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 4
Chapter 4: The Starting Grassland
The area beyond the only grand gate of the royal capital Yggdrasil was the “starting grassland,” which every beginner sets foot on after leaving the capital.
There were no complex terrains, just a peaceful and serene landscape filled with grass and trees.
In the distance, one can see a map known as the “Forest of Spirits.”
It’s so vast that it covers the surrounding area of the royal capital, and if you stray from the path set by the spirits, you’ll be returned to the original path, according to the gatekeeper.
By the way, the forest is protected by the power of the Spirit King, and no matter what attacks are made, they cannot harm the plants within the forest.
A vast forest beyond the grassland.
Wasn’t this a classic fantasy setup?
As Sora was excited by the world unfolding before her eyes, a gentle breeze blew and flower petals danced as if to welcome her.
The breeze brushing her cheeks and the fragrance of the surrounding unknown flowers carried by it were truly pleasant.
Just standing there made her almost forget that her avatar had become a girl.
After taking a deep breath, Sora looked around.
Since the game had just been released, she spotted a bunch of new players battling level 1 slimes. These were small, about 30 centimeters in diameter, and looked like blue blobs of jelly.
Indeed, at the start of any game, the initial hunting ground is always the first field.
Seeing a nearby slime spawn, Sora also drew her ?Normal Sword? from her waist.
“Let me test my current body.”
Since her body had become smaller, the sensations were completely different from before, so she needed to get used to it.
Sora repeatedly adjusted her grip on the sword’s hilt, checking its feel.
The equipped weapon was the easy-to-use one-handed sword, the ?Normal Sword?, which had no particular quirks.
Since everyone starts with the same initial weapon, unless they buy another weapon, most people end up developing this one-handed sword first.
Sora’s proficiency with the one-handed sword had increased to level 18 from the experience gained from the Demon Lord.
Among the skills she had learned, she chose not a new skill but the ?Sonic Sword? used during the battle with the Demon Lord.
Aiming at the distant slime, Sora readied her sword horizontally and started running.
“Whoa!?”
Having reached level 15, she closed in on the slime with her enhanced stats.
She accelerated faster than expected and quickly passed by the slime.
However, Sora skillfully controlled her posture and turned around on the spot.
Activating the ?Sonic Sword? skill again, she approached the slime once more.
This time, she didn’t pass by it. She controlled her body and swung the ?Normal Sword? from left to right, slicing it cleanly.
The slime, having its red life gauge fully depleted in one hit, disappeared as particles of light.
?Defeated one slime and gained experience. Acquired 2 drop items: ?Slime Jelly?.?
The report of the battle results was heard in her head in a female voice.
An option appeared to turn it off, but Sora left it on, finding the calming sound comforting.
“Well, I think I’ve got the hang of it now… huh?”
The beautiful girl Sora, who moved with skills that belied her beginner status, felt the gazes of other beginners hunting slimes fixated on her.
As expected, everyone had question marks floating above their heads, wondering, “What was that movement?”
Without skills like ?Appraisal? or ?Insight?, it’s impossible to see other players’ levels.
No one would expect such a girl to be at level 15, so it was only natural that she was being stared at with curiosity.
Well, it was not surprising to be the center of attention.
With a forced smile, the silver-haired girl approached Shin and Rou, moving quickly as if to escape.
The two welcomed her with small applause.
“Impressive. Even though you’re in a different body, you’ve already mastered ?Sonic Sword?.”
“I knew it, but Sora’s ability is still top-notch, as always.”
Shin and Rou expressed their admiration.
Sora puffed out her chest and put on a proud face.
“Yeah, I’m not just messing around with various VR games for nothing. Compared to turning into a shark, this is a piece of cake.”
“A shark?”
“…Sometimes I don’t get Sora’s hobbies.”
“Rou, she’s been odd like this since forever.”
“Now that you mention it, you’re right.”
“Shut up, shut up, shut up!”
Embarrassed by the strange looks, Sora’s face turned bright red as she retorted.
Turning her back to the two, she began to walk away, as if escaping.
“I’ll go do some solo testing, so you guys focus on leveling up.”
“I’ll catch up with you soon, so wait for me.”
“…Hmph, don’t think you can catch up to me so easily now that I’ve got a cheat character.”
So, she decided to practice the skills she acquired on her own.
In the distance, my friends, who are also used to VR games, quickly formed a party and were efficiently hunting slimes one after another.
If they keep that up, they should level up pretty well.
Both of them are VR gamers as skilled as she was. Judging by appearances, there wasn’t much difference in technique aside from the stats.
Normally, Sora would join their party, but this game uses a system where the experience points from defeated monsters are evenly distributed.
With such a system, the gap between me and the two wouldn’t close anytime soon.
So, after discussing it, we decided that Sora would move solo.
‘N-Not that I’m a loner or anything!’
While making that excuse, she focused on three High Slimes, which were a size larger than the slimes from earlier, with her ?Normal Sword? in hand.
The enemies were level 5.
In contrast, my level was 15.
In a normal RPG, this level disparity wouldn’t be something to fear.
However, in VR games, level differences aren’t everything (though taking on the Demon Lord was certainly out of the question).
Without letting my guard down, I chose the same skill as before: ?Sonic Sword?.
I dashed forward, weaving through the High Slimes’ acidic spray as I moved at high speed, avoiding the attacks before they landed.
By moving in a zigzag pattern, I made it difficult for them to target me, adjusting the pace with the skill’s activation and deactivation, and accelerating sharply the moment their attacks stopped.
Closing the distance with one of them, I sliced it in half just like the previous slime.
As soon as my movement halted, I watched the acidic spray being released and activated ?Sword Guard?, using the glowing side of my sword to deflect it sideways.
“Here we go, skill activation!”
The distance to the enemy was close.
I chose the two-hit skill ?Dual Nail?.
The silver-haired girl swung at the High Slime in front of her with a rightward diagonal cut, then, maintaining the momentum, spun around. With the second strike, now enhanced by the rotation, she sliced through the second High Slime beside her.
The ability to unleash skills without any delay or recovery time was incredibly exhilarating, making for a truly refreshing gameplay experience.
Feeling exhilarated, I looked around for my next prey.
“…Alright, next is that one!”
The next target was a silver-colored slime, not the usual blue, which had spawned at a distance.
Activating the Insight skill, I discovered that this was a Metal Slime, known for its quick escape.
With a level of 10, that’s quite a number.
So, I took my ?Normal Sword? and activated ?Sonic Sword?, accelerating to close the distance to the Metal Slime.
“Hah!”
I exhaled sharply.
I focused all my attention on predicting the slime’s escape and swung my sword upwards from below, targeting the part that seemed like its nose, rather than its main body.
The Metal Slime, which had been trying to flee, was caught off guard and momentarily halted.
Not missing this critical opening, I smoothly raised my red-glowing sword into an upper stance and blocked its escape route. To prepare for the possibility of not defeating it outright, I activated the three-hit skill, Triple Stream.
With a slash from above, a sweeping cut from right to left, and a final spinning thrust, the Metal Slime’s gauge was depleted, and it dispersed into mist.
?Defeated Metal Slime, gained experience. Acquired 1 drop item: Metal Jelly.?
That was close, really close.
I was sweating inwardly.
However, if I could take down the high-level Metal Slime around with a three-hit combo, there was nothing left to fear.
Recomposing myself, I shifted my gaze to the next High Slime, which seemed to show a slight sign of hesitation.
HOWEVER, THERE WILL BE NO MERCY!!!
The silver-haired girl, moving like a demon and relentlessly hunting slimes, would later become famous online under the name “Silver Sword Princess.”