The hiatus is understandable, and well deserved, especially for the amount of time and effort you must have put into this. I have faith that you will do just as well in the next arc and however long you decide to keep this going, keep up the amazing work.

Excellent chapter to wrap the end of the Flying Castle. I totally agree that you stopped that chapter at the right place, the follow-up in the real world needed to be put apart.
Your project of a PDF version with a retrospective and the shout-outs and background details definitely interests me! I know for sure that I'll want to read this story again later on. As for distribution... well maybe with a Discord server? I don't really know how you could it either '
Thank you for the story so far! I'll need to check if I'm up to date in the other stories too (and need to read Liminality too, as I wanted to be fully caught up on the stories before begining it)

Wow...just woow...
At first I thought "Well, the fight begins well, they are well organized. The height battle against Dragon seems dangerous but it's okay"
*First death* It's okay, happens.
*First Big Healing Tree* OH F*CK
*DEATHS and second Big Tree* Hell no, this chaos...
*Dragon dies, Armageddon of meteors begins, Kayaba's buffed, Skeleton of the dragon resurrects, MANY deaths* Holy sh*t
And in the end, they went through all this and ended it all... Really this chapter gave me goose bump and captivated me!

Heeeey! o/
Been a long while, I've been quite busy this summer and begining of school year. I'm working half-time as a teacher for in pre-school (I think that's the word? Or kindergarten?). Impressive how a class of 27 2/3 years old can tire you out (meaning, exhaust you half to death). And the bugs I catch from don't help either (though I suppose my immune system will be stronger after a few months... I hope...)
Beautiful build up chapter to the final fight of this Aincrad! The 'Black Beaters' lmao x)

So much dedication to this fic, amazing.

By far my favourite SAO related fan work.

Are there any plans to reunite Kizmel with her mother? When Kayaba talked about making arrangements with the one person he truly trusts I expected for sure a “Hello Kizmel, I’m your mother” at the end there. It’s a cliche by now with how many times it’s happened in stories.

I’m honestly surprised no one else decided to share their real names like Rain and Philia (excited to see where Rain’s arc goes next), and it’s been a while since I touched canon but I’m pretty sure there was a plot of SAO players all being put into a single school together for the younger players to readjust to society so I’m excited to see how you handle that along with all of the real world parts, with Kizmel being Kirito’s partner I’m expecting a lot more of a focus on the real world than SAO canon since I doubt she’ll be as excited as Asuna to escape back into VR.

It’s been one hell of a story. Lind’s death at the end was saddening, the guy grew on you as the story goes and I’m throwing out the prediction right now of a double rescue with Klein having to save Griselda in the fairy arc. Looking forward to that pdf whenever you decide to release it and hope for your continued good health!

Alright so second review, first let’s start with the positives, Kirito’s relationship with his party and friends are great. You’ve done an amazing job with the found family vibes, like another reviewer commented it’s not a harem but they all very clearly love each other and it’s bloody beautiful. Philia and Rain added that extra something to this story that I didn’t see coming when they were first introduced, I don’t know if that was something originally planned but if was a gamble on your part then you sir have most assuredly won the jackpot.

Next, I actually really liked the dual perspectives on the zombie floor; switching between Kirito’s and Klein’s party was nice in that we got to see events happening at the same time and their consequences on each other like seeing how the clearing group reacted from Klein’s POV when team Kirito disappeared on the train and Argo’s subsequent explanation (though I might be biased with this take since I like your Klein, including his timeskip dragon hunting mission where he ruminates on his change from an average salaryman). It’s probably my second favorite arc currently coming in behind the 51st beach floor; that one was my favorite because of how fun all the fights were combined with the relationship development not just between Kirito and Kizmel but with the entire party with them sharing their pasts before SAO and creating the foundational bonds for the party we now follow.

Finally, with Kizmel’s and Kirito’s relationship, for me personally their most romantic and heartwarming scene has to be them studying in bed together after they found the library. Like don’t me wrong the ending of the duet chapter was pure sappy happy time but there is just something so domestic and hopeful with the studying scene to prepare for when they return to the real world that made me smile even if it’s just a small little scene. I hope to see more of these little moments of them pushing each other to grow once we eventually escape Aincrad.

If there is one negative I do have it would be with the Elf missions, they’re a bit too meta I think is my problem with them? Like the most egregious case of this is probably the old elf sage quest followed by first entire questline with the 3 trials and the Water Temple from not!LoZ (not the water temple part specifically I actually liked that and more like everything around it; it’s just that the water temple is the most memorable part of the questline) and then there is the fact that we know or are at very least highly suspicious of the fact that Kayaba personally quick added these new quests that they end up feeling kind of off when compared to the other arcs. I didn’t have this feeling with the 51st floor quest to reforge the baneblade so if I had to put my finger on it, my problem would be when these elf quests take itself too seriously. The not!water temple and and beach floor didn’t take itself too seriously while the back alley old elf sage quest where the party got split up did. Though I guess it could be deliberate on your part to keep in theme of how SAO is slowly becoming their reality little by little?

Wait, why did I get an alert that this fic had updated again? Did you change this chapter or something? Or is just being screwy again?

I don't really catch plot holes unless it's pointed out but where was Rain during the KoB Christmas party. Your AN in that chapter said you'd address it in a later chapter.

Just began reading this story and I can see why its so popular, this has been great so far! My favorite parts are definitely Kizmel’s POVs, I’ve always loved stories of more alien mindsets meshing together with your more typical human thoughts; your character work has been great for Kirito as well, the story wouldn’t work without him and Kizmel bouncing off each other as well as they do. Can’t wait to see how this develops especially since I’m just about to reach the big sad. I’m really excited for what’s Kizmel development will be like as she learns more about the real world, looks like Kirito has got two robotic body he needs to build now. Actually how will Kizmel interact with Yui considering they’re both AI? This is so exciting!

Solid, thank you. It was magnificent.

What is there left to say after all of this?

I started reading this fic waaay back in 2016, in fact I found it just two days after you posted chapter 5. At the time I had been reading fanfiction for about a year, and was starting to branch out into some fandoms that I hadn't paid attention to in years. Part of that searching led me to SAO's fanfiction page and there, near the top with the other recently updated stories, was a fic with a pairing I had never seen, with a character I had never heard of (shows how much I knew of cannon material, huh). I took a chance and after finishing what was written the only regret I had was that there wasn't more yet, so I followed and figured that I see it completed soon enough.

Since then I've graduated from high school, started and finished college, begun my first professional job, and changed in so many and so few ways from that teenager who first stumbled onto this story, but I still can't stay away from this fic. Every time you've updated, I'm either off to read the latest chapter, or to start a reread if it's been a while since the last update. Every last part of this fic has been fantastic, getting to know the characters, both Kizmel and Kirito, plus all the rest of the gang as they grew and changed, and seeing you put your own mark on SAO's world, has been a wonderful experience from start to finish, and I can only say that this fic is as fine as any I've ever read, and one I would happily read as a proper novel.

So take all the time you need to follow up; I've been here for eight years, I'll be here even if it takes another eight, and you know what, it will have been worth every second to see where this story ends.

Take care.

I read this while on a plane, so the review didnt go through. Anyway, many days later, heres mine.

So satisfying. So good. So everything. You had everything i like about Progressive Kirito in this story. Hes immature, yet mature when it comes to helping people. Hes love dead, but smooth unintentionally. He thinks terribly of himself, but thats what draws people to him. You managed that really well.

Besides, i agree with your type of “harem” even though it could be hardly be called one. You dont need to become boyfriend and girlfriend to express love, nor do you need to kiss or do more. If you all trust each other, even being best friends is enough. Thats the sort of relationships you wrote, and throw some skinship here and there that Kizmel didnt mind, and those girls were happy to be apart of Kirito’s life. Anyway, excellent job once again with this, and I cant wait to see what you do next.

Been reading this one for a couple years now. Absolutely loving your execution. Tbh, I gotta say I was surprised to see you take it past floor 75, but the way you did it was well done imo. Looking forward to more down the line; I trust that you'll treat us with more amazing content. Good hunting!

YES. YES. YES. THANK YOU AUTHOR. THIS JUST MADE MY WEEK.