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 212
Chapter 212: First Date, Part 1
It was around noon on a Saturday.
Kurono and I left the eastern residential district of Kamisato City and came to the central district for an outing, just the two of us.
Given the current state of the world, with ?Astral Online? gradually spreading its contamination, anyone might wonder if we really had time for something like this.
But since ?Astral Online? was undergoing maintenance and logging in wasn’t an option, the choices boiled down to either staying home and sleeping or going out to have fun.
“Sora, this dessert set with ice cream and cake is so delicious!”
“Yeah, it really is.”
We were currently in a well-known dessert café in the central district.
The reason I chose this place was simple: when the girl I invited said she wanted something sweet, Lucifel, the support system living in my smartphone, pushed this place hard, chirping through my wireless earphones, ?This place is highly recommended!?
Well, to be fair, the relaxed atmosphere of the café, the reasonable prices, and the appetizing menu options made it an excellent choice.
Seeing Kurono genuinely enjoying herself was a relief too, but…
?Master, I have all the best ‘date’ information preloaded! If you’re ever in trouble, just ask me, Lucifel, about anything!?
Wait, were you always this kind of character?
While tilting my head at Lucifel’s unusually enthusiastic demeanor, the emphasized word “date” made my heart pound.
Seated beside me, so close our shoulders nearly touched, was the stunningly beautiful silver-haired girl, Kurono Takanashi, with Nordic heritage in her veins.
Since I was the one who invited her out for this one-on-one outing, she had clearly gone all out with her outfit.
She wore a stylish branded dress with an elegant, refined vibe. Like something a young lady from a wealthy family might wear.
The combination of white and black, my favorite color scheme, suited her perfectly, making her look both adorable and stunning.
On the other hand, my own outfit consisted of my usual white T-shirt, shorts, and a black hoodie. A casual look fit for a quick trip to the convenience store.
Shiori had scolded me to dress properly before leaving, acting like a concerned parent, but I had ignored her this time.
The reason? If I didn’t stick to my usual clothes, I’d definitely feel too nervous and lose my sense of normalcy.
(…Ugh, ever since Kurono confessed to me, I haven’t been able to look her in the eyes properly.)
Inside my chest, I was overwhelmed by a hot, burning feeling I had never experienced before.
As I ate my soft serve ice cream, I struggled to find a topic of conversation with Kurono and, in the process, pulled out my smartphone to check on the current progress of ?Astral Online?.
On the homepage, large text greeted me:
?Astral Online: A Notice from the Operators?
To overhaul the complex system, significant changes are being implemented.
The first change is the abolition of the ?Skill Point? system. The “profession” you choose will no longer be enhanced by allocating points. Instead, it will be strengthened by leveling up your player level.
Profession skills, however, will still be earned in the same way as before, by leveling up to a certain point.
Next, a new feature has been added: the ?Profession Point? system.
For each player level gained, you will earn 1 Profession Point, which can be used to enhance profession skills by allocating 5 points into them.
Additionally, profession skills will evolve when you reach certain level thresholds. This allows players to further customize and enhance their skills, expressing their individual playstyle.
In line with these changes, a maintenance reset will be carried out to reset the skills of all the jobs set by the players. Please note that any skill points previously earned and consumed will be compensated in the form of Profession Points, based on level and title effects.
This was the general reason for the long-term maintenance of ?Astral Online?.
By the way, due to the profession system changes, one of the updates will be the removal of restrictions on ?Enchanter?’s “stacking the same enchantment skill” and the “maximum number of enchantments a player can apply.”
*Sigh*… Apparently, there are also a lot of changes, like switching from a count-based system to a time-based one. Why did they suddenly do this…?
“Sister Shino and the others were confused too. They were all like, ‘What is this mysterious major update?'”
“Well, it’s understandable to be confused. If you’re not careful, you might have to rebuild all the strategies you’ve been using from scratch.”
“Yeah, that sounds pretty tough.”
In real-life online games, similar large-scale updates happen, so it’s not that unusual. Usually, they are meant to help beginners get into the game.
In Astral Online’s case, though, since it’s not about money-making, it’s unclear what the meaning behind these changes is.
“Adjusting the profession levels to match player levels… well, for someone like me, who already has a capped profession level of 100, these changes don’t really matter.”
“What’s really scary, though, is the reset of all the profession skills we’ve been enhancing. I read about it, but does that mean my ?Martial Artist? skills are going to be reset and have to be reallocated too?”
“As it says in the text, it looks like that’s going to happen to me too. Sigh… Why are these changes coming so suddenly?”
“The gods of ?Astral Online? are always experimenting and making adjustments. Maybe there’s something we can’t even comprehend happening behind the scenes.”
“Just like they say, ‘Only the gods know.’ Seriously, I wish they’d understand what it’s like to be the one getting jerked around.”
Even as I lamented, the fact that we, as adventurers bound by our cards, couldn’t escape ?Astral Online? made things even worse.
On social media, there were numerous comments saying things like, “Isn’t the one most affected by this the *Silver Enchanter* who capped their profession level in Dragon Country?”
I wondered what would happen to my ?Enchanter? skills.
Ah, just thinking about it makes me feel down…
Feeling a bit reckless, I finished the set of ice cream and cake I had ordered in one go. Suddenly, Kurono reached over and patted my head.
“Kurono?”
“Hmm, I thought I’d comfort you since you seemed a bit down.”
“…Thanks.”
I said a brief thank you in response to her kind words, and let myself relax under her gentle touch.
I could feel warm gazes from around us, but since they didn’t seem to carry any ill intent, I ignored them.
After a few minutes of being comforted, my mood improved, and I felt much better.
“Alright, then let’s go see the movie we planned to watch.”
“Yeah, it’s about two players solving a case in a VRMMO, right?”
“Exactly. And apparently, my master and Glen became stuntmen for the shooting. The action quality is getting high praise online.”
“That sounds exciting!”
We left our seats, paid the bill at the counter, and exited the café.
It was busy outside, since it was a holiday. There were lots of friends and families around, and of course, there were also couples.
As I stepped onto the lively main street, I unconsciously reached out and took the hand of the girl walking beside me, making sure we didn’t get separated.
She stopped walking, and looked at me intently.
With a bright smile on her lips, she didn’t say anything but squeezed my hand back tightly, as if it was something she’d never let go.