Chapter Text
Oscar had died.
That truth was undeniable.
He still feels how his body crashed against the windshield of the car. He remembers the blood coming out of his body and the screams of his ex-girlfriend.
Poor Lily. They were leaving the restaurant after ending their relationship on good terms, and now she had to watch him die.
At least he knows she will contact his family and he will be cremated. With half of his ashes going down Melbourne karting track, and the other half on Monaco's water, close to that corner that always tried to kill him.
Oscar had died.
He died the same year he became a Formula One champion.
He died due to a car that nearly killed his female best friend and ex-lover.
He died that way before revealing to his family he had cancer and was going to die anyway.
Oscar had died.
Oscar died without telling him Oscar loved him. That Oscar would sacrifice everything to be with him.
Small mercy.
He died, and he was happy with that.
Oscar had died.
And that was the beginning of everything.
Oscar had died.
He was 27 when the accident happened, a Formula Three Champion, a Formula Two Champion, and a Formula One champion with McLaren.
The young driver closed his eyes knowing that.
But when he opened them again, he was an 18-year-old boy, with the same hair, same face, and same young body, but in completely different surroundings.
The Australian looked around, knowing perfectly well he recognized that room for some reason, but he was not sure why. It was modern but old at the same time. Like the Victorian Era had met the 21st Century kind of thing. Weird, but comfortable in some twisted and confusing way.
-Oscar!
The boy turned around, facing the door that was closed until that moment, and felt like the world had stopped completely when he saw the woman that was in front of him. With eyes brighter than his, and an attitude that made them fight nearly every day.
His sister.
-Hattie?
-Hello? Anybody home? You're going to be late! This engagement is not going to come to life if you don't act!
A sudden nausea and headache started to travel around his body, making him sit down in his bed while the voice of his sister started to disappear in the middle of all the noise around him.
The memories of a life that was not his, but at the same time it was. The reality of a game he hated but he also loved. The reality of a life that no longer existed with the reality of a life that should not exist. All merging in his mind, trying to make him go crazy.
[A Dating Sim Game, Featuring The 2024 Formula One Drivers!]
Oscar remembers, how he had to play this game because he and Edie lost a bet against Hattie and Mae. He wanted nothing to do with the game, but all of his sisters forced him to play it, to face some demons with the faces of people he knew. And then, to face his peers after that short vacation time with knowledge he didn't want to know about them, but now he knew.
He had played nearly all the routes because he was obsessed with completing the game before his sister, typical competitiveness of a Formula One driver. He had found and played all the routes, except his own, because that was awful to see and his sisters promised they would also not play it. So, he didn't force himself into play it.
He wishes he did.
The memories of this life were mixed with the memories he had of himself watching himself as the character that appeared in almost every route to cause havoc and make others crazy.
In the game, Oscar was there as a background character in Lando, Carlos, Charles, Zhou, and Logan's routes, most of them lords from other countries, while Oscar was an informant, selling his own country for a couple of coins. He was mainly the problem or the solution of each route, no in between.
At the end of the day, it was a game designed by some of Carlos' fans, so he understood why he was the problem.
But in his memories, in the memories of the body he was inside of, Oscar was the king of his country. A young boy who was forced to see his family suffer because of his father's power. How he had to kill his own blood and take the throne to make his home a better nation. He was a great ruler, but no one knew about him. Called a puppet, but he was fine with that because it was better if people thought he was a puppet than the master.
Heavy is the head that wears the crown.
So, He was a king right now. How he went from a king to an informant, a spy, a traitor? What the hell was this background?!
-Oscar!
The Australian felt how his body stopped reacting and how his consciousness was flying away from him. All the while he heard his sisters' voices calling for him frantically.
He should have played his route.
-So.. I'm a king and nobody knows who I am, but for some reason, I become a spy, try to kill half of the grid by forcing war upon them, or save half of the grid by forcing war upon them. Why does all of this get resolved with war?
The young boy walked around the room while the light of the sun reflected on the moon was accompanying him. His steps were soft and delicate, even if he was stepping hard and with anger, but it seemed like the setup of his character made him graceful and perfect even if he didn't want that.
-And why my character is in reality an amazing war general? I mean, I'm not dumb, but planning wars and winning them? That's a whole different thing. I mean, wasn't I the one who knew nothing about social queues and Taylor Swift songs?
Oscar fell into his bed again, feeling defeated and hopeless. He usually didn't act this way, but he was feeling terribly, knowing he should be dead but he wasn't, and that his sisters here were not really his sisters, and his mother, if she was alive here, was not his mother. And he would need to interact with the other drivers, but they were not his peers.
And he...
Anyway, Oscar didn't want to be here, he didn't understand why he had this life when he didn't want it. He knew he was going to die anyway, he was living on borrowed time in his previous life, And now what? Technically the same, because if any route was followed he would die in the war, and if not, then it's even worse for the drivers who survive the bad ending.
Any option is a terrible one.
The Australian sat on the bed and tried to think about the routes, the stories, and the options. If he stopped thinking about himself and started to think about the realm of this game, there was only one main route he could push, and he could work on the hidden route in case everything went south. But realistically speaking, he could only do one thing.
If he wanted the Kingdom of Victoria to survive the terrors of the future, he needed to marry the future queen to the prince of Madria... How creative.
He needed to find the main character and force her to marry Carlos.
Oscar needed to make Carlos the main character of this story.
-Fuck my life.
It was going to be a long journey.
It has been a month since Oscar woke up in this world, and his sick figure changed due to Oscar's extreme physical training. You can take the driver out of the training, but you cannot take the training (and the trainer's voice) out of the driver. So, in a month, the young boy passed from a sickly Victorian boy to a healthy Victorian boy who knew the basics of fighting with swords.
Damn milky white skin, unable to get a sun-kissed tan.
During that time, the Australian kept thinking about his possibilities to save this game and route as much as possible.
Carlos' route was not easy, probably because the game was designed so he and Charles were the main targets, the final routes, and Oscar hated how easy was for him to access Carlos' route when they barely speak with each other, he tried to think about it as little as possible. But he was madder when he lost half of his bet-time trying to win the route, always failing near the end because Oscar, the character, killed Carlos before the happy ever after.
The game was designed to make the people hate Oscar, the driver, because they couldn't win the damn route.
The only way they could win it was if Oscar cared enough about the MC to sacrifice himself for her happiness. Basically working towards unlocking Oscar's route, but being careful enough to stay in Carlos' route. A conflicting situation, because that meant you needed to "love" Oscar as much as you "love" Carlos.
The fact that that was the only way to unlock Oscar's route was also laughable.
"But that's not the point right now."
Oscar stuffed all his things into a bag, with his eyes focused on the door where his best friend was. This Logan was similar to his own Logan, but he was different at the same time. The melancholy of not being the first option to anyone made this Logan sadder, unreachable, and self-destructive. His Logan was sad, heartbroken, with dreams destroyed, but he was petty, he wanted to make others pay while he laughed about them.
His wins in ELMS and Indy proved that.
But this was not his Logan. So, the young king was not able to interact with him the same way he would have with Logan, his Logan.
-My king. Are you ready to leave?
But at the same time, this was the only Logan he still had, and the only Logan this Oscar knew. His only friend when the expectations were too high, when this Oscar felt like he was going to die. The only reason Character Oscar got so far until now was because his Logan was there, keeping him alive.
That's probably why he sacrificed himself during Logan's route.
-I told you, you don't need to address me like that. I'm still me.
The blond boy smiled calmly, both knowing this was a lost cause. Oscar had tried to force this and make this Logan act a bit more like his own Logan, but the young future count was not ready to do that and tried to hide his panic every time Oscar tried again, and again, and again.
"One day" Oscar wants to dream. One day they will be like the boys they were, when this Logan's Oscar still existed.
"That makes me wonder. If I'm here, Where is he?"
-Here, Your Grace, let me help you.
The king lets the others help with his bags while he walks towards his doom. He knows what's in store for himself in the future, but he is arriving at the game's location five years early, he has the time to mess a little bit with the narrative.
Hopefully, he doesn't get himself, Logan, or any other not-driver killed before the game starts.
-Mother... I'm leaving to meet the Kingdom of Victoria's Princess.
Hopefully.
So... maybe now Oscar understands why his character was portrayed as the spy.
It was accidental, he didn't want to meet any of them yet. But the Crown Prince of Monacor and a Duke of Francis. Again, how creative.
Oscar fought to save their lives while he was dressed for practice. His movements were precise and done to eliminate the threat in front of all of them. For a moment, a part of him wondered how he managed to accept his destiny and took a sword to kill a man the same way he took his steering wheel to drive.
He preferred not to think about that.
After that, this Charles was so grateful to them that asked Oscar and Logan to travel together. The young king tried to deny the idea, but this Jules and Logan decided to follow Charles' request. Probably because all of them knew Charles would make their lives difficult if he didn't get what he wanted.
That's how Oscar ended up traveling with a brattier version of his "adoptive father" while listening to Logan and Jules discuss something he didn't really care about. But, apparently, his brain couldn't keep up with his agenda of acting as unsuspicious as possible.
-So, you two running away from Monacor under the pretense of going to study in Victoria, but it's because Charles was targeted and his life is in danger, right?
The royal head of Australlion spoke up without noticing or thinking that, up to that point, none of them had introduced themselves, or had talked about the assassination attempt Charles had suffered just now. But Oscar knew the truth, knew Jules had to die here so Charles would have a sad backstory, so the trauma of the crown on his head would torment the young prince until he went mad on most of the routes.
-Who are you?
But they had stopped it. Oscar had stopped it from happening.
If he could change the routes at least a bit, wouldn't that change the ending of all of the characters? He might no longer be alive in his own world, he will never see his friends and family again. But, if he could help them right now, find them a happy life, wouldn't that be enough? He wanted to see some of them happy at least here. In a world where it would be easier for some of them.
Oscar would try to do it, to change part of the narrative. Because he knew how hard it was to live a life with a designated destiny. The drivers here had it, and Oscar knew he could change it, could help them. Even if they were not the real people he met outside the game, they were real here.
-Your friend, if you pay the correct amount, my prince. Would you like to know who sent those men behind you?
He could try to save them. At least here.