"Great!" Kokichi chirped. "Nishishi...okay, now everyone's going."

Listen to his tone... I bet he's secretly disappointed that you're coming along. 'Aww man, now that (Y/N)'s coming along, this entire adventure is automatically boring!'

You grimaced and bit your lip.

"Kokichi...are you planning something?" Shuichi asked him.

"Ah-haha, of course not. After Kaito punched me, I became a changed man. So...relax and just trust me."

You glanced at the boy. The bruise was a nasty purple color, and just the sight made you cringe.

"Alright! Then let's get started before you cockroaches change your damn minds!" Miu exclaimed cheerfully. "First, each of you gotta grab a helmet and plant your a** in one of those seats!"

Everyone followed her instructions, sitting down in one of the seats placed around the computer in the center of the room. After doing that, everyone picked up their helmet.

"You see those two ports on the back of the visor?"

"You mean this?" Kiibo asked her, pointing near the back of his visor.

"That's where you plug in the two cords that connect you to the computer!" the inventor responded. "The red cord is for consciousness, and the blue cord is for memory. I could start throwin' down some real fancy techno-jargon, but you idiots wouldn't get it... All you need to know is those cords'll cram your consciousness and memory into the Virtual World. Just don't shove 'em into the wrong hole! And yes, that is what she said!"

"Okay, fine..." Tsumugi sighed, "if she said so."

"Really?" you muttered under your breath.

"So then, which cords go to which ports?" Maki asked.

"Put the red consciousness cord in the right port, and the blue memory cord in the left."

"Out of curiosity...what happens if you switch the cords?" Kiibo inquired.

"I dunno. I've never done that before... Probably gets all glitchy or something! Maybe you'll become a vegetable, maybe you'll body-swap with someone... Who knows?"

"Well...I guess we'll just have to be careful not to switch the cords, then."

"I-It's okay... If we j-j-just stay calm, then there...won't be any problems," Himiko told everyone with a stutter. "O-Okay...so I hold my chopsticks in my r-right hand, so..."

"Just calm down..." you spoke quietly. Then you looked down at your visor. You grabbed the appropriate cords and plugged them into the correct ports. After a few moments, the rest of the group finished.

"Then you just gotta put the helmet on your head. Finally, press the button near your temple and you'll be whisked away to the Virtual World!" Miu finished her explanation with a cackle. "A paradise more beautiful than the real world, where there's no murder and no Monokuma!"

"So when Gonta press button, 'ava-tar' person take Gonta to 'Ver-chew-ul World' place?" Gonta questioned.

"Oh, for the love of..." She stopped herself there and sighed. "Yeah, sure, whatever makes sense to you. By the way, I tweaked your avatars to make 'em resemble you guys. In fact, compared to your current looks, they're a major improvement! Congrats, Himiko! You don't need to pay for expensive plastic surgery anymore!"

"I never wanted plastic surgery... I like my face." the girl grumbled, glaring at the inventor from under her hat.

Tsumugi sighed and looked down. "I'm still nervous about this..."

"Just shut up and f*ckin' do it already, Four-Eyes! Geez!"

"And it would be a bit late to start second guessing yourself," you added.

"Alright, everybody!" Kaito's loud voice rose above everything else. "Let's go!"

You started to put your helmet on just like everyone else when something tapped you on your arm. You looked to the side where Kokichi was sitting. "...Eh? What is it?"

"You trust me, right?" he asked in a hushed whisper. He then pressed his lips into a firm line, staring at you until you answered.

What if he ends up betraying you...?

You glanced around before looking back at him. "...Yeah... I trust you. Why?"

"Oh, just trust me!" Kokichi giggled and turned back to his own helmet. You did the same, placing it on your head, and...

.
.
.
.
.

"This...is the Virtual World...?" you asked slowly.

"It seems like...it's completely different from what we were told..." Tsumugi commented.

"These graphics are really disappointing!" Himiko yelled in frustration. Her avatar had an angry flush. "How's this supposed to be better than the real world!? These avatars are really disappointing, too! I wanted to have the face of a supermodel!"

Shuichi's avatar sweated a bit. "I thought you liked your face..."

"I still have a robot body," Kiibo spoke. "I must admit, I was secretly expecting more..."

"But...it feels weird. I can move this avatar like I could my own body, right?" Kaito asked. "And with this body, I don't have to worry about all that stuff..."

Shuichi turned around to him. "What stuff?"

"Uh...no, it's nothing."

All of a sudden, Maki's avatar appeared in the room. She looked around once. "...I want to go back."

"Th-That was quick..." Shuichi stuttered.

Can't blame her though... you thought.

Gonta and Kokichi's avatars appeared. Kokichi's avatar had a cheerful blush as he chirped, "Ooohh, so this is the Virtual World. I see, I see. And this is my avatar. Mm-hm, mm-hm. I get it now." He smacked Kiibo across the face.

"Ouch!" Kiibo's face flushed an angry dark red. "What did you do that for!?"

"Ooh, so that hurt."

"Oh, well, now that you mention it...I felt genuine pain just now..."

"That's pretty impressive," Kokichi hummed. "If you felt pain, then that means our senses are connected."

"...Our senses are connected?" Maki repeated.

She was cut off when Miu's avatar appeared in the room. "This place is so great, I come here all the time. It's way better than the real world!"

"What the heck are you talking about, you fraud!?" Himiko asked furiously.

"Heeeeeeeee!" Miu started to sweat bullets.

"This is totally different from what you said," Tsumugi told her. "Plus, this avatar has disappointing graphics."

"Y-Your looks are nothing to write home about. Trust me, you look a billion times better now."

'Anyway...what do you mean our senses are connected?" Maki inquired the inventor. "I need an explanation."

"H-Huh? Didn't I tell you?"

Kokichi slapped Kiibo across the face again before walking over to you and poking your cheek. You swore that you could hear the robot say, "How come I get slapped, yet (Y/N) only gets poked!?"

"It means that this goes way beyond the ream of virtual reality!" Kokichi answered. "We are actually connected!"

"We get it, so stop hitting me!"

"No can do! Even if they are avatars, I could never hit a person!"

"E-Even here...I can't escape your robophobia!"

"C-Calm down, you two..." you tried to tell them. Kokichi just kept poking at your cheek which was starting to get a bit annoying. You whispered, "What are you doing...?"

...He didn't answer.

"...How are our senses set up?" Maki questioned Miu.

"When your avatar receives any sensory input, electrical signals are sent to your brain," the inventory responded. "Your brain then interprets those signals as if it experienced that sensory input for real."

"So even if we're not really being punched, the brain senses pain 'cause of those signals..."

"And since it won't leave any bruises, you can hit all you want!" Kokichi exclaimed.

"That's a bully's twisted logic," Kiibo mumbled.

"Hey!" Gonta looked around. "Why our bodies like this!? This Himiko's magic!?"

"Well....there's a lot of things going on right now, but you don't have to worry, Gonta," Tsumugi told him.

"Can we get to the part where we find the secret of the outside world?" you asked the group.

"We don't even know where to start looking," Kaito responded.

"First, we need to learn more about this world," Kiibo announced. "Is there a map available?"

"Yeah, I've got a map, but first I gotta give you a quick warning about this world," Miu declared.

"Huh? A warning?" Tsumugi questioned. "You need to be quicker on the draw with stuff like that."

"I-I'm plenty quick on the draw! But not too quick 'cause then you can't pull out in time!"

"Shut up..." Himiko grumbled.

I can only imagine what warning this could be... you thought. Then you remembered that someone was still poking at you. "What do you want?" you hissed.

"I was just testing out our senses, you know?" You noticed for the first time the animation that played whenever he spoke.

"But I'm fairly sure that you tested it out enough with Kiibo..." you commented. "Hm... He honestly seems a bit weirder than normal due to these terrible graphics..."

"Terrible graphics?" Kokichi questioned. A small question mark appeared over his head. "True, they could be better, but I think that you still look good! Although, these graphics can't capture all of your beauty." A cheerful look was plastered onto his avatar.

You turned to the side. "Debatable." You looked back at him. "But, I guess that I could say the same thing." You flicked his nose lightly.

"..." A blush was dusted on the boy's cheeks as he turned away from you a small bit.

You turned over to Miu. "So what's with this warning?" you asked her.

"Well, it's not that big of a deal, but there is a special rule to this world... Objects here are unbreakable."

"...What do you mean by that?"

"In the Virtual World, there are no rules that govern whether objects can break. So any object, no matter what it is, can never be broken," the inventor explained. "For example, if you stretch a rubber band far enough, it''ll eventually tear, y'know? But here, the rubber band would stop stretching at a certain point, and just not tear at all. For the same reason, your avatars can't get injured. You'll still feel pain, though. See? I told ya it's not a big deal!"

You nodded your head. "Alright... I get it."

"What are you talking about!? That's a really big deal! You gotta tell us stuff like that before!" Himiko grumbled.

"Heeeeeeeeeee! S-Sorry!" Miu started to sweat nervous bullets. "B-But...that's the only special thing! In every other sense, the physics here are the same—...Oh, wait. That's right... There's a special thing about the avatars, too.."

"There's still more!? Spit it out already!"

"Heeeeeee! I'm sorry, I'm sorry!"

She must be pretty weak if you get so flustered over a little girl, you thought. "Well? Care to share about the avatars?"

"To make things fair...everyone's avatar in this world has the same averaged physical strength..." Miu answered.

"Does that mean there is no discernible difference in our physical abilities?" Kiibo asked.

"So in this Virtual World, I'm just as strong as Gonta?" Himiko inquired.

"What!? Gonta weaker!? That also 'cause of Himiko's magic!?" Tears were in the gentle giant's eyes as he took a step closer to the redhead. "N-No! If Gonta not strong, Gonta no can protect everyone!"

"I-It's not my fault. That's...just how this world is," Himiko told him.

"...Are those the only things different about this world, Miu?" Shuichi asked.

"Y-Yeah...that's everything."

"By the way, how do we log out from this world?" Kokichi inquired.

"O-Oh yeah, that's right.. I need to tell you that. If you ever wanna log out, you just need to use that phone over there." Miu pointed over to an old fashioned phone that was resting on a table. "Just pick it up and say your name. That simple enough for you sh*theads? Also, that phone is fixed and can't be removed from here. Which means, you have to use this room to log in and log out. Whenever you log in, you'll always appear in this room."

"Hmm...okay, got it." Kokichi then frowned. "You guys better not cheat by logging out alone! We have to find the secret of the outside world!"

"Yeah, we got it. So where's this map?" Kaito asked the inventor.

"The map is posted on the wall outside of this room. Follow me." The blonde walked out of the room and everyone followed after her. "Look, there's the map I prepared for you guys," she said while pointing to a map on the wall. "Study it, and you'll know the Virtual World like Tsumugi knows the back of her neck!"

"Huh? What about the back of my neck? How did you know that spot's...sensitive?" Tsumugi questioned.

"O-Okay...I see," Kaito commented. "The back of your neck, huh?"

"Why do you sound so interested in that...?" you spoke up. You looked towards the blue haired girl.

"Let's keep that stuff about the back of my neck a secret," she whispered. "Don't put it up on the Internet, okay? If it spreads, people will start trying to play tricks on me during photo shoots..."

"I mean, we don't really have access to the Internet here, so..." You awkwardly looked over to the side and shrugged. "Um, you should be fine."

"I hope so..."

You felt someone poke you. You turned around, only to find Kokichi there. "...Yes...?"

"I was just wondering. Are you sensitive on the back of your neck?" he asked. His voice made him sound genuinely curious.

"How am I supposed to know?" you asked him, dumbfounded by the question.

"How about we find out!?"

"No...! Look, I'm going to go over and check the map..." After hearing Kokichi let out an exaggerated sigh, you walked over to the wall to look at the map. There were actually two maps, one smaller one and the other a bigger one. You noticed that the smaller one had the label "mansion" written on it.

"This is the map to the mansion, which is the building we're in right now," Miu explained. "This area is the entrance hall, and that room with the phone is the salon. The dining hall, kitchen, and bathroom are also on the first floor."

"There's no second floor...but I do see a rooftop area," Shuichi noted.

"The rooftop, huh? I guess that'd give us a good view," Kaito spoke. "Let's go check it out later."

Sure, you thought, but first we need to look at this other map. You drew attention away from the map of the mansion and towards the larger map. It seemed to be a map of the entire Virtual World.

"Listen up, sh*thead!" Miu exclaimed. "Make sure you remember everything about this world!"

"It looks...pretty expansive. It even continues past the river," Shuichi said. "Is this an ellipsis here? Showing that it continues?"

"Yeah, I'll tell you what that sign means later. You'll understand once you actually go there."

"What about this other building over here?" you asked. You pointed to a drawing of a building across the river.

"That's just a dinky chapel. It was a cluttered mess in there."

"Maybe the secret of the outside world is hidden in there..." Kaito suggested.

"Oh, I just noticed..." Kokichi spoke up. "There are black lines drawn around the world map... But does that mean something?"

"Heh, how nice of ya to notice! Of course it means somethin'!" Miu snapped. "This black line represents a wall! So, yeah... The Virtual World is actually surrounded by a huge-a** wall."

"Surrounded by a wall...?" Tsumugi repeated. "Are we trapped, even in this world!?"

"No, you're not trapped here. Beyond that wall is the end of the world. Literally. Past that wall, nothing exists. Everything ends there."

"I see, so that wall is the end of the world. By the way, Miu, you prepared these maps yourself...not Monokuma, right?"

"Th-That's right...I prepared the maps. What about it...?" the inventor stammered.

"No, it's nothing. I just wanted to know."

"We should be focusing on the more important issue right now," Maki told everyone.

"Yeah. Where in this world the secret of the outside world is hidden..." Kaito responded. "But it's gonna be pretty hard to find something when we have no clue what we're looking for."

As you listened to everyone speak, out of the corner of your eye, you noticed Kokichi silently taking a step towards the front doors.

"...Where do you think you're going?" Maki asked in an almost accusing tone.

"Hm? I was gonna go investigate alone," the boy replied. "There's a lot of interesting stuff I wanna check out."

"Hey... Like hell am I gonna let you do whatever you want," Kaito grumbled, face already turned red with anger.

"Whatever I want...?" Kokichi repeated. "And why do I need your permission, Kaito? I'm free to do whatever I want." He started to frown. "I'm going, no matter what you guys say. Well, it'd be a hassle if someone kept watch over me—"

"Kept watch?" the taller male echoed, still angry.

"Perhaps if we can convince them enough, we can get (Y/N) to look after him," Maki sighed. "Kokichi seems to be fond of them. Perhaps he'll listen to them more."

You started to sweat a bit. "I, uh...don't think that I could, um, do that..."

You heard a small gasp from someone. You looked around and saw Gonta take a step forward, closer to Kokichi. "Gonta not understand what's going on. Gonta not sure how helpful he can be..." he admitted. Then he smiled with a happy blush on his cheeks. "But Gonta can watch Kokichi so he not do anything weird!"

"Gonta, you're so sweet..." Kokichi chirped, "but I knew you'd say that. Even without your ridiculous physical strength, as long as you're selfless and courageous... You'd make a terrific bodyguard!" A happy blush formed on his own cheeks. "With you by my side, I know I'll be safe from any trap! Okie then, let's goooooo!"

"Wait, you're really going to leave?" you mumbled. "Just like that...?"

"I'll be back, sweetheart," he whispered in your ear. "Just trust me." The boy then turned away from you and promptly left the building.

"Ah, wait, Kokichi!" Shuichi exclaimed.

"It's okay! Leave it to Gonta! Gonta keep eye on Kokichi!"

"B-Bodyguard...?" Tsumugi started to sweat a bit. "You mean Gonta?"

"It seems he planned this all along," Maki commented.

"Geez...he really knows how to manipulate people," Kaito grumbled.

"Manipulate is kind of a harsh way to put it..." you mumbled, looking down at the floor.

"Oh, yeah." Shuichi turned to you. "I saw Kokichi whisper something to you. What did he tell you?"

"N...Nothing important," you told him. "Now let's check out the rooftop."

"Alright, follow me!" Miu chimed. "If you wanna peek up my skirt while you're at it, go for it!"

Is there really much to see with an avatar? Especially one that's as blocky as ours...? you wondered. Still contemplating about that, you followed right after her up the stairs. Everyone else was right behind you.

As soon as you made your way up the stairs and exited the stairwell to step onto the roof, a cold chill hit you. "E-Eh?" You looked around. "Snow...? Why is there snow here...?" You pulled up the scarf around your neck in hopes that it would offer you some warmth.

Everyone else made it onto the roof. You saw Tsumugi's avatar shivering. "Is it...cold here? Our avatars can feel cold?" she asked.

"Yep! Isn't it great!?" Miu responded cheerfully. "Not only can you feel cold, but you can even feel pain and pleasure too! In fact, you don't even need to use birth control here!"

"Hey...try to be quiet, please," the girl said, voice starting to sound more agitated. "I feel like the more you talk, the more I'll dislike you."

"...How about we start exploring the rooftop?" Kiibo suggested. Everyone nodded in agreement to that.

You walked over to the side of the roof to look at a telescope... Upon walking closer, you could see that it was actually a pair of binoculars mounted to a pole sticking up from the floor.

Humming in wonder, you looked through the binoculars. You could see a path leading away from the mansion and then a river. You noticed that you couldn't see from beyond there. It must be where that wall is that Miu spoke about.

Pulling yourself away from the binoculars, you noticed next to the door that opened up to the stairwell was another door. Curious, you peeked inside. Inside, it seemed to just be some sort of storage closet. The shelves were mostly empty except for a box and rolled up carpet. On the floor was some lattice.

You stepped outside, noticing everyone crowd around Shuichi. You figured that they must have forgotten about you...or something like that.

"...Yes, but there weren't too many points of interest," you heard him say.

Tsumugi nodded at him before shivering. "Aah, it's really cold. I didn't think it'd be snowing."

"Snow and a mansion... How ominous," Maki said with a sigh. "Great job, killing game simulator."

"But...we're not leaving any footprints in it," Kaito noted. "What's up with that?"

"It was probably programmed like that. It'd be easy to find the culprit from the footprints."

"Yeah...looks that way," Miu spoke. "But you don't need to worry about it. This is just simulation and there are no dangerous items here whatsoever. Let's go outside! We can cross the river and head to the chapel!"

You looked over at the side, feeling your stomach start to churn a bit. Despite being told that all of the dangerous items have been deleted, I still can't help but to worry, you thought nervously. With or without any weapons here, I have this feeling that something bad will happen...

You noticed that everyone had left the rooftop by then. You squeaked quietly, an embarrassed blush appearing on your face. Luckily, there was, of course, nobody there to see it.

In a slight panic, you rushed down the stairs and out of the mansion to find the others. You followed the dirt path until you saw the others all standing near the river.

"What took you so long!?" Miu shouted upon seeing you. "Hurry up and come on me! Er, I mean...come with me! Hurry up!"

After running closer to the group, you looked behind the inventor. "Um, Miu...? There's no bridge."

"We've already got a bridge!" She turned the opposite way and pointed. "There's a wider river downstream that connects to this one. Next to it, there's a long signboard that says, 'Mirai Hills.' Apparently it was meant for the mansion, but we can use it as a makeshift bridge."

"So we just need to get that signboard?" Kiibo asked her.

Miu looked around at everyone, eyes finally settling on Shuichi. "Yeah, but I'll ask the masochist to go get it! He just looooves bein' bossed around! Shuichi! Go get the signboard!"

"What? Me?" the detective questioned.

"...Yeah, go get the signboard," Maki ordered.

"Huh?"

"Yeah," Himiko deadpanned. "You're a total masochist."

"Huh!? Wait a minute... Do you all think that about me?"

Augh, tough luck, you thought sarcastically. You watched him walk down the river to retrieve the sign. Once he got back, Miu immediately ordered for him to place it across the river, and he reluctantly obeyed.

"See? It fits perfectly! We have ourselves a bridge now!" the inventor chirped.

"We're gonna walk over this shabby-looking signboard? It's definitely gonna break," Himiko whined.

"Your brain must be smaller than your tits! I told you, objects don't break in this world!"

"Oh, so even this crappy signboard can be a sturdy bridge in this world, huh?" Kaito spoke.

"This signboard is the only bridge we got!" Miu yelled at him. An angry blush appeared on her face. "So don't f*ck up and let it get washed away! If this signboard gets washed away by the river, we won't have a bridge anymore!"

The sound of footsteps pulled your attention away from him. "Hm...?" You turned around to see Kokichi and Gonta walking up to everyone.

"Huh? There's a bridge!" Kokichi exclaimed. He smiled cheerfully, a small blush dusting his cheeks. "Oh, thank god! I gave up when I realized I had no way to cross the river."

You stepped closer to him before anyone—Maki or Kaito—could snap at him. "Where were you and what were you doing? You were gone for a fair amount of time..." You glanced over to the side. "It made me finally realize just how pathetic and lonely I am without you..." you added as a mutter under your breath.

"Aww, were you worried about me? Don't worry. I was just in the forest looking for the secret of the outside world," he responded. "But unfortunately, I couldn't find it... Welp, I wasn't expecting it to be that easy anyway... Right, Gonta?"

"Yeah..."

"Perfect!" Miu quickly announced. "It's more convenient when we're all together anyway."

"Hm? What do you mean, convenient?" Kokichi asked.

"N-Nothing!" The inventor started to sweat a bit. "Urgh, whatever... Let's just cross the river!" With that, she walked on the sign to cross the river. Kokichi followed after her.

That sounded slightly suspicious and I just do not like where this may be going...

"Hurry up and get over here, guys!" the boy shouted. "It's too late to head back now, okay?"

You watched as everyone else walked across the river. "..."

Kokichi made a 'come here' motion with his finger. "C'moooon! What are you waiting for?" He mouthed the word 'sweetheart' at the end of his sentence.

"Alright, alright." You walked across the sign, joining the others on the other side of the river.

Word Count: 4312
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ooooof....check the comment that i'll write once this gets published.