I Gave Up on Conquering the Heroines – Chapter 166

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Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: FusionX
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It was a tense moment.

The moment I faced the women I had carelessly discarded. The moment my karma, transcending regressions, returned to haunt me.

The reason for gathering them all in one place was simple, to ensure my safety.

Meeting them individually risked pushing their affection levels to 100%, triggering a game over.

But with all three present, they would keep each other in check, minimizing the risk of being captured and imprisoned by any one of them.

Of course, Yerina could potentially subdue them all and capture me, but… I trusted that the current Yerina wouldn’t resort to such measures.

I could only hope that the Mental Cultivation Technique was effectively suppressing her madness.

‘Are there any wards or traps…?’

Before entering the room, I scanned for traces of magic or demonic energy. I didn’t want to be paranoid, but I had to be cautious. They had a history of…unpredictable behavior.

Though they wouldn’t remember, I did. I was still wary of them. Whether my caution was warranted, I was about to find out.

“…I’m…here.”

Undecided whispered, clutching my trousers. Her presence was reassuring. Knowing I had an unwavering ally by my side gave me courage.

I took a deep breath and turned the doorknob.

The door creaked open, revealing a large round table. Familiar faces surrounded it, and I felt my breath catch in my throat.

In contrast to my apprehension, they stared at me, mouths agape in surprise. Undecided stood firmly beside me, and Mia, who had followed us in, stood on my other side.

The women at the table, eyes wide and wavering, remained speechless.

“…”

How should I begin?

‘Why did you do this to me, you bitches?’

…I wanted to scream, but I held back.

The memory of the dungeon blockade stung, but I suppressed the urge to confront them.

Instead, I said,

“How did it come to this?”

An invisible line seemed to divide us. I couldn’t approach them, and they couldn’t approach me. There were so many things we needed to discuss, so many misunderstandings to clear up.

My mind raced, unsure where to begin.

“I doubt anyone wanted this.”

“Yoo-jin…”

“Wait. There’s something I need to explain first.”

I cut Jill off as she spoke.

There was something I had to say first, something that overshadowed everything else. I hadn’t gathered them here for vague apologies and half-truths.

“As you might have guessed, I’m cursed. I’m forced to repeat the same time, to feign emotions, to deceive and betray. I’m not making excuses, but that’s how I hurt all three of you. Jill, I left you with nothing but a note and never returned.”

“Yes…”

“Yulia, I returned to the bombed ruins, only to leave you again.”

“Y-Yes…”

“And Yerina, I deceived you until the very moment of our engagement, then abandoned you.”

“Yes…?!”

The first loop, the sixth loop, and the twelfth loop. They were from different timelines, but the me they encountered was the same.

They probably suspected the regressions but hadn’t fully grasped the truth. I hadn’t either, until I noticed the changes in their behavior.

As I explained the regressions, their eyes widened, and they froze, the reality of the situation sinking in.

They had suspected, but they hadn’t been prepared.

How could they be? Who could anticipate the cruel truth that their beloved had been traversing timelines, engaging in relationships with other women?

“I have two objectives: to conquer all three of you simultaneously, or to defeat a powerful enemy named Draken. But the first objective is now impossible.”

“N-No, Yoo-jin! It’s still possible! I understand! So please, just come back…!”

“It’s impossible. I’ve tried.”

“…”

Jill’s desperate plea died in her throat as I firmly denied her. I had tried. Even after my affairs were exposed, I attempted to pursue all three of them, pushing their affection levels above 95%. But it was futile.

Yerina’s affection never surpassed 95%, even with flawless execution. Jill and Yulia’s remained stubbornly at 94%.

The remaining 6% required satisfying their possessiveness, their desire for exclusivity. I had failed. The all-conquest ending was out of reach.

“And even if it were possible, I wouldn’t choose that path.”

“W-Why…why? Isn’t that…isn’t that why…you’ve…been regressing…?”

“Yes. Completing that objective would allow me to return to my original world. Until now, I regressed to escape, to leave this place, to abandon you…”

“What?”

Their faces paled as I confessed the truth. My throat, which had felt constricted moments ago, now released the words effortlessly.

‘I regressed to abandon you. My love was a lie.’

If affection levels were visible, I imagined they would be plummeting into the negatives.

“And now, I’ve reached the final loop. There are no more chances. And in this loop, I abandoned the first objective and focused on the second. I wasn’t supposed to interact with you. You regaining your memories of past loops was completely unintended…”

A heavy silence descended upon the room. Yerina shook her head, as if pleading for me to deny my words.

Yulia appeared composed, as if she had anticipated this, but I knew she felt the same. And Jill…she looked on the verge of tears.

“So I ran. I didn’t know how to face you, how to treat the women I had abandoned along with vanished timelines. So I avoided you.”

Part of it was fear, fear of their retribution. And I had been punished, with the dungeon blockade. But observing their reactions now, I was certain.

They hadn’t intended that curse. It had been an accident, or perhaps someone else’s manipulation.

“But I’ve decided to stop running. I won’t run anymore. Even if I complete my objective and break the curse, I won’t leave this place. This is my home now…all the memories, good and bad, have become precious to me…”

“…”

Could I truly leave after reaching the ending?

I had imagined it countless times, and the answer was always the same.

I couldn’t.

I couldn’t leave Undecided, Nameless, and the mess I had created. It wasn’t a matter of preference. I was deeply entangled with this world. I had developed too many attachments.

I belonged here now. This was my home. That was an undeniable truth.

“So I’ve decided. I’ll risk my life to defeat Draken. It’s the only way to protect this world, the world I’ve chosen to stay in. And to take revenge on the one who cursed me…”

I gritted my teeth.

It was still a suspicion, but I could now say it with conviction. Draken was behind all of this.

He was the one who trapped me in this cycle of regressions, the one who made this the final loop, the one who orchestrated the dungeon blockade.

‘The error message in the system window…it resembled Draken’s speech pattern.’

I should have suspected him sooner. There were too many connections. Perhaps he had intentionally left clues, hoping I would notice.

His manipulations had led me down a single path, the conquest of Draken, the journey to the other world to kill him. If that’s what he wanted, I would grant his wish.

Whether he desired a worthy opponent or simply craved death, it didn’t matter. I would kill him, for myself, and for the women I had hurt.

No more running.

I would face him head-on.

I would risk death to live.

“To answer the question you’re all wondering…”

I reached for my belt, my fingers instinctively finding the familiar shape of the dagger. I drew it and placed it on the round table.

Jill’s mouth parted slightly.

The dagger she had gifted me in the first loop. It was too ornate for practical use, but I had kept it, even stealing it back in this loop.

“Jill.”

Next, the hip flask.

The hip flask filled with whiskey, a habit I had developed thanks to Yulia. My taste for alcohol was probably permanently altered.

“Yulia…”

Finally, I removed the two thick steel rings from my left hand. The protective gear I wore like knuckles, imitating Yerina.

I hadn’t used them often, but they had saved my life on several occasions.

“And Yerina.”

Symbols of my attachments.

I laid down the scars they had left on me, finally breaking free from the shackles. And for the first time, I spoke with genuine sincerity.

“I loved you.”

“…!”

Their expressions crumpled. I had drawn a line under our past relationships. I had left the past behind.

I couldn’t resurrect vanished emotions, no matter how much they had changed. The passionate love I once felt was gone. My initial impressions of them had been altered.

Pure love was no longer possible.

“The you that I see…isn’t singular. The you from vanished timelines, from repeated regressions, overlaps with the current you. There’s nothing I can do about that…But if you wish…after I complete my objective and break the curse…”

If they were willing to accept a love tainted by suspicion and possessiveness, a love perpetually incomplete, forever stuck at 94%…

“I want all three of you.”

I wanted to love all three of them. That was my choice. They had tormented me for twelve loops.

I deserved to see their expressions in bed, at least.

Their ugly desires and my selfish greed intertwined.

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