Astral Online: Cursed by the Demon Lord to Become the Strongest Beautiful Girl, I Rapidly Grow and Dominate with Cheat Skills Despite Being the Weakest Profession - Chapter 115
Chapter 115: Ghosts and New Powers
Growing from his head were two sharp horns, extending backward.
His hair was a fiery crimson color, and his gentle eyes carried a deep golden hue.
From his chin extended a red beard, a characteristic unique to the dragonkin race.
His back was so well-toned that it was clear he’d been training for many years.
??”A calamity is approaching this land. Please protect my grandchild.”
The elderly dragonkin, with a translucent body, definitely looked at me and said that.
As if he were pleading.
Sora couldn’t understand what the old man was saying at all and was confused, wondering what was going on.
After voicing his request, the old man smiled and, along with the rising steam, disappeared as if he had been an illusion.
“Hey, wait!?”
Sora reached out to call to him, but it was already too late.
The presence of the old man, who had been right in front of her just moments ago, vanished, and Sora could no longer sense him anywhere in the space.
At the same time, the notification for completing the quest shows up, resulting in a large amount of experience points and currency ?El? being awarded.
My level went from 56 to 57.
Kuro’s level went from 51 to 52.
While leveling up was exciting and the secret bonus was intriguing, now was not the time to focus on that.
?Lucifel?, the support system analyzing the situation, succinctly provided the answer I was most seeking based on my mental state.
?Master, ghost-type dragonkin has vanished. There are no ghosts anywhere in this field.?
Ghost-type?
Sora looked puzzled.
In other words, this meant that the old man was a ghost.
In fantasy games like this, ghosts are not particularly rare. They usually appear in places that match the map’s characteristics, such as an old mansion, a graveyard, or dark underground areas.
Or they might show up in scenarios where the character had died, but the presence of that old man felt incredibly strong. Even stronger than Hart-san, the level 156 beta player.
It was hard to imagine he had died fighting some run-of-the-mill monster.
Moreover, the timing of his appearance and the image of the old man were bothering me.
The boss monster, the ?Skeleton King?, was soaking in the hot springs, and after we defeated it, the half-naked old man appeared.
From my years of experience in VR games, two main possibilities can be inferred.
The first is that the old man who appeared before us is actually the true form of the ?Skeleton King?.
The second possibility is that he had been trapped inside that monster and was only able to escape after the third defeat.
I can’t tell for sure if it’s the first or second case at the moment, but he seems like some sort of important messenger character who’s here to tell us something significant.
It’s reasonable to think that this NPC character appearing after we completed the quest means that defeating the ?Skeleton King? three times was the trigger for his event.
?I see, so that’s why the same boss shamelessly reappeared after being defeated multiple times, Master?
?Lucifel?, the support system, responded in a surprisingly snarky way.
I mentally nodded at the sarcastic remark, and from the old man’s words about being “freed from the Demon Lord’s curse” and asking us to “protect his grandchild from disaster,” I reached a conclusion.
If I take his words at face value, he is likely Alice’s grandfather—or perhaps Satanas’ grandfather.
Or maybe both—
“Sora!”
“!? ”
As I stood there lost in thought, with my arms crossed over my chest, someone suddenly hugged me tightly from behind.
Kuro…?
Along with a soft sensation pressing against my back, a floral scent from the girl’s in-game perfume tickled my nose, as she trembled.
Glancing back, I saw the black-haired girl with teary eyes, quivering as she asked about the old man who had just vanished.
“Th-that was… a-a g-g-ghost!?”
Kuro’s face was pale, and she was so terrified that the VR headset might even detect an abnormal state and forcibly activate some emergency restriction.
Her fear didn’t seem like an act. She was trembling from genuine terror.
Ah, so Kuro’s not good with ghosts, huh?
Technically speaking, since it falls under the ghost category in the game, that old man was indeed a ghost.
But since it wasn’t designed to be a scary ghost, even someone like me, who doesn’t do well with horror, didn’t find it frightening at all. Still, Kuro seemed really scared of it.
I could have reassured her by saying it wasn’t what she thought, but I was a little curious about how she’d react, so I decided to tell her the truth.
“Well, if you’re asking if that was a ghost, then yeah, it was.”
“Knew it!”
“In fantasy games, they show up pretty regularly. According to my ?Insight? skill, this game classifies it as a ghost-type enemy.”
“Ghost…”
“Kuro, you know, that’s just the beginning. You might face even scarier ones later on, like ghosts of girls with long hair crawling toward you at high speed, for instance.”
“W-whaaa?!”
Kuro tightened her hug around Sora’s body.
A normal high school boy would be thrilled to be hugged by a cute girl, especially if she pressed her chest against the boy. But the world isn’t so kind as to let Sora enjoy that.
“Ow ow ow ow ow ow ow ow!”
The full force of Kuro’s level 51 strength was much stronger than Sora had expected, delivering pain right up to the safety limits of the VR headset, without triggering any protective measures.
To put it simply, it felt like being crushed by a small motorcycle.
“Kuro, stop! I’m gonna be crushed!”
“I’m scared of ghosts…”
It seemed my cries weren’t reaching her at all due to her terror.
Tears welled up at the corners of the black-haired girl’s eyes as she trembled.
It was an adorable sight, really, but being squeezed by those thin arms with unbelievable power was scarier than fighting most monsters.
In this hellish situation where I was neither fully alive nor dead, Alice stood beside me, lightly tapping Kuro’s shoulder, and explained who the old man was.
“Kuro-sama, you don’t need to be so scared. I recognize that old man. It was hard to tell from a distance, but I’m pretty sure he was the former Dragon King, my grandfather.”
“Your grandpa…?” Kuro, still hugging Sora tightly with teary eyes, tilted her head in confusion.
Alice nodded with a reassuring smile.
“Yes, that’s right. He was my master in fencing, a gentle and strong man who was very dependable. He passed away two years ago. I don’t know why he appeared here as a ghost, but he’s not a scary ghost.”
With Alice’s words, Kuro seemed to calm down. After taking a few deep breaths, she loosened her grip on Sora.
“…Then, maybe… it’s not so scary… probably.”
*Probably*, huh. It seems Kuro really can’t handle ghosts at all. Despite her efforts, she was still visibly struggling, clenching her fists and repeating to herself, “Not scary, not scary, not scary,” like a chant.
Finally freed, I stroked Kuro’s head softly, while staring off into the distance and considering what might lie ahead. If we end up fighting ghost-type monsters, Kuro might struggle…
Though I wasn’t too eager about it, I might need to train her a bit in other horror-themed VR games to prepare her.
Having narrowly escaped what was easily one of the top three most difficult situations I’ve faced since starting this game, I suggested to everyone that we leave the area once Kuro had calmed down.
“Y-yeah, let’s get out of here, quickly!”
“Agreed. The problem is solved, so let’s hurry back to the surface, stay the night, and head back to the capital tomorrow.”
Once Kuro and Alice agreed, we set off, with me leading, Alice and Satanas in the middle, and Kuro guarding the rear.
On our way back, in the large area where we had previously defeated a mid-boss, as expected, or perhaps unsurprisingly, five Dragonkin worshippers of the ?Demon Dragon King? Belial launched a surprise attack, aiming for Satanas.
However, we were no longer the same as when we first fought.
Kuro and Alice, having learned Sora’s defensive techniques, had improved so much that they effortlessly deflected the enemies’ skill attacks.
While the two faced off against one enemy each, the remaining three focused their attacks on me, the party leader.
But with my ?Enchanter? skill level at 90, and the newly evolved ?Speed Boost Enhancement IV? stacked five times, I used my new high-speed movement skill, ?Accelerator?.
I moved so fast that I disappeared from the enemies’ sight, leaving even afterimages behind.
Then, unleashing an unseeable flurry of attacks, I completely wiped out the level 70 enemies in just two minutes.