I Gave Up on Conquering the Heroines – Chapter 2

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Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: FusionX
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“Kiek! You stop right there! The enemy who killed my father, sister and brother!”

This was driving me crazy.

Running and escaping through a rough forest, not knowing if it had an end or not, had already been going on for 5 minutes.

In an instant, my low stamina hit bottom and rough panting began escaping my lips.

Can’t we talk it out? Or can’t we call it a draw and go our separate ways?

“That wasn’t me!”

“Don’t deceive me! Kek!”

Guess that’s impossible.

So to explain why I was running away so pathetically from a goblin much smaller than me…

We have to go back 5 minutes.

“Ah… I’m starting to understand the situation…”

The office scenery disappeared and a damp, dark forest unfolded all around.

And in front, a suspiciously familiar goblin was rushing at me, shedding tears.

Everyone in our company except me would probably be flustered and fall into a panic at this point.

But as someone who, after coming home from work, reads web novels while eating, reads web novels with TTS while washing, and ruins my eyesight reading web novels lying down right until I fall asleep, I could accept this absurd situation with no problem.

I transferred. Into the new game our company had developed only to spectacularly flop.

I could question that glasses-wearing pig of a developer, suspected to be the mastermind.

I could be puzzled by my outfit, wearing flashy full-body armor. But instead, I decided to focus on the goblin rushing at me from right in front, wielding a club.

Its movements were extremely slow. Seeing as it looked like slow motion, my initial stats probably far surpassed the goblin’s.

[Welcome to Yggdrasil Online.]

[Username: Yoo Jin]

[Age: 21]

[User information verification complete.]

At that moment, a translucent window filled my vision. Yggdrasil Online. As expected, it was our game.

I decided not to do unproductive things like floundering around going “What are these letters that suddenly popped up??? Is this a dream???” like someone seeing a possession novel for the first time.

Regardless of the reason, it’d be best for me to remember well what these words were saying without forgetting.

[If you clear the game and satisfy the escape conditions, the game will immediately end and you will return to reality.]

[Escape Condition 1: The affection rate of all heroines must exceed 95%.]

[Escape Condition 2: The final boss ‘Draken’ must be defeated.]

[If you clear the game without satisfying the escape conditions, you will return to the starting point.]

I could go back. Thank god it wasn’t some bad guy throwing me into the game world without any explanation and neglecting me.

Plus, there was no need to risk my life to clear it. If I failed to satisfy Escape Condition 1 while conquering the heroines, I could just challenge again from the beginning.

It had no risk factors, was safe, and was a game I knew well, so it had advantages too. I even thought that perhaps life here might be better than my boring, hopeless real life.

[Initial traits are assigned randomly and the status window opens automatically.]

[The status window can be opened at any time.]

Hah. And it doesn’t even meanly hide the status window. What a possession-friendly system this is.

The future was bright. I was rather afraid I might clear it in 1 try. What if I wanted to stay here longer?

[Initial Trait: Guardian Knight]

[When protecting someone, stats are amplified. When inactive, base stats decrease by 5 as a penalty.]

[Base stats are determined reflecting actual physical condition.]

[Stats]

[Strength: 9(-5) *Guardian Knight penalty applied]

[Stamina: 7(-5) *Guardian Knight penalty applied]

[Mana: 12(-5) *Guardian Knight penalty applied]

[Agility: 18(-5) *Guardian Knight penalty applied]

[Luck: 4(-5) *Guardian Knight penalty applied]

“Huh?”

This was bullshit. Where was there someone for me to protect in this forest? So I had to face the goblin without the help of my initial trait, no, while being hindered by the penalty.

I almost panicked and made a fuss like someone seeing a possession novel for the first time, but I quickly suppressed the excitement.

No need to be scared. It was a possession game kind enough to teach the escape method, guide the initial traits, and not have the ‘monster appearing behind your back at the start’ pattern.

The goblin that had been rushing at me for a while had only now barely approached within 10 paces of me.

Although my initial stats had all shrunk by half, seeing as the goblin’s movements were that slow, its stats all seemed to be around 1. Plus, I had a sword on my left waist.

“Can’t be helped. I’ll at least end it without pain.”

Even considering it the tutorial, it was too easy. Well, considering the gap between me, who was born destined to become a transcendent existence, and a lowly goblin, it was an unavoidable phenomenon.

Its circumstances were pitiful, but since it attacked me first, I had no choice but to counterattack.

Mortal. Curse your own feeble strength.

[This concludes the guidance.]

[The time deceleration effect disappears.]

“Huh?” Time deceleration…? I was startled and brought my hand to the sword’s scabbard, and…

“Kieek! Human! Die obediently! Kek!”

“Hey hey, hey hey hey!!!”

The goblin instantly closed the distance. Even though I had just made up my mind not to panic, I was already about to fall into a panic.

Still, if I stood firm and just drew my sword, a goblin with a club would be easily…

Clang!

“Ke, kek! That almost cut my face!”

“Ah…”

A clear sound rang out. Why was the sword that should have been in my right hand rolling over there?

My extraordinary mind quickly began grasping the situation, utilizing the experience of imagining
‘If I possessed there, I would have done this’ while reading web novels and playing games.

First, 1. I was a moron with trash base stats who couldn’t even hold a sword properly. I might even have lower stats than the goblin.

And 2. Thanks to the CEO wanting a ‘realistic’ game, the goblins in this world were intelligent enough to knock away the opponent’s sword with a club.

Lastly, 3. I was screwed.

The time it took to organize the situation was only 1 second. Fast. And my legs were also fast.

“Kiek! You stop right there! The enemy who killed my father, sister and brother!”

“That wasn’t me!”

“Don’t deceive me! Kek!”

Well… That’s how it turned out. It was embarrassing to even feel wronged, calling it unfair. The system was kind enough, but I was just unlucky.

Of all things, I got an initial trait that gave only penalties with no benefits. Earlier I saw my base luck stat was 4, could it be that minus luck was applied after the -5 penalty…?

This wasn’t good.

This was very ominous.

Historically, low luck stats were used to build up the protagonist’s unfair, devastated background. It was a setting specialized for author-convenient protagonist torment.

If a way to raise stats appeared later, I’d have to raise luck first no matter what.

I didn’t want that kind of scenario where the protagonist rolls this way and that until his mental state collapses, with a tiny minority of readers going “Kya~! This is the taste~!” while the majority quietly slip away without a word.

The one fortunate thing was that except for my outfit, I had completely transferred over with my own body as is. No, it wasn’t really possession. Calling it a ‘transfer’ would be more accurate.

I didn’t have to wander around needlessly adapting to someone else’s body or feel dizzy because of the body owner’s arbitrarily injected past ruffian history. That was truly fortunate.

‘It’s about time to settle this!’

My stamina was running out.

I was already about to collapse from exhaustion, but seeing as the goblin still showed no signs of tiring, it became a foregone conclusion that my stats were lower than its.

Historically, humans’ strength was endurance, that is, stamina.

No matter how strong, fast, and thick-skinned a large animal was, if humans swarmed in groups and chased it until it collapsed from exhaustion, it was helpless.

If I didn’t want to suffer that fate at the hands of a goblin, it meant I had to end it before my stamina was completely drained.

Rummaging through my whole body, I couldn’t feel anything usable as a weapon besides the sword I had equipped earlier.

I was wearing full-body armor, but it wasn’t sturdy full plate armor, and it was hard to expect a big boost in defense against a club, not a sword.

If I stopped like this and confronted it, I would become the sacrificial lamb in the introductory part of a novel where an angry goblin finally achieves revenge for its family and advances towards success.

“Aargh!”

“Kekeke! Human, weak! Stupid!”

Thwack. Perhaps because my stamina was drained, I tripped over a tree root I had easily jumped over a while ago and fell. The way I fell made it impossible to get up immediately.

The goblin caught up in an instant and jumped high, trying to strike down with its club, adding gravity to its lacking strength. At this rate, I would die. Of course, only at this rate.

“Can’t even run straight! Keep turning directions so get caught quickly! Kek!”

“…”

If there are no indicators to recognize direction, humans can’t walk straight. I remember reading somewhere that people tend to veer to one side, either right or left.

But even though there were many things in this forest that could serve as indicators, I had returned to the starting place after going around in a full circle for over 5 minutes. Why? To retrieve my weapon.

“I’m sorry. It’s too hard so I can’t subdue you alive.”

“Kiek?”

Swish. With a chilling sound cutting through the wind, a red line was drawn across the goblin’s neck.

Since it was floating in the air, it couldn’t dodge, so aiming was easy. The distance was close, the target large, and the blade wide. No matter where it hit, it was all a critical strike.

The club fell with a thud right next to my face, and soon the goblin’s body that had let go of the club tumbled to the ground.

“Keek! Kiek! Kreek!”

Seeing the goblin writhing in pain, spewing blood from its neck, I felt pity. Although I wasn’t the one who killed its family, I could understand the goblin a little, who couldn’t help but be blinded by anger.

I gripped the sword with both hands trembling from my lacking strength and brought it down. The goblin’s head was cut off and it went limp, no longer twitching. There was no effect of the corpse disappearing while emitting light. I seemed to have entered the version before the update.

[Achievement Unlocked]

[First monster hunt success!]

First monster hunt. No, perhaps it was murder. Since I killed a living being with intelligence on par with humans, wasn’t it no different from murder?

The moment I was frozen, contemplating such things.

[As a reward for the achievement, you are given ‘Stat Boost Potion of Choice’ x1.]

[Stat Boost Potion of Choice (Owned: 1)]

[Permanently increases the stat of your choice by 10.]

“Glug glug! *Cough cough*! Ack!”

[Luck stat increases by 10.]

I stopped spouting miserable nonsense fit for a philosopher and quickly downed the potion first.

The most crazy thing about -1 luck stat was that even if a boss monster coincidentally appeared behind my back right now after coming out to drink, I’d have to die going “Ah, I guess that happens”.

There was no time to even hesitate. I shoved it down my throat, not caring if the potion went into my lungs since I drank it so hurriedly that it went down the wrong pipe.

What was that about murder? That guy greatly contributed to restoring my luck stat. He was probably shedding tears of joy in the afterlife, happy to have been of help to me.

From now on, I’d have to name him Blin and not forget, commemorating that honorable sacrifice. I decided. Every year, today is Blin’s memorial day.

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