The game features an original story with Kirito and friends exploring a new VR title, Cross Edge ... those from the original ...

Characters from across the Sword Art Online anime are gathered in the same version of Alfheim Online ... this looks like it could be up your street, with cross-play enabled so you can team ...

Meaning that Pitohut actually crossed paths with Kirito before even the events of the original Sword Art Online anime. Through her memory we see the version of the Kirito character that Kirito had ...