I Gave Up on Conquering the Heroines – Chapter 55

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Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: FusionX
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I was born and abandoned in the forest, destined to die.

Whether torn apart by wild beasts or crying alone until my strength gave out.

The one who embraced me was the World Tree.

The strangely protruding branches and warm leaves in the middle of the forest.

The high elves said they found me as a newborn baby inside the nest created by the World Tree.

That’s how I was chosen as the priestess of the World Tree from the moment I was born.

From the time my sense of self was formed, I was treated as a priestess and had no doubts about it.

Without the World Tree, my life wouldn’t have even begun in the first place.

Devoting myself to the World Tree was only natural.

I existed for the World Tree and lived to function as a priestess.

I had long forgotten my name.

I did have a name given to me by the World Tree a long time ago, but with no one calling me by it, I had forgotten it.

Everyone who sought me out only sought the priestess of the World Tree.

The priestess was me, and I was the priestess.

There was no person named Mia there.

‘Mia… Was it…?’

He was the first person to call me by that name.

He was also the first to show interest in me as a person named Mia, not as the priestess of the World Tree.

Until then, I thought he was just a frivolous human.

Like any other human, I thought he was barbaric and only had strange fantasies about elves.

‘Come under me. That way, there will be space to breathe.’

‘Then what about you?’

‘One of us has to survive, right?’

‘…!’

But that wasn’t the case.

Such a frivolous human wouldn’t risk his life fighting for a complete stranger, let alone someone from a different race.

He was someone who was prepared to die for her.

Perhaps if she hadn’t heard the whisper of Lord Ifrit at that time and brought the magic tool to his chest, he really would have died.

He would have died to save her.

‘I’m nothing if I’m not the priestess…’

With the collapse of the World Tree’s Eye, I had no way to commune with the World Tree.

Without being connected to the World Tree, there was no reason for the priestess to exist.

I was no longer the priestess.

And having lived my entire life as a priestess, if that title was stripped away, nothing would be left of me.

For me, for Mia as a person, not as the priestess, that man fought.

‘I don’t feel the headache anymore. I can’t hear the voice of the World Tree either…’

I don’t know what to do.

This is the first time.

Freed from the constraints and responsibilities of being the priestess of the World Tree and living as an individual for the first time, everything is confusing.

It feels like I’ve lost my way.

As if I’ve become Mia.

But I don’t entirely dislike it.

Because I see someone who will lead me forward.

It seemed like Yoo-jin would accept me even if I was no longer the priestess.

If it were up to me, I would want to follow Yoo-jin.

I want to leave Elvenguard, where I’ve been trapped for a lifetime, and enjoy traveling with him.

Imagining such pleasant thoughts made me smile involuntarily.

“Priestess.”

“Ah, oh. Yes…”

The moment I stopped daydreaming and opened my eyes, the gazes of the elders were all focused on me.

I quickly hardened my expression that had unknowingly softened.

“You said an unknown enemy was controlling even the World Tree’s Eye, correct?”

“Yes. It seems the existing World Tree’s Eye has collapsed and can no longer function.”

“Then after subduing that enemy, the World Tree’s Eye will be restored. It will be difficult to commune with the revived World Tree’s Eye from the beginning. Perhaps an elf with greater aptitude than the priestess may appear.”

“What are you trying to say?”

“If the priestess desires, you may step down from your role now. We will have someone else take over as the priestess. Haven’t you devoted yourself for the past 76 years? In just 30 more years, you’ll be an adult, so I think it’s about time you start living your own life.”

“…”

The choice was thrust upon me at an unexpected moment.

I thought it was just my imagination.

But the elders really gave me the opportunity to quit being the priestess.

“I never imagined…”

What reason was there to hesitate?

Unable to hide the smile that formed on my lips, I parted my lips.

My answer was predetermined from the beginning.

“Thank you for your consideration. But I have no intention of stepping down as the priestess. I’ll continue until the World Tree casts me out.”

“Priestess…”

I couldn’t quit.

The World Tree was the link that connected me and Yoo-jin.

I couldn’t abandon the World Tree.

I even made a promise with Yoo-jin.

To recite prophecies to him for a lifetime.

That role had to be mine.

I couldn’t even imagine someone else reciting prophecies to Yoo-jin, and I didn’t want to imagine it either.

It was an opportunity to repay Yoo-jin’s kindness.

And an opportunity to see Yoo-jin’s face for a lifetime.

I absolutely couldn’t quit.

“Where is Mr. Cheon Michael Jackson now?”

Only I alone knew his real name.

Immersed in this small sense of superiority, it was only for a moment.

“He is currently doing a final check with his companions in front of the dungeon entrance.”

“If he mentions any necessary supplies, make sure to bring them all. He must succeed. If he fails, the World Tree will fall into the hands of an unknown enemy…”

Thinking that he was about to face a perilous battle, I felt suffocated.

I used to think that the life of one elf was more precious than the lives of ten short-lived races.

But Yoo-jin was different.

If I could save Yoo-jin’s life by sacrificing my own, I would gladly do so.

Just as Yoo-jin had done for me.

‘World Tree. Please protect Yoo-jin and let him return alive…’

I offered a prayer that would never reach.

To the World Tree whose connection had been severed, I endlessly prayed.

Please let Yoo-jin live.

Please return the man who first called me Mia safely to my arms.

“…Huh?”

At that moment, I noticed something strange.

‘How did he know my name was Mia?’

I had never told him my name even once.

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‘They sure keep meticulous records too.’

Perhaps thanks to the setting that Elvenguard was obsessed with record-keeping, I was able to receive a lot of information about the dungeon.

What monsters appeared.

What the structure was like.

What traps were installed and where.

I carefully examined the map the elves had written with their blood and sweat.

And as a result.

‘Where have I seen this dungeon a lot before?’

I was gripped by a strange sense of déjà vu.

Thinking it might be my mistake, I thoroughly examined all the records.

Because if I made a careless mistake, I could die.

I looked through it once.

Then I looked at it a second time.

Finally, after checking one more time, I was convinced.

‘This is Kali’s unique dungeon.’

I was certain it was the dungeon I had entered once before.

During the past 12 rounds, since my goal wasn’t to defeat the final boss, I rarely confronted the Four Heavenly Kings.

But very rarely, I occasionally encountered a Heavenly King by chance.

Which round was it? The 5th round?

I definitely discovered a dungeon that had appeared where there shouldn’t have been one.

I fearlessly entered and strategically conquered each room one by one until I reached the final room and realized it.

This wasn’t an ordinary dungeon.

It was the unique dungeon created by the Heavenly King, Kali.

‘Come to think of it, I was pretty brave to have survived and escaped back then.’

Thinking back to that time, my groin tingled.

In the 5th round, I was still quite weak, yet I faced Kali and managed to escape alive.

Maybe Kali had gone easy on me back then.

Anyway, all dungeons in the game always exist in the same location in every round.

But the unique dungeons created by the Four Heavenly Kings are different.

Unlike the existing dungeons that are already completed at the point of my regression, the unique dungeons are built later.

So there was no way to know when and where they would appear.

Fortunately, this dungeon seemed to be Kali’s unique dungeon. And I thought it was a completely unknown dungeon.

“Ugh!”

“Wh-what’s wrong? What was that sound?”

“Oh man. My back is killing me. Let me stretch it a bit.”

“Wh-why are you so carefree? You might die, you know? The enemy is strong enough to erode the World Tree…”

As I groaned and stretched, Alicia made a fuss beside me.

Her hands were trembling.

Her eyes kept twitching.

This girl.

She was scared out of her mind.

If she was this intimidated, she wouldn’t even be able to perform at her usual level.

“Don’t worry too much.”

“Why? Ah! You have the perfect strategy prepared this time too, right? Just like how you easily subdued the Great Spirit!”

“No. It won’t be that easy this time.”

“Then why…”

“Because there’s no point in worrying. You can be as nervous as you want. But stop worrying now. No matter what you imagine, things beyond your imagination will pop out.”

I rubbed Alicia’s shoulders, helping her relax.

You can’t prepare for the unknown.

In the end, what we need right now is a state of extreme tension that allows us to instantly respond to anything.

Everything else is counterproductive.

“You’re right. Rather than shrinking back, I should be on high alert. You never know what trap might come out from the start…”

“Ah. You don’t need to worry about traps.”

“Pardon?”

Although this is the first time I’ll properly face Kali, I’m quite familiar with this dungeon, so there are many advantages I can take.

“Excuse me! Please bring some explosives!”

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Inside the dark dungeon.

At the point where spider webs converged from all directions.

The woman seated on that throne.

The druid, Kali, maintained her concentration while constantly drooling.

It had been 3 months since she had started burrowing into the roots of the World Tree and corrupting it.

At first, there seemed to be no progress, but Kali had successfully taken control of the entire roots and a part of the base.

At this rate, it would be over soon.

She thought she could sprout the flower of death within 6 months.

With that hope, she was about to redouble her efforts to take over the World Tree.

But her concentration was broken, and her eyes widened.

Kali hastily stood up and shouted.

Just now, a faint vibration had resonated from the entrance of the dungeon through the spider web.

It meant the door had opened, and a new sacrifice had entered.

She had failed to kill him.

It had been a desperate attack, mobilizing the remnants of the World Tree’s roots and then attempting to bury him alive.

But he had managed to survive even that and finally knocked on the dungeon’s door.

However, Kali’s face was filled with joy rather than regret.

Of course, she had done her best to attack, but a part of her had hoped that the human would survive.

He was skilled enough to overwhelm and destroy Belphegor’s avatar.

It would be boring if he died before she could taste his skills.

Fortunately, he didn’t betray Kali’s expectations.

All the monsters in here were her eyes.

Using them, she could spy on the enemy’s numbers, weapons, abilities, etc. as they made their way here and prepare in advance.

The moment Kali connected to all her ‘eyes’ with anticipation.

Her expression distorted.

She couldn’t find the enemy in any of her ‘eyes’.

Maybe he hadn’t moved a single step from the starting point yet.

But it didn’t matter.

In the end, he would have to break through the rooms one by one to reach here.

Those rooms filled with countless threats…

Boom!

At that moment, the dungeon shook greatly, and a roar erupted, causing Kali’s expression to stiffen.

Along with the continuous explosions, a hole had been blasted in the ceiling of the dungeon.

Kali looked up, and a look of shock spread across her face.

“Shortcut open, bitch.”

The human Belphegor had spoken of.

He was jumping down from above, holding a greatsword.

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[T/N: Lmao ]