I was walking down the street when I saw a sign.

"Hey! Do you wanna go to an elite school? Well, if you are the Ultimate of your talent, we, Nagito and Junko will scout you! Write down your name and your profession here!"

Ultimate of my talent?

I felt like I recognized that from somewhere…

I wrote down my name.

Daichi Hideyo.

Height: 5'8

Age: 17

Talent: I currently can't remember.

Daichi Hideyo: Ultimate ?

Maybe I would get scouted!

I just hope that I remember that darn talent soon…

I got into the cab and asked the taxi driver to take me home.

"Well, I couldn't help but notice you admiring that sign!" The cab driver said.

"Yeah, it's kinda sad though. I recognize the fact that I had a talent, but I can't remember it." I replied.

"Oh, that must be so despair inducing that you can't remember your talent! But let me tell you something. I think that anyone has the potential to be an Ultimate. Especially if you have a depressing life…" the cab driver said.

"Ok, you sound really weird. And awfully a lot like someone I've heard.." I said.

"Well of course! I'm one of the people scouting for Ultimates on my team! I'm Junko Enoshima!" She said as she took off her black beret to reveal her long, pink hair.

"You gotta be kidding me!" I said as she put her foot on the gas pedal and began driving the cab.

"We're going to despair mania! Hope's Peak Academy!" She yelled as I slowly lost consciousness.

Ugh… a big reminder not for me to eat a lot of sushi before walking home…

I probably passed out from eating too much.

But this place I was in… didn't seem like the sushi bar I was in 5 minutes ago…

There were high schoolers, probably around the same age as me, in this place.

"Hey. Who are you? Why did you pass out? Where is this place? When did you get here? What is this supposed to mean?" A girl asked me.

"Why are you asking me?! I just ate a lot of sushi!" I replied

"Because I need to know! This puzzle is so confusing!"

"Who are you?" I asked the girl.

"My name is Sudoku Sanianji. I'm the Ultimate Puzzle Solver. And this one is impossīble!"

Sudoku Sanianji: Ultimate Puzzle Solver

"Umm.. okay…" I replied.

So… does she rubix?

"Wait a minute… Ultimate? You mean this is Hope's Peak Academy?!" I yelled.

"Oh, so that's what this hell hole is…" a male said, "I hate people."

"What gives you the right to say that?" Sudoku asked him.

"My talent… I'm the Ultimate Sadist. That gives me the right to say things like that." he replied.

"What's your name?" I asked.

"Utsubyo Kanashi. Don't talk to me."

Utsubyo Kanashi: Ultimate Sadist

I already know he's gonna be so fun to be around.

"By the way, I never got your name." Sudoku asked me.

"Daichi Hideyo." I replied.

"And… your talent?" she asked.

"I can't remember. I don't even know how I'm here…" I answered.

"But that's impossīble! You can't be in HPA without a talent! Puzzling indeed…" she yelled.

"So… he doesn't have a talent. I hate you even more than I did 5 seconds ago." Utsubyo said sternly.

"Oh shut up! You hate everyone!" I yelled.

"There's no room for hate here!" a girl said as she swayed from side to side.

"There is if you're him…" I said as I pointed to Utsubyo.

"Not for me, and not for anyone else! Especially me!" she said as she sighed.

"Her attitude is especially puzzling…" Sudoku said.

"I'm Ruri Yae, and we must learn to love! I should know, I'm the Ultimate Romance Novelist! I know a whole lot…"

Ruri Yae: Ultimate Romance Novelist

I think she knows a bit too much for her age… if she's in high school and writes romance novels…

Oh man. I can't even bear to think about it.

God help me now.

"Hey dude!"

I turned around to see a boy, blond haired and a crazy look in his eyes.

"Who are you?" he asked.

"I'm Daichi Hideyo."

"What's your talent?" he asked.

"I don't know." I said.

"What's your name?" I asked him.

"It's ya boi Kamaza Whioke, Ultimate Memer!"

"Here to bring the wonderful world of internet memes to the world!"

Kamaza Whioke: Ultimate Memer

"You are so annoying! I hate you more than Daichi, and that's really something." Utsubyo said.

"Please stop! That's not nice!" yelled Ruri.

I looked around and saw Kamaza recording their argument.

"Oooh das a keebo!" said Kamaza. "I'll make a meme out of this!"

This was going to be quite an interesting bunch.

I walked over to a girl drawing in a notepad.

"Hey, what's your name?" I asked.

"My name is Comitareo Sargemi." she said.

"What's yours?"

"Daichi Hideyo." I responded.

"What's your talent?" she asked.

"I'm getting tired of saying this, I don't know."

"Well I'm the Ultimate Comic Writer!"

Comitareo Sargemi: Ultimate Comic Writer

I looked at the comic she was writing.

"It's a spoof of Garfield! I added my own spin on it!" she said proudly.

"It looks stupid." Utsubyo said snarkily.

"Calm down man! Just get lost in the sauce!" said Kamaza.

"This puzzle is most intriguing." said Sudoku.

Yeah, this will be so much fun.

"What is happening over here?" a boy asked.

"I don't know, man." I said.

"I'll tell you what's happening! These people are being idiots!" Utsubyo said loudly.

Suddenly the boy drew an arrow and knocked his bow.

He pointed it right at Utsubyo's head.

"Stop now," he said. "and do not make me release this arrow."

He said it so calmly I actually believed he would do it.

Utsubyo's face flushed red.

"I'll just be leaving now." he said as he hurried away.

"Woah."

That was all I could say.

Suddenly, the boy burst out laughing.

"Woah man, Are you serious!" yelled Kamaza.

"You almost killed him!

"Ha! Like I would actually shoot him!" said the boy.

"The best way to stop someone is to bring out their fear!"

"It would have been cooler if it was a 360 no-scope." said Kamaza.

"Ignore Kamaza, please." I said.

"Who are you?" asked Ruri.

"I'm Navajo Sokaeo! The Ultimate Archer!" He said.

Navajo Sokaeo: Ultimate Archer

"Thanks for that, Utsubyo was annoying." I said.

"Not a problem!" he said.

"Shut up!" I heard Utsubyo say from the corner.

At least I like one person here.

A girl wearing a very long dress and white denim jacket walked over.

"To be honest, I'm kind of tired of them already. Even though I just met them…" she said to me, "I haven't met you yet."

I was kind of nervous because this girl seemed so polite and, well, girly.

"Oh! I'm Daichi Hideyo. Before you ask, no, I cannot remember my talent." I said.

"I'm Komoni Nagako. Ultimate Make-up Artist." she said.

Komoni Nagako: Ultimate Make-up artist

Her appearance was very girly, so I thought she would be the type to be hyper girly.

Especially her talent.

Make-up artists are usually gossip addicts.

She will probably go on her phone any second now…

Speaking of phones, where's mine?!

"Hey, where's my phone? I wanna upload my new 'one does not simply' meme!" Kamaza said with a whining tone.

"Maybe that's a good thing." Komoni stated.

"What about yours, Komoni?" I asked her.

"I have no need for it." she simply replied.

"You must be joking." I said.

"Nope! The only reason I have a phone is so I can order new shades for the studio."

Maybe… she's different?

"What kind of studio? Designer's? Because if you see the Fukuta studio, you will be amazed!" a male said in the corner.

"No, it's a make-up studio. And I don't own it." she answered.

"What a pity… do you at least own a 'Ren Exclusive'?" he asked.

"A Ren what what? I don't think I know the way to that place…" Kamaza said.

"Insolence. That is your existence. Listen, for I am Ren Fukuta, the Ultimate Designer. Clothes designer, to be exact. Not to be confused with the lowly companies."

Ren Fukuta: Ultimate Designer

"Did you just call her makeup studio lowly?" I asked him.

"Of course. It's the truth…" he said slyly.

"Please be quiet." Komoni said.

"That's what I've been saying this entire time!" Utsubyo yelled from the corner.

Navajo drew his bow.

Utsubyo cowered his head.

"And that arrow is a highly dangerous weapon, please keep that out of my sight…" Ren said as he placed his hands in his fur jackets pockets.

Ugh, now I have TWO people I hate… I thought to myself.

"What materials do you use, Ren-kun? Cotton, cloth, thread, silk?..." a girl asked him.

"ALL OF THEM! Whichever ones cost the most money, I use the most!" he yelled like a snob.

"Just as I thought, all male fashion designers are like this, just like Yotuhiko-sama… from the early 1900s." she said as she wrote down something in a notebook.

"What was that?!" Ren yelled angrily.

"How do you know so much about history? This puzzles me." Sudoku asked.

"Watashi no Mao Shoko des. I am the Ultimate Historian. I apologize for my heavy use of Japanese. I enjoy the language."

Mao Shoko: Ultimate Historian

"Daichi Hideyo." I said.

"I overheard that you forgot your talent. Is that right, Hideyo-san?" she asked me.

"Yes… CAN WE TALK ABOUT SOMETHING ELSE NOW?" I yelled.

"Interesting… the last time someone forgot their talent remembered it after destruction…" she said.

Then, a boy jumped down from the ceiling.

"Aaah!" I exclaimed.

"Hah! You should have seen the looks on your faces!" he said.

"How did you that?" I asked.

"Yeah, this puzzle is a challenge!." said Sudoku.

"Ain't nobody got time for dem puzzles!" said Kamaza. "You need to show me how to do that right now!"

"Alright, Alright." the boy said.

"First, let me explain who I am."

"My name is Koniparu Deutrei, the Ultimate Parkourer."

Koniparu Deutrei: Ultimate Parkourer

"Wow, you dress so badly, how poor are you?" asked Ren.

"Don't make me draw my bow." threatened Navajo.

Thank goodness for Navajo and his bow.

It's the only thing that keeps Ren and Utsubyo from talking.

"He reminds me of a character in a comic strip…" said Comitareo.

"Who cares about that! said Kamaza. "Tell us how you did that!"

"Well, I scaled the wall and flipped into the ceiling tiles, then, I waiting for you guys to get over here." said Koniparu.

"Ayy! That's pretty good!" said Kamaza, starry-eyed.

Another one I like, alright.

I saw a girl running around, and I walked over to her.

"Hi!" she said.

"How's it going?" she asked.

She was very energetic.

"What's your talent?" I asked.

"I'm the Ultimate Track Runner!" she said. "What's yours?"

"He doesn't know." said Utsubyo.

"Shove a sock in it, dude." I said.

"What's your name?" she asked.

"That I do know." I said "I'm Daichi Hideyo."

"And we're his fam!" said Kamaza.

"Kamaza is definitely a puzzle I will need to figure out later." said Sudoku flatly.

"Arrgh, enough with your puzzles!" exclaimed Kamaza.

"Puzzling." said Sudoku.

"You wanna go?" shouted Kamaza.

"Indeed, most puzzling." Sudoku said.

"Fight me bro!" shouted Kamaza, fists raised.

Suddenly, the girl then bolted between them before I could say anything.

"Holy...!" exclaimed Navajo, fumbling with his bow.

Good, two peacemakers in the group, and they're not even hippies!

Well, Navajo's a bit of a hippie.

"Oh, what's your name? I forgot to ask before." I asked.

"Hashiru Aledeban!" she said cheerfully.

Hashiru Aledeban: Ultimate Track Runner

"Ugh, she's too happy." said Utsubyo.

"You should try being happier sometimes too you know." said Komoni.

Navajo drew his bow.

"Yes, he will try being happier, right Utsubyo?" said Navajo.

"Yes, I will." Utsubyo said cautiously, eyeing Navajo's bow.

"How fast can you shoot?" asked Hashiru excitedly.

"This fast!" Navajo shouted and launched his arrow across the gym.

"Wow!" said Ruri.

"Hey! You almost hit my tower!" shouted a boy at the other side of the room.

I walked over and saw his tower.

"It's made of Mego Bloks!" exclaimed Navajo.

"So?" he said "It's a masterpiece! Look at the arches!" the boy exclaimed.

I had to admit, it was cool for a Mego tower.

"Unfortunately, they have terrible building materials, so I have to resort to using Mego Bloks!" he said.

"This looks like a building from the 1820's!" said Mao.

"It looks absolutely stunning!" said Ren.

"Wow, Ren happy? Incredible!" said Komoni.

"And what's that supposed to mean?" said Ren.

"Nothing!" said Komoni, a little to hastily.

"How this is tower even stable is such a puzzle!" exclaimed Sudoku.

"I see you like my tower!" he said

"Well it makes sense, for it is built by Desmond Yontugo, the Ultimate Architect!"

Desmond Yontugo: Ultimate Architect

"Well he's full of himself, isn't he?" said Hashiru.

"No, I'm just proud of this tower." said Desmond.

"What if I 'accidentally' knocked it over?" said Kamaza.

"Don't you dare!" said Desmond.

"Oops!" said Kamaza, fake tripping over it.

"Hey guys, look over there!" shouted Hashiru, running over to another kid.

"G'day!" he said happily.

"Who are you?" asked Komoni.

"Glad you asked!" he said.

"I'm Torrek Tabitoku!" he said proudly.

"Greatest adventurer to ever live!"

"I have scaled ⅘ of the tallest mountains in the world, and visited every continent!"

Torrek Tabitoku: Ultimate Adventurer

He's obsessed with adventures.

Maybe that's a good thing.

"Have you ever seen the abandoned city of Hariyo? It's very deep underground." Mao asked him.

"I don't think I've heard of that one…" he replied.

"You should visit it sometime, Tabitoku-san." she simply stated.

"Daichi, you still have two more people to meet." Komoni said to me.

She then ran over to two people, one male, one female.

The female's hair was dark brown pulled into a side ponytail wearing a long, bright blue wetsuit.

The male was wearing a white tank top with long, grey sweatpants. He had large, bulging muscles.

"Hi! You must be Daichi! I'm Umeko Otonami!" she said cheerfully.

"Hello." I said as I shook her hand.

It was very wet.

I recoiled my hand instantly.

"Oh. Not used to my constantly water-filled hands? It only makes sense for the Ultimate Surfboarder to keep 'em like that!"

Umeko Otonami: Ultimate Surf boarder

"Oh…" I said as I offered my hand back up.

She gave me a big, toothy smile.

"So, wet girl, are ya gonna let me introduce myself or what?" the male said to Umeko.

"Oh yeah, sorry!" she said as she backed away from me.

"I'm Yuryo Rifutaro. Ultimate Weight Lifter. Some people call me the Stronghold, because, well, I'm so strong."

Yuryo Rifutaro: Ultimate Weightlifter

"So, eh, Stronghold, what is the biggest weight of the weight you've lifted?" I asked him.

"3,000 pounds. It weighed more than me, but it was worth it." he replied.

"You should have been crushed." Utsubyo said.

"Want me to full run charge at him?" Hashiru asked me.

"Go for it." I said.

She began to run at full speed towards him…

But was stopped for some odd reason.

"No violence just yet!" a voice said.

"Or at all…." another replied.

I turned around and saw a man and…

"A talking stuffed bear!" screamed Kamaza.

"Who said he was stuffed?" the man said.

"Yeah! I'm not stuffed! Not wired! Not a hologramaphone, or virtual reality. Whatever the heck it is." the bear said.

"Ok then, then it's in my imagination." I stated.

The man walked down from the stage of the gym and slapped me in the face.

"Was that pain in your imagination?" he said with a creepy tone as he walked back on the stage.

"Hey, you said yourself no violence!" Ruri yelled.

"Everyone except him!" the bear yelled.

"After all, I am one of the main administrators for this game." he said, "My name is Nagito Komaeda."

"And I'm Monokuma!" the bear said.

"I'm gonna make a meme out of you… it will be so un-BEAR-able for you, Nagito!" Kamaza yelled.

"Can you kick him out? Please?" Utsubyo asked Nagito.

"Why can't you do it yourself? This is a killing game, after all!" Monokuma yelled.

Killing game?!

You mean… we're supposed to kill each other?!

No.

I've already had enough death in my family.

Not with my… friends?

I don't exactly know what to call these people…

Komoni started shaking.

Utsubyo's face lit up into an evil grin.

"Good… I can end you faster than you can say Nagito the Cheerio…" he said.

"No, guys… You have to stay on the hope side… Monokuma is here to administrate the game… I'm here to keep you alive." Nagito said, "Please side with each other to escape…"

"Don't listen to him! The hope got to his head!" said Monokuma.

"Please shut up." said Nagito.

"Yeah, this is un-BEAR-able!" said Kamaza.

"Ugh, this bear has no fashion sense at all!" said Ren.

"You're dying first pinhead." said Monokuma.

"Please no!" Ren said. "Dying would mess up my hair!"

"Oh, no! Your hair!" said Desmond sarcastically.

"What if we try to find a way out of here?" asked Koniparu.

"Nope! No way out of here!" said Monokuma proudly.

"This really is quite the puzzle." said Sudoku.

"What if we kill you?" said Yuryo.

"That would not be wise." advised Navajo.

"That's right, attacking us would result in immediate failure." said Nagito.

"He means we'll kill you." said Monokuma.

"I won't! exclaimed Nagito. "Violence is not welcome in a school environment!"

"Well I'll kill you!" said Monokuma happily.

At least I know which one to watch out for.

Still, I don't think I should trust either one of them.

"This is stupid!" said Utsubyo.

"You're stupid!" said Umeko.

"Guys stop!" said Komoni.

"Yeah please!" said Comitareo.

"You guys are un-BEAR-able!" Kamaza said with a grin.

"Shut up!" Monokuma said. "You need to feel the despair!"

Nagito grimaced.

"All of you please take of these." said Nagito.

We all received a file.

"Wow! This has info about the whole school!" said Hashiru.

"Look at all the new places to explore!" exclaimed Torrek.

"Look at the architecture! It's incredible!" said Desmond excitedly.

"When was this place built?" asked Mao.

"Who knows?" said Monokuma. "It's pretty new though."

"Let's get to the point!" said Ruri "Why are we here?!"

A million thoughts formed in my head. Why are we here? Where is here? Who are these people? Why are some of them so annoying?

Why are they rambling about hope and despair?

"Come back here in 2 hours after you explore the school." Nagito said.

"I have a little surprise for you…" monokuma said as he disappeared behind the podium.

Nagito walked to a curtain hidden behind the stage.

"Two hours? That's a long time… eh, for some of you, anyway." Mao said.

"But still! I'm not killing someone!" Koniparu said.

"I would kill for some popsicles though… I'm hungry…" Kamaza yelled.

"Oh shut up with your memes!" Utsubyo yelled.

"Still… I don't like the idea of ending someone's life for hope or despair…" Komoni said quietly.

"Go to Hope's Peak Academy" they said.

"IT WILL BE FUN!" they said.

I will find a way out of here.

And it won't involve death.