“Despair wins in the end? Puhuhuhu… So that’s your decision?”

“...”

“What will you do now that you have an answer?”

“...”

“Oh, the silent treatment? That’s not nice, you know.”

“Despair is stronger than hope. Hope is weaker than despair. But it does not matter.

“What?”

“They are both boring. Both are too predictable. I do not wish to involve myself in such pointless matters.”

“But you said -”

“You have tried to show me what an unpredictable future looks like. You have tried to show me the appeal of despair. But I do not see it. There is nothing for me here. Farewell, Junko.”

Act Three

The Curse of Immortality

“Time passes the same, regardless of what I am doing.”

-Izuru Kamukura

Cold.

So cold.

A few seconds after he finishes the countdown, darkness completely overtakes his vision as a disturbing feeling fills his body. Freezing liquid seems to replace the blood in his body as a biting chill covers him, like a blanket of snow. The pitch black darkness filling his vision seemed suffocating - he couldn’t even tell if he was closing his eyes or not.

Where am I?

Naegi couldn’t move. He couldn’t breathe. All he could do was stay still as the cold completely fills him from head to toe.

Dark.

It feels so bad.

…

I want to die.

The 81st Killing Game

Pain.

This is what Makoto Naegi is currently feeling. He was suffering from a headache that was so bad that Naegi thought his head was surely being split into two. It was as if an iron pike was being stabbed into his brain.

But the pain was a welcome surprise. He needed it. The pain had replaced the numbing cold of the void, and so it was welcome. He savored his headache and the sudden rush of warmth into his bones. How long had he been trapped in that freezing abyss? To Naegi, it felt like he was in there for years.

Naegi shivers violently and turns his head to try and vomit onto the floor. But he didn't even have the strength to do that, and just ended up dry heaving. It seemed as if every spot on his body was prickling. His mouth was completely numb - it reminded him of the time he had to had a tooth filled, and the dentist injected his gums with a drug in order to numb the pain.

Blinking rapidly, Naegi shakily stands up from the desk. As soon as he does, his legs fail him and Naegi collapses onto the floor. This caused his headache to flare up once again. Naegi lets out an agonized groan as his vision seems to flicker. As another bout of shivers wracks his body, Naegi tries to prop himself up on his elbows and knees, but even that proved to be too much effort. Panting, the luckster gives up and instead rolls on the floor so that he was facing the ceiling.

“F-Fuck.” Naegi groans and puts a hand on his forehead. Along with a thin sheen of sweat, Naegi realized that he was burning up. His forehead felt hot enough to fry an egg on.

Good. Anything is better than the cold.

Naegi darts his eyes around. He was in the classroom. The same classroom he had woken up in eighty times before. All of the windows were bolted shut with giant iron plates, and there was a security camera staring at him from a corner. Panic starts to replace the confusion and relief in Naegi’s heart.

Did the time machine malfunction? Am I stuck here forever?

“N-No.” Naegi mutters out loud. “Too early to assume. Calm down, Naegi.”

Gritting his teeth, Naegi forces himself to sit up from the floor. Ignoring the amplified wave of nausea, he slowly gets up on his feet. Looking down. Naegi sees that his hands were trembling. He felt like he could collapse at any moment. It was taking all of his strength to even stand up right now. He couldn’t even imagine trying to walk in this condition.

It had to work. It had to work. I will NOT time travel again.

Naegi somehow walks anyway, walks to the main hall. Moving forwards, Naegi prepares to meet his classmates for the last time.

Once again, Naegi stands in front of the giant locked door. Once again, he is surrounded by his friends. They all face the door, breaths caught in their throats. The tension in the air was noticeably thick, but also light at the same time, somehow.

The only difference now is that more of his friends were standing by him this time.

No one had died.

He saved everyone, for what seemed like the millionth time.

Leon Kuwata, Mukuro Ikusaba, Sayaka Maizono, Chihiro Fujisaki, Mondo Owada, Ishimaru Kiyotaka, Hifumi Yamada, Celestia Ludenberg, Sakura Ogami… Naegi had even saved Junko Enoshima, the mastermind of the killing game.

Naegi grips the remote to the outside world in his hands tightly. Like everyone else here, he was nervous, but for an entirely different reason. This was the moment of truth - did overloading the time machine work? Would he be free?

Suddenly, someone steps up next to Naegi. It was Ikusaba - somehow, even in the quiet empty hall, no one had heard her walk up to them.

“Oh, Ikusaba! You’re here!” Naegi smiles brightly as the Ultimate Soldier joins the 78th class.

Blushing slightly, Ikusaba nods. “I’m ready. Let’s go.”

“Oh my FUCKING god, sis. Will you just ask him out already? Aren’t soldiers supposed to be brave ?” Junko snickers, still tied up and being carried around by Ogami. “Claim him before someone else does!”

“J-Junko!”

Naegi sighs and pats Ikusaba on the shoulder. “Just ignore her.”

“Right…”

“Well…” Kirigiri clears her throat as she scans the small crowd. “Does anyone have objections? This is your last chance, really.”

“Kill me.”

Other then Junko’s blunt comment, no one raises any objections.

“Very well.” Kirigiri glances at Naegi. “Let’s go.”

With trembling arms, Naegi brings up the remote and holds a finger over it. His heart was beating so loudly that he was sure that everyone around him could hear it. He had saved each and every one of his classmates again, and hopefully, for the last time.

Naegi shifts his eyes to Junko. She was grinning sadistically at him, with an expression of triumph. Her grin only widened when she sees that Naegi was looking at her.

…

Naegi presses the button.

The door opens.

A piercing bright light fills the room.

“O-Oh. Oh.” Naegi shivers violently, accidently dropping the remote in the process. It clatters at his feet. He wasn’t sent back in time. He could actually see the outside world. For the first time in a long time, true hope begins to blossom in Naegi’s chest. “I… I’m free? I didn’t go back in time?”

“Go back in time?” Kirigiri asks. She was standing right next to him and was giving him a worried stare. “Naegi, are you okay? What do you mean by that?”

Naegi looks at her with a gaping mouth. An indescribable amount of gratitude suddenly fills him so fast that the world seemed to flip upside down. She was the one who gave him this plan. If it weren’t for her, he would still be trapped in the time loop. But her plan worked. She saved him.

Tears pricking the edges of his eyes, Naegi surges forward and hugs Kirigiri. She gasped once in response, but doesn’t try to move away.

“Thank you, thank you, thank you.” Naegi mutters under his breath.

“...” Kirigiri awkwardly pats him on the back, obviously unsure of how to respond. After a few seconds, Naegi pulls away from the hug and gives her a grateful smile. He couldn’t even express in words how lucky he felt right now.

Meanwhile, the other students are gaping at the scene in front of them - sure enough, the world was in an apocalyptic state. Everywhere you looked, you could see destroyed buildings. Street fights were raging on, helicopters were in the air, and dancing fires decorated the landscape, producing thick pillars of smoke.

The world was terrible.

But Naegi didn’t care. He was free. Free from the time loop, free from Junko’s ‘punishment’. It was the best future that he could have ever hoped for. As long as he was really free… well, that was heaven for him.

Four of the helicopters that were littering the sky suddenly lands in front of them. Several soldiers came rushing out of them, armed with rifles and bulletproof vests. “Students of Hope’s Peak Academy!” One of them shouts.

“We are the Future Foundation, an organization focused on rebuilding this world. Please, come with us! We shall offer you food, shelter, and protection.”

No one responds. They were still too busy taking in the apparent apocalypse.

Naegi clumsily takes a step forwards. Nothing could describe the extreme sense of bliss and hope that had blossomed inside of him. All of his hard work was finally paying off. He was free from the shackles of time - Naegi could barely believe it.

“It’s 8:59 in the morning, yet the sky is so dark!” Ishimaru suddenly reports, staring down at his watch. Sweat was pouring down his forehead like a waterfall. “Why is it also red?!”

“The sky turned like that when the Tragedy happened.” Owada says, putting a hand on Ishimaru’s shoulder. During this time loop, Ikusaba had given them their memories back via use of the flashback lights. “Remember, bro?”

“Oh, I suppose you’re right! I apologize, I am still rather confused from what’s been happe-”

The 82nd Killing Game.

Pain.

This is what Makoto Naegi is currently feeling. He was suffering from a headache that was so bad that Naegi thought his head was surely being split into two. It was as if an iron pike was being stabbed into his brain.

What… What’s happening to me?

The last thing he remembered was standing in the outside world with his friends. Some people who called themselves the Future Foundation had come to rescue them. They were going to rebuild the despair filled world together.

Then, as suddenly as it came, the headache stops. All that remained was a subtle feeling of drowsiness. As the pain recedes, Naegi slowly and deliberately raises his head from his arms. For some reason, he was burrowing his head into them.

He was in a familiar room with bolted windows. In this room, there were several desks and a security camera. A small string of drool had been going down the side of his mouth.

…

As he looks around in horror, Naegi could feel his spirit deflating, like a leaking balloon. Hope fleets away from his soul, leaving nothing but a shadow. Naegi didn’t know whether to scream, cry or do both. So he just sat there silently, mouth opening and closing in disbelief.

He was back.

Naegi presses the button.

...

The door opens. A piercing bright light enters from the outside world. With it, scenes of unimagine horror came - the world was in an apocalyptic state. Everywhere you looked, you could see destroyed buildings. Street fights were raging on, helicopters were in the air, and dancing fires decorated the landscape, producing thick pillars of smoke.

The world was terrible, but Naegi had seen it before. He had done this before. Nothing was new.

“Please, let me stay here…” Naegi clenches his fists and squeezes his eyes shut. His body trembled slightly as the unpleasant warmth from the outside world sweeps over him.

Several soldiers came rushing out of them, armed with rifles and bulletproof vests. “Students of Hope’s Peak Academy!” One of them shouts.

“We are the Future Foundation, an organization focused on rebuilding this world. Please, come with us! We shall offer you food, shelter, and protection.”

“O-Okay, I’ll go!” Naegi says quickly, panic and desperation quickly filling his mind. He swiftly walks over to one of the soldiers and grabs their arm. It felt like that at any moment, all of this could be ripped away from him once again. “Come on, just free me from this! I don’t want to keep doing this over and over! I-It was supposed to work!”

“K-Kid, calm down.” The soldier brushes his hand away, a tinge of confusion touching his voice. And who could blame him for being confused? The Naegi that they were looking at seemed much more different than the one that they were watching in the broadcasts. They watched him reassure his friends and even stopped a few murders from happening - always with an air of confidence and hope around him. But now that Naegi was right in front of them, he seemed… odd.

“It’s 8:59 in the morning, yet the sky is so dark!” Naegi hears Ishimaru talking in the background. His voice seemed so far away, even though they were practically right next to each other. “Why is it also red?!”

Something in Naegi’s brain suddenly clicks. 8:59 in the morning?

“The sky turned like that when the Tragedy happened.” Owada says, putting a hand on Ishimaru’s shoulder. During this time loop, Ikusaba had given them their memories back via use of the flashback lights. “Remember, bro?”

“Oh, I suppose you’re right! I apologize, I am still rather confused from what’s been happe-”

Before Ishimaru could finish his sentence, Naegi is sent back in time… again.

With each and every subsequent time loop, more and more panic begins to enfold Naegi. He was so close to freedom that he could practically taste it. It was right there , in front of him. Like a broken record, Naegi does everything in the exact same manner so that he could get up to the point where he and his friends left the school. He did it over and over again, hoping desperately that at some point, he wouldn’t just be sent back in time again. And yet, no matter how many times he repeated the same route, the ending was always the same. Right as it turned to 9:00 AM, he was sent back to the past.

He didn’t know why it was 9:00 AM. Perhaps it was just a randomly selected time by a malfunctioning time machine. Maybe 9:00 AM was the exact time that Naegi had decided to try and overload the time machine, and it got stuck there. He didn’t know, and he didn’t care.

All he cared about was the dawning realization that Kirigiri’s backup plan had failed.

And now, he was trapped. Forever.

The 144th Killing Game

Naegi presses the button.

...

The door opens. A piercing bright light enters from the outside world. With it, scenes of unimagine horror came - the world was in an apocalyptic state. Everywhere you looked, you could see destroyed buildings. Street fights were raging on, helicopters were in the air, and dancing fires decorated the landscape, producing thick pillars of smoke.

The world was terrible, but Naegi had seen it before. He had done this before. In fact, he had gone through the same song and dance over twenty times over. Each and every time, Naegi gets the smallest taste of freedom. And each and every time, Naegi was yanked away from that freedom, like a dog on a leash.

Silently, Naegi steps forward. At the same time, a couple of helicopters that were hovering in the air lands in front of them. As soon as this happened, something inside of Naegi cracked. He realised how pointless all of this was. He was chasing a vivid dream, one that he could never reach. Trying to repeat this endless loop was useless.

“Give up. I give up. No point, I lost. Fuck you, Junko.” Naegi grasps his head in between his hands and starts pulling at his hair, babbling under his breath as he does so. “So close. So close. Why why? Why me?”

Several soldiers came rushing out of them, armed with rifles and bulletproof vests. “Students of Hope’s Peak Academy!” One of them shouts.

“Get away from me, Future Foundation!” Naegi’s voice exponentially grows as he backs away from the soldiers. “You can’t save me. No one can. I’m done. I lost. Stop giving me hope. Stop giving me hope. You can’t save anyone, you can’t save me.”

“Uh, Naegs? You okay dude?” Hagakure puts a hand on Naegi’s shoulder with an anxious look in his eyes. “Don’t go nuts on us.”

“Stop it!” Naegi was practically shouting now. He roughly shoves away the clairvoyant’s arm and collapses to his knees onto the cold cement. “I give up, okay?! Junko, you win! Just stop doing this to me! I’ll do anything, just let me go! I LOST!”

“Puhuhuhuhu…” Junko chuckles quietly.

“Naegi! Get ahold of yourself!” Kirigiri forcefully grabs onto one of Naegi’s hand and tries to pull him up. “What did Junko do to you?”

Naegi only groans in response, pulling away from Kirigiri.

Ogami roughly grabs Junko from her shoulder and looks into her eyes with an evil glare. “What did you do to him? Tell us, or suffer the consequences.”

“This is hilarious!” Junko laughs hautighly. “I wonder how many takes it took for our little hope boy to crack? Five hundred? A thousand? Well, I guess it doesn’t matter now.”

Ikusaba stares down at the trembling form of Naegi, her face completely pale. “Is this… Is Naegi in… Despair? No, that can’t be true. He was normal. Just a few minutes ago, he was normal.”

Maizono quickly runs up to Naegi and shakes his shoulders. “Naegi! What’s wrong?!” Maizono cries, alarm clearly present in her voice. “Look, whatever Junko did to you, we can help! Just tell us what she did to you!”

“No!” Naegi starts thrashing around on the floor as he begins to hyperventillate. “Don’t do that! Don’t give me hope! There’s no hope! I can’t escape from the loop, I’m trapped forever!”

“N-Naegi, please.” Maizono begs. “We can help you. We’re your friends.”

“I said, don’t give me hope! DON’T GIVE ME-”

The 145th Killing Game

“HOPE!”

…

Naegi slowly brings his head up from the desk, absentmindedly wiping the string of drool on the side of his mouth away with his sleeve. As he looks around to confirm that he was back in the classroom, an involuntary tremor courses through his body.

“Hope.” Naegi repeats to the empty room.

“Hope.”

…

Naegi chuckles.

Naegi laughs.

He laughs until his gut, throat, and limbs ached. After a minute, the laughter smoothly transitioned pitiful dry sobs that went to the pattern of his thumping headache. When he finally stopped, Naegi took a deep breath, looked up to the ceiling, and wondered if he was in despair. If he had lost all hope. If he had lost his mind.

Well, it doesn’t matter now, does it?