Reincarnation - I Wish I Had Been a Book Lover's Glasses
I wanted to live without anyone bothering me, just reading books and nothing else.
With economic freedom, I could buy expensive books without worrying about my wallet, and gather endless books like a squirrel in hibernation. How happy would that life really be?
But reality was cold. There was no lottery luck one after another, no massive inheritance from my parents, and no talent to become world-famous. To keep living, I had no choice but to work.
The boring work with no meaning, the human relationships where everyone did as they pleased, the schedule that would repeat tomorrow—everything was annoying. The moment I didn’t read, it felt like drowning for me.
Somehow, I reached my limit without realizing it. After drinking with friends by chance, I told her the thought I had held for so long.
“If I were reborn, I’d want to be a pair of glasses.”
“…You’re already drunk?”
“Sorry, but I’m not weak to alcohol. I’m as sharp as ever right now.”
“Ah, right. I forgot that even without alcohol in my brain, you’re weird enough.”
“That’s harsh.”
The friend’s eyes toward me were like looking at an alien creature that had popped out of a lake. She downed her beer out of curiosity, too.
But after hesitating a little, she looked up at the ceiling once, then gazed back at me and asked again, unable to believe it.
“No, why glasses? If you’re going to be reborn, there are so many better things. So many options. Why specifically glasses?”
“But… humans are so bothersome, right? You have to sleep on schedule, eat meals, work too. Glasses are non-living. Maybe they can be freed from all that trouble. Yeah, it’s a special occasion. I want a pair of glasses that a book-loving person would wear. Also, someone who doesn’t wear glasses normally because their eyesight isn’t bad, but only when reading books.”
“That’s the reason… No, that’s too detailed of a request. I’m offended.”
“Details are life, no matter what. Actually, I’ve already decided what kind of glasses I want.”
I showed my friend a photo of the glasses I liked most. But because I prioritized function over appearance, she declared she would never wear such a thing. It made me a little sad.
“If I’m going to be non-living, why glasses like this? Why not become a whole library? You bookworms could be satisfied with just a few hundred books?”
“…I never thought of that idea. Right. If I became a library, I could hold tens of millions of books! You really are a genius!”
“Whoa, I was making fun of you, but you actually liked it. Is it true?”
Right after, I was amazed by the cool idea, giving me goosebumps. My friend laughed as if she couldn’t believe it. As expected, my childhood friend. She knew what I liked better than anyone. I was happy.
After that conversation, we just talked about unimportant things while drinking. Then, before I knew it, it was late at night. I had to go to work tomorrow too. We decided to call it a night before it got any later.
“Then sleep well. Don’t get hit by a car while walking and reading.”
“I’ll only read when I’m sure I’m safe.”
“Don’t focus on the book so much on the subway that you miss your stop.”
“I’ll set an alarm, so it should be fine.”
“Read a reasonable amount before bed. You’re not an age where you can stay up all night.”
“There are too many things to remember.”
Because accidents happened while reading books, my friend worried a lot in many ways. She was already an adult. I could have let her handle it herself, but since she was worrying about me, I nodded as much as I could without showing annoyance or being rude.
“And on this weekend, you’re coming over to our house. Clean the place.”
“Why our house?”
“…I’m bored. What? You can’t come?”
“No, it’s fine.”
“Hmph. I’ll go.”
With a sudden promise, my friend left with an uncomfortable look on her face. Oh, I forgot to throw away the empty box after ordering the books. Another problem popped up.
After arriving home, showering, and coming out, it was a bit early for sleep. If I had this much free time, I could read one book, right? Walking lightly toward the bookshelf, I felt a huge sense of unease.
A strange book was in the shelf. A completely white book with no title on the spine. It looked like a hardcover with a thick cover. When I pressed it with my fingertips, it felt like leather.
“Did I buy a book like this?”
Even with my judgment clouded by alcohol, I could say it with certainty. I had never bought this book and placed it here.
Was a thief secretly hiding and sneaking in…? No, a kind thief who wouldn’t steal anything but just place a book here. There was no such thing.
Then why was this book placed here? Deeply puzzled by the situation, I decided to check what kind of book it was first.
“…Hmm, it won’t come out.”
But the book was packed in so tightly. It didn’t seem stuck anywhere, but it just wouldn’t come out. With a fading patience from the foggy feeling, I pulled my hand hard. The book shot out powerfully, but at the same time, the shelf taller than me started to sway.
Oh no, it was bad. While I was panicking thinking that, the shelf finally vomited out the books and tilted toward me.
‘I’m gonna get scolded by that guy.’
That was the last thought I had.
***
The new name I was given after reincarnating and dying under the bookshelf was Liber.
It was a pity that the wish for me to become a pair of glasses for a book-loving person wasn’t fulfilled even if I were reborn. It had been sincere, though.
“There. This is what it’s going to look like.”
With a sigh full of regret, I peeked my head out over the lake. Then, my reflection in the calm water was clear.
Black hair like the night sky and slightly sparkling blue eyes. Even the fair skin that couldn’t be hidden by the soft cheeks that hadn’t shed baby fat yet had beauty that naturally invited the future.
Yes. This time, I was a woman, and a promising young lady. It was better to have a likeable appearance than a plain one to live better, but there were all sorts of problems that made it not entirely joyful.
First, the place I was born was a remote rural village where you could search until your eyes burned and find no sign of being a product of civilization. No lights, so you had to sleep early when it got dark, and you had to carry water from wells or rivers.
Plus, I was the only daughter of the village chief, so when I grew up, I was bound to marry and have children. I was only eight years old now, but there were already too many suspicious marriage applicants.
If I talked about the complaints, I could stay up all night, but among all those problems, the most serious one was this.
“Tell me it’s a lie… How can there be tens of houses in the village but no books at all?”
Yes. There were no books in this village. No, not just books—there was no paper at all. Civilization was behind this much. How was this possible?
Because of that, even after eight years of reincarnation, I had never read a single book. Ah, my brain was probably going to go crazy from the forbidden phenomenon…
To soothe my heart, I stacked tree bark into something like a book, but I still couldn’t be satisfied. I really wanted to read real books.
“Ask the old people in the village or the travelers who come sometimes, but they don’t know either…”
Hey. I was frustrated and threw a pebble hard toward the lake. But maybe my strength wasn’t that great. The stone didn’t fly far, and it didn’t comfort me at all.
Could I return to the original world by drowning? Soaked in depression, I slowly walked back to the village. Then, strangely, the village was noisier than usual.
Surprisingly, a merchant had come to the village. A cart full of goods and a few men who seemed to escort him. The village chief father was negotiating with the merchant as if to buy what was needed.
This was it! Maybe this merchant knew something about books. While the merchant was sorting the load on the cart, I sneaked up and chatted with him a little.
Because the cute girl’s face had the effect of lowering adults’ caution. After building up enough affinity to draw out answers, I asked him with a naive face.
“But, sir merchant, do you not sell books?”
“Hmm? What kind of thing is that?”
“A thing that lets you write words on paper, bind them together, and flip the pages…”
“Paper? Do you mean parchment?”
“Ah, yes…”
Thump. My anxiety grew. Somewhere in my head, it screamed that I shouldn’t hear this. But I couldn’t turn away from the truth. Suppressing that feeling, I nodded my head.
“Ah, I’ve heard rumors of such things… but…”
“Then, do you know how to get that book?”
“Hmm… probably difficult, right? That kind of thing can only be obtained by nobles or tycoons who have a lot of money. We normal people won’t even see it even if we work our whole lives.”
“Ah.”
“Haha, but… Liber’s face is cute. If you become the wife of a high person and enter their eyes, it would be different! Hahaha!”
At that moment, something inside my heart crumbled. This world wasn’t without books. Books existed, but they were so ridiculously expensive that they couldn’t be found in such a rural village.
Panicked, I grabbed the merchant and dug deeper for information. It turned out that papermaking technology wasn’t developed, so the concept of modern paper didn’t exist.
The only thing they could make for writing was parchment from peeling animal hides. Of course, stacking dozens of them to make books would be ridiculously expensive.
“No way… Even in a remote village like this. I thought the civilization level here could never be this miserable.”
Probably this civilization was an era closer to ancient times than medieval, based on my previous life.
Then, for a mere daughter of a rural village chief like me, books were a far-off thing… It felt like it would be buried under a high wall of reality.
But I had no intention of giving up on books. Since I had learned they existed somewhere, the desire to have them in my hands swelled like bread in the oven.
“First, I’ll try anything.”
Fate was a hand that helped those who refused to give up. Clenching my fist, I burned with motivation.