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The story began in a hotel room on a high floor of a tall building... The hotel room was a mess. The sheets from the two beds were on the floor, and the pillows were covered in blood. The lamps on the nightstands were shattered, with broken pieces scattered around the room. There were scratches on the beige-colored walls, made with blood. In front of a window, almost as large as the wall itself, sat a blonde girl with her hair tied up, wearing a leopard print dress and red heels. She kept tapping her long, pink-painted nails on the table next to the chair she was sitting in, constantly sighing. There were empty bottles of alcohol and snack plates on the table.On the chair next to her, there was a girl with short black hair, wearing a black suit, and freckled. She was staring outside, not really present, feeling like she was lost in a deep void. On the table next to her was a black briefcase, inside which were billions of bills. Next to the money were two menko cards. One of these cards had a black and white drawing of a teddy bear, and the other had a pink and white drawing of a toy rabbit. On these teddy bears, the words "Monokuma" and "Usami" were written in black and pink letters, respectively. Besides these, there was a card with a phone number written on it; dozens of these cards were inside the briefcase.In the bathroom was the man responsible for the bloody writings in the room. This man, who was about the same age as the two girls, had met them and, upon the blonde girl’s persuasion, had given them a private island. The blonde girl wanted to set up a death game on this island, but she hadn’t decided who to invite to the game yet. After giving the island, the man had been shot by the black-haired girl and killed. The bullet that was fired into his heart was still lodged in him, and his lifeless body lay in the bathtub, soaked in blood.Junko, the blonde girl, and Mukuro, the black-haired girl, sat silently, watching the people passing by outside, looking like a black dot from the hotel room window. The hum of the air conditioner disturbed the silence of the room, but neither of them spoke a word. Junko kept sighing and tapping her nails faster on the table. Mukuro glanced at her occasionally and then checked the contents of the briefcase."People…" Junko said, holding a glass of drink, having lost count of how many glasses she'd had. She held the glass like a microphone and continued, “…can do some disgusting things for money.” She finished her drink in one gulp. She slammed the glass down on the table. "They can hurt each other, they can kill each other…" she said, then smiled. "They can entertain me!" Mukuro looked at her from the corner of her eye, her face still cold and expressionless."You’re quite excited to set up that game," Mukuro said, her tone as cold as her expression."Very much so! I want you to get me a group of people as soon as we get out of this hotel room, Mukuro. Find people who will entertain me. Or else, I’ll kill you too!" Junko said. Suddenly, she grabbed one of the empty bottles from the table and slammed it down hard. The sound of the glass breaking echoed through the room, and shards scattered around. Junko, shaking the bottle in her hand, ran toward Mukuro, attempting to stab her in the stomach. But Mukuro quickly grabbed Junko by the wrist and stopped her. Junko withdrew her hand and tried to attack Mukuro’s head with the bottle, but Mukuro blocked her again. Junko tried dozens of times to stab her with the bottle, to relieve her boredom by killing her sister who had agreed to help her, and to drown in despair, but Mukuro stopped her every time. In the end, Junko grew furious, cursing and throwing the bottle against the wall, where it shattered. The broken pieces once again scattered on the floor.“You’re quite excited to set up that game,” Mukuro said, her tone as cold as her expression.“I had a little fun!” Junko said. But as soon as her sentence ended, she adopted a bored expression. Looking at Mukuro, she said, “I’m bored again.” Mukuro got up, gently pushing a shard of glass near her feet before reaching for the briefcase. After taking the briefcase under her arm, she walked slowly toward the hotel room door. Meanwhile, Junko poured herself another drink and continued watching the people outside as she imagined how they might die in the game, laughing to herself.“I’ll try to find the participants you’re looking for today,” Mukuro said, gripping the door handle. As her hand reached for the doorknob, she noticed her fingers were trembling. She took a deep breath, and as she waited for a response, she turned her head to look at Junko, who was still staring outside. Junko waved the glass in her hand as if signaling Mukuro to leave and said, “Hurry up.” Mukuro opened the door, stepping into the corridor. As she walked down the hall, looking at the numbers on the other rooms, she thought about what kind of people she could bring to satisfy Junko.Hajime Hinata was a young man who had just graduated from high school. He didn’t consider himself skilled at anything and believed he was under average. He had been searching for a job for two years but had not managed to settle in any kind of profession. He was near the top of Mukuro’s list of potential contestants, which had around fifty names. Mukuro thought of him as someone who was desperate, aimless, and even capable of committing murder for money. Hajime was sitting alone in the subway, lamenting missing the tram that had just passed. At that moment, he was running his hand through his brown hair and observing the people around him. The subway was crowded, and many people seemed busy with something. He felt like the only aimless, useless person there.“Good day,” Mukuro said, sitting next to Hajime. He shifted a bit to the side to make room for her. “Good day,” he replied. Then he turned his head to check how many minutes were left until the next tram. At that moment, Mukuro moved a little closer to him.“I want to play a game with you,” Mukuro said. Hajime raised an eyebrow and looked at her. “What kind of game?” he asked. He was trying to figure out what this woman was doing and what she was after. After all, no one typically came up to him while waiting for the tram to play a game. While he was thinking this, Mukuro pulled out menko cards from her briefcase. She held both of them in her hands and extended them toward him.“We’re going to play menko. You know how to play, right?” she said, offering the cards. Hajime first looked at the Monokuma card in her right hand, then at the Usami card in her left. He slowly reached for the Usami card, took it, and looked at Mukuro.“Yes, I know,” he said, holding the card tightly, looking at the drawing on it.“I’ll place my card on the ground, and you’ll try to flip it over. We’ll take turns, and if you flip it, I’ll give you money. If you can’t flip it, you’ll give me money,” she explained. Hajime pulled back a bit. “W-Wait, wait! How much money are we talking about?” he asked in a panic. Mukuro chuckled lightly.“If you’re in a situation where you can’t pay, I can slap you instead. The money I’ll give you is 100,000 yen (about 650 dollars). I’ll give you this amount for every flip you make. Do we have a deal?”Hajime hesitated. One hundred thousand yen was a large amount. What this woman was doing seemed risky and suspicious. To Hajime, it felt like a kind of gambling. Even though he was worried about the consequences of playing a game with this woman and making that much money on the subway, he wasn’t sure what to do. He felt desperate. He had almost no money left, and the little he had would only last him a week or two, at best. He bit his lip, nodded in agreement, and then Mukuro placed her card on the ground. Hajime tried to flip her card with his own card, but failed. He looked at Mukuro. Mukuro smiled back at him.“Unfortunately, you couldn’t flip it,” she said.“Yes, but...,” Hajime started to say when his words were interrupted by a slap from Mukuro. He held his aching cheek in shock, rubbing it before picking up his card from the ground. “Let me try again!” he said. Mukuro took a step back, pointed to her card on the ground, and said, “Go ahead, try again.” Hajime threw his card at hers forcefully once more, but again, he failed.He tried a third time. Still didn’t flip it.Four, five, six, seven...By the time he had tried his sixteenth attempt, his cheek was bright red from the slaps, and it felt like it was burning. He stretched, threw the card again, and this time, it flipped. He looked at Mukuro after he succeeded. Mukuro opened her briefcase, took out the amount of money she had promised, and handed it to him.“If you want, you can keep playing to earn more money,” Mukuro said while offering him the money. Hajime put the money in his pocket while rubbing his sore cheek. In a low voice, he muttered, “You’ll leave me completely messed up, and then, as I keep losing...”Mukuro slammed her briefcase shut, and Hajime looked at her.“Hajime Hinata, you’re twenty-one years old. You just quit your job, and you’re worried that you won’t make it through the end of the month with the money you have. You’ve been looking for a job for a while, but you’ve failed, and now you feel aimless, poor, and dissatisfied,” she said. Hajime’s mouth dropped open. “How did you know all this?” he yelled, and as he tried to grab her by the collar, Mukuro pushed him forcefully in the chest, sending him falling to the ground. While lying on the floor, Hajime rubbed his aching hip. Mukuro extended a card toward him.“Call us, and earn money,” she said. Hajime took the card and looked at the phone number on the back. Mukuro then boarded the next tram and left.Taeko Yasuhiro, generally known by her alias Celestia Ludenberg, was a 22-year-old woman. She was a gambling addict and, for the most part, a winner. However, in the past few months, she had lost at gambling and fallen into significant debt. She lived with her pet cat and had dealings with loan sharks and the mafia. Once again, she had gambled and lost. The last bit of money she had was also just lost in a desperate attempt to win. She walked down the street with a blank expression, one hand in her pocket, the other holding a cigarette to her mouth. Suddenly, Mukuro appeared before her. Though Celestia moved to the side to let her pass, Mukuro continued to move with her, blocking her path."What do you want?" Celestia said, taking another drag from her cigarette and exhaling the smoke. Her tone was angry; she didn’t want to deal with Mukuro.“I want to play a game with you,” Mukuro said. Like she had done with Hajime, she explained the rules, the prize, and the penalties of the game. Celestia accepted the offer without hesitation, and Mukuro placed her Usami card on the ground. Celestia succeeded in her first attempt to flip the card. Mukuro took out the money from her bag and handed it to her. After giving it to her, she watched as Celestia counted the money.“If you want, you can play a second round. However, you’ll need to wager the money you have,” Mukuro said. After finishing counting the money, Celestia looked at her, then at the cash in her hand. She took a deep breath and said, "I accept." Mukuro placed her card on the ground again. Celestia was successful once more.Celestia continued playing until she had won nearly one billion yen. As she filled her pockets with the money, Mukuro said, “I have one final offer for you.”“What is it?” Celestia asked, now in a cheerful tone due to the money she had won.“If you manage to flip the card this time, I’ll give you another billion yen. However, if you fail, I’ll take all the money back,” Mukuro said. This time, she planned to cheat with the cards. She wanted to draw Celestia into the game and thought it would entertain Junko. Celestia accepted the offer without hesitation, and Mukuro placed her card in a slightly less uneven position. Celestia focused on the card, took a deep breath, and threw her card at it. But she couldn’t flip the card. At that moment, she looked at Mukuro with trembling eyes, a sweating body, and a panicked voice.“N… No! I need to try again! Let me try again!” she said.“Give me the money from your pockets first,” Mukuro said, showing Celestia the gun she had at her belt. Celestia swallowed, took the money from her pockets, and threw it on the ground. Mukuro quickly collected the money, placed her card in the same spot, and stepped back so Celestia could take another shot. Celestia failed once again.“You fucking bitch…” Celestia muttered. Suddenly, Mukuro slapped Celestia. The sudden slap made Celestia stagger into a light pole. She looked at Mukuro and screamed, “What the hell are you doing?!”“I clearly stated in the rules that I would slap you if you couldn’t give the money. As a gambler, I expected you to remember that,” Mukuro said as she approached Celestia. Standing on her toes, she tried to look down on the woman even more.“Taeko Yasuhiro, or Celestia Ludenberg, you owe 380 billion yen (approximately two and a half billion dollars) in gambling debts. You also have similar debts to loan sharks and the mafia. Your life is at risk. Join our games to pay off your debts, and we’ll give you money as you win,” she said, offering Celestia a card. Celestia took the card, examined it, and then looked at Mukuro. Without saying another word, Mukuro turned and walked away quickly.The rest of the day, Mukuro spoke with dozens of people.Makoto Naegi was 22 years old and had fallen into debt due to being scammed. He lived with his sister, Komaru Naegi, and needed money for her education.Sayaka Maizono was a former singer. After it was revealed that she had a boyfriend, she was lynched by her followers and fired from the agency she worked for. After being fired, she fell into debt. Despite missing her former life, no agency would accept her.Leon Kuwata was a former baseball player. After deciding that baseball wasn’t for him, he quit playing and ventured into singing. He invested a lot into his new career and made promises, but it ended in failure. He fell into debt and started dealing with loan sharks.Chihiro Fujisaki was a famous programmer. Hackers found a flaw in a program he created and stole user data, including bank account details. Chihiro was found guilty in court and sentenced to pay back the losses of all the victims. However, he didn’t have enough money; otherwise, he would have gone to prison.Mondo Owada became addicted to gambling and alcohol after losing his older brother and fell into significant debt.Hifumi Yamada was scammed while shopping online and ended up in debt.Kiyotaka Ishimaru was a former politician. However, he lost his job after another member of his party scammed him. After losing his job, he fell into debt and became hesitant to appear in public.Sakura Ogami needed money to pay for her fiance's hospital bills after he became seriously ill.Aoi Asahina needed money for her brother’s sudden stomach cancer treatment.Byakuya Togami lost all his fortune after a failed investment in cryptocurrency.Toko Fukawa’s boyfriend scammed her, took all her money, and ran away.Kyoko Kirigiri’s father had a brain tumor, and she needed money for his treatment.Yasuhiro Hagakure had advised people to invest in a new cryptocurrency on social media, claiming that 30% of his predictions were accurate. He also invested himself, but ended up losing all his money.Teruteru Hanamura fell into debt due to his mother’s illness and the need to keep their family restaurant open.A man who claimed not to have a name accepted Mukuro’s offer after she told him that if he joined the game, she could help him get to learn more about himself.Mahiru Koizumi needed money to start a photography business after the last one failed and she went bankrupt.Fuyuhiko Kuzuryu, despite being a yakuza, fell into debt due to gambling, causing the deaths of many of his men. He thought about joining the games to win money. Peko Pekoyama secretly joined as well.Ibuki Mioda joined not caring about the prize money, but simply to play the game.Hiyoko Saionji was a well-known traditional dancer and ran her own dance school. However, some jealous acquaintances slandered her, attacked her, and caused her to go bankrupt and fall into debt.Mikan Tsumiki needed money for her education but also accepted to join the games because she was afraid to say no to Mukuro.Nekomaru Nidai, struggling to cover the expenses of the team he coached, needed money to prevent the team from disbanding.Gundham Tanaka, while claiming he would crush everyone and was fearless, actually joined because he wanted to buy a better place for his animals and settle there.Nagito Komaeda had won ten billion yen, but on his way home, a thief had threatened him with death. Nagito gave up the money to survive and later sought Mukuro to ask if he could rejoin the games.Chiaki Nanami was unemployed and had many debts. She wanted to build a career playing games, become famous, pay off her debts, and buy new games and move to a new place.Akane Owari, a gymnast, was scammed by a man who promised to buy her food and fell into debt afterward.Kazuichi Souda participated in a workers’ strike at his workplace and was fired. After being fired, he fell into debt.Sonia Nevermind joined the game with the promise of fun and anonymity.Shuichi Saihara was a detective but never felt good enough. He planned to join the game to meet new people, and if he made money, open a larger detective agency.Kaede Akamatsu had been playing the piano since childhood and had won awards. However, she was scammed by a close friend and fell into debt.Rantaro Amami was a young man who needed money to care for his younger sisters.Ryoma Hoshi was depressed and felt he had no purpose in life. He joined the game hoping to feel something.Kirumi Tojo was a politician. She joined the games because she believed she needed money and power to become the ruling party and develop Japan. Her goal was to win money and then become president with her party.Angie Yonaga had lost everything after an earthquake on the island where she had lived, losing her family and money. She had migrated to Japan and needed money.Tenko Chabashira was a neo-aikido student. She had gone into debt to pay for her master’s medical treatments after he fell ill.Korekiyo Shinguji was an anthropologist. His sister had stolen from him numerous times, but he couldn’t let go of her. He joined the game to fulfill her dreams and to make money.Gonta Gokuhara accepted to join at Mukuro's request.Miu Iruma needed money for new inventions but was also in debt due to gambling.Kokichi Oma accepted the offer to join the game to pay off the debts of the organization he led.Kaito Momota was someone who lived with his grandparents and needed money to take care of them.Maki Harukawa was an orphan and an assassin. One day, she killed those who had been employing her and started living on the streets.Himiko Yumeno had made a huge investment in her performances but went bankrupt and fell into debt.Kiibo was a robot. Mukuro told him that if he joined the game, people might start treating him like a human. Kiibo accepted the offer based on that.Tsumugi Shirogane had become famous on social media but quickly lost her fame, falling into debt afterward. She was a cosplayer.The darkness of the night had fallen. The hotel's lights illuminated the dark streets of the city. Mukuro entered the hotel, and although the receptionist greeted her with "Welcome," she proceeded to the elevator without responding. The elevator was empty. She pressed the button for the floor where the room she shared with Junko was. The elevator slowly ascended. After a few seconds, it reached the floor, and Mukuro exited the elevator, walking down the same corridor again. She made her way to the hotel room and entered with the key."Mukuro?" Junko called. She was still wearing the leopard-print dress and sitting on the couch. Her eyes were searching for something that might entertain her, and the whole room was in disarray. The number of alcohol bottles had doubled. Mukuro approached her, brushing her hair back with her hand as it fell into her face."Finally, you lazy bitch! I've been dying of boredom here!" Junko said, swinging a knife from the table towards Mukuro's stomach. Mukuro calmly stepped back and avoided the strike. Junko, now furious, threw the knife at her again, but this time Mukuro dodged by leaning to the side, the knife missing her and landing on the floor. Mukuro then pulled a tablet out of her briefcase and placed it on Junko's lap."Forty-six people, just as you wanted. Their names, ages, and brief biographies are all here," Mukuro said, pointing at the tablet. Junko became excited, quickly opened the tablet, and started going through the participants one by one, commenting as she did."This woman is a total drama queen, so selfish and wild! She's already entertained me!" Junko said as she scrolled through, laughing as she looked at the next person. "This idiot will definitely die first, look at him!" she added, laughing again. After going through all forty-six participants, Junko put the tablet down on the table. Mukuro picked it up and placed it back in her briefcase."Good job, I underestimated you," Junko said. Mukuro smiled faintly."If you're ready, we can move everyone to the island tomorrow," Mukuro said. At that moment, Junko waved her hand dismissively. "No, no…" she said. Mukuro raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean, you're backing out? Why now?" she asked. Junko slapped her, and Mukuro fell onto the other chair from the force of the slap. Holding her cheek, Junko shouted, "Don't interrupt me, bitch!" Junko stood up, fiddling with the straps of her dress, walking back and forth in the room, speaking as she did. She still had a glass in her hand, swirling the drink inside."I'm going to join this game too. We'll be forty-seven!" Junko declared."But you…" Mukuro began, but Junko cut her off."I know!" she shouted. "You're going to spout nonsense about it being a death game, how dangerous it is, right, Mukuro? Stupid, I know! That's the whole point… I'm going to join a game where there's a risk of death… I wonder when I'll have to go against my own rules? How much fun will I have? Ah, I can't wait!" Junko said, breathing quickly as she leaned against the wall."Fine," Mukuro replied. She gazed out the window, lost in thought. If Junko was going to be a participant and not “The Frontman”, according to her plan, Mukuro would take over the role of “The Frontman”. She stood up, took a few steps towards Junko, and approached her. Junko, her drunkenness affecting her, started laughing."What's it like to have a genius like me as a sister? I'm going to make a whole new kind of fun, Mukuro!" Junko shouted, laughing maniacally. Mukuro silently watched her.That day, they called all the participants. One of the people they called was Tsumugi Shirogane. In the middle of the night, her phone rang. She suddenly woke up from her sleep, startled. At first, she thought it was an earthquake alarm. She reached for her glasses, put them on, and squinted as she looked at the phone screen. The number Mukuro had given her was calling her back. She accepted the call, placed the phone to her ear, and as she stood up from her bed, she looked out the window."Hello?" Tsumugi said."Tsumugi Shirogane, get into the car outside your house to join the game," came a voice that sounded similar to the woman who had given her the card. It might have been her, but Tsumugi couldn’t be sure."Okay… One second…" Tsumugi said, and the phone call ended. She rushed to her wardrobe, took out her blue pajamas, then changed into black jeans and a blue sweater, topped off with a black jacket. She slipped her phone into her pocket and went downstairs. She walked slowly toward the car. She felt indecisive, torn. Could she really earn money by joining this game? She was questioning herself. She opened the door and got inside. The same woman was sitting in the driver’s seat. Looking at the other seats in the car, she saw a group of people sleeping. There was a fat man with glasses and short brown hair. Next to him was a woman with purple hair, wearing a white T-shirt. After squeezing between them, she called out to the driver."How long will it take?""Three," Mukuro replied."Three hours? That’s far…""Two.""Pardon?""One."And with that, the car sped off. Before Tsumugi could understand what was happening, she had already lost consciousness. The same thing had happened to the other participants…
47 remain.