Distortion

"Whoa... what's wrong with ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠you? Hey... are you sure you're actually okay?"

No matter how I looked at ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠it, I was completely fucked. I had no idea what had happened, but the moment I cleared the first game, I'd been dropped straight into the sequel.

Just moments ago, I'd been worrying about how to handle the ruined world waiting beyond Hope's Peak Academy's doors — the brutal wreckage of that destroyed environment, the Remnants of Despair who'd come hunting us. Now I had to figure out how to survive inside this goddamn program instead.

But why the hell had I ended up in the Neo World Program? This was supposed to be a program designed for the 77th class — the Ultimate Despair. The fact that I couldn't remember anything after opening that academy door meant my memories had been wiped again. Just what the hell had I been doing out there that I'd wound up here with my head wiped clean?

If things played out the way they were supposed to, Monokuma would pop out any minute now, attack Usami — the administrator of the Neo World Program and the chaperone teacher meant to rehabilitate the 77th class — turn her into Monomi, and steal her admin privileges.

Once Monokuma had those privileges, he'd make the kids kill each other, then implant Junko Enoshima's alter ego into the brains of the dead ones and release them into the world. The All-Humanity Enoshima-ification Plan. If that plan succeeded, the world was finished.

Why... why does this kind of trial keep falling on me...?

I was so bitter I could lose my mind. I'd clawed my way through, working myself to the point of shitting blood, barely beaten Enoshima, and somehow gotten every last member of the 78th class out alive — and the second we walked out of that ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠school, boom. Sequel.

At this point I was starting to get scared about what I'd done in my previous life. Had past-life me been Hitler or something? If not, then why the hell did I have to go through this nightmare all over again?

And why had my memories been erased this time? It wasn't even from the moment I'd enrolled at Hope's Peak Academy. Everything from the moment we'd opened those doors and walked out with the 78th class after the killing game ended — gone. Why? The more I thought about it, the more my head throbbed.

It felt like my sanity was fracturing in real time, but having already survived one killing game, I managed to pull myself together reasonably fast. I quietly closed my eyes and started laying out the situation with a cold, clear head.

What was done was done. That meant I had to give it everything I had to fix it. I'd promised myself — and the 78th class — that I wouldn't live helpless and lazy the way I used to.

I'd scrape and claw my way through this one too, get out of here, and reunite with my friends from the 78th class. No matter what.

So what do I do from here... wait. Hold on. This might actually be doable...?

Thinking about it, the situation might not be that bad. In Super Danganronpa 2, every kid who died — except Nanami, who was an AI — got revived by an awakened Hinata by the time of the anime.

Wait a second... then... couldn't I just cheese this...?

Instead of running myself ragged, shedding tears of blood as I dashed around trying to stop every murder the way I had until now — if I just focused on keeping Hajime Hinata alive until the end, then an awakened Hinata would bring everyone back anyway, right?

Sure, my conscience would take a hit, but this time I didn't have a choice. Stopping the murders in the second game was twice as hard as the first.

This was virtual reality — Monokuma's abilities here weren't even in the same league as the real-world first game. And unlike last time, Enoshima's alter ego in this one had killing us as the goal itself, so her motives were stronger. Some of them were outright impossible to stop.

Which meant that as much as I hated it... this time I'd have to accept a few sacrifices and focus on keeping Hinata alive...

"You've been kind of all over the place since a while ago... you're sure you're okay, right...?"

"Huh...? Ah... sorry. I just freaked out for a second."

"Good, you seem a little more with it now. Not that I can blame you, given the situation... anyway, we should probably wake up that girl who's been passed out behind you this whole time..."

"...Huh?"

I turned around at Komaeda's words — and every plan I'd just built went straight into the trash.

"Ki... Kirigiri...!?"

Kyoko Kirigiri was lying there, unconscious.

"Kirigiri! Can you hear me? Kirigiri!!"

"Nngh... nnh..."

An unexpected variable. I was one thing — I never imagined Kirigiri would get dragged into the Neo World Program too.

Now that it had come to this, I needed to remind myself of something I'd learned the hard way by living through a killing game: never blindly trust your game knowledge again.

The moment I arrived in this world, the original story had warped considerably. Which meant there were far more unpredictable variables than before.

Just last time, I'd trusted nothing but my game knowledge during the trial Enoshima had rigged to execute me — and I'd been completely crushed. If Ikusaba hadn't been there, I'd have died on the spot.

And given that both Kirigiri and I had been thrown into this killing game, the distortion was only getting worse, not better. Betting everything on Hinata alone had become far too dangerous.

Even if I somehow kept Hinata alive, some unexpected variable could prevent him from awakening — or he could awaken and still be unable to save the others. That would be an unmitigated disaster.

And more than anything... I couldn't put a plan that dangerous into motion with Kirigiri here. Looks like I'd have to do it the old-fashioned way after all — running myself ragged, shedding tears of blood, stopping every murder with my own two hands.

The difficulty had spiked hard, and some of the motives would be nearly impossible — or outright forced. But what choice did I have? I'd just have to give it everything I had.

Having firmly resolved that I'd do whatever it took to keep everyone alive this time, I looked down at the sound of a voice from below.

"Where... is this...?"

"Kirigiri! You with me?"

".....?"

Kirigiri looked around, bewildered. Watching her, a sudden fear gripped me.

Don't tell me... she didn't lose her memories, did she...?

I still had my memories of the killing game, for reasons I didn't understand — but Kirigiri's might have been completely reset.

Dreading the answer, I asked her carefully.

"Um, do you... remember me...?"

".......Who?"

".....!"

It felt like my chest was being torn open. Watching Kirigiri look at me with nothing but wariness, every memory and every feeling between us erased, I spoke in a trembling voice.

".....No. It's nothing..."

"....."

"Uh, so... I mean... hi...?"

".....Pfft."

".....?"

I was so devastated I had to physically swallow back the sobs trying to pour out of me, putting on the most casual face I could manage through the tears welling up — and then Kirigiri suddenly laughed.

"I'm kidding."

".....!"

"I didn't think you'd react that strongly... maybe I went a little too far..."

"Hic... hh... waaaaaah..."

The tension snapped, and the tears came flooding out. I didn't want her to see me like this — this pathetic, sniveling mess — and I tried everything I could to stop, but once the dam broke, there was no putting it back.

"Honestly, you're not a child..."

"Hic... hh... hh..."

"Haa..."

Kirigiri sighed and started patting my back. It was mortifying, but there was something strangely calming about it, and for a while I just let myself lean into her touch.

"There. Feeling a little calmer?"

"S-sorry..."

"You don't need to apologize... haa. Forget it."

She sighed again at the sight of my face, still flushed red as a tomato with embarrassment, then asked:

"Anyway, what happened? We definitely... opened the front doors, and then... ngh...!"

Kirigiri's memories had been wiped from the same point as mine. The moment she tried to recall what came after, she clutched her head and staggered. I caught her quickly and started explaining the situation as best I could.

".....So after we left the academy, a fair amount of time passed... and for some reason, we lost our memories and got dragged into a killing game inside a virtual reality designed for the 77th class?"

".....If I'm right, yeah. I know it's... hard to believe..."

"We're a little too far gone to start not believing you now, don't you think?"

"Y-yeah... thanks for trusting me...! Okay, so we should probably..."

"Um... you two done catching up...? Think I could introduce myself now...?"

The voice from beside us made me jump. Komaeda was standing there with an awkward look on his face.

"...Nice to meet you. I'm Nagito Komaeda."

".....Did you overhear what we were talking about?"

"Hmm...? No, I don't have a hobby of eavesdropping on other people's conversations... and besides, there was a kid passed out over there, so I went to check on them. Didn't have time to listen in even if I'd wanted to."

I glanced at Kirigiri. She gave a ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠slight nod. Komaeda was probably telling the truth.

"......"

"Haha, no need to be so wary. I just figured we should at least put faces to names. And since we're doing introductions, I might as well mention my talent..."

Komaeda smiled as he greeted us, but knowing his true nature, I couldn't quite keep my expression under control. Kirigiri was watching him with a distinctly wary look as well.

"...And so, even though I'm nobody special — I only became the Ultimate Lucky Student because I got picked in a lottery — I enrolled at Hope's Peak Academy as a member of the 77th class.... Uh, are you two listening?"

"...Yeah."

"Haha... you two are pretty guarded... well, I can understand that, to a point... anyway, would you mind introducing yourselves too...?"

"I'm Kei. I enrolled with the talent of Ultimate Counselor."

"Kyoko Kirigiri. Ultimate Detective."

"Ahh... a counselor and a detective... interesting combination... if you got into Hope's Peak Academy, you must both be the best in your fields, right...? I'm jealous... all I've got is luck, which is pretty worthless..."

I stared at him with a sour expression as he played the humble card — this guy whose ability was basically reality manipulation. Komaeda scratched his head and continued.

"Well... introductions are done... and I get the feeling I'd just be in the way if I stuck around... I'll go wake up that guy who's been passed out over there this whole time... see you later."

Komaeda gave us an awkward smile and headed off to wake Hajime Hinata, who was lying in the distance.

"That guy... he's suspicious. My instincts as a detective are screaming at me. We should keep our guard up."

She was right. That spacey-looking guy was Super Danganronpa 2's main troll and one of its smartest characters. He hadn't shown his true colors yet, but once he did, he'd make Togami's trolling look like a cute little prank.

If Junko Enoshima was an extreme despair pervert, this guy was an extreme hope pervert. He was so consumed by madness that he'd do anything for the sake of hope — even throw away his own life.

I was turning over how to keep Komaeda in check when I suddenly felt like something was missing, and looked around.

"...Kei? What's wrong...?"

"Something's... something feels off. What is it...?"

I was sure that around this point in the game...

"That's it!! That's it!!"

".....?"

I'd forgotten about Usami. The one who should have jumped into the conversation just now — Usami, the chaperone teacher assigned to rehabilitate the 77th class.

Before long, Usami would be remodeled into "Monomi" by Monokuma, who'd infiltrated the program, and her admin privileges would be stolen.

Which meant if I warned Usami about the danger in advance, I might be able to stop the killing game more easily than I'd thought.

If she didn't lose the Magical Stick she carried, she might even be able to beat Monokuma. And if Monokuma hadn't arrived yet, I could explain the situation and try a forced shutdown.

Filled with hope that I might actually stop this killing game without much trouble, I opened my mouth to shout for Usami — and that's when an announcement rang out across the entire island.

"What is this... Kei...? Where are you going...?"

"Usami!!! Don't go to Jabberwock Park — look at me first!!!"

I sprinted toward Jabberwock Park at full speed, screaming Usami's name, praying I wasn't too late. But Usami showed no sign of appearing.

I arrived at Jabberwock Park clinging to the hope that I'd made it in time, but—

"Fuwawa... how did you get the administrator privileges..."

"Upupupu! Well, I snuck in back when the Neo World Program was still in early development, so this much is a piece of cake...!"

It had been checkmate from the very beginning.