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 156
Chapter 156: The Sickly Girl
After the opening ceremony, Sora and her friends returned to the classroom, where the teacher handed out materials related to future lessons. Today’s school day ended after that.
Sora, Kurono, Shinji, and Shiro had planned to go home and log into ?Astral Online?, but instead of heading home, the four of them walked in a different direction.
Their destination was a building a short distance away, called the ?Temple? by the principal and staff.
According to the map they had been given, it appeared to be located where the ruins of an old church once stood.
It was a place that Shinji and Shiro had explored during a test of courage about two years ago, so the group arrived without any trouble.
“This is… the ?Temple??”
Sora looked at the map to confirm once they arrived.
There was no doubt about the location. But the building in front of them…
In their line of sight was a small, castle-like structure, shining pure white, just like something from ?Astral Online?.
Thanks to the ?Insight? skill they’d earned by ranking up in the game, which could now be used in the real world, they could tell the building materials were primarily wood of excellent quality.
When they stepped inside, it was different from the game. The chairs were arranged in rows. Behind the teacher’s podium at the end of the room, a cross decorated with angel wings adorned the wall, giving the place a chapel-like feel.
“At first glance, it looks like a church, but are we really going to play the game here?”
Based on their initial observations, it didn’t seem like a place suited for VR gaming at all.
Perhaps the proper gaming environment was behind one of the many doors lining the sides, which looked like private rooms. But if that’s the case, what was the point of this chapel?
As Sora crossed her arms and thought about it, her two friends offered their thoughts.
“Well, since it’s a chapel, maybe they sing and pray to God here,” said one.
“Or maybe there are preaching by a pastor. I’ve heard that modern religions deal with everyday issues and necessities, and they’re designed to be understood without needing to know much about the Bible,” added the other.
“You guys sure know a lot about that.”
“My mom used to bring me here back when the church was still active.”
“For me, it was my brother. I used to come with him because I wanted to dress up like a nun.”
“O-oh, I see… right.”
While Shinji’s explanation was understandable, Shiro’s last comment felt a bit unsettling. I had a feeling it was better not to ask, so I chose to ignore it.
After that, we looked around the temple, but all the doors on either side were locked, and there was no sign of anyone dressed like a priest or nun.
I wondered if the place was empty when suddenly the door we had entered through opened, and a timid-looking girl stepped in.
It was the same girl who had been called up on stage earlier in the school’s gym by the god, El Aurum, the girl with semi-long hair covering one eye.
When we saw her, we stopped our exploration to greet her.
Since approaching her all at once might startle her, we decided that I would talk to her alone first.
“Hey, Inori. It’s been a while since I last saw you here.”
“…H-hi. You’re Sora, right? You really look like your game character now…”
The girl, Inori, looked up at me with wide eyes, as if she couldn’t believe it, while staring at me, a silver-haired, blue-eyed girl in a school uniform.
“Yeah, that’s right. And on top of that, I can’t go back until I defeat the Demon Lord. It’s a ridiculous curse.”
“…That sounds… really tough.”
Inori lowered her head, her voice soft and concerned.
Sora smiled wryly and decided to change the topic.
“Anyway, you’re still as timid as ever in real life, huh? I wanted to introduce you to Kurono. Are you feeling okay?”
“…Earlier, there were so many people, so it was really overwhelming… but I-I think I’m okay now… maybe.”
Her face was pale, and she didn’t look okay at all. Adding a “maybe” at the end only made me more worried.
I glanced over at Kurono, who had been quietly observing from behind me, peeking out to see her reaction.
“I’m sure you’ve already figured it out, Kurono, but this is the alchemist from ?Astral Online?.”
“Inori-chan, right?”
“…I-I’m Inori Futaba… It’s nice to meet you again.”
“I’m Kurono Takanashi, nice to meet you too.”
The two girls exchanged greetings with somewhat nervous expressions, with Sora standing between them.
Yes, the girl in front of me, Inori, was much more lively and used unique speech patterns in ?Astral Online?. In the game, she was the leader of one of the top three clans, ?Tenmoku Ichi-Ka?. In the real world, she was a first-year student at Kamisato High School, just like me, and in Class 1-A next door.
In real life, she was incredibly shy and had a very weak constitution.
Her stamina was especially lacking, so much so that during physical education classes, she would often collapse and end up in the infirmary.
Because of this, since she started high school, she had been frequently absent, and it was decided to avoid putting too much pressure on her until she was more stable.
“You seem to be looking better today.”
“…Actually, since I received my ?Adventurer Rank? certification in ?Astral Online?, I’ve been feeling a little better…”
“I see, so not all the effects of that game are bad.”
Still, it was hard to believe that her frail condition had fully recovered just because she was feeling a bit better.
Noticing she was trembling slightly, I suggested she sit down in a nearby chair.
Once Inori sat down and took a deep breath, Kurono smiled wryly and said what had been on her mind.
“Your personality is really different from how you are in the game. It kind of surprised me.”
“…W-well, in the VR game, I can move around energetically, so I get a little excited and end up acting more confident…”
“Well, VR games are places where you can become the person you want to be. It’s actually not that uncommon for people like Inori, who have a big difference between their real and virtual selves.”
“R-really? VR games are amazing.”
I remembered reading an online survey where more than half of the shy people who played VR games said they became more outgoing in the game.
As I recalled the content of the VR game article I’d read before, one of the doors at the back of the chapel suddenly opened.
Out stepped a silver-haired girl dressed in the black habit of a nun. It was El Aurum, the self-proclaimed god we had just met, along with two messengers from the ?Guardian? who had visited my home before.
I couldn’t help but wonder why they were cosplaying as nuns, but given that we were in a temple, maybe it wasn’t so strange after all.
El stopped in front of Sora, gracefully bowed, and said, “Welcome, adventurers,” in a line straight out of a game character’s dialogue.
“El, we came because we were called, but what is this place…?”
“Of course, this is a temple built for adventurers to safely play ?Astral Online?. It also has living quarters, so if, by any chance, your homes are lost, you can continue your adventures here without worry.”
Is that really supposed to be reassuring?
I wanted to make a quick remark, but considering the strange phenomena we’d experienced so far, the idea of losing our homes didn’t seem entirely far-fetched.
The others must have been thinking the same thing, as they all broke out in a nervous sweat, looking a bit anxious about the future.
“With that in mind, let me guide you through the facility, so you can feel more secure about what’s to come,” El said, looking absolutely delighted.