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Asuna died near the end of Sword Art Online. However, judging by the rules,
why didn't she die in real life? Did Kayaba Akihiko lie about dying in the
game?


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sword-art-online
Why didn't Asuna die in real life when she died in the game?


Not quite.

> It's an issue of timing. She died _before_ the game was cleared, but her
> death timer didn't expire beforehand. So, she was eligible to be logged out
> of the game, much like Kazuto would be. Her mind was taken to a compatible
> server in ALFOnline, which is where she's trapped for that arc.

EDIT: The source for this is Episode 14.

> Both Kirito and Asuna have died, but neither of their death timers have
> expired. It stands to reason that, if Kirito is eligible to be logged out
> despite having died, then so would Asuna.


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If you read the light novel, after the battle teleported them to another place
just to have a talk with them:

> I firmly closed my eyes and allowed my tears to flow before asking:
>
> "...What about those who died? Both of us are already dead, yet we continue
> to exist here. Doesn't that mean you can return the other four thousand dead
> to the original world as well?"
>
> Kayaba's expression didn't change. He closed the window, put his hands into
> his pockets, and then said:
>
> "Life can't be recovered so easily. Their consciousness will never return.
> The dead will disappear— this fact remains true in every world. I created
> this place only because I wanted to talk with you two— one last time."

So everyone who died remains dead. Kirito and Asuna didn't die, simply because
Kayaba intentionally teleported them somewhere else instead of letting them
die.


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Kirito asked Heathcliff (Kayaba) to promise to prevent Asuna from commiting
suicide if Kirito were to lose. But when Kirito was about to lose, she jumped
in front of him, using her body to shield Kirito from the incoming strike and
"killing" herself in the process.

Because Kirito lost after that, technically they are both dead. However,
Kirito won after that, and Kayaba agreed to make sure Asuna didn't kill
herself, but she did. The only resolution therefore was to keep her alive. As
for Kirito, it seems to be that Kayaba wanted him alive to talk.


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Asuna didn't die because Kayaba made it so that if Asuna die in game, she
wouldn't die in real life, as promised to Kirito before the duel. Just like in
episode one, where he made it so that people couldn't log out, and if they
died in game they died in real life, he probably disabled this setting for
Asuna in the GM console.


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