Published: July 25, 2025
Urano Motosu, 22 years old.
I love books. I absolutely adore them.
I love them more than three meals a day.
I enjoy touching someone’s knowledge through printed words, and I also love diving into fantasies. Tracing the author’s thoughts from there makes my heart dance and my face break into an involuntary grin.
When I read a book that compiles various kinds of knowledge, I feel like I have gained so much. Seeing worlds I’ve never witnessed through photo books lined up in bookstores or libraries feels like my world is expanding, and I find it intoxicating, don’t you think?
Even old foreign stories are fascinating, offering glimpses into the customs of different countries and eras. Every field has its history, and unraveling it always makes me lose track of time.
Psychology, religion, history, geography, education, folklore, mathematics, physics, earth science, chemistry, biology, art, physical education, languages, stories... I deeply love books packed tightly with the accumulated knowledge of humanity.
Thick, multi-volume encyclopedias,
Complete sets of literature without a single volume missing,
Those seemingly simple covers hiding highly specialized content,
Colorful magazines filled with photos,
Novels laden with complicated expressions,
Light novels that may be thin in content but sell well,
Large picture books for children,
Manga, which has become a proud part of Japanese culture,
Even amateur-made doujinshi—
Just flipping open any of these turns them into a fine wine that intoxicates me.
Also, I love the slightly musty and dusty smell unique to old books gathered in the stacks of a library. I slowly inhale it, and just the presence of aged books there makes me writhe in delight, almost reaching ecstasy.
Of course, I also adore the scent of fresh paper and ink. Just thinking about what might be written there, what new knowledge might be found, makes me happy.
I want to live my entire life surrounded by books.
In a book repository designed so that sunlight won’t damage the books but ventilation is good—I’d like to spend my whole life there if I could.
Even if people say my skin looks pale and creepy, that I’m unhealthy from lack of exercise, or scold me for forgetting to eat, I could never let go of my books if it means spending as much time as possible reading.
If I have to die someday, I want to die buried in books. I think it’s a much happier way to go than passing away on tatami mats—I want to be surrounded by books as I breathe my last on my bed.
—No, to be precise, I used to think that.
Actually, I—
Just a moment ago, I died buried under books in a massive earthquake!
Yes, exactly as I hoped, but is there a problem with that?
It was my wish come true, but I can’t honestly thank God because I had just earned my librarian qualification and landed a job at a university library in this tough job market.
God, please.
If possible, reincarnate me.
I haven’t read enough yet.
In my next life too, I want to read books.
And I want to become a librarian at a library again.
I want to spend every day surrounded by books.
Of course, being a librarian doesn’t mean reading books all day. When you’re working, you can’t read books, I know that.
But still, the amount of time spent surrounded by books is overwhelmingly longer than most other jobs. Just being around books makes me happy.
Anyone can understand the feeling of being enchanted just by inhaling the smell of paper and ink, right?
The fact that only humans have always engaged in the intellectual task of passing on knowledge through writing—looking back over history a little, that should absolutely make your heart flutter.
As long as I can read books, I’m happy.
Now then, God. If you understand my wish, please reincarnate me quickly.
I’ll be reborn, and I’ll read books again.
At last, it has begun.
I hope you enjoy it.