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

From:

ardent

...You asked me which I was earlier. One who's always had worth, or one that gained it through experience.

I don't think I'm either.

From:

hopeslastreward

Which are you, then?

You can't be a lost cause like me, by the by, because you got into Hope's Peak through your own merit. Unless you're also someone who came in via lottery. Anyone who enters Hope's Peak the right way is definitely an agent of hope.

From:

ardent

...You're Super High School Level Good Luck, then?

[And he's been...told something, about the Good Luck from the other class, Saionji-kun had mentioned it and she'd said he's some sort of murderer, hadn't she, dear god - ]

The one from our class isn't a lost cause, nor is he worthless, so I have no reason to believe you are either.

[he is trying so hard to not abort the shit out of this conversation

trying

so hard]

From:

hopeslastreward

But the one from your class isn't me. [Unless it is. THE PLOT THICKENS!!!!!]

...Also, you didn't answer the question. What are you?

From:

ardent

[Okay, this is getting locked because while he doesn't mind the screaming match from earlier being put on full display, this is just getting into territory that not everyone in this place knows about and there are some that he'd prefer to keep that way.]

Before I answer - do you know about what happened in Hope's Peak while my class was there?

From:

hopeslastreward

I do. [Thanks, Naegi!]

From:

ardent

[...okay, just. Let him breathe for a minute, and try to find the words he wants.]

Sometimes people die without achieving anything that would give them worth. Whether they had the potential for it or not, sometimes people die and nothing they did mattered and their life didn't really mean anything, and they were probably forgotten before too long anyway because they spent their last days shoving everyone away from them. So they die alone and it's probably for the better.

That's worthlessness.

From:

hopeslastreward

[And here's a smile, Ishimaru. A horribly, horribly sad smile. Because in all likelihood, the situation Ishimaru just described will also be the circumstances of Komaeda's death -- worthless life, lonesome death, departure from this world probably for the better. That person will be him, shortly. Very shortly.]

Yes.

I agree completely.

It's the only fitting death for someone like that, really.

From:

ardent

That's how I died.

So I understand what you're talking about, I think - about why saying certain things helps, even if you're not going to affect anything.

From:

hopeslastreward

Well, since you've shared yours... that's how I'll die, too.

Unless something changes in the six months it takes for my body to break completely, that will be the situation for both of us.

From:

ardent

[Just...give him a second.]

...Not here. It...should be okay here.

Whenever we leave, the situation will obviously change, but while we're here we should be okay. No one dies here.

From:

hopeslastreward

...What?

[What???????]

From:

ardent

...No one told you, did they.

[GOOD JOB, EVERYONE, HANDSHAKES ALL AROUND.]

From:

hopeslastreward

N-n...

["No one knew I had it in the first place."]

From:

ardent

[...okay, clearly this is killing-game related or something, right...]

From what I understand, nobody can die here. People have been put into positions where they should have died, but they just wake up in one of the Centers the next day.

We don't know how it works, it just does.

From:

hopeslastreward

Wh...

[Give him a moment.]

That's... ridiculous...

[After all the bullshit you've seen so far, Komaeda, THIS to you is ridiculous??]

From:

ardent

Is it that much more ridiculous than everything else? We're in a Pokémon game.

From:

hopeslastreward

...

[There's a long pause before he responds.]

...true...

[LOOK THIS IS ALL KIND OF COMING AT HIM AT ONCE OKAY]

From:

ardent

[...

...did he do something insensitive again]

...Either way! The point is that we're safe here, and we don't have to worry about anything like that anymore; what happens when we leave here...well, it's going to happen eventually, but while we're here, we should be okay.

From:

hopeslastreward

When do we leave?

[People have been talking about 'leaving'. Is this just an extended vacation, or...]

From:

ardent

...I don't know. None of us do.

Sometimes people are here for a very short period of time, and then they leave at random. I've been here for a year and a half and I haven't...

[...well.]

...I technically haven't left? It's complicated. Some people have been here for years, though.

From:

hopeslastreward

[You know what he's going to ask about, Ishimaru.]

'Complicated'?

With all due respect, I... don't think it can get much more complicated than it already is, Ishimaru-senpai.

From:

ardent

Sometimes people fall asleep here - it's more like a coma than anything. I think I was out for a week, but I don't really know for sure.

Whenever that happens, you remember more things that happen to you back home. I don't know how that works, either, but it happened to me back in January.

From:

hopeslastreward

I see.

[And quite abruptly, he breaks out into a smile.]

That works out nicely, then!

[Because if no one will tell him about the events past his canon point... he'll just see them all himself. What's the worst that could happen?]

[Nothing. Nothing can possibly go wrong.]