I Gave Up on Conquering the Heroines – Chapter 150

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Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: FusionX
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‘What in the world…?’

Temulen was stunned.

Something unbelievable was happening before his eyes. The materialization device, ‘Alma,’ wasn’t anything special. It was essentially a high-performance speaker, the only difference being that it stimulated all five senses, not just hearing.

Alma had no processing power, it simply interpreted the input data and outputted it.

‘How is it outputting data that wasn’t inputted…?’

Just as a listener couldn’t interfere with the sound coming from a speaker, a third party shouldn’t be able to interact with Alma’s output.

Observation was the only permitted action. But this man was defying common sense. His hand touched the past, embracing the girl, comforting her. And the girl, in his arms, wept.

Unlike her past, where she suffered alone, now she had someone by her side, silently stroking her hair.

‘What did he do…?’

There was only one possibility. He had taken control of ‘Alma.’ It was no longer a simple output device, it had become a simulator.

Of course, Alma had no processing unit, so simulations were theoretically impossible.

That meant something else was acting as a processing unit. And ever since the man began interacting with the illusion, he had sensed a powerful surge of magical power from something inside his bag.

That had to be it.

Whatever it was, it was helping him interact with the girl’s past through Alma.

‘Impressive. A real-time interactive illusion simulator. This could be profitable.’

He had compared Alma to a speaker, but the amount of data it handled was far greater than a single audio channel.

To simulate all five senses, plus magical and demonic energy perception, it had to read and interpret all the information stored in the brain.

A device capable of processing such a massive amount of data and enabling real-time interaction… if such a thing existed, illusion simulators would have flooded the market long ago.

A processing unit beyond anything currently known.

Temulen was more interested in this unknown device than anything else.

He could make a fortune with a fully realized illusion simulator.

There were plenty of people addicted to simple pleasures like drugs, countless more would seek escapism in a simulator.

‘But even with a powerful processing unit, how can he operate it during the simulation?’

There was another strange aspect. People assumed processing units handled everything automatically, but that wasn’t the case.

The operator also had to focus their mind through meditation. But this man seemed completely focused on comforting the girl, not on operating the device. And it was absurd to think that the girl’s illusory past self was operating it.

Could it be the spider inside his clothes…?

‘I’m seeing too many strange things today, I’m starting to think nonsense.’

A spider operating a processing unit? That was ridiculous.

The man must possess exceptional, perhaps superhuman, skill in operating the device.

There was no other explanation.

‘What?!’

Then, something even more astonishing happened. The data was being overwritten.

The girl’s memories were being altered in real-time, as if the man had been there all along.

Her past, where she suffered alone, was being rewritten, with the man comforting her. It wasn’t a forceful or destructive alteration like brainwashing or hypnosis.

It was a consensual change. The girl knew her memories were being altered, and she knew what they were like before.

He wasn’t deceiving her, he was rewriting her painful memories, turning them into bittersweet nostalgia, giving her the courage to face her past.

And the man, seemingly satisfied with having given her that courage, smiled gently.

‘He’s using Alma however he pleases…’

A memory rewriting function on top of the illusion simulator… At this point, his understanding of Alma probably far surpassed Temulen’s.

Perhaps he had come here with the intention of exploiting Alma from the start.

Temulen chuckled.

He had been used, without receiving any compensation, yet he didn’t feel resentful.

Perhaps it was because he had also been trying to gather information about the man.

‘Alright. I believe you. You’re not an Archdemon.’

Temulen reached a conclusion.

This man, who cherished a mere blood ghoul girl who had regained her emotions, couldn’t possibly be an Archdemon, or an ally of the enemy from the other world.

[I’ll end it here. You’ve used up ten days’ worth of the White Tower’s magical power.]

Temulen announced, turning off the machine.

Alma, having lost control, resisted momentarily, then finally stopped.

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“Hee… hoo… waaaah! Mom! Dad! Waaaa…”

Undecided sobbed, clutching her chest, releasing all the pent-up grief she had suppressed for so long, the guilt she had believed to be unforgivable, the pain she had tried to overcome by punishing herself.

Her family was gone, but I forgave her.

I hadn’t felt qualified to comfort her before, to even ask about her past. But after witnessing her memories, experiencing her pain, I finally understood.

I still wasn’t qualified, I still didn’t fully understand her, but I forgave her anyway.

It’s okay. You can forgive yourself now.

I stroked her hair and whispered.

[I’ll end it here. You’ve used up ten days’ worth of the White Tower’s magical power.]

The scenery around us crumbled, and Undecided’s appearance began to change.

“Ugh…hee…woo…”

The bloodied, tear-stained blood ghoul girl disappeared, replaced by a clean, tearless Undecided, her sobs silent.

We were back inside ‘Alma,’ surrounded by white panels.

“Undecided.”

“…Yes.”

Her voice was hoarse and hesitant. This was the Undecided I knew. The familiar Undecided.

She hadn’t completely overcome her trauma, but she was facing it, slowly healing.

“No one blames you. Let go of that guilt you’ve carried for over ten years. It’s not your fault. It’s not your responsibility. You shouldn’t have to suffer like this.”

“…But… when I… close my eyes… I hear them… blaming me…”

She could live without sleep, but she was still susceptible to sleep magic and curses.

That meant she could sleep if she wanted to.

It seemed she had been avoiding sleep because she was afraid of her dreams, afraid of reliving her past.

“Close your eyes.”

“…Okay.”

“Do you still hear them?”

“…No.”

“Then what do you see?”

“…You… protecting me… holding me… telling me… it’s not… my fault…”

My presence was now etched into her memories. I was there in her painful past, making it possible for her to face it.

Now, the ‘me’ inside her would protect her, silencing the guilt and self-blame.

And at that moment, I felt a surge of power, my thoughts accelerating.

My Guardian Knight trait was active again. Undecided had regained her sense of being protected by me. And now I understood.

I understood why she could always activate my trait. The ‘protection’ she felt wasn’t physical.

I had been protecting her from her past, preventing her from remembering, from feeling. But now, the meaning had changed.

I was in her memories, comforting her, protecting her from her trauma, even within that inescapable past. And the ‘me’ inside her would always be there to protect her.

A system window appeared. My stats flickered and changed.

The amplification was now sevenfold. I had been worried about how to increase my stats, and this was a huge boost.

I could now match the speed of the ‘perfected’ Kali, and perhaps even fight Transylvania on equal footing… well, maybe not. But at least I could definitely crush Belphegor’s main body now.

“Welcome back.”

“…Yes.”

“And goodbye.”

“…”

The cheerful, carefree Undecided, who had forgotten her past, was gone. I had erased her with my own hands. I buried her in my heart and silently bid her farewell.

That was it.

Facing the past… it wasn’t that big of a deal.

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