Chapter Summaries

Oreki asked Kushida to help prevent Ichinose from withdrawing and explained that Ichinose needed to face the past behind her decision. Meanwhile, Sakayanagi and Kamuro visited the library as the third-years faced their final, consequential exams, and Sakayanagi considered using the Student Council President position to favor her class.

• Horikita called Ichinose at Oreki’s request, while Oreki offered to cover Kushida’s order and told her that Ichinose wanted to withdraw with his assistance.
• Kushida realized Ichinose’s hidden past might threaten Class B and asked whether Oreki wanted her to spread a rumor about Ichinose withdrawing.
• Oreki rejected spreading the rumor because it would burden Class B, and he said Ichinose needed to confront her past herself.
• Sakayanagi and Kamuro went to the library, where Kamuro felt pressure from the third-years’ important final exams.
• Sakayanagi dismissed the stress of preserving Class A and thought that obtaining the Student Council President position would let her favor her class.

Kamuro learned that Sakayanagi wanted Ichinose to stay because she valued her kindness, while Hiyori secretly considered approaching Sakayanagi as a fellow book lover. Oreki’s call with Kushida prompted Ichinose to leave her room to protect her classmates, and at Horikita’s room Ichinose began revealing her past.

• Sakayanagi told Kamuro that persistence could soften Ichinose and explained that she wanted to keep her because Ichinose had reached out to her.
• Hiyori watched Sakayanagi and Kamuro in the library and considered befriending Sakayanagi over their shared love of books.
• Kamuro received Oreki’s message that Ichinose had come out of her room and that he wanted everyone to discuss what to do next.
• Oreki told Kushida to use what she knew about Class B to make one-third of its students withdraw into themselves, and Ichinose heard the conversation over the connected call.
• Ichinose ran out of her dorm room to protect her classmates, then admitted at Horikita’s room that she had committed a crime.

Ichinose revealed the painful circumstances behind her past theft, and her classmates continued to support her. Oreki brought Sakayanagi Arisu and Kamuro to show footage identifying the students who distributed reports about Ichinose, while Sakayanagi urged Ichinose to prepare 20 million Points to protect her classmates.

• Ichinose told Horikita and the others that she had stolen a hairclip for her younger sister, then shut herself away for half a year after her mother took her to apologize to the store owner.
• Horikita and the other classmates accepted Ichinose's confession, and Oreki focused on addressing the current attack rather than condemning her past.
• Oreki introduced Sakayanagi Arisu and Kamuro, who played surveillance footage of four students placing reports in the first-year shoe lockers.
• Sakayanagi explained that she had obtained the footage and advised Ichinose to request a copy from the school.
• Sakayanagi urged Ichinose to save 20 million Points because Class B would likely be unwilling to abandon a classmate in trouble.

Sakayanagi asked Oreki to help her obtain ten million points, and he agreed to attack Nagumo through rumors. Their forum campaign spread allegations about Nagumo, leaving his Student Council scrambling to control the posts.

• Sakayanagi asked Oreki for ten million points, and he agreed to help her make Nagumo take responsibility and pay.
• Nagumo discovered anonymous forum posts praising him and initially ordered the Student Council to monitor and correct them.
• The posts turned into attacks accusing Nagumo of impregnating an upperclassman, bullying students, and forcing opponents to drop out.
• Oreki and Kushida used public opinion against Nagumo, drawing on evidence that a second-year had placed report letters in first-years' shoe lockers.
• Oreki stopped Kushida from continuing once users began joining the campaign against Nagumo.

Oreki’s rumor campaign led the school to shut down the forum and punish Student Council members, while new rules prohibited spreading rumors. On Saturday, Class 1-B welcomed the intervention, and Nagumo completed his handover after being dismissed as accountant.

• Oreki told Kushida to leave while he handled the rest, after Hashimoto reported that President Horikita would return the next day.
• Someone posted explicit images on the school forum, prompting the school to suspend it and the acting principal to reprimand the Student Council members who remained at school.
• After returning, Manabu Horikita gave Vice President Kiryu a demerit and dismissed Accountant Nagumo; the Student Council also announced severe punishments for spreading rumors.
• Class 1-B cheered when students saw the school’s notices against rumors, while Shiraha explained that Ichinose had something to take care of.
• Nagumo finished his Student Council work and prepared to hand it over, reflecting that his dismissal had left his standing as the second-year representative uncertain.

Nagumo Miyabi met Sakayanagi Arisu, who revealed that she had evidence tying him to the attack on Ichinose and the forum rumors. She offered to sell the surveillance footage back to him for ten million Points, leaving him facing a costly choice.

• Nagumo handed Kito unfinished Student Council statistics while waiting for Sakayanagi to arrive.
• Sakayanagi entered and challenged Nagumo over his attempt to use her name and attack Ichinose.
• Nagumo revealed that a hidden jammer prevented recordings, but Sakayanagi pointed out that the forum incident still lacked an identified mastermind.
• Sakayanagi presented the report letter linking her name to the attack on Ichinose and explained that Nagumo's subordinates had been caught on surveillance footage.
• Sakayanagi placed an SD card on the table and offered to sell Nagumo the footage for ten million Points.

Sakayanagi forced Nagumo to pay ten million Points in exchange for withholding surveillance footage, then Ichinose arrived to demand another five million. After Sakayanagi met Oreki, they saw that the latest exam results had sharply weakened Class 3-B, likely because Nagumo had interfered.

• Sakayanagi threatened to expose Nagumo’s scheme and pressured him into transferring ten million Points.
• Sakayanagi revealed that she had a humiliating Sports Festival video compilation, then left Nagumo with the surveillance footage issue unresolved.
• Ichinose presented Nagumo with an accusation letter and an SD card, demanding five million Points by the start of the next month.
• Sakayanagi met Oreki by the third-year bulletin board and noted the class Point totals after the special exam.
• Sakayanagi and Oreki suspected Nagumo had interfered with the third-years’ results, leaving Class 3-B far behind.

Oreki and Arisu Sakayanagi discussed money and his plan to force the school to intervene in the forum scandal. Sakayanagi revealed that she had found and edited one of Oreki’s erotic pictures, but they deleted each other’s embarrassing photos and parted on good terms.

• Oreki wondered whether Sakayanagi was gathering Points for a possible departure from school, then gained the Mind Divination ability after completing a hidden quest about Ichinose.
• Sakayanagi praised Oreki’s plan to pressure the school by escalating the malicious forum incident and showed him an erotic picture labeled with his name.
• Sakayanagi said Kushida had confirmed the picture was Oreki’s, and Oreki recalled that he had made erotic images of himself to intensify the scandal.
• Oreki took a picture of Sakayanagi holding the image and threatened to expose it, so they deleted each other’s embarrassing photos.
• Oreki and Sakayanagi ate breakfast together, and he escorted her back to her room before returning to his cat.

Oreki reassured Ichinose after she collected compensation from Nagumo and refused the money she offered him. Afterward, he encouraged Horikita to reach out to Ichinose as a friend.

• Ichinose told Oreki that Nagumo had paid three million points and would pay the rest at the start of the next month.
• Ichinose offered Oreki her student ID to repay his help, but he declined the money and urged her to save points for herself and her classmates.
• Ichinose thanked Oreki by taking his hand, following Kushida's advice.
• Horikita messaged Oreki, who told her that helping Ichinose mattered more than how much she had done.
• Horikita asked whether she could contact Ichinose, and Oreki encouraged her to do so.

In a Precognitive Dream, Oreki saw his future self visit a kindergarten run by adult Honami Ichinose, where his daughters with Horikita were enrolled. Ichinose revealed that she still secretly met him because her mother opposed their relationship, then offered him intimate compensation for making him wait.

• Oreki used Precognitive Dream to see Honami Ichinose's future.
• Adult Ichinose greeted Oreki in her office and explained that his daughters with Horikita attended her kindergarten.
• Ichinose said that Oreki had helped her stay in school and open the kindergarten.
• Ichinose received a call about her busy schedule, then locked the office door and closed the curtains.
• Ichinose said her mother still could not accept Oreki despite Ayanokouji's polygamy proposal, and offered to use her breasts to make up for keeping him waiting.

Oreki struggled to process a Precognitive Dream in which Adult Ichinose spoke of marrying him and Kiyotaka Ayanokouji becoming Prime Minister. After Ichinose appeared outside a café where he was eating with Sakayanagi, Oreki fled, and Sakayanagi sent Kamuro to follow him.

• Adult Ichinose told Oreki that Ayanokouji had become Prime Minister and proposed polygamy, while expressing her desire to be with Oreki.
• Oreki avoided going home after experiencing a Precognitive Dream and met Sakayanagi for breakfast, asking whether Ayanokouji could rise to his father's position.
• Sakayanagi said Ayanokouji might reach that position if he had the ability and resources.
• When Ichinose and Chihiro Shiraha passed the café, Oreki abruptly stood up, spilled his coffee, and hid from the window.
• Oreki paid the bill and left, so Sakayanagi told Kamuro to follow him; Kamuro saw him enter a bookstore in the Shopping District.

Houtarou Oreki struggled to control his thoughts about Ichinose while attracting attention at a bookstore. After Karuizawa Kei and Maya Sato drove away the Class C girls, Oreki went to see Student Council President Manabu Horikita, and Masumi Kamuro reported his movements to Sakayanagi Arisu.

• Houtarou Oreki went to a bookstore, where several Class C girls surrounded him and asked for photos.
• Masumi Kamuro watched Oreki but paused when Karuizawa Kei and Maya Sato intervened.
• Karuizawa and Sato drove the Class C girls away by invoking Horikita's reputation.
• Karuizawa noticed Oreki seemed unsettled and told him that Kamuro had been watching him.
• Masumi Kamuro reported to Sakayanagi Arisu that Oreki had gone to see Manabu Horikita.
• Oreki reflected that Ichinose had affected him more than he had expected.

Oreki sought advice from Manabu Horikita about being unsettled after avoiding Ichinose, then tried to clear his mind by reading in the library. Hiyori noticed his strained reading and asked what was wrong, but their conversation was interrupted when Ichinose and other Class B students arrived.

• Oreki went to the bathhouse and asked Student Council President Manabu Horikita for advice about feeling shaken around Ichinose.
• Manabu told Oreki to exercise or focus his attention elsewhere, and Oreki chose to read at the school library.
• Hiyori watched Oreki read several books, then approached him and asked whether he was troubled.
• Oreki began to consider sharing his worries with Hiyori, but he noticed Kanzaki, Shibata, Ichinose, and other Class B students enter the library.
• Kanzaki spoke to Ichinose, and Ichinose and the others noticed Oreki and Hiyori.

Oreki struggled with adolescent romantic feelings, then spent several days focused on reading before the students gathered for another exam. Sakayanagi said she had permission to join the upcoming training camp despite her limited ability to do strenuous activities.

• Oreki asked Hiyori whether she had ever had a wet dream, embarrassing her and prompting her to contact Kushida for help.
• Oreki told Kushida he did not need her and continued reading in the library for several days.
• On December 27, Oreki encountered Ichinose and Sakayanagi in the elevator and greeted them ahead of the exam.
• On January 1, Teacher Majima announced that the students would learn the new month's exam details the following day.
• Sakayanagi told Oreki she could participate in the special exam as long as it involved no strenuous activity.

Oreki examined the class point changes and suspected Class D had focused on avoiding expulsions rather than earning rewards. The students from all three grades began a week-long training camp, which Teacher Majima revealed was the month's special examination, and he said they would surrender their phones upon arrival.

• Oreki noted that Class A and Class B had each gained 100 points, Class C had gained 50, and Class D's score had not changed.
• The next morning, students from all three grades gathered at the school gates and boarded twelve buses for the training camp.
• Oreki sat beside Yanagi, while Katsuragi sat nearby and Kamuro took the row behind them.
• Teacher Majima announced that the camp would last a week and take place at a forest school two and a half hours away.
• Teacher Majima confirmed the camp was the month's special examination and said students would hand over their phones after arriving.

The students learned the rules of the eight-day Mixed Camp, where cross-grade groups would compete for rewards or face penalties. Shiina Hiyori began negotiating with students from other classes through a group chat, placing Oreki in control of it.

• Teacher Majima explained that the Mixed Camp would bring students from different grades together for eight days and seven nights of training and exams.
• On Class C's bus, Ryuuen ignored the explanation while Ishizaki tried to get him interested in competing against upperclassmen.
• Shiina Hiyori created a group chat and offered Class C's cooperation in return for fair compensation, with Kaneda taking the lead publicly.
• Oreki and Sakayanagi joined Hiyori's group chat, and Hiyori transferred ownership to Oreki, who invited Katsuragi.
• The students learned that cross-grade groups would be ranked by average scores, with Private Point and class-point rewards for top groups and penalties for the bottom groups.

Oreki formed a chat with representatives from all four first-year classes and proposed a plan to divide the Forest Camping Exam’s rewards. He left Ichinose weighing the costly deal against the risks of refusing cooperation before phones were confiscated.

• Oreki invited representatives from Classes 1-A through 1-D to a group chat, where he explained the exam’s reward multipliers and expulsion penalties.
• Ichinose and Kanzaki used false identities in the chat, while Oreki laid out how Class A could maximize its rewards by taking first place in both the boys’ and girls’ exams.
• Oreki proposed giving Class A first place among the boys and Class B first place among the girls, with the Private Points and part of Class B’s Class Points going to Classes C and D.
• Hiyori asked what Class C would receive, and Ichinose considered the proposal while recognizing that cooperation would be difficult to arrange once the students’ phones were confiscated.

Oreki coordinated the first-years into exam groups by negotiating class points and payments, while keeping Class A focused on securing an advantage in the combined grade rankings. At the Forest School, students were separated by gender as the training camp exam began, and the upper-grade boys arrived with Manabu Horikita leading Class 3-A.

• Ichinose agreed to Oreki’s plan for Class B after he secured assurances that Class C would cooperate and Class B’s girls could win first place, and Kanzaki accepted the deal.
• Hirata agreed to have Class D participate if Oreki could protect it from last place, asking for 600,000 Points in monthly living expenses.
• Oreki finished arranging the first-year groups and told Sakayanagi he had prioritized using the first-years as leverage in the combined three-grade rankings over gaining more private points.
• The buses reached the Forest School, and staff confiscated students’ phones before separating boys from girls and sending them to different locations.
• The Forest School exam officially began, and Manabu Horikita led the Class 3-A boys into the gymnasium as the second- and third-years gathered.

At the Mixed Camp, Nagumo Miyabi challenged Manabu Horikita to a contest between their large groups, offering to stop supporting Class 3-B if Manabu accepted. Oreki interrupted their negotiations after his first-year group had already finished organizing, prompting Manabu to return to the third-years while Nagumo stayed behind, displeased.

• Oreki noticed that several third-year boys were missing, especially from Class 3-D, suggesting students had been expelled.
• Class 3-A’s teacher, Shimada, explained the group-formation period and left the students to organize themselves.
• Nagumo challenged Manabu to a contest between their large groups and offered to stop interfering in the third-years’ exams if Manabu won.
• Manabu accepted, provided neither side harmed or dragged in other students, and Nagumo said he wanted to prove himself against the Student Council President.
• Oreki and six first-years interrupted, saying they had already formed their groups during the bus ride and urging the upperclassmen to hurry.
• Manabu returned to organize the third-years, while Nagumo remained and demanded to know what Oreki meant.

Oreki organized the first-year boys into seed groups and influenced which higher-year teams they joined, while Nagumo planned to challenge Manabu Horikita through the exam. On the girls’ side, Ichinose and Sakayanagi prepared their seed group to join Asahina’s team, as the third-year girls adopted a cautious grouping strategy.

• Oreki defended unifying the first-year boys by arguing that Class A could still graduate as the representative class, and Nagumo left after Oreki’s remarks unsettled the second-years.
• Nagumo and Manabu Horikita formed separate larger teams, with Nagumo joining Group 14 and Manabu assigned to Group 13.
• Oreki told Katsuragi to choose Manabu Horikita’s team, while Kanzaki and Kaneda chose other teams; Hirata joined Nagumo’s team.
• Nagumo declared to Manabu Horikita that their contest would begin a new era.
• Ichinose and Sakayanagi planned for their first-year girls’ seed group to join Asahina’s team, while the Class 3-A and Class 3-B girls formed mostly single-class groups for stability.