This was a fantastic read well done

Damnit, argo is probably dead and so is Klein if we're seeing this events happen damnit character deaths I hate it so damn much.

Hmm, did the Orphanage Children get evacuated by Sasha when things went south? I'm assuming SAO has less than a 1,000 survivors left by this point if POH was able to spring Laughing Coffin out of Prison and rebuild his forces.

I have to say, this story is really impressive. After binging all available chapters (ten at the time of writing this) I can safely say this is probably one of the best fanfictions I’ve come across and considering that I’ve been reading fanfiction for quite a few years, that’s not an easy thing to accomplish.

The first few chapters are admittedly slow, but the pacing never bothered me in the slightest, I was incredibly interested in the state of the world you described, and the fake-out with Asuna was actually quite effective. Though I suppose I probably should have guessed it, considering how Kirito is supposed to be alone and all. You did a great job making the atmosphere absolutely reek of loneliness and hopelessness, the world really felt empty and barren, with even the npcs acting more robotic then usual.
Reading through the rest of these reviews, some people seem to have had issues discerning what was a flashback, and what was real, personally I had no issues with this, except for the scene with Asuna at their house, but I think that was probably intentional on your part. In fact, I would say it works to further drive home just how alone Kirito is, building an even more palpable feeling of loneliness within the stories world, well done.
I also have to give credit to how you characterized Kirito, the way his mentality and thought process has changed due to how many people have died and disappeared from his life. He’s very different from how he’s portrayed in the anime, and yet his change makes complete sense, and even fits with how his character would act, his self-destructive tendencies pushed to the extreme by so many deaths on his hands. The first few chapters (the first ‘arc’ if you will) almost perfectly demonstrate how his character has changed and evolved to become someone different, yet fundamentally similar to his previous self.

The second ‘arc’ where Kirito is attacked by both members of laughing coffin, and a mysterious second group that is currently unknown, does multiple things I wasn’t expecting. (Keep in mid I’ll be referring to the encounter as a whole, not just any one part of it)
Firstly, the pacing speeds up abruptly, and the stakes and pressure are increased dramatically, it was nearly impossible to stop reading at this point, as there was no part where I felt comfortable stopping, the mentality of ‘right after this part’ failed me miserably, as one sequence led into the next so seamlessly that by the time one event was over, I was already far too invested in the next one to stop reading there.
The next thing is the surprising focus on combat, which before this had played second fiddle next to Kiritos internal struggle. The obvious exemption being Kiritos fight with the floor boss, speaking of which, I don’t know how much time passed between when you wrote that and when you wrote the scene in question, but one thing I can say is that you got immeasurably better between then and now, showing a surprising aptitude for battle scenes. You also did an absolutely wonderful job showing the sheer brutality of the encounter, from Kirito breaking a mans genitals to a crazed woman devouring parts of our protagonist, the whole thing is an almost sickening display of complete and utter viciousness.
Although, despite this combat oriented focus, you still managed to slip in character moments as well, including my personal favourite hallucination so far. We also get a glimpse at just how much Kirito has truly changed, for him to sacrifice someone in the hope of it giving him an advantage in escaping, even with the mental debate he has later over whether it was necessary, is quite the change from the person who wouldn’t even let npcs get sacrificed to help beat a boss. His mental turmoil over this is something I hope gets explored more in depth later on.

The next thing I want to talk about is the way people adapted to safe-zone combat, I’m going to be completely honest here, you pretty much made my day with this stuff, it was all well thought out, and made sense as something somebody would come up with. My personal favourite part of safe-zone combat is probably the switch everyone makes to hammers instead of their regular weaponry, and after that it would have to be the Arrest Cannon, probably the most inventive thing I’ve ever seen in a fanfiction. It’s perfectly viable for safe-zone warfare, mainly because of the cable attached to every bolt.
The fact that you even thought of this is a feat in and of itself, coming up with ways for people to fight in a place where they can’t hurt each other must have been quite difficult.
Also, the idea of The Consumed is both incredibly terrifying and incredibly sad, and I want to punch whatever jackass tried to make a goddamn feast for them.

Speaking of The Consumed, that scene was almost perfect in my personal opinion, the descriptions of a, as you put it, ‘crazy naked lady’ as she tried to literally eat Kirito was actually quite disturbing, and her moment of brief humanity helped get across that she wasn’t just some insane psycho in a cave, but a victim to some very unfortunate circumstances who might not even have wanted to attack Kirito in the first place, you could argue she was even worse off then he was in that situation, and he was being chased by a kill squad of practiced murderers.
Though this scene does give rise to one of my few complaints, mainly that I believe you should have alluded to the existence of The Consumed in some way. Not told us about them beforehand or anything, as that might have lessened the impact, but even mentioning that some people are more affected by the Nerve Gear then others would serve to at least make this encounter seem a little less out of nowhere.
Although don’t get me wrong, I thoroughly enjoyed this scene regardless.

All in all, I definitely very much enjoyed what I’ve read so far, and I find it strange how little attention this story gets, perhaps due to your (I’m guessing) infrequent updates? I’ll probably check out your other stories at some point soon, if I do, I’ll probably leave a review on some of those as well.
Keep up the good work!

No, enough is enough. God damnit why!? I had this opened expecting to see kirito to solo the entire game not be isolated and loose all his friends! God damnit.

Great update. This is one of my favorite fics! I really like the style (and it's not too hard to follow). Keep up the good work! :)

whe the next chapter of this amazing fanfiction going out please?

I'm so confused...
So, there are other players aside from Kirito? (holds head) Sorry I'm not quick and enough to catch on... (bows)

Holly shit more please?

Just wanted to say that this is amazing. Just recently found this and so far it has been really engaging, with the way you describe the desolate and broken world of Aincrad being very good. Although the blending of Kirito's perception is a little bit comfusing, it does give the vibe that the amount of emotional pain and trauma that's he's endured is finally taking it's toll.
Overall, this is an amazing story and I can't wait to see what's to come

(Is the chapter title a song reference or am I just looking into it a little too deeply?)

Star Wars reference about sand. Oof

Wow this story is depressingly good!

Goddamn, four years in a futuristic setting and you're telling me that there's absolutely NOTHING that the Japanese government, military, hired hackers, or even other governments and their militaries and hired hackers of the world could do to either free the players, shut down SAO, or arrest Kayaba (which could count as defeating the final boss and clearing the game)?!

Canon showed that he was staying at a remote cabin owned by an associate and former lover of his. Doesn't law enforcement usually start with people who knew or were close to suspects?!

I almost feel like you or someone else should do a one-shot where SAO ends prematurely due to people actually acting like they might try to do in the real world. Just some thoughts of mine.

Jesus that was a ride, can't wait to see what comes up next, albeit I'm sad that Asuna has passed. ): Also, it seems everyone is dead, Asuna, Agil, Argo, Lisbeth, and Klien too. I feel so bad for Kirito, the amount of mental and emotion pain as well as the psychological trauma he endured... Well I don't think I have it in me to lose the love of my life, much less everything else, and continue enduring, but then again... Never mind.

Anyways, hopefully Little Silica is alive, maybe she can help him. Right?