Chapter 38

「Morning, Andou-kun. What are you reading right now?」

「Good morning, Asakura-san. The light novel I’m reading right now? It’s a new publication that was on sale yesterday:『And You Thought Your IRL Wife Wasn’t A Trap?』」

「If I’m not wrong… It’s a love comedy about a high school boy who becomes engaged to a woman in the same class as him by his family; however, the girl is actually an effeminate trap. At a glance, it looks like an original piece but in actuality, it copies off an old anime that deals heavily with gender identity disorders.」

「Well, as the story progresses, the boy gets attracted to the heroine however it’s at the level where he sexually craves after her; but is it really normal considering the heroine is a trap? Or is he abnormal? And does he see the heroine that he’s in love with as a『woman』? Or could it be that it’s her body that he『likes』? Those are the various questions are posed to the readers as they read the novel.」

「However, it’s unusual to see you reading a physical light novel. Nowadays, don’t you usually read your light novels on your phone either by accessing『Narou』or downloading the『ebook』? Since that work is being published by a pretty prolific publisher, if you had waited till next month, you could have probably bought it when the ebook is on sale?」

「Yeah, that’s true. Actually, I did intend to wait till next month to get it. But when I saw it in the bookstore, I couldn’t hold myself back from buying it.」

「Eh? Andou-kun, do you really like that work that much?」

「Yeah, seems that way, doesn’t it? Even I’m aware that it’s unlike me to like a novel so much that I couldn’t even wait for a month. Strange, isn’t it? It’s not as if the original work would be selling well nor the anime would be a big hit, but when I look back at all the books that I’d immediately gobbled up as soon as they came out the next day, I wonder how many had truly left me feeling satisfied after I was done with them? Even SAO,『Sword Art Offline』came out on the same day as that but I was able to hold myself back and wait till the ebook version is on sale」

「Of course『SAO』sells better than that and the anime is huge but even so, this doesn’t mean that isn’t as interesting as SAO.

　Isn’t it unexpectedly difficult to find something that you『like』?」

「Yea… I guess」

I didn’t expect this as well… To be able to talk to Asakura-san about other things beside light novels… (Andou)

「Hnn? Andou-kun, is there something on my face?」

「No, it’s nothing, Asakura-san.」