"Ahem! Now then, let's begin with a basic explanation... Eh, screw it." Monokuma looked down at his feet. "This is tiresome."

"You need more motivation!" Monophaine piped up.

"I do... I really do. Now then, let's start this class trial."

"Before we start," Kokichi spoke up. "I just wanna ask something since there's not a lot of us left... What happens if the votes result in two first places?"

"Huh? You mean, like... a tie? It means they're both the blackened. As long as one of them 'em is correct, it's fine."

"Thaaaanks! Since that's answered, I can start enjoying this life-or-death game now!"

"What game?" Kaito barked. "How long are you gonna keep saying that!?"

"Just ignore Ouma. The rest of us need to work together to find the truth." Himiko said. "Got it!? We can't die here!"

"Oh my! Yumeno has become so determined! It's true. People really do change." Monophaine commented.

"...But now she's lost what made her so unique." Monokuma added.

"That's none of your business!" Himiko shouted back.

"Okay, look. We need to focus on this class trial." Ichika said quickly. "First, we should determine how Micchan was-"

"Momota-chan's the culprit!" Kokichi interrupted.

"What!?" Kaito sweated. "Say that to my face!"

"While we were all still logged in, Momota-chan logged out alone, right? You were able to move freely; doesn't that mean you were able to commit the murder?"

"Don't screw around! There's no way I'm the culprit!"

"Momota-kun is right! There's no way Momota-kun would have killed Iruma-san!" Gonta joined in.

Kokichi looked at his nails, a bored expression on his face. "How long are you people gonna keep saying that? Trusted people can still kill, y'know? We already saw that a buncha times! So many times... since Akamatsu-chan."

"..." Shuichi stared at Kokichi.

"Not to mention that the supposed traitor had recently decided to come out of hidingggg." Kokichi sung.

"The fact that this murder happened right after that message appeared... It points towards the possibility of the one who murdered Iruma-san being the traitor." Kiibo hummed.

"S-So you think one of us is really a traitor...?" Himiko grumbled. "Of course the robot would say that." She glared at Kiibo from under her hat.

"I-I'm just trying to put forward a possibility!" Kiibo cried.

"Momota-chan logged out first, by himself... Iruma-chan was still logging in though... That's when you poisoned her, right?" Kokichi gasped. "Maybe Momota-chan is the traitor we're looking for!?"

"Screw off! I am not a traitor! I would never stoop to such levels, you liar!" Kaito barked back.

"Iruma-san wasn't killed by poison, and the warning on the label proves it. Drinking the poison would result in subconjunctival hemorrhaging. In other words, your eyes would be bloodshot." Shuichi explained.

"Oh, but Iruma-san's body..." Tsumugi's eyes lit up in realization. "That's right! Her eyes weren't bloodshot! She wasn't killed by poison!"

"Then, what was that poison for?" Kokichi asked.

"It was a diversion that someone intentionally placed, to steer us away from the actual cause of death." Ichika explained.

Himiko placed a finger to her chin. "Then... what was her real cause of death?"

"Iruma-san's cause of death was the killing game simulator itself." Shuichi said. "In the Virtual World, if your avatar takes fatal damage, your real body dies of shock. That was made clear in the program's text file."

"Iruma received that fatal damage in the virtual world and died from shock in the real world." Kaito nodded.

"In that case, it's fair to say that the cause of death was actually the simulator itself."

Gonta meekly rose his hand. "Ummm... I have a question... Where is this ver-chew-ul world place? What floor is it on?"

"If you don't understand, then don't say anything." Maki snapped.

Kiibo hummed. "If Iruma-san was killed in the Virtual World, then the next thing we need to figure out is what caused her to incur fatal damage within the Virtual World."

"U-Ummm..." Gonta looked around in confusion.

"Oh, it seems like Gokuhara-kun is confused, so why don't we review things a bit?" Tsumugi spoke up. "Umm... we split into two groups to find the secret of the outside world."

"The ones who searched that mansion were me, Saihara-chan, Aki-chan, Gokuhara-chan, and... That NPC Momota-chan!" Kokichi said cheerfully.

"Hey! Who you callin' an NPC you A-S-S!?"

Kokichi ignored Kaito. "And the others who searched the chapel were Kiiboy, Harukawa-chan, Yumeno-chan, Shirogane-chan, and... the late Iruma-chan."

"How could someone have given her fatal damage in that situation? That's what we gotta think about!" Himiko shouted energetically.

"Awwww, li'l Yumeno-chan is all grown up! Too bad your chest hasn't grown up though." Kokichi grinned.

"That was uncalled for! Someday, my chest will grow like crazy!" Himiko barked.

Kiibo sighed. "...Let's begin, then."

"In the Virtual World, Iruma was fatally injured. So let's focus our efforts on that, first." Kaito said.

"Whatever did that to Iruma... was dropped right next to her avatar." Himiko mumbled. "It has to be the hammer!"

"Or Gokuhara-chan beat her with his bare hands." Kokichi smirked.

"Are we certain that blunt force was involved?" Maki asked. "I think strangulation is more likely."

"Iruma-san's body showed severe trauma and sighs of a struggle." Shuichi said.

Ichika played with the drawstrings of her jumper. "Micchan did look like she suffered. Quite badly, too."

"Right, and the Virtual World is connected to our five senses. If her body experienced pain, she must have been in pain in the Virtual World as well. Knowing that, I believe Harukawa-san is correct. Iruma-san was strangled to death." Shuichi explained.

"... Yeah, definitely." Maki agreed. "Strangling and poison are the only methods that could make her look like she suffocated. But we already removed the possibility of poison, so it can only be strangulation. Also, when a victim is poisoned, they commonly grab their chest or mouth, but her hands were at her throat."

"Ooooohhh!" Kokichi placed his hands behind his head. "The assassin master gets real chatty when it comes to corpses!"

"..." Maki glared at Kokichi.

"In that case, her exact cause of death is being strangled in the Virtual World." Shuichi announced.

"But is strangulation even possible in the Virtual World?" Kiibo asked. "If the avatars were equally strong, it would be difficult to strangle a resisting victim."

"Yeah, if she was just as strong as them, no way they coulda strangled her." Kaito added.

"There are tons of cases where a weaker person would strangle a stronger person with a rope." Maki interjected.

"Wow! You know a lot about killing! Nerd!" Kokichi called out and Maki glared at him again.

"But was there even a rope in that world?" Himiko questioned. "I don't remember seeing one."

Ichika shook her head. "That's because there wasn't one. The killer didn't use a rope. They were forced to use a substitute instead."

"During the investigation, we found toilet paper outside of the mansion. I'm guessing that the toilet paper was used to strangle her." Shuichi said

"What do you mean, Saihara-kun?" Gonta suddenly spoke up, looking quite infuriated.

"Huh? What's wrong...?" Shuichi looked at Gonta nervously.

"What's wrong!? Saihara-kun is goofing off! This is no time for nonsense!" Gonta yelled. "You can't use toilet paper in place of rope! Toilet paper tears far too easily!"

***

"The toilet paper wouldn't tear. Because in the Virtual World, objects are unbreakable." Shuichi explained.

"...Unbreakable?"

"Nee-heehee!" Kokichi giggled. "You're so dumb, Gokuhara-chan! You didn't even know that?"

"Iruma-san told us that objects don't break in the virtual world. Toilet paper is an object, so it wouldn't be able to tear in the world, therefore, it can be used as a rope." Shuichi explained.

"I... really don't understand, but..." Gonta turned to Shuichi and looked down in shame. "Sorry, Saihara-kun! I was wrong!"

"It's okay, Gokuhara-kun." Shuichi smiled at him. "Don't worry about it."

"Killed by toilet paper... It was... a fitting end for her." Himiko mumbled.

"But if Iruma-san was killed near the chapel, why was the murder weapon by the mansion?" Tsumugi inquired.

"If toilet paper was the murder weapon, then what's the deal with the hammer next to her?" Kokichi asked.

"Perhaps the culprit prepared a backup weapon just in case?" Kiibo suggested.

"No, the culprit didn't bring the hammer." Maki said.

"No? But who else but the culprit would bring a hammer?"

"Iruma-san was the one who brought the hammer." Shuichi responded.

"Huh?" Gonta looked shocked, "Iruma-san brought the hammer?"

"Micchan told us at the beginning that she deleted any dangerous objects. If that were true, then she wouldn't have missed something like a hammer. Meaning that Micchan left it in on purpose." Ichika explained

"On... purpose?" Himiko repeated.

"But... why would she do that?" Gonta asked.

"Let's assume that Iruma-san brought the hammer... What was she planning to do with it?" Kiibo inquired.

"Maybe use it to break down a wall?" Tsumugi suggested.

"I know! Iruma-san gonna build stuff with hammer!" Gonta suggested.

"She probably just brought it for self-defence." Kaito said.

Kokichi grinned. "Or she secretly met up with someone."

"That's it!" Shuichi called out. "Iruma-san was going to meet up with someone in the Virtual World..."

"Mm-hm, with me!" Kokichi chirped, putting his hands behind his head. "I was supposed to meet up with Iruma-chan on the roof of the mansion."

"What?" Gonta exclaimed. "Is that true?"

"I overheard them talking about it at the chapel." Kiibo confirmed.

"By the way, *Iruma-chan* asked to meet up with me before we went into the virtual world... I totally forgot where we were supposed to meet, so good thing Kiiboy spied on us." Kokichi giggled.

"Wait, so Iruma called Ouma out?" Kaito asked.

Kokichi placed a finger to his chin. "If Iruma-chan brought the hammer... I wonder what she was going to do with it?"

"She was trying to kill Ouma-kun." Shuichi said.

"She was what!?" Kaito screeched.

"Yep. She plotted to meet up with me then kill me with the hammer... If you want to prove this, you'll need to figure out Iruma-chan's plan, okay?"

Shuichi sighed. "She wanted it to appear as if Ouma-kun was killed in the real world."

"She placed the poison on my seat to make us think the murder happened in the real world," Kokichi added.

"What?" Kaito spluttered. "Iruma was the one who put the bottle of poison there? No, that ain't right! Somethings definitely weird about that! When could Iruma have put the poison there?"

"If she did place the poison without us noticing, then she must have logged out at some point," Kiibo said.

"And then what?" Himiko spoke up. "She logged back in?"

"But Ouma-san was the one in the salon at this time. Did you see Micchan come in to log in or out?" Ichika looked at Kokichi.

"Nope! I didn't see that at all!" Kokichi responded.

"If she hadn't logged in or out... Then Iruma couldn't have placed the poison!"

"No, that's wrong!" Shuichi cut off Kaito's words. "It was Iruma-san who planted the poison on Ouma-kun's chair. She had plenty of time to do it. Here take a look at this." Shuichi showed them the login and log out records. "It says that Iruma-san was the last of us to log in."

Maki placed a finger on her chin. "If she logged in last... She would've had time to move around in the real world after the previous person logged in."

"This was all part of Iruma-chan's plan." Kokichi said. "She tried to kill me in the virtual world, make us think it happened in the real world... And pin the crime on Momota-chan!"

"W-Well that's not my fault!" Kaito exclaimed.

"Which is why she manually logged you out, just for that purpose!"

"So, she did that to me?"

"Iruma-san used a method only she could use to log Momota-kun out manually," Shuichi said. "It was the cell phone found by Iruma-san's avatar. The cell phone worked the same way as the phone in the salon. It logs users in and out. I verified this myself when I spoke Momota-kun's name into it."

Ichika hummed. "With that cell phone, she could force anyone to log out at any time, no matter where she was in the Virtual World."

"But Iruma never mentioned a cell phone, right?" Maki inquired.

"That's why Saihara-chan referred to it as a method only she could use." Kokichi raised a finger to his lips. "She kept the cell phone a secret on purpose, so she could use it for murder."

"So... she really was planning a murder." Himiko looked at the ground.

"And... she tried to set me up..." Kaito looked distressed.

Kokichi cheerfully placed his hands behind his head. "Well, I knew that from the start."

"Then why did you say I was the culprit!?

"Because I wanted to get it through your thick skull... People you trust will ultimately betray you. This is a game of suspicion."

"..." Kaito clenched his fist and glared at Kokichi.

"Welp, I think your ideals should stay the same. Because phonies like you are what make the game more interesting. Anywhoooooo, it's a blessing in disguise that Iruma-chan died and not me."

Gonta sweated. "Wh-What do you mean...?"

"Cuz she wouldn't have said anything about what happened in the Virtual World. You guys would've had a way harder time finding the culprit, y'know? She would have been able to lie about the Virtual World's settings as much as she wanted... And you'd never know that the murder actually took place in the Virtual World."

"So that's why she decided to attempt a murder. She had total control." Maki said.

"Then the reason Iruma-san was so insistent we go into the Virtual World was..." Tsumugi gulped nervously.

"She was insistent we go there so she would kill us! What a shady person!" Himiko shouted.

"Nee-heeheehee! Niiiice! Backstabbed by a trusted friend... See? That's an ideal fun situation! Now we can start a *real* class trial!"

"Hey, Ouma-kun, you sort of sound like Monokuma right now." Gonta glared at Kokichi.

"Hm, really? I don't sound anything like him."

"No... You're just like Monokuma." Kaito retorted. "Both of you are cowards. You never speak the truth or show your true face."

"Wait, coward?" Kokichi giggled. "You say some interesting things sometimes, Momota-chan."

"Smiling, putting on a mask, never saying what you really think... That kind of cowardice is just like Monokuma! To hell with this game of suspicion crap! I'll never be okay with it! I'm just gonna believe in everyone! Instead of suspecting my friends, I'm gonna find the truth by believing in them!"

"Well, if you think you can win this game like that... then, sure. Be my guest."

"Of course I can. I don't need your permission."

"Oookay, you two, this is fun and all but..." Ichika smiled brightly. "Both of you are acting like total brats. Let's stop arguing about something completely off-topic and focus on the task at hand please!"

"Oh, you're right. I'm sorry." Kokichi grinned.

If we are going to begin searching for the culprit, let's start with Ouma-kun's story." Kiibo said.

"You were meeting with Iruma but she ended up as the victim..." Maki glared at Kokichi. "So it's only natural for us to think you're the killer, right?"

"Here's my answer - I never met up with Iruma-chan."

"Hm? You didn't?" Gonta asked.

"I tried to go to the roof to meet up with her, but the door was locked."

"But isn't lock picking your specialty? You should've been able to open it, easy." Himiko said.

Kokichi rolled his eyes. "I couldn't pick locks with my avatar body. I didn't have the tools for it either. Also, I never went to the roof, not even for the meeting."

Tsumugi hummed. "I remember you and Gokuhara-kun went off together when we first started looking."

"When I was on the roof before logging out, the door wasn't locked." Maki snapped.

"Huuuh? How should I know?" Kokichi pouted.

"Then who locked the door to the roof?" Kiibo inquired.

"I already tooooold you, how should I know?"

"When I went to the roof, it wasn't locked, so you gotta be lying!" Kaito exclaimed.

"What good would it be if I lied?" Kokichi said with a blank expression. "I don't wanna die either, y'know!"

"Lying would do you a lot of good if you're the culprit." Himiko grumbled.

"..." Kokichi paused, then grinned. "Oh! Mm-hm, I see! I didn't realize that!"

"What kind of response is that!? That's suspicious as hell!" Kaito barked.

"Wait, there's no point in arguing about that now. The truth will come out eventually." Shuichi spoke up. "Before we get to that, we need to discover the truth behind Iruma-san's death."

"...Truth?" Gonta repeated.

"There were mysterious circumstances surrounding her death. We need to make sense of those first."

"Wow, Saihara-chan! You know your way around this game!" Kokichi chirped. "Yes, keep up the hard work! The fate of our lives rests in your hands!"

"So... what is this strange circumstance?" Kiibo inquired.

"Ouma-kun claims it was Iruma-san who chose the meeting place... But I'm wondering how she got from the chapel o the mansion's roof."

Ichika toyed with her drawstrings. "Micchan threw the signboard connecting the mansion and chapel into the river..."

"If that's the case, then Iruma might not have even gone to the roof..." Kaito trailed off.

"Huuuh? So she stood me up? It's very rude to break a promise! Hmph!" Kokichi pouted. "Iruma-chan was waiting for me to arrive... I'm sure she was waiting on the rooftop of the mansion!"

"No, Iruma should have been at the chapel..." Himiko said. "If you look at where her avatar fell... it's right next to the chapel!"

"Iruma-san must have gone to the mansion. We have a witness." Shuichi looked over at Ichika.

Ichika nodded. "That's right. While investigating the dining hall, I saw Micchan pass by the window."

"Nyeh! Then why didn't you say so sooner!?" Himiko barked.

Ichika chuckled nervously. "Sorry... I kinda zoned out..."

"Then... how did she get to the mansion from the chapel?" Kiibo asked.

"There musta been some special method only Iruma knew. Like with that cell phone." Kaito said.

Shuichi nodded. "There's no doubt about that. That's why she dropped the bridge. If a murder occurred when it was impossible to cross the river, she wouldn't be implicated. She used a secret method to move from the chapel to the mansion for the murder."

"She dropped the bridge to make a huge scene, just to let everyone know it's no longer there." Kokichi added.

"So... what secret method did she use?" Maki asked.

"It won't be that easy to figure out. It's called a secret method for a reason!" Himiko said.

"No worries, guys!" Kokichi chirped. "As long as we leave it to Saihara-chan, everything will be a-okay!"

Kaito clicked his tongue. "What are you saying? We can't just rely on Saihara all the time. This class trial's for all of us! We're here to solve this together!"

"Nee-heehee... You would just slow Saihara-chan down."

"Shut up!"