Part 16: Chapter 1 Deadly Life, Part 1

When I opened my eyes, I found myself staring at a huge ceiling. It was a ceiling I remember seeing before. And when I sat up, I saw someone looking at me. Again, it was someone I'd seen before.





: ...



: Ah! You're awake! Finally! Are you okay?
: Now's no time for sleeping. Get your ass up!
: Huh...?



: You were unconscious, dude. I had to carry you back here.
: It's no surprise, considering what happened.
: What...happened?



: Gh--! Grraaah!
: H-Hey, are you okay!?
: So it wasn't a dream? What I saw... It was real...?





: That's right. It really did happen. Sayaka...is dead.
: ...!

A deep, dark despair worked its way through my body, and then exploded out of me. I shot up and took off running.

: Hey, where do you think you're going?
: I have to see for myself! I have to see if Sayaka is--! If Sayaka is...!



: You can check once, twice, a thousand times. Sayaka is completely and irrevocably dead.
: No! I have to see for myself!



: Listen to us, man! Whaddya think's gonna happen if you go out there?
: Well what good is it gonna do just sitting around here!? I mean, why are we all hanging out in the gym at a time like this!? Our friend...Sayaka...she's... She's dead!

Dead... When I said that, it finally hit me.





I realized she really was gone...



: None of us want to be here right now, either.
: Then...why?
: Sh-Shouldn't it be obvious? Monok-kuma...he told us all to c-come here...
: Well, hold on! Don't talk like that. We all protested it! I mean, we remember the terrible price Sayaka had to pay...
: B-But...!



: I'm the one who convinced them to come. Right now, we need to do whatever he says. We're his prisoners, right? It's not a good idea to defy him without reason. We don't need to make any more sacrifices than we already have...
: ...Why should we listen to anything he has to say? It's obvious he's the one who killed Sayaka!



: I would never do that! If you can believe anything, you can believe that!
: He's here again...
: Unless someone violates a school regulation, I absolutely will not interfere. I can promise you, I won't do anything that goes against the purpose of your school life here.
: I'm famous at safari parks throughout the world for following the "Bear-Times-One" rule!
: Then...who did it? Who killed her?





: You already know the answer! The one who killed her is...one of you!

Nobody had a reply for that. One of us...killed Sayaka? Don't be stupid. That's...



: Hmm? What's the matter? You guys all look like you're about to see a dove get shot up with a Gatling gun!
: Don't you remember what I told you when this all began?
: One of you decided to kill Sayaka so that you could graduate! Someone's just following the rules. There's nothing wrong with that!



: Y-You're lying...right?
: Of course he's lying! I'm telling you, he killed her!



: Nope, sorry. One of you is now a bona fide killer. If they wanted to, the one who did it could testify to that little fact.
: What...?

Without thinking, I looked around at everyone. They all had the same look on their faces... Everyone looked at each other with a combination of fear, suspicion and confusion.

: A-Are you serious...?



: Someone... Someone killed someone!
: It is amazing what some people are capable of.
: Hey, hold on! Don't just assume he's telling the truth!



: That's enough. Before we do anything else, I'd like to confirm something with the stuffed animal here.
: If one of us really did kill her, that person gets to graduate from the school, right?
: ...Huh?
: Don't play dumb! That's what you said, isn't it!? If you kill someone, you get to leave!
: Puhuhu... Puhuhu! Poohohoho!



: Bwaaahahahaha!
: Why are you laughing!?
: Puhu...it's cuz...
: Naive... You're just so naive! You think it's really that easy? You can just kill someone and waltz on outta here?



: You're super naive! Devilishly naive! HELLISHLY NAIVE! No no no, the real thing has just begun.
: The...real thing?
: Are you ready!? Allow me to explain the second part of the rule regarding graduation! Just like I explained before, you must kill someone if you want to leave. However...even if you do that, there's still one more part to the agreement you have to upload, remember?



: You are referring to rule number six of the school regulations...



: If you are the "blackened" that committed the murder, you can't be found out by the other students. That is what you are talking about, is it not?
: Bingo! It's not enough to just kill someone. You have to actually get away with it! Which naturally means you need a system in place to assess whether or not it's been gotten away with!





: So, a certain amount of time after a murder has taken place, a class trial will begin!

Class...trial?

: Yup! It'll begin a few hours after the murder! Everyone will gather together, including the blackened who committed the murder. And they and the spotless students will all engage in one big debate showdown!





: During the trial, you'll have to present your arguments about who you think the blackened is. And once everything comes to an end, the outcome will be decided by popular vote! If the answer you've arrived at is correct...only the one that disturbed your peace will be punished. The rest may continue their communal life. However...if you choose poorly...then the one who got away with murder will survive, and the rest of you will receive your punishment. Which of course means your school life will come to an end! As far as class trial rules go...that's all there is to it!



: So, um...what exactly is this "punishment" you keep talking about...?
: Oh! Well, to put it simply...



: It's execution!
: E-Execution!?
: And by execution, you mean...





: Execution is...execution. Ex-e-cution! Electric chair, bzzt bzzt! Poison gas, cough cough! Torn apart like a paper place in a hurricane!



: S-So, to make sure I understand... If we get the culprit right, then only they die. But if we get it wrong...all the rest of us get...executed?



: What a smart little chimpanzee you are! Look at you, implying you didn't do it without actually saying it! So it's basically what the outside world calls a "lay judge" system, or an inquisition type thing! Which means you'll be deciding who you think the killer is.
: But judge carefully, because all your lives are on the line!
: Okay, let me just add the rule I just described to your handbook. make sure to keep it in mind!
: The new rule has been added to the Regulations menu.



: W-Wait, hold on a second!
: You're freaking insane, you know that!?
: Hmm?
: A class trial? What the hell is that!? I don't want anything to do with it!
: Why not?
: Whaddya mean why not!? Why do I have to waste my time trying to figure out who murdered someone!?



: What!? Are you saying you're not gonna participate in the trial!? Only punishment awaits such blasphemy!
: What? Punishment?
: I might...I dunno, throw you in a deep, dark, scary prison or something!
: Shut the hell up! Say whatever you want, I'm not gonna be part of this!
: Don't be so selfish!
: You're the one being selfish! Kill whoever you want, it's got nothing to do with me!



: The evil standing here before me... I'm trembling with fear...!



: But I won't give in to such evil! It's my style to stick it out and resist till the very end...! If you really wanna get out of here...



: You'll have to go through me first!

As he said that, he came charging at us. Although is was more of a waddle... But then...

*Smash*

Watch this scene in video form!



: Gyumeh!
: Are you enjoying yourself now?
: Are you?
: Huh?
: Violence against Headmaster Monokuma is not allowed. You've violated a school regulation... I invoke the mighty summon spell! Help! To me, godly spear Gungnir!









: ...Wh...? H-Huh?
: This wasn't...supposed to...
: Why...me...?

Suddenly, right at the end, her eyes shot wide open.



And just like that...she never moved again.





: Wh-What the...
: I don't...
: Th-This can't be real.
: NO WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAYYY!



: Now I am painfully aware of the great power and meaning of a promise... I really wanted to keep a corpse from popping up for no good reason, ya know?
: But I guess you all needed to be taught a lesson, after all. Ahh, what an amazing promise! But now you guys understand, right?





: Now you see just how serious I am... Defy me and you get shot full of holes, exploded, buried alive, disintegrated...et cetera. So if you don't want that to happen to you, you'd best obey those school regulations!



Junko's body had been impaled with a bunch of spears... An unbelievable amount of blood started pouring out of her body. It was the first time I'd ever seen...the moment someone's life came to an end. Nobody there could deny what they'd seen. Junko, who until just a second ago had been our friend...was dead. She'd died. She'd been murdered. In simple terms...it was the death of a human being.



: It's really not all that shocking. She just died, that's all. Just went and died. It's no more remarkable than the inevitable demise of the entire human race. It's just as natural as the eventual end of the world itself.
: This isn't some superhero comic. So it's not like when you die, you didn't *really* die.
: This is reality!



: ...Why did you have to kill her? Didn't you say you would put her in prison or something?
: I changed my mind.
: No, you've been wanting to kill this entire time.



: Kill this entire time...? Don't be silly, you can't kill time! Or are you being metaphorical? Are you saying I wanted to waste time this whole time?
: Come on, what do you take me for? I'm Monokuma!
: Anyways, none of that matters right now. I have something I'd like to give you to help you in your search for the blackened!



: This little file has all the information I've gathered about the death in question. I like to call it... The Monokuma File! I mean, naturally you guys aren't experts at this kind of thing, so you can only do so much with a corpse. So instead, I've gathered up everything I know about the circumstances and cause of death.



: What's that? How do I know the cause of death, you ask?
: Cuz the surveillance cameras picked up the whole thing! I got to see it all go down!
: Wait, so then...you know who killed Sayaka?
: Of course I do! If I didn't, I couldn't possibly pass a fair and accurate judgment during the trial, now could I?



: That's a good point. The judge has to be able to make the proper decision. That's...somehow comforting.



: Now then, please put your full effort behind your investigation! After all, you don't have any choice but to give it your best shot! Seriously, you don't have a choice! Okay, so we'll meet up for the class trial...in a little while! *leaves*



And with that, Monokuma disappeared once again. He left us stunned and confused... He left us at a total loss. He left us with Junko's dead body growing colder right in front of us.