Chapter Text
Dear Readers!
My name is Chanel and I'm the sole creator of Danganronpa 4: Despair Beyond Hope.
Before I begin I would like to clarify that Danganronpa 4: Despair Beyond Hope is a fan-adaptation and is not affiliated with Spike Chunsoft.
This has been something I've wanted to do for an entire decade, and have actively been working on producing for 8 years, going back to the creation of the cast all the way back in 2016.
Going into this, I have to thank the community following the project already through my Bluesky account, and those who found us from our promotional material (Apologies for the spoilers) on YouTube.
This is a passion project of mine, three times in the real world I've published books and I usually write my nonsense fan based ideas here on Wattpad, and usually not in the style of a book. For this project I was very much debating on if this should be written script style similar to Danganronpa 69, or like a book, and decided in the end to go for a mix of both, so going into this, you will be reading the daily life in the style of a book, but class trials will be in the style of a script.
I sincerely hope you the reader enjoy Danganronpa 4, as much as I have loved working with amazing voice actors, artists and writers in bringing this to fruition.
More than £5,000 has been invested into this project and I expect not a penny of it back. If even ten people enjoy this Fan-adaptation, It will be money very well spent!
I'd like to thank:
YouTuber SHSL Blaze, for sharing one of the body discoveries on their channel.
Archer and Pat for workshopping writing styles with me to develop each character.
Markchu and Ayruu for bringing the characters to life in art.
Chozo for creating all the body discoveries and CG cutscene artworks.
Illostrious for creating the cover art for this project.
And Plate for his incredible Animation work!
Voice Acting by:
Chad Higgs as Shima Tetsuhara
Renee Northy as Yuhara Kuri
Ryan Pratt as Ichizo Senmatsu
Josh Portillo as Hayato Arai
Bradley William Smith as Seigyo Ryobe
Athan Fischer as Tsuchi Rikiya
Iris Dragon as Yukiko Kaminari
Hesham Elshazly as Yanai Konosuke
Sky Rae as Hanako Fuyumi
Jamie Marchi as Kayu Mirakuchi (Yes THAT Jamie Marchi)
Kiera Rhodes as Rosie Fuwa
Edummund C Short as Urata Harunobu
Laura Quiambao as Akiba Haniko
Faux Synder as Teshima Yuki
ALumin as Miyagi Nozomi
With thanks to Stephen Roe and Destin Glowe
And everyone else who has supported us along the way!
And extra special thanks go to: Crowemojis, 123ert234, and Silveefire who all stepped in with assets when Spike Chunsoft (During production of our 2nd chapter) revoked permission for fanganronpa stories to use assets from the game series.
But most importantly, to you the reader.
All of this hard work, love, time, money, and dedication; is for you.
Please enjoy Danganronpa 4.
It's dark.
Why is it dark?
Not ten seconds ago, I was going... Where was I going?
Come to think of it, where am I now?
In the dark it's impossible to tell, moving around feels more like floating in a pool as opposed to standing on the ground. There's something in front of me, a desk? A table? And another, and another...
And a big one, Oh, I get it! This is a classroom! Logically thinking, the door should be... Right over...
Light! At last, the refreshing white embrace of the ceiling lights flood into the dusty old classroom.
I suppose I should introduce myself anyway.
My name is Shima Tetsuhara, and despite what my current, confusing circumstances may suggest, all my life I've been blessed with enough luck to last me a thousand lifetimes. I could put the winning numbers on any lottery ticket.
Problem is, luck plays by it's own rules. My brother threw a dart directly at me at a party when we were kids, I was in a corner, no way of avoiding it, but lady luck being the unforgiving maiden she is saved me with a low flying bird, right between me and the dart.
Of course that's how I won... I remember!
I was going to Hope's Peak Academy! Today was meant to be my first day!
Every year Hope's Peak Academy, an elite school for exceptionally talented high schoolers in their own individual fields, selects a name from a raffle, and the "Lucky" student who's name gets picked, gets in as the Ultimate Lucky Student.
Well this year, that's me.
Shima found himself wandering halls, this certainly looked like Hope's Peak Academy, it was similar to the pictures but also, not, at the same time. The pinboards on the walls were filled with what appeared to be kids drawings, each one labelled with a name and a talent, unsurprisingly none of the childish images were labelled with "Ultimate Artist".
On top of that, the windows were bolted shut with large metal plating.
Later, wandering through the school with a sense of unease, the dust was settled as if no life had seen the building for years, and without natural light and the soft buzzing of dim translucent bulbs overhead, there was an uncomfortable feeling in the air, like he'd walked into someone else's dream. Or perhaps nightmare.
Just as the dread of realising he was awake started to set in, there were voices, a commotion nearby. Following the voices, Tetsuhara found himself approaching a set of double doors, flinging them open he found himself blinded for a moment, as he adjusted to the much brighter room, he found himself with a lot to take in.
Before him was a cafeteria, almost in the style of a 1940's American diner he'd seen on TV. Scattered around the room were 15 people, other students. Each one crazier looking than the last. From an overly buff ginger sitting on the serving station, to a guy sleeping face down at a table in what appeared to be pyjamas.
"That makes 16 of us, a full class, I'm not sure why we're here in these circumstances, but it's a start at the very least" Came a voice from the crowd, belonging to a girl in a smart red school uniform. Not that Shima knew any of the people stood infront of him. He never bothered with the gossip sites and the media to find out who his classmates would be.
"Great, so all 16 students in our class were taken hostage, yeah best news all day" Came a monotonous, cold voice from a boy in a harness with a mask pulled up over his mouth. Shima's eyes darted around the room, from girls in long dramatic gowns, to a pink haired boy who looked away the moment Tetsuhara's eyes landed on him.
Right as Shima opened his mouth to ask what was happening, he found himself rudely interrupted by the speaker system.
Ding Dong, Bing Bong!
"Attention, attention students!"
The screen hanging from the wall by the serving station clicked on by itself in unison with the speakers coming to life, causing the super tall, muscular boy to jump from his perch, startled, crumbling the initial intimidating feeling that he was giving off.
The screen was static, some figure barely visible behind it all.
"Please make your way to the Gymnasium at the end of the hall for your induction! Quick smart! Don't keep me waiting!" The screen cut to black the moment the aggressive voice stopped yelling.
The group of strangers exchanged looks in silence for a moment, a sense of unease creeping its way into each one of them, after the eternity of silence, the same girl in red who greeted Shima upon his arrival approached the cafeteria door.
"Alright, you all heard the announcement, Gymnasium is out of this door and to the left at the end of the hall, lets not wait around any longer" She commanded.
The way she addressed the group came with a sense of authority each of them were familiar with. Suddenly the group found themselves feeling less like a collection of strangers and more like a classroom of students. Perhaps this had something to do with the girl's talent?
Upon her command, the group marched out of the cafeteria and down the hall to the gymnasium, the girl in red following the last student, a short, stout boy in a plaid cape.
The gymnasium, like every other room they had seen so far looked... Different to how they expected it to from the pictures. As if they were in a movie set that was made to look like Hope's Peak. Close, but not quite perfect.
"Strange" came a voice by Shima's side. He turned his attention to a girl stood beside him, she was tall, wore her blonde hair in a braid bigger than he thought they made braids, and a pink work suit topped with a giant train. She looked as if she had come from a fashion event.
"What is it? Something wrong?" Shima asked in a hush tone, the girl turned her head to Shima, revealing that she also had a tiara upon her head.
"Not wrong, I suppose, just strange... This emblem, it's not quite right" The girl nodded to the floor, and sure enough there was a school logo printed onto the gymnasium floor, it was a 4 point star in a circle, almost target like, surrounded by bracket like outlines on either side and topped with a ring that looked like a halo. Whatever emblem it was, it wasn't for Hope's Peak Academy.
"Is that everyone? Then lets get started, shall we?"
The voice was that of the mysterious figure on the TV. Which suddenly revealed itself...
Mr. Monokuma!
The students stared on in a frenzied mix of awe, disbelief, and confusion. As if what was happening before them were a cartoon come to life. And before anyone could comprehend the walking, talking, two tone bear, it began to talk.
"Puhuhu! Welcome newbies, to your new school life! And boy are you in for a ride!"
The students muttered amongst themselves, the more the bear moved and spoke, the more questions mounted up.
"Ahem, lets start with the basics! I am Monokuma! The headmaster of this academy!"
Shima couldn't help but think to himself that every word meant less and less, Monokuma? Everything about this was just nonsense.
"And congratulations Class 79, You get to be the first inductees to our Killing School Life! You may have noticed the blocked up windows, surveillance cameras and hefty iron door! But don't worry it's all with good reason, promise! You have my word, and in this place, whatever I say goes, kiddos!"
Shima raised an eyebrow and right as he opened his mouth to speak a monotonous voice rang out from the very back of the Gymnasium.
"What's this good reason for locking us in here psycho?" He demanded, it was the boy with a harness from the cafeteria, he'd previously had a mask over his face, but Shima noted it clenched in his fist now.
"Weren't you listening to me? The hints were all there! It's for the Killing School Life! From here on out this school is your home sweet home! Nobody comes in and nobody goes out!" He paused for a moment before adding something that would ruin everything.
"Well, not unless they meet the conditions..."
The air stood still, and barely a second passed before a girl raised her voice.
"What conditions? Just spill so we can get outta here, Seriously lock me up with literally anyone else" She complained.
The girl was wearing a purple suit with pink trims, and Shima noticed her glaring at a blonde boy across the room with a pastel rainbow style jumper on, seems these two knew each other before arriving and brought some tension with them.
"Come on, do I have to spell everything out for you kids?! Aren't you meant to be elites?!" The bear yelled, his face turning red.
"Just answer her question!" Came the authoritative demand of the girl in red.
"Okay, you wanna know the condition? It's Killing School Life darling dear! If you want to get out of here it's simple! Kill one of your classmates and get away with it!"
"You're CRAZY!" the girl yelled back, her stance dropping, as if whatever power she had were stripped away.
"Now now, don't jump the gun, remember, what I say in here goes, don't believe me? Then say hello to my little friend!" Cried Monokuma.
As he raised his arms in triumph two panels in the ceiling opened up. For a moment Shima stared failing to register what he was seeing, but when it became clear that he couldn't be staring at anything other than two giant chainguns hanging above them, his blood went cold. This Monokuma character really did want them to kill each other.
"So, now I have your attention" Monokuma started, "Allow me to explain the rules! This academy is sealed shut! To get out, all you have to do is off one of your classmates! However you like, stab em, choke em, eat em, I don't judge I'm just a bear! After you've broken my favourite commandment, and three people find a body, you'll have some time to investigate, use it wisely because that's when the class trial begins! The main event! The crème dela crème of entertainment! If the class can't work out who wheeled their buddy off to the morgue, congratulations killer! You get to leave!"
Shima looked to the girl in red, expecting for her to be the one to ask the questions for the group but the girl was frozen solid. So Shima decided to do so himself.
"What if we correctly identify the killer?" He asked with enough confidence to even surprise himself.
"Glad you asked, If the class correctly identifies the killer, they will be punished, OH! And if the killer gets away with it, everyone ELSE gets punished!" He answered proudly.
"And when you say punished" the boy in beige began, "You sick fuck, you mean-"
"Executed." Monokuma finished.
The word hit the group like a bullet directly through each of their heads. It hung in the air like a foul stench none of them could shake.
"So, enjoy your Killing School Life newbies, and remember, if any of you wanna get out of here, you know exactly what to do"
Monokuma jumped into the air and vanished behind the podium, leaving nothing but haunting thoughts and an unsettling laugh in the air.
"Puhuhuhu!"
