After Annie successfully defeated the first floor's guardian boss, the "King of Beasts," and greatly inspired all the players, the pace at which the advancing players conquered the tower of the world of Aincrad soon picked up noticeably.
However, the inspired players soon discovered that the little girl's solo victory over the guardian boss wasn't the end of the story. It was only the beginning?
Wasn't it?
Over the next year, they soon found that the game system would announce a successful clear by her to all the players at regular intervals. The messages were practically identical every time; even the name and format never changed, as if the game had been developed especially for her?
Any player who opened their menu and turned to the system notifications would find messages like these:
Ding-dong! Player "Annie Hastur" defeated the guardian boss of the second floor. The passage to the third floor of Aincrad has been opened... Ding-dong! Player "Annie Hastur" defeated the guardian boss of the third floor. The passage to the fourth floor of Aincrad has been opened... ... Ding-dong! Player "Annie Hastur" defeated the guardian boss of the seventh floor. The passage to the eighth floor of Aincrad has been opened...
In less than a month after breaking through the first floor, the mysterious solo player "Annie Hastur" defeated a full seven bosses, carrying the players all the way to the seventh floor and utterly astonishing the entire world of Aincrad.
But clearing a mere seven floors wasn't the end. As the days went by, people gradually grew numb to those announcements.
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Ding-dong!
Player "Annie Hastur" defeated the guardian boss of the ninth floor. The passage to the tenth floor of Aincrad has been opened...
Ding-dong!
Player "Annie Hastur" defeated the guardian boss of