DORM 2P | MONDAY | 7AM

I had never gotten out of bed so quickly before, I was almost surprised with myself. But then again, how could I sleep knowing that the first day of my sunshine-y future starts now?!

Sorry, allow me to give you some context.

My name is Richard Park, but my friends call me Ricky. Now, you currently see me and wonder- why on earth did he go to bed in his casual clothes? But we'll get to that. There's something else I want to tell you first!

So, I imagine you're familiar with sports. Baseball, football, American football, and whatever else, right? Well, I, Richard Park, through inspiring countless sports teams to victory, have recently been declared the "Ultimate Team Mascot".

Richard Park, Ultimate Team Mascot

Now, what does that mean exactly? To be honest, I'm not really sure! Maybe there's some sports science guy that could tell you all the details of what I do or something, but all I know is my results!

When I was scouted to be an Ultimate Student, I was shown documents that showcased my cheering history for different teams. And according to the numbers, the team I root for wins 15 out of 16 times. The recruiter, and apparently the big guys over at Hope's Peak, all agree that that's way too consistent to just be a coincidence. I've heard the word "good luck charm" be tossed around when people talk about me, but I think some people underestimate the power of encouragement (especially when that encouragement is doing backflips for your fans)!

Not me though, the power of encouragement is LITERALLY unlocking a life I had never even dreamed of before. Speaking of which, let me get back to it.

It wasn't long before I left my dormitory- did you hear that? MY dormitory? Yeah, this is real.

Anyways, it wasn't long before I left my dormitory. The first thing I wanted to do now that I was officially moved in was meet my classmates! Or maybe I wanted to explore the academy? Oh, wait, I could do both!

I had some incredible "pep" in my step as I traversed the halls of the second floor. There were plenty of dorms, but I didn't need to worry about losing track of mine. Dorm 2P, end of the hall, you can't miss it!

The first place I thought to check out was the student lounge. I can already imagine that I'll be spending a lot of time there, hanging out with my new ultimate student friends.

STUDENT LOUNGE | MONDAY | 8AM

With the door clearly labelled as "student lounge", there was no way I could have gotten lost. I entered the room, and was completely and totally shocked by the, uh… Boring-ness of it?

I don't know, it just didn't quite scream "behold! I am the ultimate student lounge!"

Instead, I was met with three white sofas in a ring around a beige rug. No TV or anything, no billiards table, no, uh, entertainment whatsoever? Hm. What WAS noteworthy though was that there was another student in here!

Huh? How did I know it was a student? Intuition. All ultimate students have an excellent sense of intuition.

Before I could even count to "1", this dude gave me the most back-straightening-est salute I had ever seen in my life.

"Hello there, my comrade of future classes!" He said, "I do not believe we have met, but I do hope that we do some excellent work together in these upcoming years!"

I was a little confused. Do I salute back? Oh screw it, I saluted back. "Hello to you too, comrade!"

"Oh!" He looked a little shocked that I reflected his energy a bit, but his shocked face didn't last for very long. "Hm, I almost thought that you too were a bearscout for a second, but your salute is all wrong! Well, that was a lie, it wasn't all wrong. But if you ever want to be a high-ranking bearscout like me, you really ought to straighten out your back for your salutes!"

A 'bearscout'? Never heard of it. Must be one of those groups that teach kids to survive in the woods? Or do they sell cookies?

"Ah, I guess I'm not quite bearscout material yet, huh?" I replied, humoring the idea.

The guy shook his head- "No, no, everyone can be bearscout material! After all, the 'I' in 'BEARLIFE' stands for 'Inclusive'! Oh, and 'BEARLIFE' is a sort of acronym that us bearscouts need to remember, in case you didn't know."

"Oh yeah? So there's still hope for me yet?"

He nodded enthusiastically. "Oh, yes! Absolutely. If you're ever truly willing to commit yourself to the bearscouts, feel free to find me, and I'll look into getting you initiated!"

"Woah there buddy, before we start talking about initiations and stuff. Could I get your name?"

"Oh, of course!" He saluted me once again- I could feel my back crack just by watching his back get even straighter. Is second hand back pain a thing? "I, from troupe 218, am Liam Green. At home, I am an excellent bearscout. But around here, I might be more well known as the Ultimate Cartographer. It's an honor to meet you!"

Liam Green, Ultimate Cartographer

Cartography… Sounds like… Photography? No, wait, that thought process is a trap! Cartography is about maps and whatever!

Liam reached out his hand to me, and I did the same as we shaked hands. "It's an honor to meet you too, Liam Green. My name is Richard Park, Ultimate Team Mascot."

"Tell me, Richard, have you met our other classmates yet?" Liam asked. "If you have not, I would be delighted to help introduce you to all of them."

I was honestly loving this Liam's energy, buuuuut I didn't want to totally commit to having him as my 1 for the next couple of hours.

"I appreciate the offer man, but I think I can manage on my own."

"I see. In that case," He made a motion as though he were scratching an imaginary claw against his own chest. "This is how true bearscouts say farewell to eachother. So, farewell Richard! I hope to see you soon!"

I copied the clawing motion. Again, I don't really get this stuff, but it's kinda interesting just to see how much stuff there is to it. Proper saluting, secret ways to say bye, the whole BEARLIFE acronym. I wonder what those other letters stand f-

Oh shit, is this a cult?

STUDENT LOUNGE | MONDAY | 8AM

Moving along, it turns out there was a 'little' more to the student lounge than the first glance made me think. In the back of the room, there's a sort of kitchen space. Fridge, freezer, stovetop, breakfast bar, etc. Hm, I wonder if this academy is more chopsticks or more forks. I mean, I use both perfectly fine, I'm just curious.

Seated at the breakfast bar was this blonde girl staring at the wall. Well, I know a student when I see one.

I sat at the stool to her left and tapped her shoulder- and she nearly jumped out of her seat?

"WHAT- Oh, er," she cleared her throat as she looked at me. "Hey, hi. What's up."

She then very obviously looked me up and down. Checking me out? So obviously? Should I be flattered? Before I could say a word, she instantly started talking again.

"Haha, I mean. Hey. What's happening? Sorry I jumped like that, I'm not usually so jumpy. Actually, yeah I am. I don't know why I lied like that, haha. I was just, y'know, daydreaming. As one does on a Friday night. Wait- It's not Friday, it's Monday. Aieee, pull yourself together, girl." She took a deep breath in and out. "So, anyway. I'm Sandrine, Sandrine Gatlin, the Ultimate Tourist. May I ask who I'm looking at- er, talking to?"

Sandrine Gatlin, Ultimate Tourist

There were a lot of things being said, but I think I got the gist. Sandrine. Tourist. Daydream on Friday nights? I don't know what that one means actually.

"My name is Richard Park, and I'm the Ultimate Team Mascot. It's nice to meet you, Sandrine."

She very obviously blushed after I said it was nice to meet her. God, uh. I think she might be down crazy bad.

"Oh, yeah, well. It's great to meet you too and stuff, Richy." She very clearly adjusted the bangs of her hair. "Er, Richard I mean. Don't know why I said that, we are very clearly not on a nickname basis quite yet- like, who even am I right? And like, I said 'great' to meet you, but I just meant it's 'nice' to meet y-"

"Sandrine, are you good?" I interrupted her. "You keep saying stuff and then backtracking and then saying more stuff."

She gulped as she swirled her barstool to face away from me. "Err… Sorry, I know I do that. I do that a lot, actually. I just don't know what to say sometimes, and my mind gets all flustered."

"Oh, well that happens to the best of us." I say. "Here, why don't you just tell me about your talent or something. When I say, 'Sandrine is the Ultimate Tourist', what am I saying exactly?"

"Oh, um," She turned back to face me, and she looked visibly less flustered than before. Awesome! "Well, I've travelled a lot, that part is probably obvious from the title. But also, I'm really really good at learning new languages, and really really good at adapting to new cultures."

"Oh wow. You must be like brainzilla upstairs!" I responded, knocking on my forehead. "So, how many languages do you know exactly? Can you speak Korean?"

Sandrine nodded. "Well, yes, I speak Korean. I spent a little over a year there after all. But French was my native language, and I picked up English, Spanish, Brazilian Portuguese, Italian, German, Russian, Arabic, Japanese, Swahili, and… Well, would you count Creole as its own language? I think I would."

I spent the entire time counting her languages on my fingers, and my jaw dropped when I realized it was more than 10. "You- You really speak all of those? Like, fluently? Dang, and to think I'm barely keeping up with Korean."

"Yep, that's my talent." Sandrine said, "Oh, and by the way, have you noticed my accent at all? Could you guess that I'm a native french speaker just from hearing it?"

I shook my head and she gave a small grin. "That's kind of another thing. I work really hard to get my accents perfect to a T. If we ever talk to each other in Korean, I'd probably sound exactly like a young woman who spent her entire life growing up in Korea. Well, I hear I have a Seoul accent actually."

"Jeez, Sandrine. My mother would love you." I answered. "It took me years to say '감사합니다' in a way that didn't make her face palm."

She gave a slight chuckle. "Yeah, well. Everyone learns at their own pace. If you ever need a tutor, I'd be happy to help."

"I'll keep that in mind."

Woah, imagine for mom's birthday next year, i visit home FLUENT in her native language. She would be SO happy.

After talking to Sandrine, I left the student lounge and entered the room next door- the Arcade.

ARCADE | MONDAY | 8AM

Now, THIS is the ultimate arcade.

Rows and rows of arcade cabinets. You know how libraries are quiet and chalkfull of bookcases? Well this arcade was blasting techno music and was chalkfull of video games. Shooters, fighters, claw machines, reality game show based ones, and my personal favorite, DANCING GAMES!

I absolutely LOVE these games with the little arrows on the ground! I'm absolutely coming back to those later.

As I turned a corner, i-

"STAY AWAY FROM ME YOU CREEP-LOSER!" and with hardly any warning, I was sprayed with some sort of foul scent. Was it spoiled protein shake? Maybe rotten banana?

This short girl, almost a whole foot shorter than me, apparently just sprayed me with a perfume bottle. But… Why would someone carry a perfume scent like that? I'm sure even flies would be scared away from this smell!

"Oh. You're another student, whoopsies. I should've trusted my intuition."

See? Told you. Students just know.

The girl put the perfume into a cutesy handbag. "So, um. My name is Eunice Andino. I'm the Ultimate Perfumer. And that scent I just sprayed you with was called 'DEVIL TELLS NO LIES'. So. You're gonna tell me the entire truth now for a minute."

Eunice Andino, Ultimate Perfumer

"What?" As I opened my mouth to say that, I did some cursed thing between a sneeze and a cough, and honestly, it kinda hurt. "What are you talking about? Perfume doesn't do stuff like that…"

"Not your AVERAGE perfume, loser. But perfume from THE ultimate perfumer? Absolutely. Exhibit A-" She cleared her throat before continuing. "Now, this only works if you actually say something, so promise you'll say something! Ok, so, when was the last time you kissed a girl? Or a guy a guess, you kinda look like you might be… You know."

I tried to answer as I wiped snot away from my nose. "Never… Kissed a girl. Or a guy. I occasionally worry that romance isn't for someone like me. My dad has been waiting for me to bring home a girl for years, and he's started asking if I could even bring home a man one day."

Moments after saying that, it felt like I wasn't being attacked by that scent anymore. Instead, I was just left with the thought of… Why did I say all that?

I looked at Eunice and she had the most shit eating grin I'd ever seen in my life.

"Thanks for that info, loser." She chuckled, "Yeah, my perfumes are waaay beyond average. Trust me."

"Woah, wait. So that was the actual power of your perfume?" I asked, genuinely shocked. Because there was no way I'd ever even say any of that to a therapist.

Eunice nodded, "Yeah. Well, I don't JUST make perfumes like that." The girl began digging through her bag. "I also have 'SEE YOU NEXT TUESDAY', 'ANTI-HATER', 'GOOD BOY', 'CURFEW CREATOR', and a few others."

"Wow, what do all of those do?"

"Pssh, like I'm going to spoil that fun." She said, waving her hand in my face. "Anyways, literally who are you? Is sneaking around corners and scaring people like a usual thing for you? Or did you just want to do that to me specifically?"

Heh, I wonder if she has a perfume that could make her height match the size of her ego.

"My name's Richard Park, and I'm the Ultimate Team Mascot."

"Well then, RICH-DORK. Maybe consider getting one of those bell collars on your neck so you don't scare people anymore."

I hate that I've thought about getting one before. Not for that reason, I just think the bell could be fun to mess with.

ARCADE | MONDAY | 9AM

It didn't take too long exploring the arcade before I stumbled into a familiar face. How did I know him? I couldn't put my finger on it, but I knew him somehow.

The big guy was playing a crane game, and he was very clearly focused on it. I stood by and watched him drop a teddy bear before he noticed me.

"Oh, hey. Didn't realize I had an audience." He said with a grin.

My God. His voice. His smile. Even his build. Everything seems so familiar. I was just going to ask as straightforward as I could-

"Hey man, do I know you from somewhere?"

"Uh, you could. You have any younger brothers or sisters or something?" He asked.

Creepy question, but I'll give him the benefit of the doubt.

"Nope. Only child. Why?"

"Well, I'm the Ultimate Kids TV Star, Jinhae Kwo-"

Jinhae Kwon, Ultimate Kids TV Star

"OH SHIT, YEAH I KNOW YOU!"

"Hey, hey, relax with the bad words." He lightly scolded. "Kinda unnecessary yeah?"

"I mean, yeah. Sorry, I got a little excited." I laughed a little. "Anyways, yeah no, I watch cartoons all the time, and ads for your pirate show come up like. ALL the time."

"Well, it's more than just a pirate show." Jinhae said. "We're like… Good pirates, teaching life lessons with songs, and travelling the world to learn about different cultures."

The word 'culture' rang a bell in my head.

"Oh, you know who you should meet? Sandri-"

"Sandrine? Sandrine Gatlin? The Ultimate Tourist?" He laughed as he finished my sentence. "Yeah, I met her already. Apparently, she uses my show to help her study sometimes. Although, something tells me that she might be more into me than she is into the show."

"Well that's fair, you don't look half bad dude."

Jinhae glanced to the side as if he was expecting to find a camera or something. "Thanks." he said, his face getting a little red. "There's a certain look I have to keep for the camera, you know? Anyways, I never asked your name, right? Who're you?"

"Richard. Richard Park. I'm the Ultimate Team Mascot."

"Oh, you're one of those guys that wear the animal suits."

OK, stuff like that is how rumors get started.

"So- no. Team mascots DO wear those suits sometimes, but I don't. It kind of restricts my movement when I want to do something more acrobatic- and I usually like doing a flip or two, you know?"

Jinhae gave me an inquisitive look. "Not trying to be rude, but... Doesn't that make you a cheerleader?"

"I'm more of a solo act, really. Cheerleaders tend to perform stunts with other cheerleaders."

"...Is there no such thing as a solo cheerleader?"

I- Ugh.

After spending time having to fight for my right as a team mascot, I decided I'd see who and what else I'd find in this place.


A/N - Hey, how goes it? I go by Lobo and I've been longing to create a Danganronpa story for a looong while now, so here I am. Finally indulging. I'm writing this bit by bit, and I think you can already tell that it's one that doesn't take itself *too* seriously. But who knows, maybe that vibe will shift as the plot develops?