Danganronpa: Hope's on the Horizon (DR 1)

Prologue: Hello, Hope!

Music playing: N/A
Time of day: N/A
Chapter: Prologue

Black. That's all I can see.
It feels as if I have no eyes to open, the world is nothing but an empty void.
That is, until, I finally wake up.

I should also introduce myself. I'm Minato Aoyama, the Ultimate Music Composer.
I managed to escape the endless void and was met with a classroom. My resting hands were met with a mahogany desk. I looked around a bit...It seemed like a normal classroom; desks, chairs, a blackboard. And me. Time to leave, I guess.
I opened the sleek sliding door, which led me to the hallway. As the door closed, I saw a sign that said "1-B". I guessed that was the room I was just in. Looking left and right, I was met with long hallways on both ends. I walked around until I found someone. Walking through the halls, I noticed that no one was there, which gave that place an eerie vibe.
As I walked through this school, I found huge double doors that led to the gym. I opened the door and saw about 15 other students.

"Hey, are you alright? You seem to be sweating!" A girl with almost platinum blonde hair tied into long twin tails and wearing a holographic blue seifuku with a pink bow spoke up to me.
"Ah...yes. I'm alright."
"Is e-everyone...here?"
As I hear that second voice, I'm trying to pick out who said that. I guess it's best if I talk to everyone and find out their names. I choose to talk to the girl with the holographic seifuku on.
"What's your name?"
I said it in an awkward tone.
"Hi!! I'm Enjeru Sekiguchi, the Ultimate Streamer!"
"Minato Aoyama. I'm the Ultimate Music Composer."
We stared at each other awkwardly.
"So...what do you do as the Ultimate Streamer?"
"I'm the most popular streamer on the internet. I only got that fame by being cute, though..."
"Ah, I see."
"Well, what do you do as the Ultimate Music Composer?"
"...What do you think?"
My tone was sharp. When I said it, she looked sad. I feel bad.
"Sorry...I thought it was obvious. I make music."
"I thought so. What genre is your favorite?"
"Classical."
Enjeru turned away and giggled and then turned back to me.
"Classical?! How boring!"
She was just being nice to me a second ago...
"I'm just kidding! I loooove classical too! My favorite song is Canon in D!"
...Really?
Canon in D is such a basic answer...

Just as we were talking, we heard a disembodied, high-pitched voice.

"Good morning, everyone!"

"What the hell?"

We all looked at each other with a mix of confusion and fear in our eyes, trying to see if one of us was playing a joke. Just then, a weird black and white teddy bear popped out of nowhere and sat on the podium that was set up like an entrance ceremony was about to commence.

Suddenly, it started talking.

"Stand! Bow! Good morning!"

What.

"So...what's with the teddy bear?"

A girl with black hair tied into pigtails and wearing a black overall jump skirt spoke up. I think her name was...Ame...Hiraoka, right? I think she's the Ultimate Makeup Artist. It's a good thing that all of these people's info is available very easily.

"Oh my god!! It's so cute!! Come on, hug me!!"
Enjeru held out her arms to Monokuma, but he pushed her away.

"I'm not a teddy bear, I'm Monokuma! And I'm not cute!"

Despite not having any physical features that let it express emotions, you could tell that it was angry. It's calling itself Monokuma. What is happening? Why are we here?

"Anyway, I'm the headmaster of this beautiful school, of Hope's Peak Academy!"
"Wait, we're at Hope's Peak Academy?"
A guy with diluted purple hair and glasses spoke up. That's Isamu. Isamu Kojima, the Ultimate Astronomer.

"So, you're the headmaster of Hope's Peak?" I ask. I know that this is some kind of joke. It has to be. There's no way that a bear, a black and white bear, is the headmaster of Hope's Peak Academy.

"For the rest of your lives, you all are to live here. All sixteen of you! However, there's a catch!"
"Spill it. Now."
Ryosuke Hironaka, the Ultimate Debater, looked enraged as he spoke.
"If you want to escape into the outside world, you need to kill a fellow classmate!"

Monokuma sounded sinister, but also...gleeful. Almost like he was getting a kick out of the despair he was bringing to us. Scattered "What thes?" and "Whats?" could be heard throughout the gym.

"W-What do you mean...kill a classmate?" Etsuko asked.
"Isn't it obvious? You have free reign to kill however you like with anything you can find! Like bludgeoning! Or stabbing! Feelin' cheap? Try strangulation! Feelin' lazy? Try poisoning! Whether you shoot, burn, drown, blow up, crush, electrocute, or laugh your victim to death...You can use any method you like to kill anyone you like, any way you like! At Hope's Peak Academy, you will realize your murderous potential! Sixteen talented teenage prodigies, all competing for first place in a killing game...There's no better setting for an event like this than Hope's Peak Academy!"
"What kind of...joke is this? Who would do anything like this?" I'm thinking.
Just before I could finish my train of thought, Monokuma added to his original plan.
"I forgot to mention that after every murder, a class trial must be held! But, you get to investigate the scene before it starts just so you know what you kids will be talking about!"
He was just about to eat a fish before he, I assume, remembered something else.
"And one more thing, I swear! You all have a student handbook that you can access anytime in case you're a stickler for the rules!"
With that, we all started finding our student handbooks. Etsuko had hers in her bag, while others had them in their pockets. We all started looking through it and the first thing we saw were the rules.

Rule #1: Students may reside only within the school. Leaving campus is an unacceptable use of time.
Rule #2: "Nighttime" is from 10 pm to 7 am. Some areas are off-limits at night, so please exercise caution.
Rule #3: Sleeping anywhere other than the dormitory will be seen as sleeping in class and punished accordingly.
Rule #4: With minimal restrictions, you are free to explore Hope's Peak Academy at your discretion.
Rule #5: Violence against headmaster Monokuma is strictly prohibited, as is the destruction of surveillance cameras.
Rule #6: Anyone who kills a fellow student and becomes "blackened" will graduate, unless they are discovered.
Rule #7: Additional school regulations may be added if necessary.
Rule #8: Once a murder takes place, a class trial will begin shortly thereafter. Participation is mandatory for all surviving students.
Rule #9: If the guilty party is exposed during the class trial, they alone will be executed.
Rule #10: If the guilty party is not exposed, they alone will graduate, and all remaining students will be executed.
Rule #11: The guilty party may only kill a maximum of two people during any single "Killing Game."
Rule #12: Attempting to break into locked rooms is strictly prohibited.

Monokuma started again.
"Hopefully you all are good children who won't break any of these rules because it's extremely hard to reprint all of you new handbooks just to add to the regulations!"
We all looked around at each other, hoping all of us would see tomorrow, and then looked back at Monokuma, who was now feasting on a salmon fish.

What is going on here?

PROLOGUE: END
ITEM GET: HOPE'S PEAK ACADEMY BADGE!
ITEM INFO: Proof that you completed the prologue!