It was 6:45 am. Hajime rubbed the fatigue out of his eyes as he walked up the stairs to the hotel restaurant, only to find he was one of the last people to arrive. He took one look at the others who were seated around and immediately deduced none of them had gotten much sleep either.

"Good morning, Hajime," said Sonia, trying to sound cheerful. "It is good to see you up and about."

"I made rice porridge and red bean pancakes for breakfast. Help yourself!" Teruteru called over.

Hajime sighed. There was no sense even trying to humor them. The tension already built up in the room was suffocating. He might as well address it.

"Everyone. We need to talk about how we're going to handle this Killing Game," he said seriously. "If we dive in without a plan, we're going to fail. And that means we die. You all understand that, right?"

"Yeah, yeah, what's the big deal?" Akane was chowing down on a large bowl of porridge, and she tried to speak around the food in her mouth. "You can just handle everything, right Hajime? The rest of us don't even have to do anything! We can just sit back and watch."

Nekomaru glared at her. "Akane! That's no way to treat your teammate," he scolded her. "This is a team effort, and we're all going to give a hundred and ten percent, got it? For Chiaki!" He paused. "And don't talk with your mouth full."

"And besides… I don't know that even I could beat one of those Monobeasts by myself," Hajime said frankly. "I've never seen one up close. I'm not familiar with their mechanisms or their weak points…"

"Stop selling yourself short, Hajime. If Monomi can beat those things, I'm sure you can," said Mahiru.

"Hey, can we all quit beating around the bush already and talk about the important thing?" Hiyoko demanded. "What happens if we die in here?" She had the familiar pout on her face that she wore when she was trying to conceal her fear. "What if we don't wake up this time?"

"Hajime? Do you have an answer to that?" asked the Imposter. Hajime felt a pang of shame as they glanced over at him.

"…Last time, all the effects of our avatars being killed were psychosomatic. We all believed we were really dying, so our brains reacted accordingly."

"But this time we know it's not real," said Kazuichi, trying to sound optimistic. "So if we just keep telling ourselves that… we'll wake up just fine, right?"

Hajime winced. "Well…"

Kazuichi saw the unsure look on his face and frowned. "Hey, what gives? I thought you knew everything!"

"This is unprecedented. I don't have any existing data to work with," Hajime said defensively. "It's possible we'll wake up, but… if the simulated pain is real enough, it might have the same effect as the nociceptors being triggered in our physical bodies. Our brains would shut down from the shock. I…" He looked down at the floor. "I've never died in the Neo World Program, so I don't have any first-hand experience in the matter."

Teruteru puffed up in irritation. "Well as somebody who's been executed before, I can tell you it sure as hell felt real!"

"Yeah… bein' turned into a robot wasn't much fun either," said Nekomaru.

"Well, fine then! We'll just hafta make sure nobody dies!" Akane ground her fist into her palm. "No problem! If we're all working together, we'll trash all of those Monobeasts without breaking a sweat! Right?"

"Have you forgotten about the Class Elections?" Peko's voice was as sharp as her blade. "Monokuma will not let us proceed unless we sacrifice one of our friends. On every island."

"I swear to God, if any of you jokers vote for Peko…" said Fuyuhiko.

People were already starting to butt heads. Hajime opened his mouth to defuse the situation, but he didn't get a chance, as Ibuki suddenly came waltzing in.

"Gooooood nom-nom-nomming, everyone!" She waved at everyone in the room. "Let's make this a super spectacular awesome day to remember!"

Everyone gave her weird looks. "The demon who wears the skin of a bear is about to subject us to yet another gauntlet, and yet you remain optimistic," said Gundham.

"Of course! Because our bonds of friendship will defeat that stupid bear, right?"

Nagito was suddenly beaming. "I couldn't have said it better myself," he said. "We have already fought despair and reached the most shining of hopes! As long as we all cling tightly to that hope, Monokuma will be powerless against us!"

"Ugh. Somebody keep those two separated," grumbled Hiyoko.

Now that he was reminded of Nagito's presence, Hajime glanced over at him and got an uneasy feeling in his stomach. He would have to pull him aside and have a talk before things got too out of hand…

*Ding-dong, bing-bong*

And he didn't get to think about that any longer. The familiar sound of a bell went off, and rather than the TV switching on, Monokuma himself suddenly appeared in the room… right on top of Kazuichi.

"AAAAAHHH! How the heck do you do that?!" the mechanic screamed, shuffling across the floor to get away from him.

"Good morning, my beloved students!" Monokuma sang. "Just in case you forgot, today marks the start of your brand new Killing Game! And it's now 7 am, which means the first Adventure Phase is about to begin!"

The Imposter glared at him. "So. All we need to do is defeat the Monobeast and obtain the Monocrystal. Is that correct?"

"Hmm? What do you mean, 'all you need to do'? You make it sound so simple! You didn't think I'd let you off that easy, did you?"

"Quit speaking in riddles already. What are you talking about?" said Mahiru.

"Well, maybe you should all go outside and see for yourselves!" Monokuma covered his absolutely giddy grin with his paws. "You might find Jabberwock Island a little different from what you remember. But never fear! It's all part of the experience! …Oh, but it can definitely kill you. You can fear that."

"Y-yeah right! Stop trying to psyche us out!" Kazuichi was shaking all over, but he still jabbed an accusing finger at Monokuma. "We know this is a simulation! You can't kill us for real!"

"Hmm? Is that so? Do you really believe that with all your hearts?" asked the bear. He looked around at all the students, and suddenly nobody had the nerve to challenge him. But the looks on their faces were answer enough.

"Puhuhuhu! Well then! I'll just leave you to it! Good luck, kids…"

"Wait a minute, Monokuma." Hajime stepped forward and put a foot down in front of him. "Don't think I didn't notice. You said we need six Monocrystals. But there's only five Monobeasts."

Monokuma said nothing, obviously wanting to hear him spell it out. He gritted his teeth. "So where's the last one?"

"Where oh where indeed?" Monokuma giggled. "You're the super genius, aren't you? Why don't you figure it out yourself?"

And of course, he said nothing else on the matter. Just terrific. Now Hajime had another mystery to solve on top of everything else.

"Well, what are you waiting for? Your little gamer girl is waiting for you! Unless you'd rather leave her to her fate, of course!" And with that, Monokuma sank into the floor and vanished, leaving nothing behind but another high-pitched laugh.

Everyone stood in silence, not sure how to react.

"Something's… going on outside?" Ryota's voice was shaking. "What does he mean by that?"

Fuyuhiko was already looking out the window. "…Shit. Shit, shit, shit," he muttered. "You guys had better come have a look."

Everyone raced over and looked out the window.

The entire island was swarmed with… creatures. Hajime didn't know how else to describe them. They looked nothing like real animals; they were made of basic geometric shapes and full of bright colors, like the simplest of cartoon characters. They were wandering around the island in all directions, and there were too many to count.

They didn't look dangerous, but this was Monokuma they were talking about.

"I see… so this is what Monokuma was referring to," said the Imposter. "We'll have to get rid of those things."

"They will be no match for me," Peko said confidently, patting her bamboo sword bag. "I will protect young master Fuyuhiko… and the rest of you."

"Guys. Monokuma is trying to kill us. Don't let those things fool you," said Hajime, and everyone turned their eyes onto him. "We need to take this seriously."

He paused. "Now listen… nobody signed up for this when we agreed to bring Chiaki back. If anyone here doesn't feel comfortable going out there… feel free to wait inside where it's safe."

Sonia's eyes were blazing. "That is out of the question," she said. "Chiaki is important to all of us. We are her friends, and we will risk anything to bring her back!"

Gundham laughed heartily. "Yes! Truer words could not be spoken by the gods themselves!" he said. "Come, my dark queen! Let us purge this land of these fell beasts!"

"Yes, at once!" Sonia cried happily, and the two of them raced down the stairs.

"Oooooh… if they're going, I'm going too!" Kazuichi griped, stomping after them.

"HEY! You morons better not forget about me!" Hiyoko shouted as she and everyone else began filing toward the stairs. Hajime let out a sigh and watched them all go. It was good to know that they were still all together on this, but…

If someone gets hurt… if anyone gets hurt… it's my fault.

Then Nagito walked past him, and he remembered. He quickly grabbed the other boy by the shoulder.

"Nagito. I need to talk to you."

Nagito turned around. "Oh? Is there something I can do to help my classmate?"

Hajime looked squarely at him. "Do we have to worry about you… causing any trouble?"

Nagito put on an innocent look. "Huh? What are you talking about, Hajime?"

"You know exactly what I'm talking about," Hajime said shortly. "During the last Killing Game, you were totally fine with us killing each other if it meant reaching your idea of 'hope'."

The serene smile never left Nagito's face. "Well, it's only natural, after all. Hope can never exist without overcoming despair."

"Yeah, well. You said it yourself. Right now, our hope is Chiaki. And the fewer of us there are, the worse chance we have of rescuing her."

The two of them were staring each other down. "I just want to make sure we're on the same page."

Nagito didn't look fazed at all. He just gave a friendly laugh. "You don't need to worry about me, Hajime. I would never do anything to sully our bonds of friendship."

And with that, he turned around and followed the others down the stairs. Hajime watched after him, trying to ignore his frustration.

He'd known this was how Nagito would react, of course. But he still had to try.

When they all got outside, they were greeted by an unexpected sight. Monomi was already in the middle of a fight between three of the creatures at once. She waved her broken Magic Stick at them, and suddenly they were all thrown into the air, crashed to the ground and burst apart in sprays of blood.

"Oh, thank goodness! Everyone is all right!" she cried as she saw the group convening outside the hotel. "You should all get back inside before it's too late! It's too dangerous to be out here! Leave this to your teacher!"

"That's not happening, Monomi," Hajime said as he stepped toward her. "Monokuma sent these things here because of us, and we have to… wait a minute."

He looked down at himself. "What the hell…?"

Everyone else took that as a signal and looked down at themselves as well. "HOLY SHIT WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON?!" Ibuki screamed.

Somehow, some way, each one of them was now dressed in fantasy clothes. Hajime himself was no longer wearing his old Hope's Peak uniform, but instead a white tunic, brown pants and leather boots.

Monomi looked surprised. "Oh, my! Wherever did you all get such wonderful clothes?"

"Hey! What gives? Where's my kimono?" said Hiyoko, who was suddenly wearing a rather form-fitting red dress.

"W-w-where on earth did this all come from?" Mikan whimpered. She was wearing a white and red robe, complete with a hood, but was also clutching onto a long staff with a jewel embedded in the top.

And then Hajime understood.

It was easy to forget, but one of his talents was Ultimate Gamer. It was something he used to try to feel closer to Chiaki, especially during those long nights when her absence hurt too much to ignore. Now that she was gone, he'd never thought it would actually come in handy.

"Everyone… this must be Monokuma's doing," he said. "He wasn't lying when he said this was like a game. He's trying to make it into a traditional RPG. Like Final Fantasy. We all have different job classes."

He looked over at Mikan. "For example, Mikan, you're the White Mage. The healer. And Hiyoko, you're the Dancer."

"Well, of course I am," said Hiyoko, turning away in a huff.

Most everyone else just looked confused, but Hajime looked them over one at a time and figured out what class they were supposed to be. Some were obvious – Peko was the Samurai, Akane was the Monk, Ibuki was the Bard.

"HOORAY! Ibuki is useful!" she cheered.

He continued on. Nekomaru was the Berserker. Kazuichi was the Mechinist. Teruteru was the Chemist. And perhaps the least surprising of all was Gundham, who was the Black Mage.

"PWAHAHAHA! But of course! It seems Monokuma has recognized my true might after all!"

"And what am I supposed to be?" asked the Imposter.

"You're the Blue Mage. They can copy the abilities of enemies."

The Imposter folded their arms and grinned. "I see… perhaps I should play video games more often."

Some of them were less apparent. Fuyuhiko was the Gunner (did he actually have a gun with him?). Sonia was the Red Mage – maybe so she could keep up with Gundham. Ryota was the Green Mage, which was a rather obscure class, but it made sense considering what he could do with his anime. And for some reason, Mahiru was the Summoner.

Hajime stopped in front of a particular student. "Nagito… you're the Thief. They traditionally have a high Luck stat."

Nagito's eyes lit up. "Even a worthless piece of scum like me was given a job class?" He looked ready to cry. "This is wonderful! I promise to fulfill my role to the best of my ability!"

"Then what class are you, Hajime?" asked Mahiru.

Hajime looked down at himself again. His outfit didn't give much away. "I'm… a Freelancer. Someone without an actual class." He scowled. "Is this supposed to be a joke?"

"So… what does this all mean?" asked Monomi, looking worried as she gripped her Magic Stick. "Could it be… you don't need me anymore?"

"We never needed you, stupid!" Hiyoko cackled.

"Monomi, I am certain we will need all the help we can get," Sonia said kindly. "When we find the Monobeast, we will all need to work together to defeat it."

"Oh, well… okay then," said Monomi. "I am your teacher, after all. And, I have experience fighting those awful things! So just leave it to me!"

"Hey, can we get goin' already? I'm itchin' for a fight over here," said Akane, bringing everyone back to the present.

"Okay then. Let's head over to the bridge," said Hajime.

They all set off as one large group, but it was only a matter of moments before they were accosted by more of those strange geometric creatures. There must have been hundreds of them running around, but as they saw the students and their teacher, each one of them came charging over with a surprising amount of bloodlust in their eyes.

Unsurprisingly, Hajime absolutely dominated them. All it took was one punch from him, and they practically exploded in a shower of blood. He was too quick for them to overwhelm by force of numbers, as he would just flash step out of the way.

Unfortunately, the surviving creatures quickly got the message and decided to pick on the others instead.

"Hell yeah! I missed this kinda action!" Akane cheered, fearlessly charging into battle. She, Nekomaru and Peko quickly proved themselves to be the massive damage dealers of the party, plowing their way through wave after wave of the creatures.

Ibuki and Hiyoko quickly took to their roles as well. "Hey everybody! Listen to this new song I just wrote! It's called 'I Flushed My Engagement Ring Down the Toilet and Now My Boyfriend Wants to Kill Me'!" She started jamming out on her guitar, letting out a death metal scream, and Hiyoko started dancing along.

"How strange… I feel a sudden rush of power!" Nagito marveled. "Could it be? Is this the magic of video game music?"

"Aww, yeah! I feel the exact opposite of how I usually feel listening to her music!" said Kazuichi. "Let's get over there and bust some heads!"

Gundham was surrounded by a tight circle of the creatures, but he just looked amused. "And now, you base creatures, you will see how foolish you were to antagonize Gundham Tanaka! The Supreme Overlord of Ice!"

He opened his palm and shot a fireball – an actual fireball – out of his hand, and it incinerated two of the creatures on contact.

For once in his life, Fuyuhiko looked completely terrified. "Shit… who the hell thought giving that guy real magic was a good idea?!"

Not everyone was getting into it, though.

"Ohhh… I wasn't made for this kind of violence," Ryota whimpered, hiding out near the back.

"Everyone, please calm down!" Mikan cried out. "If… if too many of you are injured, I won't be able to heal you all!"

"It's easy, Mikan! Just wave your staff over your head like this!" Ibuki lifted her guitar up and started twirling it around.

"Huh? …Um, all right…" Very timidly, Mikan started waving her staff around, and suddenly a glowing magic circle appeared on the ground around her. Everyone standing inside the circle immediately felt their injuries disappearing.

"Oh, my… this certainly would have been useful at Hope's Peak…"

It took a long time with all of the attacking creatures slowing them down, but finally the group made it all the way across the island, over to the closed gate that led back to Central Island, where they expected to find the Tiger Mecha standing in their way.

But there was nothing there.

"Whaaaaaat? Did we just go through all that for nothing?" Teruteru complained.

"That's strange… we didn't see it at all on the way over here," said Mahiru. "Where could it be?"

"What do you think, Hajime?" asked Kazuichi.

Hajime folded his arms and tried to think. But really, in retrospect, the answer was obvious. To him, anyway.

"We have to think more like gamers," he said. "If this is a game, then the boss battle has to be somewhere appropriate. Somewhere more… climactic. More dangerous."

"Was there somewhere you had in mind?" said the Imposter.

Hajime looked over his shoulder. "The airport."

––

A/N: Okayyyyy I lied, first death is next time. This is what I get for not planning everything out. Also, those weird little critters are the ones from Magical Miracle Girl Monomi.