If you counted both the main series and the spinoffs, there had been over a dozen Ghouls 'n Ghosts titles released over the decades.
While the plot rarely varied, it was almost always a "knight saves the princess" affair, the series did have a coherent lore connecting its entries.
In the original NES version, the opening cinematic depicted a shirtless Arthur and a white-clad princess "meeting" in a dark, atmospheric graveyard. To the uninitiated, it looked like a standard midnight tryst.
However, if you had played Ghouls 'n Ghosts and watched the opening to its conclusion, that graveyard scene received a much-needed explanation.
In reality, it wasn't Arthur's first encounter with the forces of darkness. At the king's command, Arthur had already led an elite unit on a raid against the Demon King's territory. Arthur was the sole survivor, but his mission was a success: he had secured the Map of the Demon King's Castle.
This was the same scroll that Arthur's skeleton had been clutching with a death-grip.
In theory, only with the map's guidance would a human have any chance of navigating the castle and reaching the Demon King, the source of all the world's calamities.
Arthur's comrades had sacrificed everything to secure it, and Arthur himself had been greviously wounded in the process. The scene of him and the princess in the graveyard was actually one of the princess, who possessed a rare magical power, attempting to heal his broken body.
Without the player's intervention, Arthur would have donned his armor immediately after the princess was snatched away, dragging his half-healed body back into the maw of the Demon King's fortress.
As a side note, the one-eared student and his "duck" roommate hadn't been entirely off-base with their earlier comments. The Demon King's reason for kidnapping the princess was, indeed, reproduction.
As the ruler of the Demon Realm, his plan was to use a human-demon hybrid heir to secure his rule over the human world. It was a classic motivation, not unlike that of a certain "Bowser" and a "Princess Peach."
Evidently, Chris's seemingly self serving, but entirely sincere, vow to Arthur's remains had triggered a hidden mechanic of the dungeon.
The fallen hero, Arthur, had bequeathed the map, and something far more precious, to Chris.
As Chris snatched up the scroll, a high-priority system notification overlaid the item's description.
[You have offered a sincere 'Demon King Slaying' vow to the remains of Knight Arthur while wearing only your boxers and no armor. Knight Arthur has recognized you as a fellow Brother of the Boxers and responded with his final, heartfelt affirmation.]
[You have obtained the Limited Story Item, 'Map of the Demon King's Castle.']
[Map of the Demon King's Castle: Limited Story Item, Map. A map secured at the cost of the lives of Arthur and his elite unit. It marks the correct path to the highest levels of the Demon King's Tower.]
[You have successfully triggered the Limited Story of 'Ghouls 'n Ghosts', 'The Truth of the Demon Realm.']
[Astaroth, the Ruler of the Demon Realm, has saturated his castle with a malevolent, deceptive magic. Any human who enters without protection will be trapped in a perpetual illusion, forced to fight a false phantom of the Demon King. Even if they emerge victorious, they will have defeated nothing but a wisp of smoke.
Only those who possess the Map of the Demon King's Castle, imbued with special magic and marking the true path, have any hope of meeting the real Astaroth and rescuing the kidnapped princess.]
[When you are outside of a fixed dungeon mission, you may open a portal to a Private Instance of 'Ghouls 'n Ghosts' at any time without cost. Your progress within the instance will be persistent.
No other players can enter your Private Instance without an invitation.
You may invite other players to form a party. Each invited player must pay a fixed amount of points for every additional day they remain in the instance.
The maximum party size is five players. The difficulty of the instance will scale based on the number of players.
To exit the instance, you must defeat the boss of your current level.
Invited teammates may choose to be forcibly evicted from the instance by refusing to pay the point cost. However, doing so will forfeit all point, attribute, and skill rewards earned during that instance adventure.]
'Limited Story? Private Instance?'
As an experienced gamer, Chris understood the definitions of these terms. But as a complete novice in the Heaven's Selection Space, he had no idea what a combination of the two truly signified.
This was a scenario that 99% of veterans would never see in their entire careers, a unique encounter that could be described as "Rare," "Precious," and "One of a Kind."
In terms of rarity, a "Limited Story" was a step above a "Hidden Story." While a hidden story could theoretically be triggered by anyone if they met the conditions, a limited story was exclusive. Once it was triggered, no other player could touch it.
The conditions would only reset if the triggerer died before completing the mission. Until then, everything within that story was theirs alone.
Furthermore, this was a Private Instance where no other players could interfere.
In the Heaven's Selection Space, other players were often the most unstable and dangerous factor in any dungeon. Eliminating that variable allowed for a methodical, safe, and highly profitable progression, a dream come true for any veteran who was tired of the unpredictable "Fourth Calamitous Force" that was their fellow players.
Unfortunately, this windfall had landed in the lap of a complete rookie like Chris. It was, as the saying went, "winking at a blind man."
As for Chris himself, his first thought after reading the description was of a specific mechanic from the NES version of Ghouls 'n Ghosts.
If you completed the game once, the ending would inform you that you had only defeated a phantom of Astaroth. You had to play through all six levels a second time, a "True Loop," before you could face the real Demon King and save the princess.
Of course, that mechanic was irrelevant to most players, as 99% of them were filtered out by a certain "Red Arremer" halfway through the first level.
With this map, however, Chris could face the real Demon King on his first run, provided he lived that long.
"Wait... what?"
As Chris lowered his gaze from the holographic projection, he finally noticed something was wrong with his own body.
His boxers, which had been stained with mud and grime until they were a dull grey, had transformed. They were now a vibrant, clean pair of boxers adorned with a pattern of tiny, adorable pink strawberries.
They were an exact replica of Arthur's.
Chris stared for a second, then broke into a wide grin.
'Pink strawberries! A true man's favorite!'
[You have vowed to Arthur that you will 'Slay the Demon King Astaroth.' Arthur's residual soul has chosen to grant you his final bit of essence.]
[System detected specialized talent, 'Game Expert':]
[Your boxers have been transformed into the special equipment, 'Proof of Arthur.']
[Proof of Arthur: Grade: Green (Excellent) / Lv1. Limited Story Equipment, Underwear. Does not occupy a standard equipment slot. Requirements: Arthur's Recognition.
Effect: While within a 'Ghouls 'n Ghosts' origin dungeon, you are considered to possess the 'Original Protagonist Template: Knight Arthur.']
[Translated and Rewritten by Shika_Kagura]