hopeslastreward | 001 ☆ video

This is strange. This is very... strange.

[The feed opens on a teenage boy who honestly doesn't look like the picture of health; his hair is a mess, his skin is pale, and even though he's sitting, his posture has a certain slump that doesn't exactly imply "physical strength". Still, even if Nagito Komaeda's body is frail, his mind is still sharp as a tack. ...Well, usually. Sometimes. Depends on the context? Well, it's sharp right now, and that's all that matters.]

[He's silent for a few moments, apparently in deep thought.]

[The first and most obvious conclusion is that this is another ploy by Monobear. Last night, he'd watched the end of the third trial and went to sleep, troubled somewhat by what had happened... and now, not even twenty-four hours later, Monobear had dropped him in a Pokémon region of all places? Was this the motive? If so, why didn't he wait for someone to commit murder on their own first? Honestly, Komaeda can't think of any possible way Monobear could make despair out of the Pokemon world; even if he tried to corrupt it, it would only affect the people who have a strong emotional attachment to the originals. Komaeda could think of no one who might know them except Nanami and himself -- Nanami didn't seem like the killer type, and Komaeda honestly wasn't attached enough to care one way or the other. He honestly couldn't even recall the name of the bull thing he'd been given as a starter.]

[Speaking of Nanami... where is everyone? Komaeda had already tried looking through the network, which raised even more questions. If, again, it was Monobear who did all this, why would he go to the effort of writing so many different entries? Why were there actual people with varied personalities, and not an army of Monobears?]

[...Actually, the bear hasn't shown his face on anything at all so far. And quite honestly, that alarms Komaeda more than if it had. Had something... happened to them? Komaeda plans to find out. Depending on the reaction of the masses, who may be either Monobear's fabrications or real people, he'll get to the bottom of this mystery, just like all the others. First order of business: figure out what's happened outside.]

Oh, I should probably introduce myself...

Nagito Komaeda. That's my name.

Anyhow... has anyone here heard of Hope's Peak Academy? Please tell me what you know.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Yes.

I don't know exactly how to describe it to you. But no one trusts me for longer than a certain extent. It's the world's only true constant. Maybe it's a manifestation of my bad luck! I don't know.

But it happens to everyone.

Everyone but you.

But I thought your talent was that you had good luck..?

Even so, regardless of that...I'm not going to be distrustful of you just because you told me that. It seems kinda silly to me, because otherwise you seem like a trustworthy person, though I wish you'd view yourself that way, too...

Oh, no. No no no.

[Komaeda shakes his head, grinning.]

It says good luck. And I have good luck. But... no pain, no gain, isn't that right? All of my good luck has a cost. The bad luck can come before, or come after. But ultimately, the severity of the bad luck will never surpass that of the good luck -- if an event is 99% good, then the event after it can be 98% bad.

And that's still fine.

...So in the end, you only have good luck because it's slightly better than your bad luck?

[What a talent to have...this guy's whole life operates in extremes, doesn't it?]

Goodness...

Exactly.

[He's still smiling, almost expectantly.]

Now do you see it?

[HE'S REALLY NOT SURE WHAT 'IT' IS, TO BE HONEST. Even though any smart person would know that "it" is "the fact that he's off his marbles".]

Well, I'm sorry that your luck works like that...it sounds like it must be a pretty stressful situation to be in, even if technically you have good luck, but...

Even so, just because your talent works like that doesn't mean it's not a talent, and it doesn't mean that you don't have other ones...

No... no, there isn't.

[He's kind of on the verge of a breakdown here. Sorry, Anna.]

Everything... everything I am, everything I was... it's gone.

It's been swallowed whole.

Swallowed whole..? Wait, what?

What do you mean by that..?

I meant what I said.

It's all gone.

If I had any potential, anything at all, it's gone now.

I don't get it at all...how could you have lost all your potential? There's no way that could be true...

Even if it is still somewhere -- it's been closed off. Forever.

And this is all in hypotheticals, of course. Because there was no potential there in the first place.

I just don't see how that could be possible. If you have it...and you do, because everyone does...there's no way it could be gone forever. It just...it doesn't work like that.

How do you know?

Because it's just not possible! How do you take someone's potential away from them? How do you lock away someone's capabilities to the point where no matter what you do, there's no hope in them getting it back?

I don't know why.

But just because I don't understand it does not mean it doesn't happen.

[Spoilers: Komaeda, it's a mental block.]

Well, even if you say that, I'm not gonna give up on you, or your potential. That's just not gonna happen.

You really...

[ ... ]

I really don't understand you.

[This is more alarming than it sounds. Komaeda is used to understanding everything -- or almost everything -- about others, with time. But he's made absolutely no ground with Anna, not a single bit, except for the fact that she defies logic.]

[And, really, that's the worst part.]

Well, you will in time, I'm sure of it.

[She doesn't exactly get what he means by that; he's been awfully vague from the start, but one thing's for certain, and that's that she needs to help him learn to love himself.]