Hoshiyama Midoriko

Hoshiyama Midoriko (星山 翠子), known as Zeliska (ツェリスカ) in Gun Gale Online (GGO), is an original Sword Art Online game character and one of the heroines in Sword Art Online: Fatal Bullet. She is a very skilled Gun Gale Online player, yet is very mysterious in her nature. Despite being known by many GGO players for her high skill, she does not appear on any Ranking Leaderboards, leading other players to refer to her as the Uncrowned Queen (無冠の女王).

Gun Gale Online
Midoriko's avatar Zeliska has red eyes, white hair that rests on her left shoulder, a small mole below her left eye, and a single earring on her left ear. Her outfit is prominently in royal purple, featuring white patterns. Her belt is accompanied by two pouches on the right side of her hip. Her canon choice of weaponry is an optical shotgun called Peacock as her primary, as well as an MG Karymsky that resembles a real life PKM (Kalashnikov's Machine-gun Modernized) as her secondary.

Personality
Zeliska is a mysterious character who is not very revealing about herself but is very frank when talking about others. She does not avoid being honest and direct in a conversation, if she believes that to be the right thing to do. This also correlates with her mature and supportive attitude towards the people she cares about. She has a very tranquil and focused personality and rarely loses her calm, even in the gravest situations.

Zeliska has a preference for cute outfits ; however, due to being very self-conscious about the style of her outfits, Zeliska instead prefers to dress her ArFA-Sys Unit Daisy in such outfits, assuming that they would not look good on her.

Fatal Bullet
One day, Zeliska encountered the Protagonist and their ArFA-Sys Unit in SBC Glocken, conversing with her own ArFA-Sys Type-X unit, named Daisy. As the new player was still unfamiliar with Gun Gale Online, Zeliska approached them out of concern that they might be neglecting their Artificial Intelligence (AI) companion. When her fears were proven misguided, the woman expressed her interest in interacting further with the pair in the future, before departing the area with Daisy.

Some time later, Zeliska and Daisy found Afasys, the Protagonist's ArFA-Sys Unit, lingering in front of a store in SBC Glocken due to lacking funds to purchase equipment for their master. As Afasys was unable to find their way back to the Protagonist's residence, the two escorted them back home. There, Zeliska scolded the Protagonist for leaving Afasys unsupervised, only to discover that the new player was ignorant of the ArFA-Sys units' allowance function. To prevent the issue from repeating itself, the woman explained the mechanics of the system to them, before taking her leave with Daisy.

Having heard an announcement that a new area called the SBC Flügel would be implemented in an update soon, Zeliska hoped to join both the Protagonist and Afasys in exploring it upon release. To that effect, she advised the duo to defeat the field bosses in the various regions in order to find the last of certain components the ArFA-sys Unit would need to unlock the new area, as well as to actually reach the location where the ship would be implemented.<!-- Afterward, the woman would periodically check on the pair's progress, satisfied to see they would ready be ready in time for the patch. Immediately following a conversation she had with Itsuki and Kureha regarding the Protagonist's accomplishments, Zeliska received an official announcement that the SBC Flügel had finally been released{Poor intro clause -Gsi}, whereupon the gunwoman attempted to enter the update area alongside Daisy so she could join the Protagonist in traversing the ship once the latter was ready.{What's the point of this sentence? -Gsi} Having gained access to the SBC Flügel with relative ease, the two were on their way to see how the others were faring when they noticed Afasys racing towards SBC Glocken's observatory in obvious distress. While wondering what could have happened, they encountered a panicked Protagonist, who to Zeliska's shock revealed that they had failed to beat the ship's Gatekeeper boss guarding the entrance, which led to the ArFA-Sys Unit running away. Concerned at the group's difficulty with the boss and Afasys's reaction towards their perceived failure{This whole clause is a whole lot of nothing -Gsi}, the woman disclosed where she had seen the ArFA-Sys Unit and counseled the Protagonist to discuss the matter with their android.

Not long afterwards, Zeliska and Daisy located Afasys and the Protagonist just outside the SBC Flügel to check their progress. Pleased and relieved to learn the duo had successfully vanquished the Gatekeeper, the woman offered to partner with them in exploring the ship, hoping to witness the Protagonist grow into one of GGO's strongest players. Her proposition having been accepted on the condition that she also work alongside the Protagonist's friends, the four returned to SBC Glocken, where they discussed with Kirito's group over creating a squadron for convenience of access to the new area. Zeliska declined participating in a battle royale to decide the squadron leader, preferring instead to referee the match between the contenders: Kirito, Kureha, the Protagonist, Sinon, and Yuuki. During the celebration of the squadron's establishment following the Protagonist's victory in the fight, the woman learned from the new squad leader that Kureha had disappeared from the festivities, whereupon she elected to look for her. Having found the girl brooding over her defeat in the streets of SBC Glocken, Zeliska comforted Kureha over her fear of being overshadowed by the Protagonist, encouraging her not to repress her feelings and refuting her critical self-assessment.

A short time later, Zeliska joined the other members of the Protagonist's squadron as they began their expedition into the SBC Flügel, where they encountered a sealed door that blocked access to the deeper areas of the dungeon. In the process of searching for keycards to unlock the door, Zeliska and the others opted to briefly return to SBC Glocken for a break. As they entered a bar for refreshments, they noticed one of the bar's monitors streaming an MMO Stream broadcast featuring XeXeeD. While watching the program, the group witnessed a cloaked player approach the holo-panel and accost XeXeeD for his haughty attitude, before shooting at the screen with a pistol. To everyone's surprise, XeXeeD abruptly disconnected with a pained expression almost immediately afterwards, as if he had been killed by the mysterious player's bullet. Although Zeliska was perturbed by the entire affair, she disquietly refused to believe there was a link between the cloaked player's actions and XeXeeD's disconnection.

Sometime later, Zeliska was contacted by Kirito to visit him in his residence, where he requested her and the rest of the Protagonist's squadron to discontinue playing Gun Gale Online for a time. When they pressed him for an explanation, they learned that XeXeeD and another player named Usujio Tarako had died in real life while apparently in FullDive. Remembering what she had seen with XeXeeD earlier, Zeliska relayed the event to Kirito, who further disclosed that Usujio Tarako had also disconnected right after being shot by the same cloaked player, who called himself Death Gun. Though disconcerted by the implication Death Gun had caused both players' real-life deaths, Zeliska refused to temporarily stop playing GGO, insisting people could no longer be killed from within a game due to the safety measures enacted after the Sword Art Online Incident.

Having located all the keycards, Zeliska and the others returned to the SBC Flügel to unlock the door, through which they proceeded to the dungeon's depths, frequently returning to SBC Glocken for resupplying. During these breaks, the woman grew closer to the Protagonist, confiding in them how she used her playtime in GGO to briefly escape the stresses of her real-world problems, particular those caused by her boss. This culminated in her receiving a Victoria era-themed costume made by Daisy with the Protagonist's indirect assistance, which Zeliska had secretly wanted to wear. Pleasantly surprised at the gift, she thanked the Protagonist for their role in its creation, promising to visit Agil's real-life cafe together someday once they could accept her real-life self.

Soon, Zeliska and the rest of the Protagonist's squadron reached the lowest part of the SBC Flügel's depths. There, they eventually found the mainframe of Mother Claudia, the corrupted Artificial Intelligence (AI) governing the ship's core system, being guarded by the final boss of the SBC Flügel questline. Although she acknowledged it might be wiser to follow the intended strategy of clearing the quest via formatting the system, which would delete Mother Claudia, Zeliska approved of the Protagonist's decision to instead fight the Wary Hierophant boss so Afasys could physically connect to the mainframe. Once they had vanquished the boss and repaired Mother Claudia, the group returned to SBC Glocken to celebrate being the first ones to complete the quest series.

During the festivities, Zeliska noticed Itsuki had stepped outside for a while. Wondering why the man would exclude himself from the party when he had seemed to be enjoying himself earlier, she and Bazalt Joe attempted to convince him to return but were rebuffed. After the celebration, however, the woman and all the other players were suddenly disconnected from GGO's server. Though Zeliska was able to log back in the next day, she felt concerned how such a phenomenon could happen in a Seed-based game. Nonetheless, the woman assembled with the rest of the squadron in the Protagonist's room for a hunting expedition in an attempt to distract themselves from the incident. However, the discussion was disrupted when Kureha was incited to challenge the Protagonist to a duel, which resulted in the girl leaving the squadron and severing communications with everyone. Sensing the affair had been spurred by Kureha's insecurities, Zeliska comforted the Protagonist over their friend's departure, reassuring them the girl would eventually come back. Regretfully, the woman informed them she was also temporarily leaving the squadron to focus on matters in both virtual reality and real life and would not be reachable until then but promised to return once she was finished.

Sometime later, Zeliska received a message seemingly sent by Death Gun, who challenged her to fight him and threatened to target her friends if she resisted. As she had begun to suspect the mysterious gunman had inside access to Zaskar if he really did commit his murders, the woman secured Daisy's safety before accepting the challenge. Having received an invitation and a NerveGear at her real-world address, Midoriko equipped the device and followed the instructions to log in at a designated date and time. To her shock, she found herself in an unfamiliar place seemingly in GGO, with Afasys, Kureha and the Protagonist nearby and Itsuki joining almost immediately afterward. Seeing the logout button was disabled, Zeliska conferred with the other players, who revealed they had also received threatening messages and NerveGears from Death Gun. Concerned at how the mysterious gunman had acquired their real life addresses, the gunwoman divulged her occupation as a Zaskar programmer and warned everyone to stay together while they searched the area for Death Gun.

During their exploration, Zeliska confessed to the Protagonist her suspicions that either Death Gun or an accomplice of his were operating inside Zaskar, as well as how she had sought to obtain as much evidence as possible before reporting her findings to a trustworthy superior. However, she had never expected or intended for any of them to get involved in the situation with her, but still felt grateful they all had given her something important to protect other than herself. Relieved to find that their friend still valued her the same even after learning of her employment under the same company operating GGO, the gunwoman accepted their plan to confront Death Gun and survive his death game trap together. Therefore, she followed the Protagonist deeper into the area, where they were teleported into an arena with a powerful boss monster, The GM.

To Zeliska's surprise, they managed to defeat The GM without serious injury. While the group contemplated Death Gun's conspicuous absence, they were suddenly contacted by Yui, who revealed they were actually in a separate VR space from GGO. Then Kirito was transported to their location, who explained that the real Death Gun and his accomplice, whose actual names were Shinkawa Shouichi (Sterben) and Kyouji (Spiegel), had already been arrested; the Death Gun who had sent them the messages and NerveGears was only an imposter. To the team's shock, Itsuki announced he was the one who orchestrated the creation of the death game area; his entire plan was to manipulate the Protagonist into relying on him alone. Then everyone else was forced to contend with the appearance of Last Judgment, an even stronger variant of The GM.

With the arrival of the rest of the squadron reinforcing them, Zeliska and the others succeeded in vanquishing the boss, whereupon they confronted Itsuki, who had retreated to a safer, elevated position in the meantime. The woman attempted to convince the man to surrender, declaring it was not too late for him to atone for his actions. However, when he refused, she could only watch as the Protagonist used the Ultimate Fiber Gun (UFG) to reach and engage in a standoff with Itsuki, which only ended once the system began an emergency shutdown of the death game area, logging everyone out.

Shortly afterward, Zeliska, Afasys, Kureha, and the Protagonist were debriefed by Kirito on how Itsuki had purposefully given everyone misinformation about his real life, so his current whereabout were still unknown. During the explanation, Zeliska revealed that Python, the man's associate who had assisted him in creating the death game area, was also her boss at Zaskar. To her surprise, she learned the devices she and Kureha had been given were just disguised AmuSpheres, meaning only Itsuki and the Protagonist were in any real danger. Although she acknowledged Itsuki must have had his reasons from what he had done, the gunwoman refused to forgive him for his attempt to kill them. Nonetheless, she expressed her gratitude that they had all survived. After the Protagonist took a moment to rest, the woman followed them and the others to Kirito's home for a party celebrating their safe return.

Sometime later, Zeliska joined Sinon and the rest of the Protagonist's squadron on a mission to ambush a large company of player killers. Once their targets were in range, the girls initiated the first strike of their surprise attack before withdrawing, eventually teleporting with everyone else to safety on top of a ruined skyscraper, where they watched Kirito and the Protagonist launch their counterassault.-->

Trivia

 * Zeliska, along with Kureha, has a cameo appearance in Sword Art Online Alicization Episode 01, where the two are shown playing billiards.
 * Midoriko's birthday was chosen to be May 6, known as Rikka or the first day of summer according to East Asian solar terms, as summer is the season of fresh verdure, while the name Midoriko is formed from the words "green" and "child".
 * Midoriko's avatar name Zeliska originates from an Austrian-made revolver named Pfeifer Zeliska, as it is one of the most powerful handguns in the world.

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