One Saturday morning, Seiji woke up to the sound of voices downstairs. His eyes snapped open and he let out a groan. Seriously? He was more than annoyed. He had just been in the middle of a very arousing dream!
In the dream, his late grandfather had shown up, sporting his trademark mischievous grin. "I'm going to tell you a secret, Seiji," his grandfather said, all mysterious. "I think you're ready." But just as Grandpa was about to spill the beans, Seiji was yanked awake by the noise from the kitchen.
Frustrated and with a raging boner, Seiji lay there for a while, staring at the ceiling. What was the secret? What the hell could the old man have been hinting at? Why did it feel so important?
Seiji rubbed his eyes and sighed. Ugh. This was so typical of his life—always stuck in some bizarre loop with no answers.
Life as an eighteen-year-old high school senior in Japan was about as thrilling as a bowl of plain white rice. Day after day, his existence was the same crappy routine: study, school, home. Zero excitement, zero surprises, zero purpose. His life was just a dull, endless cycle of predictable and boring things and faces.
"How I wish I could get out of this loop!" Seiji groaned and rolled out of bed.
He craved more. He wanted to be the center of attention, the object of desire for every woman within a five-mile radius.
Seiji dreamed of being surrounded by a harem of adoring females, all willing to do anything to make him happy.
Just then, like a lightning bolt, it hit him. The dream! That's why his grandfather had appeared!
Years ago, before his grandfather had passed away, he had given Seiji a mysterious present with the strict instruction not to open it until he turned eighteen. "Make sure you wait until then," Grandpa warned him. "Trust me. You'll regret it if you don't."
Seiji had completely forgotten about the present. He couldn't even remember when he stashed it. After rummaging through his drawers, Seiji finally found the small box that had been collecting dust there for years.
"Wow, what was that!"
The box, covered in strange symbols, tingled Seiji's fingers. It felt… alive. Okay, that wasn't normal. He didn't remember it feeling like this when his grandfather had given it to him.
Seiji threw open the lid, and a faint hum filled the air, like the soft purring of a contented woman—the kind of sound that makes a man's blood boil. Inside the box, lying on black velvet, was an amulet, shimmering with an ethereal light. Seiji's heart raced as he it picked up. He could feel its strange energy radiating through his fingertips.
At the very bottom of the box was a tiny handwritten note. "This amulet will transform your life and fulfill your wildest desires."
Seiji's mind raced with the implications. His body started changing, and not in a subtle way. That hunger—that desire—he didn't even know he had was suddenly so real. The sensation was so strong that the room around Seiji began to warp. Everything became hazy.
Seiji staggered, tripping over his own feet, and crashed to the floor.
*
Seiji trudged downstairs, his legs suddenly heavy and wobbly. The bright morning light and the smell of sizzling bacon assaulted his senses, making his stomach growl with hunger.
In the kitchen, his dad, Jun, was glued to his phone, while Haruko, his stepmother, moved the dishes about the kitchen with the grace of a ballet dancer.
Seiji's older sister, Yumi, had already finished breakfast and nestled on the sofa cuddling her baby. Her husband had just been shipped off to some overseas assignment, leaving Yumi to seek refuge back at her parents' home while he was gone. Which meant Seiji's days and nights were made a waking hell by the cries of his sister's two-months old spawn. Every time the baby looked up at Seiji, her eyes silently screamed, "Why did you let me be born into this dump?" And every time Seiji had no answer to this question.
"Good morning, Seiji!" his dad mumbled, not looking up from his phone.
Seiji grunted in response before dropping into a chair at the table.
Haruko poured him a glass of orange juice, her smile brighter than the sun. "Are you okay, sweetie? You look a bit out of it."
Seiji shrugged, sipping the juice. "I'm fine. Just a bit tired, I guess."
Jun finally pulled his eyes away from the screen and gave his son an exaggerated eyebrow raise. "You've been studying hard, son, haven't you? Maybe you should take a break today and do something fun."
Seiji shrugged. "What's the point? It's not like I have anything exciting to do."
His dad got up from the table, putting away his phone with the reluctance of someone being forced to give up their firstborn. "I'm sure you'll think of something. We're going shopping for a few hours. When we get back, we'll have a nice family dinner."
"Okay," Seiji replied, and dug into the food on his plate.