The Boomer God's Hidden Route

The moment I left a negative review complaining about the 7,700-character DLC, I found myself possessed inside that very game. (4)

I had forgotten. What people used to call the god Papiyas. As ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠one of the oldest deities in the world of King's Crown, he carried somewhat outdated values. Strict, solemn, and utterly serious in matters of men and women, Papiyas was—despite his appearance—an ardent believer in monogamy. That was why King's Crown players had nicknamed him the "Boomer God."

His blessing was exceptionally effective at raising favorability with the opposite sex. Before the new DLC launched and the game was patched, there had been an overpowered glitch that exploited this blessing. Whether players liked it or not, anyone aiming for the highest scores had been forced to meet the "Massive-Root God" at least once.

Meeting him was no easy task. Even if someone somehow managed it, his boomer mindset would immediately declare, "Thou hast committed adultery, so thou art unworthy to stand before me," or "I shall bestow not a blessing but a curse upon the unchaste." Players had no reason to view him kindly.

I often watched streams of people playing King's Crown. Whenever Papiyas appeared on screen, the chat would flood with "-Boomer-" comments. His reputation was truly rock bottom.

His divine wrath was so immense that I feared I might die if things continued this way. I hurriedly made an excuse.

"How is it my fault that the hero party's gender ratio is skewed?"

"Didst thou think I would not know that thy desire to inhabit the hero's body stems from base and lustful cravings?!"

"One who harbors such wicked thoughts is unfit to become the hero!!"

But… hero = harem was practically an industry standard in this genre. What was I supposed to do? Feeling wronged, I pressed the question.

"If even the crown prince is unacceptable, and the hero is unacceptable, then who on earth could possibly become Elaine's partner!?"

"..."

At my question, the god—who had been trembling with excitement and standing ramrod straight—suddenly froze. His momentum gradually subsided. Papiyas, his anger now softened to the point of looking almost limp, spoke a name as though reciting a gloomy poem.

"Leon Magnus. That is the name of the mortal whose body I had intended to place thy soul into from the very beginning."

What? Who? Leon??

Something felt off. Even if I looked like this now, I was still the person who had once reached world rank 1. I prided myself on having memorized nearly everything there was to know about King's Crown, yet no matter how hard I tried to recall, I could not remember any NPC by that name.

Ah, but I did know the surname Magnus quite well. In fact, any player who had touched King's Crown would recognize it. The noble house of Magnus was a major named faction. Count Yuri Magnus—one of the six bishops of the Demon King-worshipping cult to which the crown prince belonged—was a mid-boss players encountered when playing as the hero. That made it even stranger. I had never seen the name Leon among the members of House Magnus…

While I was struggling to dredge up the memory, the god who had been quietly watching suddenly dropped an enormous revelation.

"Only Leon Magnus possesses the sole qualification to compete with Alec Lu for Elaine Huxley's hand. Therefore, I shall place thy soul into Leon Magnus's body. This is the very reason I ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠brought thy soul here… Mortal, wilt thou accept this?"

Only Leon could compete with the crown prince? Unable to comprehend the god's words, I asked without thinking.

"Why does only Leon possess this unique qualification?"

The god ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠revealed a truly astonishing truth.

"Because Elaine Huxley's first love is not Alec Lu."

...If Elaine's first love was not the crown prince, then surely—

"Indeed. The first man Elaine ever loved was Leon. Although, like thee until recently, she had not yet become aware of those feelings herself..."

Thump, thump— My heart began to pound harder than ever before at the truth the god had revealed. Only now did I fully understand the meaning of "unique." And I realized something else.

This was a hidden route that allowed me to truly connect with Elaine—a route I had never once experienced in all my time playing King's Crown.

Once she loved someone, her feelings would never change, even if the heavens collapsed and the world split in two. Her final words in the canon route, after being betrayed by Crown Prince Alec and offered as a sacrifice to summon the Demon King, still remained vivid in my memory.

"I love you, Alec."

Even Crown Prince Alec, who was always cold and cynical, had been unable to hide his agitation at those words. Elaine's pure love had been that noble.

And yet… I could obtain that noble heart?

"I accept. Please possess me into Leon Magnus's body."

I clenched my fists. Just as the god had said, this was my one and only chance to win Elaine's heart.

"Hohoho— Most excellent. If that heart of thine never wavers, thou shalt surely achieve what thou desirest."

The god's earlier fury had vanished without a trace. Chuckling, he struck the floor with his royal scepter just as before. My body, drenched in holy water, transformed into countless tiny lights like fireflies and began to be slowly sucked away somewhere.

"Mortal. Thou must impregnate Elaine, give birth, raise the child, and grant her the joy of such worries. That is the task this 'God of Fertility' bestows upon thee."

Before I lost consciousness, the god's final words echoed faintly in my mind…

—

Chirp— Chirp—

I woke to the sound of birdsong. A coolness and the scent of water unique to early morning filled my nose. When I slowly opened my eyes, the still-dark sky before dawn was visible beyond the curtained window, just as expected.

I frowned, bracing against the headache. My soul being forcibly injected into Leon Magnus's body was causing intense pain and dizziness. At this rate, I would be late for morning training…

A quick skim through Leon's memories revealed that he was an incredibly diligent and sincere person. Rain or snow, he had never once skipped morning training. From this, I could infer that the personality trait Diligent was likely included among Leon's traits.

Diligent… It was quite a good trait. Every personality trait had its pros and cons, but Diligent had far more advantages than disadvantages. While it made stress management difficult when mobility was restricted due to severe injury or imprisonment, compared to the absolute garbage trait Lazy on the opposite end, it was practically an angel.

And… now that I had possessed Leon, I finally had some idea of who he was. He was eighteen years old, a third-year student in the Swordsmanship Department at Alhazard Academy, and one of the legitimate children of Count Yuri Magnus—the named mid-boss I had mentioned earlier. Although he was the second son rather than the eldest and thus second in the line of succession, the fact that he was a legitimate child rather than a bastard was an enormous advantage. Being a pure-blooded noble of the Lu Empire, the most powerful nation on the Hamaltia continent, meant one would receive a certain level of respect no matter which country they visited.

If I were to draw an example from Earth's history, it would be similar to becoming a noble of Rome during the height of the Roman Empire.

But why had I never known about an NPC named Leon? That still didn't make sense. I had been confident that I had memorized every single NPC who appeared between Lu Empire Year 572 and 610—the era in which Elaine lived—yet here we were.

While I was sorting through these thoughts, the headache gradually began to subside. With the pain gone, I figured it was time to head to morning training. I had no intention of skipping it just because it was bothersome. If I did, the Diligent trait's penalty would cause stress to accumulate…

So, as I tried to sit up by tensing my waist, something suddenly occurred to me. I looked up at the ceiling and muttered.

"An unfamiliar ceiling."

If this was an isekai possession story, starting with this line was practically a cliché, wasn't it?

I sat up and looked around the room. Despite being a noble's residence, the room was rather bleak, furnished only with a bed, wardrobe, desk, chair, and bathroom. I immediately walked over to the wardrobe, opened it, and took out my morning training clothes. The top and pants were made of magically finished fabric—an enchanted magic item that absorbed sweat, allowed ventilation, and provided minor physical resistance to prevent injuries during training.

As expected of a pure-blooded noble… Even a simple training outfit was dripping with money.

Ah, come to think of it, this was a game fantasy genre, wasn't it? Then, just in case, I should try the cliché as well.

"Status Window."

Ooh! Swallowing my admiration, I examined the status window floating in midair.

"...?!"

Wait… Wasn't there something there that shouldn't be visible?

Righteous?? What the hell!!!

Only now did I completely understand why I had never known about the NPC named Leon. King's Crown had a filter function that let players exclude NPCs with unwanted traits from view. And Righteous was one of the worst personality traits in the King's Crown world—one I always added to my filter list to exclude without fail.

Perhaps even worse than the garbage trait Lazy I had just disparaged, or the Infertile trait possessed by the crown prince…