Ryo sat in stunned silence, the weight of her words sinking in. He had come seeking answers, but the solution offered to him was one he could hardly stomach. Yet, deep down, he knew that he had no other choice. If he wanted to break free from this nightmare, he would have to embrace the misfortune that had ensnared him.
The shrine maiden watched him, her expression unreadable. "I will guide you on this journey, but before that, you should know everything. I do not wish to hide anything from you."
"Please tell me! I want to know everything," Ryo nodded slowly, his mind swirling with a thousand conflicting thoughts. He had come here seeking a way out, and now that he had it, he wasn't sure he could follow through. But as he looked into the shrine maiden's eyes, he knew this was his only chance to escape the curse that had claimed him.
"It all began in the Heian Period, when our land was ruled by an emperor named Yamato. You might know him as one of the greatest emperors in our history. Records of him still exist, but there was more to him than that," she began, telling a story that Ryo found both strange and unsettling.
How was this so-called great emperor the origin of this curse? What did he have to do with all of this? Ryo was about to find answers to all these questions as the shrine maiden continued.
"He conquered everything—from land to wealth. His own people respected him, but some feared him because he was not a kind ruler who knew forgiveness. Despite all this, he did something blasphemous. He tried to conquer the heavens. Kaguya, the daughter of the full moon. He tried to seduce her, and spirits forgive him, he actually did," she said with contempt in her voice.
"..." Ryo didn't know how to respond to her story. He had some faith in spirituality, but not to the extent that he would believe something like what she was telling—until he encountered the unfortunate fate he was currently in.
"As you would expect, he wasn't going to stay loyal to one woman. Instead, he cheated on Kaguya several times, with women ranging from peasants to daughters of the highest clans. Records say he spread his seed among thousands of women."
"Heartbroken, Kaguya finally fed up with his debauchery and tried to return to heaven, but it was too late for her. The heavens didn't accept her presence, so she was left to rot in the mortal world with a man who had apparently lied to her about his love. On her deathbed, she cast a deadly curse upon Yamato's household, and your current situation is a result of that." The shrine maiden finally paused after her long story, but Ryo was filled with questions.
"What do I have to do with all of this? I don't have any connection to this Emperor Yamato. I didn't even know about him until now," Ryo complained, sounding annoyed.
"You might not know, but his blood is spread throughout our country. Even though very distant, you might have his blood inside you. I certainly do, and that's why I am left to rot in this shrine until I embrace my death after several years," she said, as if she detested her own blood.
"What do you mean?" Ryo asked, curious about what she had just said.
"In exchange for the greater power of overseeing glance of the future, we are cursed to serve the host of the Yamato curse for eternity until the curse is broken. The price we had to pay for this was the same as yours. Everyone in my bloodline embraces their death before they turn thirty, all because of the sins of one man."
Ryo had many questions, but the shrine maiden suddenly changed the topic as if she had spoken more than she wanted. He could easily see how broken she was from her lifeless eyes and wondered whether his own eyes would look like that someday.
"Enough about the past. Let's talk about you now. As I said, this curse demands that you seduce women, and if you don't, you will suffer greater pain and eventually death." She changed the topic without any change in her tone. Ryo had to wonder how monotone she could be, as she didn't even show any emotions.
"How many? You said to seduce women, but how many? Even in the diary, it wasn't mentioned," Ryo asked, wanting to know more about his fate.
"I don't know. No host in the past managed to break the curse, so I don't have any data to base my assumptions on. But if I had to guess, I can say one thing for sure: if you find the root of the curse and remove it, things will go back to normal," she said, as if it were an easy task, but Ryo understood that it was almost impossible.
"By root, you mean that goddess? How am I supposed to find her? I was just a normal businessman until recently. I'm not a priest or an emperor who dominated the heavens," Ryo muttered, bothered by the shrine maiden's words.
"Everything happens for a reason. You might be the one to break the curse, even if you were a normal person until recently. But let me warn you, this is not a blessing, this is a curse," she muttered, understanding that Ryo still didn't take this curse seriously. After all, how could seducing as many women as he could be a curse for a man?
Many hosts, including Ryo, who was originally Kamiya, questioned that, but the shrine maiden decided to give him a fair warning.
"In the past, there were men who seduced many women. I think someone even managed to go up to fifty, but let me tell you, none of them managed to obtain a sweet and peaceful death. Most of them were killed by their own women who couldn't stand the betryal they had to go through."
"There are several conditions for the women you date that must be satisfied for them to be considered one of your women. Firstly, once you choose a woman as your partner, you can't go back. Even if it means dying, you have to keep them with you, close to you," she began to explain the conditions that must be fulfilled.
"Secondly, if they cheat on you or fall out of love with you, your soul will be demolished, and your presence in this world will be forgotten. This body will go into hibernation until it finds the next host."
Even though it was important for Ryo to listen to all the rules first, he had to stop the shrine maiden because he was confused.
"Wait a minute! Does that mean this body belongs to..." he questioned, bewildered by the realization.
"Yes! What we call Ryo Harada in this generation is none other than Yamato, at least physically. Your body is older than a thousand years, but don't worry. The curse had its effect on you, and thanks to that, you are not a rotten dead body," she muttered and calmly went back to the conditions, while Ryo was at an absolute loss for words.
"Thirdly, if a woman falls in love with you without you knowing, it will also cause pain in your body, and within a three-month period, if you don't find the correct woman, your soul will be demolished in the same way."
With everything the shrine maiden said, Ryo started to realize this was going to be one hell of a headache.
Sigh
"Am I going to disappear just like everyone else? How do I even get out of this? If things continue like this, I will be fated to seduce women forever until something causes my soul to be demolished," he muttered, unsure of his future, which already seemed bleak. But he knew he had no other choice.
He had to hold out at least until Anzu was old enough to marry a suitable man for her and live a happy life.
The shrine maiden and Ryo kept talking about many more things until they became a little more familiar with each other, but showing that everything was not lost, Ryo felt hope hearing the shrine madien's next few words.
"Take this charm! It is what people what called a system that would support in your journey. There are several things you can do with this including contacting me anytime without the need to use your cellphone. Simply put, I am the one who is going to maintain this system with my power."
As soon as Ryo touched the charm that shrine maiden handed him, suddenly something like a screen appeared in front of him.
Name: Ryo Harada
Title: Host of Yamato Curse
Sex: Male
Age: 25
"Is this it? what do I get knowing my own details?" Ryo questioned little disappointed by what he saw, but hearing next words from the shrine maiden a smile of hope came to his face.
"What you see is the initial state of this system. It will develop over time, especially you will get to choose one power when you successfully add a woman to your life. By that I mean you will have to enter your penis into their vagina and release your semen inside them,"
Hearing the words penis and vagina coming out of this beautiful and composed shrine maiden, Ryo felt weird but he just ignored it for now, as he quickly put the charm into his pocket.
"Looks like I will be in for a quite journey after today," Ryo muttered to himself, but hearing the next words that came out of the shrine maiden, Ryo felt like he was dreaming.
"Ryo-sama, now that we finished talking please impregante me and give me your child." It was a sudden attack from the shrine maiden, which caused Ryo to stare at her without knowing what he just heard.