Volume 4 - CH extra

Beyond the glass waited the darkness of night. The fluorescent light from the ceiling shone light onto the room. Since it was the middle of September, the sun set as early as half past 5 pm. By the time my classes ended and I made my way to the bookstore I worked at, the sun was already setting, and by the time we were given a break, it was pitch black outside. Inside this narrow room drenched in darkness, a young woman’s voice could be heard.

“Ahhh… Gaaaah… Guuuuuh…”

This had been going on for at least ten minutes now.

“Yomiuri-senpai, could you stop groaning like some kind of budget zombie?”

Despite knowing Yomiuri-senpai for her wits and intelligence, I was now questioning whether the person burying her face in her arms as she leaned against the desk in the break room was really the same person I had come to know. Her long and glossy black hair was covering the desk, combined with the strong darkness residing in the room, combined with these ominous sounds she was emitting, it felt like I walked in on a horror movie set. I just hope people outside can’t hear her.

“Junior-kuuuun!”

Her jaw was still resting on the table as she directed her gaze at me with ominous head movement. Could you stop? You’re actually scaring me. This looks almost like a severed head is sitting on the table!

“What in the world happened?”

“I’m able to forget about it during my shift, but on break like this, all these dark regrets of mine come dwelling up again. Electronics are a demon!”

“…Excuse me?”

“With just a single tap, your bank account starts screaming in terror as you feel no guilt at all, you know?”

“Are you talking about digital payments? Online shopping?”

Yomiuri-senpai faintly shook her head. I guess I was wrong. But what else could she be talking…? Wait a second. She’s even more of a book freak than me, isn’t she?

“…Are you talking about digital books?”

“There was a point sale going on. Luckily I could return half of the points before anything more.”

“Right.”

We’ve reached a point in time where reading books digitally is pretty much standardized. As someone who works in a bookstore, that alone is a great danger to our business, but looking at the situation Japan is in and its location, digital purchases of books will only increase from now on, if I have to guess. As a result, companies are relying on those point sales to get more people to buy in, creating an incentive that makes you feel like you have to buy something now or never.

“It’s basically a two-for-one sale!”

“So if you bought two books, you’d still get what you would have originally bought, no?”

“Do you actually look at the price when buying books?”

This time, I shook my head. I buy books because I want to read them, not because they’re cheap.

“In the end, price is just the final breakwater.”

“Hehe, in the end, you belong to this side.”

“What is this, some poor attempt of an evil organization to win over a hero?”

Yomiuri-senpai is a university student working part-time. She has longer shifts than me, so she should have a lot more money to spend…

“I was defeated~”

“Did you buy that many books?”

“An entire series with thick volumes heavy enough to be used as a murder weapon.”

I see. I can think of a mystery novel that fits that description.

“What do you think the merit of our digital age is?”

Met with this sudden pop quiz, I tilted my head. You can change the size of the letters, read whatever you want wherever you are, and…

“Reading on your phone, maybe? If they’re digital, those books practically weigh nothing.”

“Ding ding ding! That’s why I feel better the bigger and thicker those books are!”

“But you lose the pleasure of holding it in your hands.”

“Then I’ll buy some physical copies if I feel like it!”

“Ah, right. But, don’t tell me…”

“I bought all of the volumes.”

“You went all out, huh?”

Yomiuri-senpai groaned in defeat, but—

“Didn’t you say that you’d rather regret buying something than not buying it?”

“I already finished reading all of theeeeeeeeeeeeem!”

Ah, now I see what the problem was…