CHAPTER 220: I’M A GIRL AND EVEN I CAN’T TELL

The next day...

"Everyone, please meet our new member, Latifa," Alex said with a smile as he introduced the sleeping young lady at the corner of the room. "But since she can’t reply, let’s just allow Lotte to speak on her behalf."

Since Latifa was sleeping peacefully, her second consciousness—which Alex had nicknamed Lotte—spoke in the place of her original body.

"Thank you for having me here." Lotte bowed her head politely. "I hope you take good care of us."

At first, she had been against the new nickname.

But Alex managed to convince her by pointing out it would be a little awkward if the third consciousness was with them and he had to call both of them Latifa. Besides, it was already confusing enough during the daily two hours when the original was awake.

Of course, since the option of giving Latifa’s consciousness nicknames was available in the game, Alex was able to convince her quite easily.

There was even a saying among the players that, if you chose Latifa, you got to have four other wives for free.

The reason for this saying was simple.

It was because at the end of the school term, Latifa would break through her current Rank and become a Rank 4 Celestial Walker.

Then, at the middle of her Second Year Term, she would experience a breakthrough once more, becoming a Rank 5 Celestial Walker.

With four consciousnesses who would develop different personalities, the fox lady was essentially made up of several versions of the person called Latifa. Even among the countless interesting side characters of ELO, Latifa stood out as unique because of this.

Of course, Alex had already prepared the nicknames for Latifa’s other consciousness in preparation for the future.

"Welcome to the club, Latifa and Lotte!" Chuck gave the young lady a thumbs-up. "You will not regret your decision!"

"I hope so," Lotte replied with a polite smile.

Alex then asked everyone to sit as he would be talking about something very important today.

He took his seat at the head of the table and looked at his club members solemnly.

"Our goal is really simple," Alex began. "All of our club members must become part of the last ten survivors in the battle Royale. This is not going to be easy, so I’m going to tell you the names of the students that you must avoid once the battle starts."

The young man tapped the table lightly, and two magical projections appeared in front of them.

"Who are these two pretty ladies?" Chuck asked.

"Only one of them is a lady." Alex glanced at Chuck with amusement. "The other is a boy."

"Huh?!" Chuck rubbed his eyes as he looked at the two magical projections once more.

Still, the two projections were just as beautiful as before.

Chuck was not the only one confused. The other club members, including Lotte, were likewise surprised to hear that one of them was a boy.

"Which one of them is the boy?" Nessia asked. "I’m a girl and even I can’t tell..."

"The one with long black hair," Alex answered. "His name is Vaan Damne."

Everyone’s attention was immediately and completely on Vaan Damne. Despite Alex’s assertion, Chuck still doubted if the raven-haired beauty was really a boy.

His hair, glossy and voluminous, was tied in a ponytail. A few stray strands frame his face, adding to the impression that his loveliness was truly effortless, but Alex had really identified him by one of his least remarkable traits.

What really drew people in when they looked at Vaan was his purple eyes.

Eyes so pure and innocent that they captivated anyone who gazed upon them.

But Alex knew that hiding behind that face and name was a man in his late twenties, possessing the body of a child from a fallen noble family who had been sold to the organization by his parents.

He was also the first Mini Boss of the First Arc and would debut during the Inter-Class Battle Royale.

In the story, Vaan died alongside the demon worshiper controlling him. But the fans of the game refused to accept such an ending!

They all tried to find ways to save the fallen beauty, whom they believed deserved a second chance at life.

Admittedly, Alex also felt that Vaan’s death was rather unfair, especially after learning about his tragic backstory.

After countless playthroughs by different people, the players had found one way to save Vaan.

But they would have to make a lot of preparations to pull it off.

As in a LOT of preparations for it.

And even with all that preparation, the odds of saving him were extremely low because the success of this operation depended on whether players could correctly predict where Vaan would stand during the climax battle of the First Arc.

If players weren’t anywhere near that location, then the plan to save Vaan would fail.

However, Alex modified this plan to give it a higher chance of success.

When he had played the game, he could rely on no one but himself to save Vaan. This was true for other players as well.

But now Alex’s circumstances were different.

He wasn’t alone.

He had friends to help him, which gave him an edge over a solo player who could only do things alone.

This was also why he needed Latifa’s cooperation. Her power would be extremely helpful in his plan to save Vaan.

"When you meet him in Mistral Weave Forest, avoid him at all costs," Alex said. "He might look weak, but I guarantee you—if you try to eliminate him first, the one who will get eliminated is you."

Alex looked pointedly at Renard, who already looked like he thought that warning was either a suggestion or, worse, a challenge.

"Renard, I know that you are strong, but there is always someone stronger than you," Alex stated. "But if you wish to get kicked out of the Battle Royale, feel free to try to take Vaan out. Just remember that I have already given you a heads-up, so don’t blame anyone for the consequences of your actions."

Renard didn’t reply and simply stared at Vaan as if determined to commit every aspect of that pretty face to his memory.

"Then," Chuck asked with a hint of hope, "who is the girl next to him?"

"Her name is Evangeline Feylune," Alex answered. "The reason why I’m not asking any of you to eliminate her is because she also needs to be among the top ten survivors in the upcoming Battle Royale."

"She is strong, but not so strong that it is impossible to defeat her. But like I said earlier, she must survive. She must become a survivor. Think of it as doing a good deed for the greater good."

"You said that we shouldn’t eliminate her," Lavinia chimed in. "Then should we consider recruiting her as a team member if we happen to come across her during the Battle Royale?"

"No." Alex shook his head. "She doesn’t trust people easily and might even backstab you. It is best to leave her alone."

Alex thought for a while and tapped the table once more.

Another magical projection appeared. This time, it was a young lady with long silver hair and pointy ears.

Her blue eyes were as clear as the sky, highlighting her good features.

"If you come across her, try to recruit her as a team member," Alex said. "Her name is Lapiz Sylvarin. She is the younger sister of Aeris Sylvarin, the current club president of Obsidian Fang."

The young man eyed his club members with a smile.

"The Battle Royale can be viewed by the Second, Third, and Fourth Year students," Alex added. "This means that there is a high chance that Aeris will watch her sister’s performance.

"If you try to eliminate her, you might end up getting on the bad side of Obsidian Fang. However, if you help her, you might earn their favor. Since there is no benefit in eliminating her, saving her or recruiting her as a team member is the ideal choice."

Alex then gave his roommate a brief side-long glance and tapped the table once more.

When Chuck saw Xenia appear, he looked at Alex silently, but his eyes said many things.

More specifically, they asked, "Bro, what are you planning?"

"She is Xenia Valeria," Alex announced gleefully, unable to stop himself from smirking. "The Fourth Princess of Avalon and Chuck’s fiancee. Let’s all do him a favor and avoid eliminating his future wife, okay?

"S-She’s not my future wife!" Chuck protested.

"She’s your fiancee," Alex pointed out in a sing-song voice. "That means that she’ll be your future wife, right?"

"You bastard! You already know about our situation, yet you still make fun of me." Chuck badly wanted to strangle the club president on the spot, but he held back, mostly because he understood that he couldn’t win.

"Anyway," Alex continued, his tone serious again, "these are the students that you should avoid or help during the Battle Royale. Lastly, don’t be stingy. Use your academy points to purchase items that will allow you to survive.

"Do not forget that we will be facing Class A in this event. They are not easy opponents to defeat, so if you don’t prepare properly, there is a solid chance that they will eliminate you first."

Chuck raised his hand, prompting Alex to nod in his direction.

"Um, this is just a random question but..." Chuck hesitated. "Can we burn the Mistral Weave Forest to eliminate everyone?"

"... Do you want to die so badly?" Alex didn’t know if he should laugh or cry at his roommate’s creativity.

Not only would the Headmaster and the Professors prevent such a thing from happening, but the Guardian of the Mistral Weave Forest, which was a Rank 9 Monster, absolutely would not tolerate anyone even attempting such a thing.

If Chuck really started a forest fire, Alex would pretend they were strangers. He liked Chuck, but he didn’t want to be mistaken as the troublemaker’s accomplice lest he got expelled.

After a few more warnings and reminders, Alex finally concluded the meeting. He then encouraged his club members to interact more with Lotte so that they could get to know her better.

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A/N: Since people said that my discord invite has expired, I added a new link for my discord server in the synopsis.