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 71
Chapter 71: Examination and Encounter
A few days had passed since the incident in the Forest of Spirits, and now it was August 1st, during summer vacation.
Meanwhile, Sora Kamijo, a first-year student at Kamisato High School with silver hair and blue eyes, had a completely exhausted expression.
Currently, Sora was at Kamisato Central Hospital, the largest municipal hospital in the city.
There, in a newly established waiting room for adventurers of ?Astral Online?, created by a global organization called the ?Guardian?.
Why was she in a place like this?
It wasn’t because of any illness or injury.
The reason for the examination was to determine if there were any abnormalities in her current body.
Sora glanced at the mirror that she wasn’t entirely sure why it was there.
Long silver hair down to her waist. Bright blue eyes.
A delicate face with a slender body, standing at around 150 centimeters tall.
A beautiful girl who would turn heads wherever she walked.
If she were to claim that this was once a plain Japanese boy, would anyone believe him?
Even when thinking calmly, it’s a story that would make one question their sanity.
However, as unbelievable as it sounds, it was true.
The story began with this summer’s new VRMMORPG, ?Astral Online?.
Sora, who had started the game as a newbie, fought the Demon Lord, lost, and was ultimately cursed.
To his astonishment, not only did the curse affect his in-game character, but it also transformed him in the real world—from an ordinary Japanese boy into a Russian-looking girl.
?Astral Online? had drawn global attention for a variety of reasons.
According to an emissary from the ?Guardian?, an organization dedicated to monitoring this game that brings fantasy into reality, if one logs out without breaking a curse, that curse reflects on their real body as well.
Normally, curses could be lifted at the in-game church, but Sora’s curse was a special one that would not be lifted until the Demon Lord was defeated.
A boy turning into a girl.
Under normal circumstances, such a phenomenon would be impossible.
And given the cause, who could predict what kind of malfunctions might occur in her body?
Thus, after being reluctantly dragged out of the house by her sister—who pinched her cheeks to make her go—she came to this hospital, a 30-minute trip, for a check-up.
After using the adventurer card she had received from the emissary to complete the registration, a nurse told him to wait in the waiting room.
It felt like about 10 minutes had passed.
After sitting down on a vacant bench and waiting, I was guided to this separate area by a woman dressed in a black nun’s habit
There, Sora had a question.
Why was there a nun in the hospital?
When he asked, the beautiful blonde woman smiled and said, “If it’s about curses, it’s a nun’s job, not a doctor’s,” a line one would never expect to hear.
Was everything really going to be okay?
Despite her growing anxiety, she underwent a normal examination, followed by blood tests, cell tests, full-body X-rays, and all sorts of checks—much like a regular hospital visit.
If she ignored the fact that it was all done by a beautiful nun, there wasn’t much difference from what a doctor would do.
So, why did she look so exhausted?
It was because the final examination for the curse involved a physical check.
With a body that was already highly sensitive and where even taking a bath with her sister’s help while blindfolded was challenging, the idea of being touched by a stranger was enough to make her break out in a cold sweat.
As a result, Sora fainted midway through, unable to endure it any longer, and when she came to, she found herself sitting here.
Earlier, there had been another nun sitting beside her, but when Sora woke up, she said, “The examination is complete. We will report the results shortly,” and disappeared somewhere.
Now, Sora was left alone, sitting there by herself.
“It really is empty here…”
Now that she thought about it, aside from the Demon Lord, she’s never actually seen a monster that uses curses.
Which means, she might be the only one using this place right now.
Sora mumbled to herself as she sat on the unnecessarily luxurious sofa in the empty waiting room, staring blankly up at the ceiling.
Tomorrow is the day…
Shino Tsukinomiya and Kurono Takanashi, along with their pro-gamer friends, are moving into the neighborhood.
Shino said that she would come by first to see me and Shiori.
In other words, I would have to show this appearance, which I’ve been hiding even from my best friends, to them.
Kurono is really looking forward to meeting me in real life.
But how will she react when she sees this body?
Disappointment?
Disillusionment?
Either way, it’s certain she won’t react positively.
Just thinking about it sends a sharp pain through Sora’s chest, as if a knife had been driven into it.
Facing Leviathan solo would be a hundred times better than this.
As Sora brooded over these pitiful thoughts, she turned her gaze to the window.
But the view wasn’t anything special.
All she could see was a large parking lot, making the scenery utterly dull.
Having no choice, she decided to stop looking at the ground and instead gaze up at the sky.
Today was a perfectly clear day, not a cloud in sight.
As she looked at the “sky”, the origin of her name, she couldn’t suppress her uneasy feelings, and her body swayed slightly from side to side. [1]
“Do you like gazing at the sky, Sora-sama?”
Startled by the sudden voice, Sora slowly turned her gaze in that direction.
And there she was—a girl with pure white hair, golden eyes, and a pristine white dress.
Her face was similar, yet different from the two emissaries who had come from the ?Guardian?.
There was an air of divinity about her, and every small movement—whether it was the slightest twitch of a finger or a blink—exuded elegance.
Overwhelmed by her presence, Sora gritted her teeth, barely maintaining her composure, and mustered the strength to speak.
“Who… are you?”
“My, how wonderful. Sora-sama, you’re the first person to speak to me without seeking permission.”
The white-haired girl smiled warmly, and suddenly, the weight of the surrounding atmosphere intensified.
It was as if gravity itself was demanding that Sora bow, declaring that she had no right to hold her head high.
Her posture collapsed, and she face-planted onto the sofa in an ungraceful manner, causing her to furrow her brow slightly.
“That won’t do. You defeated the evil ?Envy?, didn’t you? You have every right to stand as my equal in this space.”
As she spoke, the crushing gravity vanished as if it had never existed.
Looking up in a daze, Sora found the girl gazing down at her. She gracefully lifted the hem of her dress and curtsied like a noblewoman.
“Nice to meet you, Sora-sama. I am El Aurum, the ‘God of this World’.”
“God… El Aurum…”
“Yes, that’s right, I’m a god. I possess such high authority that ordinary humans can’t even perceive me.”
El puffed out her modest chest with a proud “ahem.” Sora, still bewildered, voiced her doubt.
“But I saw you on TV just like anyone else.”
“That’s because I deliberately lowered my perception level. Normally, I could walk around stark naked, and no one would notice.”
“So, the reason I can see you now is because you’ve lowered that perception level?”
El shook her head in response to Sora’s question.
“No, the perception level is still at a point where ordinary people wouldn’t see me. The reason you can see me, Sora-sama, is simply because you’ve leveled up after defeating ?Leviathan, the Catastrophe of Envy?.”
“I… leveled up?”
“Yes, congratulations on graduating from being an ordinary person. You’ve taken one step closer to becoming the hero of this world.”
“…I don’t understand. Who exactly are you?”
When Sora asked, the girl laughed innocently.
“I am the god who governs this world. I also happen to be one of the masterminds who sent you adventurers into ?Astral Online? to conquer it.”
“Wh-what…?”
One of the masterminds?
The revelation was so shocking that Sora’s thoughts froze, leaving her unable to move.
TL Note:
? (Sora): Sky