- Yuuki redirects here. You might be looking for Yuuki Asuna, her mother, father or brother.
- Zekken redirects here. You might be looking for the story of the same name in the web version or the anime episode.
Konno Yuuki (紺野木綿季, Konno Yūki?), known as Yuuki (ユウキ, Yūki?) in «Serene Garden»,[7] «Asuka Empire»,[8] «Insect Site»,[9] and «ALfheim Online» (ALO), was the deuteragonist of the Mother's Rosario side story, and the protagonist of the Sisters' Prayer side story in the Sword Art Online series. She was the younger sister of Konno Aiko and one of the three founders and the 2nd leader of the «Sleeping Knights» guild, a group of terminally ill patients who met in Serene Garden, a virtual hospice for the terminally ill, and played various virtual reality games as a form of palliative care.
After two years of visiting a variety of virtual worlds, Yuuki and her guild eventually arrived at ALfheim Online, where she became known as Absolute Sword (絶剣, Zekken?) due to winning sixty-seven consecutive duels on the street, including one against Kirito. She was also known for creating the eleven-hit Original Sword Skill named Mother's Rosario in the game. She spent her last moments of life while logged on to ALO in Asuna's arms, surrounded by her friends and more than a thousand other players.
Appearance
Real Life
Yuuki had short, black-brown hair[10] and, in the final moments of her life, she had extremely pale skin, which made her look very sick.[11]
ALfheim Online
In ALfheim Online, Yuuki's avatar was a slim Imp with milky white with a hint of purple skin, lustrous and gorgeous, long, purplish-black hair, and red eyes. She wore obsidian chest armour, a bluebottle violet tunic and a windswept skirt of the same colour beneath the armour. A thin, black sheath hung on her waist.[12]
Personality
Yuuki was the kind of person willing to live life to the fullest even in her critical condition, when she died peacefully in happiness. She believed some things must be done in forceful means for the other party to understand.
Background
Konno Yuuki was born on May 23, 2010. Due to dystocia, a caesarean section had to be performed. An accident during this operation caused a large amount of bleeding and thus a blood transfusion was necessitated. However, the blood was tainted with the Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV), which may result in the development of the Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS). By the time the virus was detected, the entire family was already infected.[13] Although Yuuki continued to fight the disease, a group of students during the course of her fourth grade discovered that she was a carrier of HIV. As rumors about Yuuki spread around the school, she was forced to transfer schools. At that moment, Yuuki's immune system began collapsing, resulting in her being hospitalised after contracting pneumocystis pneumonia in 2022.[14] For the next year and three months,[15] she underwent severe procedures to treat the infections her body was no longer able to resist.[16]
In February 2023,[17] after contracting esophageal candidiasis, Yuuki received an offer from Doctor Kurahashi to test the first experimental Medicuboid prototype, which had just been completed. Due to the recent occurrence of the Sword Art Online Incident, few people were willing to test the FullDive machine's capabilities, though the requirements of careful maintenance and clean location for the Medicuboid would result in a drastically reduced risk of infection for the patient. While Yuuki's family was concerned by the requisite of her constant confinement to a sterile room and inability to interact with anyone, she herself was attracted by the possibilities of the virtual world and agreed to the experiment.[16] During the three years Yuuki spent constantly logged into the machine, her parents died at the end of 2023[7] and her sister Aiko followed suit in 2024.[18]
Chronology
Sisters' Prayer
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On May 11, 2024, Yuuki was dozing in the Teal Hills area of Serene Garden when Ran alerted her to a news article detailing the national police agency's plan to simultaneously release the victims of the Sword Art Online Incident from their NerveGears. The twins discussed the government's proposition to break into all the player's NerveGears and destroy the batteries at the same time, as well as Kayaba Akihiko's reason for creating the death game. As Yuuki surveyed the areas around their location, she remembered how she, her sister, and their parents had managed to spend one hour with each other in Serene Garden before the latter's deaths. When Ran proposed to gather some herbs, Yuuki agreed with the idea.
While picking herbs to accumulate enough «curren» to fully customize their house, Yuuki was apprised by Ran of a rare Royal Triton Stag Beetle, worth enough curren to purchase the large Russian stove they desired, on a nearby tree. As they had not brought any instruments for catching insects, Yuuki decided to capture it with her bare hands, thus she stealthily approached it, successfully seizing the beetle just before it could fly away. While pondering on her next course of action, she was startled when a girl appeared at her side, declaring that she had been hunting the rare insect for the past hour.
Although Yuuki claimed ownership of the stag beetle by right of first catch, she went silent when the newcomer observed that the former had no cage to safely transport the insect back to her home. Prompted by Ran, as well as realizing that the girl was better suited to take care of the beetle, Yuuki offered it to her without requesting anything in return. When Ran proposed to let her name the creature in lieu of a trade, Yuuki decided upon naming it Roy. After the insect was secured, Yuuki and Ran introduced themselves to the girl, who revealed her name to be Merida and suddenly collapsed, prompting Yuuki to catch her.
After Merida recovered, Yuuki felt concerned over the former's condition in the real world, as her presence in Serene Garden and her calm attitude towards her fainting indicated that she was suffering a brain-related issue not meant to be taken lightly. After hearing how Merida had been playing another FullDive game before Serene Garden, Yuuki agreed to her suggestion to continue their discussion over tea in the village.
In Roite Village, both Konno sisters ordered crepes at a good shop Merida knew. During the meal, Yuuki recalled how her mother used to make crepes for them and how she used to enjoy eating lunch with her friends, before the revelation that she was an HIV carrier ostracized her from everyone. Later in the conversation, the Konno twins disclosed how neither of them had been in any virtual reality world other than Serene Garden. As they expressed their reservations about the expensiveness of virtual reality games, the two were recommended to try Asuka Empire, a free-to-play game. Seeing how Ran was torn between guilt overusing their advanced FullDive machines to play games and longing to see an unknown world, Yuuki gathered enough resolve to encourage her sister to accept the invitation, and the three agreed to meet in-game at one o'clock the next day.
The next day on May 12, Yuuki activated her Medicuboid and logged into Asuka Empire with the avatar she had finished creating beforehand. As they examined their new surroundings in wonderment, Yuuki and Ran were greeted by Merida, who introduced them to the basics of Asuka Empire's mechanics. After being led to Kiyomihara, Asuka Empire's capital, and taught about the different character classes and styles in the game, Yuuki chose to become a swordswoman for the initiation quest.
After spending the following two hours to complete the quest, the three treated themselves to some sweet red bean soup to celebrate. Around sunset, when the group had finished their meal, Yuuki conversed with Merida about the different attitudes of their doctors regarding the use of FullDive to improve the quality of life of patients in palliative care. As the discussion turned to their own thoughts and feelings on virtual reality, Yuuki found herself wishing to continue feeling as happy as she did at that moment.
Several days later on May 16, having undergone a physical checkup by Doctor Kurahashi, Yuuki entered Asuka Empire, where she upgraded to a samurai class after defeating the final boss of the class advancement questline with the help of Ran and Merida. During a celebration of their success, Yuuki was praised for her skills by Merida. As Ran was usually the one to receive praise for her abilities, Yuuki guiltily felt her capabilities seemed better to Merida than her twin's only because she was using a more advanced FullDive device, and thus she accidentally revealed she was not using an AmuSphere.
With the situation salvaged by her older sister's claim that they were using modified NerveGears, the girls continued having fun with each other over the next few days, alternately playing Asuka Empire and checking on Merida's stag beetle and eating crepes in Serene Garden. On the evening of May 21, Yuuki and Ran suddenly received a request from Merida to let her visit them at their hospital for their upcoming birthdays. As Yuuki would not be able to meet Merida in person due to the Medicuboid's confidentiality, they decided to have Merida join them in Yuuki's VR room by diving via her AmuSphere from Aiko's hospital room.
However, two days later on May 23, Yuuki was notified by Ran that Merida had taken Aiko's modified NerveGear after arriving at the hospital, leaving a note detailing her plan to use it to log into Sword Art Online. However, Yuuki and Ran instead found the girl at the place they first met her, where the twins learnt about her guilt due to being unable to join her fellow beta testers in the official release of Sword Art Online. Doubting her ability to convince Merida through words alone that she could still find a purpose to live for outside of Sword Art Online, Yuuki challenged her to a duel in Asuka Empire, hoping to properly convey all of her thoughts and emotions through it.
Having moved to Asuka Empire, Yuuki and Ran met with Merida under a colossal tree on the outskirts of Kiyomihara for their duel. Although the samurai charged at the ninja the moment the duel began, Yuuki unintentionally allowed Merida to dodge and deal a counterattack due to an instinctual aversion to harming another player in a realistic world. Despite being discouraged at Merida's display of power, the girl was reassured by her friend that she herself once experienced such difficulties in player versus player combat, which allowed their battle to continue in earnest. After exchanging several intense attacks and reducing her opponent's Life Points to just below half, Yuuki was eventually able to claim victory in the duel.
2025
After the formation of the Sleeping Knights guild, Yuuki accompanied her fellow members as they journeyed through a variety of virtual worlds for about two years,[12] expanding their size to nine members along the way.[16] However, seeing as Clovis, Merida,[19] and Ran had passed away during their time together, while two more members were not expected to live more than three more months,[16] Yuuki and the others decided to create one last unforgettable memory together by accomplishing a grand achievement in the most beautiful, enjoyable, and exhilarating virtual world they could find,[12] before disbanding the guild once one more member passed away.[16] Having deemed Alfheim to be the perfect location for their goal, the guild agreed to leave their mark on the world by defeating a New Aincrad Floor Boss by themselves, in order to inscribe their names on the Monument of Swordsmen in the Black Iron Palace on the 1st Floor.[12]
January 2026
Despite their best effort, Yuuki and her guild suffered repeated failures in the battles against the 25th and 26th Floor Bosses of New Aincrad, allowing other players to successfully defeat them before the Sleeping Knights could achieve the feat themselves. As the guild still had one free slot in their party, they decided to recruit another player who could match Yuuki in power to join them in their effort.[12] To this end, Yuuki began challenging players to Duel her at an island north of Panareze on the 24th Floor around the beginning of 2026,[20] wagering her eleven-hit Original Sword Skill as a prize for whomever could beat her. For the next few days, Yuuki would continue to come to the island at 15:00 each day to face any willing challengers.[21] During this time, the girl managed to win sixty-seven consecutive battles,[12] including Duels against Leafa, Lisbeth, and Kirito.[21]
Mother's Rosario
After her latest victory on January 7, Yuuki was challenged by Asuna. Although the Imp swordswoman was able to corner her opponent in the end, she was nonetheless impressed and satisfied by her performance and thus withheld landing the final blow. Deciding that Asuna would be the perfect candidate for their boss raid party, Yuuki escorted the Undine swordswoman to meet the other members of the Sleeping Knights in Ronbaru on the 27th Floor, where they explained their request to her. After Asuna eventually agreed to help them, Yuuki and the others came to an agreement to begin preparations for the 27th Floor Boss battle the following day.
The following day on January 8, the Sleeping Knights entered the Labyrinth on the 27th Floor, where they spent the next hour avoiding monster encounters as they navigated to the boss chamber. Upon reaching their goal, however, the party discovered three players hiding just outside the doors. As the three players alleged to have only been hiding from monsters while waiting for their friends to arrive, the Sleeping Knights decided to ignore them and entered the room for their first attempt at defeating the Floor Boss, which proved to be unsuccessful. After respawning in Ronbaru, Yuuki and the others learned from Asuna that she had noticed a Peeping spell having been cast on them by the players outside the boss room, allowing the players to observe their battle in order to gain information on the boss before summoning a raid party from their guild to vanquish it themselves. However, still having time to beat the boss before the guild could organise their own raid party, the Sleeping Knights they returned to the Labyrinth after a quick strategy discussion.
When the Sleeping Knights made their way to the boss room again, they found that about half the guild was there blocking the doors to the chamber. When Yuuki confirmed with the leader of the group that they had no intention to let the Sleeping Knights pass, she candidly and casually decided to fight their way through, much to shock of the leader and Asuna. With the appearance and help of Kirito and Klein, the Sleeping Knights managed to defeat the players obstructing their path, and reenter the room. After a difficult battle, the Sleeping Knights were able to defeat the boss. Shortly before they did, though, Yuuki subconsciously called Asuna as her older sister.
Yuuki hesitated when Asuna expressed a desire to know her better. The group, however, decided to have a party at Asuna's house, while they reminisced about their experiences. When Asuna asked to join the Sleeping Knights, the atmosphere became gloomy as the group seemed to be concerned about something. To reduce the tension, Asuna reminded the group about the Monument of Swordsmen and they all traveled there to see their names on the monument. At the monument, after the group took a picture, Yuuki called Asuna as her older sister again. When Asuna pointed it out, Yuuki began crying and logged off without a word.
Three days later on January 11, Yuuki met with Asuna at Yokohama Kōhoku General Hospital, where Yuuki was being treated. On her request, Doctor Kurahashi allowed Asuna to borrow the neighboring room, which Doctor Kurahashi usually used to log in to talk to Yuuki. After Asuna arrived at the spot of their first meeting in ALO, Yuuki confessed that she was very happy that Asuna had found her. Yuuki revealed to her how the Sleeping Knights had met and why they were really trying to engrave their names on the Monument of Swordsmen. At the end of their conversation, when Asuna asked Yuuki what places she would like to visit, Yuuki shared her wish to see a real school.
On January 12, through a Bidirectional Communication Probe made by Kazuto, Yuuki was able to enjoy the school at the SAO Survivor School and was able to see her old home once more before it was torn down. Yuuki, by talking to Asuna, was able to inspire her to help her mother see her point of view.
On March 29, 2026, Yuuki's condition suddenly deteriorated, and Asuna rushed to the hospital, learning that Yuuki's death was close at hand. Yuuki logged onto ALO one last time to pass on her Original Sword Skill to Asuna. Yuuki passed away peacefully in Asuna's arms, surrounded by her friends, the Sleeping Knights, Asuna's other friends and many players who came to pay tribute to the «Absolute Sword».
Non-canon Chronology
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Non Canon: Some or all events and details given in this section, may be considered non-canon to the main story. |
Hollow Fragment
Shortly after the defeat of Heathcliff in the Ruby Palace, Yuuki found herself mysteriously transported to a strange area in the skies above Aincrad, next to another player. Having introduced herself to the player, who named himself as Kirito, Yuuki inquired on their location, becoming stunned when she learnt that they were in Sword Art Online. Impressed by the boy's revelation that he had cleared the game, the girl, doubting they would have much time to interact, requested to spar with him, to which the Black Swordsman agreed. After Kirito won their First Strike duel, Yuuki complimented him on his strength and thanked him for granting her wish in the short time they had. She expressed her desire to meet with the boy again, promising to grow stronger by then, before disappearing from the area.
Skills
ALfheim Online
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Sword Skills
One-Handed Sword
Original Sword Skills
- Mother's Rosario (11-hit)
Notable Achievements
- Created an 11-Hit Original Sword Skill - Mother's Rosario
- Took part in the defeat of the 27th-29th Floor Bosses of New Aincrad
- Became the 4th ALO champion swordsman
- First tester of the Medicuboid
Gallery
Trivia
- The name Yuuki (木綿季?) comes from the last two kanji in Crinum (浜木綿, Hamayuu?) and Season (季, Ki?), as, in the web novel, Yuuki was born at a time when the Crinums bloomed.[22]
- Yuuki refers to herself using the personal pronoun boku (ボク?), which establishes a sense of masculinity and, thus, characterises Yuuki as a tomboy.[12]
- Yuuki also acknowledged Kirito as being as strong a player as Asuna, yet she did not ask for his help because he had discovered her secret as a user of the Medicuboid.[12]
- Kirito claimed that if Yuuki had played SAO, she would have been the one to receive the Dual Blades skill, as her reaction speed was greater than his.[21]
- As a Medicuboid user, she was one of the few people who had more playtime than the "survivors from the SAO incident", having been logged on for over three years continuously.[16]
- The fact that Yuuki's given name is pronounced the same as Asuna's family name has been the source of several jokes throughout the series:
- When one of Asuna's classmates called Asuna by her family name, Yuuki mistakenly believed that the classmate was talking to her.[23]
- Yuuki jokingly proposed marriage to Asuna and told her that Asuna would have to join Yuuki's family, because if Yuuki joined Asuna's family she would be named Yuuki Yuuki.[23]
- Yuuki is the second person known to have used their real name as their in-game name (the first being Asuna).
- Kirito claimed that, even with Dual Blades, he believed it would have been impossible for him to win against Yuuki.[24]. However, the author has claimed that if Kirito was using Excalibur as his second sword, he would probably win in a duel against Yuuki due to the difference in stats.[25]
- In Sword Art Online: Hollow Fragment, Yuuki is available as a partner for Kirito and can be recruited if the player starts up a new game, but only if Kirito chooses to investigate the strange area after he defeats Heathcliff.
- Yuuki is playable in Dengeki Bunko FIGHTING CLIMAX IGNITION via downloadable content (DLC) for the console version.[26] She is currently the only playable character to be released via DLC for the FIGHTING CLIMAX games.[citation needed]
- By the time Yuuki started using the Medicuboid, she had been infected with Cytomegalovirus and nontuberculous mycobacteria.[16]
- In the light novel, Doctor Kurahashi claimed that Yuuki was born in 2011.[13] However, in Sisters' Prayer, Doctor Kurahashi stated that Yuuki's 14th birthday was in 2024, meaning that she was born in 2010.[27]
- In an official character popularity poll hosted by Dengeki Bunko for the cover of abec Art Works, Yuuki ranked second.[28]
References
- ↑ Volume 7, Prologue
- ↑ Tweet by the author about Yuuki's birthday
- ↑ According to Sisters' Prayer part 5, Yuuki's fourteenth birthday was on May 23, 2024
- ↑ Tweet by the author about Yuuki's death
- ↑ Official anime site credit page.
- ↑ Anipex of America Announcement[Clarification needed]
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 Sisters' Prayer Part 1
- ↑ Sisters' Prayer Part 4
- ↑ Volume 7, Chapter 7
- ↑ SII Episode 24
- ↑ Volume 7, Chapter 11
- ↑ 12.0 12.1 12.2 12.3 12.4 12.5 12.6 12.7 Volume 7, Chapter 3
- ↑ 13.0 13.1 Volume 7, Chapter 8
- ↑ Three and a half years before her meeting with Asuna, according to Volume 7, Chapter 9.
- ↑ Sisters' Prayer Prologue
- ↑ 16.0 16.1 16.2 16.3 16.4 16.5 16.6 Volume 7, Chapter 9
- ↑ A year and three months after she contracted AIDS, according to Sisters' Prayer, Prologue.
- ↑ One year prior to her meeting with Yuuki, according to Volume 7, Chapter 9.
- ↑ Volume 7, Chapter 12
- ↑ Rumors of Yuuki's challenge began spreading about a week before the events of Volume 7, Chapter 1
- ↑ 21.0 21.1 21.2 Volume 7, Chapter 1
- ↑ Yuuki's Q&A session in the 3rd popularity contest by Kunori Fumio (EX00 Face to Face)
- ↑ 23.0 23.1 Volume 7, Chapter 10
- ↑ Q&A session in the 3rd popularity contest by Kunori Fumio (EX00 Face to Face)
- ↑ A tweet by the author.
- ↑ Dengeki Online article
- ↑ Sisters' Prayer Part 5
- ↑ Official character popularity poll on the Dengeki Bunko website
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