I am watching two students standing in the dead center of the Funhouse tower. The pair wear gentle smiles, then open their mouths.
"Even if you give in... nothing will change... So... use us as your stepping stones... and move forward..."
"As the princess of a kingdom, I always felt responsible for being unable to do anything... so I am truly relieved that I can help all of you, even like this. Please, all of you, do not lose hope, and keep moving forward."
"T-Tanaka...? Sonia...?"
Bang!!!
Tanaka and Sonia, each aiming a gun at the other's head, pull the trigger at the exact same instant. Blood sprays with the gunshots, and both bodies collapse in a limp heap.
"...Huh? W-Why...? Why you two...?"
I approach their cold, lifeless bodies and, without realizing it, reach out with a trembling hand. Just before my fingers touch them, the world suddenly spins in circles, and a scene eerily similar to the last one begins to unfold.
"You all... even if we can't stay with you... at least you must never abandon hope... fight the Mastermind to the very end... As everyone's manager, that's my final advice."
"Tch... well, at least at the end I got to fight Monokuma to my heart's content... Not like I stood a chance... Still... I managed to do a little damage... so maybe I helped a bit...?"
"Nidai...? Owari...?"
Bang!!!
"W-What is this...?"
Nidai and Owari appear out of nowhere, smiling as they shoot each other in the head, then crumple to the ground just like Tanaka and Sonia did.
For a moment, I can only stand there in confusion, unable to comprehend the situation. Then the world starts spinning again.
"...At last, I can make a proper atonement. My heart feels lighter. I'm truly sorry for everything... and thank you."
"This is not as young master's tool, but by my own will, because I wished to share my final moment with young master. So do not grieve too deeply. We only ever caused trouble, so do not dwell on us. Use us as fertilizer and move on."
"Kuzuryu... Pekoyama..."
Bang!!!
As this despairing spectacle repeats itself again and again, despair and helplessness begin to creep through my heart like poison. But the world shows me no mercy. It spins once more.
"...Thank you so much for accepting me as your friend, even though I couldn't even remember my talent... In the end, I never did learn what my talent was... but I gained something even more precious: my bond with all of you. So I'm satisfied... Well then... goodbye, everyone..."
"Goodbye, guys. It's okay. A dazzling future will always be spread out before you. Without a doubt."
"Hinata... Nanami...! No...! Not you two...!!!"
Bang!!!
"Nooooooooooooo!!!!!!"
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"Gwaaaah!!"
"...K? What's wrong...?"
"Huff... huff... K-Kyoko...?"
"...Did you have another nightmare?"
"....."
I don't even know how many times it's been now. My body and mind are both exhausted. I try to force myself upright, but I don't have the strength.
"...What time is it?"
"Six in the morning... There's still time before Monokuma's exercise session starts... so you should try to sleep a little more..."
"No... it's fine... If I fall asleep again now... I feel like I'll just have another nightmare..."
"....."
It has already been seven days since we were trapped in this wretched Funhouse. For the first three days, the students still forced hope onto their faces somehow, but on the fourth day they started snapping at the smallest things, and by the fifth, they finally exploded into a full-blown fight.
The cause of that fight was the sharp conflict between two positions: one insisting we had to clear the Final Dead Room, and the other insisting that no one should ever enter the Final Dead Room under any circumstances.
Maybe because everyone was so drained, the fight never turned physical. But after that clash, the real fractures began.
If they had at least stayed split into just those two camps, maybe mediation would have been possible. But given the situation, even within each side, opinions started colliding. In the end, most of the students drifted apart from one another.
Now, on the seventh day, aside from me, Kyoko Kirigiri, Hinata, Nanami, and Pigami, the others spend their time shut quietly inside their rooms, only gathering for Monokuma's 7 a.m. tai chi session.
Of course, even our little group of five isn't exactly doing well.
Nanami and Hinata seem to have realized that Kyoko Kirigiri and I are planning to sacrifice ourselves. They kept pressing us relentlessly about it, and lately it feels like they've started to resent us for it.
Pigami, despite the soul-crushing misery of being unable to eat the food he loves so much, is still pouring every ounce of his strength into trying to rally everyone again. But with no progress to show for it, even he has sunk into gloom.
Kyoko Kirigiri and I are trying to face the approaching final moment with composure, somehow, but the anxiety and fear we can't help feeling are slowly breaking us down.
The fact that all this happened in just one week is absurd. No—if anything, it's a miracle we lasted this long. In the original story, they couldn't even make it three days before a murder happened.
But no matter how long we endure, the limit is coming. Even now, everyone is so weak that aside from the morning exercise, they spend the entire day holed up in their rooms. If a few more days pass like this... something will definitely happen.
"The Final Dead Room really is the problem... And I still can't shake the feeling that we failed when we were watching it on the fifth day..."
"....."
Up until the fifth day, the five of us I'd mentioned had gritted our teeth and kept watch over the Final Dead Room. But after exhausting ourselves trying to break up the fight that erupted that day, we were so utterly spent that we nodded off in the middle of our watch.
After that, we promised to take turns guarding it. Right now, Pigami is probably the one watching the Final Dead Room.
"...Yes. That keeps bothering me too. So it's about time we prepare, before it's too late."
"....."
"I'll go into the Final Dead Room. They said something in there has to be solved, right? With my talent, it won't take long—"
"I already know the answer. So I'll go."
"You? After collapsing for half a day on the sixth? Your body is frail enough as it is. There's no way you'd endure the trial—"
"I'm going, Kyoko."
"You stay in the room and rest—"
"Let go of me! Right now!!!!"
We had been bickering for quite a while. Then, through the crack of the door we'd left slightly open so we could rush out if anything happened, a scream tore through the air, and both of us froze.
"Th-That sound just now...?"
"...Looks like we need to go out immediately."
.
.
.
.
.
"Let go...! I said let go of me...!"
"C-Calm down, damn it!! I thought it was suspicious that you were sneaking off alone at dawn, so I followed you...!!"
"I was definitely guarding the Final Dead Room... Don't tell me, on the fifth day, someone already..."
"N-Nooo...! Saionji...!! Please calm down!!"
When we reached the first floor, where the scream had come from, a desperate scene was unfolding. Near the entrance to the Final Dead Room, Saionji was clutching a knife, thrashing wildly while Pigami, Kuzuryu, and Tsumiki struggled to restrain her.
"Wh-What is this...?"
"K! Kyoko Kirigiri! Good, you're here!! Hurry and help us—"
"Sh-Shut up...! Y-You're the Mastermind...! If... if I just take you down... this killing game will end...!!"
In that frantic situation, we rushed forward to help them, but—
Thnk
"Gyaaaaaaaaaaah!!"
"N-No!!"
"Kyaaaaaaaaaah!!"
"It'll... end... huh...?"
Before we could even reach them, the carnage happened.
"Ugh... nghhh..."
"D-Damn it!! Tsumiki, first aid, now...!!!"
"I-I can't...!!! There's no way to perform emergency treatment hereee!!!"
"Wh-What... have I done..."
Saionji had been flailing with the knife in her hand, and in the struggle, she ended up stabbing Kuzuryu in the eye.
"What the hell!? I'm already starving to death, so what's with all this noise at dawn—"
"Tsumiki... didn't you say you were going to the bathroom earlier? Why are you here? This isn't the bathroom—"
"Ahaha... figures... I knew this would happen..."
"Wh-What!? Bl-Blood...!!!"
"Wh-What happened here...?"
"Y-Young master!!!!!"
Everyone came running at the commotion and froze at the horrific sight. Koizumi in particular took one look at Saionji holding the knife, went deathly pale, and collapsed to the floor.
Saionji stared blankly at the others for a moment, then began to speak, trembling all over.
"I-I... I just... I was only trying to threaten the Mastermind... to end this killing game... I-I never meant to stab anyone or kill any—"
As Saionji babbled in terror at what she'd done, Kuzuryu, blood pouring from behind the hand covering his eye, began to mutter in a crawling, fading voice.
"D-Damn it... I gave up my life... a long time ago... but if that brat... gets made the blackened... and executed... that can't... happen..."
"Young master...!!! You mustn't lose consciousness!! Please...!!!"
"Peko... if I get to the point where I'm about to die... then carry out... that promise we made..."
"Young master!!!!!"
Despite Pekoyama's desperate cries, Kuzuryu, gravely wounded, finally lost consciousness.
"...Tsumiki, how much longer can Kuzuryu hold on?"
"I-If I had medicine from outside and the medical equipment in the hospital, I could somehow do something... b-but at this rate... not two days... not even one...!"
"....."
All of us froze for a moment at Tsumiki's death sentence.
"...For now, forget everything else. Move Kuzuryu to a guest room and nurse him. As for Saionji... and the cleanup after this, K and I will handle it."
Kyoko Kirigiri's quiet words broke the silence. Everyone shot Saionji a dark look, then, wearing miserable expressions, carefully supported Kuzuryu and headed for the guest rooms.
Kyoko Kirigiri watched them go in silence, then leaned close and whispered to me.
"...K, let's do it today."
"....."
"Right now, most of them are heading to the guest rooms... We'll wait for an opening, then enter the Final Dead Room."
"...You handle Saionji. I'll go into the Final Dead Room—"
"No. The opposite. I won't yield on this."
"...Kyoko."
And so, beside Saionji as she sat collapsed in a daze, we continued our miserable argument for quite some time.
"...Nidai, let me ask you something."
"Hm...?"
"Before it's too late... are you willing to cooperate with me to save everyone...?"
"...What?"
Meanwhile, at that same moment, as the others were heading toward the guest rooms, Tanaka was quietly whispering something to Nidai.
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"Upupupu...!! At last... we're right on the verge of the first murder...!! There's no way he can survive a wound like that without any treatment...!!"
Enoshima's Alter Ego laughed with a satisfied expression, already convinced its plan had succeeded.
"Well... the Class Trial will probably end in a boring flash... but that's not the important part...!! Still... of all people, it had to be those two runts, huh? Well, it's not like I'm in any position to be picky... Ah, right, come to think of it, Saionji did have a sudden growth spurt, didn't she...? Upupupu..."
As it said that, the Alter Ego zoomed in on one of the monitors floating around it. On the screen was a dark laboratory.
"Now it begins... Those Future Foundation bastards have been attacking so fiercely that things got a little rushed... but once everyone falls into despair because of this murder... the death toll will skyrocket in no time..."
The Alter Ego gazed lovingly at the eighteen students lying unconscious inside the lab's connection devices, then lowered its eyes and spoke softly.
"Isn't that right, Monomi...? Those kids over there are all going to become me, the cornerstone of the plan to turn all humanity into Enoshima... How beautiful is tha— huh?"
The Alter Ego, speaking in a voice drenched in ecstasy as it looked downward, abruptly stopped and could only stare in confusion.
"...Where did she disappear to?"
Monomi was gone, leaving behind only the rope that had bound her.