Everyone was silent for a bit before chaos erupted.

"K-Killing game? Us?" Kaede asked.

"Please stop joking! Why would we agree to participate in a killing game!?" Keebo asked.

"Huh? You guys don't wanna do it?" Monokuma asked while tilting his head.

"C-Course not! Gentlemen not hurt people!" Gonta claimed.

"But if you've looked around the academy, then you already know, don't you?" Monokuma asked with a chuckle. "The academy is surrounded by a huge wall. You can't escape to the outside world, and as long as we have the Exisals, you can't defy us. In other words… I hold the power of life and death over each and every one of you."

"So do what you say if we don't want to die." Rantaro elaborated.

"Y-You gotta be kidding me! Why would friends kill each other!?" Tenko shouted.

"Friends? Who said you guys were 'friends'?" Monokuma tilted his head in confusion. "You guys aren't friends at all. You're enemies out to kill each other."

"E-Enemies…?" Shuichi asked. What Monokuma said might be harsh, but he's not wrong. We can worry about those stupid bears and the Exisals, sure, but the most dangerous thing here is ourselves. Any one of us is capable of doing the deed to any of us. I look around with a stern glare. Most of my 'classmates' are doing the same, glancing at who might be possible killers, and who might target them. Distrust and panic have already settled in our little group.

"Hmmm, I still have a lot to learn from Father about sarcasm." Monotaro claimed.

"All this talkin' is bugging the shit outta me! I gotta go beat up Monodam to relieve stress!" Monokid said as he broke his guitar over his head. Monodam seemed unaffected by the threat, like he was already used to it.

"But… I don't like that. I'm not good with violence or gore or sad situations." Monophanie cried out in dismay. "Um, Daddy… instead of a killing game, could we do a rock-paper-scissors tournament?"

"Who'd wanna play a game where no one dies!?" Monosuke spat out. Literally any sane person, that's who.

"Well, you do have a compassionate personality. It's so cute I can barely stand it." Monokuma said. "Why, it's cute enough to eat! Cute enough that I wanna eat it!"

"...eh?"

"Hey, Monophanie, you might want to dial the cute schtick back a bit." Monotaro said, causing Monophanie to go silent.

"Excuse me. I have a question about this killing game you keep going on about." I began to say.

"Hmm? What is it?" Monokuma looked at me as he tilted his head.

"You said you want the 'students with Ultimate-level talents' to participate in your killing game. But what about me?"

"Huh? What about you?"

"Well, I'm not an Ultimate, at least I don't remember ever being one. I don't have any memories about myself, and from what I've gathered, I don't think I'm supposed to be here. So, am I a killing game participant, or was I just brought here by accident? If so, could I please leave? I'd rather not be a part of this if I'm able to." I said, ignoring the faces of betrayal that some of the others are giving me. To be honest, I'm only asking to see if I can get more details about myself, but if I'm free to go, then hey, I'm free to go. I might not like the idea of leaving everyone behind here, but I'd rather try to help them from the outside than in here where I could die. Monokuma stares at me blankly for a few moments, giving me a look that just says 'What'. He then slowly turns towards his cubs, his face turning a dark shade of red.

"My cute, adorable, little cubs… What the HELL did you do to this one!?"

"Eeeh!?" The Monokubs cried out.

"What the hell did you cubs do!? Why is he even here? Why does he not have any memories? An amnesiac in a killing game is the LAST thing we need. How is he supposed to kill people if he doesn't have memories of what's waiting for him in the outside world!? I thought you all handled everything, so why does this guy just stink like a half-assed job!?"

"I-It's not our fault!" Monotaro cried out.

"Th-The flashback light didn't work on him!" Monophanie explained quickly.

"It didn't work?" Monokuma questioned. "Why didn't it work on him!? Why is he even here!? There's supposed to be 16 Ultimates here to kill each other. Not to mention he's not a highschooler from the looks of it. What were you all thinking!?" The Monokubs stammered for a bit, not able to come up with an actual answer.

"So… not even the so-called 'god of this new world' was expecting me. I was hoping you would tell me that I was an Ultimate, but it seems not even you know."

"Hey! I never said that!" Monokuma said. "Well, to answer your question, it's quite simple, actually. Ultimate or not, you are still a participant in this killing game. The rules aren't any different for a boring generic guy like you! While you might not have been planned, you're stuck here either way, so might as well get mileage out of you while we can!"

"I see. That's your view on things. That actually tells me a lot about you." I said as I thought about his answer. So I will be forced to kill if I want to escape. But he's right. Having no memories actually benefits me in this game, since I'm less likely to kill. How does he plan to get "mileage" out of me? And 'getting mileage out of me' just further cements the idea that this is just a show or something. Why else would he do this other than to make things more interesting?

"Cool it with the stupid banter." Ryoma interrupted. "I want to ask something. How are we supposed to kill each other? Are you going to give us weapons?" A lot of people looked at Ryoma like he was crazy when he asked his question.

"What the hell, you two!? What are you guys asking?" Kaito yelled.

"Rin has the right approach. We need to get info from them first. We can't do anything if we don't know anything." Ryoma explained.

"Weapons? Huh? What kinda barbaric display are you envisioning?" Monokuma asked. "You couldn't be more wrong. Why, at the Ultimate Academy for Gifted Juveniles, the killing game is quite the sophisticated experience!"

"Sophisticated experience?" Maki asked.

"Yes… here, the killing game is punctuated by class trials."

"Class… trials…?" Kaede parrotted.

"Okay, let us explain!" Monotaro said. "Alright, do if one of you maggots kills someone, you all gotta take part in a class trial."

"The class trial is where the blackened killer faces off against their spotless classmates." Monosuke added.

"It's where you punkass bitches argue over who you fuckin' think the blackened is!" Monokid shouted. "After that, it's Voting Time! And if the majority of you idiots vote correctly…"

"Th-Then only the blackened killer will receive pu-pu-punishment…" Monophanie stammered. "Hrk…! So cruel… just imagining all the blood and gore… makes me wanna puke…"

"After the blackened is punished, the rest of youse'll just keep right on livin' together." Monosuke stated.

"But! If you vote for the wrong person during the class trial… the blackened gets off scot-free, and the spotless students get punished instead!" Monotaro finished off. Monodam stared at his siblings, not saying a word.

"Hell yeah! Them's the rules of the class trial! Woo-hoo-hoo! Aooowww!" Monokid sang out.

"Ahhh, too much! That explanation revealed way too much!" Monokuma said as sweat poured out from him and he panted, revealing a weirdly long tongue. "You gotta be more coy! Flirtatious! Seductive! Just like your old man!"

"Gross…" Himiko said what we were all thinking.

"The point is, it's not enough to kill someone. You also have to survive the class trial." Monokuma summarized.

"Kill without being caught. And then survive the trial… sounds eerily similar to the real world." Rantaro said, which made me cringe a little.

"Don't say that. You're making the legal system sound way worse than it actually is." I said, a little miffed at his comparison.

"You think so? Then the outside world must be masterfully designed- even at its cruelest." Monokuma said.

"One can likely imagine… but I shall ask, just in case…" Kiyo began to say. "What is the 'punishment' you mentioned earlier?"

"Simply put, it's an execution!" Monokuma answered with a laugh.

"E-Execution!?" Gonta cried out. Monokuma's red lightning bolt eye began to glow with an immense malice as his smile somehow got wider.

"If you do a crime, you get punished for it. That's, like, the most basic rule of society. But this is a killing game, the punishment for murder is a little more… permanent." He clarified.

"Ooh! I wonder what kinda punishments there'll be!?" Monokid pondered. "Lots of blood and guts and brains, I bet! The kinda stuff that gives me a raging boner!"

"What!? Monokid, you already have a boner!?" Monotaro questioned nervously.

"Y-Yeah! I'm so hard right now!"

"Blood… guts… brains…" Monophanie said right before she started to puke, which doesn't make sense at all since she's a robotic teddy bear. I'm not going to question it, though… The Monokubs continued their antics as I thought about what's been said. Killing Game. Executions. Monokuma. Ultimate talents. Why does this seem so… familiar? I look back up to face Monokuma, but I see something else instead.

I'm suddenly in what looks like a courtroom of some sort. I'm standing at one of the many witness stands that have been arranged in a circle. I blink as I take in the sight that's in front of me. Bodies. There are so many of them, all battered and broken beyond recognition, but I know for a fact they're the bodies of everyone else here in this school. What the hell!? I quickly turn around. They're EVERYWHERE. Hanging from the ceiling, smashed into the floor, lying there on the ground with hundreds of spikes running through them. There's no end to them. I grasp my head as I try to calm my ragged breath for a few seconds. My head is now pounding, feeling as if it will explode any minute. My chest is hurt, my lungs feel like there isn't any air in them, and my body feels like it's shaking. All I can see are the bodies of the people I've met here. We're going to die here. There's nothing we can do but die here! Every single one of us IS GOING TO DIE! I'M GOING TO-

"Hey." A calm, deep voice breaks me away from the vision I see. I don't bother looking at who's talking. I know It's Rantaro. He's trying to calm me down like he did before. That's right. It's just a stupid freak out. I need to relax. I have to remain calm. I can't let my emotions control my or my actions, otherwise I might do something stupid. I have to be smart and logical in this scenario, for everyone's sake. I somehow slow my shaky breath and blink a few times. The dark courtroom filled with blood fades away, and I'm back in the gym. "You ok?" I nodded, still not looking at the adventurer, since I'm sure if I do he'll see right through that lie. I feel sick.

"Alright, I'm over all this boring exposition. Let's get this heart-pounding killing school semester started already!" Monokuma cried out happily, his red eye glowing even brighter now. "You have free rein to murder however you like, too. Like bludgeoning! Or Stabbing! Feeling' cheap? Try strangulation! Feelin' lazy? Try Poisoning! Whether you shoot, burn, drown, blow up, crush, electrocute, or laugh your victims to death… you can use any method you like to kill anybody you like, any way you like! At the Ultimate Academy for Gifted Juveniles, you will realize your murderous potential! 16 talented teenage prodigies, and 1 mysterious young adult, I suppose, all competing for first place in a killing game… There's no better setting for an event like this than the Ultimate Academy!"

"Killing school semester… It's like a game." Rantaro said with a dark smile.

"Kehehe… risking our lives for some silly game is absurd." Kiyo stated.

"It doesn't seem like It'll be boring, though." Kokichi says with a smirk.

"Hey! How can you degenerates be so calm!?" Tenko cried out.

"Th-This has to be a lie… right? It's… a lie, right?" Tsumugi asked, desperate for someone to confirm her feeble attempt to deny the situation.

"I-I don't want… to be in a killing game… It's wrong, I… I'd never do that." Shuichi said nervously in a low voice and an unsure tone.

"Puhuhu… Well, if you don't wanna participate in the killing game, that's gonna be a problem…" Monokuma laughed as he covered his obvious smile. "Cuz the killing game is the only reason you're here."

"...What?"

"Now then, unleash your talents, or your lack thereof for you, mister normality, and have a happy, homicidal, horrific, hilarious killing game!"

"W-Wait just a minute!" Kaede yelled out.

"...Hm?"

"No matter what you say… We won't do it! We'll never participate in a killing game! Whatever you have planned, I'm not gonna let you get away with it!"

"K-Kaede! You shouldn't just rashly defy that thing-!" Tenko said before Monokuma cut her off.

"No, no! I welcome her resistance! That kind of defiant spirit is important to the killing game." He said with a chuckle. "It's fun to watch the defiant ones eventually snap and get their hands dirty…" Monokuma then turned to me with the same evil grin. "I look forward to the same from you, Rin Wakuri, as you're called."

"Me?"

"Yes. While you call yourself painfully average, I can't help but notice something about you. Something that no one else here has. Puhuhuhuhu… if I'm right, then this will definitely be an interesting game for sure! I look forward to seeing how you handle this, Mister Wakuri, and I look forward to seeing how you'll break."

"Wh-What do you mean by that… ?" Kaede asked nervously.

"Everyone loves that kind of brutality in a death game! Especially me! It never gets old! It's so fun and entertaining that I just get un-BEAR-ably pumped up!" He clarified with an evil grin. "Plus, as the headmaster, it's my job to force you to do it." Monokuma then began to laugh. It was a loud, obnoxious laugh that echoed through the room carelessly. The Monokubs also joined in, showing that they too didn't care about what might happen to us. They found pleasure in this. All the while, me and the other students just stood there, dumbfounded as to how we ended up in this new kind of hell. What kind of torture awaited us? How could we ever get over this kind of pain and terror? Will we ever escape? Is it even ok to hope that things will turn out alright? No answers to my questions would ever come. I somehow already know that in a situation like this, prayers will never be answered. This is just a sick, twisted, sadistic story, and unfortunately, we all are now characters in it.

Prologue Arc: A Small Spark of Hope

END

Remaining Students: 17