Chapter Summaries

Oreki used Sakura’s phone to locate Kushida and found her alone on the cruise ship’s top deck. After Kushida embraced him and said she had been feeling down, she pulled away and addressed him more openly.

• Oreki borrowed Sakura’s phone and used its GPS to find Kushida’s location.
• Oreki recalled his plan to make Ryuuen’s attempt to steal Horikita’s key fail and suspected Kushida was Class C’s spy.
• Oreki went to the top deck and found Kushida watching the stars alone.
• Oreki tried to leave, but Kushida stopped him, hugged him, and said she had been feeling down.
• Kushida pulled away and called Oreki-kun, seeming ready to speak more forthrightly.

Houtarou Oreki caught Kikyou Kushida trying to steal Horikita Suzune’s safe key and pass it to Ryuuen, revealing that he had anticipated her betrayal. He used a recording to force Kushida to accept his request, and the chapter ended with her clinging to him.

• Oreki confronted Kushida about meeting Ryuuen and accused her of stealing Horikita’s safe key.
• Oreki explained that he had baited Kushida with a message about the phones in the safe after suspecting her obsession with Horikita.
• Kushida realized Oreki had anticipated her plan to discredit Horikita and help Class C.
• Oreki threatened to play a recording of Kushida admitting she had betrayed Class D unless she accepted his request.
• Kushida switched back to her sweet demeanor, then grabbed Oreki with her hands pressed against her chest.

Ryuuen tried to steal Class D’s phones to learn the VIP pattern, but found a taunting note in the safe and realized Oreki had anticipated his plan. Oreki then went to sleep and dreamed of a future with Horikita and their daughters, where Kushida came to visit.

• Ryuuen and his classmates opened Safe 306 expecting Class D’s phones, but found a note saying, “You fell for it, Ryuuen.”
• Ryuuen’s group realized Oreki had predicted their attempt to obtain the phones and information about the VIPs.
• Oreki told Kushida that Ryuuen’s reaction to the note might not be as angry as he hoped, while Kushida worried that the failed betrayal had ruined her chance to expel Horikita.
• Oreki informed Horikita that the trap for Ryuuen had worked, then went to sleep.
• Oreki dreamed that ten years in the future, Attorney Horikita left on a business trip and their daughters Lingling and Nene welcomed Kushida to their home.

Oreki dreamed about Kushida visiting to sleep with him in Horikita’s clothes, then arrived early for the Rabbit Group discussion and found Ichinose asleep there. During the third discussion, he invited Ichinose to a meeting about the VIP Exam and revealed that his class had learned Class B’s VIP information, leaving the group representatives set to meet that afternoon.

• Oreki woke from a dream about Kushida visiting and wearing Horikita’s pajamas, then arrived early at Room 204.
• Oreki found Ichinose asleep on the floor and woke her after a passerby called her name.
• Machida entered, saw Oreki and Ichinose together, and left; the Rabbit Group then began its third discussion.
• Oreki invited Ichinose to meet at Gabriel Angel Restaurant at three o’clock and said his class had obtained information about Class B’s VIP.
• Oreki planned for the four class representatives to meet and sign an agreement, while someone asked to borrow A Brief History of Time.

Oreki explained to Karuizawa why the girls from Class C were afraid of her and clarified his relationship with Horikita. At lunch, he met Horikita to exchange information and learned that Ryuuen had sought Class B’s cooperation in the Dragon Group.

• Karuizawa told Oreki that Manabe and the other Class C girls had moved aside for her, and Oreki explained that Horikita had intimidated them with photos before deleting them.
• Karuizawa said her friends suspected Oreki and Horikita were dating, and Oreki replied that Horikita was his partner and he would not date during high school.
• Oreki met Horikita for lunch and told her that he had given Kamuro the day off; Kamuro struggled to adjust to having free time.
• Oreki and Horikita discussed the Dragon Group meeting, where Ryuuen had sought cooperation from Kanzaki and resisted Oreki’s plan.

Oreki exposed Ryuuen’s attempt to secretly record him and Horikita, then arranged for Ryuuen’s phone to be thrown into the sea, forcing him to pay for a replacement. Ryuuen later regrouped with his classmates and planned to use the recording to gain leverage, unaware that Oreki had already disposed of the phone.

• Ryuuen visited Oreki and Horikita, claimed he would cooperate with Class B, and tried to unsettle Horikita by saying Oreki had spent the night with other girls.
• Oreki found a recording phone taped beneath Ryuuen’s chair and explained that Ryuuen’s claim about joining Class B was a ploy to obtain information.
• Oreki called the phone using Ryuuen’s number, confirmed it belonged to him, and paid a staff member to throw the chair and phone into the sea.
• Oreki told Horikita that Ryuuen’s financial and exam troubles left him with little choice but to behave at their three o’clock meeting.
• Ryuuen met with his team and said they would use the planted phone’s recording to restrain Oreki, but they discovered the barstools had been replaced.

Ryuuen discovered that Oreki had arranged for his phone to be thrown into the sea, leaving him with a 500,000-Point replacement cost and no way to pursue his chair plan. At the Student Council, Nagumo and the others reviewed the latest class evaluation Points and discussed the first years’ ongoing VIP Exam.

• Ryuuen learned that the staff had replaced every chair after a previous guest requested his chair’s disposal, then realized his phone was missing.
• Ryuuen borrowed Ishizaki’s phone, confirmed his own phone could not be located, and concluded Oreki had thrown it into the sea.
• Ryuuen called Teacher Bando and learned that a replacement school phone would cost 500,000 Points, abandoning his plan to hide phones under the chairs.
• Student Council members reviewed updated class evaluation Points, noting that all second-year classes except Class 2-A had lost Points and that third-year Classes C and D had made unusual gains.
• Akane Tachibana mentioned the first years’ VIP Exam, and Nagumo Miyabi recalled how his own Deserted Island and VIP Exams had helped him rise to power.

Manabu Horikita and Nagumo discussed the first years’ VIP Exam, with Manabu suggesting Oreki could find its optimal solution by copying Nagumo. The chapter ended as eight students assembled for the Dragon Group on the luxury cruise ship.

• Manabu Horikita concluded that Nagumo had interfered with the third-year exam and still intended to seize the Student Council presidency.
• Nagumo recalled his plan to use a first-year Class A girl to target Ichinose and later bring the girl under his influence.
• Nagumo argued that Class 1-D’s rapid rise would make the VIP Exam competitive and doubted Oreki would achieve another striking result.
• Manabu Horikita said the VIP Exam had an optimal solution and suggested Oreki could solve it by copying Nagumo.
• Houtarou Oreki, Katsuragi Kohei, Honami Ichinose, Ryuji Kanzaki, Kakeru Ryuuen, Kikyou Kushida, Horikita Suzune, and Yosuke Hirata gathered in Private Room No. 3 as the Dragon Group.

Oreki proposed that all students choose Result 1 and sign agreements to give him half their rewards, claiming he had obtained the VIP information for every class. The meeting ended with Ryuuen discovering a private promise from Oreki that could keep Ichinose and the others from reporting his violence.

• Oreki arrived late to the private room and asked Ryuuen whether he had recovered his phone, learning that Ryuuen already knew it would cost 500,000 Points to replace.
• Horikita distributed agreements as Oreki proposed extending Ichinose’s Result 1 plan to every group so all students could receive rewards without changing class evaluation Points.
• Kanzaki objected that Oreki’s agreement would take half of every student’s reward, and Oreki said he had obtained Monkey Group’s VIP information through his cooperation with Kōenji.
• Ryuuen found Oreki’s handwritten promise on the back of his agreement to make Ichinose and the others give up reporting him to the Student Council for beating Ibuki and the others.
• Oreki said Sakayanagi’s calculations had helped him obtain every class’s VIP information.

Ryuuen agreed to sign Result 1 if Class B dropped its assault complaint, and the other classes signed while Ichinose hesitated. Oreki then had Hashimoto guess the Ox Group’s VIP, costing Class B 50 points and pressuring Ichinose to sign.

• Ryuuen offered to sign Result 1 if Ichinose gave up reporting the assault to the Student Council, but Kanzaki refused to ally with him.
• Katsuragi, Horikita, Hirata, and Kushida signed the agreement, leaving Class B as the only undecided class.
• Ichinose considered signing because Result 1 could give Class B substantial personal points, while Kanzaki opposed the deal.
• Oreki called Hashimoto and told him to make his guess, ending the Ox Group exam and identifying Class B’s Chihiro Shiroha as its VIP.
• Oreki told Ichinose to sign if Class B wanted to protect the remaining VIP information and share the gains, adding that Class B would bear the Ox Group’s lost points.

Oreki forced Ichinose and Kanzaki to accept his terms, then the VIP Exam results revealed that he had earned 40 million Points. Manabu explained the exam’s scoring rules to Nagumo, who struggled to understand how Oreki had achieved such a result.

• Ichinose agreed to withdraw the assault report and have the photos deleted, while Oreki waived compensation for the Ox Group’s losses; Kanzaki and Ryuuen signed the agreement.
• Oreki told the groups to wait until 9:30 the next night for the correct answers, revealing that the Ox Group’s exam had not actually ended.
• Ryuuen explained that Oreki had spent 100,000 Points to install a speaker and record the staged announcement meant to break Ichinose and Kanzaki’s resolve.
• Manabu told Nagumo that Oreki had earned 40 million Points in the VIP Exam, shocking him.
• Manabu reviewed the exam’s four possible outcomes and suggested Oreki had united the first-years to collect Points, while Nagumo insisted the school would not pay out so much.

The school staff reviewed the first-years’ unprecedented Deserted Island and VIP Exam results, including an almost 80-million-point payout after all 135 non-VIPs chose to split the reward. After the exam ended, the class representatives gathered aboard the cruise ship to complete their agreement with Oreki, while Kushida remained upset about being excluded and exposed as a spy.

• The Chairman and staff examined the classes’ Deserted Island results, noting Class 1-D’s 650 points and its discovery of Base 41.
• The staff reported that all 135 non-VIPs chose Result 1, requiring the school to award nearly 80 million points, and the Chairman ordered the payments processed.
• At 9:35 that night, the cruise ship announced the end of the VIP Exam after the groups submitted their VIP information.
• Oreki and the other class representatives reconvened to await their points and complete their agreement to transfer half of each class’s earnings to him.
• Katsuragi felt satisfied with Class A’s results, while the representatives of Classes B and C looked displeased and Kushida was especially upset about being excluded and exposed as a spy.

Houtarou Oreki explained why the students should prioritize earning private Points over narrowing the classes’ score gap, while the school distributed the VIP exam’s rewards. Ryuuen realized he had missed a chance to learn the VIP pattern, and the students were left with their winnings and the consequences of the exam.

• Hirata prepared to mediate after three Class D students in the Monkey Group demanded a share of Kōenji’s class Points.
• Ryuuen and Kanzaki objected to Oreki receiving half of the students’ Points, but Oreki argued they had misread the exam’s best outcome.
• Oreki told Ichinose and the others that free private Points could help students’ futures, while class-score gains mattered less than the chance to accumulate money.
• The school deposited 500,000 Points into ordinary students’ accounts and 1,000,000 into VIP Kikyou Kushida’s account.
• Ryuuen realized Kushida had revealed her VIP status and that Kōenji’s information might have helped him infer the VIP pattern, but the opportunity had passed.

After the exam, Houtarou Oreki collected payments from the class representatives and divided the proceeds with Horikita Suzune. He revealed that he had given the others hope about saving points to motivate them, then asked Horikita if they could replace their usual hand-holding for the day.

• Kakeru Ryuuen transferred 9.5 million points to Oreki, then paid another 500,000 to replace his phone.
• Ryuuen left, planning to target Class D in the next exam and considering Kikyou Kushida’s hatred of Horikita as an opportunity.
• Hirata, Kikyou Kushida, Ichinose, Ryuji Kanzaki, and Katsuragi left after discussing the exam and their plans for points.
• Oreki calculated 38.4 million points in profit and sent Horikita 3.84 million, giving her 4.09 million including her ordinary-group reward.
• Horikita asked whether Oreki had told the representatives that third-year points would be reclaimed out of kindness, and Oreki admitted he wanted them to save points so he could take them later.
• Oreki asked Horikita to change their usual hand-holding for the day, and she asked what he had in mind.

Horikita Suzune tried to understand her feelings after holding Oreki’s hand, then returned to her dorm and asked Sakura to hold hands with her. Kikyou overheard and concluded that Horikita had fallen in love with Oreki, while Oreki received a call from Sakayanagi.

• Oreki asked Horikita to imitate Kikyou by holding his hand with both of hers and smiling.
• Kamuro entered to tell Oreki that Sakayanagi was calling, and Horikita left after receiving her points.
• Back at the dorm, Horikita asked Sakura to hold her hand and said the gesture reassured her.
• Kikyou listened from the bathroom and concluded that Horikita liked Oreki but chose not to tell her.
• Kikyou recalled Oreki’s message that the students would get three more days to enjoy the cruise after the VIP Exam.

After winning the VIP Exam, Oreki discussed his Points with Sakayanagi and spent the start of the three-day vacation among his classmates. He headed to the theater and met Kōenji, who explained how he had figured out Oreki’s plan.

• Horikita transferred 200,000 Points to Kikyou Kushida, then left to shower, while Kikyou decided to imitate Horikita by holding Oreki’s hand.
• Oreki spoke with Sakayanagi about his exam victory and his growing balance of 38,683,500 Points, saying that more Points meant more strength and protection.
• The students of Class 1-D celebrated their exam earnings and discussed saving their Points, while Sakura adjusted her camera beside Oreki.
• Oreki excused himself from Sakura and encountered Kōenji on the stairs, where Kōenji said he had inferred Oreki’s strategy from Hirata’s report.
• Oreki told Kōenji that Horikita and he had already gathered information on three Class D VIPs, and that he had approached Kōenji to verify the VIP information.

Kōenji invited Oreki to join his conglomerate, then hinted that it could help make Oreki’s romantic situation legitimate; Oreki refused, while Ayanokōji considered how to use the possibility as a path to freedom. Later, Oreki watched a play with Kushida and learned she had rejected a confession because she wanted to keep making friends.

• Kōenji asked Oreki how quickly he could deduce the VIP pattern, and Oreki estimated one minute and thirty seconds.
• Kōenji invited Oreki to join his conglomerate and suggested it could help resolve his romantic situation legitimately, but Oreki refused.
• Ayanokōji overheard Kōenji and considered whether he could help Oreki enact polygamy as a way to gain freedom from the White Room’s influence.
• Oreki arrived at the theater, where a small audience watched Gone with the Wind.
• Oreki asked Kushida what she thought of the play, and she dismissed Scarlett’s feelings for Melanie’s husband.
• Oreki mentioned that Kushida had been popular and heard that she rejected a confession because she did not want romance to reduce her friendships.

After three days of leisure, Oreki returned to school and learned that Class Ryuuen had fallen to Class D. Teacher Majima announced an all-grade sports festival that would pit Oreki’s Class A and all other Classes A and D against Classes B and C.

• Kushida asked Oreki to hold hands with her, and he compared the gesture to Horikita’s from the night before.
• Oreki returned to school, collected the cat he had left with a friend, and received 181,000 points, bringing his account total to 38,854,500.
• Sakayanagi messaged Kamuro about Oreki’s resistance to girls’ advances and suggested Kamuro had fallen for him; Kamuro reported that Oreki was popular.
• Teacher Majima announced that Ryuuen’s class had dropped from Class C to Class D, leaving the class rankings at A: 1,801, B: 970, C: 780, and D: 440 points.
• Teacher Majima announced the all-grade sports festival, dividing Classes A and D from all three years into the Red Team and Classes B and C into the White Team.

Class A reviewed the Sports Festival rules and its class-point stakes, then Sakayanagi Arisu withdrew because of her health and asked Oreki to lead. Oreki instead backed Katsuragi, who took charge of preparations, while Kamuro suspected Sakayanagi was jealous of Oreki.

• Oreki read the Sports Festival rules, including mandatory events, bonus events, and the point gains and losses for teams and classes.
• Sakayanagi Arisu announced that her health would force her to withdraw and that she would not direct Class A.
• Oreki recommended Katsuragi take charge, and Katsuragi accepted responsibility for organizing the class.
• Katsuragi planned physical ability tests and told the class to attend the Sports Festival rally at the Gymnasium.
• Kamuro noticed Sakayanagi seemed upset after Oreki declined her offer and wondered if Sakayanagi had fallen for him.

The classes discussed how to approach the Sports Festival, while Oreki met with Kushida and Horikita to review the rules and arrange another points-making plan. Oreki received a mysterious million-point transfer from an unknown sender, and the group turned to how poorly Kushida’s class expected to perform.

• Ichinose’s Class B discussed the Sports Festival, and Kanzaki urged them to plan seriously while Shibata looked forward to competing.
• Ryuuen told his class to earn as many Class Points as possible and then take the points Class C had gained from the VIP Exam.
• Oreki received transfers from the school, Class B students, Horikita, and an unknown sender who left a note about his weight.
• Kushida suggested that the unknown sender was a senior who wanted Oreki to gain weight so other girls would lose interest, but Oreki set the matter aside.
• Oreki gave Kushida the Sports Festival rules and said his Class A would rely on Katsuragi, while Kushida explained that most of her class had groaned at the announcement.