Anyway, after trawling the Little Busters forums, something rather interesting pop up in my head. Given the events of Alicization, it seems alarmingly possible to create a seeming SAO AU, where Kirito is a Harem protagonist in a school setting, complete with routes for each of his haremettes.
Now, with each arc, there are subtle hints that the entire setting is in a simulated reality. Gradually, as more of the plot is uncovered, as each route is cleared, Kirito starts dreaming of memories of another life altogether.
After clearing the initial loops (Argo the Rat, Saachi (which is quite an abstract route), Scilla, Lizbeth and possibly Suguha (the cousin route, more strictly platonic)), the Asuna route is unlocked, and at the end of the Asuna route, Kirito discovers the truth:
With that, the Administrator proceeds to Mind-wipe Kirito.
This triggers another set of routes. Suguha (or a second iteration of the route with a more romantic focus) , Sinon, Yuuki (there are subtle inconsistencies) , Yui (mindscrew route), Alice, Ronnie (chronologically, the latest, calender wise) and finally Asuna II. As early as the Yuuki route, hints towards the second layer of the secret of the Simulated Reality.
At the end of the Asuna II route, you learn that
Spoiler for Ending:
You aren't just Kirito's fluctlight copy, you are the manifestation of the Administrator himself. The whole place is nothing more than a place for A.I socialization, much like the Underworld is used to develop A.Is. There are several mysteries whose answers are only hinted at:
- Why did the Admin wipe his own memories, if Kirito was the unknowing Admin? (Ie: the Admin was his "subconsciousness", that's also some how also embedded in the system. )
- Why are the Mind states of the A.Is being manufactured being patterned after People that Kirito knew about?
-What about those whose Mind-states ought to be irretrievable, like Yuuki and Saachi, since they died before Mind-states could be recorded? (Are they nothing more than dreams, or is there something else going on here? If both routes are especially quite mystical in nature, it'll serve to fuel the ambiguity)
- Also, there's the issue of Death and Resurrection. Isn't this mental necromancy? It's alluded to at the later loops of the Second set of routes.
- Why is the Administrator using Kirito? Who is the Administrator? Is it an A.I, or a full human in his own right? What are his emotions?
- Why does Asuna and Suguha appear twice, both routes having different focuses, and their second routes taking place chronologically after the time their first route is supposed to take place? Are this the same Asuna's and and Suguha's, or another copy of A.Is literally of the same model and Fluctlight template?
- Finally, what year is it outside, and what's the state of the world? Again, this might be alluded too, especially towards the end, but there's no actual, definite answer. Just hints.
And so ends my proposal for a VN Style story to the SAO world with Kirito as the protagonist, that is also set in the SAO world itself, at some undetermined date after Underworld.