Despair's Little Game (Book 1)

0. The Game

They were gone.

They were all dead.

His friends...

His family...

His fellow survivors...

He couldn't save them.

He couldn't help them.

He felt empty.

He felt like the world around him had gone black.

He was numb.

And then it stopped.

And he was crying. Sobbing. Screaming.

Despairing? Perhaps...

No. He wouldn't despair just because his friends died.

He couldn't give up hope.

Right?

Well maybe... if it wasn't for one single thing.

The camera shots of their bodies. The video recordings. The blood pooling out from beneath the door.

He was trapped in a room full of memories. Full of death.

He was with each of them when they died. He remembered it as vividly as the red sky.

The pictures remind him of his actions and words.

Repeating in his head.

A laugh came from all around the room, bursting like waves as they crushed the wall of a dam. High,  joyful,  yet emotionless. Ringing in his ears. Familiar.

"Ohmygosh did the super high school level hope himself just get a glimpse of despair?! Oh how dreadful!" Junko Enoshima's voice never wavered it's tone, upbeat and deadly happy, "Looks like despair might finally be the winner in this battle of life and death!"

Makoto Naegi stared at the floor wordlessly. He didn't have any more tears. He didn't have anything to scream about. He only listened, stiff as a rock. Eyes shaking slightly.

"Did the deaths of the rest of our classmates finally make it click in your head? Do you finally understand?" Junko paused as if waiting for a reply, but all Makoto did was stay still as ever, "Good! Because it's not over yet!"

A monitor of sorts slowly came out from the ceiling and emitted a familiar red glow.

"I have one last show for you. One final movie. A test you could call it. A test of despair!"

Makoto looked up at the glare of the monitor, monokumas red eye clearly visible in the center of the screen.

"Now what does this test result in, you may be wondering... well... I'm curious myself. This test is designed to show how much despair you really have, how much despair you can overcome." Junko's voice had shifted to her 'intellectual' side, "here, you will be prevented by doing something you want. If you manage to overcome that Interest, you win! However, if I am correct, and you manage to do your task... I win."

Makoto was unsure of what Junko was talking about. What was he going to want? What was he prevented from doing? Who should be the winner? His questions went unanswered and instead Junko continued her speech.

"So, Makoto Naegi... Of Future Foundation office branch 14... Ultimate Hope... Ultimate Luck... let the test begin!"