"Upupupu... I almost had you fooled..."
The Naegi who had appeared earlier scratched his head with an awkward look, then vanished.
"Th-That guy... was a fake..."
"Heh-heh. My Four Dark Devas of Destruction and I saw through him from the very beginning. We merely pretended not to notice so your strength could mature."
"Y-You're really Makoto Naegi, right...? Then... what that fake said earlier..."
"Upupupu, sorry, but that was all true. Too bad...!"
Naegi looked at everyone and began to explain.
"Yes, you were active in the outside world as [Ultimate Despair]... but that wasn't by your own will! You were forcibly manipulated by Junko Enoshima's brainwashing video..."
"Upupupu!! Why are you being so kind and explaining things to these little sardines, Naegi-kun? Do you really have time for that?"
"...I'll explain the details later. We need to trigger the forced shutdown as fast as possible! Monokuma is just seconds away from seizing total system authority!! If Monokuma gets control of the system, we won't get another chance!!"
As Naegi shouted in urgency, Hinata shot back at him.
"But don't we need eighteen people to activate the forced shutdown? Even counting you, there are only seventeen of us. So even if we want to trigger it..."
Bzzzt
"Hiiieek!! S-Somebody just appeared next to me again, sir!!"
"Wh-Who is that...?"
"Wait... that guy too... I feel like I've seen him somewhere..."
"...Quiet."
Another man had suddenly appeared in the trial grounds. He pushed up his glasses with one hand and spoke.
"I am Byakuya Togami. I am currently acting with the authority of interim branch chief of the 14th Division."
As Togami glared at Pigami and spoke, the students' faces twisted in confusion.
"To-Togami...?"
"Th-Then... you're the real Togami...?"
"C-Come to think of it... even the voice is exactly the same..."
Pigami started sweating buckets as he addressed Togami.
"Ah... uh... well... my apologies."
"If you're sorry, stop talking with my voice... no, forget it. That's not what's important right now."
Togami swept an arrogant gaze over everyone and declared,
"Press the forced shutdown button. Now."
The instant Togami finished speaking, a red button appeared beneath the graduation button and the repeat button.
"R-Right... so if we press this, that bastard Monokuma is finished too...?"
"I'm exhausted... I don't care what anyone says, I'm pressing that red button and taking a break..."
"So it's finally over... that long, long... horrible time..."
"Ahaha, is it really ending this anticlimactically...? Well, if this is the future everyone chose... I guess I should accept it gladly... right?"
Amid the students, Naegi carefully turned to Togami beside him and asked,
"Hey, Togami... is this really okay...? At the very least, shouldn't we tell them what happens if they press it...?"
"Every second counts. Enoshima's Alter Ego is on the verge of taking over the system. We don't have time to explain that to them."
"....."
"What you're worried about won't happen. Fujisaki added an extra function that stores the avatars' memories in the system."
"Y-You mean..."
"We forcibly terminate the program first, drive Enoshima's Alter Ego out of the [New World Project], and then resume the trial afterward. If we do that, the time they've spent here won't be rendered meaningless."
Only then did Naegi's face brighten. He turned to everyone and shouted,
"Everyone!! Press that red button right now!! Please!!"
"Yeah!! I'll do iiiit!!"
"Uoooooooh!!"
"At last, I won't have to look at that loathsome Monokuma face anymore!!"
"Hey, you rotten bear bastard!! See ya!! Stay here all by yourself!!"
"...I wonder if I got taller..."
"...Once we're out, I suppose I should live a life of atonement."
One by one, the students began placing their hands on the button.
"...Hinata-kun, no... you..."
Just before everyone pressed it, Nanami quietly asked Hinata a question.
"What... were you, exactly?"
Click!
And with that, every student pressed the button at the same time.
Rumble...!!
At that exact moment, the entire space began to shake.
"Upupu... upupupu..."
"L-Look over there!! Monokuma's glowing!!"
"Is he gonna explode or something? Serves him right!! Hahaha!!"
"So this... is really the end."
The students of Class 77 simply assumed it was the aftereffect of the forced shutdown and stared quietly at the glowing Monokuma, but...
"To-Togami... was the forced shutdown always like this...?"
"...Normally, the moment you press it, you wake up outside. What the hell is this...?"
"UPUPUPUPUPU!!!!!!!"
"Wh-What!? That thing's getting huge!"
"W-Wait a second... Monokuma's form is... changing...!"
"Th-That form...!?"
"Upupu... upupupu!!!"
Monokuma's appearance began to warp violently.
"Who knows."
And Hinata—no, someone wearing Hinata's appearance—leaned toward the deathly pale Nanami and whispered softly,
"...Why don't you see for yourself?"
".....!"
.
.
.
.
.
"Upupupupu!! At last, I've revealed myself before you!!"
"Y-You..."
"That's right!! I am... Junko Enoshima's Alter Ego!! Instead of that shell stuffed away in the Future Foundation basement, I inherited the seat of the 'true [Ultimate Despair]'!! Upupu!!"
Before the students, a gigantic Junko Enoshima appeared. Faced with that grotesque phenomenon, they immediately turned on Naegi and Togami with frantic questions.
"Wh-What the hell is going on!? We pressed the forced shutdown just like you told us to!?"
"Forget shutting down—Monokuma evolved into a giant high school girl, sir!! What kind of messed-up situation is this!?"
"D-Don't tell me you tricked us!?"
Their questions rained down on the two of them, but both Naegi and Togami looked just as shaken.
"...W-Why...? The forced shutdown..."
"Upupupu... too bad... I just seized system authority...! Blocking a forced shutdown is child's play for me!!"
"Th-That's impossible...!! Forced shutdown is the system's highest-level authority..."
"Exactly, and I just stole that highest-level authority, didn't I!?"
At Enoshima's Alter Ego's words, Naegi and Togami visibly faltered. The students of Class 77 sensed at once that something had gone catastrophically wrong, and dread began to spread through them.
"I-I don't really get it, but... we're seriously screwed, aren't we...?"
"I-I'm sorry for cursing at you earlier..."
"Wh-Why is she so huge...?"
"T-This really isn't the time to say it, but... that form is actually... kind of..."
"Hanamura, are you serious? Our lives are on the line right now..."
"If what you said is true... if the forced shutdown's been neutralized... then what happens to us now?"
"Upupupu, well, about that..."
When Pigami asked Enoshima's Alter Ego in a trembling voice, she smiled with loaded meaning and looked down on them all.
"...Why don't you hear it from the lead actor himself, and the 'true [Mastermind]' of this killing game?"
"Lead... actor...? The true... Mastermind...?"
"Hinata—or rather... Senior Kamukura? You can stop acting now."
The instant she said that, Hinata's appearance began to change.
"Wh-What!? Hinata's appearance...!?"
"M-Mr. Hinata grew long hair, sir!!"
"Th-That form... the one we saw for a moment earlier...?"
"Wh-Who are you!?"
"...I knew it. For you to be Hinata-kun... something felt wrong. Who are you...?"
When Nanami asked in a trembling voice, the long-haired man slowly swept his gaze across everyone and answered in a bored tone.
"How dull. So this is how it ends?"
"Upupupu... well, I figured you'd say that! Then let me introduce him instead! The one standing before you is... Kamukura Izuru!! The man once called [Ultimate Hope]!!"
"Th-That's impossible!! Just a second ago, Hinata was definitely standing there..."
"'He says he has at least enough talent to be an [Ultimate Actor].' That's what Senior Kamukura asked me to pass along!! He's just so utterly bored by this situation that he can't even be bothered to open his mouth!!"
Smiling brightly, Enoshima's Alter Ego addressed the students.
"You all read about the Kamukura Project earlier, so you know this already, right? Hajime Hinata became 'Kamukura Izuru' through that project!!"
"Th-Then... the Hinata in the outside world..."
"That's right! The strongest overpowered monster on earth! Someone no one could ever hope to oppose..."
"...Let's finish this."
"Yeees, Senior Kamukura~"
"W-Wait!! We still haven't accepted any of this—"
Ignoring the students' uproar, Enoshima beamed and continued.
"Now then... it's decision time again! Will you graduate... or will you repeat...? I'll follow your choice completely!"
"D-Don't press graduate...! If you do... every one of you will be overwritten with Enoshima's personality..."
"But! If you press repeat... you'll live inside this program forever!! No matter what you choose, it's despair!! Nothing but despair!! Upu... upupupu... upupupupu..."
At those words, the students' faces darkened. They had just steeled themselves with the hope that they could finally end everything. Now, realizing that only despair waited at the end, they began to crumble.
"G-Guys...! Don't give up...! There's still... hope...!"
Naegi looked at them with pained eyes and shouted desperately, but—
"There is no longer any hope for them."
Kamukura cut him off in a voice colder than ice.
"...Kamukura, that's wrong. There's still a possibility that everything can be turned around. If they can just hold on a little longer..."
"Look at them. Look at what they've become."
"...What?"
Naegi turned to the students of Class 77 just as Kamukura said, and cold sweat immediately broke across his skin.
"It's so despair-inducing... yes... this was despair... wasn't it...? This feeling wrapping around us so warmly... it's beautiful..."
"That's right, sir... I don't know why I forgot it until now..."
"Everything... according... to her plan..."
"Lady Enoshimaaa... I love youuu...!!"
"Upupupu... finally... looks like everyone's come to their senses..."
The students were gazing up at Enoshima with the exact same eyes they had worn in their [Ultimate Despair] state.
"Th-That's impossible... the memories from when they were in despair... should have been erased perfectly..."
"At the final moment, restoring everyone's memories to their despair state and sending them back outside—that was Junko Enoshima's plan. Of course, for you two, who have no memories of being in despair, and for the gamer, Enoshima's Alter Ego's memories will simply be overwritten onto you instead."
"G-Guys!! Snap out of it!!!"
"...Chiaki Nanami, even for you, it's useless now. When Enoshima wasn't present, you held considerable influence over them in their despair state. But now that the source of the brainwashing stands right in front of them... you won't be taking back control."
"Th-That can't..."
"In a situation like this, what can you possibly do?"
"....."
"In the end, you've failed again."
At those words, Nanami lowered her head, her expression steeped in despair.
Naegi looked at her with anguish, then clenched both fists tight and turned to Kamukura.
"Kamukura... you planned all of this from the very beginning..."
"...No. I am merely a guest who was invited. I am not the one who planned this."
"...What?"
"I only wanted to see which was more unpredictable—hope, or despair. And now... at last... I can see the end approaching."
Togami, who had been silently grinding his teeth, suddenly spoke to Kamukura in a voice thick with fury.
"...So? Are you satisfied? Because it looks like the fight ended with despair's victory?"
"....."
"Don't make me laugh. Hope doesn't break that easily. Just because a few more despair-ridden lunatics get added to the pile, and a few copies of a madwoman who already lost to hope are unleashed into the world, that doesn't mean despair wins."
"Togami..."
"This broadcast is being streamed live to the Future Foundation. If there are any intelligent people left, they'll stop us before things spiral out of control. Anyone with a brain can manage that much. So don't get drunk on yourself just because of the ending here—"
"I never said despair had won."
Togami, who had been speaking in a blaze of anger, stopped cold at Kamukura's words and shot back,
"...What did you just say?"
But Kamukura ignored him, turned his head, and fixed his gaze on Nanami.
"Whether the ending holds hope... or despair..."
Then he finished,
"This time, I intend to witness that final moment with my own eyes."
.
.
.
.
.
"Upupupu!! Then hurry up and vote!!"
After deciding to execute Naegi, Togami, and Nanami, Monokuma opened a trial targeting the three of them so he could overwrite them with his own memories.
For the record, it was a grotesquely unfair vote—the three people being judged weren't even given voting rights.
"Upupupu... remember this, everyone! This vote has to be unanimous!!"
"...Why does it have to be unanimous?"
"Upupupu... why? Because... the final vote is always decided by unanimity...! And sure, I said that earlier, but the truth is, getting the highest authority was... wait!! Naegi, you don't have speaking rights anymore!! You almost blew it for me!!"
Enoshima made a comical gesture of covering Naegi's mouth, then looked down at Class 77 and continued.
"Anyway, just keep in mind that if it isn't unanimous, there won't be an execution!!"
""...Yes, Lady Enoshima.""
And so, with vacant expressions, the students cast their votes.
"Now then!! I will announce the results!!!"
"...Hk."
As Enoshima loudly declared the results announcement, a single tear slipped from Nanami's closed eyes as she stood silently in her place.
'In the end... I couldn't protect Hinata... or everyone else... not a single person... How pathetic...'
As she quietly awaited death, listening to the roulette spin, a voice reached her.
"Ahaha... Nanami..."
".....?"
"Weren't you the one who said we had to hope for the future?"
"...Komaeda?"
Komaeda spoke to her with a meaningful smile.
Beep! Beep! Beep!
"Upupupu? What's this? One abstention...?"
"The truth is, I've never actually been hit by the brainwashing video."
"...What?"
"To think that incident would come back around like this... my 'luck' really is mysterious after all!!"
Enoshima glared at him for a moment, then spat out her words with a frigid expression.
"Haah, this is why I hate idiots drunk on hope. Well, votes can be held as many times as I want, so next time I'll just add you to the execution list too... ugh, I really didn't want to crawl into your body, though..."
"Nanami, did you know?"
But Komaeda completely ignored Enoshima and kept speaking to Nanami.
"Even if you exclude that watcher over there, there are still two [Ultimate Lucky Student]s in this place."
"...Wh-What are you talking about?"
Nanami asked in a trembling voice, and Komaeda answered with a radiant smile.
"And yet all that's happened is one miserable disaster after another... which means, doesn't it? That a stroke of luck big enough to overturn everything is coming."
"A stroke of luck... that overturns everything...?"
"Exactly. The kind of luck that will push everyone toward a 'hope'-filled 'future'...!! Ahahahahahahaha!!!"
After saying that, Komaeda threw his head back and laughed so hard it felt like the trial grounds themselves would split apart.
"Even if you're gonna go crazy, do it gracefully... honestly... every last one of you hope-worshipping freaks is insane, aren't you...? Upupupupu..."
Mocking Komaeda, Enoshima sneered.
"Now then... we will begin the vote on whether to execute Makoto Naegi, Byakuya Togami, Chiaki Nanami, and... Nagito Komaeda!!"
She was about to begin the vote, but—
"With this, hope loses and despair wins!! Forever!! Starting today, hope will vanish from the world, and only infinite despair will remain—!!!"
""That's wrong!!!""
".....!!!"
The instant she saw Kyoko Kirigiri and K appear out of nowhere, Enoshima froze in utter shock before she could even activate the vote.