Danganronpa: Hope Lives On

Prologue 0 - 3

We walk over to the last room, opening the door. Inside, a woman is fiddling with something at a workbench. I walk over, glancing over her shoulder. She doesn't seem to notice me. She picks it up, looking at a mechanism closely. "Strange..." she says. "Doesn't look like any I've seen before."

"Any what?" I ask.

She yelps, letting go of it in shock. Hope grabs it and puts it down gently. The black-haired girl smiles at me. "Don't sneak up on me like that!"

I giggle nervously. "Sorry. I'm Karma."

She holds out her hand for me to shake. I take her hand. "Holly, Ultimate Locksmith."

She looks at the mechanism she was just messing with. "These doors have locks in them, so I was checking how they worked and looked. They're quite different from many I've seen, but it seems that inputting a code will lock a door."

I look at the lock mechanism in front of her. "It seems complicated."

She nods. "That's cause it is. I've just gotta replace it now."

Hope nods. "Alright. I guess Karma and I can go see if there's anyone else to meet."

Holly shrugs. "I mean, that doesn't matter to me. See you later."

I nod, waving her goodbye as I follow Hope.

Hope and I enter the central room, seeing a couple more people. I also notice an elevator to my left that says 'Out of Order'.

I walk over to the two new people, waving to them. A black-haired girl wearing fancy clothes waves back, smiling. "Hello," she says.

The other waves. "Howdy," she says, speaking in a southern accent.

The first stands up, looking at me. "I'm Elianna, but you can call me Ellie. I'm the Ultimate Bladesmith."

The other girl stands next to her. "She said that she takes a hell of a lotta pride in her work. I also take pride in my work."

I look to her. "What do you do?"

"Well, it depends. I usually work on my family's ranch. I suppose I should be talkin' 'bout my name now though. I'm Eliza, the Ultimate Cowgirl."

Hope smiles. "A cowgirl, wow! That talent is really cool. Much better than mine, at least. Not a lot you can do with luck."

Ellie frowns. "You shouldn't talk like that. You have a talent, and you have to own it, okay?"

Hope shrugs. "I guess."

I take a deep breath, looking around.

*Ding*

"Attention." I hear a voice say over an intercomm. "You must all meet in the dining hall. If you do not, you will be met with swift, and severe, punishment."

Hope and I look to each other, trying to think what that announcement could mean. We start heading down to the dining hall, taking a seat at a table with Eliza and Holly.

We sit in relative silence for a few minutes before a screen lowers on the back wall, projecting the image of a robotic figure for all of us to see.

"I see that you have all gathered. At least you're not dumb enough to disobey a direct order. I am your headmaster. I am designed as the Game Observation Droid, but you may call me God." The machine glares down at us. "I have decided that you sixteen will kill each other."

My eyes go wide. "...kill?" I murmur.

God stares down at us, unblinking... unmoving. "In each of your rooms, a student handbook has been placed. They are GodPads, and they contain both the class list and the rules of this academy. If you disobey them, your life will come to a swift and sudden end. If you doubt me, go ahead and disobey. You will regret it."

We stare in silence at God, and it stares back. "That is all. Let the game..."

"...begin."

The screen goes blank, leaving us all in stunned silence.

This is no ordinary school.

This is hell, and we just met the devil.