Future Foundation headquarters rose over the remote island like a fortress, and inside its dimly lit conference room, a leaden atmosphere hung in the air.
"Before we begin, there is an announcement to make."
The chairman of Future Foundation, Tengan Kazuo, opened the proceedings.
"13th Division branch chief Chiaki Nanami, 14th Division branch chief Kyoko Kirigiri, and K, the vice branch chief of the 14th Division who should be acting in her absence, are all currently absent."
Just as he said, two executive seats and one special seat for Class 78 were empty.
"Therefore, I am appointing Makoto Naegi as acting branch chief of the 13th Division, and Byakuya Togami as temporary acting branch chief of the 14th Division. However, since both of you are also subjects of this hearing, you will proceed from the special seating for Class 78 rather than the executive seats."
Naegi and Togami offered no objection. When they remained silent, Tengan let out a sigh and continued.
"Then let us begin the hearing concerning the acts of insubordination committed by all members of Class 78."
The hearing had begun, but the executives only watched one another, gauging reactions, unable to speak first.
"...So. How exactly do you intend to explain this situation?"
The first to break the silence was Kyosuke Munakata, former Ultimate Student Council President and vice chairman of Future Foundation.
"We were the ones who tracked down all of Class 77 in the first place, and we were the ones who captured them. And now you want to swoop in and claim a share of the credit?"
Togami, seated with all the arrogance in the world, sneered at him, but Munakata pressed on.
"Even if Class 77 was brainwashed, that does not erase the crimes they committed. As an example to the rest, they should all be Executed—"
Munakata crossed a line, and Naegi immediately snapped back.
"That's far too extreme! They deserve a chance to rehabilitate too—"
"There are already many who oppose leaving Junko Enoshima and Mukuro Ikusaba alive instead of killing them. So at the very least, the captured Remnants of Despair—"
At those words, Ikusaba, seated among Class 78, visibly flinched. Seeing that, Celestia Ludenberg let out a quiet sigh before cutting in.
"My, how curious. The extremists, yourself included, are only a minority, so why are you speaking as though there are 'many' of you?"
"...Celestia, you do not have the right to speak right now. Do not interrupt so carelessly—"
"Then why did you call us here in the first place!?"
"Yeah, what, were we just supposed to sit here and shut up while you talked at us?"
"Or perhaps... were you planning to start taming us already, molding us into something more convenient for Future Foundation...?"
As the members of Class 78, who had been listening in silence, erupted in collective protest, the hearing devolved into chaos in an instant.
"Enough. Every member of Class 78 is a party to this hearing, so all of them will be granted the right to speak. Continue."
Munakata shot Tengan a deeply dissatisfied look at that ruling, but soon resumed.
"...In any case, even if not Execution, they must receive an appropriate punishment. But more importantly... why did you secretly spirit away all of Class 77 without consulting the executive board first!?"
Munakata had begun in a measured tone, but by the end, his emotions burst through and he was shouting. Watching him, Togami crossed one leg over the other and answered in a lofty, contemptuous voice.
"Isn't the reason obvious? We had no intention of handing over Class 77 only to find out what kind of stunt you and your pack of extremist lapdogs might pull."
"You bastard...! You really want to say that to my face!?"
Sakakura, the former Ultimate Boxer, shot to his feet in outrage.
"You brats get awfully full of yourselves just because you're [Ultimate Hope]... but even there's a limit to how much indulgence children can expect..."
"For all we know... maybe none of them are [Ultimate Hope] at all. Maybe they were in league with Enoshima from the very beginning... maybe they're 'despair' too..."
Then came the icy remarks from Ando, the former Ultimate Confectioner, and Izayoi, the former Ultimate Blacksmith, and the atmosphere curdled even further.
"What you just said... was an insult to every single one of us...!"
"Hah? Yeah, no, I'm not letting that slide. You wanna go, bastard!?"
"Puhuhuhuhuhuhu!! Byakuya-sama! Should we just flip this whole place over!?"
"W-Wait...! Everyone, calm down...! Getting emotional like this won't help any of us—"
"THAT'S ENOUGH!!!!!!!!"
Yukizome, the former Ultimate Housekeeper, slammed both hands against the table and sprang to her feet. Her shout froze the entire room.
"Picking sides... factional infighting... pointless, wasteful arguments... I'm sick of it. Absolutely sick of it..."
Yukizome glared at everyone with a frigid stare as she spoke.
"And after showing this side of yourselves, you still have the nerve to call yourselves Future Foundation, the organization that's supposed to protect the world...? Please... just stop already...!"
"...She's right. Everyone's too worked up. Calm yourselves first."
"Too many pilots and the plane nosedives into the ground, huh..."
".....You two, sit down and knock it off."
"- Fighting, trouble."
"Let's hear out all of Class 78's position first, then make our judgment. Please refrain from tearing into each other before we've even begun. And if you insist on fighting, then you'll have to deal with this Great Gozu first."
Kizakura, Bandai, Kimura, Gekkogahara, and Great Gozu—the moderate faction among the executives—hurriedly stepped in to mediate, and at last the radicals and Class 78 sat back down, though they continued to glare daggers at one another.
"...A wise choice. If a fight had broken out, I would have intervened personally."
After that weighty remark from Oogami, who had been silently observing the situation, the hearing entered a brief lull—only for Fujisaki's question to restart it.
"We already know that you intended to conduct clinical trials of the 'brainwashing reversal video' on Class 77."
"That was... an unavoidable choice..."
"Mitarai, you know how many problems have already been discovered, don't you? Out of all the animal testing conducted so far, was there even a single surviving subject?"
"...Matsuda said the side effects might be happening because animal brains are structurally different from human ones... which means there's a real possibility it could work on people..."
"...Mitarai, why are you so anxious? If Class 77 matters that much to you, then why are you trying to gamble with something so dangerous...!?"
"That's...!"
Mitarai failed to answer. Fujisaki sighed.
"In the end... you're refusing to tell us the reason this time too."
An uncomfortable silence settled between the executives and Class 78, but this time Naegi broke it.
"This is the position of us, Class 78. During the Biggest, Most Awful, Most Tragic Event in Hope's Peak Academy's History, most of Class 77 stood on the side of hope and fought. All of you who fought alongside them know that too, don't you?"
"...That is true."
"But after we were defeated by Junko Enoshima, we were all subjected to humiliation. Class 78 had our memories erased and was thrown into a Killing Game, while Class 77 had their memories erased and was brainwashed by a brainwashing video into becoming [Ultimate Despair]."
"....."
"The positions of Class 77 and Class 78 could easily have been reversed. If not for our upperclassmen, we might have been the ones who became despair. That's why we don't want to sacrifice them. We want to restore them into people who can help the world."
"...Restoring them does not erase the crimes they committed."
"I know. But... you know too, don't you? That what happened was unavoidable because of the 'brainwashing video.' It wasn't their will. Do you really think it makes sense to deny them even the chance to atone?"
"Hey, you make it sound awfully pretty, but let's get to the point... how exactly are you planning to undo the brainwashing? Even our very own 'animator' who made the brainwashing video still hasn't completed a reversal video, right?"
"We're going to use the Neo World Program."
When the radical faction demanded to know how they intended to reverse the brainwashing, Fujisaki answered in a grave voice.
"The Neo World Program... it's already complete...?"
"It's still a little unstable... but I've made improvements here and there, and I've added multiple layers of security... so I believe it can absolutely rehabilitate Class 77."
"Then K, Kirigiri, and Nanami's absence... was to put Class 77 into the Neo World Program...?"
"...That's right. It's a project all of us have poured our hearts into. We will make it succeed, and through that, commercialize the Neo World Program—"
Bzzzzzt
"Upupupupupu..."
Right as Naegi was in the middle of persuading everyone, the monitors in the conference room suddenly flickered to life, and from the static-choked screen came a bizarre, all-too-familiar laugh.
"Wh-What...? What's wrong with that thing...?"
"...A signal hijack? What the hell is the security team doing...?"
"Wait... but... haven't we heard that sound somewhere before...?"
To the executives, who had lived through the height of despair's rampage and treated this kind of thing as almost routine, it was merely alarming. But the instant Class 78 heard that grotesque laugh, every last one of them froze solid.
"F-Fujisaki...! Hurry, the security—!"
"Th-The Future Foundation system's been taken over...! Alter Ego should be guarding it, so how is this even possible...?"
"Th-That voice..."
"No way, right? Tell me it's not! Please...!"
"...Damn it, I knew it. My fortune today came up as catastrophic bad luck, and I was wondering what it meant... so this was it, huh...?"
Even the executives, seeing those reactions, slowly began to grasp the severity of the situation. Then the static on the screen stopped—and a robot with a horribly familiar face appeared.
"Upupupupupu...! Miss me!? The mascot of the Killing Game... Monokuma is back!!"
"M-Monokuma!? That's impossible!! Junko Enoshima is locked up right now—"
"Hey now... that's not Enoshima anymore. That's just an empty shell. The real Enoshima now is... me! Right here!! Upupupupupu!!!"
The people in the hearing were too stunned to speak, and Monokuma burst into delighted laughter.
"Upupupupupupupupu!! The key figures of Future Foundation, defenders of the world, all making faces that stupid... now that's comedy gold!! I wanna take a picture and keep it forever!!"
"I don't know who you are... but I will find you, and I will kill you."
"Upupu...! Go ahead and try...! That is, if you can get inside the program...!"
"...What?"
When Munakata demanded an explanation, Monokuma rolled his eyes theatrically and switched the screen. And there—
"Why is Class 77 on Jabberwock Island...?"
"What the hell... why are K, Kirigiri, and Nanami there too...?"
"Th-That's not Jabberwock Island... that's inside the Neo World Program... d-don't tell me...!?"
Watching their panic with a smile, Monokuma on the monitor delivered a declaration that, for Future Foundation, was pure despair.
"That's right... the Killing Game is starting again...! A special premium service provided exclusively for all you lovely people of Future Foundation! Upupupupupupupupu!!"
".....!"
And just like that, the second act of the mutual-killing game of suspicion and paranoia rose on its curtain.
.
.
.
.
.
'Ughhh... what the hell... my head...'
It felt like my skull was splitting open. Every nerve in my body was screaming at me not to get up.
'What kind of situation is this now...?'
With my eyes still closed, I tried to retrace my memories.
'I definitely... after the Killing Game ended... held hands with Kirigiri... and walked out of Hope's Peak Academy together with everyone else... right...?'
When I tried to remember what came next, a fresh spike of agony tore through my head like it was about to crack apart.
"Ghhhhh...!"
I snapped my eyes open under the pain—like needles raking through my brain—and found myself staring at a white-haired man.
"Hey, are you okay?"
Wait a second. Why the hell is Komaeda here all of a sudden? I was definitely... hold on, don't tell me this is...!?
"...Getting dragged into something like this out of nowhere is pretty shocking for me too... hey, are you listening?"
Praying with everything I had that I was wrong, I lurched upright and looked around.
A beach. Palm trees.
"Um... are you oka—"
"FUUUUUUUUUUCK!!!"
Apparently, the instant I cleared the first game, I got dropped straight into the second.