Naegi gave his remaining classmates one more nod of reassurance before he took the first step outside.

One small step for mankind… One giant leap… for hope!

However, something peculiar happened. Something Naegi would have never even dreamed of. In an instant, his surroundings were soon engulfed in a bright light. A light so blinding, it was enough to send waves of discomfort to any who saw it. But for Naegi… it was much worse…

When Naegi's vision cleared, he noticed a quite familiar scene play before him. Once again, he found himself sitting in a desk in a classroom he knew all too well.

Hold on… This is…

He looked at the desk in front of him. On top of it lied a makeshift welcome card.

No… That can't be right… This is…

He looked to his left to see iron plates on the windows.

This can't be… Hope's Peak…?

Then, he looked up at the clock. The hands read 8.

Was it all… a dream…? I guess I better go look then…

With that thought in mind, Naegi made a dash for the entrance. Knowing the layout like the back of his hand, he got there with no trouble. To no surprise, he found 15 students waiting for him there. However, he couldn't recognize a single face before him.

"Well hello there. You certainly took your sweet time."

"And that makes 16! I assume that's all of us?"

"Wait…" Naegi was thoroughly confused. "I don't…"

"Somethin' on your mind man?" He was approached by a male student. He stood a few inches taller than Naegi, but he wasn't anything scary. "I'm Isuke. Isuke Iruka. Ultimate High School Daydreamer." He gave a reassuring smile, but still maintained a 'I have no idea what's going on' expression on his face.

"Naegi Makoto… Ultimate High School-"

Kirigiri's words echoed in his head.

"You came here to confront despair without ever giving up. And if that's true, I think we could call you...the Ultimate Hope. What do you think?"

"Hm? What's wrong…? Can't remember…?" Isuke patted Naegi on the shoulder.

"No it's just… I'm really confused…" Naegi couldn't even begin to understand why he had all of a sudden been transferred to a reality that differed from the one he knew. However, he did keep in mind that his memories had been toyed with once. He didn't rule out the possibility of it happening again. "Technically speaking, I'm the Ultimate High School Lucky Student, but my closest friends call me the Ultimate Hope…"

"Ultimate Hope? Ha… Sounds like a joke if you ask me." Out from the corner of his eye, a girl about Naegi's height approached him. "Ritsuko Shuto. Ultimate Physicist. Also, daydreamer? Really? That's hardly even a talent."

"Look I'm not here to question the choices of our superiors… I'm just glad I got invited here…" Isuke gave her a chuckle.

"You think he's bad. Try being the Ultimate Skateboarder…" Another male student. His height shorter than Isuke, but taller than Naegi. "Rinota Kuryu. Anyway, without a skateboard, I'm basically just a normal human being."

"…I can't believe you guys… I'm seriously associated with a bunch of ingrates like you?" A girl significantly shorter than Naegi. "This is honestly the worst… Suzuki Karuya. Iiiiiii'm the Ultimate Honor Student."

"Sounds like a stiff to me…" A deep voice, belonging to a man without a doubt. "Tetsuro Takagi. Call me the Ultimate Delinquent…" He stood slightly taller than Isuke. His black hair came down to his shoulders. "Try me and your dead." He lit up a cigarette and puffed on it a couple of times.

This isn't right. None of this is making any sense!

"C-could you please put that out…?" A female with a soft voice and straight, long blue hair spoke. She was shorter than Naegi. "I'm Naomi Kuzuryu… I-I'm the Ultimate… Flourist…" She kept her head low.

Kuzuryu? Where have I heard that before…?

"An inconvenience on your part doesn't mean an emergency on my part…" Tetsuro blew smoke in her face.

Naomi started tearing up. "How vile…" She sobbed. "How could somebody so mean end up in Hope's Peak…?" Tears started falling from her face as she tried desperately to hide them.

"You've got some nerve making a lady cry!" A male student with piercing blue eyes that contrasted his orange hair. "I'm Jason Cutchfield. I'm the Ultimate High School Gentleman. You need to watch your manners, sir. Even in times as confusing as these, a man must keep his composure at all costs." He walked over to Naomi. "There there, m'lady. Please don't adhere to any of this poison this man sends your way. He knows not the sensitivity of the situation. Nor does he know the sensitivity of the innocent soul of a young lady."

"So we've got Stiff 1 and Stiff 2." Tetsuro laughed. "What's next?"

A girl with red and black hair styled in bangs covering her right eye stepped forward. "Since we're on the subject of introductions, I might as well get this out of the way. Saki Mitsuki. Ultimate Outcast. Now please don't talk to me." She went back to the corner she was sitting in.

"Now now there's no need to be shy. You don't have to feel so left out." A boy with white hair spoke up. "I'm Kaz Nishijima. I'm sorry, but I can't remember my talent…" He sighed. "I'm pretty useless given the situation, but, much like our friend Naegi here, I have hope for us!" He gave everyone a reassuring smile.

"Yeah whatever…" Saki spoke up.

"Seriously? Ya'll gotta lighten up! For reals!" This dude just jumped in with the biggest grin on his face. "Umako the Beast is what they call me! Ultimate Daredevil!" He laughed.

"Seriously? What's with these guys…?" Isuke spoke to Naegi. "Talk about weird right?"

However, Naegi was deep in thought. It's like Isuke didn't exist to him at that moment.

So does this mean… Everything we did… it was for nothing? All my friends… everyone who died… Did it mean nothing?

Naegi started breaking out into a cold sweat. He could feel his heart beating out of his chest; his pulse racing.

"Naegi? Hey man are you good!?" Isuke placed his hands on Naegi's shoulders.

"Move!" Isuke was pushed to the side by a female with short black hair. She held a rag to Naegi's face and wiped it down. "There there Naegi. Calm down… You'll be fine I promise. We're all in this together right?" She smiled.

"Hey what's the big idea?" Isuke shouted.

She glared at him. "Minatsuki Taiko. Ultimate Psychologist… He's having a panic attack." She turned her attention back to Naegi. "Deep breaths, Naegi…"

"I-I'm fine! I'm fine…" He shook his head to break him of his trance.

Isuke sighed. "Don't freak us out like that man… We're pretty stressed as it is…"

You guys don't know the half of it…

"So anyway… You guys got any idea what's going on?" A female with long blonde hair yawned. "Sorry… Juzo Marita. I'm the Ultimate Procrastinator…"

Suzuki spoke up. "God you guys are completely brainless. If you can't understand a situation as simple as this, you might as well drop dead now." She laughed.

"I don't suppose you have a better idea as to what's going on?" A boy with his hair tied in a ponytail spoke up. "Nagato Shinichiro. Ultimate Smartass."

"Wait… You can't be serious… That's your talent?" Rinoto laughed.

"Nah, I was just bullshitting because I felt like it. Of fucking course it's my talent. If you got a problem I really don't give a damn…" He spat.

"G-Geez dude… Lighten up a little… I just thought it was weird…" Rinoto scratched the back of his head.

"Oh come on guys~ Don't be such downers~" A couple of girls with pink hair talked in unison. "We are Taizo and Maizo Rukon. Ultimate Twin and Ultimate Sweetheart."

Ritsuko spoke. "Wait… so which is which…?"

They giggled. "That's for you guys to find out." They spoke in unison.

This is totally confusing… I don't know how much of this I can take…

Naegi laughed nervously. "So now that we're all acquainted with each other-"

"Mic test. Mic test. Can you hear me? Wonderful!"

And so the nightmare continues…

"What the hell?" Tetsuro stared at the screen before him.

"Meet in the gym asap for the official orientation!"

Please... don't make me go through this again...