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 64
Chapter 64: Pioneers of the World
Sora and the others set out from the base in broad daylight, with Giorl and the others seeing them off.
As they walked through the unchanging scenery, Kuro happily recounted the events of the past three days to her father, Hart. They had been progressing through the vast forest for about an hour.
Suddenly, something struck me.
The moment my ?Perception? skill picked up on a monster, the enemy immediately turned around and fled. The monsters displaying this behavior were forest dwellers like Forest Bears and Big Spiders.
Curious as to why the hostile monsters were acting this way, Sora asked the support entity, ?Lucifel?.
?Master, unless they are event monsters, monsters will avoid adventurers if there is a level difference of more than 30. Since Hart is currently at level 156, monsters below level 126 will flee.?
I see, that explains it.
So far, the monsters we’ve encountered in the forest have mostly been around levels 20 to 30. I haven’t seen any monsters exceeding level 100.
In other words, only Leviathan-types are likely to attack us in our current situation.
While it’s nice that we can move smoothly without encountering monsters, it does leave me feeling a bit unsatisfied.
Walking through the familiar forest, I started to feel like we were just on a leisurely picnic.
“By the way, Dad, why is your player name listed as ?UNK? instead of ?Adventurer??”
“Oh, that. We suspect it’s because the beta players left behind in this world are considered different from the official players.”
“A different existence?”
“To put it another way, beta players are uninvited guests. Being labeled as ?Unknown? is likely the world’s provisional response to us staying behind when we weren’t supposed to.”
“Ah, I see.”
That explanation made sense to me.
When you think about it, this world is strict enough to kill off players who haven’t logged out during updates.
A question popped into Sora’s head, so he decided to walk alongside Kuro and ask Hart about it.
“So, what happens if an update comes while we’re unable to log out?”
“In that case, it’s like being treated as an NPC. If you use a tent, you can avoid the instant death penalty from the update.”
“I see. Are there any other differences from regular players?”
“Well… although we’re treated as players in shops, we can’t accept quests. So, the only way to level up and earn money is by defeating monsters.”
“Not being able to accept quests is pretty harsh.”
“It’s inconvenient, but if you look hard enough, there are plenty of good places to earn money.”
Hart chuckled wryly as he mentioned the difficulties he’d faced. Just as Sora was about to ask another question, a notification sound, *’PING!,’* interrupted them, signaling a message.
When Sora checked to see who it was from, he found it was a message from his younger sister, Shio.
What could this be about?
Perhaps it was a report that they had successfully defeated the Leviathan. With that thought, Sora opened the message, but ?Lucifel?, being considerate, displayed the message first.
It contained just one sentence:
?Boss is strong, help me.?[1]
It would probably make her angry if she knew, but Sora couldn’t help but laugh. The message was written like something a grade-schooler would type, without even converting to katakana or kanji.
Judging from the message, it seemed Shio and the others were struggling quite a bit against the Leviathan.
“But this is a problem. The distance from here to the spirit village is pretty far.”
“We wouldn’t make it even if we ran.”
“Even for me, that distance is too much.”
“This is a problem.”
Everyone agreed that it was impossible for all of us to go from here to fight the Leviathan.
Without being able to use ?Sonic Turn?, even if they used up all the “Spirit Cookies” they had on hand, they probably wouldn’t make it in time.
Just as Sora was about to type ?Sorry, we won’t make it in time?, a player was detected by his ?Perception? skill.
This player was heading straight towards them at an incredible speed without any hesitation.
“!”
The figure, moving rapidly through the trees, was riding a Forest Wolf.
No, this wolf was even larger than the one that had attacked Aria before.
Seeing Sora’s confusion, ?Lucifel?, using his ?Insight? skill, issued a warning.
?That’s a Forest High Wolf, an evolved form of the Forest Wolf. Level 40. It’s far stronger in every way compared to the one you fought before, Master.?
What’s more, the player riding the wolf had an astonishingly high level, nearly matching Kuro’s, who had been leveling up rapidly with my help.
A high-ranking player was heading straight towards them.
As I debated whether to engage, the person on the wolf drew a rapier, which made me decide to fight.
I placed my hand on the ?Silver Sword? at my waist, waited for the right moment, and activated ?Sonic Sword III?.
In response, the enemy activated ?Linear Pierce?, a basic skill in the rapier category.
The straight sword and rapier clashed head-on, but Sora’s attack, boosted by all his enhancement slots focusing on attack power, completely overpowered the enemy’s momentum.
“Ha! You stopped this in one move. As expected, you’re the best!”
“That voice…!”
Having crossed blades, perhaps they thought they would be pushed back if they continued like this.
Without any command given, the wolf backstepped, withdrawing its master from Sora’s range.
A short distance away, the rapier user on the wolf stood opposite Sora. Hart and Kuro, on high alert, began to draw their swords, but Sora raised his left hand to stop them.
“Sora-kun?”
“Hart-san, the opponent is a player. They won’t take damage outside of a duel, so there’s no need to draw your swords. Besides… he’s not an enemy.”
It seemed like the earlier strike had been a test to see if Sora could block it.
The blue-haired person with semi-long hair sheathed his rapier and dismounted from the wolf. After instructing the wolf to stay put, he slowly approached them.
He had a slender, almost girlish appearance, standing at about 160 centimeters tall. His face was beautiful and well-proportioned, with eyes that conveyed a strong sense of inner resolve as he stared at Sora. He was wearing a blue battle dress, his style is also focused on being lightweight, just like mine and Kuro’s.
At first glance, anyone would assume he was a girl.
Sora, knowing that this person had created and used a similar character in the past, couldn’t help but be exasperated by the deliberate femininity of his appearance.
“You still love cross-dressing, don’t you?”
“Yeah, pursuing beauty and capturing your heart are the themes of my life.”
“Cut it out, I’m not into dating guys.”
As the blue-haired boy tried to naturally link arms with Sora, Sora dodged with a look of disgust.
Yes, despite his appearance, this person was definitely a “boy.”
Seeing Sora break out in a sweat and back away, the blue-haired boy chuckled.
“Ha, just kidding. But I really wouldn’t mind dating you if it’s with you.”
Sensing danger in those words, Kuro left Hart’s side and moved to stand next to Sora. She glared at the blue-haired boy and said firmly,
“I’m Sora’s partner!”
“Huh? Oh, it’s the ?Black Princess?. I’m surprised that the princess who avoids others would get so close to someone. Even I didn’t see that coming.”
“Who are you, anyway?”
“My apologies. It seems I got too excited about reuniting with an old friend and forgot my manners!”
Laughing, the blue-haired boy picked up the hem of his dress and made a perfect, graceful bow to Kuro, Aria, and Hart.
“Allow me to introduce myself. Black Princess, Princess of Spirits and Fairies, ‘Beta Test Player,’ I am Yoru, the leader of the ?Hunters of the Twilight? guild.”
“How do you know Hart-san is a beta player…!?”
Shocked, Sora asked, but Yoru just put a finger to his lips and smiled playfully.
“I am the ?Pioneer of the World?. There’s nothing you know that I don’t.”
TL Note:
????????????