Daily Life

Qiuyue walked out of the dormitory building. The weather was sunny, the temperature comfortable—it should have been a happy day, but Qiuyue couldn't muster any joy at all.

Step by step, he made his way toward Class D of the first-year building, and with a nervous heart, stepped into the classroom.

Qiuyue: (Not here yet, those three idiots... What do I do? Those three are going to spread it everywhere. Forget other classes—Class D will probably all know... Sigh... I need to think of something.)

Ike, Yamauchi, and Sudo entered the classroom one minute before class started.

Ike and Yamauchi were both out of breath, but they had no time to complain and could only hurry to their seats.

The teacher came into the classroom.

"Class, let's begin."

As soon as the bell rang, the teacher at the podium stopped lecturing and ended class right on time.

Ike and Yamauchi, as if they couldn't wait any longer, rushed over to Qiuyue's desk the moment class ended.

"Hey hey, Qiuyue, what did those two girls want with you yesterday? They were super cute!"

"Right, right, two different styles—the first one was small and adorable, the second one was stunning."

"Gotta hand it to you, Yamauchi, you're thinking the same as me. The first one was like a doll, cute, and the second looked like a model."

"...Heheh."

"...Heheh."

Qiuyue: (Gotta hand it to you two—you just completely excluded Hashimoto, huh? She's standing right there, and all you see are the girls. Hashimoto's probably crying her eyes out in the bathroom.)

Qiuyue spread his hands and said:

"I don't know them either. They just said they wanted to read the book I borrowed from the library and asked if I could let them have it first."

Qiuyue: (Ugh... Even I think this excuse is too flimsy, but it should be fine. These two aren't that smart—they probably won't suspect anything.)

"No way? You lucky bastard! Even if it's just them borrowing a book, getting to chat with two super beautiful girls like that is already enviable as hell!!!"

"Yeah, Qiuyue, did you give them the book or not? If you didn't, let me deliver it! Please, I'm begging you—this is the request of my lifetime! Qiuyue!"

Qiuyue: (Gotta hand it to you two... No shame at all... You've surprised me again.)

Ike and Yamauchi let out their wails, indignation, and regret without any restraint, even starting to beg Qiuyue to let them deliver the book so they could get a close look at the two beauties and talk to them.

They probably thought this was their chance to get to know them and start all sorts of developments—of course, that was just the fantasy in their heads.

Ike and Yamauchi's voices carried without any restraint, so the whole class could hear.

The girls in the class even shifted slightly away from Qiuyue's direction, whispering in their little groups about how disgusting Ike and Yamauchi were, casting glances at them like they were trash.

Qiuyue, as if he had expected this, propped his hand on his face and turned to the wall, facing it in self-reflection.

"No, I gave them the book yesterday."

Qiuyue: (Phew... Out of sight, out of mind. I'll just stare at the wall. Nothing good ever comes from getting involved with these two.)

(Look at Sudo—he's focused on liking Horikita. You two should hurry up and find someone to crush on too.)

"How could you..."

"Yeah... Qiuyue... Please, at least let me know their names."

When Ike and Yamauchi heard what Qiuyue said, they both slumped to the floor in defeat. But when Yamauchi asked for the names again, they perked up a little.

"No idea."

Qiuyue's instant "no idea" crushed Ike and Yamauchi's hopes. They thought they might get to know the two super beauties from yesterday.

Qiuyue: (What a pain ╮(╯＿╰)╭ Fun, huh? Now I'm getting targeted by the girls in class too.)

At 3:30 PM, school was over. Qiuyue, who hadn't joined any clubs, was packing up the books on his desk alone, as usual.

After finishing his day of classes, he was about to head to the library to meet his book friend when someone who had never spoken to him before approached.

"Qiuyue, we're going to karaoke together. Want to come with us?"

The person in front of him caught Qiuyue completely off guard. Hirata, the super popular guy and the de facto leader of the class, was actually inviting him—someone with no presence at all.

After a brief mental storm, Qiuyue couldn't figure out what Hirata's goal was. Since he had an appointment with Shiina, he declined.

Yesterday, Qiuyue and Shiina had been sharing their thoughts on the book over the phone and agreed to meet at the library.

"No, I'm good. I have something to do."

Throwing out that line, Qiuyue slung his single-strap bag over his shoulder and was about to leave the classroom.

"Wait, Qiuyue. How about another time? Is that okay?"

Hirata quickly said this, afraid that Qiuyue would step out of the classroom the next second.

Qiuyue glanced at the group of girls behind Hirata—there were a few guys too. It would be weird if it were just Hirata and Qiuyue as the only guys with a bunch of girls.

The girls were whispering about something behind him, starting right after Qiuyue turned down Hirata. Though they spoke quietly enough that he couldn't hear from here, it wasn't hard to guess.

Qiuyue: (...Someone at my level—how could I have the nerve to turn down Hirata... right?)

(It doesn't matter anyway. I just can't handle group gatherings, things like that.)

(If I don't leave now, the whole class will notice me. As long as I walk fast, they'll just treat it as a minor incident.)

"Hirata, let's talk another day. A group gathering is clearly not my kind of thing, no matter how you look at it."

After saying this, Qiuyue didn't give Hirata a chance to respond and walked out of the classroom without looking back.

Arriving at the library, Qiuyue was met by Shiina, who was bursting with a desire to share. Although he had a few things to share himself, since she was so adorable, Qiuyue obediently played the role of listener.

Shiina talked for a long time, and Qiuyue occasionally expressed his own opinions, then shared his thoughts on The Offering to the Void.

After that, it was reading time.

"...You really have a connection with the Four Great Strange Books... You've picked one again."

"Huh? Really? No way, there are so many books here, and the Four Great Strange Books are only four in total. I've already picked three this quickly?"

"Really. This book is divided into five chapters. The odd-numbered chapters are the 'realistic novel' written by the author, and the even-numbered chapters are the 'fictional novel' created by the protagonist Katashiro Jo within that realistic novel.

The characters in the fictional novel all appear under their 'real names,' meaning everyone appears under the same name in both novels.

Truth mixed with falsehood, falsehood mixed with truth, leaving readers utterly confused and unable to distinguish reality from fiction—that's the biggest feature of this book."

Shiina was off again. Introducing her favorite works to others must be a very joyful thing for her.

Qiuyue sighed and smiled helplessly, flipping through the cover of the book in his hand.

Lost Paradise in the Box