❦𝚃𝚑𝚎 𝚃𝚠𝚘 𝚂𝚒𝚍𝚎𝚍 𝙲𝚘𝚒𝚗 𝙾𝚏 𝙷𝚘𝚙𝚎❦

Prologue

Makoto -                                                                                                                                                  \Balls

Makoto's Pov.

Notes; *most of this is just his thoughts and him thinking*

The massive high school towers over all the other buildings in this bustling urban area. It's like the school stands at the center of the entire world.

It brings in top students from every field imaginable. A government-funded school of privilege.

They say that if you come here and manage to graduate, you'll be set for life. With hundreds of years of tradition, it sends the cream of the crop into the workforce every year. It was built to raise hope for the nation's future. Which makes Hope's Peak a pretty fitting name.

There are two things you need to attend this school.

One, you have to already be attending high school. Two, you have to be the very best at what you do. No ordinary student could enroll here. The only way in is if you've been scouted by the school itself.

And standing there at the gate of the ultimate school filled with the ultimate students was us.

Before we go any further, I guess I should introduce myself. My name's Makoto Naegi.

As you can see, we're nothing but hopelessly unaverage high school students. unaverage on the inside and out

we have too much going for us when it comes to grades, special abilities, even personality.

I mean yeah, we have hobbies and stuff we like to do, but it's not like we're a psychic or mutant or whatever. Like, if you asked me what my favorite song was, or my favorite movie or TV show.

They'd all just be whatever's most unpopular at that particular moment. Even among the average, I'm completely unaverage. So I can't even say I'm your everyday person type. That's just who we are.

Anyway, I figure it's always good to introduce yourself right off the bat. But if we have any kind of "strong point," so to speak... I'd say we're the odd ones out than other people.

I mean look at us. We're hopelessly unordinary, but still. Here we are standing in front of the hopeful but ordinary Hope's Peak Academy.

I still can't believe we're standing here. I wonder if someone like us can survive in a place like this.

It's got this overwhelming presence...like it's trying to swallow us whole. But it's no wonder I would feel that way. What you have to understand is... Well, let me just tell you about the "preparation" we did last night to get ready for today.

Hope's Peak only invites those students who are truly elite in their field. It's such a popular topic, there are threads online dedicated to talking about the school's attendees. So to prepare, I looked up some of those threads. And all I saw was talking about "ultimate" students, who were way beyond your average high schooler.

For example, one incoming student is the "Ultimate Pop Sensation." I guess she's a high school girl who's also the lead singer for a pop group famous all over the country.

There's also the "Ultimate Baseball Star." He was the cleanup hitter for the national high school champs. Pro teams already have their eyes on him.

Then there's the "Ultimate Fashionista." She's been on the cover of tons of fashion magazines. She's what every high school girl wants to be.

Oh, and they mentioned the "Ultimate Biker Gang Leader." The scary thing is, he's the de facto leader of every biker gang in Japan. Gangs everywhere love the guy.

On top of that, there's the Ultimate Martial Artist, the Ultimate Fanfic Creator, the Ultimate Gambler, The Ultimate Swimming pro, the Ultimate Programmer, the Ultimate Clairvoyant, and then some. Reading that made me realize how powerless I was. It was the country's finest, top to bottom. I felt like a tame little house cat who'd wandered into a pride of lions.

But still, there was something I couldn't stop thinking about. You see, there were a few students who I couldn't find any info on, no matter how much I looked. With all those "ultimate" students, I'm the only one without any kind of safe talent. But then, what about those other new students who didn't seem to pop up anywhere.

Could they be just average students, without any talent or anything?

That thought was kind of encouraging. I mean, I know we don't have much in the way of personality. But beyond that, there's an even bigger issue... How did such an unaverage student like us get picked to come to this "ultimate" high school? I mean, I guess there *is* a reason... You just have to take one glance at the acceptance letter they sent me to see why.

"We recently held a lottery to select one unordinary student to attend our school to show our students not everyone is the same, As a result, you have been selected, and we invite you to join us as the Ultimate Lucky Student."

They spelled it out plain as day. I got invited by pure luck and inconvenience.

Honestly, I probably would have been better off just declining their offer. But after hearing how graduating was a "guarantee for success" later in life, I just couldn't say no.

But then, actually standing there in front of the school... I started to feel lost like we didn't belong there. I could feel myself losing my nerve.

But still...I can't just stand here in front of the gate forever...

Frozen in place, murmuring to myself, I looked down at the acceptance letter clutched in my hand. It said there'd be a meeting for all incoming students in the main hall at 8 a.m. The meeting still isn't for a little while, but...

I should probably just head in. Yeah Yeah, let's do this!

I gathered up all my determination and tried to act like we'd done this a million times before. And I took my first step towards the main hall...

This is where we're supposed to meet, right? I guess we're the first one here.

There's a really elegant clock over in the corner. It says it's 7:10 a.m. The meeting doesn't start until 8 o'clock. So there's still a full 50 minutes left. It makes sense nobody else would be here yet...

I was so wound up, I got here way too early.

I have plenty of time before the meeting. Just standing around waiting isn't exactly... I should take a look around the school. Maybe that'll help me calm down a little.

We *are* a student here now, so there shouldn't be any problem with us having a look around, right?

It'll help us kill some time if nothing else. Trying to play it cool, I took my first step into Hope's Peak Academy. It was also my first step toward starting a new life at a new school. At least, that's what I was hoping for.

"..What?.."

I managed to mumble and it before my vision became warped, twisted. It was like some kind of delusion, melting away and mixing into something else. Spinning, mixing, melting away, then spinning again... And the next moment...

Everything went black.

That was how it all began... And how life as we knew it came to an end. At that point, I should have realized...

The reason we were brought to Hope's Peak Academy wasn't that I had ultimate luck.

It was so we could experience ultimate despair.