Part 7: Chapter 1 Daily Life, Part 1

"You must kill someone if you want to leave." My mind froze and my breath caught in my throat as I thought about that... I could feel a paralyzing fear slowly making its way through my body, dominating every last nerve. The air hung heavy on me, pressing down like a weight around my neck. It took everything I had just to endure that weight...

But for as heavy as the air felt... all it took to pierce it was her sharp words.



: So? What are you going to do now? Just stand around glaring at each other? Her pointed comment was directed at everyone in the room. It helped pull us back to reality.





: R-Right... She's right!
: Sometimes, even if you're nervous or afraid, you just have to step forward!



: To forget such a simple fact... I can't forgive myself. I'm so ashamed! Please, someone hit me! I can't forgive myself! Somebody hit me! Punish me!



: Jesus. If you have time to yell about it, you have time to DO something about it.



: Perhaps, but...what is the mission, exactly?



: Idiot! To look for a way out, duh!



: And we totally need to find out whoever was controlling that stupid bear and beat the hell out of 'em.



: ...B-But before we do all that, maybe we should take a look at the handbook... It's probably best to check out the school regulations Monokuma mentioned before doing anything else.



: True. If we stumble around with no clue what the rules are, something like that might happen again...



: Shit...



: Fine. Then let's hurry up and check out the stupid rules already.



After turning on my e-Handbook, the first thing that appeared was my name. So just like Monokuma said, the owner's name showed up front and center. Then, from the Main Menu that popped up, I selected the School Regulations icon.

An itemized list appears on-screen. It was the school regulations. In other words, the rules being imposed on us all.









1. Students may reside only within the school. Leaving campus is an unacceptable use of time.
2. "Nighttime" is from 10 p.m. to 7 a.m. Some areas are off-limits at night, so please exercise caution.
3. Sleeping anywhere other than the dormitory will be seen as sleeping in class and punished accordingly.
4. With minimal restrictions, you are free to explore Hope's Peak Academy at your discretion.
5. Violence against Headmaster Monokuma is strictly prohibited, as is destruction of surveillance cameras.
6. Anyone who kills a fellow student and becomes "blackened" will graduate, unless they are discovered.
7. Additional school regulations may be added as necessary.



Feeling a slight dizziness, I raised my face up from the screen. As I looked around, I saw the same stormy expression on everyone's faces.



: This is bullshit! What the hell kinda rules are these!? I'm not gonna let them control ME!



: Well then, why don't you wander around the school without a care in the world and see what happens? Personally, I would love to see what happens when someone breaks one of the rules.
: But if he got punished like what we saw before, I don't think there'd be a respawn waiting for him...



: ...
: I... Ever since I was a kid, I grew up with my older brother pounding this into my head... When a man makes a promise, he has to keep it, even if it kills him.



: ...So what?



: I've made a ton of promises that I still have to keep, that's "so what"!



: So I can't afford to die in here!



: None of that made much sense to me, but you are saying you will follow the regulations, is that it?



: Huh? Oh, well...yeah, I guess you're right.



: Hey, um...I have a question. For regulation number six...what do you think it means exactly?



: You're talking about the second half, right? Where it says "unless they are discovered"? I was wondering about that myself.



: It's saying that if you want to graduate, you have to kill someone without anyone finding out it was you.



: B-But why...? Why do we h-have to do that?
: I don't see any reason to worry about it. Just worry about following the rules as they've been explained to us.



: Frankly, I don't want to hear anything from someone who waits for others to decide what to do for them.



: D-Don't jab at me...
: More like a full-on stab...
: Well for now, let's forget all that silly junk about murderers or whatever.



: Now that we know the rules, let's start exploring the school!



: True. We need to find out where exactly we are. Is there any way out? What about food and supplies?
: There are tons of questions we need to answer!



: Damn straight! Okay, then let's all start looking around!



: ...I'll be going alone.
: What!? Why? That's a pretty stupid idea, don't you think?



: Someone here might already have started thinking about murdering one of us. Are you saying we should stand around with them in our midst and make it that much easier for them?
: W-Wait, hold on a second. That would never--!



♪ Music cuts out. ♪

: Don't bother saying it couldn't happen. You can't deny the possibility. That's why you all seized up with fear when that graduation rule was made clear to you.





: Am I wrong?



: B-But......



: So, I'm simply acting in accordance with what I think is best for me.



: Hold on! Like hell I'm gonna let you run off and do whatever you want!



: Out of my way, plankton.



: Wh--!? The fuck's that supposed to mean!?
: One tiny bit of plankton, drifting across the sea. So minuscule, so insignificant, they couldn't possibly have any kind of influence on the boundless ocean.



: I'm gonna kick your ass!
: S-Stop it! We shouldn't fight!
: The fuck you just say? You some kinda goody-goody little bitch?



: Who do you think you are, talkin' to me like that? You think you're my fuckin' dad or something!?
: N-No, I wasn't--!



: Fuck you!

*WHAM*

♪ Music cuts out. ♪



He punched me...and I flew back in a heap. It was like something straight out of a comic book. I didn't even see the punch coming. It was just suddenly right there in my face. One second I was standing there, the next I was soaring through the air. Now that I think about it, maybe I'd kinda forgotten...the kind of people I'd been trapped here with. My common sense had just...stopped functioning. Being around all these "ultimates" had blown my fuses. So I guess I shouldn't be surprised it led to something as absurd as this. But I'd just...lost track of that sense of reality. That was my last thought as my consciousness started to fade...before it finally cut out completely.


And when I finally opened my eyes again, what I saw was...





: Ng...gah... Huh? Wh-Where am I?

As if it had become part of my daily routine, I woke up in yet another room I'd never seen before.

: Okay, so... Where am I now?
: You now have access to the Handbook Menu. You can use this to check a variety of information as you play. Open the Handbook Menu by pressing the Square button. You can use this menu to check the School Regulations, and character info in the Report Card section. At certain points, Map and Truth Bullets may not be available. You can also save and load game data under the System section. Finally, press the SELECT button to review the Transcript. This records all pertinent info, so use this to review comments from everyone involved.



: This is the e-Handbook. It's our pause menu. As you can see, we can't view the Map of the area right now or the Truth Bullets section. Truth Bullets only become available when we have evidence to review at later times.



: First, we can take a look at the Presents section. Right now, there's almost nothing in here, but if we scroll way down the list we'll find...



: The School Crest that we got for completing the Prologue. It doesn't do anything in particular. Clearing a chapter gives you a Chapter-specific present. As for other presents, it's still not time to talk about them in detail.



: Next, we have the Report Card section. This section gives a little info about all of the students in the game, Makoto included.

















: As you get to know the students better, more information will get filled in on their respective pages.
: We can also view the School Regulations at any time if you wish to see them again for whatever reason.
: System includes the Saving and Loading features, as well as the Options menu, a Return to Main Menu option and the Transcript. The Transcript is very useful if you forgot what someone said 5 seconds ago because it records every single piece of text that the game displays, be it spoken word, thoughts, tutorials or sound effects, and keeps a backlog of at least 100 lines, probably more. It's a very handy feature.





: Now that we've viewed the e-Handbook in detail, it's time to check out where we are. We can't progress until we check everything here, but not everything is important so I'll only show you the things of note.





I guess the school must have given one to each of us...





It must be brand-new. It's still in the shrink-wrap. I don't really need it right now, so I'll just leave it here.



"Announcement from Headmaster Monokuma: Each room's lock has been designed to completely protect against tampering or lock-picking. Remaking an individual room key is quite troublesome, so please make sure not to lose yours. Your room comes furnished with a shower, but please note that the water is turned off at nighttime. Also, the bathrooms in the girls' rooms include a lock of their own.

Finally, we've prepared a small gift for each of you. For the girls, a sewing kit. And for the boys, a toolkit. The sewing kit includes a map of the body's vital organs. One stab will do the job, girls! For the boys, we believe a strong blow to the head with any of the tools should be ample. Don't think! Just feel! And let's all enjoy ourselves!"

: ...

I crumpled up the sheet of paper and threw it in the trash.



All that's in the trash can is the paper I wadded up and threw away.



: This is a Monocoin. You can find them by examining objects in rooms. You also get a large amount of them every time you clear a chapter. They are used to buy things in the School Store.



*Rattle rattle*

: Huh? It's not opening. I guess it's locked.



My name's written on the keychain. Which means it must be mine, right? I'd better hang on to it for now.



: I think I'm starting to understand. This room must be...



This is my assigned dorm room. Someone must have carried me here after I fell unconscious. So that answers that question. The next question is...

: What's everyone else up to right now?

There's only one way to find out... And that's to get out of here.



: Next time, we go outside.