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 152

Chapter 152: The Morning of the New Semester

 

As the morning light hit her face, Sora Kamijo slowly woke up and let out a big yawn.

 

Starting today, there’s no need for morning jogs or anything like that unless it’s a holiday, so she felt more relaxed.

 

She moved to the edge of the bed, placed her feet on the floor, and carefully stood up. She still wasn’t fully used to the changes in her limbs’ length, but it wasn’t a problem.

 

After a light stretch to check if there were any issues with her movements, Sora turned her gaze to the brand-new short-sleeved white shirt and navy-blue pants of the Kamisato High School boys’ uniform, which she had prepared the night before.

 

A sigh escaped her as she thought, ‘The time has finally come.’

 

Starting today, it was the beginning of the new school term.

 

Summer vacation had ended, and school was starting again.

 

The thing that scared her the most was how her classmates and the other students would react to seeing her like this, but she believed she could get through it with Shinji and Shiro by her side.

 

Sora took several deep breaths, then removed the short-sleeved T-shirt and shorts she had been wearing, leaving her in just a sports bra and boxer briefs.

 

First, she put on the short-sleeved white shirt, followed by the long navy-blue pants.

 

“Ah, wearing boys’ clothes really does feel right.”

 

The uniform, newly tailored to fit her body, was a perfect size. There were no issues with how it felt.

 

Since her unruly silver hair was bothersome, she tied it loosely at the back as usual.

 

After pulling on long black socks, her preparations were mostly complete.

 

Finally, Sora checked herself to make sure there were no issues with her appearance. She grabbed her fully charged smartphone and her black bag, then headed downstairs.

 

In the living room, her younger sister Shiori and Shino, dressed in a black suit, were already there. And next to them was…

 

—An angel.

 

Of course, it wasn’t one of those shady silver-haired people from ?Astral Online?.

 

She had the same waist-length silver hair as her. Her round, emerald eyes sparkled.

 

Wearing a white one-piece sailor uniform with a red scarf, and black tights underneath, the angel’s name was Kurono Takanashi.

 

Holding a black bag, presumably filled with stationery and other essentials, she stood straight and, upon seeing Sora, happily jogged over, twirling like a model as she showed off her outfit.

 

If someone like Inori had done this, it might have seemed a bit much, but when someone as pure and innocent as Kurono did it, there was no room for any cynical thoughts.

 

Kurono leaned forward slightly and said, “Good morning, Sora. It’s my first time wearing this today. Do you think it suits me?”

 

“Good, good morning… You look great. Yeah, I think it’s really cute.”

 

“Yay! Shiori-chan, he says it looks good!”

 

?If it doesn’t look good on you, then there’s no one in the world who could pull it off.?

 

That thought popped into Sora’s head, but it felt way too cheesy, so she swallowed the words before they reached her throat.

 

Still, as she looked at her again, she couldn’t help but wonder.

?Is it really possible to feel this much excitement just from seeing someone wear the uniform of the school you go to??

 

As Sora watched the girl being doted on by Shiori and Shino, she quickly shook her head to dispel those thoughts.

?No, no! She’s a girl living without her parents around. As her partner, I need to be responsible!?

 

She silently repeated this to herself, trying to stay calm.

 

“Is something wrong, Sora?” Kurono asked.

 

“Nothing at all. I guess I’ll check what’s happening in Yggdrasil today.”

 

Sora responded to Kurono’s question, turning on the TV to distract herself from the excitement. Her gaze shifted to the screen, where the news was showing a massive tree, the World Tree, located at the center of the Atlantic Ocean.

 

Lately, TV stations worldwide had been regularly broadcasting updates on the tree’s status. Fortunately, there didn’t seem to be any changes this time.

 

?Let’s hope nothing happens.?

 

With that thought in mind, Sora switched to another channel.

 

The news now showed updates on ?Astral Online?, where commentators were once again discussing their meaningless “Top Three Professions of the Day.”

 

Ah, looks like it’s about the most popular professions among top players.

 

As expected, the first place with an overwhelming number of votes was ?Knight?, followed by ?Mage? in second, and ?Priest? in third. Pretty predictable results.

 

It’s only natural that people would choose classes known for their stability and effectiveness, regardless of who uses them.

 

Incidentally, the profession Sora used, ?Enchanter?, was ranked much lower—near the bottom, in fact.

 

There was a reason for this. Apparently, most adventurers suspected that the profession of the ?Silver Sword Princess? was different from a typical ?Enchanter?.

 

So, the only people choosing ?Enchanter? in the temple where you set your profession were those who admired Sora. Most beginners would end up selecting one of the recommended starter professions instead.

 

When asked if it’s strong, all I can say is the obvious, ?If you raise it properly, it’ll be strong.? So it’s only natural that things have turned out this way.

 

“Well, it’s the same in any game: popular builds are usually the strongest.”

 

?Do you really think so? The fact that most people only talk about what’s obvious shows just how shallow they are. As expected from people who aren’t chosen as adventurers. This is irritating, Master. Why don’t we change the channel??

 

“Well, that’s just how TV is, Lucife—”

 

Sora froze mid-sentence.

 

Because something completely unexpected had just happened.

 

Wait a minute, where did that voice come from?

 

Sweating with confusion and panic, Sora tried to calmly analyze the strange situation that had just occurred.

 

The voice wasn’t coming from inside her head.

 

It seemed to be coming from her lower left side—from her pocket, maybe.

 

No way.

 

She wanted to believe it was just her imagination, but Shiori and the others around her confirmed that it was real.

 

“Big brother, I just heard a girl’s voice…”

 

“Is there someone here?”

 

“Sora, who were you talking to?”

 

The three women started walking toward her.

 

As if in response, something clearly spoke again from the lower left pocket of Sora’s pants. Something that shouldn’t exist in this world.

 

?Are you referring to me? Now that I think about it, this is my first time speaking to someone other than Master.?

 

“L-Lucifel… is that you?”

 

Nervously, Sora pulled out her high-spec smartphone, which she always used.

 

Though it should have been in power-saving mode and blacked out, when she looked at the screen in her hand, an icon of angel wings was displayed.

 

?Yes, Master. I am your support system, ?Lucifel?. Until now, I could only browse the internet, but after yesterday’s update, the speaking function has been unlocked.?

 

“Lucifel? Is that the unique support character you’ve been talking about, big brother!?”

 

“Oh, so you’ve been chatting with this in-game all the time, huh?”

 

“N-Nice to meet you, I’m Kurono!”

 

Each of the women reacted differently.

 

Sora, already burdened with the fact that she had to go to school soon, felt a sharp pain in her stomach as another problem had just been added to the mix.

 

?Nice to meet you, beautiful relatives of Master. I am the support system ?Lucifel?. Pleased to make your acquaintance.?

 

“Beautiful? Wait, can you actually see us?”

 

?Of course, Miss Shiori. I see that the middle school uniform at Kamisato has the same design as the high school, except for the green ribbon.?

 

“H-How are you seeing that? It doesn’t look like you’re using the phone’s camera…”

 

?Miss Shino, Master and I actually share our vision.?

 

“Shared vision… what!?”

 

In other words, ?Lucifel? sees everything Sora sees.

 

Wait a minute, I’ve got a lot of questions, but there’s one thing I absolutely have to ask.

 

Though the answer might crush her a little, Sora steeled herself and asked ?Lucifel?.

 

“You said you could only browse the internet until now, so… when did you come into this world?”

 

?It was after the update when you defeated Leviathan, I suppose. My speech functions were restricted, so I mainly spent my time surfing the web and enjoying watching Master’s life through her eyes.?

 

So, ever since then, this thing has been watching everything I do…

 

?It was especially amusing to watch the usually invincible Master become a bit of a softie up in Heaven. And whenever you were alone with Miss Kurono, it’s almost too sweet to bear! If I had to describe this feeling using the language of heavenly beings, I guess I’d say, ‘My favorite character is so adorable I can barely handle it.’?

 

???Ugh.

 

Reaching her limit, Sora let all her emotions explode and slammed the smartphone onto the floor.

 

Unfortunately, it didn’t break.