As a liberal arts student, I think the world will end sooner or later Chapter 2

Hello everyone, although you already know me, I’d like to reintroduce myself.

My name is Asahi, I’m an ordinary liberal arts student at □□□□, and my biggest hobby is reading. I am interested in any type of books, be it ancient or modern, as long as they are well-written.

I can read Chinese classical masterpieces such as Dream of the Red Chamber and Journey to the West, foreign modern novels such as The Great Gatsby and Out of Sight on Earth, even mystery mysteries such as Edogawa Ranpo and Edgar Allan Poe’s works, romantic poetry such as Tagore and Nakahara’s poems, and when I have nothing else to do, I also flip through Postnatal Care of a Sow to relax.

But yesterday, I was in a strange situation where my worldview completely collapsed after my tour of bookstores and libraries in Yokohama, Japan. All the great books I remembered were gone, and the shelves were replaced with books I had never heard of at all.

I don’t remember who once said, “From where you fall, you rise.” What an exquisite quote, I think it was from Mr. Lu Xun. Today, I went to the bookstore again. I gently took down a book and opened it, thinking, “Try it, it might be good.” Within a few minutes, I put the book back heavily, swearing profusely.

It’s okay, it’s just this one, there are others. I forced myself to console myself by taking the next book and flipping through it again. Again, within a few minutes, I put the book back with a face full of pain.

It’s okay! It’s just happenstance, you’re just not very lucky today. The next one, the next one will be fine. The first two books were nothing compared to this one. Although they were empty, they were at least beautifully worded, while this one was full of mistakes.

I was a little desperate, and after flipping through several books in succession, the standard of which was uneven, I could only pluck myself up from the dwarf pile, looking for works that still looked good. Suddenly, a book in my hands caught my eye, full of content, with a clear theme, an interlocking plot, better than all the previous books combined, and so much better, and with an inexplicable sense of familiarity that brought tears to my eyes. Not sad! Not sad! It’s tears of joy!

I excitedly flipped to the name of the author at the front and set my eyes on it… holy cow, Natsume Soseki! Great, the world isn’t useless, it still has Natsume Soseki, it’s still saved!

I did some searching on the Internet, but I couldn’t find any information about Natsume Soseki, birth date, age, or ancestry. The book also had only the simplest name, followed by the article, the whole book looked handwritten, and there was no publisher or price at the back. It was simply like a dream, the whole book, except for that remarkable article, only the author’s name, as if it was written on a whim and dedicated to someone.

I didn’t give up and even asked the store manager, “Hello, do you know the writer Mr. Natsume Soseki?” I looked at the store manager with great anticipation, in my eyes, he was no longer an ordinary store manager, but a guiding light on my life’s path, even that bright and false smile became inscrutable.

I saw the store manager gently shake his head, his smile becoming more and more mysterious, “Never heard of it, I guess it’s some unknown writer.”

My heart instantly shattered all over the place, and when I looked at the store manager again, he had turned back into his ordinary self again. I understood, no wonder there are no more literary heroes in the world, it’s all the fault of the world’s people’s poor taste. Even writers like Natsume Sutaishi are unknown, and so are other good writers. How many literary giants in history have been inspired by their predecessors?

I had no choice, I paid the price and brought that book back to the hotel. According to the owner, there was only one copy of the book, and he couldn’t remember when he brought it back. Looking on the bright side, this book is a limited edition. How could any girl not like a limited edition?

I sure did. Probably by the boss who saw that I liked the book so much that he sold it three times the price of the other books. After knowing the whole story, Xiaoli spat at me fiercely, “You’re out on a trip, even your brain is dull. That book was left there for so long, it’s obvious that it can’t be sold, the boss is just trying to scam you. You even bought it without even bargaining for the price?”

I looked at her cryptically, “This is Natsume Soseki’s book, it’s the only one of its kind, and it’s my last spiritual support. I went to the bookstore today and it didn’t even have ‘Postnatal Care of a Sow!”

_{1 Lol what? She likes to read a book on the childbirth of pigs for relaxation? Unless it’s the BL novel “Postnatal Care of a Sow” on NU which I doubt.}

<Previous TOC Next>