"So, you made it. Does that mean everyone's here now...?"
"Yo, Hinata! What took you so long?"
"At last, we've all made it this far. Everyone, let's do our best!"
As Hinata stepped in, the others welcomed him and started encouraging one another.
"Hinata. Are you okay?"
Amid the group, Nanami carefully approached Hinata and asked the question in a low voice.
"I'm feeling better now. Thanks for worrying about me."
".....?"
Hinata answered her with a smile, but Nanami only tilted her head as she looked at him.
"What's wrong, Nanami?"
"Ah... i-it's nothing..."
At Nanami's strange reaction, Hinata asked with a puzzled look. Nanami answered with a slight stammer.
'...Something's off...'
Nanami stared at Hinata for a long while, that vague sense of dissonance prickling at her skin, but in the end she couldn't identify what it was and had no choice but to look away.
"Upupupu!! Congratulations!! You've made it right to the brink of clearing the game!!"
From far off in the distance, Monokuma suddenly popped into view.
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"So? How was your little tour of Hope's Peak Academy?"
"How was it? It was awful... I thought I was gonna puke from the dizziness..."
"Thanks to that, sir, I now have total confidence no amusement ride on earth can faze me!! Why the heck are you so dead set on making our lives miserable!?"
"Ugh... I still haven't adjusted... My stomach still feels gross..."
"Sorry! This area gets pretty unstable because authority permissions keep colliding here all the time!! Upupupu..."
Monokuma covered his mouth with one paw and snickered under his breath, then started speaking to them again.
"Anyway, now that everyone's gathered... I guess it's time to begin the graduation test, right...? Everyone, take your seats!"
As soon as Monokuma finished speaking, the students began heading toward the seats in the trial grounds.
"...Damn it. I can't believe we have to look at those photos again."
"You bastard, why'd you have to hang up pictures of the two who died?"
"Upupupu... Isn't it obvious? It means they're still together with you even in death!! Well? Moved to tears? Heartwarming, right?"
"You... bastard..."
As Saionji clenched her fist and glared at Monokuma, Pigami murmured quietly from beside her.
"...Don't let Monokuma drag you into his pace. We have our own weapon, don't we?"
"...Yeah."
Answering in a small voice, Saionji shot Monokuma one last murderous glare before heading to her seat.
"Now then, looks like everyone's seated... so I should probably explain the rules, right? Well then...!"
With a wave of Monokuma's paw, two buttons appeared on the monitors at the students' seats.
"Wh-What is this...!?"
"Graduation? Repeat?"
"Upupupu... You're all going to choose one of those buttons now. If you choose Graduation, you'll escape this island. If you choose Repeat, you'll remain on this island forever! Of course, it'll be decided by majority vote, so keep that in mind!"
"....."
"Upupupu?"
When the students only stared silently at the buttons, Monokuma tilted his head and asked,
"...Hey, why's nobody reacting? Aren't you gonna ask stuff like, 'The explanation's enough, just let us choose already!' or 'If we pick Repeat, what kind of life are we gonna live on this island from now on?'"
"....."
"Just as I thought... this is suspicious... You're hiding something, aren't you...?"
At Monokuma's words, the students began to waver slightly.
"What's this, what's this!? That look on your faces... Don't tell me you've really got some hidden trump card..."
"Even if we choose Graduation, it's not like you're just going to sit back and let it happen, right, Monokuma?"
Just as Monokuma was eyeing their reactions with growing suspicion, Hinata cut in and interrupted him.
"Upupupu... Well, that's true... Even if the majority votes for Graduation, I'll still check each and every one of you to see whether it's really okay for you to graduate..."
"Then in the end, even if we reach a majority decision, we still have to obey whatever you decide?"
"Correct!! Well, no matter what the result is, I am going to follow your choice..."
At that, the students glared at Monokuma with openly disgusted expressions.
"...And we're supposed to believe that...?"
"That bastard is petty to the bitter end..."
"Ahahaha, well... doesn't it not matter? After all, a dazzling future awaits all of us...!"
"Ko, Komaeda...? Since when were you awake?"
As the students stared in surprise at Komaeda, whom they'd practically forgotten about until now, Monokuma suddenly shouted.
"Now then, shall we begin the Class Trial!!"
"What? A Class Trial...? Nobody's even dead, so why are we having a Class Trial?"
"You told us to choose between Graduation and Repeat, so why are you suddenly starting a Class Trial?"
"I'd love to let you choose right away too... but if you want to make that choice, a Class Trial is mandatory... And it looks like the person who still needs to arrive hasn't shown up yet either..."
"...What?"
"Good grief!! Why are you all so damn chatty!? I'm the god of this world!! If I say we're doing it, little guppies like you just have to obey!!"
After barking that out, Monokuma marched over to the judge's stand and declared while looking down on everyone.
"Now then... I hereby convene the first and last Class Trial! Upupupu..."
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"Fine, let's say you've convened the Class Trial. Then what exactly are we putting on trial? Are you going to invent some fake culprit?"
"That's right, sir!! Cut it out with this meaningless nonsense!!"
"Upupupu... Calm down, everyone... In this trial... we're going to take some time to fully uncover all the secrets behind this killing game!"
"How is that even a trial!?"
While Monokuma and the students bickered back and forth, I kept my eyes fixed on Hinata.
"...All right, then. So where should we start?"
"Let's begin with the secret of 'this world,' shall we...?"
"Are you asking because you don't know? You were the one who just said this place is a virtual reality world."
"Upupupu!! True, I did! But this is a point we absolutely have to nail down!"
'...Just as I thought, something's wrong.'
Ever since earlier, every time I look at Hinata, I get this strange feeling. Should I call it discomfort? Alienation?
Either way, that kind of emotion keeps bubbling up inside me.
Why? His face is the same, his way of speaking is the same, his voice is the same. He's unmistakably Hinata.
"Like I said before, this place isn't the real world, it's a virtual world!! The real you are lying inside capsules right now!"
"....."
"Um... why's everyone been so quiet this whole time? Is it because you already know all this, so you have nothing to say? Even so, I thought at least one of you would ask why I'm repeating something you all already know..."
"....."
"Come on! Somebody say something!! At this rate, I can't even carry out the trial unless Hinata's here to do it!?"
"Then... that means we're avatars created after losing our memories of school life, right?"
Among the students, who had all kept their mouths shut, Komaeda cautiously posed the question.
"Yep, that's right! The version of Saionji you saw on the blackboard back then was what she looks like after growing up!"
"...I have a question."
"Upupupu?"
"...What am I like in the outside world right now? Did I get taller too, like Saionji?"
When Kuzuryu asked in a desperate voice, Monokuma answered with a grin.
"If you want to know that... then in a little while, just press the 'Graduation' button, right?"
"...Tch."
As Kuzuryu twisted his face and fell silent, the trial grounds sank back into stillness. Even then, I kept trying to identify the source of the feeling I got from Hinata, but what happened next forced me to stop thinking and stare in shock.
"Wh-What...? The trial grounds..."
"It's like... it's turned into the kind of world you'd see inside a program in a movie..."
The background of the trial grounds flipped over in an instant, and green numbers and letters began drifting through the air.
"Upupupu... I changed the skin once!! Just for a little change of pace!! Now then, shall we move on to the second question?"
Smiling brightly, Monokuma threw the next question at us.
"What are the Future Foundation and the watcher... really...!?"
"I don't know the details, but I do know they're your enemies, which makes them our allies."
"Right! That's where K, Kyoko Kirigiri, and Nanami belong, isn't it? Sure, there are some suspicious parts... but they're still better than you!"
"Upupupu... Nope, that's not it... The Future Foundation is definitely a destroyer of the world, you know?"
Monokuma said that while staring straight at me.
"At least, to all of us here in this place except Nanami!!"
"...Why the hell are you putting yourself and us on the same side of the scale!?"
"That's right, sir!! It's seriously gross!!"
The students started protesting to Monokuma with disgusted looks on their faces, but I knew the truth. I couldn't bear to look at them. All I could do was lower my head.
"...Nanami? What's wrong?"
"D-Don't tell me... you really are destroyers of the world...?"
"There's no way that's true!!!"
Watching me, the students sensed something was wrong and started firing questions at me. But because the school regulations restricted me from telling them the truth, all I could do was keep my head bowed.
"Nanami... what's going on? Please explain..."
I had been hanging my head for a long while like that when Hinata asked me in a serious voice. My eyes widened, and I slowly lifted my head.
"You..."
I didn't know how I'd realized it, but at last I understood the true nature of the dissonance I'd been feeling this whole time.
The moment I grasped what that dissonance was, my body began trembling so violently I couldn't control it, and my mind started collapsing beyond anything I could rein in.
In the middle of that unraveling panic, I looked at Hinata and barely forced the words out.
"Who... are you...?"
"...What?"
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"Wh-Who... who are... you...?"
"What are you talking about, Nanami?"
"Miss Nanami? What's wrong?"
"Th-This is bad, sir! Miss Nanami's acting weird!"
"Upupupu... Looks like all the prolonged stress finally made Nanami snap...?"
Mocking Nanami as she trembled with a deathly pale face, Monokuma continued.
"Well then... since Nanami, our Future Foundation member, has ended up like that, I guess someone else will have to explain in her place, right...? And just in time, it looks like the main actor I've been waiting for has finally arrived... so let's invite him right here!"
Bzzzt—crackle!!
"Wh-What now!?"
"Why're you all so shocked? At this point, something that minor doesn't even surprise m—"
"What do you mean, destroyers of the world...?"
"Gyaaaaaah!! Wh-Who the heck are you, sir!?"
Mioda had been standing there with her arms folded and a relaxed expression, but the instant someone appeared in the empty seat beside her and greeted the others, she shrieked in terror.
"Th-That guy... I've seen him somewhere a lot..."
"Yeah... Feels like we've seen him over and over lately... Who are you, exactly?"
"I'm Makoto Naegi, a member of the Future Foundation."
"M-Makoto Naegi!?"
The moment the man revealed his identity, the room erupted.
"You mean that Makoto Naegi... one of the survivors of the killing game that happened to Class 78?"
"All right! So you really did come to save us!!"
"Uh... s-sorry... about K and Kyoko Kirigiri..."
The students all threw words at Naegi with bright, relieved expressions, but for some reason Naegi looked at them warily as he spoke.
"Anyway... the Future Foundation isn't a destroyer of the world... The destroyers of the world are..."
"You lot, obviously!! Isn't that right!? Upupupupupu!!"
"Wh-What are you talking about?"
"Why would we be destroyers of the world?"
"H-Hey... doesn't he feel different from before somehow...?"
Faced with Naegi's icy attitude, the students who had welcomed him began to panic.
"D-Don't tell me... we really are..."
"Yeah... what you're thinking is right, Togami... no, Pigami. But... that's also a truth all of us have to accept if we're going to move toward the future... Ahahahaha..."
Among the shaken students, Komaeda picked up on Pigami's pale muttering, and the others' expressions turned grim.
"Wh-What do you mean...? The way you're saying that makes it sound like we're..."
"Like we're bad people..."
"Yes, exactly. All of you are in a state perfectly suited to being called 'destroyers of the world.'"
"B-But why? Why do we have to be called something as overblown as 'destroyers of the world'?"
"That's right, sir!! Ibuki hasn't done anything bad!!"
"U-Um... I've only ever had bad things done to me... I've never done them to anyone..."
"Naegi, can you tell us what the reason is?"
Amid the students' total confusion, Hinata asked in a calm voice. Naegi looked over all of them once, then finally opened his mouth.
"Because every last one of you is... [Ultimate Despair]."
"".....!""