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 184
Chapter 184: Trial of Courage
“Whoa! That thing behind us is faster than I expected!”
Sora and her group sprinted full throttle to escape the red lines approaching from behind. Running through an uneven cave was a far cry from a paved path.
It demanded extreme concentration. The rocky terrain was slick, making them slip repeatedly, and even the smallest misstep threatened to trip them up.
Rushing at full speed through a cave was nearly suicidal. Any mistake would likely lead to a fall, temporarily immobilizing them. Without the EX profession ?Courier?, no one in the group would be able to carry a fallen comrade to safety.
Meanwhile, the murderous red lines, a grid of compressed fire-based magic traps, continued to approach at a steady pace, so even a slight decrease in speed meant inching closer to death.
Essentially, the concept of this “Trial of Courage” was to keep pushing forward at full force, undeterred by the risk of tripping or the deadly laser traps behind them.
The creator’s intent was clear. Including the NPC Laura, as long as even one person survived and reached the goal, the trial would be counted as a success, and any fallen members would be revived.
This implied just how high the trial’s difficulty was. The unrelenting traps came one after another, and there were several close calls where Sora’s Insight skill was the only thing that allowed them to navigate safely.
On top of that, the slippery ground added another layer of difficulty. If Sora hadn’t experienced similar cave runs in past VR games, she might have stumbled multiple times by now.
Each time her footing threatened to slip, she skillfully regained her balance, keeping her eyes trained forward. Using her Insight skill, Sora quickly relayed the details of the upcoming traps to her companions.
“Spider net incoming from above! On my count, use your charge skills to dodge forward!”
Following Sora’s countdown, the group activated their charge skills in sync with “3, 2, 1,” propelling themselves forward. The web-like threads that descended from above missed them entirely, left behind as they dashed onward.
But they couldn’t rest yet. Up ahead lay a trap where rocks would shoot out from both sides. A direct hit would forcibly stop them, making dodging and defensive moves essential.
“Watch out for the rocks coming from the holes on either side! If it looks risky, use ?Sword Guard? to block!”
As they ran, Sora observed the trajectory of each rock within the support system’s detection range. Without even glancing, she dodged each one and used her sword, the ?Silver Magic Sword?, to deflect those that were unavoidable.
Thankfully, the rock-shooting trap wasn’t set to launch them at insane speeds. The rocks moved fast, but they could be defended against if seen in time.
I’m fine, but how are they doing back there?
While managing everything with minimal movements, Sora used her ?perception? skill to monitor the situation behind her without turning around.
Inexperienced in the cave, Kuro defended against the incoming rocks using the deflection technique she had mastered. At first, she had slipped a few times and needed Arisa’s help, but now she seemed to have adapted to the terrain, running flawlessly without slipping.
Seeing this made Sora acutely aware of Kuro’s extraordinary learning ability. While it was a delight as her senior, she felt a twinge of frustration that Kuro could master a technique Sora had taken a week to learn in just a few hours.
The other members were in similar situations and were running without any apparent danger. It felt good. At this pace, they could undoubtedly overcome the “Trial of Courage.”
As Sora was lost in these thoughts, the familiar voice of the support system’s Lucifel suddenly shouted.
?Warning! There is a large hole ahead!?
At the same time, Sora’s ?Insight? skill revealed what appeared to be a gate beyond the large hole, indicating the goal. The distance to it was roughly ten meters. Even a full-speed dash wouldn’t likely cover that distance, and Insight couldn’t reveal any alternate paths.
It was probably a trap designed to kill challengers at least once, often referred to as a “first-time killer.” An ordinary person might panic and fall, or freeze and be killed by the pursuing traps behind them.
However, unfortunately, the players here were not ordinary.
Sora made a suggestion to Lucifel, and together they quickly devised a solution. While running, she activated her ?Jump Power Boost Enchantment V? skill, granting it to all party members at once. This unlocked the intermediate skill ?Growth Spring? for Sora and the others.
“The timing to jump is just before the edge of the hole. Once you’re halfway, activate the skill and push off the ground!”
As she spoke, they approached the hole. Timing their jump—now!
Sora pushed off the ground with her right foot and leaped with all her might. She soared to a height just shy of the ceiling, reaching the peak of her arc before beginning to descend.
Having activated her skill, Sora kicked off the space again at the midpoint for a second jump. She landed safely on the ground on the other side and used ?Immobility? to forcibly stop her feet from slipping.
After applying the brakes several times, she brought her momentum to a complete halt.
“Phew, somehow made it in one shot.”
Just like the Trial of Wisdom, an announcement signified their achievement, and Sora gained experience points, leveling up. With a sigh of relief, she turned to check on the others behind her to see if they were okay.
?Ah, Master! Watch out!?
Having successfully cleared the hole, Sora had relaxed a bit too much. Failing to check the sensing information provided by the support system, she found herself confronted by Kuro, who had failed to stop her momentum after landing, now hurtling toward her.
Sora felt it was bad, but there was no time to evade the incoming situation.
Reluctantly, she spread her arms to catch the small body that was about the same size as her own.
Fortunately, the ?Immobility? skill that nullified slipping was still active.
As she held onto Kuro tightly to avoid letting go, Sora stumbled a few times.
She desperately controlled her body, and just as the skill’s effect wore off, she slid about three meters before finally coming to a stop.
“Phew, we made it somehow.”
“Thank you, Sora…”
“You’re welcome. I never thought Kuro would make it this far without falling even once, you’re amazing.”
The girl, receiving her sincere praise up close, turned her face down, her cheeks flushed.
Sora couldn’t help but smile at the adorable sight, and a warm feeling spread through her.
“Whoa! I can’t stop!?”
““Huh?!””
Just as they had completely let their guard down, Inori crashed into Kuro from behind like a runaway vehicle.
They couldn’t brace themselves in time, and Sora and the others tumbled to the ground in a heap.
“Oof…!”
Sora felt dizzy as she was crushed under the combined weight of the two.
Adding to their weight were the items they were equipped with, making it quite heavy.
Desperately trying to free herself, Sora used both hands to slide her body out from underneath the pile.
“Whoa, I thought I was going to die.”
As Sora glanced toward the two to check if they were okay, she was met with an indescribable sight.
A blue-haired, well-endowed girl was sprawled on top of the black-haired girl, who was pinned underneath.
It seemed that, perhaps due to the slippery ground, various skirts and other items had become disheveled while they struggled, resulting in quite the predicament.
Normally, in such a situation, the sexual defense would activate, obscuring their bodies from the view of other adventurers, but it seemed that Kuro and Inori had set their defensive values against Sora to zero.
Even if she looked like girl on the outside, Sora’s mindset was that of a high school boy.
On one hand, she thought it was reckless, but on the other, it was nice to feel trusted.
In the first place, there was no benefit to setting the visual defenses of sexual defense to zero.
If she had to force meaning from her perspective, it was that she learned both of them wore age-appropriate underwear.
The fact that they weren’t trying too hard to wear something mature was a positive point for her.
After all, normal simple underwear seemed more elegant than black or sexy options—wait, why was she calmly explaining her preferences?
Suddenly regaining her composure, Sora noticed Inori, who had somehow regained her balance and was sitting flat on the ground, looking at her with a somewhat resentful expression.
When she asked her what was wrong, she spoke with tears in her eyes.
“It’s humiliating for a woman to have her panties seen and not get any reaction…!”
“Uh…”
Even though she sounded frustrated, Sora couldn’t help but think that after everything she had experienced since becoming a girl, she was no longer shaken by something like women’s underwear.
As she struggled to respond, Laura came to the rescue.
“Everyone, it seems we’re approaching a resting area. We’ve been moving for several hours without a break. Let’s take a rest.”
“Y-Yeah! Let’s do as Laura says!”
Sora reached out to help Inori, who was making a sulky face, and Kuro, who looked puzzled, to get them to their feet.
Sora hurriedly entered the room marked as the rest area.