Library

From the front desk clerk on the first floor, I received a room card printed with [515], along with a dormitory rulebook.

Pushing open the door, a luxurious single room. Letting students with free tuition and free housing live in conditions like this was already extravagant.

A one-hundred-percent advancement rate and employment rate? Did the social environment allow for that? Even narrowing it down to a single class, or even a single group, it was impossible. Factors like conditions in Japan, personal circumstances, distribution issues... Thinking about it carefully, this school was really bizarre and self-contradictory. A complete utopian model.

"Wow~ there's even a kitchen."

Small as a sparrow, but fully equipped—even a washing machine and refrigerator were provided. They spoiled the students way too much.

I set down the things I'd bought, organized them, and did a simple deep clean...

Sitting at the desk, I reached into the inner layer of the jacket I was wearing, where I'd sewn a large pocket myself. I pulled out a small object completely sealed in 1cm-thick lead paper.

[Star Color's Fun Fact: 1cm-thick lead paper or a lead box can block metal detectors and electromagnetic signal detection. The machines in 2015 couldn't get past it, but the author nowadays can't say for sure.]

I sliced it open with a utility knife. Inside was a Nokia 105 smart feature phone. If I'd been allowed, I'd have wanted to bring a flip phone instead. But flip phones have metal casings, and they're not as convenient to carry as a Nokia.

(NOKIA: Nokia phones)

"Heave-ho, done."

Powered on successfully~.

The phone issued by the school used a "self-developed system," apparently called the "S System." The school phone could only connect to the campus network; taking it outside the school turned it into a brick. The school network was restricted to just reading external information—no contacting the outside world, no logging into outside websites, and those communication and social apps were absolutely out of the question.

During the time enrolled at this school, contacting family required a special reason and a request slip from the teacher. Three years of closed management meant cutting off contact with the outside world.

"Pretty much like a prisoner."

The light in Star Color's pupils gradually dimmed.

"Doesn't matter~, but now I have the first move."

No matter what device, connecting to the school network meant restrictions. The most important point: using the school network meant there was a high probability the school would monitor me.

I deftly typed on the Nokia keypad and sent a text message.

Then a strange smile crept across my face.

Plan A was a huge success~. Now I just had to follow the plan from here.

Star Color stretched and sent a message to Tamiya-san.

Otonashi Star Color: [I've finished cleaning my room, Tamiya-san OVO]

Tamiya Emi: [So fast! Star Color-kun is amazing. How about meeting at the dorm gate at two?]

Otonashi Star Color: [Okay~ (cat emoji)]

Timing it just right, Star Color went down to the first floor and spotted Tamiya Emi-san at a glance in the crowd—after all, a girl with such a tall figure really stood out in Japan.

"Uhm, sorry to keep you waiting."

Star Color placed a hand on his chest and looked up at her like that.

From Tamiya Emi-san's perspective, Star Color looked small and cute, making her want to ruffle his hair. She held back the urge.

"It's fine, I just came down too."

"Where should we go first?"

"Let's go to the library first. When the sun goes down and it's not so hot, we can head over to the shopping district."

"Okay~, I'll follow your lead."

Star Color had no objections, obediently staying behind Tamiya Emi.

Tamiya Emi raised a parasol big enough for two people, let alone a slender boy like Star Color.

"Tamiya-san really knows how to take care of people. You have a real Yamato Nadeshiko vibe."

"Eh, that, don't say such embarrassing things."

"I'm serious. I really think Tamiya-san has that kind of aura."

Star Color lifted his head, his eyes full of sincerity and an innocence like purity.

"Ah... well, Star Color-kun... the library is just a bit past the teaching building."

Tamiya Emi awkwardly changed the subject, and Star Color wasn't the type to miss the hint, so he followed along and shifted the topic to novels.

"Tamiya-san, what kind of novels do you like?"

"Oscar Wilde's The Happy Prince, Kenji Miyazawa's Night on the Galactic Railroad and The Cat Office, Tetsuko Kuroyanagi's Totto-chan: The Little Girl at the Window, and Haruki Murakami's Norwegian Wood is good too."

"Tamiya-san is a reader of the aesthetic fairy tale school, huh~."

"And what does Star Color-kun like to read?"

"Mystery novels or mind-game gambling manga~. Kyusaku Yumeno's The Hell of the Brain and Human Sausage, Madoya Yutaka's Goodbye, God and The One-Eyed Girl, Yasuhiko Nishizawa's The Disintegration of Reasons. For mind-game gambling manga, Liar Game is nearing its end, the classic Kaiji, Alice in Borderland is also almost done, and The Liar's Hunter is still serializing and about to enter its climax."

"That's a really wide range. But is it okay for a high schooler to read stories like that?"

"Totally fine. It's all just fiction anyway."

The ancient books, their thoughts caked in dust—a place where knowledge accumulates alongside its users. The spacious room was lined with countless bookshelves, forming a veritable maze.

A place he only frequented during his three years of youth, brimming with countless ideas and endless philosophies.

Whenever Star Color stepped into this forest of stacked shelves, he felt a thrill of treasure hunting. Picking the right book from among so many was no easy task.

His gaze swept over the spines as he walked through the corridor of shelves.

At the corner was the Japanese literature shelf. There would surely be Kawabata Yasunari, Dazai Osamu, Mishima Yukio, and Akutagawa Ryunosuke—oh, and he was forgetting Arishima Takeo.

They were all dead. Though dead, they left their words preserved here. Entombed were the accumulated knowledge of ancestors who had long lost their bodies. Their "thoughts" floated like souls.

Star Color had thought the library was all novels, but he was surprised to find a large shelf dedicated to manga. He didn't want to look at philosophy books right now anyway—better to kill time with manga.

Nogizaka Taro's mystery manga Yurei Tower—not bad, apparently. Said to be a classic orthodox mystery worth reading.

When Star Color reached for it, he found his arm wasn't long enough...

He stood on tiptoe, face flushed red, arm stretched as far as it could go.

"Almost... almost... just a little more... come on..."

Well, it wasn't even close. Time to face reality about his height.

Just as Star Color was about to go find a step stool, a girl with silver-blue long hair walked over slowly.

"You want this book, right?"

"Yeah, but... excuse me, are you tall enough?"

"I'll manage somehow."

"Huh?"

The girl, just like Star Color a moment ago, strained on her tiptoes. But luckily, her slender fingers caught the book and pulled it out.

"Ah, thanks."

"Yurei Tower? Is that the manga adaptation of Ghost Tower?"

"Uh... yeah."

"The adaptation of Ghost Tower is pretty good—adding Japanese elements to the original framework makes it easy to get into. But I prefer the original, The Woman in Gray."

"Ah... oh, you're unexpectedly old-school? A fan of classical orthodox mysteries?"

"Yeah, pretty much. Which authors do you like?"

"Variants or setting-based, new orthodox... Yumeno Kyusaku, Usui Shichi, Mayao Takashi."

"I've heard of Usui Shichi, but every book of his is too grotesque for me to stomach. Yumeno Kyusaku writes too stream-of-consciousness, the clues too fragmented, the narrative too obscure—I've only read the famous The Hell of the Brain and Bottled Hell, not much else. And Mayao Takashi... let's just skip him..."

The girl in front of him furrowed her brow slightly.

"Well, um~ Eight Grave Village, The Locked Room Collector, The Murder Magic of Astrology, A Bellflower—those are good too. I don't just read those few authors."

"Shimada's trick in The Murder Magic of Astrology is truly brilliant! I've been reading Raymond Chandler's The Long Goodbye lately. But my favorite is still Agatha Christie's Miss Marple."

"Ah, sorry! I always ramble on when I get talking about mystery novels."

The girl suddenly realized she'd been talking too much and started apologizing.

"Huh? No need to apologize—it's good to have things you love."

"Um, I'm Shiina Hiyori from Class 1-C."

She stepped closer, bending slightly to look at Star Color.

Star Color inwardly groaned—this social distance was bad. Did she think he was a girl?

"Huh? Ah, I'm Otonashi Star Color from Class 1-A. I'm a guy, though..."

"A guy? Otonashi-kun is a boy? That's shocking—I was completely fooled by your cute appearance."

Shiina Hiyori looked Star Color up and down. The boy's delicate features made his gender hard to discern. There was none of the sharp, masculine handsomeness typical of a male. His first impression was that of an exquisitely crafted but easily shattered porcelain doll.

Star Color nodded, then cracked a small joke using mystery novel techniques.

"Too bad~ In mystery novels, an androgynous setup can be called a 'narrative trick'—a genuine deception to fool the reader."

"Star Color-kun is really interesting. Looks like we'll have plenty to talk about. Want to find a quiet seat and chat for a bit?"

"Ha, haha... is that so... um... well..."

Star Color's mind went numb. Wasn't he supposed to be on something like a pre-dating outing with Tamura-san right now? Where did this cute kid come from?! Was he living in a high school life or a galgame?! Don't have this kind of luck with girls at a time like this!