The scene opens with Torikai eating a large bowl of noodles and potato chips. The narrator tells us that he has been locked in his room for three years. When he graduated from college, he got a job at a trading company, but he left after only a few months because he didn't want to work in front of people all day. Now, he tells us, his friends are looking for him at his friend's business. He tells them to knock on his door and he'll show them where the potato chips are stored. He'll also put a note under his door telling them where they can find him. He says he won't leave until he's found what he wants to do with his life. He explains that if he can't do it, he can never live. If he doesn't find it, then he'd never be able to compete in the world of speed-eating. He compares himself to a walking corpse who has to eat a whole cup of noodles in order to survive.