Seemingly in a trance, Naegi blankly stumbles to the main hall for the 145th time in his life. His mind was a dizzying mixture of confusion and depression. He was barely aware of the fact that he was moving - the whole routine was practically muscle memory at this point. He was watching himself move and talk, as if he was looking at a video. He watched all of his friends introduce themselves to him, and vice versa again.

He wondered if he truly was going crazy, if this was what it felt like. He thought that he was pretty close to it, but not yet. But did crazy people know they were crazy? For all he knew, his mind was already broken and these thoughts were just the inner ramblings of a psycho.

One thing was for sure - Naegi was slowly cracking. Who could blame him? For most of the killing games where Naegi tried to save his friends, he had to wait for thirty-one days. When Naegi let his friends die, the killing game generally lasted seventeen days.

Makoto Naegi has been in this time loop for over ten years.

He watched his friends die many, many times over. He watched himself die an excessive amount of times as well.

And it was all for nothing.

Maybe it's time to stop trying.

A long time ago, this thought would have never crossed his mind. Even if it did, he would have instantly rejected that thought and berated himself for even considering it. A long time ago, he had hope. He thought that for sure, escaping this time loop was possible. In fact, he initially thought that being sent back in time like this was a blessing. But it was a curse. An annoying, boring, and painfully slow curse.

I would rather cut off my arms then go through these motions again. Naegi thinks to himself morosely as he pretends to listen to Hagakure's self-introduction. I would rather gouge my eyes out then keep this mask on any longer.

…

So what if I really do stop trying? What if I just let loose, and spend the last of my sanity fucking around in this school? What if I just do whatever I want? It's not like there would be any lasting consequences anyway. The backup plan failed. I'm trapped forever.

Naegi nods to himself. Right now, there was a hundred different things that he would prefer to do then introduce himself to everyone again. So right in the middle of Hagakure's spiel about Bigfoot, Naegi swiftly turns around and walks away from the clairvoyant.

"Sheesh, you're a rude guy." Hagakure mutters, looking dejected from being ignored.

Maybe I'll go back to that classroom and take a nap. It's practically my second bed anyway, and our dorms aren't unlocked yet.

Yes, that sounded fine. That sounded like a fine idea.

Twenty minutes into Naegi's nap, a familiar face pops into the classroom. It was Mukuro Ikusaba - still posing as the fake Junko. She walks over to the desk Naegi was sleeping in and sharply taps him on the shoulder with her nails.

Naegi peeks out from under his arms. "What do you want?"

"What the hell are you doing?" Ikusaba asks irritatingly. She crosses her arms and scowls down at him in contempt. "Why are you sleeping here?"

"... Does it matter?" Naegi asks.

"Duh, it matters!" Ikusaba says, tapping her foot impatiently. "Didn't you hear that weird announcement? Get your ass over to the gym, ahoge boy! You're keeping all of us waiting here."

"Fine." Naegi rolls his eyes as he stands up and stretches, inciting a few pops from his joints. There wasn't anything else he could do anyway. If he just stayed here, Monokuma would just force him to come to the gym. "Lead the way."

A tinge of worry touches Ikusaba's face. Why is Naegi acting like this? Did the memory erasure mess with his mind or something? He's usually so positive and energetic… During the school years, his undying positivity and bright smile was what attracted everyone to him. In fact, he had actually been acting like the same old Naegi when he first went to introduce himself. She noticed that he left midway through talking to Hagakure though - was that when he changed? What happened to him?

Peering into his eyes, Ikusaba's worry is quickly replaced by alarm.

His eyes were almost completely devoid of emotion.

Ikusaba had seen this look before. She had spectated several extreme interrogation sessions, and had even headed some of them herself. She knew first-hand that if you put too much pain and pressure on a person for too long, then their mind would just break. They got used to the pain. It's not like they wouldn't feel it anymore - it was just that it doesn't actually bother them.

Naegi looked almost exactly the same as those tortured soldiers - completely indifferent to everything around him. She had a feeling that he wouldn't even care about the Killing Game. But beneath the neutral expression Ikusaba could see a small hint of something terrible.

She could sense a raging ocean of anger, frustration, sorrow and despair, all being barely held back by a crumbling dam.

"Alright then… follow me." Ikusaba says softly.

There's no response, but she hears the light footsteps of Naegi trail behind her as she walks to the gymnasium.

What happened to you, Naegi?

"Oh my god! Finally! What the hell took you so long?" The high pitched voice of Monokuma fills the gym as soon as Naegi enters. The bear was sitting on top of a podium, and his face was completely red. There was even steam shooting out from his ears.

"Unacceptable!" Ishimaru roars, pointing at Naegi rudely. "To show such extensive tardiness in a school setting is unacceptable!"

"Sorry." Naegi says flatly.

"Ah, what a delinquent!" Monokuma hops up and presses both of his paws together. "Well, now that he has finally arrived, I can get to why you're all here! First, let's talk a bit about what your school life here at Hope's Peak Academy will be like. Now, ah, make no mistake - you few students, so full of potential, represent the hope of the world. And to protect such splendid hope…"

Naegi's mouth turns down in a grimace as he hears the word 'hope'. He couldn't believe that he used to be so obsessed about such a thing. He used to think that something that means as little as hope could solve anything, that as long as he held hope, he could save himself and his friends. That wasn't true - all hope did for him was make him waste time. All hope did was crush his spirits.

"... You will all live a communal life together solely within the confines of this school. Everyone will live in harmony together, and adhere to the rules and regulations of the school. Oh yeah, regarding the end date for this communal life - There isn't one! In other words, you'll all live here until the day you die!" Monokuma finishes delightfully.

"U-Until the day we die?" Fukawa stammers.

"Oh, but fear not! We have quite an abundant budget, so you won't lack for all the common conveniences." Monokuma says reassuringly, as if this was the problem with what he was suggesting.

"Let me guess, if we want to leave, one of us will have to commit murder and get away with it, right?" Naegi says abruptly, raising his hand up in the air.

"What the?! Kill each other?! The fuck are you on about?" Owada asks furiously.

"Ooh! The delinquent here caught on quick! Though I must say - I don't appreciate you stealing the grand reveal from me." Monokuma snickers.

Naegi shoots the bear a cool glare. "And I don't appreciate some despair obsessed fashionista locking me up in here. Tough luck."

"Wha - huh?" Ikusaba points to herself questioningly. "Fashionista? Are you saying that I'm controlling that thing?"

"I'm saying that the fashionista is controlling Monokuma, not you. You're not a fashionista." Naegi says bluntly. He didn't know why he was saying all of these things - was it because he was bored? Was it because he wanted to lure Junko out? Whatever the reason was, he continued to say whatever came to mind. "Soldiers aren't usually the mastermind in these type of things."

"Are you feeling okay?" Yamada asks nervously. "Do you have a fever or something?"

"..." Ikusaba's confused look slowly turns into a cold glare. Not only did Naegi see through her disguise, but he also remembered the fact that she existed? Something fishy was going on here - Naegi knew too much. This would complicate Junko's plan for the killing game. Should she do something about it?

"Puhuhuhuhu…" Monokuma giggles, raising both paws to his mouth. "This is getting interesting, but unfortunately, I think we're gonna have to put a pin on this discussion. Oh, Muku? We need a reset here. Why don't you go and capture lil old Nae-"

Before Monokuma could finish his sentence, Naegi moves forward at a surprisingly high speed. He sweeps his legs at Ikusaba's feet, but she immediately jumps up to dodge it and pulls out her combat knife. All of the other students back away from the two, spectating the fight with a confused sort of awe.

Using the techniques that he had learned from Ogami, Naegi attempts to disarm Ikusaba. He grabs her arm and twists it at a specific angle where it would cause an incredible amount of pain, as well as temporary paralysis. But Ikusaba simply grits her teeth and tosses the knife to her other hand before slashing at Naegi's chest, drawing forward a large spray of blood through his uniform.

The pain was euphoric.

"Ah! What the hell?!" Kuwata shouts. "What kind of fucked up school is this?!"

"B-Blood…" Fukawa's eyes roll up to the back of her head as she promptly passes out.

Grinning, Naegi feigns a punch before jumping backwards slightly. Ikusaba took the bait and attempted to block the punch with her knife before pushing forwards, like Naegi knew she would - while he hadn't seen her fight much in the killing game, Naegi had watched her practice against Ogami several times during the school years. Those memories happened over a decade ago, yet Naegi could still recall them clearly.

Ikusaba whiffs and Naegi takes advantage. He grabs her knife - by the blade, and forcefully pulls back. More blood sprays out and covers the both of them. Ikusaba turns the momentum of Naegi's pull into a tackle and collides into the luckster, earning a grunt of surprise.

"Ah jeez, look at this mess!" Monokuma complains in the background. "Not only am I gonna have to clean all of this up, but I'm gonna have to erase their memories and restart the game again! This sucks."

Naegi's eyes widen. Memory erasure?!

No.

Nononononononono.

He couldn't let that happen. He wouldn't let that happen. If he lost his memories, then he would have to do everything all over again. Even if he wouldn't remember it, that would still be a horrible outcome.

Ikusaba pins both of Naegi's arm down to the floor, panting slightly.

Shouting in frustration, Naegi tucks his legs in and pistons them right at Ikusaba's gut, launching her backwards. Quickly standing up, Naegi backs up from Ikusaba and holds the knife out menacingly.

Ikusaba gets up as well and narrows her eyes at Naegi. This doesn't make any sense at all. This person wasn't Naegi - there was no way. For the two years she had known the luckster, he had never shown any aptitude for violence. He was like a defenseless puppy. Was all of that a facade? Maybe he wasn't even the Ultimate Lucky Student. From the way Naegi was fighting, it wasn't unthinkable that he could have been hiding some sort of combat based talent.

Ikusaba slowly brings her hand up to her wig. Large blots of pink stained it - Naegi's blood. She shoves her hand in and digs around a bit. No more than a few seconds later, she pulls her hand back out - she was holding a sleek pistol.

Everything seemed to slow down for Naegi.

A gun. And all I have is a knife, plus some secondhand martial art skills. I can't win this, can I? I can't defeat Ikusaba right now. If she shoots me in the leg or something, she'll capture me, then my memory will be erased. No. That can't happen. It won't happen. I will escape.

He knew what he had to do.

With zero hesitation, Naegi brings up his knife and holds the point up against his adams apple. Ikusaba's eyes widen and her face contorts into an expression of almost comedic shock. "STOP!"

Naegi wished he could. But there was no choice.

He pushes the knife in as hard as he could. Hot searing pain fills his throat as his legs suddenly fail him. Reflexively, he pulls the knife out and Naegi collapses onto the floor as fountains of blood spray out, adding to the growing puddle on the gym floor. This pain didn't feel good, like the pain he felt while fighting Ikusaba. It was all-encompassing and horrible. It reminded him of the time Junko had choked him to death in front of Ikusaba, using her nails to stab into his throat like a maniac.

Die faster die faster die faster

Through blurred vision, Naegi sees Ikusaba rush up to him and tear out a portion of her shirt. She was going to patch him up. She was going to save him. And then she was going to damn him to another decade of time loops.

Not if he could help it.

With the last of his strength, Naegi tightens his grip around the blood-soaked knife and swings it at his own head. He didn't even care where it hit, as long as it was fatal. More pain joined the fray, and seemed to absorb the color in Naegi's vision. For some reason, everything had gone gray. He feels even more blood leak down the side of his head as Ikusaba shouts in frustration and grabs the knife from Naegi. It was too late - the damage was done.

Naegi closes his eyes and wills himself to die. Somewhere in the background, he hears the faint shouts of his classmates and Monokuma.

He wills himself to escape.

Escape.

The 146th Killing Game

Naegi groans and pushes himself up from the desk. The pain was gone, but he still remembered it clearly. The area around his throat felt like it was burning up. He automatically begins to make his way to the main hall. He had no idea what he was going to do now. There was only so many things he could do in such a confined space. As he slowly walks down the long hallway, an idea comes to mind.

Ikusaba rouged me up during the last loop… Maybe I should ask her to train me.

If he were to receive training from Ikusaba and stack it on top of Ogami's training, then he could probably become one of the best fighters in Hope's Peak. He would still have an average build with no extraordinary strength, but knowing how to use weapons efficiently would come in handy.

A small problem was that Ikusaba was more of a lone wolf type of person. Even in the Killing Games where Naegi had saved her from Junko, she had stayed away from the rest of the class. Naegi knew that she did have a crush on him, but that didn't stop her from trying to kill him on multiple occasions. She might refuse to help him based on the simple fact that it would be dangerous to her.

Naegi stops just as he reaches the main hallway. Sure enough, everyone else was there… including Ikusaba, still disguised as Junko.

"Well, might as well try." Naegi mutters to himself "I've got nothing to lose."

"I never took you for the fighting type, Naegi." Ikusaba comments as she leads Naegi to the gymnasium. It was a wide open space with no one around, so it was a perfect place to train. She had agreed to help Naegi, but with some slight confusion. "But I can understand wanting to be able to defend yourself, especially in situations such as this."

Naegi laughs sheepishly and scratches his head. He had put his mask back on and had acted friendly towards everyone since the start of the game. It was boring, but couldn't be helped. "I mean, don't get me wrong - I have zero doubts to our friends. I don't think any of us would try to kill each other. But as for the mastermind… Well, better to be safe than sorry in that case, right?"

Ikusaba's expression darkens as she looks away. Images of spears flash through her eyes - the experience of Junko's attempted execution was still fresh on her mind. "I can't disagree with you there."

"Anyway, what are we starting with?" Naegi asks, quickly changing the subject. "I would like to learn as much as I can."

"Ah, erm…" Ikusaba thinks hard. She had never tried to teach anyone how to do anything, much less how to fight. She had a lot of experience on the subject, but no matter how she thought about it, the words seemed to be unable to form. "Well, I guess… we can see how your hand to hand combat is?" Ikusaba suggest awkwardly

"Sure!" Though Naegi agreed with a bright look on his face, he actually had no intention of showing Ikusaba the fruits of Ogami's labor - that would undoubtedly bring suspicion on him.

I'll just sandbag the sparring matches. Then, we can get to the fun part - using weapons.

…

"So..." Ikusaba just stood there dumbly, looking at her feet. The soldier was so used to receiving orders, that she wasn't sure how to proceed with giving them. To be frank, she wasn't the best teacher for this type of stuff. "Do we spar?"

Naegi blinks. "You're the teacher."

Ikusaba throws her hands up in frustration. "I know that, it's just that I don't know how to teach! I'm sorry Naegi, but I don't think that I'm good at this kind of thing. Maybe Ogami would be better suited to teach you."

Naegi walks up to Ikusaba and grasps both of her hands tightly, causing Ikusaba to jerk up in surprise. "Ikusaba, I would really like you to train me. I know that you're capable of being a good teacher. I believe in you, so don't give up!" Naegi says brightly.

"N-Naegi?"

Smiling softly, Naegi gives both of Ikusaba's hands a reassuring squeeze before letting go. Ikusaba was immediately aware of how cold the air felt on her now exposed skin. "If you really don't want to train me, then I won't nag you about it. But I would really like for you to."

…

"Okay." Ikusaba says firmly. "I'll try. Let's do this."

Naegi grins. "That's the spirit."

It's so easy to manipulate people. Naegi thinks to himself, mildly amused. All I need to do is act like my usual hopeful self, and everyone would listen to what I have to say. They would all go out of their way to help me.

...

I'm horrible.

The 155th Killing Game.

Naegi was burning time by training with Ikusaba. She had taught him more ways to defend himself in close quarters combat, as well as how to use a wide variety of weapons. One day, during one of her lessons, something popped into Naegi's mind.

It was a single, burning thought that had popped out of seemingly nowhere, one that both intrigued and horrified him. He was holding one of Ikusaba's serrated combat knives while this thought crossed his mind.

What happens if someone wins this game?