Your expert is correct - never touch a JIRA database unless you have to, and certainly not to hack something like that in.
JIRA Software expects Epics to be a single Epic issue type. Botching in another one is not going to work. Even if it appears to on the surface, it breaks in interesting ways later, and a lot of add-ons will not understand it too.
Use Epics, it's the only safe way to do it.
Or, get Portfolio and use Themes and Initiatives. Or get Structure and create an Epic-like issue type.
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