When the fifth day ended, we had been transferred to a shopping mall together with the others.

And on the giant monitor set up in the hall, words from the mystery blackboard appeared.

About the bonus area

Kuno Sousuke and his party members will be invited to the bonus area once for each day they survive.

The bonus area is a perfect recreation of a commercial facility known to Kuno Sousuke.

The condition of the stores is the same as it was on the day all participants were invited to the main island.

Those invited may remain in the bonus area for three hours in real time.

Those invited may each select one item per person, limited to goods being sold as “products” within the commercial facility.

The selected product will appear, at the start of the following day, at the nearest location where it can be placed.

I heard the sound of someone swallowing.

“S-So basically, each of us can bring one thing being sold in this shopping mall onto the deserted island?”

“The bonus for not using the Right to Return, like So-kun said?”

Even Chiyu seemed stunned by the sight of something she had seen back in Japan.

“And we can come here every day? Then all of us together could get five things a day!”

I understood Shouko’s excitement.

Given the situation of having been transferred to a deserted island, we were living about as well as one could hope for.

But there were things a deserted island simply couldn’t do anything about. Things like games. Things like manga. Things like fashion. Things like machines.

“...It’s an amazing bonus, but that just means choosing not to use the Right to Return was that big of a choice, doesn’t it?”

At Shion’s observation, I found myself nodding.

“Like choosing an option that seems impossible at first glance and getting onto the best route.”

Chiyu muttered that under her breath.

Yeah, that happened all the time.

In those games where you get closer to a character, the correct choice is sometimes the one that looks like it would obviously make them hate you, but because of that character’s unusual past or something like that, they take it positively instead.

If this was the same kind of thing, then, well, I could understand it.

Normally, no one would postpone using the right to return to Japan after struggling so hard to obtain it.

If there was a reward you could only get by choosing to stay behind in that situation, then I’d gladly take it.

“That’s right. It’s a bonus you earned precisely because Sousuke is someone who keeps his promises. Considering how hard it would be to do that in a situation like this, a reward like this feels perfectly reasonable.”

Even Minori said something like that.

“Ah... more importantly, we only have three hours. Let’s ask the mystery blackboard anything we want to know first.”

Mixing embarrassment and sincerity in equal measure, I said that aloud.

Judging by the way it was phrased as three hours in real time, time probably wouldn’t pass on the deserted island while we were here.

That said, a clear time limit had been set, so we needed to move efficiently.

“Mm. Then I want to know the definition of ‘one item.’”

The definition of “one item” is anything counted as a quantity of one in that store’s checkout system.

So as long as it was treated as a single product on the receipt, that was enough.

“Ah, what if we spend too long deciding and run out of time?”

If nothing is selected within the time limit, nothing may be taken back.

We didn’t want to waste such a precious chance, so while keeping an eye on the time, we definitely needed to make sure everyone picked something.

“Then the other way around—what happens if everyone finishes choosing before the time limit? Can we still walk around inside until time runs out?”

Even within the time limit, if all invited persons finish their selections, the bonus area will close.

...In that case, for the sake of choosing products in the future too, it might be smart to have one person deliberately hold off until the very end so we could explore the facility.

“You said a quantity of ‘one’ according to the store’s checkout system, but for example, if one apple at a supermarket costs one hundred fifty yen, and five of the same item are sold together for seven hundred yen, what happens then?”

Quantity is not taken into account. Even if it is a set product, if it is sold under the category of “one set product,” it will be treated as one item.

That was good to know. Depending on the product, there might be more efficient ways to buy things.

Manga, for example, sometimes came in complete box sets, so if we bought it as that kind of bundle, we could get an entire series at once.

That covered the answers to Chiyu’s, Shouko’s, Shion’s, and Minori’s questions.

Then... as for me...

“Right. Say it’s home appliances—sometimes the product includes installation and an explanation of how to use it. Or for furniture, maybe assembly service is included. What happens if we choose something like that?”

Personnel arrangements are not included in the product. In the case of the home appliances in your question, an instruction manual will be included. In the case of furniture, it will be placed in an assembled state.

If that was how it worked, then unless it was something extremely difficult to handle, we could probably just choose whatever we liked.

We looked at one another and first confirmed that no one had any other questions.

Then, perhaps sensing that, the monitor displayed the remaining time.

It was considerate, but if we could only check it here, that was a little inconvenient.

“Hey, I know it won’t work, but can I go check ~Nоvеl𝕚ght~ one thing?”

Guessing what Shouko meant, I nodded.

The moment she saw that, she ran toward the exit.

And then she tried to go outside—and froze.

The automatic doors didn’t respond, but she could probably have forced them open if she really wanted to.

But she didn’t even try.

“Ahhh... yeah... Figures... I thought so, though.”

The rest of us walked over slowly too, and immediately understood the reason for Shouko’s despair.

It was white.

The grounds outside the building did not exist.

This space had only been constructed as a bonus area opened to us.

It was the same facility as the one in Japan, but it did not exist in Japan.

I quietly put a hand on Shouko’s shoulder. 𝕗𝚛𝚎𝚎𝐰𝗲𝗯𝗻𝚘𝚟𝚎𝗹.𝕔𝐨𝕞

“When we all get back to Japan, we can go to a real shopping mall.”

Shouko twitched in response.

“...Promise?”

“Yeah. I promise.”

“All right...! You’d better mean it, Sousuke!”

“Since it’s ‘all of us,’ I’m going too.”

Chiyu pushed her face forward.

“Ehh, you could at least let us have a date.”

“All the more reason I should be first.”

“Boo, boo. Just because you’re his childhood friend doesn’t mean that’s fair, Chiyu-chi.”

“It’s not unfair.”

Shouko puffed out her cheeks, but her expression was bright.

“We can discuss the order of who gets to go on a date with Sousuke later. For now, shouldn’t we think about the products?”

“R-Right. I-I’m looking forward to going out with Sousuke too, but the current situation matters too.”

For some reason, it had somehow turned into a plan for me to go on individual dates with all four of them... but I didn’t dislike the idea, so I guessed that was fine.

“For now, let’s check what they have.”

If possible, I wanted to bring back things we could never get on the deserted island.