"Kiyotaka, I want to leave this place. The last student from my cohort said that to me."
"At the time, I asked him why."
"His answer was, 'I want to see the outside world with my own eyes.'" That was how Ayanokouji explained it.
Ayanokouji remembered those words.
And that was why he wanted to escape the White Room.
Because he, too, wanted to experience this thing called freedom.
But unfortunately, some freedoms could not be obtained merely by wishing for them.
So all he could gain was these hard-won three years on campus.
Oreki lay with his head resting on a soft pillow.
Although he had experience surviving on the Uninhabited Island, and had followed Ichinose's method from last year to deal with the hard ground beneath the tent, on top of having abundant supplies, life on the Uninhabited Island had not been especially difficult.
Still, a real pillow and a proper bed were simply more comfortable.
Ordinary students shared rooms in groups of two or three.
Oreki, however, had spent Points to get the room he had reserved for himself last year.
After all, this Uninhabited Island exam had brought in plenty of money, and he already possessed considerable assets himself. There was no need to be stingy about this.
However, about two days later, an announcement came over the cruise ship's broadcast system. It seemed another special exam for the first-years had begun.
Mr. Tsukishiro had already been confirmed to resign from the school next month, while Sumakiden had been directly instructed to await the cruise ship's docking before being removed from his position as Class 1-D's homeroom teacher.
Those were the decisions regarding their punishment.
But since the first-years' special exam had already begun, all that remained was to wait for the money to come