Prologue: The Legend of Lazarus

Lazarus University was a name familiar to anyone who's ever been online. A school that holds the same prestige as the most revered universities, but distinguishes itself from the rest by recruiting its student body according to very specific qualifications. The University isn't interested in regular run of the mill students, but rather prodigious youths with extraordinary talents. Their chosen field of expertise isn't a concern to them - all that matters is that you are uniquely skilled in what you do. In exchange for their attendance, the University promises that all of those chosen will be guaranteed to fulfill their greatest desires if they manage to make it all the way to graduation.

Or at least, that's how the legend goes. Of course, with all internet urban legends, the stories evolve the more they're spread. In recent years, an addendum has been added to the Lazarus myth. The University sends out acceptance letters to youths that it deems exceptional, appearing in the form of a sealed red envelope with their crest, a silver ouroboros, emblazoned on the fold. In some versions of the story, the letter dictates that you must sign your name at the bottom of the letter and place it back in your mailbox in order to accept the invitation. Other versions give you a lot less agency in the matter - once you're accepted by the University, there's no declining them. In either version, the end result is the same: the "student" disappears the very next day, and they're never seen or heard from ever again.

No one's really sure where this legend originated. As far as anyone knows, the story just manifested out of thin air a few years ago and it spread like wildfire through the internet. Once the legend became common knowledge, a lot of armchair detectives started digging through the shadiest parts of the internet in the hopes of finding exactly where this rumor started. A few solid theories caught on, but they were all disproven as quickly as they popped up.

But I'm no regular armchair detective.

It's been one year since Kunio disappeared.

The police had turned the entire city upside down, but all their efforts only led to dead ends. He was just a regular guy, fresh out of high school. He had the whole world ahead of him. To think that he'd up and run away like that was a laughable idea. He had no known enemies either, and he certainly didn't have enough money in the bank to be worth kidnapping. That's what every one of his friends and family had claimed when they were interviewed by the police and media.

All except one, anyway.

The faint light of the computer screen was the only light in Akira Kisaragi's pitch-black room. He was used to the darkness - turning on the lights will only make it harder for him to concentrate and add a few extra dollars to his electricity bill on top of that. No thanks.

The internet happenings boards were always active at this time of night, and with how big the Lazarus legend had gotten, they had to create a whole new board to accommodate all the discussion about it. Tonight, the board was still going on about the disappearance of a nineteen-year-old guy in the Sumida area. He was fairly popular to boot - handsome, charismatic, and a great athlete. He was the star runner on his track team, and he had his eye set on becoming an Olympic runner down the line.

With that detail down, it's no surprise that his disappearance caused a stir in the Lazarus community. Even a year later Kunio remained a hot topic in these boards, with forum members debating day in and day out whether or not Kunio really was taken by the shadowy agents of Lazarus University.

The whole idea made Akira sick to his stomach. To see a real person reduced to a morbid curiosity for a bunch of online wannabe sleuths was discomforting, to say the least. Then again… it was partly Akira's fault that it became this way. He had been the first one to broach the idea that Kunio's disappearance had something to do with the Lazarus legend.

Akira sighed, brushing away some of the dark hair from his eyes. He didn't really believe it had been a year since then. Kunio had met Akira in a small, lonely cafe at the edge of town - a usual hangout spot for them, away from prying eyes. Kunio was usually all smiles and sunshine, but he was different that day. In his hands he had a scarlet envelope.

"You're the occult freak here, you should know what this means right?" Kunio asked, sliding the envelope across the table.

Akira picked the envelope up, flipping it over to find the telltale silver ouroboros right on the flap. "I mean… you already know everything I know. It's not really a story I've been actively looking into. Besides," He looked up at Kunio across the table and furrowed his brow. "Why is this bugging you so much? You've never believed in any of this until now."

Kunio had already called him earlier that day, although he wasn't as panicked as he was now. He found it right on his welcome mat when he went out for his morning jog, no stamp or address attached. The letter inside it was pretty much a match for the common rumors surrounding the legend, right down to assigning him some stupid "Ultimate" moniker. In his case, they called him the "Ultimate Track Star".

Kunio sighed, the exasperation evident in his voice. "I know it sounds dumb but… I don't know, I have a feeling that this time it's different. Ever since this morning, I felt like somebody;s been watching me. Everywhere I go I feel like there's someone just outside my eyesight… observing me."

"Even now?"

Kunio looked down at the table, not saying anything for a few tense moments. "... Yeah. Am I just going insane?"

Akira kept staring at Kunio's face - his eyes refused to make contact, instead darting around the cafe looking for someone that wasn't there. "Have you tried calling the police?"

"And tell them what? If I told them that I got spooked by some urban legend then they'll really think I'm insane." The man rubbed his temple. "Man, I feel like such a dumbass."

"You are, but not because you're scared." Akira commented, attempting an awkward smile. He wasn't used to being the one acting 'nice' - Kunio's natural cheeriness made that pretty much pointless. "Look, dwelling on it is just gonna stress you out more. Why don't you just get some rest? If you want, I can even sleep in your room. That's something friends do, right?"

A small smile tugged at Kunio's mouth for the briefest of seconds upon hearing that suggestion. "You mean in different beds, right?"

Even if it was a small moment, Akira did at least find some comfort that Kunio could still get in a quick jab. Still, the very idea of sharing the bed with another person made Akira shudder with sheer discomfort. "N-no, I'm okay with just sleeping on the floor. But if anyone tries to break into your room, you'd at least have someone else there."

"Hm." Kunio thought about it for a moment. "I appreciate the thought, but I don't think your scrawny ass is protecting anymore."

"I guess so." Akira chuckled sheepishly. "Not all of us can stand going to spend all of our free time hanging out at the gym."

Kunio laughed, a little bit of his usual natural cheeriness returning to his face. "True, true. Anyway, I should get going and get some shut-eye. I'm probably just making a big deal out of some stupid prank anyway. Still, thanks for hearing me out at least. It was nice to get it off my chest."

"No problem…" Akira offered an awkward smile in return. He wasn't used to speaking so casually, especially with a guy like Kunio. They're on two completely social hierarchies, but through some strange twist of fate the two just managed to click. Akira would never admit it, but he was happy that he had some kind of human connection out of the dredges of the internet. "Just… get some rest, okay?"

With a casual wave of his hand, Kunio dipped out of the cafe. Akira figured he headed straight home and went directly to bed, as he usually does. Even with the red Lazarus letter looming over his head, he couldn't imagine that something would actually happen to him. It was just a pointless urban legend, and one with surprisingly little basis in reality. More likely than not it was just some prank his track team members pulled to keep him on his toes.

But still… Despite his constant affirmation that everything would be okay, something still felt off. Kunio had mentioned that he felt like someone had been following him ever since he picked up that letter. He felt like he was being watched in this very cafe. Akira thought it was just paranoia on his part, but the more the thought lingered, the more the paranoia spread to Akira himself. It almost felt like someone was watching him too.

Akira was by no means an amateur when it came to sleuthing. He was a known entity in the strange internet happenings circles, a real big-name investigator. Or rather, "Mothman" was a real big-name investigator. He cracked the case of the mysterious radio station that broadcasted random sets of numbers in Estonian. He cracked the case of the lantern bug puzzles that kept popping up on various social media platforms. He cracked the case of the set of stairs left abandoned in the middle of the Atacama Desert. All those cases had pretty mundane conclusions - hoaxes, publicity stunts, abandoned art installations, etcetera. - but the thrill of the hunt made up for it. Ninety-nine percent of all cases had a logical conclusion, according to Akira - and that adage has rarely ever failed to prove true (approximately one percent of the time, if you could believe it).

So when he took up the case of the Lazarus University, he expected an open and shut case. After Kunio's disappearance however, investigating the urban legend proved to be anything but simple.

It was the one-year anniversary since Akira last saw Kunio, and he had barely made any progress on his investigation. Just like everyone who tried delving into the Lazarus rumors, every trail led him to a dead end. Head in his hands, Akira could do little but sigh and mutter half-hearted curses under his breath as another thread ended with more questions than he started with

The clock struck one in the morning. Even a night owl like Akira felt his body start to fail on him at an hour like this. Left with no choice but to pause his daily dive into the dark web, he breathed a heavy sigh and collapsed backwards onto his bed. The amount of time he sunk into searching for Kunio was finally starting to take its toll. He hasn't felt this hopeless in months.

"What's even the point anymore? If the police couldn't find jack shit, what could I hope to dig up? Ugh… Kunio… where the hell did you go? You've always been such a pain in the ass… but…. Ugh."

Akira covered his face with his pillow, letting the cool sensation wash over him. He usually didn't let it bother him if he couldn't solve a mystery. Some mysteries simply can't be solved no matter how hard you try. It's like trying to get blood from a stone. If all paths lead to a brick wall, then maybe you shouldn't be on a path to begin with. But it's different when you have a personal connection to it, isn't it? It felt like the two halves of his brain were constantly at war - the logical half that admitted that it was far from qualified to lead an actual missing person investigation, and the emotional side that believed that there had to be a tiny little thread out there that could crack this case wide open.

Akira sighed, clutching the pillow tighter to his head. The words he said that day to Kunio rang in the back of his mind… maybe all he needed was some rest. He'd been non-stop digging through the depths of the internet for the past month. He probably averaged three hours a sleep daily, if he was lucky. At this point his body had stopped registering the caffeine boost he got from chugging down all that convenience store coffee. If Kunio were out there, he'd probably tell him to stop searching for him and take a nice long nap. That was the type of guy he was.

Changing into pajamas would take too much energy right now. Sleeping in a hoodie and jeans would have to do for tonight. With a beleaguered grunt, Akira shut his eyes tight and prepared to drift off to sleep. Tomorrow will be another day. Same as the last three sixty-five days. But at least while he was unconscious, he wouldn't have to worry about Lazarus or Kunio or anything else. That's the smallest relief he could hope for right now.

It had barely been a few moments since he had drifted off to sleep that Akira woke up to the sound of frantic knocking at his apartment door. With a startled jerk, Akira managed to sit up on his bed. It was unusual to get visitors this late at night, or at all in Akira's case. Whoever decided to visit chose to do it at the worst time possible, too. Akira was prepared to just shrug it off and go back to bed, but the knocks just kept coming harder and harder until he just couldn't ignore it anymore. At this time of night, it better fucking be important.

Akira stumbled out of his room and hurried to the front door as fast as his thin legs could manage. He was sure that whoever was behind it was about to knock it down with how hard they were knocking. God, this was going to be such a pain in the ass to explain to his neighbors tomorrow morning. With a few more shambling steps, he managed to finally grab hold of the knob, swinging the door open ready to greet whoever was on the other side with the most withering glare he could manage.

Only there was no one behind the door.

Akira stood there for a moment, his glare quickly turning into a look of utter confusion. He scanned the surrounding area for anything, but there wasn't a single soul as far as he could see. All the lights from the neighboring apartments were shut off, meaning that no one was woken up by the banging on the door. That was a little relieving, but it didn't sit right with Akira.

As he gave the area another once over, Akira's eye noticed a splash of red beneath his feet. Just from this brief glance he already had a sinking feeling that he recognized what it was. He stood there, motionless, trying to make sense of what was going on. Even in his exhausted state, the shape of the red envelope was indistinguishable. The silver serpent placed on the fold stared up at him with blank, expressionless eyes, silently pleading with him to pick it up.

He knew he was insane. Surely, there was no other explanation. He wanted to dismiss it as some sort of practical joke, but he knew better - just as Kunio did a year ago. Almost automatically, he bent over and picked up the envelope. Just as automatically, he lifted up the flap and withdrew the letter that was neatly folded inside. He already knew what it would say, but either way, with shaky hands, he unfolded the piece of paper and held it close to his face.

Dearest Akira Kisaragi,

We are proud to announce that for your outstanding work in "internet sleuthing", we here at Lazarus University would like to offer you a place here in our esteemed halls. Therefore, we are hereby bestowing you with the title of "Ultimate Internet Sleuth". We know that you have been interested in our University for quite some time now, and we hope you can use this opportunity to find the answers you were looking for. Be not afraid, this is a once in a lifetime opportunity that you cannot miss out on.

As you can imagine, we are not a regular University. Our curriculum does not abide by any standards you would be familiar with - what we do offer is a special, one-of-a-kind program for all of our beloved students. Now, despite the achievements of all of our beloved students, this program is rigorous, and not everyone who takes part in it can succeed. However, those that do manage to achieve a passing grade are rewarded most handsomely. This institution does not offer degrees or any other form of meaningless participation trophy. The reward for meeting the qualifications for graduation in this Academy is the realization of your greatest desire.

It doesn't matter what that desire may take the form of. Perhaps you want to become a billionaire. Or perhaps you want to find a beautiful wife to live a long and happy life with. Or perhaps you'd like to reunite with your dear friend Kunio Kobayashi. Whatever it may be, we do hope that you will take this opportunity and participate wholeheartedly - for it is our own greatest desire that you will join us in the coming days for the beginning of the new semester.

With great love,

HEADMASTER FLAUROS

The next morning came soon enough. The police wouldn't find out about Akira Kisaragi's disappearance for another few days, when a concerned neighbor called to inform them that his door had been, uncharacteristically, left wide open all week. There was not a single soul inside the Kisaragi apartment, and no sign that anyone had been inside it since the day Akira disappeared. His phone, which was inseparable from him in the rare occasions he left his home, was left charging in the nightstand.

With little to no evidence to investigate, and a lack of family or friends to question about Akira's whereabouts, the police quickly but his disappearance in the backburner. It wouldn't be until fifteen more people went missing that there was renewed interest in Akira's case. Collectively, the sixteen disappearances were linked to a group called "Lazarus" - a connection that came about due to a note left behind at one of the crime scenes.

It read as follows:

"Do not mourn the sacrificial lambs, for they have been granted passage to the forbidden fruit. Praise be to Lazarus, sanctuary for the yearning and the lost."

[A/N]

Hi! If you've reached this far, then thank you so much! I know this is only a very short prologue, but I still appreciate you getting this far 3 Ever since I was an eighth with an unfortunate Danganronpa hyperfixation, I've been obsessed with SYOCs. And now in my adulthood, I'm still taken by them. I've drifted in and out of the Danganronpa fandom a lot in the past few years but my love for the template that the games created has never wavered. I thought it was time that I gave it an earnest shot at making one of my own.

The setting for this game is a mishmash of various ideas I've had floating around in my head for the last few years. Although the school aspect of the Danganronpa series is still intact, I still wanted to make it a bit more unique. Hence the vague supernatural elements - another one of my long-lasting obsessions. But do not worry, while the circumstances surrounding the game may or may not be a bit paranormal, the events of the game will be firmly rooted in real life. For now anyway.

Anyway, I've probably rambled long enough. There's a lot more I could say, but I feel like I should save it for a later date. And to move on to the actual main event:

THE SYOC GUIDELINES!

You can submit however many characters you want, but at the moment only one character per person will be accepted.

All characters should be submitted through private messages. Even if your character has nothing to hide, they're just an all around open book, you should still probably submit them in my DMs. Furthermore, please title your submission "[Character Name - Ultimate Talent]" for my sake, thank youuuuu

This game, although very much patterned off Danganronpa, does not take place in the same universe. Pretend it doesn't exist as a game either. Nagito Komaeda is not canon, sorry.

Adding on to the above, talents present in canon (like Detective or Magician) are acceptable. The only one that's off limits is Lucky Student, since I can't justify one existing within the context of the setting. Ultimate Internet Sleuth and Ultimate Track Star are also taken, even if our dear Kunio is currently M.I.A.

This game is set in Japan - therefore, most of the characters should be Japanese. Foreign characters are allowed, but they just have to be in Japan at the time the game takes place.

I maintain creative control over your characters - I cannot guarantee that I will fully satisfy your expectations of them, but I promise I will do my best not to butcher them completely [this is a killing game so unfortunately some of them will have to be literally butchered, my bad]. I may amend or add segments of their character or backstory to fit the purposes of the narrative, but I won't make any huge *drastic* changes that will completely alter their characterization.

The deadline for submissions is February 1st. If I don't have enough submissions to compile a compelling roster, then I will extend it further. But for now, you have until the end of the month - with a one week extension on request. No rush, take your time to make your characters as fascinating as they are traumatized!

You can ask me any further questions in my PMs - just understand that it may take awhile for me to get back to you depending on the day. Thank you!

I hope that's reasonable enough! You can find all these rules on my profile page, alongside the SYOC Application itself! I'll be updating my profile regularly with received applicants, so be sure to check in occasionally if you're curious what kind of talents other people are applying.

That's all from me today! Thank you for reading and hope to see you all soon-