Faux Danganronpa: Magical Reality

Chapter 1: A Rumor Told at the Evening Hour - DAY 1 (Mahouko)

THE SCHOOL TRIP RULES

1. Students are to remain within the walls of Ryujin Castle for the entirety of the school trip.

2. Once a murder takes place, a class trial will be held. Participation is mandatory for all surviving students.

3. If the killer is correctly identified during the class trial, they alone will be punished, and the killing game will continue for the rest of the students.

4. If the killer is incorrectly identified during the class trial, everyone else except for the true killer will be punished, and the killer will get to leave the castle.

5. "Nighttime" hours are from 10p.m. to 8a.m. During this time, the Dining hall and Throne room will be locked.

6. Any and all acts of violence and treason towards the King are prohibited.

7. King Monoryu will never directly participate in a murder.

8. Your Ryu-Handbooks are really important items, so make sure to not damage or lose them.

9. Students may explore Ryujin Castle to the best of their abilities.

10. Any student that breaks these rules will be punished by King Monoryu.

FINAL RULE: The King may add additional rules to this list at any time.

I sighed as I locked my Ryu-Handbook and flopped down on my bed, staring up at the ceiling as thoughts wandered my mind.

For a long time, I had dreamed of staying at this castle. It was the one thing I had been looking forward to attending the moment I heard about it. I had thought that I would be able to enhance my knowledge on magic and magic history with this immersion trip, and maybe even find some proof that magic is indeed real.

And yet...

I stared at the wooden ceiling for some time, thinking about my current situation. Thrown into a spiral of despair, trapped in the castle and forced to kill to escape... I managed a fake smile. "Yup... exactly how I dreamed of..." I laughed to myself. It was meant to bring my mood up a little, but it only brought me closer to tears.

Not wanting to depress myself any further, I decided to sleep it out.

* * *

Ding, dong, ding, dong!

"Good morning, everyone!" Monoryu's cheerfully out-of-place voice rang throughout the castle walls through the monitors. "It is now 8a.m., which means Nighttime is officially over! Let's get ready to have another beautiful day today!"

It was a painful reminder of the hopeless place I was stuck in. The hopeless place we were stuck in. A living nightmare.

Ding-dong!

Ah... someone rang the doorbell... Wearily, I got out of bed and answered it to find Aidama standing in front of the doorway.

"Morning, Mahouko..." he greeted.

"Ah... good morning..." I said with a sigh.

There was a pause. Then, Aidama spoke again. "...are you alright?" he asked.

I blinked, snapping out of my small daze. "Huh? Uh... yeah, I'm fine."

Truth be told, I was not. My dreams had been crushed... why would I be fine?

Aidama glanced off to the side. "If... you're upset about the killing game... well..." he sighed. "It's okay." He closed his eyes. "We all are, anyway..."