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 218

Chapter 218: Celebration from Friends (?)

Even though it’s already October, the school feels oppressively humid.

Maybe in another month, this heat will finally subside…

As summers grow longer year by year, the other seasons—spring, autumn, and winter—are gradually losing their days.

Some experts are even debating whether spring and autumn might eventually disappear altogether.

Reading this shallow bit of information off my smartphone, I couldn’t help but feel a tinge of worry about the future of the world.

(…Not to mention the issues with Astral Online.)

I muttered inwardly about the biggest challenge this world is currently facing.

The current pollution gauge stands at around 9%.

It seems to increase by 3% each month, meaning that if the trend holds, it’ll reach its maximum in about three years at the earliest.

Of course, this is assuming all the bosses are defeated, and that special conditions, like scenarios where the princess is killed, causing the gauge to spike, are completely avoided.

There’s also the possibility that events further accelerating the pollution might occur in the future…

And here, a thought crossed my mind.

What will happen to this world once the pollution is complete?

Judging from the incidents so far, it seems that things from ?Astral Online? are beginning to manifest in the real world.

Even based solely on this fact, it’s clear that nothing good would come of it.

When the colossal sea monster materialized in reality, it became evident that no matter the scale, any monster could potentially appear.

Given that, the mysterious armored knights who stood by El’s side might seem like a force meant to counter these monsters, but their true purpose remains unclear.

During a break between classes, we used the time to discuss this issue.

In the end, we decided to trust El, who has protected the world so far, and observe the situation for now.

But I still couldn’t shake the unease in my heart.

Part of this stemmed from a message I’d received from ?Emrys?, the mage in the Land of Light.

?When the four rings come together, the angels chosen by the gods shall pass judgment upon tainted souls…?

El said that if I want to learn about her, I need to clear the ?Four Star of the Lord of the Rings.?

But when I consider the prophecy, is it really a good idea to simply go ahead and collect the fourth ring?

Either way, progressing the next unique scenario will inevitably lead to obtaining it, but…

My gut is giving me an overwhelmingly bad feeling about this.

*…This isn’t good.*

El has saved the world countless times.

Yet ever since that incident at the café, I can’t stop dwelling on the negative possibilities.

Wiping the faint sweat from my brow with my left hand, I shook my head, trying to clear my mind of these grim thoughts.

“Are those two going to be okay?”

“Shinji, all we can do is trust them and wait.”

“Wow, spoken like a true gentleman. That’s some convincing wisdom right there.”

My friends Shinji and Shiro, who were waiting nearby, were talking about the two girls who had gone up to the rooftop just a few minutes ago.

Though we were told to wait here, the conversation up there directly concerns me too.

I wanted to watch over them from nearby, but my girlfriend, Kurono, insisted I wait here this time.

*Well, I suppose if I were there, it might complicate things, so this is probably for the best…*

Still, I couldn’t help but sigh at the growing awareness of my own shortcomings.

“Man, you’re something else. Just how many sins are piling up on your record, huh?”

“Back in ?Sky Fantasy?, you set up so many flags with the princesses that both Ilya and Inori scolded you repeatedly.”

“Yeah, that whole ‘hero complex’ of yours is a double-edged sword. And then you actually go and solve the problems, so of course all the starry-eyed girls start falling for you.”

“On social media, they call him the God of War… and also the God of Gigolos.”

“…Cough!?”

The sarcastic remarks from my two friends hit me with a mix of exasperation and mockery.

Their words stabbed me right in the chest, but back then, I really hadn’t been thinking about dating anyone. I just had to accept it, even if it felt like coughing up blood.

“And this time, the princesses you’ve met—Aria, Alice, and now Laura, who recently joined—apparently you’ve been exchanging messages with them regularly, too.”

“Won’t Takanashi-chan get mad about that?”

“…I’m just giving updates, and Kurono knows too, so it’s fine. Probably…”

Yikes. Hearing it pointed out from an outsider’s perspective like this makes me a little anxious.

The messages I send are just as I told them, a simple updates like, ?I met Laura in the Land of the Sea? or ?I’m heading to the Undersea Temple to solve the issue?. In return, they reply with words of encouragement.

It’s not like the conversations are especially friendly or intimate. Honestly, I’m not even sure if Aria and the others find these kinds of updates enjoyable.

Though, the occasional pictures Aria, Alice, and Satanas send of their tea parties are incredibly helpful.

Apparently, Laura is going to join their tea parties soon, and even Kurono is looking forward to updates from all four of them.

“…Still, you two are being pretty harsh today. What’s gotten into you?”

“Well, it’s just that the guy who’s always been close to love but so far away suddenly turned into a full-blown romantic. We figured we’d take this chance to finally say what we’ve been thinking.”

“Yeah, we’ve been the arm-folding bystanders, watching from the sidelines and fretting over your cluelessness. Now that you’ve crossed the finish line, we’re going all in on roasting you.”

“You guys are the worst!”

After that, they started recounting all my past interactions with women, pointing out every clueless moment they’d noticed from their perspective.

*Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!*

Looking back now, in my current state, I can see just how terrible it was…!

The words “natural gigolo” and “dense idiot” kept piercing me relentlessly, without giving me a chance to defend myself.

It felt like being turned into a pincushion.

If you could visualize it, I’m sure I’d look like some kind of bizarre modern art piece right now.

By the time they were done dragging me through every embarrassing story they could recall, my stomach was practically in knots.

“Sorry to keep you waiting!”

“Sorry for making all three of you wait—huh? Sora-kun, what happened to you?”

“…I’m sorry. I’m so, so sorry.”

Hand in hand, Kurono and Inori came back looking cheerful, only to find me in such a pitiful state that I’d essentially become an apology bot, leaving them utterly baffled.