Real World, Tokyo City, ten in the morning.
One of the busiest and most prosperous cities in the country—and indeed, the entire world.
As a cloud of white mist suddenly spread across the skies above Tokyo, pedestrians who had been bustling along the streets immediately noticed something was wrong and looked up at the sky.
Even more astonishingly, as the white mist expanded, several vague figures could faintly be seen within it. Some people could even hear what sounded like the roar of a dragon.
Such an abnormal occurrence naturally alerted the authorities at once. The higher-ups responded with remarkable speed, quickly evacuating the crowds, sealing off the area, and dispatching specialists to investigate.
At Wenren Kendo Dojo, in Seiya's home, he had been idly pondering plans for the dojo's future when he seemed to sense something. He looked out the window and said, "They came over so quickly?"
Downstairs in the kitchen, Asuna and Nao had originally been enthusiastically preparing dinner for that evening's gathering.
Sanle had recently obtained information about another unique monster in Shangri-La, so they were preparing to hold a strategy meeting.
Knowing that Seiya and Kirito had been invited by the authorities some time ago to dive into a major MMO game—and had even vanished for several days because of it—Sanle, Katsuo, and the others had been quite interested.
In the end, Panshilgon, who never feared making a bigger spectacle out of things, took the opportunity to suggest holding the gathering at Seiya's house. The others ignored Seiya's objections entirely and agreed on the spot.
Since this was her first official offline gathering with Seiya's friends, Asuna felt she needed to establish her position as the primary girlfriend. So, early that morning, she had brought all sorts of ingredients to Seiya's home to prepare.
However,