Sachi/Synopsis

#### Pre-Episode 3

On November 6, 2022, Sachi got her hands on a NerveGear and a copy of Sword Art Online, a VRMMO set in a multifloored castle in the sky called Aincrad. She logged into SAO and was trapped in the game along with 10,000 other players.

Sachi was one of the players who struggled with the game, but her struggle was unique, as she suffered from lag due to her bad internet connection from "living in the boonies". One day, she met a player named Keita, who then recruited her into his Guild, the Moonlit Black Cats, which mostly consisted of stolen NPCs: Gary, who was looking to save his family, Derrick, who was trying to stop a bandit invasion, and Charlie, the tutorial NPC, who gives overly basic, and sometimes slightly dodgy, instructions, all of whom yell reminders for their quests every four seconds.

#### Episode 3

On April 8, 2023, in the Floor 11 town of Taft, the Guild were in a tavern when Keita spots a player named Kirito. Keita somehow managed to look through Kirito's character page and learned that, not only was he not associated with any Guilds, but he was Level 40. Keita then approached Kirito while he was enjoying a drink says he noticed he was a solo player, which confuses Kirito, as that information was set to private. Keita then takes the opportunity and invites Kirito to join their Guild. However, Kirito repeatedly declines the offer, out of a mixture of wanting to play solo and the fact that Keita is clearly only interested in him because of his level, as he moans with delight when he looks at it. Not wanting to let such a high leveled player go, Keita persuades Kirito by putting on his Charisma Hat, which increases Keita's Charisma Stat by 50 points, compelling Kirito to join the Guild, much to Kirito's dismay.

With Kirito successfully swindled into joining the Guild, Keita reveals that of the most members are actually NPCs. Kirito then points out the fact that, if Keita has the tutorial NPC, that means he hasn't beaten the tutorial. Keita tries to play this off by saying just because he can't play the game doesn't mean he can't "play the game", but he fails to prove his point when he tries to wink by saying the word "wink". Even though Kirito wasn't happy with the situation, Sachi tries to thank him for joining their Guild. However, she lags in the middle of her sentence, which goes out of control, spreading to the other players and causing a fire that kills four people.

Kirito quickly became a major asset to the Guild, assisting them on many adventures, such when they killed a Killer Mantis together in the Sunshine Forest on Floor 20. However, as time went on, Sachi became increasingly worried that her lag would get everyone she loves killed.

On May 16, 2023, these fears reached their breaking point for Sachi, and she ran away and hid under a bridge. However, Kirito uses his Searching Skill, which he affectionately calls "Detective Mode", and tracks her down, upon Keita's request. Sachi is startled by Kirito's arrival, as the Searching Skill causes Kirito's eye to glow, but when he turns it off, he finds that his eyeballs are sizzling. As Kirito groans in pain, Sachi asks if that's supposed to happen. Kirito says he doesn't think so, unless the game was developed by a sadist. Sachi tries to comment on the likelihood of that possibility, given their circumstances, but Kirito shoots her down, having realized what he said.

Kirito then estimates that he has five minutes before he blacks out from the pain, so he asks Sachi why she ran away, in order to pass the time. Sachi confided her fears to Kirito, which surprised him, because for the first time in his life he can't think of a way to mock someone else's predicament. Sachi tells Kirito it's not something that needs to be mocked, to which Kirito arrogantly asks, "But then what's the point of other people if not to mock them?" Sachi then tells Kirito that his unbearable arrogance is why people think he's an asshole, a revelation that shocks him.

The two then talk throughout the night, after which Kirito realizes the error of his ways. Kirito promises Sachi that he'll be nicer and show people the compassion they deserve. Sachi then asks if they can talk about her problems now, but Kirito says that nobody cares, much to Sachi's disappointment. She then points out that Kirito hasn't blacked out from the pain yet. Kirito realizes that this is true, confidently saying that he must be tougher than he thought, but it's at this point that the pain sets in again.

On June 21, 2023, Keita announces to the Guild that they're now in debt to the game's Mafia, something that Sachi didn't even know existed. Keita explains that he told the Mafia he could duplicate a rare item in their possession, but when he discovered that the ability to duplicate items got patched out of the game, he subsequently sold it for money, which angered the Mafia. Derrick takes the opportunity to remind Keita that the bandits are coming, which Keita acknowledges is ironically an apt description of their predicament. Keita then states that the Mafia's Don will pardon them once they replace the item, which only spawns in a Dungeon on the Floor 27, one of the hardest Floors so far, but if they fail, the Don will have them all killed.

Keita tells the Guild not to worry, as they'll have Kirito with them, who's "practically carrying this crew". Kirito is offended by this statement, as it underplays how much work he actually does, but Sachi signals him to let it go. Keita then asks what the Guild thinks of the plan. Kirito is about to mock how stupid Keita is, but, when he sees Sachi staring at him, he keeps his thoughts to himself. With the plan set in stone, Sachi points out that Keita didn't say what he'll be doing during the mission. To which Keita, once again, uses his Charisma Hat to talk his way out of going with them, teleporting away on Taft's Teleport Gate the next day. Kirito then comments that they really need to take the hat away from Keita.

On Floor 27, after hours of searching the Dungeon, Sachi realizes that Keita didn't even tell them which item they're supposed to be looking for, much to Kirito's annoyance. Gary then discovers a hidden room with a single chest inside it. Kirito quickly realizes that the chest is a trap, but Gary opens it anyway, having been set to auto-loot by Sachi to save time. After opening the chest, sirens blare and the door locks behind them. As Kirito voices his contempt for the situation, Sachi tries to reassure him, saying they might've won a prize. However, she is immediately proven wrong when the game spawns in a bunch of Slaughternauts and Murder-Golems. Kirito sarcastically comments on this, stating it must be his birthday. Sachi reminds Kirito that he promised to be nicer, to which Kirito frantically responds, "BABY STEPS!!!"

Trying to look on the bright side, Sachi says that they can get some Teleport Crystals from Gary, but he uses one of them to escape, taking the rest of the Crystals with him. The other two NPCs are quickly dealt with, one of whom had all the Healing Potions, leaving only Kirito and Sachi. The two try to fight their way out, but Sachi starts to lag, allowing a Golem to strike her across the back, fatally wounding her. As Kirito watches on in horror, Sachi tries to reassure him by saying, "This isn't... your fault." However, her lag causes her to repeat the last two words over and over before she finally dies, horrifically traumatizing Kirito.

#### Legacy

While the deaths of his friends caused Kirito to develop severe PTSD, he took the death of Sachi the hardest. He developed a trigger that compelled him to help people whenever someone said something wasn't "[his] fault", even if the person who said it was himself.

Kirito tried to retrieve an item that he thought would revive his friends, but when was faced with the reality that there was no way to bring them back, he retreated into his sarcastic persona and became unwilling to make any more emotional connections, fearing that he'd lose them too. He was eventually brought out of his self-induced loneliness by Klein and Asuna about a year later.

At some point, Kirito fought the Mafia's leader, Don Fluffles, to avenge his fallen friends, which resulted in Fluffles falling off a cliff and losing his position as head of the Mafia. When Kirito reunited with Gary, he brutally murdered him out of revenge for Sachi and the other members, although he mostly did it in the name of Sachi.

## References

1. ↑ Episode 1
2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 Episode 3
3. ↑ Episode 4
4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 Episode 8
5. ↑ Episode 5