Sword Art Online - Vol 2 Chapter 1.1: The Black Swordsman (Aincrad 35th Floor, February 2024) Part 1

The labyrinth that swallowed humanity. Four choices were given to them.

Easy Mode, where anyone can survive. Normal Mode, where only those who fight survive. Hard Mode, where only 1% can survive. And the Solo Mode, where only one person survived.

The strongest returnee of humanity, Kang Taesan, was an Easy Mode player.

He heard countless times,

“What if you had chosen the Hard Mode, or even the Normal Mode?”

Regretting his cowardly choice while dying amidst destruction, he gets another chance to choose.

“This time, I won’t make the wrong choice.”

The strongest Easy Mode player has returned.

One day every human on the world suddenly receives a mail claiming to enact the World Salvation Project. Half in doubt Kurosaki Shion, a diligent university student and loner, follows the mail’s instructions, becoming one of a million Demon Kings governing his very own Domain in the new world.

*** This is a post-apocalyptic story containing many fantasy elements. It is a somewhat dark tale following Shion as he grows while aiming for the unification of the all too sudden new world. It has many game-elements bolstered by strategical thinking while at the same time providing funny moments and romantic encounters.

Holo’s life was once a series of relentless hardships—bullies at school, abusive parents, and heartbreak at the hands of those he trusted. After a failed suicide attempt, a mysterious man offers him a deal: help rehabilitate four psychopathic girls, and in return, earn ten million dollars. Desperate and naive, Holo accepts, not realizing the chaos and danger awaiting him.Each girl comes with her own dark tendencies—Trixie, a violent and feral girl who acts on impulse; Scarlet, a master manipulator who delights in breaking people down; Felicia, a dangerously seductive woman battling a sex addiction; and Eleanor, a cold, calculating girl with a desire to watch the world burn. As Holo works to bring out their humanity, the girls become obsessively devoted to him, their love transforming into something darker.

In the legends that were told, ten thousand years ago the twelve demon kings wreaked havoc upon the world, almost completely destroying it. Ten thousand years later, the late arriving Bella discovered that she had been screwed over by her reincarnation, the ranks of the Saviors are already filled and she has to change teams in order to pass the days. Having her gender changed into a beautiful girl… she endured that, not being able to join the righteous side and obtain cheat abilities… she endured, but what she could not endure, was that the world that she had transmigrated to was toxic beyond belief. No one here does their rightful jobs properly, be they heroes, demon kings, or creator gods… in fact, Bella felt as if they all had also started with the wrong faction!