Leaving Junko and Mukuro to their own devices, Makoto left the nurse's office and turned to the right. As he got nearer to the end of the hallway, he saw that the stairs were blocked by a metal gate, and that a man was standing nearby.

"Uh, excuse me?" Makoto said, after which the man turned toward him. The man had stubble on his chin, and his dark brown hair reminded Makoto of some kind of sea urchin. He wore three layers of shirts, the topmost being a green jacket, the second being an unbuttoned shirt, the bottommost a yellow shirt. He also wore brown fabric that covered his stomach, and had a big pair of black pants and a pair of sandals as well. Unkempt was the best word that Makoto had for him.

"Hey there! I almost didn't see you there!" the man said, looking much older, which suggested that he worked here or something like that. His tone also suggested easygoingness and perhaps carelessness. "I haven't seen you before. You're a student here, aren't you?"

"That's right," Makoto said. "You're, uh, not what I expected of a staff member."

"What, you talking about me?" The man let out a small chuckle. "You've got it all wrong, man. I'm a student here, too! I'm Yasuhiro Hagakure, the Ultimate Clairvoyant! Call me Hiro for short!"

Makoto had heard that the psychic community called him Supernova, a name that seemed unfitting now that he saw the real deal right before him. He had thought little about fortune telling, which he could not even begin to understand, but he still wondered whether there truly was any truth in fortune telling.

Right after Makoto introduced himself, Hiro sighed.

"Aw, man, I saw it, but it went away!" the fortune teller said.

"Saw what?" Makoto asked.

"A guardian angel with a crazy perm chasing after Bigfoot running off with a skyfish in its mouth!" he said confidently. "And that guardian angel is yours!"

"Wh-What?" Makoto looked at him dumbfoundedly. "You're not serious, are you?"

"Nah, I'm only kidding," he said. "But hey, let's go get some drinks later. I have much to tell you about the lost civilization of Lemuria!"

If this was the best that the psychic community had to offer, Makoto felt sure that he had missed out on nothing. But then something else came to mind.

"Wait, we're only in high school. I don't think we're old enough to drink."

"Oh, yeah, you don't know. Well, I guess it goes back to what you thought earlier, so I guess I might as well tell you. See, I'm actually 21," Hiro said. "I've been held back a few times, but it's a long story."

From his first impression, Makoto could already guess a few details of his story. Nonetheless, it was best to keep his mouth shut and stay on good terms with his classmates.

"Man, this whole thing is pretty wacky," Hiro said as he looked around. "My predictions said nothing about them going with a prison theme for the orientation!"

"Orientation?" Makoto looked askance at the fortune teller.

"Yeah, what else could it be?" he said carefreely. "These big schools do these crazy things all the time, you know, since they have a lot of money still lying around."

Makoto was unsure whether he wanted Hiro to be right about this. On one hand, it explained everything, but on the other hand, it meant that the school was crazier than he had thought, if this were how they spent their money. All of a sudden, staying at his old school seemed not such a bad idea after all.

Bidding Hiro goodbye, Makoto headed through the hallway to his right. According to the sign above it, the door at the end led to the gym.

The room, however, was only a small trophy room, the other set of doors leading to the gym,. In here was a display case showing off many awards, which fact itself was no surprise, given that the students who came here were Ultimates and were expected to win awards and other such achievements.

Two others were looking at the awards as well. One was a tan-skinned girl whose brown hair was wrapped in a curly ponytail. She wore a red tracksuit jacket over a white tank top and a pair of blue shorts. As far as appearances went, she looked like one of the less remarkable of the students whom he had met so far. The latter, despite what looks might suggest, was a woman. She had an incredibly big build, her muscles having ripped her school uniform. Her skin had been reddened greatly, and scars were on her face and her right shoulder. Bandages were wrapped on her forearms and calves. She stood with her arms crossed, her face showing calmness and patience. Her long white hair fell in many directions, untidy and unkempt.

"Impressive…" the latter said, her voice deep. "There truly is a worthy lot of students here."

The former glanced around and let out a small gasp upon seeing Makoto. "Oh, hey there! You're one of our classmates, right? I think the others said something about you."

At this point, Makoto grew curious as to which of the students had found him.

"That's right," he said meekly. "I'm Makoto Naegi, the Ultimate Lucky Student."

"Lucky Student, huh? Not what I expected you to be!" the tan girl said. "I'm Aoi Asahina, the Ultimate Swimming Pro! But my friends call me Hina! 'Sup?"

"And I am Sakura Ogami," the other girl said. "I am called the Ultimate Martial Artist."

Right off the bat, Makoto already liked the former more. She looked far more sociable and easier to approach, and he could not but admire her for having been breaking records in all her competitions since elementary school and having been chosen as for the Olympics. She was among the most talked about online, and for good reason.

As for Sakura, even without her title, Makoto knew that it would be a death wish to ask her whether she was truly a guy. Sakura had won a martial arts tournament in America and was said to have fought over 400 matches without losing any of them. She had the nickname of "Ogre", which was apparently a reference to another fighter, and one user on the forum had warned any incoming students to avoid her. Feeling her presence, Makoto could see why.

As soon as Makoto introduced himself, however, Sakura stepped toward him, and the next thing he knew, he found her poking and prodding at his body.

"I see… Your muscles are that of an extremely ordinary high school student," she said. "What a shame. If you were stronger, you'd be fit to be my training partner."

Not really a shame for me. But he dared not to say it aloud.

"Well, it's no great loss. There should be many others that meet my standards," Sakura said.

"I can join you later when it's time to play sports," Hina suggested. "I'll have you know, I've had experience in six different sports clubs! I'll be much better than, uh… Sorry, what's your name again?"

"Makoto Naegi."

"Oh, yeah! I knew it was something like that!"

"It is that," he said, a bit peeved.

"I'll make sure to keep that in my brain! Makoto… Naegi… Makoto... Naegi…" She moved her finger across her palm as if she were writing something.

"Uh, what are you doing?"

"Don't you know? If you want to remember someone's name," she said, "you have to write it on your hand thrice!"

"I've never heard of such a thing." Makoto suspected that she would forget his name not long after.

"Neither have I," Sakura said. "That is a rather… intriguing habit."

"Oh, how do you spell your last name?" the swimmer asked him.

"It's how you say it: na-e-gi."

Makoto grew even more dumbfounded. What had she been writing earlier, then? At least she was outgoing and seemed fun to hang out with.

"Hey, Sakura, do you know whether there's a swimming pool here?" Hina asked. "Once this whole thing is settled, I want to go take a swim!"

"No, and in fact, I don't know anything about what exactly is in this school," she answered. "I was expecting that we'd look around as part of the orientation."

Come to think of it, Makoto knew nothing about the school, other than its elite status. It had never occurred to him to do some research on its facilities or even how it was organized, which fact was due to the hype from knowing that this school was where all these Ultimates went.

"And one more thing," Sakura said. "The gym's locked."

"Huh? It is? But why?"

"Maybe the ones in charge of here are preparing something?" Hina suggested.

Sure enough, the doors to the gym could not be opened, however much Makoto tried. Whatever could be going on in there? Whatever guesses he could come up, there was no one here who seemed to know the answer.

Seeing that there was nothing more to learn from the girls, Makoto let them be and headed back to the hallway, where Hiro was still lazing about. Passing by him, Makoto saw a room named "Store". Heading inside, he found himself in a small room that was nevertheless full of such sundry goods as dolls and hourglasses. To the left were a vending machine and a bin to put unwanted goods in. There were also suits of armor behind the counter, which looked rather out of place, even as decorations. Nonetheless, he was amazed that the store seemed to have much to offer him, should he want to buy anything.

He was not alone here as well. Looking with much awe at the items behind the counter was a rather big bespectacled man wearing an evenly big backpack. He wore a gray jacket over his white shirt and an orange tie that had a blue arrow design at the tip. It amazed him that the man could even walk around with his relatively tiny legs.

"Oh, wow… They truly have figures of Princess Piggles! How handy!" the man said, looking at the upper portions of the shelves at the back.

It was hearing his voice that made Makoto think him to be nothing more than a typical nerd. Nonetheless, it was best not to judge him on that basis alone, he thought. Makoto made himself known and introduced himself, after which the student rubbed his chin as if thinking hard about something.

"I see, I see…" The student adjusted his glasses, which were so small as to fit his small eyes. "Mr. Naegi, is it? I am Hifumi Yamada, also known as 'The Alpha and the Omega' and 'The Ultimate Fanfic Creator'. It's a pleasure to make your acquaintance."

"Uh, nice to meet you, too." Makoto was surprised that being good at making fanfiction was deemed a good enough way to join the school. For an elite school, the standards for what talents were acceptable seemed awfully broad. "You make, uh… fanfiction?"

"More precisely, I draw, Mr. Naegi. I do write a few works every now and then, but drawing's what bestows me my fame! If you still doubt me, I'll have you know that I once sold 10,000 copies of one of my fan comics at a school festival!"

"Wow. That's pretty impressive." Makoto had never sold anything in his life, so the fanfic creator must have had some good business skills to get that level of success.

"Though some mock me," he went on, "I care not for their words, for I, like Van Gogh, am an artist unappreciated in his time. But future readers will see my works' brilliance and deep meaning."

"Deep meaning?"

"Why we should give in to our base desires."

Makoto did his best not to let his face show any of his shock. Was this man aware of how ridiculous he sounded?

"Mr. Naegi, would you perhaps like some of my potato chips?" Hifumi asked, apparently unknowing of how off-putting he had sounded. "I have a few bags in my backpack."

"Ah, no, but thanks for offering," Makoto said. Despite his questionable works, Hifumi overall seemed like a swell guy who was simply a bit careless in how he showed others himself whenever talking about his hobbies.

Makoto left the store and saw another room nearby that he had not seen yet: the AV room. Unlike the store, where everything was strewn about with no particular order in mind, the AV room had nothing but desks at which one could watch a film. It was a place that he could hardly imagine anyone hanging out because of its looks; likelier, one would come here with one's friends to spend a few hours together.

What livened up the otherwise dull room's atmosphere, however, were two guys who appeared to be arguing with each other. One of them was an orange-haired man who wore a white blazer jacket over a shirt that at first looked blood-stained before Makoto saw that it was only part of the design. He had many accessories on him, such as a chain necklace and a safety pin that was bigger than it ought to be. The other was second to Sakura with respect to intimidating looks; he had a long brown pompadour, and around his eyes were dark lines, which made a face that spelled trouble. He looked like a typical bike gang member with his long dark overcoat, white shirt, and baggy pants.

"Hey, look, man, I'm just saying, your style won't get you anywhere," the former said. "You're not going to get any girls with that."

"Like I give a shit about running after girls like that!" the latter said back. "It's got nothing to do with me."

"Well, yeah, I'm sure you came to think that after your first try."

"Now listen here, you son of a bitch!"

The former opened his mouth, doubtless about to let out another insult, but then he appeared to notice Makoto for the first time and instead directed the other's attention to him.

"Whoa, you're the guy I found earlier!" the orange-haired guy said. "You all right, man?"

Ah, so it was him. At least that was one mystery solved.

"Yes, but I'm pretty confused as to what's going on," Makoto answered. "What are you guys doing?"

"Nothing. At least, I was doing nothing," the biker guy said. "Then this guy all of a sudden starts talking shit about me!"

"Look, I wasn't dissing you or anything!" the other said, though his face suggested that he felt not the least bit sorry about it. "I was just critiquing you, that's all."

"Like hell you were!"

"Uh, besides that," Makoto said, sensing that another argument would soon break out if he were to leave things be, "who are you two, anyway?"

"Ah, glad you asked!" The white-jacketed man flashed a smile. "The name's Leon Kuwata! I'm the Ultimate Baseball Star!"

Makoto recognized that name. Leon had played for the national high school champions as their cleanup hitter. But it amazed Makoto to see that the cleanup hitter was now the guy standing before him.

"You're the Ultimate Baseball Star?" Makoto said. "I thought you would have more of a… sporty-looking look to you when I saw in an online article a picture of you playing baseball."

"You saw that?" Leon now smiled anxiously at him. "Aw, man, I hate that picture! It doesn't fit me at all! I was forced to shave my head only because that's part of the national championship regulations, but now? I won't cut my hair or dye it back to normal! That was my baseball image, but I've given that up!"

Given that up? That sparked Makoto's interest a bit.

"That's enough outta you," the biker interrupted, just as Leon appeared to get to the next part of his story. The baseballer said nothing in response, instead now looking at him with a hint of boredom. "This guy here doesn't want to spend the whole day hearing you talk about your life story or whatever.

"Anyway, the name's Mondo Owada. Nice to fucking meet you," he continued. "They call me the Ultimate Bike Gang Leader."

Makoto could not forget him when he had read that he was the second leader of the biggest biker gang in Japan. All the punks throughout the land admired him, and Makoto, for his own good, saw no need to challenge that title.

"Nice to meet you, too," Makoto could only say.

"Hell yeah," Mondo said. Makoto noted to be careful around him, after which he introduced himself to the two.

"What are you doing now?" Makoto asked.

"We're just looking around," Mondo answered, looking none too satisfied. "But we've been all around this place already. Nothing. Absolutely fucking nothing here gives us any answers."

"Yeah, pretty weird, don't you think?" Leon said. "I thought this might be some kind of weird ceremony thing, but so far, we seem to be the only ones here."

"This had better be one bad joke," Mondo said. "If it isn't, whoever's in charge of this is gonna get a fucking long beating."

"Even if it's the headmaster?" Makoto asked.

Mondo glared at him. "He's gotta be one hell of an idiot to treat us like this."

Judging by the fact that he had avoided answering the question, however, Makoto was sure that he would not make good on his threat.

Makoto left the AV room, seeing no more to gain from talking from the two. He at first walked toward the classrooms, in one of which he had woken up, but then he saw a hallway to his right that led to a red door, by which now stood a small girl. She had short light-brown hair and brown eyes, and her tender figure was dressed in a dark-green, white-collared jacket over a white shirt. Her hands were clasped together over her brown skirt, and she wore black socks that reached up to her knees. If she were a student here, she certainly looked much younger than the others.

"Where could it be?" she mumbled as she looked about.

"Are you looking for something?" Makoto asked.

The girl faced toward him and let out a small gasp. "A-Ah! I am, actually. Have you seen a phone anywhere?"

"Sorry, no," he said. And now that she had mentioned it, he had not checked his pockets at all to see whether his phone was still with him. He felt his pockets, hoping that it was still with him, but as misfortune would have it, it was gone.

"M-My phone's missing, too!" Makoto said. "And so is my wallet!"

Now this was getting stranger and stranger. If this had been simply a weird way to introduce him and the others to the school, then it would have been rather intrusive for the staff to take their personal belongings from them.

"Ah, well, I hope we can find our belongings soon," she said softly. "In any case, it's nice to meet you, too. I'm Chihiro Fujisaki, the Ultimate Programmer."

Makoto had seen that name pop up a lot on the forum. She was known for having made many innovative and advanced programs, but she also had a timid personality, which had made her look dear and charming to her many fans. For someone known as the Ultimate Programmer, Makoto thought that she would be more assertive.

"Sorry," she said. "I get a bit embarrassed whenever I introduce myself like this." Then she smiled happily. "Anyway, I hope we can get along."

"Same here. Nice to meet you," Makoto said. "I'm Makoto Naegi, the Ultimate Lucky Student."

"Huh?" she said, now surprised. "Maybe it's only my imagination, but have we met before?"

Makoto glanced at her and tried recalling whether she had gone to any of his classes or schools. "No, I don't think so. We've just met for the first time, which is why I said 'nice to meet you'."

"Oh, yeah, good point. Sorry…" Chihiro said, now weeping, which made Makoto feel as if he had just made a great mistake.

"Y-You don't have to apologize for that," he said.

"Oh, yeah…" She stopped weeping, but not long after, she once again looked like she was about to cry. "I-I'm really sorry."

"Huh? Why are you apologizing again?"

"Well, you seem upset. You must be angry at me, r-right?" she said, more tears coming out.

"Oh, no, not at all! I was only lost in thought about something,"

"Huh? Lost in thought?"

"Yeah! It had nothing to do with being upset or anything, I assure you." Makoto then gently patted her shoulder, hoping that that would calm her down.

Chihiro smiled, letting out a sigh of relief. "Oh, that's good. I was afraid that maybe you didn't like me. Thank you, Makoto!"

Makoto smiled back. Though a bit feeble, she seemed like someone who would make a good friend around here.

"Do you know what's behind this door?" Chihiro asked, pointing at the red door near her. "The others and I tried opening it earlier, but it wouldn't budge."

Makoto shook his head. Just like the gym, the room behind it was blocked off, as if someone were preparing something in there.

"Hmm... Maybe it's something meant to surprise us," she suggested. "Maybe this is some weird tradition the school has."

"But I haven't ever heard of a school that has such a tradition," Makoto said. "I mean, don't you think this is going a bit overboard?"

"O-Oh... when you put it that way, I guess that can't be right," she said sadly. "I hope everything will be explained sooner or later."

"Yeah, so do I."

Promising to let her know if he should happen to find her phone, Makoto headed back to the classrooms and checked the one that he had not been in yet.

The room was like the other, the desks lined up neatly, the windows boarded up. The only difference was the color of the wallpaper. But standing by one of the desks was a bespectacled girl looking anxiously at them. She wore a purple uniform that was typical for schoolgirls, her glasses big and round. Her dark purple hair was tied up in two braids, and she kept fidgeting with her fingers, eyeing her surroundings with great unease.

When Makoto greeted her, she looked at him with great unease.

"H-Hello," she said. "N-Not that you'll remember it, b-but my name's Toko Fukawa. I-I'm the… Ultimate Writing Prodigy."

Makoto had heard that she had started her literary career when she had written a novel at age 10, and two years ago, she had published a masterful love story called "So Lingers the Ocean".

Wow… Can't imagine what it's like to be a bestselling writer and win all those big literary awards, he thought. I always imagined her to be more lovey-dovey, though.

"Wh-Why are you staring at me?" she asked, looking angry now. "D-Do you think me to be some kind of filthy creature?"

"What? No, I only thought—"

"I-I know what you 'only' thought!" she continued. "Y-You thought that I was the ugliest woman that you'd ever seen! A-And that's why you want to laugh at me!"

"N-No, that's not it at all!" Makoto was startled by how bad a first impression he had given her, when he had not even said anything to her yet.

"D-Don't bother trying to lie to me!" she said, pointing at him accusingly. "I can tell I'm right! If I weren't… W-Well, I know you don't want to keep looking at me. B-But I don't care. I'm used to it already…"

Makoto, astounded by how imaginative she was in her inferiority complex, thought it best to leave her be, lest he give her an even worse impression of himself. With how unsteady and standoffish she seemed, Makoto wondered whether she preferred to be alone. But given that she was the first person to appear greatly worried, he could not but want to make her feel at ease.

"Is something bothering you?"

She looked askance at him, as if what he had just said were a great insult. "Y-You're just asking me that to see h-how you can take a-advantage of me, aren't you?"

"What? No, I'm just—"

"S-Subjecting me to your h-horrendous questioning!" she finished, glaring at him. "L-Leave me alone. I-I'm all right by my lonesome h-here! I-If you want to talk to someone, y-you're better off with that p-pretentious girl at the d-dining hall..."

Whatever he might say to her, it was clear that she would knowingly take it the wrong way. But she had proven herself helpful, having raised his curiosity with her mentioning of a girl at the dining hall. Seeing no way to persuade her to ease her, and wanting to see whom she had referred to, he bade her goodbye and left the classroom.

Makoto headed toward the end of the hallway that had a sign that said "Despair Hotel". However childish it might sound, something about it nonetheless came off as eerie to him. His curiosity having risen, he headed through the hallway that awaited him. What was at the end was another intersection, but this time, the lighting was white and not at all creepy, and at the other end was a red hallway with several doors on each side.

He headed through the hallway, but was startled to see what was hung up on each door: a portrait of a student along with the name below it. The portrait, however, had been drawn such that it appeared like a character from a video game with a pixel art style. Makoto found a door with his name on it, and it had his portrait as well. If this were his room, then the school had a rather odd way of showing it. He tried opening his door, only to find it locked. Thinking that the key might be on him, he searched his pockets, but found nothing. Hopefully, there would be an explanation for this. In the meantime, seeing no one else in the hallways, he headed to the dining hall, expecting to see the last few students there.

At the dining hall were a few tables scattered throughout the room. They came with many chairs and were as plain as one could imagine them to be. Nearby was a counter that said what items were available for them. It was what he would expect from a dining hall. Sitting at separate tables were three students, all appearing to mind their own businesses.

The one sitting nearest him looked incredibly fantastic, even among the many students whom he had met. Her skin was utterly white, her eyes red, which gave her a vampiric appearance. Her outfit looked like a maid's, her blouse, skirt, and stockings black and decorated with white ribbons. Her black hair was tied into two long pigtails and came with a white bonnet.

"It is a pleasure to meet you." She spoke with an accent that sounded weirdly foreign. Makoto had a hard time describing it other than "European". Was she perhaps from France? "I am Celestia Ludenberg, the Ultimate Gambler."

"Celestia… Luden… what?" Makoto said.

"Ludenberg. But I ask that you call me Celeste," she said, her smile sweet and tender.

"Uh… You are Japanese, aren't you?" Makoto asked. She must be the one that Toko had called pretentious, and he could see why.

"Of course."

"If I may, could you please tell me your true name?" Makoto asked. There was no way that "Celestia Ludenberg" was her true name, if she truly was Japanese.

"Ahaha. What are you talking about? 'Celestia Ludenberg' is my true name," she said.

Makoto knew that he would get nowhere with her on that matter, so he thought to drop it. At least she was polite about it, albeit a bit forceful.

So this is the Ultimate Gambler, he thought, amazed that she had apparently never lost a bet. According to rumors about her, the only true part of her was her love of gothic lolita clothes. Everything else was a well-knit dress of lies. She also apparently had won the King of Liars, the ultimate underground gambling tournament, as well as the other players' life savings.

"I look forward to working with you," she said, ever so smiling. Makoto hoped that he truly was as lucky as his talent said, if he should have to fight her in a game later.

The next-to-last one, though one of the plainest looking, was by far the most exceptional. He had short blond hair and a pair of white glasses over his blue eyes, and wore a black suit along with a white shirt, a green crossover tie and a silver pocket watch in one of his breast pockets. If he were only pretending, he would do a much better job than Celestia, but Makoto knew full well that nothing about his prestige was fake.

"My name is Byakuya Togami," he said coldly, not looking toward him. He appeared to be thinking deeply about something.

"Uh, nice to meet you," Makoto said. He waited for Byakuya to say more, but grew tired when he chose to stay silent instead. Despite the short introduction, Byakuya was incredibly influential, for he was the heir apparent to his family's great financial conglomerate. He had already started doing his own business operations, and so his personal assets were far from nothing to scoff at. He did not even need to say that he was called the Ultimate Affluent Progeny.

"How long do you plan to look at me?" he asked, arms crossed. "I'm done talking to you. Go talk to someone else already."

"But—"

"Do your ears not work? I told you to talk to someone else," he said coldly, frowning at him.

Makoto knew that Byakuya would never see him as a fellow peer, even if they were in the same class, but it had still been worth a try to talk to the man. But now it was certain that the sayings about him were true: he truly looked down on anyone who would not seem like a fitting member in his circles, and there were few limits to the bluntness and harshness in his words. At least Celeste, with her high-class affectation, was friendly to him, even if she was now chuckling at him.

The last one appeared to be among the group's oddest. She had pale skin and purple eyes, and her long light-purple hair flowed behind her, only a small part of it being tied into a braid. She wore a dark-purple jacket over a white blouse and a brown tie. She also wore a short dark skirt and a pair of boots that reached up to her knees. When Makoto approached her, she said nothing, looking at no particular place.

"Uh, what's your name?" Makoto asked after a few seconds.

"Kyoko Kirigiri," she said.

Makoto waited for her to continue, but she stayed silent. She definitely was a mystery; he had seen nothing about her on the forum. Could she be an ordinary student like him?

"So, uh, aren't you going to tell us why you're here?" Makoto asked.

"What is that supposed to mean?" she asked.

"Well, if you've been invited to this school," he answered, "then doesn't that mean that you're the best at something? What Ultimate are you?"

She waited a few more seconds before answering.

"Did you not ask Byakuya what his talent was?" she said.

"Well, no, but I already knew that he was the Ultimate Affluent Progeny," Makoto explained. "But I don't know what yours is, so could you please tell me?"

But his answer did not spark any reaction within her, as far as he could tell.

"And why should I tell you?"

"Huh? I guess you don't have to tell me, but…"

"No, I don't have to tell you, so I won't."

Makoto quickly saw that she would not give him any answers about herself. Maybe it was best that he try again later.

"Do not bother speaking to her any further about it," Celeste said. "She has given each of us the same answer. It is rather… strange, don't you think?"

Byakuya said nothing, but from the way he glanced at Kyoko, Makoto could tell that he thought likewise. And admittedly, her refusal to tell them what her talent was only made Makoto more curious about her. And it was only natural; she was the only one about whom he knew nothing. Every classmate he had heard of or read about on the forums, but Kyoko Kirigiri was an utter enigma to him.

Just as Makoto was about to say something, however, the school bell rang, and the monitor in the main hall turned on. It showed nothing but static at first, but then a shadowy figure appeared, his features hard to make out.

"Ahem, ahem! Testing, testing! Mike check, one two! This is a test of the school broadcasting system!"

The voice sounded childish, playful, and already tiring to listen to, but Makoto could only grow anxious at who the speaker was, given the lack of concern in his voice.

"Am I on? Can everyone hear me? Okay, well then…! Ahh, to all incoming students! I would like to begin the entrance ceremony... right now! Please make your way to the gymnasium at your earliest convenience. … That's all. I'll be waiting!"

The TV shut off, and everyone was silent at first.

"Hmph. Perhaps this charade will be explained to us at last." It was Byakuya that broke the silence. "I have many things to say to the headmaster, especially regarding his lack of professionalism in his announcement."

"Are you saying that was the headmaster?" Makoto said. He was at least somewhat relieved that the mystery of whatever was in the gym would be resolved at last, but the voice from the speaker had unnerved him greatly.

"It could very well have been a staff member," Celeste said, looking somewhat bored.

"With the speaker's tone, I highly doubt so," Kyoko said. "And staying here won't give us any answers. For now, we should head over to the gym."

It's pretty funny that Yasuhiro says that he's 21 in the English version, even though he says that he's 20 in the original. It's pretty obvious that it's due to the differences in drinking age in Japan and America, but even then, it's pretty clear that this game takes place in Japan, so there truly wasn't any need to change it at all. Nevertheless, I'm sticking with 21 for this, since I'll be using the English version as a reference. Also, there likely was a better name for Hifumi's talent than "Ultimate Fanfic Creator" (the connotations of which suggest that he's a writer, even though he's clearly more of an artist).

Anyway, this isn't exactly the most exciting chapter, since it's just introducing the rest of the cast, with a few minor additions and adjustments to their in-game introductions (though I think Mondo benefits a bit from it, given that he says only two or three lines in his in-game one).