"There's no way to beat this game. The only difference is when and where you die..."One month has passed since Akihiko Kayaba's deadly game began, and the body count continues to rise. Two thousand players are already dead.Kirito and Asuna are two very different people, but they both desire to fight alone. Nonetheless, they find themselves drawn together to face challenges from both within and without. Given that the entire virtual world they now live in has been created as a deathtrap, the surviving players of Sword Art Online are starting to get desperate, and desperation makes them dangerous to loners like Kirito and Asuna. As it becomes clear that solitude equals suicide, will the two be able to overcome their differences to find the strength to believe in each other, and in so doing survive?

Dungeons are appearing all over the Earth. The skies are darkening as the dungeons emit more and more blackness that threatens to block out the sun entirely. Humanity is scrambling. Slayers race to close every dungeon that appears. Slayers were once normal people, but they have become special. At age 16, Rebirth unlocked their inner potential.Tad Harrington is an unlikely hero, and yet, the morning of his Rebirth has arrived. Bullied relentlessly in life and at school, he looks to his rebirth with both hope and dread in equal measures. His whole life could change in an instant - he could be gifted with fame, money, and power...Only one fact stands in his way - 99% of Rebirths are duds.And he's never been that lucky.He is right about one thing: his whole life is about to change, though not in the way he expects. In a world where everyone else has power gifted to them, Tad gains a unique ability that allows him to level up. He will have to climb through all the ranks, earning every shred of strength he can grasp, or die trying.