Chapter 209: The Siblings’ Revolution!

“It’s not what you think!”

Oh no, I made a mistake! I accidentally handed my new “sister-obsessed” themed novel to my little sister!

Himekoji Tadashi was just about to explain—

“I understand now, Onii-chan!”

But before he could even speak, Akiko gravely cut him off.

“What do you understand? You don’t understand anything! Listen to me…”

“There’s no need to say anything! Onii-chan, Akiko gets it now! In this aspect, Akiko definitely didn’t think as deeply or thoroughly as Onii-chan.”

“So, what exactly do you get? I completely don’t understand!”

“Onii-chan is truly magnificent! How childish of me to ever doubt you before!”

“Huh? How did I suddenly become magnificent?”

Magnificent? My foot! Himekoji just felt a headache coming on!

“You can tell just from the title! The novel Onii-chan wrote is meant to promote sister-complex and brother-complex to the whole society, right? To declare war on those pitiful, ignorant fools! To instill the common sense that ‘siblings bonding is perfectly natural’ into this prejudiced world!”

“Absolutely not! Stop that unnecessary imagination right now!”

Himekoji was amazed by his sister’s wild brain.

“Onii-chan, there’s no need to deny it! I completely grasp all your thoughts and feelings! In fact, why didn’t I think of such a brilliant method? Someone like me is totally unworthy of being Onii-chan’s little sister! So, I’ve decided: I shall learn from you!”

“Huh?”

What did she mean? Was Akiko going to write novels too?

Question marks filled Himekoji’s mind???????

Akiko, however, held the book with both hands, beaming animatedly.

“Onii-chan, you’re super amazing! What you’re doing is practically a revolution! I’ve decided, I’m going to follow closely in your footsteps! From now on, Onii-chan will be a revolutionary martyr!”

“Wait, martyr?? Hey! Martyr is for dead people! Akiko, please don’t say such scary things!”

Himekoji rolled his eyes in exasperation.

…

It was quite an effort to finally deal with his troublesome sister.

Akiko hugged Ore no Imōto, happily scampering off to the rest room.

…

The book signing event lasted for nearly the whole day.

Himekoji barely had any break at noon, just hastily eating a boxed lunch at the event.

By the afternoon, the line was even longer than before.

One reader after another received messages like “Teacher Koji is super handsome! Come quick! You’ll regret it for life if you miss out!”, prompting them to queue up just to get a glimpse of the real person.

What had been a reasonably spacious bookstore suddenly found its lines overflowing. Under the staff’s strenuous efforts, the snaking queue wound its way from the first floor all the way to the third…

Himekoji could hardly believe he had so many fans.

Early in the morning, he remembered the line was mostly male readers, with only a few scattered younger female students mixed in.

Yet by afternoon, the male-to-female ratio in the line was nearly fifty-fifty!

Himekoji seriously suspected a big bunch of “female wolves” who hadn’t even read his books had infiltrated the crowd…

…

“Oho! It wasn’t a lie! Super handsome! Seriously super handsome!”

Okay, no need to doubt it anymore! That’s the reality!

Dang it! How long does this darn “Pervert Charisma” effect last?

Himekoji was feeling overwhelmed!

Open your eyes wide and look properly!

I’m really not that handsome! Just average handsome, regular handsome, that’s all!

…

“Hey… is what they said true? That we can just ♂touch, hug, get pictures, all of it?”

Hey! Buddy, wipe the drool off your mouth!

You’re too late!

Now, at most, you can get a handshake!

So, don’t make a face like you want to eat someone alive!

…

“Of course it’s true! As long as you buy a book, pretend to be a reader and make a request to Teacher Koji, he won’t have a reason to refuse!”

Holy smokes! So you really are fake readers!

The signing is just an excuse; wanting to take advantage of me is the real aim!

Are you guys the perverts, or am I?

The world has gone completely crazy!

…

“Buy buy buy!”

“Not buying is inhuman!”

“I’ll buy, alright!”

…

Risque Jokes and Ore no Imōto were facing a critical stock outage!

When Machida Sonoko first heard this news, she completely dismissed it.

Impossible, right?

She thought the bookstore staff were likely pulling her leg.

It might be understandable for Risque Jokes to run out, as the final volume had been out for nearly two weeks. But Ore no Imōto was only publicly released today.

Major publishing houses typically start with at least fifty thousand copies for the first print run of a single volume.

Fujisawa Publishing might not quite qualify as “major” yet, but their print run for Ore no Imōto was aiming for major scale!

Naturally, this showed their confidence in Himekoji’s new book and their intent to start investing more resources into him.

…

It wasn’t until bookstore staff took her to confirm the inventory that Machida Sonoko was forced to accept this absurd truth.

Fifty thousand copies for the first printing. Distributed to bookstores nationwide – the smaller ones got dozens or hundreds of copies, the bigger ones got hundreds or thousands. The bookstore hosting Himekoji’s signing belonged to Fujisawa, so its stock was undeniably top-level: a full five thousand copies!

Yet, in less than a day, almost five thousand were nearly sold out?

Even if every reader attending the signing bought one copy, it shouldn’t be this exaggerated!

The signing line had been running since morning; counting generously, it was just over two thousand people.

Puzzled, Machida Sonoko went to the sales counter and finally discovered the truth!

…

“That… that writer guy’s books! Give me two copies of each!”

“I want three!”

“I’ll take two as well!”

“Give me five!”

…

Hold on—

That writer guy?

Machida Sonoko felt imaginary sweat rolling down her head.

These people couldn’t even pronounce Himekoji’s pen name properly. Were they really readers?

Also, why was every single one of them buying multiple copies?

Was it like that “Eyeglasses Otaku Consuming Pig” character, meant for reading, collecting, and spreading the gospel?

But it didn’t seem like it!

These several people looked exactly like fashionable female office workers. No way they were part of the otaku community.

And they couldn’t even say the pen name right, so they definitely weren’t die-hard fans.

Unable to figure it out, Machida Sonoko couldn’t help but step closer.

After striking up a few casual remarks, she seized a moment to voice her confusion—

“Uh… excuse me, may I ask why you all are buying so many copies of Teacher Koji’s books? For reading, one copy should be enough, right?”

As soon as she voiced this unsophisticated question, Machida Sonoko received several judgmental “You’re too naïve” stares.

“Sis, you must be joking! No one here is buying these to read!”

“Exactly!”

“Buying the book is just to get hugs from that cute hottie over there.”

“Eh…”

Completely unexpected, yet somehow made sense…

Hearing this answer, Machida Sonoko was momentarily lost for words.

After a long daze, she awkwardly spoke again,

“Then… wouldn’t buying one copy be enough?”

“A single hug just isn’t enough!”

The several female office workers (apparently poisoned by a “Love-Struck Idiot Halo”) chorused in unison!

…

In that moment, Machida Sonoko finally understood—

Why the line kept getting longer and longer…

“Ah, give me two copies too.”

Machida-san timidly raised her small hand.

…