Danganronpa: Digital Daze

Chapter 3: Terms and Conditions

I found my E-Handbook on the cart, underneath Angie's, and pulled it out. Turning it on, a splash screen displayed, reading "The Ultimate Talent Enhancement Center", with "Bera Haikiko: Ultimate Tailor" underneath it. It also displayed the time: 4:50pm.

After the initial screen disappeared, a series of menus showed up: Yearbook, Map, Rules, Chat, Games, Music, Notepad, and Settings. However, before I could select any of them, the Rules was overlapping everything, with a greyed-out "I Accept" button at the bottom of it. The only thing I could do was read the rules and keep scrolling down, so I did.

Rule 1: "Nighttime is from 10pm until 7am. The water will be shut off to the facility at this time, and the Dining Hall, Trash Room, and Pool will be closed at this time. Any time, outside of this period, is considered Daytime."

Rule 2: "Sleeping anywhere except the dormitory, regardless of what time it is, is prohibited. This is considered sleeping in class."

Rule 3: "Letting another student use your handbook is prohibited. This is considered a security violation, as the Pool Room tracks who enters and leaves it via the E-Handbook."

Rule 4: "Violence against Headmaster Monorakun is strictly prohibited, as is destruction of surveillance cameras. This is considered vandalism of school property."

Rule 5: "With minimal restrictions, you are otherwise free to explore The Ultimate Talent Enhancement Center at your own discretion."

Rule 6: "Students must live at The Ultimate Talent Enhancement Center for the rest of their lives. There is only one exception to this rule, which Monorakun will explain upon request."

Rule 7: "Any student who fails to accept the Terms and Conditions within 24 hours of their Class Orientation faces permanent expulsion."

Rule 8: "Additional Rules may be added by Headmaster Monorakun, at his discretion. When this happens, every E-Handbook's Rules section will be immediately updated, and a message will be sent out to the Group Chat with the new rule."

My eyes nervously settled back on Rule 6. "The rest of their lives"? "One exception to this rule"? I was worried about asking what it would take to leave this place.

However, I didn't have to wait long, as Kaito spoke up first. "Hey! This isn't what we agreed to! We agreed to work on our talents, not to be locked in here forever!"

Monorakun chuckled. "Huh? You just got here, and now you wanna leave already? Sorry, no can do. Well, unless you use the one exception, of course." He was clearly baiting Kaito to ask him how to escape, and Kaito took it.

"Ok, then how do we get out of here, after we're done?"

Monorakun started laughing. "Well, you've got to KILL another student, AND get away with it! Of course, there's a little more to it than not being seen. Lemme go over it for ya."

Monorakun started pacing back and forth. "First, you gotta off one, or two, of your classmates. No more than two, though, or that's a disqualification! After the victim is dead and the killer, known as the Blackened, leaves the scene, three sets of eyes must rest upon the corpse."

Monorakun stopped and scratched behind his ear with his hind foot, then continued. "At that time, I'll announce the death, call EVERYONE to where the body was found, and an investigation will start. Search the body, gather evidence, gather alibis, that sort of thing. After an undetermined amount of time (or after I get bored), you will all be called to the Courtroom to discuss whodunit, in a roundtable discussion. Any topic goes at any time, so long as it's relevant to the crime."

Monorakun then sat on his haunches. "Now HERE'S the fun part for you all. If you guess the correct Blackened, they get executed, and I'll open a new floor the next morning at 7am. However...if you guess incorrectly, the Blackened gets to go free, and EVERYONE ELSE is executed instead! So point the finger at your own peril, because EVERYONE'S lives are on the line here!"