Danganronpa: Corrupted Hope (SYOC) Chapter 51: New World's Eden (Part 4), a dangan ronpa kibou no gakuen to zetsubou no koukousei fanfic

Chapter 6: New World's Eden (Part 4)

Warning: This fic contains intense violence, lots of cursing, character death, gore and blood, sexual innuendos (thanks Maggi- Wait. You're dead now. Meaning there are no sexual innuendos!... Maybe! Hooray!), and possible spoilers for the Danganronpa series, most notably the first one. But hey, everyone lurking in this fandom has at least played the first Danganronpa so no need to worry much there!

With that said, please enjoy!

"One…"

"Two…"

"Three…!"

The heavy metal vault was finally knocked down. Hundreds of officers, each a member of the Special Assault Team, rushed in, their armed rifles with green laser pointers aiming at every corner of the building they were in. Their comms beeped, walkie-talkies echoing throughout the hall as static-y voices desperately reached through their communication devices. And with each static, each voice had a similar response to each examination of the different places they were in.

"Clear!"

"Area 1 clear!"

"All clear here too!"

"Heading to the second floor. Stand by."

"H-Hello? A-Anyone there?"

"Halt, we got someone!"

In an instant, every officer by that vault pointed their weapons toward the source of the voice. Their fingers hovered over the trigger. The room was dim. Any sudden movement and these people would not hesitate to pull that trigger and add a corpse to the eerie atmosphere they were currently patrolling in.

"Stay right where you are and don't move!"

The figure that the officers were pointing at stopped. They stopped coming anywhere closer. Maybe it was the command from the officer or maybe it was the fact that the figure could see all too clearly that these people were serious with their weapons.

A SAT commander walked forward, keeping his men behind him before shining his flashlight over his rifle. He got a clearer look at what exactly they were dealing with. No. Who? Who they were dealing with.

The figure looked to be bruised, beaten, and battered. They were bleeding. Their clothes in disarray. Their leg, broken. A long blood trail leading from the corner to where the figure currently stood suggested that they had limped their way to the commotion. And now the figure was being blinded by the flashlight shining in their eyes. That certainly didn't help the fear from the figure. The trembling that they had felt as the person spoke up, tears trailing from their eyes.

"Th-They… They're all dead," the person huffed, voice quivering as they collapsed to the ground. "All of them…"

"We got a survivor here!" the commander lowered his flashlight and voiced his announcement through his walkie talkie as he rushed over to the person along with a couple of other officers. "I need medical attention! Take them to the med-"

"Sir?" the voice of an officer from the walkie talkie interrupted the commander.

"What?"

"...Jesus Christ, I'm going to be sick," the officer gagged from beyond the comms. "There are bodies. Holy shit. It's a bloodbath, oh my God."

The commander remained silent before turning to the person. He raised his rifle. The fear in the figure forced them to tense up. The commander was in no need for medical assistance.

"...What the hell happened here?" he asked, his voice serious.

As he raised his flashlight back up toward the figure, his eyes met with the survivor. The survivor that he recognized all too well:

...

...Jin Kirigiri.

TRIAL RECONVENE

The jagged red eye of White Collar's mask simply stopped glowing. The fuse that it had blown had caused the mask to erupt smoke from its eyes. And yet, all White Collar could do was lean against his cane for comfort, allowing his subjects to glance back at him, intrigued and surprised by his outburst.

They had come to a frightening conclusion.

That the one they called White Collar… That the one that had been subjecting them to months of pure mental and traumatic torture… That the one with the smoking mask before them… The true identity of this person was none other than Jin Kirigiri.

Jin Kirigiri.

The Headmaster of Hope's Peak Academy.

The father of Kyoko Kirigiri, a victim of the Tragedy.

The sole survivor of said Tragedy.

It was him this entire time. Him and him all along. And with how silent this room had gotten… How dimly lit this room had gotten… Someone had to speak up now. That someone was Mimi, whose face was a mix of shock, anger, and disgust over this turn of events.

"Is this really true…?" Mimi asked. "Are you really… Jin Kirigiri?"

White Collar said nothing.

"Oi, say something," Haruto glared. "We got all the evidence in the world to know who you are so it's best you just give up right now…"

Once again, nothing.

"How about you go and take off your mask…" Abigail suggested, glaring at him. "Take off your mask so we can finally see just how right we really are…"

White Collar slowly lifted his head up.

Then, he chuckled. He slowly got up and straightened out his posture. His jagged red eye was beyond cracked and completely filling the air with smoke. He tilted his head toward the young prisoners, his mask curling into its signature, sinister grin one last time. He placed a finger over his lips and began to speak for the first time in a while.

"Very well," White Collar said. "As you wish…"

White Collar slowly lifted his hands toward the back of his mask. And slowly, he lifted that devilish helmet off of his head, letting some of its wiring to continue to spark. And slowly, his full face could finally be seen by them all. The face of whoever was behind the White Collar persona. And when he lifted the mask off… he dropped it to the ground.

The prisoners could see his face for what it was now. A face with faint scars across the bridge of his nose and lower lip. A cold and indifferent face. An expression that showed hate and disdain for the prisoners he called his subjects. His eyes twitched. And he sneered.

Not all of the prisoners knew who they were looking at but Arthur Kingston could confirm it all too well.

This was the face of…

…

(Jin Kirigiri ~ Headmaster of Hope's Peak Academy)

…

"Jin… Kirigiri…" Arthur narrowed his eyes.

Suddenly, the atmospheric Trial Grounds relit its hellish red gleam from amidst the darkness. A sign that the next phase of the fight was in order. And unlike the White Collar mask that would consistently grin throughout the Trial, Jin Kirigiri was different. Instead of that same sinister tone, Jin's aura felt colder and more callous.

A shadow of the proud man he once was.

Jin pointed the sharp end of his cane toward the five with a grim look in his narrowing, desolate eyes.

"Well done," Jin simply said. "Well done, all of you."

Jin Kirigiri extended his arms out as if he were nailed to a metaphorical cross. His sprites were no different to his typical White Collar persona. But what made this version of his sprites so much more sinister was his frightful, cruel gaze as he sneered toward the five prisoners.

"...Truly, you are the epitome of Hope itself, aren't you?" Jin forced a smile.

A smile filled with spite instead of any other sense of positivity, twitching as his eyes never wavered away from his subjects.

"So… it really is you…" Holland muttered to himself. "The Headmaster of Hope's Peak Academy…"

"A slight correction, Mister Delaney," Jin shook his head, grimly. "It's former Headmaster of Hope's Peak Academy, now…"

"W-What?" Mimi blinked.

"Keh, do you really think a Headmaster of a school would really have time to oversee a month-long Killing Game?" Jin forced his spiteful smile once more. "The truth of the matter is that I resigned from the position of Headmaster… five years ago."

Jin pointed the sharp end of his cane toward the prisoners.

"I'm sure you all know the reason why…" Jin challenged.

"It was… because of this, wasn't it?" Abigail folded her arms. "It was because of…

…

…the Tragedy of Hope's Peak Academy."

"Correct," Jin slowly smacked the blunt end of his cane against the palm of his hand over and over again. "Excellent job, Miss Ellsworth. Gold star for you."

"The Tragedy of Hope's Peak Academy…" Holland frowned. "That was the incident in which you lost your daughter, Kyoko Kirigiri…"

"That's right…" Jin closed his eyes, a glint of solemness trickling in his mind. "My sweet Kyoko… Keh, I wouldn't say that our relationship was exactly stable during the times that she attended my school. A lot of our interactions were awkward at best."

Then, the former Headmaster opened his eyes and gravely glanced at the ground.

"But you can be rest assured that Kyoko meant everything to me," Jin grimaced. "After her mother died, I buried myself in my work, researching Talent potential and overseeing the birth of a better generation. Ultimate students that could be the everlasting Hope of a New World!"

Jin extended his arms out and glowered over his subjects, like he was an otherworldly entity.

"It didn't take long until my daughter found me once again and reconnected with me…" Jin slowly placed his cane down on the floor. "But this time, not just as my daughter but rather as an Ultimate. The Ultimate Detective. That was the Talent she received. And I couldn't have been more proud of my own daughter…"

Jin's solemn smile twitched at the memories of his own daughter.

"...To think that my own daughter could've been a shining Hope for the next generation…" Jin spun his cane around and caught it by the blunt end of it. "To think that I was so stupid and clueless… that in the end, I couldn't save my own daughter from the Hell she had to experience with her friends…"

"Wait, does that mean… You actually saw everything that happened in their Killing Game?" Mimi widened her eyes. "Like everything?"

"Of course," Jin responded, nonchalantly. "That newspaper article Mister Kingston presented said it all didn't it? That I, the sole survivor, witnessed all of it. Every single round. Every single day. Every single minute in which those poor students were placed in danger while I could do nothing and stay tied to a chair..."

Jin pointed his cane toward the students.

"I saw Leon Kuwata stab Sayaka Maizono…" Jin began to list. "I watched Mondo Owada smash Chihiro Fujisaki's head with a dumbbell. I witnessed Celestia Ludenberg murder Hifumi Yamada after he murdered Kiyotaka Ishimaru. Sakura Ogami was next and drank a bottle of poison…"

Jin's look of disdain smeared his face.

"But here was the kicker…" Jin sneered. "The Enoshima Sisters' Case. Much like what happened in our Killing Game, Mukuro Ikusaba and Junko Enoshima enacted an impossible crime that got Mukuro Ikusaba blown up and Junko Enoshima punished through spear impalement. In the end, not even my own daughter was able to solve what had happened. Once they ran out of time, the remaining six were forced to vote for whoever… And then I watched it happen. I was forced to sit still… unable to do anything as I watched the rest of the students get brutally executed… Including my own daughter."

Jin held onto his cane tightly.

"The entire Tragedy was a month-long torturous event…" Jin's forced spiteful smile twitched. "So, you can imagine what that would do to a person's psyche if they were subjected to this nonstop 'entertainment'... Can't you?"

"So… is that it?" Haruto gritted his teeth. "We're supposed to believe that you threw us into the same scenario that killed your daughter because you're fucking crazy?! Not gonna lie, but that's a pretty fucking underwhelming reason, asshole!"

"Hahahaha!" Jin extended his arms out.

The background of the Trial Grounds glowed immensely, matching his actions.

"You would be absolutely right, Mister Walker!" Jin grinned. "It would make no sense for me to wish to put you kids into the same fate my daughter and her friends were in if I was just crazy. That wouldn't be a valid reason for any of this…"

"I… Is he agreeing with me?" Haruto blinked.

"Um, sure sounds like it," Mimi blinked as well.

Jin chuckled. Without his mask distorting it to sound more British, Jin surprisingly sounded a little more deranged…

"I believe that you are all under a serious misconception…" he declared. "You all seem to think that this entire thing started because of the Tragedy of Hope's Peak Academy. While it may have been only part of the reason, it's simply not true. This entire debacle began much earlier than that…"

Jin forced a spiteful grin as he pointed his cane toward Holland. There was a look of confidence on his face. For all he's seen thus far, he knew for a fact that Holland would be the most likely person to get this answer correctly.

"Mister Delaney…" Jin sneered. "Perhaps you know what exactly I'm talking about…"

Holland thought about this carefully.

Jin stated that the Tragedy of Hope's Peak Academy was only part of the reason. That all of this started way before the Tragedy. If Holland thought about it correctly, there was literally only one thing that Jin Kirigiri could be referring to. What exactly could've been the thing that occurred earlier than the Tragedy…?

"...I think I do…" Holland rubbed his chin as he took a guess. "Could you be referring to…

…

…the Kamukura Project?"

"Indeed," Jin nodded in satisfaction as he set his cane back down on the floor. "The Kamukura Project. The fateful Project that changed everything. It was mankind's Genesis. Because the beginning of it all began with that…"

"What… exactly was the Kamukura Project…?" Abigail narrowed her eyes.

Jin tilted his head, eyeing the equestrian warily.

"...You don't know?" Jin asked, curiously. Scoffing, he shook his head and leaned against his cane with that hateful glance. "Surely, you must've figured it out during the Investigation. Or have I underestimated you all…?"

The Kamukura Project.

Everything was riding on the fact that they understood what the Project was. What the Project aimed to do. It was of key importance to everything that occurred here at St. Esther's. It was one of the key centerpoints of both Jin Kirigiri and Titus Erskines' motives. And from the looks of it, only one person seemed to have an idea…

"The Kamukura Project…" Holland rubbed his chin. "I think I got something that might help us figure out what its purpose was…"

"You do?" Mimi blinked.

Arthur didn't say anything and simply glanced away. From the looks of it, even he was a bit curious about what the game designer had to say.

"The thing that might help us figure out what its purpose was…" Holland began to say. "Could it be…

…

…Titus's Form?"

"Titus's form?" Mimi blinked.

He held his ground and slowly picked up a piece of paper. He wasn't sure what it was, but it seemed to be a form of some kind that was written out in crude handwriting. Wasn't too bad that it was illegible, but it did seem like this could've been Titus's handwriting. Honestly, would it matter if it was someone else's?

Because the information that was presented was information about Titus that they already knew and have seen multiple times:

Name: Titus Erskine

Gender: Male

Birth Date: August 1

Height: 6'0

Weight: 195 lbs

Blood Type: A+

Holland remembered seeing this tidbit when Jared had opened up Titus's eHandbook to show them Titus's motive video as well as when Mimi showed them the Patient #66 file. But what separated them from one another was this next section that was similar but a little different:

Talent of Interest: Ultimate Conductor

Talent of Interest?

What did that mean?

"...Titus's Form had information regarding everything we know about him," Holland began to explain. "Name. Birth Date. Blood Type. All of the information was written by him based on his signature supplied below. But the only odd difference was that there was a section titled Talent of Interest."

"Talent of Interest?" Abigail blinked. "What the hell does that mean? And... how on earth will that help us figure out what the Kamukura Project's purpose is?"

"Excellent question..." Jin coldly glanced toward the prisoners. "And pray tell, does anyone here have an answer...?"

He glanced toward the prisoners, treating the Trial as if it were a special college course. Slowly stepping up, Arthur Kingston knew all too well where this was going. It had been on the back of his mind for quite some time now.

"...If all the information was written by Titus himself as a form to fill out..." Arthur folded his arms. "Then, I believe all we need to do is figure out what exactly that form may be..."

"So, then, what the hell was that form?!" Haruto questioned.

A form filled out by Titus himself. The signature proved it. So, if we put that into context, then the section "Talent of Interest" would therefore mean something else. Talent of Interest was for Titus to fill out, so therefore...

"I believe..." Arthur figured it out. "Perhaps that form was...

...

…

...a request form."

"A request form?!" Mimi looked surprised.

"Precisely," Arthur nodded. "Talent of Interest could've meant anything based on context. If it were scientists filling it out, it would have meant that they wanted to experiment on Titus because of his Talent. But if it were Titus that filled it out, Talent of Interest would've instead meant..."

"Which Talent he was interested in..." Holland nodded.

"Exactly," Arthur nodded. "Therefore, I believe we can easily figure out what the Kamukura Project aimed to do…"

"Arthur… You know the answer, don't you?" Mimi pointed a stare toward the snowboarder.

And yet, all Arthur could do was nod. As I said, he knew where this was going. Where this was leading up to. The Request Forms only served to prove his point. He placed his hands on the podiums and glanced toward his fellow prisoners and Jin Kirigiri.

"The Kamukura Project…" Arthur began to say. "What it aimed to do was…

…

…give ordinary students Ultimate Talents."

To give ordinary students Ultimate Talents…?

The moment Arthur said those words, the other four prisoners froze. Their eyes widened in shock over such a crazy idea… even though deep down, after all the hints and clues they were given, they knew that it was a possibility. Some looked to Jin in hopes that he could corroborate what Arthur suggested and explain more…

And almost immediately, Jin extended his arms outwards as if he were pinned to the cross.

"Precisely," Jin announced. "That was the true purpose of the Kamukura Project. An experiment that sought to give a normal, ordinary students an artificial Ultimate Talent…"

"W-What…?" Haruto blinked. "N-No fucking way…"

"B-But that's crazy!" Mimi exclaimed in shock. "Th-That sounds like… That sounds so illegal!"

"Because it was…" Jin smacked the blunt end of his cane onto the palm of his hand, coldly beginning to explain. "The Kamukura Project was undoubtedly illegal. Which was why conduction of such an experiment was held here, at the abandoned St. Esther's prison…"

"And… you didn't know about this?" Abigail glanced at him, suspiciously. "You were the Headmaster. At some point, you should've…"

"Nonsense," Jin shook his head. "The Kamukura Project was initiated off school campus, miles from it in fact... There was no way I would've found out about it at the time. Moreover, there was another reason why I wouldn't have found out about it either…"

He pointed the sharp end of his cane toward the prisoners.

"Would any of you like to take a guess as to why…?" Jin questioned.

There was another reason why the Headmaster wouldn't have found out about the Project? Well, the answer could realistically be anything. But more realistically... It most likely had to do with Jin's jurisdiction at school. One of the reasons was because the experiment occurred off campus. So, what could the second reason be…?

"Keh, how about I give you a hint…" Jin leaned against his cane. "It has something to do with the students involved with the Project…"

There's your hint! Get to thinking!

"The students… Oh!" Mimi realized. "Is it because…

…

…the students were all ordinary?"

"Fantastic job, Miss De La Vega…" Jin complimented, fixing his tie. "But more specifically, the students that were brought into the Project were part of the Reserve Course Program. A Program that was way beyond my jurisdiction…"

"Indeed…" Arthur nodded, folding his arms. "As Headmaster, his priority and job were to keep track of the Main Course… Whatever happened in the Reserve Course was beyond his control. Which would mean that he never knew about all of this until…"

"Exactly so, Mister Kingston…" Jin glanced at the snowboarder with notable disdain. "You see, the Reserve Course Program was a cheap shot program created by the Steering Committee in hopes of raising some funds. Eventually, they also started a sister program for foreign exchange students: The Foreign Exchange Reserve Course Program…"

Jin placed a finger over his lips.

"Ultimates weren't exactly as numerous as they are today," Jin explained. "Thus, the Steering Committee tag lined the Program as a Program to give students a chance to prove their Talent Potential to us, promising their graduates a Talent to move on to the Main Course and become a Hope of the next generation…"

"...But that wasn't what it really served to do… was it…?" Holland asked.

"...Fantastic observation, Mister Delaney…" Jin sneered. "Of course it wasn't. The Steering Committee is the bane of every Hope's Peak's existence. Members of every established Steering Committee in the world only care about one thing: money… Japan's Steering Committee was no different. So, the Reserve Course Program that they established was in actuality, nothing more than an attempt to garner funds for the Kamukura Project…"

"But… Why was the Kamukura Project so important?!" Mimi pouted. "Why… Why couldn't people just leave people alone?! Why commit themselves to some experiment that killed so many students?!"

"Ah, another great question that I too asked myself…" Jin nodded at Mimi before sighing and shaking his head. "Perhaps, I should go into a brief history lesson then. About the Kamukura Project and its shortcomings…"

Jin sat down on his throne and glanced at each curious face. Setting his cane to the side, he sighed and began to recount what he knew about the Project.

…

"The Kamukura Project was named after Izuru Kamukura, the founder of Hope's Peak's very first Academy in Osaka, Japan…" Jin explained. "He was a God within the Hope's Peak community. It was him that came up with the idea that a young person's Talent, if developed enough, would be strong enough to change the world. That they would be able to provide a brighter and better future for the next generation… Hope for the New World…"

Jin closed his eyes as he recounted the most basics of information.

"Izuru Kamukura's reputation to the world was what Jesus was to Christianity, what Muhammed was to Islam…" Jin continued. "He was a genius. A prophet. What's more, he was the very first Ultimate. The Ultimate Hope… The truest Hope an Ultimate could ever be… A brilliant man who changed the world forever…"

Jin pointed the sharp end of his cane toward the prisoners.

"When Izuru died, so did the Ultimate Hope…" Jin solemnly explained. "And although many more Ultimates rose from the ashes of his grave, the idea that an Ultimate Hope was gone before Izuru's dream could be accomplished was too much for many to bear. So, they put it upon themselves to establish the Kamukura Project, a Hope Cultivation Plan that sought to bring back the Ultimate Hope to our world…"

Jin held onto his cane tightly.

"The Project required the assistance of many people…" Jin began. "The Steering Committee, who would be the suppliers of test subjects and main benefactors of the project. Head Psychologist Zuno Noshino, the one who took control of the Project shortly after its establishment... Someone who I thought I could call a friend… And a person you all know well…"

"Terra Pisch…" Holland folded his arms.

"A therapist to assist the subjects after each experiment…" Abigail surmised.

"Precisely," Jin nodded. "However, Noshino and Pisch's involvements didn't happen until much later, admittedly. Not until there was a change in the experiment and how things had to be run…"

"A change in the experiment…?" Mimi blinked.

"...The original idea of the Project was to create an artificial Ultimate Hope," Jin reiterated. "To fulfill this, they brought in their first patient, whom we will call #1. #1 was the epitome of a normal, average, ordinary student who wasted his funds on the Reserve Course Program for a chance to become as great as the Ultimates he admired. He was someone who looked up to Hope's Peak… And it was for that reason that he was chosen to be the first patient of many in the Kamukura Project…"

"But in the end, he…" Abigail trailed off, glancing away.

"...Yes…" Jin closed his eyes and deeply sighed. "In the end, the experiment failed, and #1 was the first patient to perish in the experiment. That is what the fools involved with the Project had failed to realize. That to create an artificial Ultimate Hope was far from what Izuru believed in… and far too dangerous… And yet, they kept going. They kept going with #2… then #3… then #4… #5… #6… so on and so forth…"

"Th-That's… horrible…" Mimi covered her mouth.

"But in the end, that brought us to #66… Titus, right?" Haruto asked.

"Keh, before we get to the legendary #66…" Jin shook his head. "Remember that I mentioned that Noshino and Miss Pisch's involvement didn't happen until much later… You see, after each death, the lab scientists were at a loss on what to do. Their dreams of creating the Ultimate Hope were dwindling down and the Project was soon to be canceled over how much blood had been shed for their sick and twisted goal…"

"That's when they asked for help…" Arthur deduced. "From one Zuno Noshino…"

"Precisely…" Jin nodded. "You see… The process of creating an artificial Ultimate was through the brain. You can't exactly force someone to learn a new trick through surgical means alone, so they sought to find alternatives. That is why they assisted the help of a psychologist… Zuno Noshino."

Jin couldn't help but spitefully laugh at the name.

"But the help of a psychologist wasn't enough…" Jin explained. "They also needed the help of an experienced therapist. Terra Pisch…"

"But why a therapist…?" Abigail blinked.

"Why indeed…?" Jin placed a finger over his grim lips. "You see, originally, pre-Noshino, the patients never made it past the surgical treatments… By the time Noshino was brought in, the patients were able to survive but this time they encountered a new problem… Perhaps one of you know what that problem was…"

Haruto folded his arms as he thought back to what he found in the Experimental Room.

"Yeah…" Haruto slowly nodded. "Was it…

…

...extreme violence?"

The file was a document that seemed to be in someone's handwriting. On this document were also a whole list of words written in black and red ink. Black ink for the more normal stuff. Red ink for the large, bolded word that pretty much screamed, 'Hey look here! I'm important information!'. His eyes trailed over the document over and over again as he mumbled some of the words:

Phase 2

After bringing him in, Patients #22 - 44 have survived Phase 1. Now there is a new problem. To account for this issue, he is currently bringing a person of interest to find a cure to this matter.

Current Side-Effects:

EXTREME VIOLENCE

"Extreme violence?" Haruto blinked. "What the fuck?"

"There was a document mentioning Phase 2," Haruto mumbled. "On it, it mentioned that they had just brought in someone that helped patients survive Phase 1. That person was probably Noshino. And Phase 1 must've been referring to the surgical process. But what Phase 2 said was that the current side-effects they had was 'Extreme Violence'... That's it, right?"

"Indeed..." Jin narrowed his eyes. "Because I'm sure you've seen the aftermath of such violence in this facility, haven't you…?"

Yeah. There was one place that had something like that. One place that showed the aftermath of violent patients. It was…

"...It was…" Abigail bit her lip. "It was…

…

…the White Room, wasn't it?"

The White Room itself was a completely padded white room usually seen to contain some of the more mentally unstable patients of your typical asylum. However, this White Room had one thing that most White Rooms in other asylums did not have:

…

Old dried up blood splatters staining the white floors and walls.

…

"W-What the hell happened here?!" Carter stumbled down to the ground.

"Precisely," Jin nodded. "Once Noshino was brought on board, the patients survived the surgical phase but as a payoff, they became violent. Most had to be brought to that fateful White Room… where they either killed each other or killed themselves…"

"Which is why Terra Pisch was needed…" Arthur folded his arms. "So she could help the patients after the surgical process…"

"Indeed…" Jin said. "Which leads us to #66. Titus Erskine. The sole survivor of the Kamukura Project. After 65 patients had died under their watch, the original goal of trying to create the Ultimate Hope had been past due… No longer did they want an Ultimate Hope. All they wanted now was an artificial Ultimate to simply survive their experiment. An artificial Ultimate whose condition was stabilized. No more violence. No more death. Someone who could prove that the years of bloodshed wasn't for naught…"

"And they got exactly that with Titus…" Holland said.

"Correct," Jin nodded, before extending his arms outward, mockingly.

"But I imagine the side effect for him now was…" Arthur folded his arms, thinking back to a particular moment in which Titus was with Terra.

"This is Dr. Terra Pisch. The date is November 25, 2010. Time: 6:05 PM. Setting: St. Esther's Institution. I was originally ordered to stay home today because of an incident at that school. They're not telling me anything, but my work cannot go unfinished. Today, I'm with Patient #66, again."

"...What happened...?"

"Oh, didn't you hear what I said? I don't really know myself. I wasn't allowed to know any information. I tried to call Headmaster Kirigiri about it but he hasn't picked up."

"...Headmaster Kirigiri…?"

"Oh right, you've never met him, have you? He's a really cool guy! A little intimidating when you first see him, though. I mean, he is the Headmaster, but he's also pretty nice and chill. Doctor Noshino says he's terrible at mahjong! So that's a riot!"

"...No… I feel like I have met him before… Doctor Noshino… that name is also… familiar…"

"Oh dear, it's happening again, isn't it?"

"Agh… M-My head…"

"Whoa whoa, hey. Rest your head here, okay? Massage it. I can't even imagine the pain you must be going through but it won't do both of us any good if your headaches worsen."

"...G-God, it hurts… Doc. I can't control it. There's just way too many sounds in my head. Too many sounds. God damn it… Get out. Get out. Get out. Get out."

"Hey, hey, don't strain your brain like that. It'll only make things worse, okay? Just sit down and talk to me. What do you hear?"

"...Music."

"Is it that waltz again?"

"Mephisto's Waltz. By Franz Liszt. I can't… g-get it out of my h-head… It's just the same section again. Un poco meno mosso... Guh... Guh... "

"..."

"D-Doc… am I crazy?"

"..."

"D-Doc?"

"Haha. God. You're cute, #66. How many times do I have to tell you? You're not crazy. You're perfect. You're a new kind of Hope to the next generation after all…"

"He started hearing music and sounds… Like some sort of schizophrenia…" Holland rubbed his chin.

"Not only that, but also…" Haruto folded his arms as he thought back to the more familiar side-effect that Titus had to deal with.

"The side effect that Titus suffered..." Holland rubbed his chin. "Well, it had to be amnesia, right?"

"Correct," White Collar nodded. "To be a subject of this experiment would mean that any memory of being involved with it would disappear altogether. Suppressed in the back of one's mind. Unfortunately, because Mister Erskine was the first to actually live through it... He suffered a more severe version. And as a result, Mister Erskine was unable to remember most of his life before he became #66. And Noshino and Pisch utilized that to their advantage. They faked some paperwork and announced to the world that Titus Erskine was dead. Died so soon…"

"Amnesia…" Abigail grimaced.

"Keh, side-effects or not… it didn't matter to them…" Jin gravely said. "To them, Titus Erskine was their miracle child. The moment he survived without the need to hurt himself or others, was the moment they realized that they had done it. For the first time in our history, they had created the first living artificial Ultimate…"

"...But at what cost…?" Abigail clenched her fist. "All of those Reserve Course students were students who looked up to Hope's Peak Academy… All of them! They had hopes and dreams like the rest of us! I… I can't believe people would exploit them like that all for some sick attempt to bring back some Messiah!"

"But in the end… it didn't sound like they cared about even that anymore…" Holland pointed out.

"Exactly so…" Jin nodded, pointing the sharp end of his cane toward the prisoners. "In the end, the Kamukura Project went from a hopeful desire to bring back God… to a shameful obsession to play God. That is why the Kamukura Project was and will forever be a mistake. One of many stains to be placed on Hope's Peak's reputation…"

The five prisoners felt their bodies droop down over Jin's explanation of what the Kamukura Project really was. A project that was originally made to bring back the Ultimate Hope… that turned into a sad, desperate attempt to let their obsession be their maker. The history of those 65… now 66 prisoners ended with this horrible experiment.

And the gut-feeling over how disgusting this all was never ceased from the five remaining prisoners…

"But wait…" Haruto glanced up toward Jin. "When I first discovered the Kamukura Project with Cassandra and Holland, it read…"

"...Here we go," Holland blankly stared at the screen with little to no emotion at all. Perhaps he was just messing with her because he was petty. Or perhaps he just didn't care anymore. Once he opened the file, the computer showcased three simple words:

'KAMUKURA PROJECT: POSTPONED'

And underneath these large red bolded words were more words:

'Due to the light of unforeseen circumstances, the Kamukura Project has been postponed. Continued experimentations and research will have to be conducted at a later date until renovation and relocation to the sister location is complete.'

"...Right, the Kamukura Project was postponed due to unforeseen circumstances…" Holland rubbed his chin.

"Unforeseen circumstances?" Mimi blinked. "What were they…?"

"I believe you already know what it is," Jin merely said, as he smacked the blunt end of his cane against the palm of his hands. Then, he pointed it in their general direction. "There is really only one thing it could be…"

The unforeseen circumstances that caused the Kamukura Project to be postponed. Of course… It had to be. What else could it be? Holland shook his head and let his eyes glaze down as his expression remained stoic and well… expressionless.

"The unforeseen circumstances mentioned…" Holland began. "It had to be…

…

…the Tragedy of Hope's Peak Academy."

"And it all ties together as one big, beautiful bow," Jin slowly placed his cane on the ground as he nodded. "The fateful Tragedy of Hope's Peak Academy. An entire class of Ultimates going missing was going to be big media news and an investigation was sure to spark. The Steering Committee and those involved with the Kamukura Project were afraid that an investigation into that tragedy would lead them into their illegal experimentations. As such, they had no choice but to postpone the Kamukura Project until a later date…"

"Ah!" Mimi gasped. "But… If that happened, what about #66- Er… Titus?! What would've happened to him?"

"What else?" Jin shook his head. "They couldn't just set him free. They couldn't possibly risk the world knowing that Titus Erskine was alive after all nor risk the fact that he would tell everyone about what they were doing. Have you forgotten? They had already faked his death and everything…"

"You mean…" Mimi covered her mouth.

"They fucking abandoned him here…?" Haruto widened his eyes. "Just like that…?"

"And they never went back for him…" Jin nodded. "As you may have read, they packed up and moved everything to a sister location. At the time, they already had everything they needed from him. So... he spent the rest of his days here at St. Esther's… just as you all have... Until he was eventually found and recruited for where we are now. You can begin to see his motivations to conduct a Killing Game in his own home now, don't you…?"

"Yeah, but what about your motivations?" Abigail frowned, folding her arms. "You said that the Kamukura Project was the actual beginning of everything. I… I really don't see how you can get yourself in killing kids the same way these fuckers did if this was what drove you crazy…"

"...I believe it to be like this," Arthur folded his arms. "The Kamukura Project was the reason Titus Erskine got involved with the game. And the Tragedy of Hope's Peak was Jin Kirigiri's reason…"

"...But how does the Kamukura Project exactly mark the beginning for Kirigiri's downfall is my question," Abigail reiterated. "Because from what I've heard, the Kamukura Project is, as you said, mostly Titus's motive. Not Jin's…"

"Then please allow me to explain that as well…" Jin placed a finger over his grim-looking lips. "Because believe it or not, the Kamukura Project was what led to the Tragedy in the first place. That's what I meant by 'the beginning'..."

"And how did it lead to the Tragedy…?" Mimi asked.

"Keh…" Jin extended his arms out as he glowered down toward the prisoners. "It's really simple. Because you see…

…

…my daughter was investigating the Kamukura Project."

Time froze all too quickly over what he had meant by this.

Kyoko Kirigiri was investigating the Kamukura Project? As in… She had known about its existence? And if that was the case, then did that the mean that connection between the Tragedy and the Kamukura Project was… The realization slowly hit in as Jin pointed the sharp end of his cane once again…

"That's right," Jin nodded. "My daughter knew about the existence of the Kamukura Project and took it upon herself to investigate what had happened…"

"But… how did she know about it?" Mimi widened her eyes. "Was her Ultimate Talent really that–"

"Her Ultimate capabilities were undeniable," Jin closed his eyes as he reminisced over his daughter. "Yes. I'm sure she would've found out about it regardless. But the way she really found out about it…"

Jin opened his eyes and set his cane on the ground, leaning against it.

"Remember #1?" Jin questioned. "The first of the 66 patients involved in the Kamukura Project? Well, before he went along with the experiment, he had made a friend in the Main Course Department. And it was shortly after his death, that his friend asked my daughter for help on attempting to figure out what had happened to him. And thus, my daughter went to go solve the case…"

Jin held onto his cane, tightly.

"I'm sure you can piece together what had happened…" Jin grimaced.

"No fucking way…" Haruto widened his eyes. "Are you fucking saying that the Tragedy started because…

…

…your daughter got too close to the case?!"

"Precisely…" Jin nodded. "My daughter was getting too close for comfort. They knew time was running out for them. So, one day, they had a fascinating plan to silence her without making it known that she was looking into what they were doing…"

"...Kidnapping an entire class and forcing them into a Killing Game…?" Mimi covered her mouth in shock.

"That's… crazy…" Abigail blinked. "Th-There's no way…"

"But it's the truth," Jin extended his arms out and raised his face toward the sky, bathing under a nonexistent rain cloud. "The Tragedy of Hope's Peak was nothing more than an attempt to get rid of the one person that was a threat to their plans. It was all an attempt to kill my daughter…"

"By taking down other 15 students along with them?!" Haruto clenched his fist. "Jesus fucking Christ, why the fuck am I more pissed at that than I am with…"

"Because now you feel exactly how I felt…" Jin sneered. "Remember, these were the same people that let 65 ordinary students perish in the name of Hope. Forcing young students to kill each other…? That's not as uncommon as you might have thought it to be…"

They never considered it.

They never considered that the whole reason the Tragedy was enacted was to silence one person. If they had just killed Kyoko, the whole thing would've led authorities straight toward them. They would have to go to the extremes to avoid their illegal experiments being found out. They had to abandon ship. Leave everything behind… for that sister location. All because they needed to cover their own tracks from everything…

…

Jin sighed and closed his eyes.

"The New World I had once dreamed of had turned out to be a cruel and savage place…" Jin concluded, keeping his face in the air and arms outstretched. "Since the introduction of Hope, nothing's changed. All that has happened has instead increased the number of sinners and reasons why people sin… It's grotesque…"

"...You aren't so innocent yourself," Holland folded his arms, frowning.

"Keh," Jin forced a spite-filled smile. He opened his eyes and lowered his head, pointing a look of disdain toward the Ultimate Game Designer. "I'm inclined to agree that you are correct. I am no different than any sinner in the world. I am the Devil after all. And after my daughter's death, my only purpose in the world was to purify it. Cleanse out all of these false idols and impure subjects…"

"False idols?" Holland gritted his teeth, looking absolutely angry. "Impure subjects? Is that what we are to you?!"

Holland slammed his hand on his podium.

"You call us sinners, bad people, absolute scumbags…" Holland pointed his finger toward Jin. "But what right did that give you to put us in a Killing Game?! What right do you have to complain about the torment those 66 patients suffered?! What right do you have to complain about the death of an entire class of Ultimates?! What right do you have… When what you're doing now is exactly the same thing that was done five years ago…"

Jin lowered his arms as Holland threw himself into a devastating rant. Haruto, Mimi, and Abigail watched him with widened eyes and Arthur made sure to painfully listen to everything he was saying. Because what Holland was saying was what many have wanted and/or tried to say to their Overseer for a long time.

"Jin Kirigiri!" Holland pointed his finger toward the former Headmaster. "You call yourself the Devil, but even the real Devil would be disgusted by who you are! You're a pretender! A prick! You're just a hypocrite looking to put the blame over what happened to you onto others! All of us here were about their ages when they died! What gives you the right to treat us like we're criminals when we are no different to them?! We are Ultimates! Just like your daughter was!"

Jin kept silent as he listened to Holland's right. For the most part, it looked as if he had agreed with everything that the game designer had berated about. Agreed on everything except one point. That alone was enough to make him chuckle, mockingly.

"Keh…" Jin gave Holland a laugh of pity. "Do you really think you can put yourself on the same pedestal as my daughter…?"

"And why not?" Mimi pouted. "He's right, y'know! We're all Ultimates! Just like your daughter and her friends were! What you're doing now is nothing short of being a big, fat hypocrite!"

Jin's face looked close to breaking.

Except, not in the way you thought. He wasn't going to have his second villainous breakdown. Not now. In fact, how he was breaking was in an entirely different way. It almost looked like his serious and cold demeanor were slowly softening up, allowing him to showcase his own twisted grin. A twisted grin that his mask could never pull off. And his right eye flashed a jagged shot of red… where his jagged red eye would've been if he had put on the mask…

"K… Kyahahahahahaha!" Jin started to laugh, extending his arms out madly. "Oh! This is absolutely brilliant! You truly believe that you are all worthy of being called Ultimates?!"

"What the fuck are you talking about?!" Haruto glared at Jin. "Of course we are! Only difference is that I'm the only one who had to lose it thanks to your shitty game!"

"Kyahahahaha!" Jin laughed once more, a hand over his red glowing eye. "If that's the case… then please tell me…"

Jin leaned forward, letting his eyes grow hollow black and pupils dilated to pure demonic red. He placed a finger over his lips. A shadow had casted itself over his face. A clear Webtoon trope to show when a villain is being very threatening.

"Have you remembered…?" Jin asked, tilting his head. "All the sins that you have committed in your past…? Or have you all still forgotten…?"

"Look, I'm sure we all remembered it," Abigail folded her arms. "We've all confessed it before to one another. So, I really don't get your point…"

"Being the cause of your sister's suicide is definitely not your sin, Miss Ellsworth…" Jin seemed very amused. "Your greatest sin I was referring to was interconnected with all of you! Every single participant in this game! It was all connected from the very beginning! You had a month of work to think about it and you still haven't figured it out?"

The five of them glanced at each other, confused. What the hell was White Collar talking about? Their sins were interconnected with one another. What did that mean? What…

"Come on…" Jin placed a finger over his lips, a void of disappointment filling his face. "Why do you think this entire Killing Game took place at St. Esther's?! Why do you think I gave you a history lesson on the Kamukura Project?! Surely you have some idea on why you were all chosen specifically for this Killing Game…!"

"And your motivation for wanting to kill us before you got executed…" Holland slowly began to realize what was going on. "A-A-Ag…

…

...AGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"

Holland clutched his head and let out a scream.

The realization had sunken on what his sin really was. Or rather, what their sins were. His face turned pale. Sweat started to pour from his head. And his fellow prisoners had turned to him with worried expressions on their faces.

"H-Holland?!" Abigail widened her eyes. "W-What's wrong?! W-What's…"

"...No… this isn't true…" Holland clutched his head. "This… can't be true…"

"W-What?!" Haruto blinked. "D-Did you figure something out again?! W-What the fuck is going on?!"

"I… I…" Holland felt faint.

Was this really the reason why they were thrown into this Killing Game? Was this really the truth behind why out of all the Ultimates in the world, they were the ones who were chosen? Holland knew he needed to hold his ground. His fellow inmates were expecting an answer from him. But he knew that the moment he answered, their entire world would change…

Because…

"...I know what our sins are…" Holland grimaced. "I know… why Jin Kirigiri targeted us specifically in this Killing Game. Could it be because…

…

…we are artificial Ultimates…?"

"W-What…?" Haruto blinked.

"H-Huh?" Abigail was speechless.

"Y-You're… You… Huh?" Mimi was dumbfounded.

"Agh…" Arthur folded his arms and looked away.

It was exactly as Holland predicted. The moment he said those words, their faces paled. The reality of their situation hit them harder than they could've expected. That the reason they were even in this mess was solely because they weren't actual Ultimates. They were artificial. Just like the Ultimate Hope, the lab scientists of St. Esther's tried to create. Just like #66… Titus… They were all…

"No!" Mimi shook her head frantically. "This can't be true! This just can't! Holland! Please tell us you're joking!"

She blinked.

"Wait, of course!" Mimi tried to smile. "Evidence! You don't have evidence to prove anything! There's no evidence that proves–"

"No… Mimi, there is…" Abigail bit her lip upon realization.

"B-Big Sis Abby?!" Mimi widened her eyes.

"The evidence that proves that we're artificial Ultimates…" Abigail started to bite her finger in shock. "It's…

…

…my sister's file."

…

Name: Ashlen Ellsworth

Gender: Female

Birth Date: February 2

Height: 5'9

Weight: 159 lbs

Blood Type: O

Ultimate Talent: Ultimate Equestrian

…

"There was a file with all of us… including my sister's..." Abigail looked down as she thought of her sister. She wondered the reason behind it for a while but now that she knew… "In that file, it listed out some of our more basic yet private information that we would see on each other's eHandbooks. But what we don't know is why my sister was in it. Or more specifically..."

"D-Don't tell me," Mimi covered her mouth.

Abigail nodded, solemnly.

"Why she had an Ultimate Talent…" she grimaced.

"D-Did she not have one?" Haruto blinked.

"No!" Abigail shook her head. "That's why it was so surprising to me at the time! My sister never showed anything amazing as having a Talent! So, for her to just show up all of a sudden with an Ultimate Talent!"

"I... N-No!" Mimi shook her head. "No no! If we're artificial Ultimates, then we would've remembered it right?! We would've remembered getting involved in experiments and stuff and and..."

"...No..." Holland shook his head. "We wouldn't have..."

"The side effect that Titus suffered..." Holland rubbed his chin. "Well, it had to be amnesia, right?"

"Correct," White Collar nodded. "To be a subject of this experiment would mean that any memory of being involved with it would disappear altogether. Suppressed in the back of one's mind. Unfortunately, because Mister Erskine was the first to actually live through it... He suffered a more severe version. And as a result, Mister Erskine was unable to remember most of his life before he became #66. And Noshino and Pisch utilized that to their advantage. They faked some paperwork and announced to the world that Titus Erskine was dead. Died so soon…"

"Because getting involved with it would wipe our memories..." Holland said. "In fact... wasn't that first mentioned when we met White Collar for the first time...?"

"...My name is White Collar," the man's mask curled into a sinister grin, with the grin itself resembling what you would expect from a sinister looking jack-o-lantern. Sharpened lips that extended itself to the upper parts of his cheek, the man's distorted British accent continued to echo off through the group's ears. "And it's true. You didn't do anything to me personally. But your very existence is an inconsistency to the world's balance."

"What are you talking about?" Kane gritted his teeth.

Titus looked at White Collar. He was no longer smiling. He hadn't been for the past few minutes. This entire situation was worse than he had originally thought. So much for an escape room!

"Keh," White Collar stifled a chuckle. "You really don't know, do you? Or are you just feigning ignorance? Maybe you've forgotten. Or maybe it's something else all entirely. Whatever the case may be, I'm having a change of heart. It would be quite unfair if I just terminated you all, wouldn't you say?"

"B-But if that's the case..." Haruto gritted his teeth. "Then, what does that even mean?! Like were we just ordinary students and then gotten ourselves involved in that same fucking experiment that turned us into Ultimates?! That sounds fucking…"

"Keh… Heh…" Jin fixed his tie as he tilted his head. "Kyahahahahahaha. Have you all forgotten? About the supposed sister location?"

'KAMUKURA PROJECT: POSTPONED'

And underneath these large red bolded words were more words:

"W-What… you don't mean…" Haruto widened his eyes.

"Did they… finish their research at the sister location…?" Mimi widened her eyes. "W-Where?! Where was it?!"

"The 'where' doesn't exactly matter…" Jin pointed out, his eyes looking indifferent to their reactions. "But the 'what'... Now that's something you all seemed to have forgotten…"

"The 'what'?" Mimi just couldn't believe the news she was being forced to listen to.

"You see… after the research concluded at the sister location…" Jin began to explain. "After so many sacrifices and blood that had to be paid, all the funds and research concluded with them unable to create that Ultimate Hope they wanted. But… what they found instead was a new opportunity for their greed to become satiated…"

Jin let his eyes glower toward the five.

"Hope's Peak Academy is a well-recognized school where only the best of the best may enter," Jin explained. "Our motto is simple. Whoever graduates from Hope's Peak, is set for life. And that has continued to be true since the Kamukura Era. But unfortunately, not everyone can be as talented as an Ultimate… And Ultimates at the time were a rare breed…"

Jin spun his cane around and caught it by the blunt end of it.

"Therefore, the Steering Committee came up with a disgustingly wonderful solution… A 'win-win' as they would call it…" Jin sneered. "Using the new discovery that they had unlocked through their experiments; they were now able to give any ordinary student a Talent of their choosing. In turn, that would allow them to enter Hope's Peak Academy as an Ultimate. But of course, it didn't come cheap…"

Jin placed a finger over his lips.

"In other words, they were quite literally paying to get into Hope's Peak Academy…" Jin revealed. "Five hundred thousand dollars was all they needed…"

"Pop quiz," White Collar grinned. "If all 16 of you equate to eight million, and the current 12 of you equate to six million… How much is each individual here worth?"

White Collar narrowed his eyes as he tested the intelligence of his peers, none of which were happy that they were called in by the Devil to do some math.

"...Five hundred thousand dollars…" Holland was the first to solve the problem. "Each person here is worth five hundred thousand dollars."

"And that is how much your life is worth in this pitiful world," White Collar mused, shaking his head. "So much more than the common man. You all might as well be royalty! Ah… I forgot. One of you is… and yet they are on the same level of price as the rest of you. How embarrassing, isn't it, Mister Kingston?"

"...to cheat their way into becoming a Hope of the New World," Jin continued, placing a finger over his sneering mouth. "But of course, artificial Talent is not real Talent… And many of these false idols often show their true colors afterwards…"

Jin pointed the sharp end of his cane toward Mimi first.

"Isn't that right, Miss Isadora De La Vega…?" Jin questioned. "You chose to get a Talent… Ultimate Fairytale Writer in order to join up with a person you thought you could call a friend… But what did you get instead…?"

"Why did you have to follow me to this goddamn school..." Griffin gritted his teeth, now angry. "I came here because my future was going to be set as soon as I graduate. Not so I can be stalked by a freak like you!"

"S-Stalk–?" Isadora blinked. "N-No. I wasn't stalking… I… I… was…"

"Oh really?" Griffin deadpanned. "You weren't stalking? Really? Then, how the fuck did you end up in the same school as me?! How the fuck did you end up in the same classroom as me? How the fuck did you become an Ultimate like me?!"

"You were ostracized for being a supposed stalker… and when the going got tough…" Jin glanced at the poor girl indifferently…

WHACK!

Suddenly, the laughing stopped.

The look of amusement on their faces shifted to shock and fear. Everyone had either backed away from Mimi or had huddled around Ronaldo. There was blood slowly seeping on the side of his head and that blood just so happened to have stained the leg of the chair. The very part she used to strike her bully.

Mimi slowly dropped her chair in shock as she walked closer to Ronaldo.

"R-Ronaldo–" she asked but before she could even move closer, she was pushed away.

"Stay away from him," Griffin, who was unsurprisingly the one who took the initiative to check on him, coldly glared at her. "The guy just wanted to have fun and look at what you did to him…"

"You hospitalized him…" Jin coldly said.

"I– I–" Mimi started to shake over the memories of her own misdeeds. "I just wanted… I just wanted…"

"To what?" Jin cruelly asked. "Be with people that you can never match up with? Just how desperate were you to make such a life-changing decision to become someone you aren't…"

Mimi started to tear up.

"Hey asshole!" Haruto clenched his fist. "Back away from her or I swear to Christ…"

"You'll what?" Jin grimly said. "You'll beat me into a concussion? Like what you did to one Ronald Charger…?"

"Be careful of the Walker boy," they said.

"He's trouble," they said.

"You see what he did to him?" they asked. "That guy is bad news."

You take away a man's greatest love and he'll spend the rest of his life avenging it. Never had Haruto believed those words to be so true than the time he pounced on Ronald Charger with pure rage in his eyes. The moment he had learned that he had not only lost his spot on the team for some bullshit reason– apparently the coach mentioned something about basketball not being fit for him which was factually untrue —he had lost his spot to Charger, a wet pussy who couldn't even land a three-pointer shot without falling flat on his face. He was an insult to basketball. He was an insult to his pride and his rightful place as a member of the middle school Cougars' basketball team.

"Ah… in fact…" Jin fixed his tie before giving Haruto a look of scorn and contempt. "Wasn't that the whole reason why you wished to get an artificial talent? You weren't good enough for the big leagues… and thanks to your father, he made sure you would never be able to touch the sport in school…"

"Y-Yeah, so what?!" Haruto glared. "A-Again, why the fuck does it matter?! I don't have my goddamn Talent anymore because of my leg, damn it!"

"Tell that to little Shiota…" Jin glared at Haruto.

"You don't care…" Shiota stepped forward. "You don't care about me at all."

"Shiota, what the fuck are you talking about?" Haruto sighed, getting out of bed. "Of course I care about you. Why the fuck would you–"

"If you did care about me, you would've sat by my side at the dinner table!" Shiota harshly stated. "You would've stuck up for your little brother whenever Father kept pushing! You didn't even fucking hear what he had said to me today, because if you did, you would've stood up and told Father to knock it off!"

"How much abuse did your own brother have to suffer… before he became the perfect pawn for your abusive father to use for his every whim…?" Jin tilted his head. "And for what? Your own selfishness…"

"G-Grk…" Haruto's face turned blue when Jin recounted his history.

Jin extended his arms out, his mouth twitching and eyes gone mad.

"So, in the end… don't you see?!" Jin exclaimed. "Creating the legendary #66 was their way of biting down onto the forbidden fruit! It was the opening of Pandora's Box, to let in a new kind of Hope enter the world! A Hope that is false! Imitative! Fraudulent! Fake! That was the kind of Hope they brought into the New World. That is the new kind of Hope that was born from the Kamukura Project! A generation of ordinary students claiming to be the Hope of the next generation… Charlatans, the lot of them!"

Jin pointed the sharp end of his cane toward the five artificial Ultimates.

"Just like all of you…" Jin coldly said. "So, once again, how dare you put yourself on the same pedestal as my own daughter…?"

Mimi was trying hard to keep her tears deep inside.

Haruto glanced away, his face paling more and more.

Holland flipped his hoodie over his head as he avoided eye contact.

Arthur folded his arms and kept quiet.

But the one who was the most vocal was Abigail, who had slowly realized the truth about her entire life. Slowly realized what might have happened. She clutched her head, visibly shaking and eyes nearly popping out of her head as she tried to keep calm. But keeping calm was impossible. Because in her case… it was entirely different for her…

"M-Mom… w-what the fuck did you do…?" she muttered to herself.

"How dare you all call yourselves Ultimates…?" Jin coldly said, keeping his arms outstretched like a God. "How dare you all claim to be the Hopes of the New World! When I became the Headmaster of Hope's Peak, I envisioned a world where True Hope would lead the next generation to a better world! But all of you here are neither true nor Hope! You are nothing but ordinary students pretending to be something you're not! You are not True Hope… You are...

…

…the Corrupted Hope."

…

"Ellsworth, right? It seems you've found us yet again…"

Francine Ellsworth tucked the address she had safely written down into her purse as she stepped inside. The location was well-hidden. Private. She'd known these folks often moved around whenever they pleased. Yet she was lucky enough to keep contact with one of the head researchers from the first time she met them. One of the main surgeons behind the surgical treatment…

"How is your daughter?" the surgeon plainly asked. "I trust she is enjoying her new life as an Ultimate?"

Francine clenched her fist.

"...Ashlen is dead," Francine felt herself begin to shake the moment she let those words escape her lips. "She…"

The surgeon stared at her briefly before glancing back at his paperwork.

"...Is that so…?" the surgeon asked. "I am sorry to hear that. But if you are looking to sue us for anything, please note that you have signed our waivers so therefore-"

"I'm not looking for anything like that…" Francine grimaced.

The surgeon paused, glancing at the distraught mother.

Ashlen's death was two months ago. The funeral was held two weeks after. And yet Francine just couldn't understand why. Why would she just throw her life away over something good that she did to her? Why would she just… The Ellsworth name meant everything to her and she thought that Ashlen understood that. So… why abandon them like her husband did…?

Francine quickly took out something from her purse and placed it on the desk.

It was a wad of cash.

The surgeon eyed it warily.

"I have another daughter," Francine told him. "Abigail. Ashlen's younger sister. Please. Make her an Ultimate just like Ashlen was. An Ultimate Equestrian…"

The surgeon glanced at the wad of cash.

"You know the price is-" the surgeon began to say before he was cut off.

"There's more where that came from," Francine said. "I just... Just give me the documents."

The surgeon slowly took the wad of cash and examined it thoroughly, flipping through each bill with intrigue. Then, leaning back with a sigh, he glanced at the distraught mother with slight indifference.

"Are you really sure about this?" the surgeon questioned. "You already did this to your eldest daughter without her knowing and look how that turned out for you…"

"I can't believe it! I can't believe what you just did! I can't… Why would you do that?!"

"I made you into what you're supposed to be!"

"You had no right to do this to me! This is my body! You can't force me to become someone I'm not Mom!"

"As a member of the Ellsworth family, you have a duty to fix the hole your father made! The entire Ellsworth family reputation depends on it! I mean, look at this! This could be a good opportunity to-"

"Oh my God! Family reputation, this! Family reputation, that! I can't take this anymore! You went too far this time, Mom!"

"You better not be thinking of rebelling on me like your lazy little sister, young lady! Ashlen Ellsworth! Get back here, this instant!"

Francine shuddered over the thought of her eldest daughter's last word to her. The thought of seeing her eldest daughter hanging from the horse stables started to replay in her mind. She looked away uneasily. Deep down, she knew what she was doing was practically a curse against God. But she couldn't help it. Her family needed all the help they could get. The Ellsworth reputation depended on it!

"I'm sure about this," Francine firmly nodded. "My daughter will soon appreciate the sacrifice I had to make for this. So… just do your job as a surgeon and I'll do mine as a mother…"

The surgeon looked at her before nodding.

He slowly handed her a document and a pen.

"...Very well," he told her. "Please fill this out. Name. Gender. Height. Weight. Birthday. Blood Type. The Ultimate Talent you desire…"

Francine did as she was told. And she held no regrets for doing this a second time. She uncapped the pen and began to fill out everything with ease. The determination to move past this and start afresh was burning within her. She filled out:

Name: Abigail Ellsworth

Gender: Female

Height: 5'8

Weight: 156 lbs

Birthday: September 15

Blood Type: O-

Ultimate Talent…

She paused.

Then she wrote down:

Ultimate Equestrian

This was what was best for her family. Ashlen Ellsworth couldn't handle the pressure so now it was up to her youngest daughter. Abigail was going to save the Ellsworth reputation. Not as an ordinary girl but as an Ultimate. That was what she wanted.

She wanted Abigail to save her family reputation…

Once she finished signing the document, she slid it back to the surgeon...

...who held it with intrigue.

"You've come a long way, Marakovich..." the surgeon stated, looking up from the document and glancing at Victor Marakovich as he sat in a chair that definitely couldn't withstand his weight. "Tell me. Why did an illegal Russian immigrant come running to us of all places?"

"...I have no other place to be..." Victor revealed. "I am a wanted man in my country. I come here to America for a fresh start. At the moment, I have nothing. No money. No family. No friends. But I hear to be an Ultimate could help me get me back on feet greatly... It can help me escape to live a free and better life..."

"So, you want an Ultimate Talent to start anew..." the surgeon said. "What a fascinating reasoning for wanting an Ultimate. Very well. I can help you."

"What about payment?" Victor asked, looking surprised. "I hear price is..."

"No need to worry..." the surgeon shook his head. "You are a young man lost in a foreign country. The least I can do is get you back on your feet. You can always repay me back at a later date... yes?"

The surgeon tilted his head as Victor looked down at the floor, ashamed.

The guilt that Victor felt was unbearable. He was selfish for doing this. Selfish to become someone he was not in an effort to run away from his past. He abandoned his family. Within long, one of his family members was going to suffer in the gulags. It should've been him and yet, like the coward he was... He ran. He ran to an unknown country. He ran here for help. He ran to become someone else entirely different. He wasn't Victor Marakovich anymore...

"Marakovich?" the surgeon tilted his head.

"...Yes, I will pay you back when I become Ultimate Fitness Trainer..." Victor buried his guilt and replaced it with a cold look on his face.

"...Excellent," the surgeon said. "I will see you in two hours..."

Victor nodded as the surgeon moved away. He trembled in his seat and thought back to his family. His Pa. His brothers. But he knew all too well he had to do this. He can't go back. He couldn't. His life in Russia was over. It was time for a new beginning for him. Being Victor Marakovich wasn't what he wanted. What he wanted was simple...

He wanted to live his own life...

"Birth name."

"Victor Marakovich."

"Country of origin."

"Russia."

"Age."

"18."

"Birthday."

"March 25th."

"Height."

"6'8."

"Weight."

"Mmm, I estimate around 300 lbs?"

"That's fine."

Victor remembered standing in an unfamiliar bright room, watched by reflecting eyes and curious individuals. His innocent face looked younger and was replaced with determination and slight guilt. There was something troubling him. Something he was scared of. And Barracuda remembered it.

He remembered it to this day. The very thing that has haunted him. His sin.

"Something troubling you, Marakovich?"

"I-It's nothing," Victor said.

"It's advisable you tell us your concerns before we start the procedure."

Victor remained silent as he listened to the voice. He looked down, his face slightly crestfallen. That look of determination and fear was replaced with sorrow. A face that he wished his family could see…

"...I miss them," Victor looked down. "My family."

"..."

"I'm a disappointment," Victor clenched his fist. "Running away like a coward. I don't know if I could ever face my Pa's eyes ever again after doing this."

"Don't tell us you're backing away now. You've already signed the waivers and everything. Your ticket to a free country. Away from what you described as Hell."

"I– I know that," Victor looked back up toward those reflections. "And I thank you guys for doing this. But…"

"Look, Marakovich. You're a wanted man. The whole country is after your head. What other choice do you have?"

Victor remained silent.

"Besides, isn't this what you signed up for? An escape to a new and better life. Isn't that what you wanted?"

Victor said nothing. This was what he wanted. Truly, this was what he wanted. He looked down, thinking long and hard about everything before glancing back up and nodding. His face returned to that determined and confident look.

"Yeah," Victor confirmed. "It is."

"Atta boy. Now then. Let's get the procedure ready."

"Wait," Victor ordered.

"...?"

"Can I make one last request?" Victor asked.

"...Of course. What is it?"

"I want to change my name," Victor firmly stated. "My legal name is Victor Marakovich but from now on I want to be called something else."

"...Very well. What would you like to be called?"

"Barracuda," Victor answered.

"...Like the fish?"

"Yes," Victor held onto the dog tags on his neck. He clutched it tightly, in remembrance of his father who was probably disappointed in him. "It's a very important name…"

"...Very well. We will make a note of it in your file…"

"...Thank you…"

"...No need to thank me," the surgeon nodded as he took the document that Carter Franklin had signed off to him. "I can see that you're desperate to prove yourself. That's good. That's very good. I can see you have the spirit that most Ultimates have…"

As Carter fiddled his thumbs, he looked close to blushing. This was the first time in his life that he was actually complimented. And it wasn't from his family, his sister, or anyone he really knew. It was from this stranger. The man who would help change his life for the better. He watched as the surgeon raised an eyebrow to what he had marked down on his document.

"...It says you wish to be the Ultimate Opinion Columnist…" the surgeon said. "That is very specific…"

"...It's… I-It's because I want to impress people…" Carter looked down, timidly. "I want to impress my mom. I want to impress my dad. But most of all I want… I want… I want to impress my teacher! Mr. Rowan!"

Carter closed his eyes and started to shout.

"He's been more like a father to me than my own dad ever was!" Carter exclaimed. "If I do this, he'll be happy! And I'll get to stay by his side! And I can also voice my own opinions on the side without being scared! Being an Ultimate will help me a lot, d-don't you think?!"

"Carter Franklin," Rowan sighed. "He was a great kid. Just had a lot of issues. Family issues to be exact. Turned him into a timid, little mouse who just needed guidance. Had small little talks and sessions with him and at first, he didn't show much of anything. Too shy to show anything I would guess."

Rowan then smiled softly.

"One day he comes home and suddenly, he shows me what he could have been," Rowan reminisced. "He showed a lot of promise in writing so I helped him out. Helped get his name around the newspapers. All the people loved what he had to say about specific subjects. All the people... except his family."

The surgeon listened intently to him.

Then, he chuckled and nodded.

"As I said, you show a lot of spirit for an ordinary kid…" the surgeon chuckled. "Now, as for the matter of payment. You do realize this is a lot of money–"

"D-Don't worry!" Carter exclaimed, slamming his hand onto the counter. "I… I… W-When I become successful, I'll give you the money I owe! All five hundred thousand of it!"

The surgeon paused for a moment.

He had to admit that he liked this kid's resolve. Compared to the parents who he had to deal with, the students on the other hand… Well, they were definitely easier to work with. Partly because this was their choice. Their life-changing decision. And who was he to put a stop to dreams that could easily be accomplished by his hands…? After all...

All Carter really wanted was to be someone worth a damn...

"Side-effects will have you forget ever being here, so I will try to savor this part of our conversation..." the surgeon nodded. "Regardless, see you in two hours…"

…A briefcase was placed directly onto his counter.

When the surgeon looked up, he glanced at Cassandra Mura. She was smirking down at him, proudly. Folding her arms and baiting for him to open it, the surgeon stood up from his seat. He unclipped the briefcase and opened it, revealing there to be thousands worth of money in cash.

"As promised," Cassandra twirled her hair with indifference. "See? Told ya I'd pay you the rest of what I had…"

"...I'm surprised you even did, considering the Talent you wished me to give you," the surgeon slowly closed the briefcase.

"Bitch, please, I'm already playing with the cops as is," Cassandra rolled her eyes. "I'd rather not make more enemies than I have to. Besides, this is nothing. With my new Ultimate Talent, I can always get more. New World means new idiots I can fucking leech some money off of…"

She folded her arms and glanced at the surgeon with a smirk.

"And it's all thanks to you…" she smirked.

Cassandra burst out laughing as she counted the funds on her computer. She had read the log of complaints filed under the Reddit community and couldn't help but smirk at the idiots that fell for her scams. She had to admit, spending some of that pocket money… It was well and worth it now that she was scamming people at a higher degree than she normally did.

She sat back, deleting her most recent account and keeping the money all to herself. She's started something of an internet rumor now. Honestly, she never thought it would get this far but here she was.

She's made people fear the user, Cam.

She's taken money from countless people.

And yet despite all of that…

…she was no step closer to providing enough for her father, Hikaru Mura, to quit at least one job. She tightened her fist. God, her father was stubborn.

"...I'm glad you're enjoying your life," the surgeon nodded as he placed the briefcase under his desk. "But try and stay out of trouble…"

"Pft, whatever doc," Cassandra rolled her eyes as she turned to leave.

She paused.

"But still, thanks for everything," Cassandra said. "This is seriously going to help out a lot…"

The surgeon didn't understand but Cassandra had her reasons. If she became an Ultimate Scammer and gathered enough money, Hikaru Mura would never have to work a single job in his life again. He could leave everything to her. And he could finally be the father she desperately needed. That was all she wanted. That was her greatest desire... She just...

She just wanted her father...

She walked through the door she had come from and closed the door from behind…

…The door opened once more as Holland Delaney stepped in, warily.

Walking toward the counter, he could see that the surgeon was at work, filing away some paperwork. Upon hearing the door open, he glanced up. Holland had kept his hands in his pocket as he stoically walked up toward the surgeon. It didn't take long for the surgeon to recognize him.

"...You must be Delaney…" the surgeon said. "Please, have a seat."

"...How quickly can we get started?" Holland asked.

"So eager to become an Ultimate?" the surgeon questioned.

"...Yes…" Holland said. "I want to get started and help my mother as soon as possible…"

Always such a momma's boy.

The surgeon had to admit that when it came to those who wished to become Ultimates, it was usually parents doing it for their children. But this time, it was flipped the other way around. This time, it was a child doing it for their single parent. (There was Cassandra, but she never really made much mention of it so to the surgeon, Holland would've been the first).

"...And you think the way to help your mother is through game designing?" the surgeon questioned.

"...It's the only thing I'm remotely gifted at and even then…" Holland looked down, emotionlessly. "...I'm… still no good."

Biggie rubbed his chin as he placed the rolled-up dollar bills into his mouth. He murmured something to himself.

"...Kid has made a ton of games before…" Biggie muttered. He muttered some more but all Holland was able to hear were certain things here and there. "...First games… not that good… But later games… Best-sellers… Lots of people… Economy… Buying… Money…"

Biggie stood up and grinned.

"Alrighty then Holloway!" Biggie exclaimed.

"Hollan–" Holland tried to correct.

"You got yourself the green light!" Biggie grinned at him. "All you have to do is make the game! That's it!"

"...That's why I think being an Ultimate would help me improve…" Holland spoke up, seriously. "And I need to be one as soon as possible."

Holland kept his eyes fixated on the surgeon. Even though he showed little emotion, the surgeon could tell how much this meant to him. To be an Ultimate just so he could be a good and dutiful son. Frankly, the surgeon was jealous. If only his son had the same desires as Holland had. The same desires…

…of wanting to do nothing more than support the single parent that had supported him all these years.

"Very well, let me get you the paperwork…" the surgeon nodded.

He took out another document and handed it…

…to Ina Hamamura.

As quick as she could, Ina filled out the form with ease and slid the document back to the surgeon. She was silent all throughout. From the looks of it, she had fought tooth and nail to get where she was. And she was wasting no time to get this done. The moment the surgeon read her file, was the moment he seemed to have understood.

"...Ultimate Revolutionary?" the surgeon questioned. "Interesting Talent… May I ask why…?"

Ina bit her lip as she thought back to her mistake…

"...You betrayed us," Ina mumbled, looking down. "You betrayed me…"

"Betrayal?" John blinked before laughing. "Tut tut. I can't betray someone I wasn't truly allied with. That's not how this works. If anyone is a traitor, it's you. After all, you've let me correspond with your little organization and in the process, my employer has successfully infiltrated every part of it."

John laughed as Ina said nothing to that regard.

"I expected way better from you Ina Hamamura," John laughed. "People talked so fondly of you. You were one of their strongest members and yet you really aren't as good as they say…"

"...I was too weak," Ina glanced away. "And as a result, I… I caused irreparable damage to people I called my friends and allies…"

So, by becoming an Ultimate…" the surgeon glanced at the document she filled out.

"...I can atone for my mistakes," Ina glanced up. "And I can prevent something similar from happening again and rid the world of demons."

The surgeon could see the fire sparkling in her eyes. Once again, another ordinary child with the resolve and spirit necessary to pass as an Ultimate, even if she was going to be an artificial one anyway. Because that was who Ina Hamamura was. As a member of Flame X, she could be the best revolutionary the world would ever see if she was just given that chance to be one.

All she wanted was to be the one to defeat the demons of society…

And the surgeon knew he could help her with that. He stood up and gave her a nod of understanding. And as a courtesy…

"...I'm sure you know…" the surgeon began. "That I request payment…"

"...Yeah, don't worry, I'll pay you…"

Jared Caertas lowered his police hat.

When the surgeon saw Jared for the first time, he was initially worried that the police had found his illegal operation. That perhaps he had been busted for what he was doing. And to think that he had just moved his operations to Canada… But fortunately for him, it seemed like Jared was more focused on a different problem.

"...The Womanizer struck again," Jared said, coldly glancing at the ground. "And this time he went too far. He… He went after someone I really care about…"

"Oops, this is that… Ah, I'm sorry," Chief Easeman tipped his head down apologetically. "I didn't mean to interrupt you and the rookie's little moment here! You're the girl that got attacked right? Yeah, the rookie here went into overdrive because of that moment."

"Don't remind me," Talia instinctively touched her neck.

"I guess that would explain how the rookie here went from someone who had so much to learn to competing head-to-toe with some of the PD's finest," Chief Easeman boisterously laughed. He placed a large hand on Jared's shoulder. "I'm telling you sonny; you keep this up and I might as well just give you my job. Then you'd be the youngest Chief of Police in the district! Gahaha!"

"I came here because I heard you can help me turn me from an ordinary cadet into a full-fledged police officer…" Jared grimaced. "It's… The only way I can finally get justice. For all the victims."

That was what Jared said.

But the surgeon was getting a hard read on him. He'd imagine what the police cadet at the time was saying was true. As a cadet, he was basically just a rookie. No one would think him to be anything more than that. If he helped him, he'd be far greater that he could ever imagine. But to think this all stemmed on catching a serial killer. Was that truly why Jared wanted to be an Ultimate...?

He just... wanted to catch a scumbag?

"Do you truly believe that…?" the surgeon questioned.

"Yes," Jared said. "I'm just a cadet. The others don't take me seriously! The only way I can do this is if I'm an Ultimate Police Officer, not a cadet…"

The surgeon sat back and examined him.

"You're driven by vengeance…" the surgeon said. "For an Ultimate to wield something like that in their conscience… you'd best be careful."

The surgeon sat back and glanced back at the document that Jared had filled out for him. He tilted his head and looked at the officer sitting in front of him.

"...Very well," he sighed. "But before we begin, could I ask you a question…?"

"...Yes, by all means…"

The surgeon turned his laptop toward Kanenoshin Amao, Kane, showing the pawnshop that his late grandfather had given to him. It looked a little rundown. Wasn't too surprising given the fact that Kane's grandfather had owned it for a relatively long time. But the surgeon was… just not impressed.

"You wish to become an Ultimate just to save your grandfather's shop?" the surgeon blinked. "Do you really need to become an Ultimate just for that…? It's a life-changing decision after all…"

"Grandpa entrusted me with this pawnshop…" Kane looked down. "This pawnshop is his life. I… I can't just leave it."

Kane clenched his fist.

"And even then…" he gritted his teeth as he thought back to one of the last things he said to his grandfather.

"I… I hate seeing you like this," Kane trembled as he avoided looking at his Grandpa's unresponsive state. "I hate the fact that you're leaving me so quickly. I still have so much to learn. I know that. So please. Don't let me do this on my own…"

Wheeze.

"...Grandpa, I know you won't be able to respond to me but at least hear me say," Kane looked up at the ventilator connected to Grandpa's slow breathing patterns. "Hear me say that I know I'm not ready. You're probably still holding on for dear life for me but just know that I know I'm not ready. But I will do everything I can to make myself ready. I learned of this opportunity and-"

Kane narrowed his eyes.

"No," he shook his head. "I won't leave it. I promised Grandpa! I have to become one! I have to become an Ultimate Pawnbroker!"

His resolve was just as strong as any other Ultimate.

After all, just like any other Ultimate, they had a dream and a desire on what they wanted to do with their life. So, who was the surgeon to judge them for what they wanted to do? Kane knew all too well what fate awaited him when he promised Grandpa what he would do when the old man passed. It didn't matter what he wanted. What mattered was what Grandpa expected of him. What Grandpa wanted…

…And what he wanted was for Kane to fulfill his legacy and run that pawnshop!

"...If that is what you want…" the surgeon took out another piece of paper. "Then please, fill out this waiver…"

...Maggie LaDroubi watched as her parents signed the waiver and handed it back to the surgeon.

The surgeon glanced at it and sighed to himself. Once the signature was left there, was the moment he knew all too well that Maggie's parents had made up her mind. They sighed to themselves and smiled at the surgeon, gratefully. Maggie on the other hand could only give them a small, uncomfortable smile.

"...Again, thank you so much for this…" Mrs. LaDroubi thanked the surgeon.

"Our daughter has the looks to be a supermodel but… she doesn't have the talent for it," Mr. LaDroubi folded his arms. "Always going off and fooling around with different men…"

"Dad, that's not something you should say to random people…" Maggie mumbled.

She sat uncomfortably in between her mother and her father. When they told her that they had a new way of trying to afford all the things they wanted, Maggie didn't think changing herself from ordinary to Ultimate material was among the many ways they planned to do so. God. It made her uneasy…

"...Okay," Barracuda gave a small smile. He fixed his glasses. "What about you Maggie? What's your family like?"

"My family?" Maggie blinked. She looked a little bit uneasy. "Well, they're like any typical family really. Barely making it. Average. Middle-class. It's really nothing special."

"And why not?" Mr. LaDroubi laughed. "At least this man here is the type of man that is willing to go and change your life for the better."

He placed a hand on Maggie's shoulder.

"You're going to turn our family from average to something special…" Mr. LaDroubi grinned at her. "So don't you mess it up for any silly boys, got it?"

Maggie didn't say anything and instead nodded.

The surgeon watched the exchange between Maggie and her parents. It was clear that they were using her for their own benefit. But to speak up about it wasn't his place. His job was to give his customers what they wanted. And right now, what Maggie's family wanted was nothing more than the simplest thing in the world:

…They wanted their daughter to make them special.

The surgeon said nothing and prepared the paperwork required for the surgical treatment. But before he could walk away and prepare his working space…

…an extra wad of cash was placed in front of him.

The surgeon looked up to see Mayu Mashiro, slight desperation and fear in her eyes. The surgeon slowly placed his paperwork down and glanced at the wad of cash, confused. He honestly never expected that the daughter of Mashiro Co. would come to him of all people for help. But it was as he should've known. When pushed hard enough, anyone could turn desperate. A rich girl like Mayu was no different…

"What's this for…?" the surgeon asked.

"It's extra money…" Mayu said. "To please keep quiet about this from my grandfather…"

The surgeon slowly took the wad of cash.

"...Didn't you read the waiver?" the surgeon raised an eyebrow. "There is a confidentiality agreement. Whatever happens in the operating room will not be revealed anywhere else. There is no need to pay extra…"

The surgeon handed Mayu the wad of cash.

"Your grandfather will not find out, Mashiro…" the surgeon assured her.

"...But my grandpa is a smart man," Mayu shuddered. "He'll know something is off…"

"I… I just… I don't know," Mayu murmured to herself.

"Look at you," Junichi shook his head with clear disdain in his eyes. "Mayu Mashiro is supposed to grow up to take over my company? The higher-ups have to be joking. You're nothing but a fraud, you damned little girl. Can't even stand up to give a straight answer. How the hell are you supposed to control an entire company if you can't even give your own grandfather a straight answer. I'll repeat myself again. What did you tell the detective?"

"I– I never went to the detective about anything!" Mayu exclaimed. "I never did!"

The surgeon didn't say anything regarding that.

When he looked at the form that Mayu had filled out, he noted that she wished to become the Ultimate Heiress. The only reason why she would want that as a talent was because she knew her chances of inheriting Mashiro Co. was practically nothing without it. It was clear that she knew that her suddenly becoming a respectable candidate was going to become suspicious, but she was still willing to risk it. This was what she wanted…

…She wanted the inheritance.

The surgeon sighed.

"...I apologize, Mashiro," the surgeon shook his head. "But I try not to concern myself with my client's affairs. It's in the waiver you signed after all…"

Mayu looked down.

"...Sorry, I understand," Mayu apologized.

The surgeon nodded and went through the door to his operating room…

…Walking out of his operating room, he watched as Yuumi Kizuchi personally handed him the forms and waivers she had to sign.

Taking the papers in hand, the surgeon walked toward his desk, gesturing for Yuumi to take a seat in front of him. He read through her form carefully, then glanced at the young girl. He noted her attire. A complete sailor outfit with a Sailor Penguin plush toy to boot. And on her form… Well, Ultimate Sailor. Clearly…

"...So, are you a sailing fanatic…?" the surgeon questioned.

"Well, I wouldn't say fanatic!" Yuumi beamed. "But sailing is just… It's just something I want to do!"

Yuumi looked serious.

"I want… I want…" Yuumi frowned.

"I… I remember…" Yuumi repeated as she pulled Mayu's leg closer into the pool. "I… I remember why… I became… a sailor… How… I…"

"L-Let go!" Mayu kept screaming as she tried to pull Yuumi's hand away. She was frightened. Tears started forming from the sides of her eyes. If this kept up, she was going to lose her foot! "L-Let go!"

The pool covering was nearing 94% closed. It was closing in. The panic set in further as she watched Yuumi slowly rise above the pool again.

"M-Mommy… Daddy…?" Yuumi mumbled weakly. "I-Is that you…?"

"I want to find my Mommy and Daddy…" Yuumi looked down. "I want to find where the ocean took them. I want to… conquer the very thing that betrayed them…"

"Such big dreams…" the surgeon remarked. "And yet, there's slight anger behind those words of yours… I suppose it shows just how serious you are when it comes to wanting Talent."

To want something as big as conquering the ocean. That was a tall order that the surgeon wasn't even sure if even being an Ultimate could accomplish such a dream. But once again, who was the surgeon to judge the dreams of his clients? All he was required to do was give his clients what they wanted. And what Yuumi Kizuchi wanted…

…She wanted to conquer the seas.

The surgeon organized his documents together and nodded toward Yuumi and to her Sailor Penguin. With a pen, he marked something on the documents…

…then he looked back up toward Zuri Auraline.

"...Ultimate Bassist?" the surgeon questioned.

"Yes," Zuri twiddled her fingers. "I'm in a band… Dream Palm. I'm sure you've heard of it on the internet. It includes four people. Um, there's Laurel, Venessa, Hana… We're kind of small now, but once we make it big I'm–"

She blushed and looked down, timidly.

"I'm sorry for rambling… I just…" Zuri tried to relax. "I… Compared to my friends, I'm not as good as them. We all practice together and from the looks of it, no matter how hard I try, I just can't match up to them…"

Zuri looked down.

"...I'm too much of an amateur…" she mumbled.

Zuri never bothered to read the comments.

But if Laurel was insisting…

She read what was commented on her video, before widening her eyes.

'Wow! That's Zuri Auraline?! From Dream Palm?! She has a really nice voice!'

'Goddamn, her voice is amazing! Better than that Hana girl's'

'She's so much cooler than her bandmates! Favorite one right there!'

'She should do more solo content more often. Dream Palm's only holding her back…'

'She was such an amateur last I checked! Damn! Going solo really worked out for her!'

"What?" Zuri blinked. "Wow… I… never thought people would like my singing voice that much…"

"...If this keeps up, I'll definitely get kicked out of the band so please…" Zuri stood up and bowed her head. "If you can help me get Ultimate Bassist specifically, I'll make it worth your while…"

The surgeon stared at Zuri.

To think that her desire to be an Ultimate came from her desire to be just as good as her friends were in the band they made together. The surgeon could immediately see so many ways that this could go wrong. But her desperation made it clear to him that it was important. That this was truly what she wanted.

…She wanted to be just as good as her friends.

But… the surgeon couldn't just ignore it.

"You do know that if you become an Ultimate, you may end up becoming better than your friends, yes?" the surgeon questioned.

"I don't care," Zuri shook her head. "At this point, I won't even have friends… So please… Let me do this…"

The surgeon said nothing.

Instead, he nodded and gestured to her to follow him. Together, he led her straight toward the operating room, where she could see a large machine glow right in front of her along with other assistants and scientists ready to help her. The surgeon let her walk first...

And slowly...

Zuri walked closer...

And closer...

…and closer.

Terra Pisch took a seat inside the machine. She took a deep breath and glanced at the small cup of sleeping pills she was to take. Only two pill capsules were inside. She glanced around, noting the faces of the scientists that she had grown fond of working with. And who else was there but Zuno Noshino, who smiled at her supportively.

"...You've been with us for a long time," Zuno grinned. "Now's the day that you've been waiting for. Aren't you excited?"

"...A little nervous, actually," Terra took a deep breath.

"Hey, no need to worry," Zuno walked up and placed a hand on her shoulder. "We stabilized it. You aren't going to go crazy. You aren't going to get violent. Amnesia? We've made it so you won't remember anything about the experiment. But as for everything else, you'll be able to retain it. It's all thanks to you and your hard work that we were able to come this far…"

Terra gave Zuno a supportive smile. Her smile dropped slightly.

"What about Titu– I mean #66…?" Terra asked. "I feel bad…"

"Hey, don't worry about him," Zuno chuckled. "#66 is old news. Once you wake up, it'll be a New World for you. No longer will you be some ordinary Hope's Peak fangirl. Soon, you'll be a Hope for the next generation. So, don't get cold feet now. This is what you wanted, wasn't it?"

"Th-Then… let me prove it to you!" Terra exclaimed. "Let me prove that I do have what it takes to be an Ultimate Therapist!"

"...And how exactly will you prove that?" Jin looked curious. "Mr. Kizakura already made his judgment."

"...Let me study under Dr. Noshino," Terra bargained. "Remove me from the Reserve Course and allow me to enroll in Dr. Noshino's internship program. I will do everything I can to learn all about psychology and therapy under Dr. Noshino's tutelage! After I complete the program, you can have Mr. Kizakura judge me one last time! If he truly still can't see that I have potential, then… I'll give up right then and there!"

Terra took a deep breath.

He was right.

All her contributions to the Kamukura Project. It was all for this moment. It was all for today. All so she could finally become the Ultimate she was always meant to be. An Ultimate Therapist. That was what she desired most. She wanted to be a Hope that the next generation could look up to. So, without much hesitation, she quickly swallowed the pills and laid against the machine. She gave Zuno one last look and smiled.

"...Thank you, Dr. Noshino," she smiled. "For everything."

"See you at the big leagues, kid," Zuno grinned.

Terra closed her eyes, shielding her regrets and observations away from Zuno Noshino. He was her mentor. And not once did she notice a hint of corruption behind Zuno's eyes. The voices of the scientists and surgeons around her were muffled. And she could hear the machine begin to hum. She could feel the machine shake.

And all she knew was that this was it.

She was going to become an Ultimate.

A new member of Hope.

A member of a new kind of Hope for the next generation…

…

…the Corrupted Hope.

That was what they were.

To think that all this time, this was what they were. All this time, they were under the belief that they were truly Ultimates. All this time, they never realized how much of a lie they were truly living their lives in. All this time, they were ordinary students pretending to be something they were not. They were not True Hope. And the realization of that fact alone was enough to shut them down.

"M-Mom… you piece of shit…" Abigail's eyes welled with tears. "Y-You did this to me...? Y-You made me into… Y-You did this to Ashlen too? Y-You… Y-You…"

"F-Fucking hell… I fucking…" Haruto stared at his own hands in disgust.

"I… I… I… just wanted…" Mimi started to weep.

"...N-No way…" Holland looked absolutely distraught. "If all of us are… That means… Zuri… Zuri did that too…?"

"Tch, so is that it…?" Arthur was the only one who had regained his composure.

He kept his arms crossed and stayed silent all throughout. It was clear that he had a feeling this was the outcome they would all come to. That the truth wouldn't be pretty… Yeah, he expected that much. But he still kept his eye on the prize. Despite what they had learned, he was the only one to not have forgotten what their true mission was.

He pointed his finger toward Jin, an accusatory glance in his eyes.

"Is that your motive for trying to damn us all to death?!" Arthur exclaimed. "Just because we're not true Ultimates?! Do you still think you have the right to–"

"Keh, have you not been listening…?" Jin looked at Arthur, indifferently. "It's not just because you are all artificial Ultimates. That was only one part of the reason you were all chosen for the game. As far as I'm concerned, being an artificial Ultimate is only the first of many of your collective sins. Because as I said before, you are all sinners…"

Jin pointed the sharp end of his cane toward each of the five individually.

"Violence," to Mimi.

"Abandonment," to Haruto.

"Drugs," to Holland.

"A car accident that killed your friends…" to Abigail.

"And finally, the worst of them all," Jin narrowed his eyes, hatefully toward Arthur Kingston.

Arthur froze.

He blinked. They had never gone over what his greatest sin was now did they. But after everything they had talked about, there was an inkling of an idea that had appeared. Arthur Kingston was the bane of Jin Kirigiri's anger throughout the entirety of this Killing Game. Jin wanted nothing more than for Arthur Kingston to die. But why?

What was the reason?

Arthur thought back to the last thing Jin had told him as White Collar before he was set to be executed. He thought back to that one moment that could tell him everything…

No one had ever seen White Collar as deranged as he was now. It was freaking everyone out. And no one was more terrified than Arthur, who had no idea what the heck he was talking about. All that was troubling him were the headaches he was having to experience. Gripping his head, he glanced at White Collar one last time as he saw the man point the cane toward him once more.

"Please tell my daughter in Heaven above that her father says hi…" White Collar ordered. "...As you quickly descend down to the fiery pit of Hell itself!"

…Arthur widened his eyes.

He clutched his head. His headaches came back, but this time they hurt much more than they normally did. He realized it too late. But the most important thing was that he realized what the answer was.

Kyoko Kirigiri was the key.

And yet, here he was, suffering through the same migraines and identity crisis that everyone else was facing. But throughout everyone's distress, they made sure to lend an ear and pay attention to what Jin had to say next. The last thing they would learn would destroy everything they had known.

"Arthur Kingston…" Jin stared at Arthur with disdain. "...You don't deserve to be an Ultimate much less like anyone else here. But you are far worse than some artificial Ultimate. You are far worse than any typical sinner. And by all means, you should be burning in Hell for what you've done."

Jin pointed the sharp end of his cane toward Arthur. But this time, his face turned angry. His eyes heated up and a flash of corruption was aimed directly at the snowboarder. He gritted his teeth and looked as if he were getting ready to kill the young student himself. The wrath that Arthur could feel emanating off of him was unreal.

And Arthur knew that this time…

This time, Jin had every right to be mad at him. No. Not just mad. Jin had every right to break rules and want him dead.

"...Have you finally figured it out, Arthur Kingston?" Jin forced a spiteful laugh. "Have you finally figured out the worst sin you have committed your entire life?"

Arthur said nothing.

But the pain and anguish on his face told Jin everything he needed to know.

"Keh…" Jin smiled in contempt. "So, you did figure it out. Are you going tell them, or should I…?"

Arthur said nothing, but his face had turned into an ugly shade of purple.

"T-Tell us what…?" Haruto gritted his teeth.

"Keh… Ky-Kyahahahahahaha!" Jin stretched out his arms as he prepared his grand announcement. "Arthur Kingston's greatest sin! The reason why I have prayed for his downfall this entire game…

…

…Arthur Kingston killed my daughter."

"W-What?" Abigail slowly looked at Arthur in shock.

Arthur avoided the looks on everyone's face.

Soon, they were no longer having that existential crisis over who they were. Now, they were staring at Arthur. Some had the intent to ask whether or not this was true. But none of them were able to open their mouths and let words seep through their lips. And it wasn't like Arthur was going to respond as well. There was clear guilt on his face.

That was all they needed to know that what Jin was saying was true…

"...Keh, do you understand now…?" Jin sneered. "The reason why I hated Arthur Kingston so much…

…

…Arthur Kingston killed my daughter…

…

…by placing her and her friends in a Killing Game…

…

…in other words…

…

…Arthur Kingston was the first White Collar…

…

…and the true mastermind behind the Tragedy of Hope's Peak Academy…"

DANGANRONPA: CORRUPTED HOPE

Part 2 of 3 for our Chapter 6 Trial!

This has come out thanks to the lovely obligations of CandleFire reading and Otterplay reading who, by the way, is the author of his equally great fic, Danganronpa: Algorithmic Alterations! So please check that out whenever you can! Because seriously, it's just like my fic, but in SPAAAAAACE!

Anyway, we're seriously reaching the conclusion of the last Trial! Three-part Trial is crazy and yet, works really damn well :D And not only that, but I threw in a heavy hitter of what I've been trying to hint toward for the longest time, that all the characters submitted to be (plus Terra) is in actuality the real Corrupted Hope! Artficial Ultimates! And goddamn! What a banger! I've been waiting years to reveal this! Ugh finally!

Not only that, but Arthur Kingston was in turn the real culprit behind the Tragedy of Hope's Peak. Something I've been planning to reveal for quite some time! In fact, it was gonna be something to be revealed at the end of Chapter 5 but I thought revealing #66 as Titus would be more narratively pleasing :D

So, sincerely, I really hope you enjoyed this Trial part :D Because reading back, yeah, I kinda like it :D

As always, let me know how I'm doing and what you all thought about the chapter. Did you like it? Have a problem with it? Love it as much as Holland likes his bagels? Then, stay tuned because Part 3 is coming out...

Maybe tomorrow :D Depends on everyone's reading schedules XE

(Cough Project Cough)

Prisoners Remaining: 5

Abigail Ellsworth - The Artificial Ultimate Equestrian (oddlyillregular) [1,000,000]

Arthur Kingston - The Artificial Ultimate Snowboarder (SinWriter7) [0]

Haruto Walker - The Artificial Former Ultimate Basketball Player (theotakureader101) [0]

Holland Delaney - The Artificial Ultimate Game Designer (Sempi) [1,000,000]

Mimi Kazoo - The Artificial Ultimate Fairytale Writer (Idraegan) [0]