Chapter 63 – Bonus Area
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As soon as the fifth day ended, I was transferred to a shopping mall together with my friends. There, on a large monitor set up in the mall’s central hall, we could see a message from the mysterious blackboard.
『
About the Bonus Area:
・ 「Kuno Sousuke」 and his party members will be invited to the Bonus Area each time they survive another day on the island.
・ The Bonus Area perfectly recreates the commercial facilities known to 「Kuno Sousuke」.
・ The goods available inside the stores are identical to the shop merchandise on the day all participants were invited to the main island
・ Those invited to the Bonus Area can stay for three hours in real time.
・ Those invited to the Bonus Area can pick 「one item」 per person, limited to what is being sold as 「merchandise」 inside the commercial facilities.
・ The chosen 「merchandise」 will be manifested at the closest spot available for deployment at the beginning of the next day.
』
I could hear someone swallowing hard.
“I-In other words, each person can bring back one of the goods sold in this shopping mall to the island?”
“Is this a special perk for not having used the 『Right to Return』 as mentioned by Sou-kun?”
As might be expected, even Chiyu seemed surprised to see something so familiar from Japan.
“Moreover, can we come here every day? That means we can get five items per day with everyone, doesn’t it!?”
I could understand Shouko’s excitement. However, we were already living a very comfortable life, having been transferred to an uninhabited island. Many things are tough to come by under such circumstances, like games, manga, fashion, or electrical appliances.
“…It’s an incredible perk, but that alone makes the choice not to have used the 『Right to Return』 very impactful, doesn’t it?”
I felt Shion’s line of thinking made a lot of sense.
“It’s kind of like advancing along the best route by picking a choice almost no one would usually take,” Chiyu muttered under her breath.
But, yeah, it happens. In games where you gradually grow closer to the game characters, the choice that would definitely earn you their ire tends to be the correct one. Often, it earns you favor with those characters thanks to a special past weighing on them. A similar mechanism seems to be at work here. If someone told me this is just another incarnation of this principle, I’d be able to understand it. I mean, usually, no one in their right mind would forego the permission to return to Japan after acquiring it at great pains.
If there’s a reward that can be chosen because one opted to stay on the island under these circumstances, why not take it?
“True. It’s a special bonus we were able to obtain because Sousuke-san keeps his promises. If you think about the difficulty of achieving that under these circumstances, it makes sense that they prepared such a perk.”
Even Minori interpreted it like that.
“Ah…rather than that, we’ve only got three hours. We should first ask the mysterious blackboard about the things bothering us,” I said while being half serious about what I was saying and half using it to hide my embarrassment.
Going by the phrasing that it’s going to be three hours in real time, it probably means that no time will pass on the island. Having said that, we must move quickly, as they have set a clear deadline.
“Mmh, okay, I’d like to hear the definition of 『one item』.”
『The definition of One Item refers to an item labeled as one on the shop’s receipt』
In other words, anything is fine as long as it’s treated as a single item on the receipt.
“Ah, what if we run out of time while worrying about what to buy?”
『In case you didn’t choose anything within the time limit, you will not be able to take back anything』
Because I don’t want to waste this precious opportunity, it’s best to make sure that we always choose something while keeping the time in mind.
“Okay, turning it around, what will happen if all of us finish choosing an item before the time is up? Can we tour the mall until the time limit?”
『In case all invitees finish choosing, the bonus area will be closed, even if it happens before the time limit』
…In that case, it might be a feasible approach to have one person hold off on choosing so we can explore the mall to research future picks.
“You said an item labeled as one on the shop’s receipt, but assuming an apple costs 150 Yen in a supermarket, what if five of the same apple were to cost 700 Yen as a special sales offer?”
『The number of articles won’t be taken into account. Even if it’s a set, it will be treated as One Item as long as it’s being sold in a bundle as One Set』
This is good information. Depending on the item, it seems possible to make bargain purchases. Given that there are things like complete box sets for books and manga, you can obtain a whole series in one go if they sell such box sets.
The blackboard had answered the questions of Chiyu, Shouko, Shion, and Minori. So, now it’s my turn…
“Oh, right. I think some things come with auxiliary materials or services. For example, electrical appliances will have installation and user manuals, and furniture comes with assembly services or additional items. What’s going to happen if we choose such items?”
『Service personnel won’t be included with the merchandise. For electrical appliances that require explanation, a user manual will be included. If it’s furniture, it will be delivered in a completed state』
If that’s the case, we can choose anything we like, except for items that are too difficult to handle. We looked at each other and confirmed that we didn’t have any further questions for the moment.
Seemingly grasping that, the monitor switched to displaying the remaining time. That’s very kind of the mysterious blackboard, but it’s somewhat inconvenient that we can only confirm the time here.
“Hey, I know it’s a bit unreasonable, but there’s something I’d like to confirm. Can I?”
Guessing what Shouko wanted to say, I nodded. Once she saw that, she dashed towards the exit. But when she tried to leave, she froze. The automatic door didn’t react, but it should be possible to pry it open. However, Shouko didn’t even attempt to do so.
“Ah…figures…I expected as much.”
As we slowly approached her, we immediately understood the reason for Shouko’s disappointment. The outside was white. The grounds outside the building didn’t exist. In short, this space had ultimately been created as a bonus area for us. Its facilities are similar to those in Japan, but we aren’t in Japan right now.
I gently placed a hand on Shouko’s shoulder.
“Once we all get back to Japan, we can go to the real shopping mall.”
Shouko twitched in response.
“…You promise?”
“Yeah. It’s a promise.”
“Yahoo! I’ll definitely take you by your word, Sousuke~.”
“Since he said 『we all』, I’ll go as well,” Chiyu declared without any hesitation.
“Ehh? Isn’t it okay to let me have a date with him?”
“If we’re talking about dates, I should be the first anyway.”
“Boooh, even if you’re his childhood friend, that’s kinda sly of you, Chiyu-cchi.”
“It’s not.”
Shouko puffed out her cheeks, but her expression was full of life and cheerfulness.
“We can talk about the dating order later on. For now, let’s think about the items we will choose, okay?”
“R-Right. I-I’m also looking forward to going out with Sousuke-san, but our current situation is also important.”
For some reason, it was decided that I’d have individual dates with all four of them, but…since it’s not like I hate the idea, I don’t particularly mind.
“For starters, how about we check what they’ve got here?”
Since it’s such a rare opportunity, I’d like to take back stuff we cannot obtain on the island.
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Translation Notes: