Do you ever sit down and think to yourself, "Man, my life is boring compared to all these stories I play, watch, and read"? I do this all the time.

It helps keep me grounded, ya know. Everything is just so boring that sometimes I like to shake things up a little.

Like just yesterday, I was hanging out with my close friend Johnny, and he wanted to grab a snack, so I decided to pull a little prank.

Johnny is allergic to peanut butter. Deathly allergic.

So I made sure to dab a little bit on the sandwiches we were making, and wouldn't you know it? Johnny collapsed and suffocated on his own throat.

How lame is that? I didn't even get to yell, "Ha! Gotcha!"

Anyways, I guess the lesson you should take away from this is that peanut butter is really dangerous. You should never eat it.

Prologue: Making a Killing

Everyone wanted to work there. A tall building, standing majestically in the center of the city, and at the top of it a giant sign with a single word written in kanji, 'Future'. This company only hired the best and the brightest coming out of places like Hope's Peak Academy. Large, prestigious schools sent out countless applicants, but only a very few were picked among them.

Considering the odds of something like this happening I was tempted to buy a lottery ticket, but I did the math, and the odds of being hired at the Future Foundation are actually a lot higher than winning the jackpot.

I liked learning new things.

Oh, I almost forgot.

My name is Chiaki Nanami, and my ultimate talent is... well, it's kind of silly when you think about it. I'm the Ultimate Gamer.

I actually went to Hope's Peak, and I graduated along with all the friends I made there, but that's not the story here.

After all, this was a very important day for me. I was finally stepping out into the world with my head held high, and I wasn't gonna let anything get me down. I put one foot in front of the other, and I began walking towards the building.

The suit I decided to wear was custom tailored, but it was still slightly uncomfortable. I missed my uniform from the school, and my hoodie.

My fingers twitched and reached for my right pocket, but I clenched my fist and shook my head. I wouldn't make a very good impression if I walked into the building while my nose was buried in a game.

As I approached the building, the glass doors opened automatically, making way for my entrance. A small chime echoed, and a voice sounded over the intercom, "Welcome to Future Foundation. The future is you."

The lobby was rather spacious as lobbies go. A dark, linoleum tile floor giving way to a wall with a fancy oak greeting desk in front of it. On the wall was yet another company logo. Two hallways split from that point, and they both had two elevators on either side. Behind the lobby desk was a frail looking woman. She looked like she'd seen better days. Her brown hair was cut into a short bob, but her skin was pale and she looked rather sick.

I stepped toward the front desk, "Excuse me," I said softly. "I'm here for the interview."

The woman did not look at me. She just... stared off into the distance.

I raised an eyebrow. "Um, excuse me, Miss?"

Again, no response.

I frowned. I was the class rep when I was at school, and it required a lot of patience sometimes. This, however, was starting to wear it thin. I knocked on the desk.

The woman's gaze slowly turned towards me, "Yes... may I help you?" Her voice was monotone. It was almost like she wasn't there.

"Yes, I'm here for the interview. Chiaki Nanami."

"Oh... Nanami-san..." She slowly reached down under the desk and pulled out a small notebook. After flipping through it for a while, she stopped and seemed to just... stare at it. "Yes," she said in that same monotone voice, "I can see you have an appointment right here. Please... excuse me while I... call the manager."

I tilted my head, "Hmmmmm."

Perhaps it would have been better to come back another time. This woman was giving me the chills. Then again, the interview was scheduled for today, and it would be a waste to walk all the way back after coming this far.

Then, just as I thought that, my vision went blurry and I was hit with a sudden dizziness.

Through what little focus I had left I tried to look at the woman, and what I saw made a scream rise from my throat.

Blood was dripping from her eyes, her ears, her mouth...

Her head lolled back and forth and I could hear her whispering under her breath.

I tried to concentrate on what she was saying through the dizziness...

"ChiakiChiakiChiakiChiakiChiakiChiakiChiakiChiakiChiakiChiakiChiakiChiakiChiakiChiakiChiakiChiakiChiakiChiakiChiakiChiakiChiakiChiakiChiakiChiakiChiakiChiakiChiakiChiakiChiakiChiakiChiakiChiakiChiakiChiakiChiakiChiakiChiakiChiakiChiakiChiakiChiakiChiakiChiakiChiakiChiakiChiakiChiaki..."

"Agh." I stepped back, grasping at my head. What was this? What was happening?

I couldn't make heads or tails of it.

What did I come here for again? The job interview, right?

Then why was...

How...

...


"...ey..."

"...Hey..."

"Hey... are you alright?"

Reality flickered in and out of my consciousness. I tried to grasp for it, tried to grasp for anything.

"Hey, can you hear me?"

My eyes slowly flickered open, and above me I saw a blurry face. "Who..."

"I'm so glad you're okay."

As the fuzziness left me, I found I was staring up at the most remarkably normal boy I had ever laid eyes on. Yet, for some reason, this made me feel better about what happened in the lobby.

I gasped, "The lobby!" and shot up into a sitting position, forgetting that the poor boy was crouching over me.

Our foreheads collided, and my world went blurry again, this time with extra pain.

I gritted my teeth and brought a hand to my head, "Ow! I... I'm sorry!"

The boy backed away, also tending to his forehead. "D... don't worry about it. Anyone would freak out in this situation."

As the pain subsided, what he said struck me. I let my hands fall to my side and tilted my head, "What situation?"

"Well, for one," he let out a sigh, "We're trapped in a skyscraper, and for two..." he paused, looking around himself, "None of us are sure how we got here."

"Us?" I asked, tilting my head.

"Well, yeah..." he scratched the back of his head, "There's about fifteen of us.

"Sixteen in total including me. That's a rather round number," I muttered.

He nodded, "Well, no one else is on this floor but you and me. We had a plan to split up and search for someone, and I found you."

"Wait, what floor are we on, exactly?"

"The tenth floor.."

"Hmmmm." I brought a finger to my chin and thought for a moment. I tried to retrace the steps of how I got here.

I woke up at exactly 7 AM, talked to my parents and my little brother about the application getting accepted, then I ate breakfast, got dressed in the suit that was ready and left, my GameGirl tucked firmly into my pocket in case of emergencies. I took the 9 AM train downtown, then walked a few blocks to get to the Future Foundation HQ.

When I walked into the lobby everything looked normal enough... except for the strange woman behind the desk. I tried talking to her, but she wouldn't respond to me at all. Then when I finally got her attention, she pulled out a log book and confirmed I was supposed to be there.

Then...

Nothing.

Wait...

I remembered her bleeding.

"Sorry," said the boy, interrupting my thoughts, "I forgot to introduce myself. I'm Hajime. Hajime Hinata."

"Oh. I'm Chiaki Nanami. It's nice to meet you. Can you do me a favor Hajime?"

"What is it?"

"I want you to come with me to the lobby. There's something down there that I need to check."

"Hmmm. I think that'll be kind of tough."

"Why?"

"Well, the elevators aren't working, and everything below the 5th floor seems to be blocked."

"I see. So someone is trying to limit our movement."

Hajime blinked in shock, "You seem awfully calm. I freaked out when I found out what was going on."

"The best thing to do in a situation like this is remain calm. If you become unnecessarily stressed or worried it can only cause trouble." I stood, dusting off my suit with a deep breath and started taking in my surroundings. The hall we were in was a lot like the halls that lead to the elevators on the lobby floor. This one was rather long, and wooden doors were evenly spaced along both sides. Perhaps they were offices. "We should find a map, or draw one. We need to know the layout of the building we're in before we can do anything else. We also need to know if the stairs going down below the fifth floor are the only ones that are blocked. Perhaps some of the higher floors are off limits as well."

Hajime nodded, "Yeah, that was another thing we were working on."

"Weapons, too."

"Wh... why would we need weapons?"

"In a survival horror game like this, you need certain essentials. A map is the first priority, and then something to defend yourself with."

"W... wait, hang on. This isn't exactly a game."

"Hmmm. Yeah, you're right, but it's how I view things. Besides, wouldn't you agree that it's important?"

"I... guess so."

I was about to inquire about our survivability; food, water, places to sleep, but I was rudely interrupted by a shout. "Hey, what are you doing on this floor Hajime!?"

I turned to look at the voice, and at the end of the hallway, in the middle of rounding the corner with a scowl on her face, was a girl about my age. She was wearing what looked like an unorthodox Hope's Peek Academy uniform, and her hair was strawberry blonde, tied into twin tails with two white bobs.

"Who's that?" I asked.

"Don't worry, she's a friend of mine. Kind of on the grumpy side, though, so watch out." He turned towards said friend, "Junko, we agreed to one person a floor!"

"Yeah, and this is my floor!"

I tilted my head. She seemed rather... exuberant.

In less than a second, she turned to me and gave me a beaming smile, "And who's this cutie that you managed to get following you around?"

"H... hello. I'm Chiaki Nanami. I was supposed to start work today, but then I saw someone bleeding from their face and woke up here."

Her eyes widened, "You saw what?"

Hajime gave me an odd look. Oh yeah, I forgot to tell him why I wanted him to check the lobby with me. "I turned in my application here a week ago, and yesterday I got a call to come in for an interview. When I got here there was a woman behind the desk that looked sick and was acting odd. She checked to make sure I had an appointment, and after confirming that I did I started to get dizzy. When I looked back to the woman she was bleeding from her eyes, ears, and mouth. That's the last thing I remember."

Junko looked horrified, "Th... that's... you're joking, right?"

"I didn't get your last name," I said.

"Who the hell cares about that right now!? You saw someone bleed to death!?"

Hajime leaned towards me, "It's Enoshima."

I nodded, then pondered for a moment. "I tried to get Hinata-kun to check the lobby with me, but apparently none of the elevators are working and the stairs are blocked off. How are they blocked off, exactly?"

Junko sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose, "Well, there's just... nothing there. It's a wall. It's like there were never any stairs to begin with."

"I'd like to see this wall."

"I'll take her with me," said Junko, "You stay here Hajime, since you stole my floor."

Hajime sighed and shook his head, "Are you sure you got the right floor?"

"Sh-shut up!"

Without another word, Junko walked off the way she came. I gave a small wave and smile to Hajime as I trailed behind her. I wasn't very good with people, but it seemed like these two got along well. I kind of envied that.

We entered the stairway that was around the corner of the hall, "Well," said Junko, "don't be too shocked by what you see down here," she said with a grin.

"Isn't it just a wall?" I asked as we started our descent.

"I guess if you put it that way, yeah it's just a wall, but you'll see when you get there. It's... weird."

"So... how long have you known Hajime?" I asked.

"A couple years now," she said with a sigh. "I thought he was just some boring guy when we first met, but he actually turned out to be pretty entertaining."

Boring? Entertaining? Those were two words I rarely heard used to describe someone's relationship with people. "Do you rank your friends by how boring they are?"

Her face went red, "N-no!"

Nail meet head. I let out a small laugh, "It's fine. I just thought it was interesting."

We descended the rest of the way together, and what I saw was something that was ever so simple to someone like me, who played games, and at the same time something I couldn't bring myself to believe.

On the wall there was a large and haphazard phrase written in red. I was not sure if it was paint or blood, but the message was terrifying, either way.

'kIlL 1 tO COnTinUE'


Hello again everyone. I hope you're having a good time.

Wasn't that shocking? I bet you weren't expecting at least a few of those things.

Shock is healthy for the heart, you know. When you get a shock or a scare you become more conditioned to avoid them in the future.

The killer bursting out of the closet has less effect on you in the third movie than it did in the first.

It's hard to keep a series fresh, especially if it's a horror movie or a slasher flick.

That's why you should make no more than three, and make sure you have a shocking swerve that the audience isn't expecting each time!

Speaking of trilogies, aren't they just perfect? 1, 2, 3. There's no need for anything in between like 2.5, or more than one third entry. Something weird like adding a random letter before the number 3 is so lame!

Even going so far as having the finale be a TV show if the series is a game...

What was I talking about again?

Anyway, thanks for listening!


"What is... this?"

The question slipped from my mouth involuntarily. It was more of a muscle spasm than me saying anything. I couldn't help it, like the twitch of a finger or a natural smile.

Only this was much less mundane, and much, much worse.

Junko could only shrug, "It is what it is. Some sick bastard trapped us in here, and now we have to play their little game."

I brought a finger to my chin, "Windows? Fire escapes?"

"Nothing is opening if that's what you're asking, and the windows are that weird plastic shit that's really hard to break."

Speaking of windows. "How does it look outside?"

"You mean in the streets? So far as we can tell no one's the wiser. Cars driving by, people going to the subway."

"Isn't that strange, Junko-san?"

"F... first name already!?"

"Think about it," I said firmly. "Wouldn't people be coming in and out of the building? Many people work here, and even some people who don't still have business here. This is the Future Foundation we're talking about. Everything from pharmaceuticals to military grade weaponry is produced by this company. This is the main headquarters, and there's not a single soul here."

Junko nodded and rubbed the back of her head, "Yeah, now that you mention it... it is really weird."

"I think we should meet up with the others," I said. "I need to meet everyone, and we need to make absolutely sure of what's going on. Otherwise..." I stopped, not even willing to say it.

Junko glared. "Do you really think anyone would be stupid enough to kill someone because of this? How would they even remove the wall? It looks like solid concrete."

"I just... have a really bad feeling about all this. We need to come together as a group and focus on escaping. Speaking of which... what's your talent?"

"My talent?"

"Yeah, that's a Hope's Peak uniform, isn't it?"

"Oh... yeah. Heh." She scratched her cheek, and her face went slightly red, "I'm the Ultimate Analyst."

I tilted my head, "Really?"

"It doesn't really fit my looks, does it?" she said with a sigh, "That's what everyone says."

I shook my head, "No, I think it's amazing to have a talent like that. It actually makes perfect sense for you to look the way you do, since you would be able to know what the majority of the public finds appealing."

She gave a small smile, "Th... thanks."

"I'm the Ultimate Gamer. It's not as amazing as yours, but there's no game I can't beat."

Junko's eyes lit up, and she grinned, "Hang on, that's actually perfect." She slapped the wall, her red nails slightly scratching against it, "If this is some sort of screwed up game, you can help find us a way out."

I nodded with a smile, "See, this is why we need to come together. For example, if the two of us were to combine our talents we might be able to catch whoever is behind this by surprise."

"Alright, let's get everyone and..."

*Ding Dong Bing Bong*

Something was wrong.

Junko and I both looked up.

I brought a finger to my chin. "Did that... come from the building's intercom system?"

"Ahem. Testing, one two one two. Do Re Mi Fa So La Ti Dooooo."

The voice over the intercom sounded like it was coming from some cutesy mascot character. It wouldn't have surprised me to hear it in a commercial or a children's cartoon.

However, there was something off about it. When I heard it, it felt like a thousand insects crawled up my back, and I couldn't help but shiver. Whoever was behind that intercom was not our friend. I could tell that much.

"Welcome to Future Foundation! The future is you! Upupupu! Did I sound pretty cool there?"

I could almost hear Junko grinding her teeth. "I'm gonna find this asshole and..."

"Would everyone please proceed to the tenth floor of the building and meet in the conference room? I have a veeerrrry important announcement to make. Upupupupu! Make sure not to start the fun without me."

"This must be him," I said softly. "The one who trapped us here."

The blood drained from Junko's face, "What if we go there and he just... kills all of us?"

I shook my head and tapped my pointer finger on the very wall that we had come to see, and the message inscribed on it. "Whoever put us here had us at their mercy. If they wanted to simply kill all of us they could have done it a long time ago. Why would they go to all the trouble of setting this up if they didn't want us to play?"

Junko took a deep breath and nodded, "Y-yeah, you're right." She closed her eyes, and took another deep breath.

"Are you okay?"

"Yeah. I need to calm down and put my talent to use. I would have realized something easy like that if I actually had my head on straight. For now we should do what he says. After that, we can come up with a plan."

I nodded, "That sounds good."

The council room was full of people by the time we got there. A short girl in a gothic lolita dress, a boisterous looking man in a yellow jumpsuit, and a woman with elegantly styled blonde hair and a beautiful dress were among the first to catch my eye. Then I saw Hajime, and decided to give him a small wave.

He waved back, and before I could get a look at anyone else, it started.

The group of sixteen people turned towards the front of the conference room, and standing there, in a spot that a second before had been empty, was a teddy bear.

It looked strange. It was monochrome, black and white on both its halves, and the black half had a strange and glowing red eye. It didn't look much like an eye, actually, but it was in the position to be one.

He was staring at all of us, and then... he spoke.

"Upupupu! What do you all think of my new business?! People are all hyped up about Hope's Peak academy, but that's old hat. The Future Foundation is where dreams really come true!"

"Hey! Shut the hell up and tell us why we're here!"

I looked at where the voice came from, and across the table was a rather short looking boy dressed in a very nice suit. His hair was cut very short, and he wore an eye patch with a dragon on his right eye. Flanking his side was yet another girl around my age, long silver hair tied in braids, and a sword case slung over her shoulder.

"This is bullshit!" screamed the boy. "All I was supposed to do is come here and get a god damn package! Is this some kind of a fucking setup!? Is it some stupid test for me or something!?"

The girl laid a hand on his shoulder and frowned, "Young Master, please calm yourself. It's unbecoming to..."

"Tch." He turned away, finally seeming to calm down... somewhat, at least.

The 'bear' growled. "I was juuuust about to get to that before I was so RUDELY interrupted! Sheesh, can't even get a cooperative audience anymore! It's like trying to pull teeth I swear!" He sighed and put his hands... (paws?) behind his back, shaking his head, "It's so hard for a bear to get respect these days."

He perked back up. "Anyways! I'm sure you all noticed that little wall in the staircase."

I stepped forward, "Um, yes... is there any chance you could tell us what that wall is made of?"

"I'm not talking about the wall! I'm talking about the message on it!"

Darn, he didn't bite. Whoever this was, they knew what they were doing. 'Perhaps I can get him to slip up some other way,' I thought.

"Upupupupu, you're not getting me to talk this early on. You have to earn it."

Junko stepped forward. "This isn't just some remote controlled bear," she said softly. "Its eye..."

The bear's gaze fell on Junko, "Of course I'm no ordinary bear! I'm Monokuma!"

"Where did you get equipment like that?" asked Junko through gritted teeth.

"Upupupu, you have a sharp eye, young lady. You better not cause any trouble by solving he mystery before it even gets started. Now! No more interruptions! I'm going to lay down the law, and you all better be listening because there's no second chances in Monokuma Inc.!"

Monokuma spread his arms wide, "Welcome to the Corporate Ladder of Killing!"

"What is the meaning of this?" A sharp voice from behind me popped up, and when I turned to look, it was another suit wearer. This one was much taller, however, and he had a sharp face and wore glasses. "I am not here to play your sick games. I have nothing to do with any of these people!"

"Upupupupu, that's where you're wrong. You see, everyone in this room now has everything to do with each other, because you're all trapped here, unless..."

The blonde girl in the beautiful dress was the next to speak, "U-unless?"

"Unless you can follow basic instructions, upupupu."

Junko slammed her hand on the conference table, "Hang on, you want us to kill each other to get out?!"

Monokuma tilted his head and brought a paw up to his chin, "Hmmm? You don't want to play?"

"This doesn't make sense," said Junko. "You lock us inside a building and expect us to kill each other to get out. The fire escapes are locked and the windows are tough to break, but not impossible. There are any number of things in this building that would let us get out of here with no issue, and yet you want us to kill each other? All it would take is breaking a window and screaming for help."

I nodded. Junko was completely right. In fact, probably the only reason they hadn't done so is because the situation had yet to grow dire enough for them to attempt something so insane. But now? Now it was different.

"You really expect us to do this?" continued Junko. "Have you actually thought this through at all?"

"Upupupupu, so many holes to plug, so little time. I wouldn't break the windows if I were you. I have a special punishment prepared for anyone who does." Once more, he looked straight at Junko and spoke, his voice ever so slightly lower than it was before, "After all, all it would take is one little push from little ol' me and you'd tumble down all the way to the ground."

"The odds of surviving a five story fall are slim," Junko conceded. "So basically, what you're saying is that you're keeping an eye on the whole building, and you could easily make it to any floor in a short amount of time. Your threat implies that you're heavily monitoring us."

'Hey,' I thought, 'She's right.'

I could have sworn I heard Monokuma growl, "What are you..."

Junko continued, "The building has surveillance cameras on each floor, one at the corner of each hallway, one in all the offices, one in the break rooms, even one here in the conference room. This would imply that whoever is holding us here..." she shot a sharp glare at Monokuma, "Has enough influence and power to shut down an entire building, as well as somewhere safe to monitor the results of their little game. No rescue attempt has been made, so it's safe to say that whoever put us here has effectively cut the building off from the outside world. This also implies influence over police, media, perhaps even the government. For someone who set up such an elaborate killing game..." this time she grinned, "You're very boring, aren't you?"

"Quit stealing all my lines!" shouted Monokuma.

I smiled at Junko when I realized she had been prodding him for information. She probably realized they had certain rules we were meant to follow, including not trying to escape.

"H-hang on..." another voice piped up. This time it was the boy in the yellow jumpsuit, "So when I was trying to break that window, you would have pushed me out of it if I managed to do it? That's not cool! Why would you do that!?"

Monokuma sighed, "Because such an easy solution would be bad. Upupupupu, you're lucky you weren't successful. Seeing you smeared on the ground might have been funny." He shook his head, "Such an unruly batch of children. I'll need to keep a close eye on all of you. I guess I should explain the rules to all of you, since otherwise you might ruin the whole thing.

"On each floor descending to the lobby there will be an obstacle. On this obstacle there will be instructions on how to remove it. The first one is easy, one of you must kill another to proceed. Simple, isn't it? Kind of like a board game, rolling the dice, killing, not much of a difference."

"That's bullshit!" shouted the boy with the eye patch, "I'm not killing someone who didn't fucking do anything to me! Are you out of your mind!?"

"Upupupu, I've supplied the break rooms in this building with a lot of food, and I've even prepared a rather comfy sleeping quarters for you, but the question is... how long will the supplies I've given you last?"

The boy fell quiet at this.

"So that's it," I said softly, "We either play the game, or we starve to death."

This was one game I had never intended on playing. Too many unknown factors, too many risks. I had no intention of killing anyone, but could I say that when we start running low on food? Could anyone? For that matter, none of us knew each other. I had just been introduced to Hajime and Junko, and I still barely knew anything about them.

When I thought about it like that... it was inevitable, really. Someone was going to die here.

"Upupupupupu, one more thing. There's a way out without doing all five steps. A cheat code."

My ears perked at those particular words, "What kind of cheat code?" I asked.

"The first challenge is meant to kickstart things, and you're about to find out why. Say one of you kills someone, you will become the Blackened of the group."

Junko raised an eyebrow, "Blackened?"

"Yes. When a killing occurs I will give you time to investigate. You should use it wisely, because we'll be holding trials. During the trial, if you successfully identify the Blackened they will be executed. However... upupupupupu, if you cannot find the Blackened I will instead kill the rest of the group, and the Blackened will go free."

My heart started racing.

This was insane. I knew the situation was bad, but this? This was pure malice.

Pure despair.

Take a bunch of strangers, lock them in a prison, and then tell them all they have to do to be free is murder each other.

"Upupupupupu, have fuuuun. Oh, and don't forget to check the board behind me, it has all the rules you need to follow written on it."

Just as quickly as he had appeared, Monokuma vanished.

The room was deathly quiet.

No one screamed.

No one shouted.

No one said a word.

And the silence was the worst thing that could have happened.

Then, before I realized it, the words were leaving my mouth. "We... we need to work together! I'm sure if we put our heads together there's gotta be a way out of here. I won't let anyone die!"

Everyone turned towards me, and the boy with the eye patch raised his eyebrow, "Huh? Who the hell are you?"

Oh crap I forgot to introduce myself.