Kadokawa and Dengeki Bunko revealed that Reki Kawahara, the novelist best known for Sword Art Onlinewill release a new novel titled The devil. The new title will feature characters drawn by Yukiko Horiguchi’s K-On! reputation.
The story of The devil will take place in the near future with full VR technology, where people can interact with the VR world with their whole body. Similar to Reki Kawahara’s previous works Sword Art Online and Accel Worlda VR MMORPG in the universe will form the core of the plot.
The devil will tell the story of Yuma Ashihara, an 11-year-old 6th grader who participates in an experimental play for Real magic, the first MMORPG to use full VR technology. Immediately after defeating a dungeon boss along with his classmates, a mysterious red light enveloped Yuma’s avatar and caused the player to faint. After being forced out, Yuma will wake up and see a Mixed Reality where elements of the world from Real magic appear in real life.
The Japanese press release added that The devil will be Reki Kawahara’s first novel that he writes as a commercial product. The author is famous for his works on Sword Art Online and Accel World. Kawahara also has another series of novels titled The Isolator, was first officially published in 2014 in Japan. However, he first uploaded all of the aforementioned titles as personal projects and entries before Kadokawa and ASCII Media Works offered to publish his works.
The devil will be available in Japan on November 10, 2022. Reki Kawahara will reveal more details about the new novel through a press release. direct on his official channel on Niconico on Monday, September 12, 2022, at 19:00 JST (6 a.m. ET).
