"Shit... is this for real...?"
I opened my eyes to an unfamiliar ceiling. An unfamiliar ceiling... and I'm not even blackout drunk. Why an unfamiliar ceiling...?
I refuse to do the whole pathetic "Where am I? Who am I?" routine. Obviously that damned comment dragged me straight into the Danganronpa universe.
Most people would be freaking out right now, but I'm a genuine degenerate whose brain has been pickled in anime and web-novels. If I started flailing in a situation like this, I wouldn't deserve the title of "hard-core fan."
First things first—I should check what I look like. My body felt stiff, but I forced myself upright and looked in the mirror.
"Oh... a little younger, but pretty much how I was in high school."
I would have preferred to reincarnate as a handsome guy instead of my usual gloomy, scrawny self, but at least I didn't get gender-swapped and lose the family jewels. Small mercies.
"What's this... Hope's Peak Academy admission packet... 'We are pleased to accept you to our school as the Ultimate Counselor'?"
What the hell? "Ultimate Counselor"? Well, it's not like I ever get lucky, so becoming the Ultimate Lucky Student was never on the table. I'm just a talent-less shut-in, after all. But "counselor," seriously?
The only thing counseling makes me think of is the shrink who kept pestering me at the psychiatric ward. I was always the one getting counseled, never the one giving it.
Since I know nothing about who I am here... first I need intel.
To find out what kind of person I am in this world—and how closely it matches the game—I began gathering information.
.
.
.
.
.
Well... I'm not sure whether this is good or bad...
After a few hours of digging, I finally got the gist of things.
First off, my name here is "K." Back home I had a Korean name, but in this world everyone calls me K.
In the Danganronpa timeline, I was an orphan. The only possession I had as a kid was a pendant engraved with the letter K, so the orphanage staff just named me after it.
Looks like I lived just as half-heartedly here as I did in reality.
Still, the me of this world was at least better in one respect: even as an orphan, I counseled and comforted other children at the orphanage who were struggling with mental scars.
That orphanage ended up in a documentary, and the touching footage of me counseling the kids made me semi-famous. Donations poured in, and I kept expanding my counseling activities on that backing. That's how I became a public figure—so says the wiki page and several interviews. Seeing my own face on a wiki was surreal.
The school I'll be entering, Hope's Peak Academy, is accepting seventeen students this year as the Class 78th—myself included. Yep, this is the starting point of Danganronpa 1: Trigger Happy Havoc.
I checked the Hope's Peak web community and found photos of characters I'd only ever seen in the game, along with fans heatedly debating them. Quite the sight.
According to the forum, all the original students—Sayaka Maizono, Junko Enoshima, and even that small-fry four-eyes—are enrolling exactly as in canon. The only extra is me, the Ultimate Counselor.
There were threads about me, too, and they were all compliments. Weird feeling, considering praise and I were strangers in my old life.
By the way, I discovered during my research that I can now read and write Japanese effortlessly. Guess reincarnation comes with perks.
Alright, intel gathered. Time to set some goals...
First, I'm obviously going to Hope's Peak. The incident is going to happen no matter what; skipping school won't keep me safe.
I'm also a die-hard Danganronpa fan and a devoted follower of Kyoko Kirigiri. Pass up a chance to attend Hope's Peak? No way.
That said, I can't just enjoy a carefree school life. Among the 78th-class students lurks the Ultimate Despair who will destroy the world—Junko Enoshima.
As a super-fan, I'll enjoy campus life but also dig up Despair's scheme and expose it to the world. No matter how cunning Junko is, she can't beat someone who's cleared every Danganronpa title.
Wait—this is actually awesome!
Is there any situation happier than this? I get to live inside my favorite game, hang out with my favorite characters, use my meta knowledge to thwart Despair, graduate, and then cruise through life.
"Has God finally decided to spoil me...?"
For the first time in my despair-ridden life, it felt like spring had come. My eyes stung a little. Pushing down the excitement, I logged into the community and posted a thread.
Title: If the Ultimate Counselor K is freakin' awesome, smash that like button
"I can't not post this."
.
.
.
.
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Time passed, and the day of my admission to Hope's Peak finally arrived.
"At last... it's beginning... life at Hope's Peak..."
Honestly, I'm nervous. Mostly excited, but part of me wonders if I can really stop Despair, make friends with the other students, and actually use this sudden "counseling" talent.
Hoo... focus. Who am I? K, the Ultimate Counselor of Hope's Peak Academy.
The little magic chant calmed me down. I took a deep breath and stepped forward with confidence.
Then my eyelids grew heavy. The world started to spin. Huh...? What...?
When I came to, I was in an unfamiliar classroom.
"Shit. I'm screwed."
Looks like I failed to stop Despair after all.