Chapter 1 The new Aincrad’s 22nd floor was completely covered with snow. It was early January in the outside world, but even though it was winter, the temperature in Tokyo hardly ever drops below zero due to global warming in the recent years. However, whether or not it was to show the company’s work ethics, Alfheim continued to be under severe cold. The temperature in the area north of the World Tree frequently drops down to , 20 degrees below zero. If you didn’t prepare cold-resistant equipment or buffs, you wouldn’t even want to fly. Currently, Aincrad floated above the Gnome’s territory, in the far North of the world. The temperature in every floor was so cold that you could see ice crystals even during the day. But even though it was so chilly that a brook would get frozen all the way to the bottom, the cold couldn’t permeate into the house, which was guarded by thick wooden walls and a roaring fireplace. 8 months ago— On May 2025, Alfheim Online had its largest update up until now —『Floating Castle Aincrad』. ALO originally operated on a duplicated system of the death game «Sword Art Online». Therefore, the server had a complete copy of Aincrad, the stage where SAO was set. In the past, ALO was run by «RECTO Progress». However, when a new company bought both the software and hardware, not only did they not delete Aincrad and