Part 180: Always Crashing in the Same Car

VIDEO: The Eighth-to-Last Trial Video



Even if nobody was waiting, even if it makes you go, "What, again?"...









Junko Enoshima...the 53rd?

Tsumugi...wh-what's the matter? Aren't you...Tsumugi Shirogane?

Our friend who survived with us?



Cuz I'm just a character! Y'know, a lie!

A flurry of props obscures the mastermind whenever she switches between Tsumugi and Junko.

Sorry to all her fans out there. If any of you even exist, that is.

A-A lie...?



Puhuhu... Calling her your friend... Oh, it's laughable, really.



A-Are you serious!? You're the mastermind behind this?

But, why? That face and that voice! It's just like...

Junko Enoshima!





No, that's not possible... Junko Enoshima is dead!

But...why did you call yourself "the 53rd"?

As history repeats itself, so does Junko Enoshima...

Nyeh...?



So...you're just a freak pretending to be Junko Enoshima, huh!?

No, a perfect reproduction!

Perfect reproductions are exactly the same as the original.

Her logic is impossible to follow, much like the real Junko Enoshima's...





Oh, don't say mean things like that... Besides, killing me never ends the game.

It never ends the game? What do you mean?



Wait! If force is necessary, it should wait until after we see what she—

No need, Keebo. Because this class trial is *over*.

What? It's already over? But I just showed up!

You killed Kaede, and Monokuma covered it up with a false narrative!



Oh that, right. Yeah, I definitely messed that up. Sorry about that...



So? Is that all you have to say?

The viewers won't accept that kind of apology! You gotta stop the killing game!

Eh? The viewers?

Umm... It seems like you're on the wrong track, so let me explain...



That was...about the time the meteorite impacts started intensifying...

Did she just start some big story on her own...?

I knew of Hope's Peak Academy's Gofer Project, and my inner Junko told me...

Crushing the Gofer Project, humanity's last hope, would be the perfect despair.



I forced those selected as humanity's last hope to play my killing game.

And then I took the name "Tsumugi Shirogane" and sneaked in among them.

Did...Kokichi know about this? Wasn't he a Remnant of Despair?

He was your comrade, right?



It's like, you don't need a remote after you've thrown out the TV, right?

The Remnants of Despair are just a bunch of despair fanboys and fangirls.

But I...am despair itself...



A god wouldn't be comrades with one of their believers, right?

Then Kokichi didn't know your true identity either...



To the end, he had no idea the object of his worship was right under his nose.

I-I don't care about your story! Tell us about the people watching!



There's nobody watching.

Huh?

We were the last 16 people alive, y'know? Who could be watching? Humanity is gone.

No, you're lying... If this isn't being shown to anyone, why care so much about rules?



That was just a part of my perfect reproduction.

Your what?

I just perfectly reproduced my own killing game is all. Just like the old Junko!



You just wanted to recreate the past killing game... That's it?

Yup, that's it.

There are no survivors of humanity. Things are just as you recalled...







Maybe we all remember that there's no one left out there...

But how do we know our memories are real?

Huh? What do you mean by that? You think your memories are wrong?

There's something that's been bothering me about our memories...



The Complete History of Hope's Peak Academy?



Nothing would indicate this book is a prop. I believe the information here is accurate.

But there's a lot written in here that differs from our memories.

...What is different?

To know that for certain, I'll need everyone's help.



We just need to talk about what we remember from Hope's Peak? Okay...

Um... So it started with The Biggest, Most Awful, Most Tragic Event in Human History.



KEEBO: It would not be hyperbole to say that event brought despair to all mankind.



Yeah! It was me!



JUNKO: But my real identity was the Ultimate Despair! In order to cover the world in despair, I put my plans—



Huh? I detect no discrepancy in my memory banks...

Yes, everything we just said is just like we remember it...



I'll determine exactly why later... For now, I need to identify the discrepancy.

So you gotta play "Spot the Difference"!









The Biggest, Most Awful, Most Tragic Event in Human History...

That even originated at Hope's Peak Academy...



The cause of all that despair...



A student of Hope's Peak Academy...



I did everything in my power...



Something about that statement doesn't match with the history... Was the "Ultimate Despair" really just one person...?



We won't forget about Mukuro that easily.













To put it simply, there's more to Ultimate Despair than Junko Enoshima.

This is the first time I've heard about this. Wasn't Junko the Ultimate Despair?

...That's what I recall as well. That label should only apply to her.



Coincidence? Misremembered?

No, It's no coincidence. I know there's a difference in those memories.



Ugh, does it even matter? I'm bored already.

...Just shut up.

So, let's continue where we left off.

Junko resorted to different tactics to cover the world with despair.



HIMIKO: They were locked up and forced into the killing game by the Ultimate Despair.



JUNKO: When I, the one who started it all, died, events were set in motion...

TSUMUGI: And the world began to move towards restoration.



But the worst-case scenario was avoided! Yay, a happy ending!

Not yet. There are more points that conflict with the history. I'll point those out next.





The Biggest, Most Awful, Most Tragic Event in Human History happened...







and forced into the killing game.





are only now reaching their climax.



But for now, we've avoided the worst of it.

It's different from our memories after all... What's the contradiction?



Of course it would be the statement that gets covered up by an indestructible obstacle if you aren't quick enough.







It was the class themselves. They shut themselves in.

Shut themselves in?

Why would they shut themselves in?



During The Tragedy, the 78th class...

...trapped themselves inside Hope's Peak Academy, for protection.

So our memory of the 78th class being trapped by the Ultimate DeSpair...

Are you saying...our memories are wrong?



There's no need to worry about it. Your memories are all correct.

What you've been saying isn't consistent! First you said it was just "coincidence."

Huh? Is that so?

...Let's just move on. I want to talk about one more thing from our memories.



What about Hope's Peak Academy?

There's no doubt that the 16 of us were students at Hope's Peak Academy.

We heard it had been rebuilt, and was accepting applications for talented students again...

And so, we gathered at the brand-new Hope's Peak Academy.



But there's no doubt we were students of the new school.

...



But why? Why are our memories so different?





Hope's Peak Academy was rebuilt...

And with that...



When we found out...

we came to the new Hope's Peak Academy.



Which is why we were all in different classes.

But we're all the same!



...Why? Why are our memories different? What is going on here...?



"Recruitment" isn't the quite the right word here, NISA. Thankfully we have enough context to infer what this is supposed to say.









The academy did not take applications. All of their students were scouted.

Scouted!? I've never heard that!

I wasn't scouted. I applied to Hope's Peak Academy on my own!

Me too. I *chose* to come to Hope's Peak.



Are you saying we're remembering it wrong?



Maybe so, but I'm not getting all of this from just the book...