Danganronpa - Betray to Trust

CHAPTER 1: BETRAYER WITHIN

When I come to, I feel as if I'm sitting on a school chair, with my upper body resting on a table. I can sense the weight and warmth of my head pressing down. My eyes feel heavy, and I can't open them. It's as if my eyelids have gained weight of their own. I don't understand why—it feels strange—so I move my fingers to touch the desk's surface.

The texture is familiar. It's plastic with a slight roughness, the kind often used for desks, and I feel it distinctly under my fingertips.

My consciousness slowly returns, and I feel more awake. I open my eyes carefully, but the ceiling lights are harsh, so I close them again. I feel dizzy as I raise my head and look down at the desk. It's a light yellow and completely bare.

I look around to find a room full of evenly spaced, empty desks. There are no students, no teachers, and no sounds. It's so silent that I can't even hear my own breathing. The quiet is unnerving, a little frightening.

Then, I notice a camera in the corner of the ceiling, pointed directly at me, and I get the feeling it's watching me. There's also some sort monitor on the wall, but it's turned off.

I stand up and step away from the chair. The room seems even bigger now, the empty desks even more isolated. I walk around, looking for windows, but there are none.

The walls are made of large metal plates, and there's not a single window. It feels like a sealed room—a little scary and unsettling.

„What the hell..." I mutter, putting my hand on the back of my head.

I try to recall everything that happened. My name is Kurt Blake, I'm sixteen years old, and a student at the American Division of Hope's Peak Academy. I was on a bus, headed to my first day of school, and I remember feeling really nervous.

A cute Asiatic girl had taken the seat next to me. She smiled at me and was about to introduce herself... but my memory fades from there. I can't recall her name or anything after that moment.

I don't know what's happening, but I know I have to get out of here. Maybe there are some clues on me... Do I still have my phone? I check my pants pockets, but all I find is a small notebook. I open it, and there's a message written on the first page:

Welcome to your new school!
We hope you enjoy your stay!
Please proceed to the front entrance hall.

I feel a twinge of fear. I'm not sure what to make of the message, but I know I need to leave the classroom and find the entrance hall.

As I close the notebook, something slips out from between the pages: an ID card with my picture and name on it. It's attached to a broken clip.

I sigh, putting the notebook in my pocket and taking the ID card. It displays my name, age, gender, and title—Ultimate Interviewer. I sigh again. I'd originally applied to the school as a Journalist, but Hope's Peak Academy turned that down. They told me journalism was already taken by someone else, and that interviewing wasn't the same thing. I took it as their way of suggesting that I specialize in interviews rather than general journalism. I didn't argue with them and agreed to the title of Interviewer.

Interviews were my strength, after all. As a school journalist, I'd even managed to interview the President of the United States. I was the only student allowed to do so, and the entire interview went viral on YouTube, making me famous as the „Ultimate Interviewer."

But there's no point in dwelling on that now. Something's definitely wrong. I have no idea where I am or why I'm here, but I need to find out.

I glance around the classroom and see a door. I walk toward it and open it.