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 29
Chapter 29: Update
“Sorry, both of you, can you stop for a moment?”
“Hmm?”
“Kuro-sama?”
While we were walking through the dark forest, relying only on the light of the ?Magic Lamp? Aria was holding, Kuro suddenly stopped. Aria and I turned around.
What’s going on?
I wondered, and she spoke to me with a genuinely apologetic expression.
“Sora-sama, it’s great that you’re so engrossed, but the captain says it’s time to log out and come for lunch…”
“Oh, so that’s what it is.”
When I opened the menu screen, it displayed the current time in the real world. It was 2:30 AM in Japan, whereas in New York, where Master and Kuro live, it’s around 12:30 PM.
Given the time difference, it’s right in the middle of lunch hour for Kuro.
If I don’t log her out now, there’s a chance I might get called into a VR fighting game later and get beaten up by Shino for dragging Kuro into becoming a gaming addict. That’s something I absolutely need to avoid.
“I need to act quickly, or I’ll be in trouble. But Kuro, can you log out here?”
“Hmm, no, the game doesn’t allow logging out outside of a safe zone.”
“Oh, right. This game only lets you log out in safe zones, huh.”
When I opened the menu screen to check, the logout option was grayed out. No matter how many times I touched it, the message “Please use this again in a safe area” appeared, making it clear that logging out here was impossible, just as Kuro had said.
I had completely forgotten this because I’d been in the capital city of Yggdrasil the entire time until now.
Respawning at the logout point after dying is out of the question. If my suspicions are correct, wasting my remaining “life” would bring me closer to “real death.” Suggesting something like that to her is absolutely something I can’t and shouldn’t do.
That leaves me with the following options:
?Option 1: Head at full speed to Aria’s comrades’ base from here.?
?Option 2: Turn back and return to the Spirit Village where Sylph is.?
However, both options would take over an hour, and ?Sonic Turn? wasn’t an all-purpose high-speed movement skill. Sora glanced at the red gauge above the green life points gauge.
Who would’ve thought that “fatigue” was a negative status effect…
Not just me, but both Kuro and Aria, who are in the party, also have about 40% of their red “fatigue” gauge filled.
According to what Kuro explained earlier, “fatigue” accumulates during combat or movement, and when it reaches 50%, a warning appears, and the “slow” debuff is applied.
Moreover, during this time, the player’s speed, dash, and movement skills are all halved in effectiveness, and if “fatigue” continues to accumulate, it eventually results in “stun,” making the player unable to move for 30 minutes.
There are three ways to reduce “fatigue”:
?1. Stop moving.?
?2. Sleep at an inn.?
?3. Use a recovery item.?
The last two options require using El or items, so they’re considered emergency measures. The most cost-effective option is generally to stop moving.
However, from the looks of it, letting the nearly half-full “fatigue” gauge recover by standing still would take at least 15 minutes, judging by the rate at which the gauge decreases. In this situation, it might be best to stop and use ?Sonic Turn? just before the “slow” debuff kicks in.
As I was holding my head in frustration, Kuro sighed and murmured, “Sora, what should we do?”
“Yeah, it’s a tough call… By the way, what would happen if we were forcibly logged out?”
“I heard there’s a heavy penalty for that, so the captain might not go that far.”
“I see. In that case, I guess I’ll brace myself for a scolding and head to the next base.”
“I’m not sure I understand, but it seems like adventurers have it tough,” Aria said with a wry smile.
Since we’re technically in the middle of a quest, I sent an apology message to Shino, and she replied with the following:
?I understand the situation. However, I want to talk to you about the fact that you played without regard for time, and about the fact that you, being older than her, didn’t properly manage that situation. Let’s talk about this at ?Duel Arms? sometime in the future.?
“I understand the situation. However, I want to talk about the fact that you were playing without regard for time, and as the older one, you didn’t manage it properly. See you later in ?Duel Arms?.”
Shino emphasized the last sentence in her message before her status changed from online to logged out.
‘Duel Arms’ is a globally popular VR fighting game, and she’s been the champion for five years in a row. Being called to that game means…
Yikes, she’s going to be killed…
Sora trembled. Seeing her like this, Kuro, who probably had never seen Shino’s scary side, tilted her head cutely, while Aria, unable to grasp the situation, had a question mark floating above her head.
I’ll be more careful next time.
She resolved to be cautious in the future, but it was already too late for this time.
Wondering if she would survive and make it back here, Sora and her party headed for the next base.
…………………
After walking for a while, a strange bell sound suddenly echoed from above, going “Gong, gong.”
What is this…?
Sora tilted her head in confusion, while Aria, who had stopped walking, hurriedly pulled something out of her item box and began assembling it right there.
“Aria?”
The atmosphere felt tense. It was probably related to the mysterious bell sound they had just heard. Was something about to happen?
As she wondered, Aria looked over at them while assembling something that looked like a tent and said,
“Could it be that this is the first time for you, Sora-sama and Kuro-sama?”
“Yeah, what was that bell sound?”
“To put it simply, in two hours, there will be a world update. If you don’t get to a safe area by the specified time, you’ll die.”
“Huh?”
Both Kuro and I spoke simultaneously.
Sure enough, when I opened the menu screen, there was a notification about an update coming in two hours. The update would take four hours to complete.
However, instead of the usual details about the update, it only said, ?If you do not log out in a safe area by the specified time, one of your remaining lives will be consumed.?
What on earth is this?
Due to the highly unusual nature of the notification, Sora decided to ask Aria just to be sure.
“They mentioned an update, but do you know anything about it, Aria?”
“No, I’m not familiar with the details either. However, this world has undergone this ‘update’ many times before.”
Many times before?
That expression was strange, especially since the game was just released yesterday. When Sora glanced at Kuro, she shook her head.
“This is my first time experiencing this.”
“…I see.”
So, could Aria be talking about something from the beta testing phase? However, neither Sora nor Kuro participated in the beta test. When Sora tried searching online through the VR headset’s functions, there was no information about the update.
In other words, the only way to get details might be to ask Kirie.
“…Alright. Let’s put the update issue aside for now. So, what are you assembling, Aria?”
“It’s a ‘tent that temporarily creates a safe area.’ It can withstand about five updates, but the downside is that it takes time to set up.”
“…That becomes a safe area?”
“Yes, and it can hold up to three people. After five uses, whether during updates or not, it breaks and disappears. By the way, they sell for around 100,000 El each.”
“That’s expensive!”
“So, there’s something like that, huh?”
Sora trembled at the price of the tent, while Kuro watched Aria’s work with a longing expression. The tent, which becomes a safe area, means that you can log out from anywhere if you have it.
Sora couldn’t help but wish she had known about this sooner, but considering it’s a limited-use, high-priced item, it’s something to be used in emergencies like this, not casually.
From a hardcore player’s perspective, it’s something you’d want so badly you’d almost sell your soul for it.
Sora decided to save up El and buy one someday.
When Aria finished assembling the tent, she turned to them.
“Alright, it’s ready. Sora, Kuro, you’re both probably tired, so let’s take a break here.”
“Kuro needs to log out, and I might as well get some sleep here.”
“Yeah, that sounds good.”
“Aria, I’m going to log out once we’re inside the tent, is that okay?”
Sora wondered if Aria would understand the term “log out,” but she nodded with a smile.
“You’re returning to the heavens, right? It’s fine. The tent is protected by the world’s blessing, and once inside, it can only be opened from within, so monsters won’t be able to attack you.”
I see, so the inhabitants of this world interpret an adventurer’s logout like that.
“Thanks. Then, I’ll take you up on your offer.”
Just then, Sora realized something. The tent was quite tight. It would be pretty cramped with three people inside.
Uh, I’m actually a “boy” inside, you know?
But as Sora hesitated over this one issue, the two girls entered the tent first, leaving the middle space open, and stared at her expectantly.
“Sora?”
“Sora, aren’t you coming in?”
“……”
Calm down! They’re just your junior disciple and a clumsy girl. Both are super cute, but it’s not like you’re in a romantic situation with either of them.
Alright, I’ll log out as soon as I get inside!
Taking a deep breath and clearing her mind, Sora steeled herself and entered the tent where the girls were waiting.