I Gave Up on Conquering the Heroines – Chapter 45

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Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: FusionX
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“I reported to Sister Yerina. I told her the search in Basel turned up nothing.”

“Wow. You lied to your beloved sister without batting an eye? How naughty.”

“Who told me to do it?!”

“Told you? It’s something you did of your own accord, isn’t it?”

“That’s…! It’s true, but…”

Alicia was about to stand up in anger but sat back down.

Don’t misunderstand.

It wasn’t that I threatened Alicia and forced her to keep her mouth shut.

It was simply that Alicia had voluntarily decided that she couldn’t let Yerina and me meet.

“But I still can’t believe it. What did my sister see in a man like you to date you?”

“You still can’t believe it? Want more proof?”

“Enough already!”

Alicia’s face turned bright red as she glared at me like I was trash.

Naturally, when I revealed that I was Yerina’s ex-lover in this round despite never having met her, Alicia’s reaction was intense.

However, since Alicia was also very close to Yerina, there was quite a bit of evidence I could present.

For example, Yerina’s affection for small animals, which she only showed in front of close friends.

Or the way she tied her hair after washing it.

Or her posture when waking up.

Or the location of the mole on her back.

“I thought you couldn’t believe it. When Yerina kisses, she…”

“I believe you! I said I believe you! So please stop talking about it! And even if you talk about kissing, I’m a girl, so I wouldn’t know!”

Oh?

Don’t close female friends kiss each other and stuff?

Where did my common sense go…?

Anyway,

Alicia would now believe that I was Yerina’s ex-lover.

Although it didn’t make sense timeline-wise, I had listed information only someone extremely close to Yerina would know, so she had no choice but to believe it.

And Alicia, who deeply respected and adored her sister, would be highly wary of me meeting Yerina again.

So Alicia had no choice but to cooperate with me.

Since we shared the understanding that she didn’t want me to meet Yerina, we could unite and deceive Yerina together.

“So what are you going to do now?”

“About what?”

“I should know your movements to some extent. That way, if my sister goes on patrol in that direction, I can stop her.”

That makes sense.

“I don’t have a set route. I’m just going around conquering dungeons and traveling the continent. Ah, don’t worry. I have no plans to go to the northern continent for the time being.”

“Dungeons? Were you a mercenary?”

“Can’t you tell by looking at my appearance?”

“Hmm. That’s actually good news for me. I would love nothing more than for you to overdo it in a dungeon and drop dead.”

That’s exactly it.

If the perceptive Yerina met Alicia in person, she would quickly realize that she was lying.

Around that time, I could casually let it slip to Alicia that I had died in a dungeon.

Then Yerina would also believe through Alicia that I had died and wouldn’t be able to pursue me further.

It wouldn’t be bad to spread the news of my death right away tomorrow, but…

I still wanted to use Alicia as my special correspondent in Palana a bit more.

I had been away from the north for so long that I had no idea what the situation was like over there.

At the very least, I needed to know what state Yerina was in.

“Then try to prevent Yerina from approaching black star dungeons as much as possible.”

“Black star dungeons? Why? Those are already…”

“I’ve been wiping out black star dungeons lately. Once I clear out the south, I’ll move up to the north next. I’ll call you again then to talk.”

“What? Are you joking? How can you clear black star dungeons alone?”

“…Not alone.”

Perhaps feeling left out, Undecided interjected.

That’s right. Not alone, but the two of us.

Last time, it was thanks to Undecided that I even managed to save my life.

“As I’m sure you know, everything we discussed today is strictly confidential. The moment I see it leak out, I’ll throw everything away, whether it’s being a mercenary or whatever, and marry Yerina to live comfortably, so keep that in mind.”

“I got it! I’ll keep it a secret. But can I ask just one thing?”

“No.”

“Ah! Come on!”

Putting Undecided’s hood on, I stood up.

The trade secret leak event ends here.

This is the extent of information that’s okay for Alicia to know.

“Just one thing!”

“Hey. Do you want me to take your libido suppressor again?”

“Hic…!”

Alicia clung to my wrist, refusing to let go.

But when I lowered my voice and said a word to her, she hiccupped and straightened her rabbit ears.

It seemed the 12 hours or so without the suppressor had been quite difficult for her.

After all, she would wet herself just from being touched.

She probably never wanted to experience that again.

“Please. There’s something I really want you to answer… I’m begging you…”

“Ha. What is it?”

She became quite polite.

Compared to when we first met and she treated me like a thug, it was a huge improvement.

Alright. I’m in a good mood.

Ask one more thing.

“I don’t believe it, of course! But if… If you really are the person who has been destroying black star dungeons in the southern continent recently… What’s the reason for that? Why are you conquering such dangerous dungeons? You must have already earned enough money to live comfortably for the rest of your life.”

“Who knows. I wouldn’t know.”

“What?!”

“Like you said, it was a lie. That’s not me.”

“Huh?!”

If she says she doesn’t believe it herself.

Then let’s just say it was a lie.

“Then that’s it, right? I’m leaving now.”

“W-wait a minute! That’s why I said ‘if’! If you were really the person destroying black star dungeons… What do you think the reason would be?”

She’s persistent.

My reason for recklessly conquering dungeons?

It’s simple.

Only by clearing all the dungeons can the final boss Draken, who had been sucking nutrients from the dungeons and sleeping in the shadow world, be awakened.

Of course, it was fine not to wake him up.

Then Draken would slowly erode the shadow world and destroy the world in about 1,000 years.

Naturally, it has nothing to do with our generation.

This fact was kept strictly secret, so there was no chaos or riots among the confused public.

That’s why the heroine’s conquest ending without defeating the final boss can be considered a happy ending.

“If I were that guy?”

“Yes.”

But such a story has nothing to do with me.

In order to say ‘fuck it all’ and return to reality.

To end this damn 13th regression that I’m already sick of and return.

“To prevent the world’s destruction. Wouldn’t that be why?”

“…”

Of course, I had no intention of telling her that straight up.

Alicia’s expression became dazed upon hearing my answer.

“Then I’ll get going. Take good care of your libido suppressor so it doesn’t get taken again.”

“It won’t get taken! Unless I meet another despicable person like you who sticks his hand all the way into a lady’s undergarments!”

“Yeah. Be careful not to meet a guy like that again.”

“…Bye.”

Whether she believed it or not was up to Alicia.

Regardless of my purpose, in the end, it was true that I would prevent the destruction of the world.

But that was only if the conquest of the final boss succeeded.

‘I need to seriously level up.’

Now that Belphegor had marked me, other Heavenly Kings might pop out one after another.

I should prepare in advance.

I still have a long way to go. I need to become much, much stronger.

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‘To prevent the world’s destruction.’

It was an answer that should have made me laugh if I heard it.

What does a dungeon have to do with the world’s destruction?

If I had said something like that somewhere else, I might have been ridiculed and asked if I had a delusional disorder or something.

‘That man… Just how much does he know…?’

But I couldn’t laugh at him.

Because I vaguely knew the true nature of the dungeons that had appeared all over the world a few years ago.

When the dungeons first started appearing.

Back then, people thought the world was about to end.

Because suddenly, huge doors appeared everywhere, and monsters poured out from around them.

But after it was revealed that the rewards from the dungeons were quite substantial, the dungeons were treated like gold mines.

Mercenary groups specializing in conquering dungeons were formed, and many markets were revitalized thanks to the dungeons.

Of course, there were also dungeons that were never conquered and ended up being abandoned.

But that wasn’t a big problem as long as a little military force was invested to block the overflowing monsters.

A blessing from God for humanity.

Some even called the dungeons that.

But what I learned in the Magic Tower was far from reality.

‘Does he know that the dungeons are connected to the shadow world? Or does he know even more than that?’

According to the Magic Tower’s research.

The function of the dungeons was none other than extracting energy from our world and sending it to another dimension.

The complex traps and monsters inside the dungeons were devices to protect the dungeons.

And the rewards given were all an illusion to make it difficult to figure out the true purpose of the dungeons, which was the most convincing theory.

Then who summoned the dungeons?

Where is the energy extracted by the dungeons going?

What are they trying to do with that energy?

All of these things are still in the realm of speculation.

No one knew the truth.

Even within the Magic Tower, opinions were really divided.

Among them, the most chilling hypothesis that everyone hoped was not true.

It was that the beings in the shadow world had a plan to destroy our world by investing a massive amount of energy.

‘To prevent the world’s destruction.’

The moment I recalled the words of the man named Yoo-jin again.

Goosebumps rose all over my body.

It can’t be.

There’s no way that playboy could know something that’s treated as a secret even within the Magic Tower.

‘If it’s true…?’

When I tried to recall Yoo-jin’s appearance again, I became confused.

It was a brief encounter, but by no means a light one.

It was a time when I could learn quite a bit about that man.

As a result of observing him during that time.

Yoo-jin may have acted like a clown or a madman, but he wasn’t actually crazy.

Even if he seemed out of his mind, all his actions were based on reason and rationality.

If such a person had a firm conviction.

Wouldn’t it be right to think that there was a basis for that conviction?

The basis for saying that if the dungeons are left alone, the world will be destroyed…

‘How could that man find something even the Magic Tower couldn’t?’

But no matter how much I thought about it, it didn’t make sense, and that was baffling.

I should just treat him as a madman and move on.

But for some reason, Yoo-jin’s words kept coming across as persuasive.

Is he from an organization with research capabilities far surpassing the Magic Tower?

Or a being transcending mortals?

No way. It can’t be…

‘I should stop by the Magic Tower again…’

I should visit the Magic Tower that I left long ago and check the latest research results.

If evidence of the world’s destruction was found there.

If it all turned out to be true.

‘Then Yoo-jin is fighting alone, risking his life to prevent the world’s destruction…?’

Maybe, just a little bit.

A tiny little bit.

I might understand why my sister fell for that man…

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