Type-Moon, there are too many myths that defy the heavens!

At the age of 6, you are no longer satisfied with the theoretical courses of Hypnos and want to learn about the underworld.

[At your request, Persephone allowed Hypnos to take you on a tour of the underworld to broaden your horizons.]

[Unfortunately, the underworld is quite peaceful everywhere, and the monsters are very well behaved.]

Even the most famous monster in Greek mythology, Cerberus, the hellhound, would crawl to the ground and wag his tail in begging for mercy before you, like a well-behaved dog that had eaten a dozen kite-flying and dragon fruit sets.

[Seeing the underworld in such a state, you were somewhat disappointed, but didn't say much.]

At the age of 7, you, mentally mature enough, tactfully made your first request to Persephone: you wanted a room of your own.

Persephone agreed to your request, but she came to your room every night, saying she couldn't sleep.

[At 12 years old, despite your strong resistance, Persephone sadly gave you some personal space as you reached your rebellious phase.]

[At age 14, on your journey to Earth, you asked Demeter and Persephone to allow you to become a hero.]

The two goddesses agreed to your request and decided to perform the Eleusinian Mysteries, granting humans immortality, to help you become a hero.

You gladly accepted the secret ritual prepared by the two goddesses, only to discover that it not only granted you immortality, but also immortality, which should not exist.

Amidst Demeter's astonishment, you understood the truth: Persephone had bestowed upon you the "Spring Goddess's Core" through a mysterious ritual, thus fixing your physical age.

[You became a young god and stayed with Persephone forever.]

Your deeds are sung by later generations, and you are called the child god Iacus. You are the god who leads people to meet Demeter and Persephone and perform the Eleusinian Mysteries.

[Skill available in this simulation: 『Eternal Boy (EX)』]

I am Zhuo, a legal shota? 1

Is Persephone so scary?

Chapter 7 Oh my, I’m so scared!

Not a buddy?

She gave me the divine core, fixed my body age, and also asked me to stay by her side and be her child forever... Is Persephone so crazy?

In the four months I've been with her, I never realized she was so crazy.

Could it be that she has been hiding her true nature for the past four months, and her true nature will only be revealed once she returns to her own territory?

But this doesn't make sense. If she really was that kind of god, she could have just stuffed underworld produce into my food, making me violate the rule that the living cannot eat the food of the dead. Why did she have to wait until I was fourteen and the Eleusinian Mysteries were held before doing it?

Or...

Ash couldn't believe his own conclusion and couldn't help asking the system: "System, could this Persephone be the Sensei hiding in Greece?"

【Host, there is one thing I need to correct.】

[Persephone is not a pervert, but a normal Greek god.]

"What the hell?" Ash asked, "What do you mean by that?"

[...Is it possible that the Greeks all liked young beauties, and were particularly fond of beautiful boys?]

"Um... I know that the Greeks favored smaller women, like the two goddess sisters of the Gorgon sisters, Stheno and Medusa, who were proud of their youth and even mocked the larger Medusa."

"Although this aesthetic is a bit abstract, it is still within the realm of liking beautiful girls." Ash was a little unable to accept the reality, "Are you sure that beautiful boys are more popular than beautiful girls?"

[Of course it’s true.]

[In the eyes of the ancient Greeks, men were the center of the world, and women were merely men's foils.]

[Therefore, the ancient Greeks preferred beautiful boys to beautiful girls.]

The ancient Greek poet Stratton praised beautiful boys in his collection of poems: "The childish twelve-year-old brings me joy, but the thirteen-year-old is more desirable; the fourteen-year-old is a more beautiful flower of love, and the fifteen-year-old is even more charming; the sixteen-year-old is the flower sought after by the gods, but the seventeen-year-old is not my cup of tea, only Zeus can enjoy it."

[Not only that, in the Doric region of Greece there is even a special custom: every man must attract a boy or young man and act as his tutor, guardian and friend in intimate daily life, and also encourage him to learn all noble virtues.]

Although this custom did not spread throughout Greece, it was not criticized by any ancient Greeks and was even imitated in many regions.

Even the greatest Greek hero, Hercules, fulfilled this custom: he adopted the beautiful young man Hylas and treated him as his student, child, and lover. He even gave up his quest for the Golden Fleece to retrieve Hylas, who had been abducted by a water nymph.

[In fact, the culture of beautiful boys in ancient Greece is not surprising, because similar cultures existed almost everywhere in the world in ancient times.]

The flourishing of this aspect of ancient Greek culture even influenced Rome, leading to the Catholic Church, which opposes LGBT doctrine, also leaving behind related cultural genes under the influence of Rome.

[In other words, the common joke about priests actually originated in ancient Greece.]

[So, the worry Artemis expressed when she picked you up wasn't false, it was real.]

You might think that only gods like Zeus, Apollo, and Dionysus enjoyed this habit, but I must tell you: in fact, all ancient Greeks enjoyed it, but these gods were particularly prominent.

Oh, I'm so scared!

Listening to the system's popular science introduction to the unique culture of ancient Greece, Ash, a good young man of the 21st century, was as shocked as if he had read the forbidden book of ancient gods and witnessed the unspeakable truth.

"Gah, I don't want to hear this! I don't want to hear this!" Ash wailed. "Ancient Greece is too scary. I want to go back to the modern era!"

"Host, what are you afraid of? The future you face this time won't be dominated by gay men. At most, you'll just be tied to Persephone."

"Think carefully, having a goddess as beautiful as Persephone by your side who can be your mother, teacher, and lover at the same time, isn't this a good ending?"

"If this is a happy ending, why would my future self leave Persephone and become a hero?" Ash regained some of his sanity. "Come to your senses and help me find a solution quickly. I don't want to be a child forever!"

[Specifically speaking, this future you won't be a youth for a lifetime, but a youth for eternity.]

"Wouldn't that mean more jail time?"

[But judging from your reaction, even if you go to jail, this outcome is better than being targeted by gay men, right?]

"You're right, but isn't there a better ending?" Ash said, "Even if I'm always seventeen, being fourteen is too much of a stretch!"

[I see. Is this the change you want?]

【Then the problem is easy to solve.】

[Persephone wants to keep you by her side, simply because she is afraid of losing you.]

In this situation, you should appeal to her emotions and reason to move her heart. Tell her: This brief separation is only for a better reunion. I became a hero so that I can reunite with you as a hero in the future.

If this still doesn't work, tell her: "This way, I can legitimately pursue you and be with you."

[By then, she might even try to help you on your heroic journey and earn you more fame in order to reunite with you sooner rather than later!]

Faced with the solution given by the system, Ash was dumbfounded.

"Oh my god, isn't this just the talk of a scumbag?" Ash couldn't help but curse, "I don't even believe this kind of nonsense, how could Persephone believe it?"

[How can this be called nonsense? This is clearly a love story!]

[Sweet talk is something that needs to be discussed based on the person and the situation.]

[Persephone definitely wouldn't believe it if someone said that to her.]

【But you, the host, are different! 】

[As a baby, you simply held Persephone's hand and smiled at her, which was enough to ease her long-accumulated negative emotions and make her apologize to Demeter.]

[When you grow up and become more beautiful, then you can say this to her. Wouldn't it be easy to get her?]

Imagine you were Persephone, and you had a daughter as lovely as a lily of the valley, and she innocently said to you, "When I grow up, I want to be with my dad!" Could you resist?

"I'm not Takashi San, I don't like this." Ash corrected, "Besides, I like big ones. If you were Sirius from Azur Lane and said this to me, I would definitely agree."

【…】

You may have some truth to it, but this is ancient Greece.

[Persephone is a traditional Greek goddess. Believe me, she won't tolerate your tricks.]

Even if she knows you're lying to her, she'll use it as an excuse to catch you once you become a hero!

[Regardless of whether you can defeat Persephone by then, at least you'll be free for a few years. Isn't that a sure win?]

"Good man, is this system of yours a guest post by a friend? How can you give such advice?" Ash couldn't hold it in any longer. "Your idea is so bad. Haven't you considered that she might just like fourteen-year-olds?"

How is this possible? Have you forgotten the ancient Greek quote I introduced to you earlier?

[A fourteen-year-old handsome boy is but a bud. A sixteen-year-old handsome boy is the flower sought after by the gods. And a seventeen-year-old boy is only worthy of Zeus!]

"Persephone locked you at the age of fourteen because she was afraid you would become too attractive in the future and attract the attention of other gods, right?"

[When the time comes, all you have to do is confess your love to her and prove that she's yours. Then she'll have a reason to claim your sovereignty and won't have to do anything like this!]

[If you don't believe me, you should at least believe in your beauty, right? ]

[Your beauty will definitely help you complete this plan and gain more popularity! ]

I was wondering why your system gave me such a high charm value at the beginning. It seems like it was deliberately boosted to increase my popularity!

Chapter 8 It’s time to get the gold coins from the underworld!

"Damn, your system is the root of all evil!" Ash cursed, "If you hadn't given me such a high Charisma, would I have been able to face this kind of problem?"

[With all due respect, host, if you don't have enough charm, I'm afraid you would have...]

"I tested the Bull Demon, you mean you did it right?"

"If you hadn't suddenly appeared and caused me to travel through time, I would have already gone to the American Holy Grail War to be a black referee and watch the Type-Moon blockbuster up close!"

"You brought me to a place like Greece and gave me such a high Charm. Since I was born, I have to worry about whether I will be toyed with and raped by weird uncles, weird aunts, and gods!"

Ash's face turned redder and redder as he spoke, and he was about to explode with anger: "Fuck you, tell me what you did right?"

[Uh...I didn't mean for you to come to Greece and end up like this.]

Because I have only absorbed the Greek attributes of 'love' and 'beauty', I can only adapt them to this era and use them in the most appropriate places...

After hearing the system's explanation, Ash, who was furious, was stunned and completely confused.

"No... don't tell me... you don't even have the ability to choose the place you travel to, and can only go to the dungeon based on the myth attributes you have obtained?" Ash said in disbelief, "Are you that bad?"

【…】

The system was silent for a long time, and then brought Ash an answer that was enough to extinguish all his anger.

[I really want to tell you that I'm not that bad, I just stayed dormant for too long and lost a lot of functions.]

[But the reality is... If I wasn't such a wimp, why would I remain silent and feign death while the god was examining the host...]

Oh my god, I was really dropped into a useless system!

This is really bad luck.

Faced with the system's explanation, Ash really calmed down.

After all, this useless system is not like the teammates matched in the game, you can change them whenever you want.

Ash calmed down and asked, "So... you've been encouraging me to increase the spread rate in order to repair your own function?"

【Yes. 】

"Alas, I am unlucky to have run into you." Ash sighed and said helplessly, "Let's solve the problem at hand."

'It is not a good idea to try to trick Persephone with lies.'

"Although I'm not familiar with Greek mythology, since this is a world ruled by gods, this kind of action is clearly blasphemy, the most serious sin."

"Besides, although Persephone is the mistress of the underworld, her divine position is the Queen of the Underworld." Ash complained, "You want me to pursue Persephone, isn't that like swearing at Hades?"

"The last person who offended Hades is still pushing rocks down the mountain. I don't want to be the next one."

[You should know that Type-Moon's Hades is Zeus's backup...]

"Stop it! I don't want to be an Oreo filling!"

"If you have time to tell me these dirty things, why not do something more serious!" Ash continued, "Don't I still have 20 popularity points? Is that enough for simulation?"

[...At least 30 are required.]

"Shit!" Ash couldn't hold it in any longer. "The price is going up?"

[It's not that I want to raise the price...it's that the more you know about the future, the greater the influence on your destiny, and the more difficult it is to predict.]

If you don't invest enough popularity and try to predict the future, you'll be easily discovered by beings who can also observe fate.

[You know... the Greek gods all have the ability to see into fate to some extent, and the king of gods, Zeus, is the tallest mountain and the longest river in Greece.]

"So, I have to figure out how to get some popularity now?" Ash said helplessly, "Then tell me, how do I do this?"

[As long as you can do something that people will remember, you will naturally gain popularity.]