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Lin Jie, who has found himself in this world through transmigration, operates a quaint bookshop. Kind and enthusiastic, he always recommends books that have the power to heal one's soul to customers going through tough times. Occasionally, he also suggests his own works to them. Over time, these customers have come to hold him in high regard. Every day, they bring him simple souvenirs as tokens of gratitude and seek his recommendations for literary works. Simultaneously, they share stories about this bookstore owner with those around them, addressing him with respectful and affectionate titles.
Please read the other reviews. I'm only commenting to leave a note for myself.
This has that stunningly rare equal opportunity fan service and disservice.
The author and artist are very into asses. Men, women, lolis and everything in between. If it's on two legs (or four) there will be a lovingly drawn, very roundand detailed ass shot.
136 Chapters in and I still have no idea what is going on. I don't understand what the different groups/orgs are representing or trying accomplish and why they are at odds with each other. I don't understand how this world works. There's no clear good/evil, which would be fine if it was one of those "morality is subjective" type story, but it isn't. There's just constant chaos with very little context.
But I don't hate it! I don't love it, but I haven't gotten tired of the one thing I am sure about: the bookstore owner being woefully naïve about literally everything around him. The humor around that schtick is something I particularly enjoy (similar to the comedic misunderstandings in I'm Not That Kind of Talent).
In short, this story provides almost zero context or high level description/information on the setting, but I'm inexplicably still reading it.
Artstyle changed for the worse and might be a translation issue but the writing is all over the place now. None of the characters look or act the same as before so it's just weird.
This is my first time posting comment. I like it because:
All in all, worth it
I’m waiting for next chapter
I was worried as Manhua have a poor reputation as a whole, but this is hilarious. It has the same silly style of Shadow Garden where the protagonist is completely deluded as to what is actually happening around him, which plays for great comedy, and is employed in a very different way.
A great comedy based on misunderstandings, with a backdrop of almost Lovecraftian cosmic horror mixed with urban fantasy and european ambiance.
The MC is a man who makes a deal with a demon (?) to own all the books in the world. He's transported to another world, where he opens up a bookstore and, from his pov, "scams" people by giving them vague life advice and telling them that there's a book that can help with their problems. From his pov, it's a normal life of a bookstore owner trying to pull in customers. Surprisingly, the kind being he made a deal with even told him he's already fulfilling his price.
From the pov of everyone else, in the midst of the tensions that have reached their breaking point between several supernatural factions in the city, an Indescribable class being has made itself known by associating with key players amongst the factions. This mysterious being has been manipulating factions for his own entertainment, and his customers have been given books that, if they can bear the cosmic horror brought by even gazing upon them, can give them immense power.
The setting is really interesting; it seems to be an urban fantasy mixed with the sort of vague european historical fantasy setting you usually see in asian stories. The urban fantasy part really had me confused the first couple of chapters hahaha, so I'll give a bit of an overview.
There are several factions at play: the Secret Instrument Tower, the Truth Society, The Spawn of the Magic Mirror, the Scarlet Cult, and the White Wolves and their splinter faction, to name a few.
There are regular humans, fantasy races such as elves and demonic beings, mutants changed by their close contact with a Lovecraftian fog, and "lycanthropes", those who infect themselves with the tainted blood of dream beasts from the dream realm (and eventually go insane when the blood overpowers their rational minds).
All this makes me really excited to see where it goes next.
And it continues to be very good. This is just a solid Isekai with a nice balance of "slice-of-life" on the part of the protagonist that always amusingly translates into ridiculous, over-the-top action on the part of everyone around him. Bonus for the cosmic horror themes.
For those wondering, it does become more serialized as the individual storylines of his customers overlap and converge. There's the episodic A-plot of the MC and his daily bookstore life and the heavily serialized B-plot of action outside the bookstore.