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 193
Chapter 193: The Awakening Kiss
“Whew, I’m glad nothing happened… or at least, that’s what I’d like to say. But honestly, it feels like we were just deliberately overlooked.”
With a combination of perception and insight skills, Sora confirmed that there were no enemies left. She slowly got up from her spot. The others also rose from the ground, relieved as the threat dissipated, and allowed themselves to relax from the tension.
“Yeah, if it had come down to them taking someone away, I’d have had no choice but to activate my magic spear and take those guys with me, even if it meant dying once.”
Arisa spoke her thoughts aloud, standing up with a bitter expression. Thanks to an item obtained from the temple, her lost arm had already regrown. Although she had extra lives, hearing a fellow beta player like her, trapped in this world, talk about dying left an uneasy feeling. But considering she’d also been ready to activate ?Lucifer? to protect her friends, Sora couldn’t deny Arisa’s resolve.
However, her daughter, hearing that her mother had been ready to sacrifice herself, narrowed her eyes and glared at her with obvious displeasure. Seeing this, Arisa’s expression turned a bit troubled.
“Oh dear, this is a problem.”
“You brought this on yourself, so deal with it,” Sora said, shrugging lightly. Arisa then pulled her disgruntled daughter into a tight hug.
“Aww, my adorable daughter!”
“Mmm! You always try to get out of it like this!”
They began to tussle in a way that looked more playful than anything else. Watching the affectionate (?) scene between mother and daughter, Sora then turned her gaze to Laura, who was still sitting on the ground. She tilted her head, wondering why the princess wasn’t moving even though the gravity barrier had been lifted.
“I… I was useless…”
A heavy aura seemed to manifest around Laura, visible to the naked eye. Having encountered another princess she’d met before, she was deeply affected by the harsh words she’d heard. She was particularly shocked at her own helplessness, feeling as though the little confidence she’d gained on her journey had been crushed to pieces by Princess Hel.
“Laura…”
Using her Insight skill, Sora was now able to read information about the princess that had previously been hidden.
As she scanned through, she noticed that Laura had already met several requirements for her awakening as a Songstress: the necessary level and three trials. However, there was still one requirement listed as “??????” — a vague, unknown element that Laura needed to fulfill before she could awaken.
To be honest, Sora had no idea what this requirement might entail. But one thing was clear: it wasn’t something that could be easily achieved through sheer determination or repetitive effort.
Two other princesses Sora had adventured with, Aria and Alice, hadn’t had an event like this, so they weren’t much help. They had awakened at some point without needing to do anything special.
As Sora pondered what to do, Inori, who had been listening and thinking with her, made a suggestion.
“A common scenario for a princess’s awakening involves being saved by a loved one or facing a critical moment. If she didn’t awaken in the last crisis, maybe it requires her HP to drop to a sliver in a battle.”
“That sounds pretty risky…”
“Considering there might be more trials ahead, I suspect we’ll encounter enemies. It’s possible to orchestrate it if we try,” Inori added.
“Deliberately lowering her HP sounds dangerous, so let’s keep that as a last resort. Let’s try anything else we can first.”
“In that case, from my experience with dating sims…,” Inori began, but her face suddenly turned bright red, and she fell silent.
She started sweating, her small, cherry-colored lips pressing into a tight line. Sora, puzzled by her reaction, asked what was wrong. Inori, clearly embarrassed, finally managed to explain her idea.
“A-a kiss is the classic trigger for this kind of thing!”
“…A kiss?” Sora repeated, after a long pause.
Inori, now embarrassed by her own words, nodded vigorously, her face flushed to her ears.
?? A kiss… an awakening kiss, huh?
In most modern games, due to content restrictions, sensitive scenes involving minors are heavily protected. Even in dating sims, if a kissing scene was approaching, some kind of barrier would often appear, transitioning to the next scene.
However, ?Astral Online? was different from ordinary games.
If an NPC trusted you, the protection was lifted, allowing actions like cuddling or even physical contact (though Sora had never touched anyone with any ill intentions). The residents of this world felt as real as actual humans: they were warm, with soft, smooth skin. Frequent trips to the bath had only reinforced this.
?? Then, Sora recalled a time when ?Wind Spirit Princess Aria? had kissed her on the cheek. Without thinking, she touched her cheek where it had happened.
Seeing Sora’s reaction, Inori, who sensed something had happened, and Kuro, who had directly witnessed it, stopped their tussle with her mother and both turned to Sora with intense expressions.
Sensing their pointed stares, Sora quickly averted her gaze to Laura to escape.
“Sora-sama, I…,” Laura murmured, her face flushed as she looked down shyly at the ground. The feathers on each side of her head drooped, reflecting her embarrassment.
From Sora’s perspective, Laura’s expression clearly showed she wasn’t comfortable with the idea of a kiss. After all, kissing someone who wasn’t a lover out of the blue was understandably difficult.
?? If the last-resort method didn’t work, despite coming all this way, maybe she’d have to give up on the ring.
Just as she was about to suggest discussing it with the group and offered Laura a hand, Laura suddenly made a move.
“P-please excuse me!”
“Huh?”
Laura, appearing to have steeled herself, suddenly stood up with great determination. She flapped her bird-like feathers energetically, her excitement obvious.
Catching Sora off guard, Laura stepped closer, closed her eyes, and moved her face toward Sora’s.
Just before their lips could meet, Laura missed her aim slightly and ended up kissing Sora’s left cheek.
Everyone froze for a moment, watching the scene unfold. Sora held back from saying, “That was close,” and took a single step back, hand on her left cheek, staring in surprise at Laura.
Meeting Sora’s gaze, Laura, visibly embarrassed, crouched down and covered her flushed face with her feathers.
“S-Sora????!”
Kuro, who broke free from her stunned state, let out a scolding shout and marched over, looking annoyed. Her small stature didn’t diminish the intensity of her gaze, making Sora feel a chill that rivaled even her toughest battles.
It was like the time she forgot about a promised outing with her younger sister because she was busy gaming and got beaten up for it.
“C-Kuro, please calm down. This was… necessary for Laura’s awakening, so ugh—”
Attempting to shield Laura from Kuro’s wrath, Sora tried to explain, only for Kuro to grab and pull both of her cheeks, forcing her into silence.
Her expression was complicated, as though she understood logically but couldn’t suppress her emotions.
With a soft growl, much like the family cat’s discontented “Nyann,” she finally muttered, “…Idiot,” and released her.
Even after countless romance games, Sora still found it hard to fully understand girls. Realizing she hadn’t checked on Laura, she turned her gaze down to see her.
Lowering the feathers covering her face, Laura, her cheeks glowing red, rose slowly, emitting faint blue particles.
“Thank you, Sora-sama. And I’m sorry, Kuro-sama. Thanks to you, I believe I’m ready for the final trial.”
With a grateful yet apologetic smile, Laura’s expression turned resolute. The newly awakened Songstress cast a determined gaze toward the “Sea Temple” at the end of the underwater tunnel.