Danganronpa: Paradise Lost

Prologue, Part I

Prologue: Curiosity Killed the Cat, Part I

----

"All things truly wicked start from an innocence." - Ernest Hemingway

----

This is the story of a hopeful boy and a hopeless girl.

Here I am. Daisuke Hiyori. I have spent most of, if not my entire life, in my bedroom, and I haven't left my apartment in years.

There, now you understand why I got called the Ultimate Hikikomori! Anyways, surprisingly, I didn't go absolutely insane from the isolation, because I do faintly remember going to elementary school for a time until, for reasons my mom and dad never made clear to me, we had to move away. Although I now live alone (yes, I am capable of caring for myself, for those who are worried), I still kinda miss them.

Because a few years ago, my dad died in a car crash. Apparently, according to Mom, someone sabotaged his brakes and... she didn't really take it well. Neither did me, to be honest. We were currently living in some high-rise apartment, and now I rarely even speak to her. In fact, I'm not sure whether or not I've actually seen my mom for the last year or so, but someone has to be ensuring I don't go hungry... right?

After all, I never leave my apartment, and I only get out of my room when I need to get some snacks, or to tidy up, or to, you know, relieve myself. I stay clean, after all! So, what do I actually do? Watch TV, watch films, play video games, post comments on social media, surf the internet, eat, drink, sleep - you know, your average hikikomori stuff. From what I was hearing, the outside world was utter chaos, and even after things calmed down, the damage was done. I was just too scared back then.

So anyways, one night, I was on my balcony, gazing up towards the stars and contemplating life and the outside world and the universe at large - oh yeah, and it also reminded me of that really rockin' RPG remake I played the other day. Apparently some wunderkind, Asuka Miyamoto was her name, spearheaded the development! No wonder it was so good! But it was getting late, and my body was just exhausted, so after that I quickly went to bed.

When I woke up, I noticed that two envelopes had been slipped underneath my door. My curiosity piqued, I opened both of them, one after another. I don't really remember the first one, aside from the fact that it was an invitation that instructed me to go to some isolated place, alone, where I would be picked up and taken to the premises.

But what was really mysterious was the second piece of paper. It seemed to have been hastily written, and on it were four words: "DON'T LISTEN SAVE YOURSELF".

Who wrote the invite? Who wrote that warning against accepting the invite? I wasn't going to get answers if I just disregarded them and stayed in my room - of course, that would have been the logical choice, but if I actually did it, then there would be no story. I wouldn't have met all the friends and foes I did meet and the master plan would have gone off without a hitch due to me not being there.

Besides, Mom wasn't there to stop me - when I was a kid and my dad was still alive, she was very, very overprotective, so when she up and left I had to mostly figure out how to fend for myself the hard way. I just slipped on a casual outfit - shirt, pants, trousers, shoes, and for the first time in, like, forever, I left my apartment.

My destination? Some bus stop in the middle of the Japanese countryside, as the invite indicated me to go to. Already I should have seen a lot of red flags coming, especially considering that it encouraged me to go there by myself. But I was young and curious and dumb and had no real idea of what the outside world was like, so what did I do? I paid the fare to be driven to the quaint little rural town where the bus stop was located.