WMG / Accel World

Per wiki policy, Spoilers Off applies here and all spoilers are unmarked. You Have Been Warned.

Crossover WMG: Accel World is the future of Sword Art Online

Rumor has it that Snow Black Princess is the daughter of Kirito(SAO hero) and Asuna(SAO heroine). There were also bits in the manga and light novel suggesting that it happened in the same world.

• It makes sense since both settings are written by the same author, and Accel World is set at least twenty years after SAO, with the virtual reality technology in SAO being obvious precursors to Accel World's linkers. Plus, Snow Black's duel avatar has possible shout outs to Kirito, with it being black and having two sword arms as its primary weapons.
  • Black Lotus also has Vorpal Strike and Starburst Stream as her IS attacks, both of which were sword skills in SAO, and the latter of which was possessed only by Kirito.
• Based on the anime, Accel World takes place in 2065, 40-odd years after Sword Art Online. That said, Kirito and Asuna would be in their late fifties... not inconceivable though, if they merely had Kuroyuki later in life (after all, they already have their AI daughter Yui). The existence of the time dilation tech in the Alicization arc also suggests that it's the foundation for Burst Link. That said, I've heard that the author explicitly denied any connection, beyond a side-story of dubious canonity in which Kirito duelled Silver Crow, and Kuroyuki appeared to know who Kirito was.
  • Besides, according to an omake, Asuna wanted a big family. Snow Black could simply be their youngest.
• This is frankly impossible. If these are the same Kirito and Asuna of SAO, then do you really think that either of them would just leave their daughter alone in the hospital? None of Snow Black's family members came to visit her while she was confined in the hospital following the car crash.
  • There is an alternate theory that Graphite Edge, who was Kuroyuki's mentor, is actually Kirito, since he was the one that taught her all her moves and was arguable a better sword fighter than she was.
  • Maybe they could not visit her for some reason.
  • Kirito and Asuna might be elsewhere, kicking butts to save lives again. Still, it doesn't explain why nobody came in their stead, save for the lawyer.
  • A personal theory is that Kirito and Asuna died in the interim and Kuroyukihime had the misfortune of ending up with the Yuuki's as guardians. Yui as an AI had no civil rights so she could do nothing but watch and was pretty much impotent as her sisters life went to hell. It's unlikely Asuna's mom would ever accept Kuroyukihime and the rest of the family would merely see her as an obstacle combined with the sheer negligence the neuro-link allows. It could also be a reason for the start of Yui's transformation into Persona Babel. Her failure to protect her family ate away her sanity over the years until Chrome disaster came along and gave her the means to kill herself.
• AW actually takes place in 2046 so only a bit over twenty years from the start of SAO. And, while not completely impossible, it seems a bit unlikely that the technology has progressed from clunky helmets needed for virtual reality to lightweight neck-pieces that have become so ubiquitous that even babies wear them
  • Except in 20 years in the real world we went from desktop computers the size of actual desks to literally everybody having a smartphone in their pocket. This is not completely implausible with the rate technology is advancing.
• In episode 22, it shows the first full virtual-reality device that looks incredibly like the helmets needed for SAO. Heck, it even has the same name (Nerve Gear)!
  • SAO also features the development of smart cameras to be positioned throughout urban areas, smart hospital beds with neural interfaces, and a virtual world where the human mind is accelerated by 1000 times, and imagination and willpower can warp reality.
• In the videogame OVA the Accel Assault server looks a collection of glowing cubes, which is suspiciously similar to the Light Cubes that make up the Underworld server.
• Also, Kuroyuki says her real name is not so different from her real name. Asuna's full name is Yuuki Asuna. And given that she comes from a powerful and wealthy family, Kazuto/Kirito taking her name would be fairly common in Japan. In which case Kuroyuki's name would contain Yuuki, fitting with the claim.
• Another theory is that AW is the far future of Under World instead of "Real world" in Sword Art Online. And they are building their OWN Virtual World.
• Sword Art Online: Lost Song may be an Alternate Continuity of the mainstream SAO story, but Kuroyukihime does appear in that game as an Optional Boss. Considering that the previous game Hollow Fragment's Optional Boss battle against Yuuki Konno was canonical, it definitely means Kirito's fight against KYH is canon in this particular continuity.
  • This point is further explored in Accel World VS Sword Art Online: Millennium Twilight, which takes place in the same continuity as Lost Song and, as the name states, acts as a crossover between Accel World and Sword Art Online (at least its video game continuity, anyway). While the SAO cast don't appear to recognize Black Lotus, making her appearance and playability in Lost Song likely non-canon even to the alternate continuity, when they first meet Kuroyukihime and Haruyuki in Millennium Twilight, the two reveal that they come from a time twenty-one years in the future, and that Alfheim Online existed years before they were born. Kuroyukihime is also shown to recognize Sword Art Online when it's mentioned, meaning it's possible that the SAO incident took place in their timeline as well.
• The SAO movie Ordinal Scale introduces the Augma, a form of augmented reality technology that appears to function somewhat similarly to, and could be argued as being a very basic version of, the Nervelink. Its use is even shown as having already become very common in people's everyday life despite its short life span at the time. All it would take is the original version of the Nervelink to be created and mass-produced within a few years of Ordinal Scale for the events of Accel World to take place. Not completely impossible considering how far the Augma already advanced augmented reality.

Kuroyukihime is raising Haru to reach level 9 so that she can defeat him and become level 10

Kuroyukihime continues standing by Haru's side and helps him fight others, and when he finally reaches level 9, she fights him to gain the level 10 title and the knowledge of Brain Burst's true purpose. It's somewhat possible, based off of episode 3 of the anime. Unless the comic took/takes a different route.

• Expanding on this, given that you have to defeat 6 level 9 enemies to become level 10, and Kuroyukihime killed the Red King, there are only 6 current level 9 enemies left, including Kuroyukihime. So she's either going to fight him or let him kill her without a fight, meaning that either way one of them loses their Brain Burst, which is (from Haru's point of view) the only reason why they are connected at all. Cue crisis of faith and angst until he realises that Brain Burst wasn't the only thing that connected them.
  • A further note: we'll be able to see what Kuroyukihime has planned depending on who she has inflict the final blow on the first and second defeated kings. If Haru does both, then even if she attacked him at the very end she'd be a lv 9 victory short, and would be stuck as the only level 9 player left, effectively trapping her in stasis. If she kills steals either of them, then chances are she's going to force a final confrontation.
  • Then again, she already has one victory against a level 9 opponent, so it's possible that she'll simply use him to deal with armies while she deals with kings, to ascend as a level 10 with him as her level 9 right hand man.
  • Oh well, given that there's a replacement Red King my previous theory about there not being enough Kings to go around doesn't hold water any more. Still, Haru's promise in episode 8 just seems to shout out to me that they'll be forced into a confrontation at some point.
• This is unlikely, because:
  • Kuroyuki used PFB, Physical Full Burst, to save Haruyuki while running both the risk of damage from rapid body movement AND the car crash. It's a gamble enough, so she values him more than she does her well-being. Well-being, not goals, but it's still a sign.
  • Sky Raker admitted to going as high up as level 8, and depending on her determination she may or may not have racked enough points to go to Level 9 before asking Black Lotus for help with that one scheme. While the timing may be before the Level 10 requirement was announced, that Black Lotus chose to comply with request is indicative of the belief in ties of friendship. And if someone wants to point out that Kuroyuki betrayed Red Rider's trust - he was more of a rival and an ally of convenience rather than a friend. Different category.
  • Lastly, someone who was gunning for level 10 could have announced that one is willing to accept a one-on-one duel between any champion from any legion, except the legion master, should this champion be level 9. After all, since any such duel will either reduce the counter of Level 9 required on one side, or guarantee the insane quest for Level 10 stopped on the other side, it's a win-win scenario.
• It's not very likely, as the later novels reveal that Kuroyuki killed the Red King not to advance her level, but because she was manipulated by her sister, the White King. After that she tried to kill the Four Legendary Beasts since there was a rumor that defeating them would also get you to Level 10.

Akihiko Kayaba is the creator of the Accel World

He managed to find a way to either preserve his consciousness in the net, or left a self aware AI based on his personality somewhere. In either case, Akihiko returns, and the Accel World is his latest experiment to see how its users utilize it.

• He may have a copy of the 4th generation software and have did what could the Alicization program used and he is still one heck of a jerk.
• That would actually explain the existence of "Incarnate System". As colossal an ass as he was, Kayaba put a great deal of importance on overcoming system limits.
  • Actually, he was amazed that Kirito and Asuna had managed to go beyond what was programmed into the system. He didn't intentionally make it possible, but was happy that it was.
• Considering the name of the last Seven Arc "The Fluctuating Light", perhaps Kayaba put his own Fluctlight into Brain Burst as "The Fluctuating Light"?

Princess Snow Black's name is Shirayuki

Because it is a real name, and not that different from Kuroyukihime (take the suffix away and change "Black" to "White"). It's also enough of a change that people wouldn't connect her name with her handle, and "Snow White" becoming "Black Lotus" is amusing enough to fit in.

• Shirayuki has appeared, and that's her sister's alias (?).
• Jossed. Volume 26 reveals the names of Kuroyuki and Shirayuki to be Sayuki and Enju respectively.

The source of all the mysterious hacks to the system like Cyan Pile's backdoor and Dusk Taker's masking program will be revealed when someone reaches Level 10

And its because the creator of Brain Burst is trolling all the players (though with a possible reason)

• Jossed on Noumi's part - he isn't using a masking program, he just has an illegal brain implant that acts as a second NeuroLinker, meaning he can access the school net without connecting the one that has Brain Burst installed. Cyan Pile's backdoor was just a NeuroLinker hack, unrelated to Brain Burst.

Level 10 isn't the end of the game, its just the end of the first stage and reaching it unlocks another, deeper level of the Accelerated World

The reason for the limit is because only those with the skill, talent and a strong enough will to run the risk of losing Brain Burst can handle the next level.

• The reason for all the anomalous programs cropping up is the creator/administrator or who ever might be overseeing the game trying to shake things up in an effort to break the stalemate and force one of the Kings to at least make the attempt.
• May be not "deeper" level but go "up" a level, to the real world. If the theory of "AW is future of Under World" stands.
• It's recently been theorized In-Universe the real goal of the game is the Imperial Palace which was in Brain Burst's two counterparts and doesn't have a spot for cameras in real world. As a result, the real way to hit Level 10 and beat the game is in there, and perhaps the warning was a way to shake things up.
• The end of the game is the TFL in the center of Imperial Palace. Level 10 actually promised only meet-up with dev.

Haruyuki's representation in the series is his own self-image, not how he actually looks.

That or teenage girls in 2045 Japan have developed a mass fetish for short, rotund little men.

• Especially considering that his official height would make him only slightly shorter than Taku.

The reward for reaching level ten is unlimited burst points.

For everyone! The downside is that it erases all extra copies (no more new Burst Linkers) and freezes you at your current level (not so bad for the higher levels) and makes the Unlimited Field and the Duel system mostly meaningless.

• Though this also has the downside of meaning that Noumi's philosophy is right and that Brain Burst's ultimate purpose is to gain an advantage in the Real World.
• However, even if true, this can still be subverted by the characters realizing that the system's original goal doesn't matter; what matters is how you decide to use it. Which would probably be in line with the series' philosophy.
• Jossed: The game is really weird, but burst points correspond to some actual resource in the system, limited in some way, not just abstract number. It receives some influx with new players, and Enemy possibly generate it (or redistribute, at least), but no infinite money here.

Someone reaching Level 10 unlocks a code that allows ex Burst Linkers to re-install Brain Burst and regain their memories.

And Black Lotus and Scarlet Rain can reconcile with Red Rider and Cherry Rook respectively. And Megumi can return to the Accelerated World. No one cares enough about Noumi to use it for him.

• Jossed: players' memories are backed up in central server and can be retrieved, resurrecting ex-Linkers, but it has nothing to do with level 10 - it's achieved through Incarnation of White Cosmos, the only true healer and resurrectionist avatar in all Accel World.
• Crow achieves this on level 6, through combination of Incarnation and his connection to highest level, though it restores memories only for previous Chrome Disasters, since he's connected to them.

Haruyuki and Kuroyukihime are actually Yang Guo and Xiaolongnu reincarnated into the future time.

Because both couples have several similarities with each other.

• Both Yang and Haru were constant victims of bullying until Xiao and KYH came into their lives, respectively.
• Xiao found Yang in an ancient tomb and taught her martial arts, while KYH found Haru in a game only he exceled at and she introduced him to the Accelerated World.
• Both Xiao and KYH first fell in love with Yang and Haru, respectively; and Yang eventually responded to her feelings, while Haru will do the same once he is ready.
• In connection to this, there is also a theory that KYH is grooming Haru to become a Level 10, in the same way Xiao groomed Yang to become a master martial artist. Haru/KYH will definitely meet difficult tests like Yang/Xiao, until such time that Haru will have to venture through the Accel World without KYH due to events beyond their control, as evidenced by the Dusk Taker Arc. Along the way he would have to defeat powerful Burst Linkers and Enemies on his way to become Level 10, as this is the only way that Haru could prove himself worthy of becoming a future king of the Accelerated World, in the same way that Yang has to face a lot of powerful monsters and masters on his quest to become worthy of his master and lover.

The pixellation and beeping of Ash Roller's profanity is actually occurring in-universe

Haruyuki just hasn't found the option of turning the mature language filter (or equivalent) off.

Brain Burst was created to further the goals of the scientists in Sword Art Online's Alicization arc

• It was created either to copy the Fluxlights of Burst Linkers (possibly during the avatar creation process), or to recycle the memories they lose when the program is uninstalled.
  • It was created by two conflicting parties in a conflict about someone's Fluxlight. One wanted to either destroy or permanently lock it, and created Imperial Palace, another wanted to free it, and created all other game as a trainground for breaching the Palace.

Silver Crow will pull a "With Our Swords" Scene at some point

Gale Thruster has similar functions to his wings, and when he briefly had access to both at once he was able to fly at ludicrous speed. Now note that Laser Sword works a lot like Taku's piledriver (a ranged piercing attack from the arm), and that there's enough room on Silver Crow's body to equip the armaments of all his teammates so far at the same time (back, right arm, left arm). This probably won't happen until someone with torso and/or leg armaments shows up though.

• He actually has that one covered. He can get a two-handed sword from the Chrome Disaster armour, and full-body armour from the same source. And he did fly with both his wings and Gale Thruster in his final fight against Seiji; the results were pretty funky but awesome.
• He bought a sword as a bonus level for that purpose.

The real purpose of Brain Burst is "psychological help"

Think about it. Brain Burst was created in Japan, which is known for having people with many insecurities and traumas, and in the age presented in the series most kids play virtual reality games so using one as a therapeutic tool would not be unthought of; the whole game is accelerated just to make this form of therapy take less time because adults are unable to supervise the "accelerated world" and thus want the therapy to take as little time as possible. In the game proper, because their special skills manifest themselves from their fears and traumas, players have to face their pasts and learn how to deal with them, otherwise they won't be able to get stronger (Takumu was able to get closer to being a blue avatar because he started to face his fears, Chiyuri managed to rewind time with her ability so much because she had already realized that she can't keep clinging to their past, the change in Haruyuki doesn't even need a comment); the Incarnate System allows players to get stronger outside of that by means of training their focus and concentrating on their trauma, which is why it is supposed to be kept under wraps (though Haruyuki subverts this by using it for the sake of others instead of his own). The pain players feel is there to make the experience more real (thus forcing them to react to the whole thing easier), and to discourage them from fighting unnecessary battles. And the "one child per parent" rule is there to make sure that every player has someone to take care of - because nobody is expected to remain in the "accelerated world" forever, every player will finally forget about the game, but those players that tried to be good will have other players (in their real life forms) to help them remember their character development, while players who did not take the lesson will forget about the game's existence and be able to move in a different direction. And the rule itself can in some way be bypassed, it is just that it can only be done after the original "child" of a "parent" dies and not many players tried, and the installation process doesn't fail based on the potential "child's" speed but rather based on their trauma and on whether the potential "parent" is qualified for the role (this is why the number of players hasn't reached abysmal levels even though "there is only one try per person").

• Jossed: though it indeed can assist with psychological issues, that's side effect. The real purpose is to reach The Fluctuating Light, locked up by BB dev's rival.

Just for Fun: Ken Utonium grew up to create Brain Burst.

Apparently, Chemical Z accesses the subjects' deepest traumas and desires to give them superpowers. Ken somehow figured a way to emulate Chemical Z's effect into the virtual world. Thus, Brain Burst works the same way, but only in the virtual world.

• Bubbles' powers are a result of her desire to see again her first love, Takaaki, who made bubbles for her the first time they met as kids.
• Sakurako's change into Sedusa is triggered by jealousy towards Miss Bellum because she thinks that the guy he's into is into her, when in fact, the guy is into Sakurako (!).
• Takaaki's change into a werewolf stemmed from his desire to get out of the hospital which had become his home and prison.

Kirito is the creator of Accel World.

Or at least involved with it's creation. And Brain Burst giving the Linker abilities based off their traumas is connected to Yui, whose original purpose was to help people get over trauma.

• At the very least he'll be involved with the Brain Implant Chip development.

Takumu is a fan of Super Robot Wars: Original Generation.

His avatars special attacks are similar to the Alteisen's attacks.

Nega Nebulus will eventually gain the ability to travel to other games.

There are 2 other games similar to Brain Burst. The first is BB's predecessor: Accel Assault. The second is BB's successor: Cosmo Corrupt. These are both confirmed by Green Grande. The recent OVA showed AA as having "died" when the last of its Assault Linkers perished. Incidentally, AA is both BB's fictional and real-life predecessor, as that was the prototype name of Accel World before the author changed it. Anyway, the Nega Nebulus legion will eventually gain the ability to travel to other games, and discover other rivals living in those games. It's possible that White Cosmos is already playing Cosmo Corrupt, as she is one of the only 3 confirmed Originators. There's probably a DD somewhere too.

• As seen from highest level of the game, AA and CC are both dead, completely lacking players and evidently NPCs too, and no hint at DD is present.

Kuroyuki's real name is Sachi.

We all already more or less guessed that Kuroyuki is deeply connected to Kirito of SAO, if not direct family then probably someone close to her family. Now Fuuko addresses her as Sa-chan in the final episode. It still doesn't tell us anything about her real name. Now Sachi plays an extreme role in Kirito's character development.My guess? Sa is short for Sachi or some variation thereof.

• Not really that far off. It's Sayuki.

The ability to use Brain Burst relies on the length of time a user has been using Full Dive Technology, not just the Neuro Linker

Brain Burst is clearly compatible with older technology than the Neuro Linker since Noumi/Dusk Taker, Black Vise and Rust Jigsaw all interface with it through their Neural Chips in various ways. So it probably counts for the 'familiarity' criteria for installation. It's just the chips are relatively rare and the older NervGear and AmpuSphere technology's limitation few people used it enough for it to count enough. That's why 'Hime said you needed to be using a NeuroLinker for a long time to use Brain Burst. But there is one, small group of older people who spent a lot of time using Nerv Gear. Enough that they could install Brain Burst even despite them being outside the normal age bracket.

Kuroyukihime is the second daughter of Kirito and Asuna of SAO, is named after Sachi, and her elder sister is her Parent White Cosmos, named after Yuuki

Both Sachi and Yuuki were precious people to Kirito and Asuna so it's not too much of a stretch to think that they would name their children after them; the SAO/AW crossover indicates some connection between KYH and Kirito, it's possible that that relationship could be father/child, and Sachi fits Sky Raker calling her 'Sacchan.' Kuroyukihime has said that her Parent is someone who was very close to her in real life and is one of the Kings of Pure Colour as well; White Cosmos is the most likely of the Kings to be that person (it's definitely not Red or Yellow, unlikely to be Green or Blue, possibly Purple but White is more likely as KYH has mentioned things to Haruyuki about all the other kings but her, and refuses to talk about her Parent) and one of the closest bonds in anime is the Onee-chan.

• There's just one thing still left to explain. What happend in those 20 years between SAO and AW to make Kirio and Asuna such assholes so they abandoned their daughter?
  • They were trapped in another gameworld at the time, maybe? It does seem to happen to them quite a bit.
  • If Kuroyukihime is indeed Kirito's and Asuna's daughter,they could meet the same fate as Kirito's parents. Suguha was also involved in the accident, and is now kept in a hospital nearly 24-7, leaving only a distant husband/father to look after Kirito's and Asuna's daughter(s).
  • They might not necessarily have been assholes. We only saw her being in the hospital for 1 day and night, and considering how Kirito and Asuna would be rather prominent figures in the "world" of video gaming and computer technology, it's possible that they (assuming this WMG is true) simply couldn't come to visit her due to work and thus they "at the very least" sent a lawyer to ascertain she is getting the care she requires. It might appear weird for us, but in Japan things are different and people on whom things actually depend (which likely would include Kirito and Asuna) can't just disappear in a moment's notice because of something this "insignificant", regardless of what their personal feelings are.
• Confirmed with White Cosmos being Black Lotus' parent and elder sister. Jossed with Kirito and Asuna being her parents by Word of God himself.

Haru's eventual "Child" will have more potential to become stronger than Silver Crow.

Niko is the child of Accelerator and Last Order.

Niko is basically Accelerator in Last Order's body. And she's voiced by Last Order to boot. She probably took notes from Nobuhiko Okamoto for this role as Scarlet Rain.

Megumi is one of the original Burst Linkers

• This might explain why she has the virtual book containing at least one of the commands for Brain Burst, this may have been how Brain Burst's creator originally distributed the program.
  • Jossed, though close: her parent was Saffron Blossom, herself Originator.

Brain Burst is still being distributed by an external source, possibly the creator

• This would explain how Brain Burst has a stable population despite the fact that canonical distribution rules (particularly 1 install per player with a notable chance of failure) would likely result in a quickly declining population.
  • Originators can install BB without any limits. Though most part of them is already killed, some still remain. And player population is not really stable, it's steadily decreasing, just not fast enough to notice on everyday basis.

Brain Burst never truly uninstalls

• Combining the above two WMGs and this one, it could be possible that Megumi lost all her Burst Points, forgetting about the program, but was accidentally given another copy of Brain Burst by the distributor, resetting her points to 100. Brain Burst remained, untraceable, in her Neuro Linker, suppressing all her memories involving the Accelerated World, thus she still can't remember meeting Black Lotus there.
  • Half-Jossed, half-Confirmed: Deleted memories are still stored at the main server, and probably BB in some way lingers in neurolinker, but no accidental resets occured: Megumi's memories among several other linkers' were pulled from main server by White Cosmos' unique ability/Incarnation combo. For the most part they're still suppressed, and her status is 'deleted', but Snowwhite's will or some unique emotional situations can reactivate them.

Kirito and Asuna have nothing to do with Brain Burst at all

• They are not actively involved in Brain Burst either as participants or developers, none of any of their children they might have after Yui are Burst Linkers nor any other link. The reason Black Lotus and Graphite Edge have attacks with similar Kirito's is because whoever did develop Brain Burst heard about them from another SAO survivor (either directly or second hand) and decided it would be cool to incorporate a Shout-Out or two to such a famous event.
  • Kirito and Asuna are simply leaving peaceful, happy lives. Probably still having adventures and fun in ALO or what ever game succeeded it, but nothing world shaking or too stressful. They've earned their happy ending and are enjoying it.
• Jossed: Volume 19 reveals that Brain Burst resulted from Kirito taking part in a virtual war.

When Kirito inevitably appears in this series, he'll mention that he still has nightmares.

Because PTSD is a wound that never completely heals.

Aqua Current remains at level 1, because it's way easier to gain Burst Points that way.

If you fight someone thats way below your level, you don't get anything for it. But if you remain at level 1, every fight will yield burst points, and you can use burst points to buy upgrades. She realizes that actually leveling up your Avatar is a suckers' game.

• Just to add, because she remains at level 1, she'd be viewed as a pariah, but because she acts as a bodyguard to other level 1 and 2 players, that earns her enough goodwill to counteract this.

Brain Burst is a controlled beta and stress test for the Acceleration program.

The reason why its being done secretly, is that its highly unethical, but someone thinks that its worth the risk. Possibly, when whoever developed the app, has enough data, it will be sold to the military, and possibly released commercially years from then.

Haru and Kuroyukihime will reach level 10 together as a team.

theory one: Haru and Kuroyukihime will learn to replicate the 'combined form' they blundered into during Accel Assault

Granted, it's mostly used as a joke in EX 1; however, BB is all about the manifestation of not only your insecurities, but your deepest wishes. If Haru and Kuroyukihime's relationship deepens to the point that they want to win together more than anything else, they will unlock this form again, and be able to use it permanently. Since Haru is mostly passive this way, it won't be considered two against one, and will let Kuroyukihime take him with her into her final duel for level 10.

theory two: a duel for level 10 can be fought two-on-two

It's always been a possibility, but until now, there's never been a fighting team willing to risk it. That's one of the reasons that the Purple King hates Kuroyukihime so much, because she hoped she and Red Rider could do this (one of the novels mentions that the Purple King was in love with Red Rider when Kuroyukihime took him out). Given Haru's rapid rise to date - and the power-up through accidentally gaining the Armour of Catastrophe - it's entirely possible for him to become Level 9, especially with Kuroyukihime or Sky Raker's help. (isn't he already at level 5 when the Dusk Taker mess happens?)

Trilead Tetroxide is a member of the royal family

• Since he is the second Linker to have one of the three Seven Arcs items from within the palace, and Chrome Falcon never let anyone in when he entered.

Originator Status can be unlocked by some means

• The earliest Burst Linkers, called Originators, have infinite copies of Brain Burst they can give to others to install and some means of checking compatability, help keeping the number of Burst Linkers up. But if they all vanished, or were defeated Brain Burst would have trouble keeping up a viable population. So there's someway for new Originators to be made, including from existing players. Possibly a rare drop from an Enemy in the Unlimited Field or a (very expensive) purchase in the shop.
  • Well, Accel Assault and Cosmos Corrupt actually died out, so stable population is not really a requirement.

Black Vise's real player name is Ebony Vise

• White Cosmos has a representative for King meetings named Ivory Tower, ivory is a variation of the color white and Ivory Tower was initially considered the White King until revealed otherwise. So just as ivory is a variation of white, Ebony is a variation on the color black, allowing Black Vise to use his avatar's color to hide his official player name from others.
  • Black Vise is a public alias of an alternative form of player's avatar named Ivory Tower.

Underworld is hidden in the Level 10 of Brain Burst

• As it certain that most real world people would oppose the idea of Fluctlights, sentient man-made soul copies, it is possible that the "unification of underworld and real world" promised by Kirito, both real (in the Light Novel) and Star King copy (in both the Light Novel and Anime) of him, failed, and for the safety of Underworld and its residents, it was sealed and locked away, but somehow, Brain Burst become the means of access that is contested by those who chosen or worthy to join Brain Burst, as it also involves Fluctlights, one way or another.

Chiyu will play a significant role, or at least get a couple of noteworthy scenes, in the Seven Arcs Arc.

• The White Legion arc ends with Haru being forced to submit to White Cosmos, much like Chiyu was to Noumi in the Dusk Taker arc. Considering that this is the second time Haru ended up in a role reversal with one of his friends- after losing to the Level 1 Wolfram Cerberus, he realized it was like the time he beat Taku as a Level 1- it's possible that Chiyu will commiserate with Haru or help him find some way out of his predicament.

Haru might be a former player from Cosmos Corrupt 2040

• Ever since V25, there have been theories running around, that Haru might've been a Corrupt Linker from the game Cosmos Corrupt 2040, a successor of Brain Burst 2039 and is currently defunct along with a predecessor Accel Assault 2038. There have been hints showing that Haru is a former player.
  • Players who have retired from the Accelerated World, lose their memories and throughout the series there are signs that Haru's memories are somewhat missing.
  • All the way back in V1, when Haru enters his very first duel he has a sense of nostalgia, and the monologue cuts off before he can recall what sort of game he knew was similar to Brain Burst.
  • In OVA 2 Haru starts playing a fighting game before realizing his hands are completely accustomed to it despite having never played it before. He then has a small flashback, to where he presumably sees his father playing it, but that doesn't explain how he understands the controls well enough, that he can basically play it on instinct after a long amount of time has passed. It's known that people who leave the Accelerated World lose their memories, and are replaced with other memories, to make the user not doubt anything about the Accelerated World.
  • In V24, he recalls hearing the name Tezcatlipoca, when Cosmos informs the Burst Linkers of the new Super Class Enemy. But it's odd considering Tez has never appeared in Brain Burst until now, so how did Haru somehow feel like he knew that name somewhere.
  • V25 further goes into it, by making Haru have a "dream" about Tez destroying a world and his comrades in that world before it destroyed him. The key point is that, Haru assumes its a dream but it felt horribly realistic to him and it's said that it was a dream he wouldn't remember, when he woke up.
  • V26 likely has the biggest spoiler so far with the author revealing the timeline for the three games Showing that Haru does in fact meet the conditions of being an Originator of Cosmos Corrupt 2040. It would also explain in some sense why his reaction speed, is far superior to even Kuroyukihime's even at the start of the series, if he had also trained it in a accelerated environment just like she had for almost as long as she had, as Cosmos Corrupt 2040 started the same year Kuroyukihime became a Burst Linker.
• Haru biggest belief is that every game should have a proper end, with the players striving to reach that end. He isn't fond of just wandering around the map right before the end. It is further explain in V2, where he tells Niko there is nothing sadder than a game that has no ending to it. It's also worth noting that according to White Cosmos. Cosmos Corrupt ended due to stagnating and the game no longer moving forward, which is the type of end Haru would hate.
  • If Haru was truly from Cosmos Corrupt, then the end of it may have left him with a distaste on what had happened, even if he doesn't consciously remember it anymore.
• Argon Array's Mental-Scar-Shell Theory to create a metal avatar in the Brain Burst System requires that avatar to go through a particularly traumatic event, then force them to suppress or forget that memory, through the effects of the BIC or medication, so that the metal avatar cannot truly see what their scar is, which is the basis of scars for metal color avatars.
  • White Cosmos also notes in V25, that along with their memories, a duel avatar's original trauma would be taken away from them, when they lost the program.
  • In that case wouldn't that mean Haru losing memories of his time in Cosmos Corrupt be a main factor for him having the metal type Silver Crow, as then he would fulfill the conditions of having an sealed off memory for metal types.

Kuroyukihime might be a former player from Cosmos Corrupt 2040

• While it is less implied than in Haru's case, Graph mentions Cosmos Corrupt to be a hack-and-slash game, the very property behind Black Lotus' Terminate Sword. We can assume this was where Kuroyukihime got her affinity for swords, as Volume 20 mentions she had no experience using them in real life.
• Kuroyukihime's wish that led to the creation of Black Lotus was seemingly a desire to slash everything in her path. From this, we can assume that her trauma stemmed from fearing to lose those close to her.
• Kuroyukihime mentions that she become a Burst Linker when she was eight years old, in other words, one year after Brain Burst was launched and around the same time when Cosmos Corrupt terminated.