Demon’s Crest is the new Light Novel from the author of Sword Art Online

Reki Kawahara, the author of Sword Art Online, Accel World announced that he will be releasing a new light novel called “Demon’s Crest”. Art was handled by Yukiko Horiguchi/Shiromizakana, who was responsible for character design for K-ON and 22/7.

The first volume of Demon’s Crest will ship in Japan on November 10th. The story is about a game that mixes virtual reality with augmented reality. The plot begins when the Beta of the game Actual Magic starts.

Sixth grader Yūma Ashihara marvels at this MMO born from new technology, and begins playing and clearing dungeons with his friends. Satisfied with a day of playing and eager to play more later, Yūma logs out of the game — or so he thought.

After clearing a dungeon boss, Yūma’s avatar is enveloped by a strange red light, after which he loses consciousness. When Yūma comes to, he awakens to a “New World” where the VRMMO has combined with the real world. Before he is able to fully process the situation, Yūma encounters his beautiful classmate Sumika Watamaki — except her appearance has dramatically changed into something resembling the game’s monsters.

The light novel will be released by Kadokawa ‘s Dengeki Bunko.