CHAPTER 290: THE TALE OF ALEX STRATOS [PART 2]

The young lady’s revelation shocked Alex. Those weren’t the memories he thought she’d see.

But the most curious thing was her mention of a baby and a man she had assumed to be King. A frown appeared on the young man’s face as he wondered why Latifa saw such a thing.

"You saw me as a baby?" Alex asked. "And I was being held by a person you think is King?"

"Yes," Latifa replied. "Is the Alex in your dream your past life or something, then you reincarnated as that baby in this world? If yes, then it all makes sense now."

"Right... it makes perfect sense," Alex muttered. ’No, it doesn’t!’

Of course, he didn’t share his thoughts out loud since he barely had a vague idea as to why Latifa saw a baby Alex in his memory.

After organizing his thoughts, Alex asked Latifa to share some more of the memories she had seen during their brief synchronization.

Latifa then reiterated his memories as the Shield Savant, which made Alex breathe a sigh of relief in his heart.

’Good thing she only saw the memories of Alex Stratos, not my memories of Earth,’ Alex patted his chest gently. ’Also, aside from the monster raids, she said a few things about my childhood in this world.’

Latifa carefully observed the young man, who seemed to be deep in thought.

She had told him everything, hoping that he could explain why the Alex before her was far too different from the Alex she had seen in his memories.

A few minutes later, Alex finally raised his head, and looked at Latifa in the eye.

"Latifa, there are some things I can tell you and some things that I can’t tell you," Alex said carefully.

He didn’t know how much he should share since it would be very difficult to make it make sense for her without lying.

No.

Alex tuly had no choice but to lie at this point. He couldn’t possibly tell her that everything she saw was just his data in a "game" called Endless Leveling Online, in which she was one of the characters.

"I understand." Latifa nodded. "Just tell me what you can tell me."

"First of all, the Alex you saw fighting against the Rank 8 World Boss, Cerberus, is me and not me at the same time," Alex said. "The same can be said for the fight against the Dullahan.

"You can think of it this way—you didn’t see the memories of my past but the memories of my future. I’m obviously just a Rank 2 Oathkeeper, so how could I possibly fight Rank 8 Monsters?"

Latifa blinked before reluctantly nodding in agreement. "Yes, it’s indeed strange. The Alex I saw in my dreams is cooler and more charismatic than the current you. He is also stronger, if you know what I mean."

"... Hahaha." Alex laughed nervously. ’Good thing she believed me!’

Latifa tilted her head slightly, her fox ears twitching as if she were trying to read the truth between his words.

"But..." Latifa said softly, "if those are your ’future’ memories, why did I see you as a baby before all of that? And why was that man holding you like you were his child?"

Alex’s smile stiffened. Looks like he still wasn’t as safe as he thought he would be.

"I can’t explain that part yet," he replied. "Not because I don’t want to... but because I don’t have any recollection of it. I mean, I was just a baby at that time, right?"

Latifa nodded in understanding. "I forgot to mention that I saw a younger version of you. I think around nine or ten years old, pursued by some armed warriors.

"There is an old knight escorting you at that time. He was wearing silver armor, holding a shield with a gryphon’s emblem embedded on it.

At this, Alex’s eyes widened in shock. "Is he holding a black war hammer?"

"That’s right!" Latifa nodded. "It was a black war hammer that seemed to be made from obsidian or something like that."

’The Guardian of the North...’ Alex thought. ’Don’t tell me...’

The young man once again remembered the backstory that he had written when he created his character, Alex Stratos.

This confirmed his assumption that Latifa had only seen the memories of his game character. But instead of feeling relieved, this revelation made Alex feel anxious instead.

"Alex, who are you really?" Latifa asked.

Alex was still reeling from the information overload, so he spoke the first thing on his mind.

"I’m your future lover," Alex answered.

"Wha..."

"Huh?!’

When Alex realized that he made a slip-up, he immediately waved his hands to deny everything he had said.

"W-wait, that’s not true... I mean, it’s true to a certain extent, but it’s not true right now... but I’ll make it happen... arghhhh!" Alex scratched his head because the more he tried to explain, the more things would get out of hand.

After taking a few deep breaths, Alex stared straight at Latifa.

"Please forget what I said right now," Alex said in a serious tone.

"O-Okay," Latifa nodded. "I’ll forget about it."

"Don’t forget it completely."

"Hey! Make up your mind already!" Lotte smacked Alex’s head, which made the young man cry out in pain. "Do you want her to forget or do you want her not to forget?!"

"Lotte, why are you hurting your future lover?" Alex rubbed the spot where the young lady smacked him.

"It seems that I didn’t hit you hard enough." Lotte picked up a chair from the club room and raised it high up to smack the living lights out of the young man, who was making fun of her.

"O-Oi! Time out!" Alex summoned Everguard and took a defensive stance. "I-It was just a joke! But it might not be a joke as well!"

"Damn you. I told you to make up your mind already!"

"Murder! Help!"

Alex knew that the situation couldn’t be salvaged for the time being, so he decided to use Shield Charge, aiming for the door of the club room.

He cancelled the skill mid-way, and hurried out of the clock tower before Lotte could smack the living lights out of him.

The young man wanted to talk to Latifa more, but things had gotten out of hand.

For the time being, he decided to make a tactical retreat and wait for everyone to calm down before they resume their discussion.