Sword Art Online is a Japanese light novel series written by Reki Kawahara and illustrated by abec. Originally released as a web novel on Kawahara's website from 2002 to 2008, the light novels began publication under ASCII Media Works' Dengeki Bunko imprint in April 2009, following them approving his request to publish it. The series takes place in the 2020s and focuses on protagonists Kazuto "Kirito" Kirigaya and Asuna Yuuki as they play through various VRMMORPG worlds, and later their involvement in the matters of a simulated civilization.