Sword Art Online Episode 03

The Red-Nosed Reindeer (赤鼻のトナカイ) is the third episode of the Sword Art Online anime adaptation. It aired on July 21, 2012.

Plot
On April 8, 2023; at the 11th Floor main town: Taft, the members of the «Black Cats of the Full Moon» guild were celebrating because Kirito had appeared and saved them.



The guild leader, Keita, extended an invitation to Kirito after he learned that he was a solo player. Hiding his true level, Kirito joined as a temporary member until the guild could be independent without him. Kirito was also asked to help with the stat development of another player named Sachi. A month later, Kirito and the guild were seen training in the Sunshine Forest on the 20th Floor, where Kirito assisted the guild in taking down a Killer Mantis.



To maintain his own level, Kirito kept sneaking out at night to go grind in the higher floor Labyrinths. After coming back from his self-leveling, he received a message from Keita, saying that Sachi had gone missing and that they were looking for her in the Labyrinth. He quickly found her within the drains of the city with the help of his «Tracking» skill. After learning that she was incredibly afraid of dying, Kirito tried his best to reassure her, constantly telling her that he would not let her die. Afterwards Kirito would commonly comfort Sachi whenever she was afraid, thus helping her sleep by being by her side.



Less than a month later, when the group finally collected 20,000 Col - enough to purchase a guild home, Keita teleported to the Starting City to purchase a new base for the guild. With the leader’s absence, the other members decided that they should surprise Keita by going to the higher level Labyrinths to acquire new items. The group (minus Keita) traveled to the 27th Floor Labyrinth where, after finishing their hunting quota, they found a hidden door. Ducker, the guild's thief, picked the lock and opened the chest, but his trap countering skill was not high enough. This caused a continuously respawning swarm of monsters to surround them, and turned the area into an Anti-Crystal Area with the only exit being sealed. Kirito tried to defend himself and reach Sachi while witnessing the other members fall one by one due to their low levels. Despite Kirito's effort to protect her, Sachi was killed as well. After surviving the trap, Kirito informed Keita about the demise of the other members, and told him that he had known about the possible trap since he was at a higher level due to being a «Beater». Keita cursed him and leaped off the Aincrad's edge into the endless sky.



Several months later, on December 24, 2023, Kirito met with the information broker Argo the Rat, questioning her about the location of the Christmas event boss. Obsessed about the possibility of a revival item, Kirito hoped to hear Sachi's last words. It did not matter to him whether she hated him or not, he would take all her anger. As it was nearly time for Christmas Eve, Kirito changed into better equipment and headed off to a 35th Floor dungeon, the Forest of Wandering. Along the way, Kirito was followed by Klein and his guild, Fuurinkazan. Klein initially wanted to fight alongside with Kirito against the Christmas boss, however the plan changed when another guild, the Divine Dragon Alliance, appeared near their location. Klein and his guild members decided to hold off the opposing guild while Kirito handled the boss.

Kirito challenged the monster, Nicholas The Renegade, without even listening to the boss’s opening dialogue. He won the battle with barely any HP left, but was devastated after gaining the reward, as it turned out that the revival item could only save a player during their ten-second «End Phase» and not a player who had perished a long time ago. He halfheartedly returned to meet up with Klein who was waiting for him. After handing Klein the revival item, the «Divine Stone of Returning Soul», Kirito started walking off into the distance, before he was stopped by Klein, who asked him to live on till the end.



Kirito then headed back to his home and sulked in front of his desk while waiting for morning. Suddenly, Kirito was alerted by an incoming message in his inventory. To his surprise, he learnt that Sachi had set a timed message to appear at Christmas Day. After engaging the recording crystal, Kirito listened to the sound of Sachi’s voice, telling him that her death was not his fault. She muses on how her death was inevitable, and asked Kirito to fulfill her wishes. She ends the message by humming "Rudolph the Red-nosed Reindeer" and thanking Kirito for all the time he had spent with her.

New Characters

 * Keita
 * Sachi
 * Tetsuo
 * Sasamaru
 * Ducker
 * Argo

Named Monsters

 * Nicholas The Renegade
 * Killer Mantis

Guilds

 * Black Cats of the Full Moon
 * Fuurinkazan
 * Divine Dragon Alliance
 * Knights of the Blood (Mentioned)

Inventory

 * Kirito
 * Rubber Plate
 * Metal Plate
 * Silver Chest Guard
 * Cardboard Armor
 * Breastplate of Steel
 * Guard Suit
 * Silver Plate
 * Metal Boots
 * Black Boots
 * Timer-Activated Message Record Crystal - Received from Sachi
 * Klein
 * Divine Stone of Returning Soul - Received from Kirito

Locations

 * Aincrad Floor 11: Taft
 * Aincrad Floor 20: Sunshine Forest
 * Aincrad Floor 27: Labyrinth
 * Aincrad Floor 28: Wolf Plains
 * Aincrad Floor 35: Forest of Wandering
 * Aincrad Floor 49: Myujen

Adaptation Notes

 * Adapted from Volume 2, Red-nosed Reindeer.


 * The anime does not show that Klein met Kirito while he was training and that they talked about the Christmas event.
 * In the anime, Klein and his group are shown fighting off some wolf-like creatures on the 28th Floor before the death of the Black Cats of the Full Moon, whereas in the novel they were training against an ant-like monster on the 46th Floor just 5 days away from the Christmas event.
 * In the anime, the members of the Black Cats die on the 12th of June, while in The Day After it is revealed that they died on the 22nd of June.
 * Argo does not make an appearance in the light novel, but was mentioned by Klein during their conversation.
 * The initial story of how Kirito meets up with the Black Cats is not portrayed in the anime.
 * In the novel, Sachi was using a cloak that granted invisibility when Kirito finds her.
 * There is no mention of the shared inventory window between Kirito and Sachi in the anime.
 * Kirito and Sachi do not actually sleep in one bed, only in the same room in the novel.
 * In the Light Novel, it was stated that Klein negotiated with the Divine Dragon Alliance to have a 1-on-1 duel between him and a member of the Alliance to decide their next course of action. Because of this, only Klein was tired after the match, but in the anime it looks as if everyone in the Fuurinkazan guild fought against the DDA guild.
 * Sachi doesn't exactly sing "Rudolph the Red-nosed Reindeer" in the anime, instead she hums it.
 * Although in the anime it isn't mentioned, but Nicholas actually dropped a whole bag of loot. The Divine Stone of Returning Soul was only 1 of the dropped rewards.

Quotes

 * "Willpower is what seperates us from the clearers; the determination to protect one's friends.... no, everyone. Right now, they are still protecting us." - Keita
 * "In this world, the dead won't return." - Kirito
 * "Kirito... Kirito! Your have to survive. Survive until the end please..." - Klein
 * "Even if I die, you keep living okay? Live to see the end of this world, and to see why it was born. Live to see why a weak girl like me ended up here... And the reason you and I met." - Sachi

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