Dangan Heights - A Danganronpa Slice of Life Story

19 - Season 53

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Tsumugi Shirogane

It didn't work.

Fifteen people dead, and what did we gain? The lowest ratings and the worst viewership in the entire Danganronpa series. Not only that, but apparently some people didn't take too kindly to the whole "killing real people" idea, so not only was our company in debt, but now we were even more swamped with legal fees. And so, I was back to square one. How do you save an empire formed by accident?

I pondered this question as I paced through my office. On the corner of my desk, I eyed a stack of resignation letters. The rats were fleeing the sinking ship, and at this point, the only people left were me, the one survivor from Danganronpa V2, and my writers. But I'm the captain. I can't run. I have to save this company. There is no other option. 

Sitting at my desk, I began furiously drawing up concepts for Danganronpa V3. We could cut costs by reusing assets from V2. The ruined school setting, the Exisal mechs, the AI Monokuma dolls- all of this could easily be repurposed. Take a week to put together a cast, interview them to write some sappy backstories- we could get this done in a month if we worked quick.

But still, getting a new season out quick wouldn't guarantee a financial success. More likely, it would just tank this company even further. I still believed that real killings were a step in the right direction, but we needed something new, something fresh. 

What do people want? Yes, they want tragedy, they want action, but there's something else there. People want control. People don't just want to see people killing each other, they want to have a say in who lives and who dies! This was it! That's why V2 failed! Danganronpa 1 and 2 had such bland protagonists that it was impossible not to relate to them! 

But how could we make sure someone is bland and nice enough to be universally relatable? We had the flashback lights, sure, but those only exemplified what was already there. We can't guarantee a protagonist with those. But what if one of us could be a contestant? No, they'd all be worried they'd get killed first. Maybe we could transfer one of our minds into an AI that can be easily replicable? If someone got turned into a robot, they'd technically never be able to die, so maybe that's the easy way out of this. 

It wasn't my idea I'm most proud of, but I'd be lying if I said it didn't sound appealing. Converting someone from human to machine was an idea I'd had since I first saw it live on Danganronpa 2 with Nekomaru. God, I sound like an obsessive nerd. Why am I cursed to know every single Danganronpa fun fact but still be helpless to save our dying company? 

I opened up one of the drawers at my desk. Sitting inside was the very first invention I had created- a syringe capable of downloading someone's consciousness into a computerized file. This was my first step into creating realistic AI. It's what lead to Keebo. I took the syringe out and held the needle over my forehead. Could I really do this? Would I sacrifice life in my human body to save this company? Is that what the people want? 

As the needle of the syringe inched closer to my skin, my laptop screen lit up with a familiar image of Keebo's face.

"Tsumugi, I-" He cut himself off. "Sorry. Ms. Shirogane?"

"Yes?" I quickly hid the syringe behind my back.