna and Silica found him, his troubled dreams continued beneath Bella’s wings.

• Feng Chen dreamed of a girl crying as she hugged him, then woke and was brought breakfast by Bella.
• Heathcliff introduced himself as the leader of the Blood Oath Knights, and St. Freya later shifted to organizing private raids.
• Feng Chen dragged his party through the Labyrinth Area for more than forty-eight hours, then sent them back with Teleport Crystals while he kept hunting.
• Feng Chen killed monsters relentlessly until he reached level 62 and collapsed from exhaustion.
• Bella transformed into a winged girl, let Feng Chen sleep on her lap, and urged him to rest because they had entered SAO with their real bodies.
• Asuna and Silica found Feng Chen asleep on Bella’s lap as he sweated and cried in a troubled dream, and Bella shielded him with her wings.

Feng Chen avoided letting Bella take human form because seeing her stirred the same fear he had felt with Yae Sakura. Restless, he met Heathcliff for a duel on the fiftieth floor and defeated him with his time-stopping ability before leaving Asuna to look after the injured guild leader.

• Feng Chen admitted to the System that he was afraid to see Bella in human form and entered the Labyrinth Area to clear his head.
• Heathcliff summoned Feng Chen to the fiftieth-floor town square and challenged him to a duel.
• Feng Chen chose First Strike Victory Mode, and both men began the duel with a sword attack.
• Feng Chen stopped time, abandoned his sword, and pummeled Heathcliff with a barrage of punches.
• Feng Chen ended the spar victorious, and when Asuna arrived, he asked her to take Heathcliff back before leaving.