A dull, muffled roar echoed from the sky, and at the same time, horrifying scenes began unfolding all over the city. Screams rang out as many people struggled, only for patches of purple crystal to suddenly spread across their bodies, rapidly covering them from head to toe and encasing them completely in the blink of an eye.
This was... the Apocalypse Virus!!
"Damn it, what the hell is going on?!"
After driving back the Funeral Society’s attack, Sakuramitsu Shuu hurried back to GHQ headquarters. Seeing the Soldiers around him also being encased in crystal, he grew increasingly anxious. But after running around in circles, he couldn’t find anyone who knew what was happening. And just then...
"Sakuramitsu Shuu?"
"Uwah!"
Hearing the voice from behind, Sakuramitsu Shuu jumped in fright. He quickly turned his head, only to see a man in a black coat and wearing a mask standing right in front of him.
"Finally found you. You sure can run... Anyway, now’s not the time to waste time. Come with me."
As he spoke, the man in black reached out to grab Sakuramitsu Shuu, who instinctively shrank back a little
"Wait, who are you?"
"Just a passerby."
The masked man in front of him was none other than Fang Zheng. He just couldn’t be bothered to explain too much to Sakuramitsu Shuu, so he simply put on a mask to keep up a bit of mystery.
"I just want to ask you one question—do you want to save your sister?"
"My sister?!"
At those words, Sakuramitsu Shuu immediately became agitated.
"You know where my sister is?!"
"Of course. Come with me."
As he spoke, Fang Zheng grabbed Sakuramitsu Shuu’s hand, and in the next instant, the scenery before Shuu’s eyes changed. He suddenly appeared in a bizarre, unfamiliar space. Not only that, but in the center of this space, there was a staircase, and at the top of it lay a sleeping girl. That girl was...
"Sis... mmph!!"
The moment he saw Sakuramitsu Shinmei, Sakuramitsu Shuu was about to call out, but Fang Zheng quickly clamped a hand over his mouth.
"Don’t get worked up. Look down carefully."
Prompted by Fang Zheng, Sakuramitsu Shuu looked down. To his surprise, he saw Inori Yuzuriha bound at the foot of the staircase, and in front of her stood an old man and a robed youth.
"What’s going on? Who is that guy?"
"It’s a long story. Anyway, you just need to know one thing: right now, they’re trying to bring Sakuramitsu Shinmei back to life."
"Bring her back?"
Hearing this, Sakuramitsu Shuu’s brows furrowed sharply. He looked at Sakuramitsu Shinmei, then at Inori Yuzuriha.
"But why is Miss Inori here?"
"Because in their plan, Inori Yuzuriha is the sacrifice to resurrect Sakuramitsu Shinmei. Put simply, they want to let Sakuramitsu Shinmei’s Spirit enter Inori Yuzuriha’s body... got it?"
"What? They’re actually...!"
Sakuramitsu Shuu clenched his fists tight, at a loss for words. After hesitating for a moment, he lowered his voice and asked softly,
"Will... will that really bring my sister back?"
Well now, kid’s got a bit of a siscon vibe going on.
Hearing this question, Fang Zheng couldn’t help but give him a sideways glance. That one line from Sakuramitsu Shuu made it obvious he’d actually considered sacrificing Inori Yuzuriha to save his sister. After all, he had already recovered his memories; to him, the sister who’d grown up with him since childhood, whom he’d deeply hurt, would naturally matter more than some girl he barely knew.
"Of course it would. But if that were the way to do it, I wouldn’t have brought you here."
Fang Zheng lowered his voice and continued.
"In truth, the reason they’re doing this is to shackle Sakuramitsu Shinmei’s Spirit. Because Sakuramitsu Shinmei possesses immense power, if they were to wake her directly, these guys wouldn’t be able to make her act the way they want. So they came up with this method: transfer Sakuramitsu Shinmei’s Spirit into Inori Yuzuriha, then control Inori Yuzuriha’s body to indirectly control Sakuramitsu Shinmei’s Spirit."
"What? They’re planning something like that...!"
At that, Sakuramitsu Shuu flew into a rage, clenching his fists so hard his knuckles turned white—fortunately, Fang Zheng reacted quickly and grabbed him again.
"Hold it. I’m not finished yet. If you want to save your sister, you’d better listen quietly."
You siblings both have trouble listening, huh? Must be hereditary.
"What do I have to do?"
"It’s simple."
Fang Zheng smiled slightly and pointed at Inori Yuzuriha.
"You just need to wait for them to drop their guard, then Summon the Void from Inori Yuzuriha’s body, and use that Void to attack the cage binding Sakuramitsu Shinmei. That way you can completely set her free. But listen carefully, it’s dangerous. Sakuramitsu Shinmei’s power is insanely strong; if you fully Release it, there’s a good chance you’ll be caught up in it as well. However, if you don’t wake Sakuramitsu Shinmei, this disaster will keep right on going."
Fang Zheng lowered his voice, quickly explaining the current situation to Sakuramitsu Shuu.
"So you decide for yourself."
Hearing Fang Zheng’s words, Sakuramitsu Shuu lowered his head and fell silent for a moment, then clenched his fists.
"I... I want to save my sister! I know she loves me. Back then, it was all my fault. If it hadn’t been for me, that wouldn’t have happened... And now, it’s time I made up for what I did to her!"
At this point, Sakuramitsu Shuu turned to Fang Zheng, looking thoroughly confused.
"But... who the hell are you, anyway?"
"That question—ask your sister yourself when she wakes up."
Fang Zheng chuckled, then grabbed Sakuramitsu Shuu by the collar.
"Alright, Human Cannon, Level One ready! Fire!"
As his words fell, the next moment Fang Zheng straight up hurled Sakuramitsu Shuu toward that side.
"Uwaaa!!"
Even though he’d already steeled himself mentally, Sakuramitsu Shuu still couldn’t help but scream miserably. But very soon, he forced himself to focus, locking his gaze straight ahead. In almost the blink of an eye, Inori Yuzuriha, who was bound to a cross in the distance, appeared right in front of Sakuramitsu Shuu; then Shuu reached out and directly pulled that Greatsword from Inori Yuzuriha’s chest.
"What’s going on?"
"Who is that?"
Facing the suddenly appearing Sakuramitsu Shuu, Ichirou Shuu and that boy were both utterly stunned. By the time they processed what was happening, they saw Shuu already raising the Greatsword, aiming at Sakuramitsu Shinmei, who was sleeping on the steps, and swinging down with all his might!
"No——!!!"
Seeing this, Ichirou Shuu let out a wail on the spot. He reached out in despair, but by then, it was already too late.
"Boom——!!!"
As Sakuramitsu Shuu’s sword came down, the cage binding Sakuramitsu Shinmei instantly collapsed. A formless, powerful force burst out at once, like a tornado, like the center of a spinning maelstrom, endlessly sucking in power from all directions. And seen from afar, you could watch as the purple crystals that had covered those people’s bodies flaked off piece by piece, blown away like dust on the wind, flying up into the air and then shattering bit by bit.
At the same time, a towering spire of purple crystal rose out of nothing, standing in the very heart of the city.
"No——!!"
Ichirou Shuu raised both hands high, staring in despair at Sakuramitsu Shinmei slowly opening her eyes amid the countless swirling purple crystals. She was his dream, his goal—and now, everything was ruined!
He opened his mouth, wanting to say something. But at that moment, purple crystals were already spewing out from his mouth. In the blink of an eye, the aged man toppled forward onto the ground, his body breaking apart into fragments of purple crystal and vanishing into the air.
As for that thick-eyebrowed boy, he didn’t care at all about the unlucky old man. He was just staring, dumbfounded, at Sakuramitsu Shinmei and Sakuramitsu Shuu floating in midair, completely flabbergasted.
"How... how can this be?"
The boy muttered to himself, but the very next second, his body suddenly jolted—and then a Pitch Black Greatsword stabbed into him from behind, running right through his body.
At the same time, Fang Zheng’s voice rang out.
"That’s because—I’m here."
The boy turned his head, blankly staring at Fang Zheng, who had appeared behind him. He blinked, a look of confusion spreading across his face. Seeing the doubt in his eyes, Fang Zheng chuckled, then raised his right hand, showing off the Order Mark and waving it in front of the boy.
Upon seeing the Order Mark, the boy’s expression changed drastically. He reflexively raised a hand, trying to do something, but...
"Too late!!"
The Primordial Fire flared.
The blazing red flames swallowed the boy completely in an instant. Soon, the charred corpse burning within the fire rapidly vanished. In the next moment, the flames suddenly whirled and spread open, transforming into a Daimon, and Fang Zheng gripped his Greatsword tight, charging into the gate in a single stride.
Using that boy just now, he’d finally managed to lock onto this Star Domain Order Clan signal—there was no way he was letting it slip!
The next instant, the world spun.
As Fang Zheng stepped into the Teleportation Gate, he could feel the entire world seeming to flip over in that very moment. Then, when he opened his eyes again, he was already standing on a street.
"Another Inner World, huh."
Looking at the bustling crowds and lively streets before him, Fang Zheng frowned. This feeling wasn’t unfamiliar to him. He already knew that every world had a corresponding shadow world. For example, the Magical Girl World where Little Sakura and the others lived—flip it over and you get that unscientific Magical Girl World with Akemi Homura and the gang.
Or the Mech World in Mass Effect; twist that and you end up in Gundam.
Even the Main World has a flipped Cthulhu Inner World, doesn’t it?
So this world should be the flipped Inner World of Danganronpa?
In other words, the enemy is hiding here?
Hmm... that actually kind of tracks? The Goddess of Order pulled this stunt before, after all.
But usually, even an Inner World shares some common concepts with its Outer World. Like the Gundam World and the Mass Effect World—they both count as space Science Fiction. Little Sakura’s side and Akemi Homura’s side both fit under Magical Girl. As for the Main World and Cthulhu... let’s just say they’re both fantasy-flavored?
So what about this world?
From what he could see, this world didn’t seem to be suffering from Chaos erosion like the Outer World... or was there some hidden problem?
Thinking this, Fang Zheng walked forward while mulling it over. He came to a nearby newsstand, casually picked up a newspaper, and glanced over the headline.
And just that one glance made Fang Zheng’s whole body go cold, his limbs freezing up, legs shaking, almost dropping him right on his ass!
On the front page, there was a photo of a fairly handsome teenage boy. Beside it, a huge headline ran across.
"High School Detective Shinichi Kudou Strikes Again, Solves Paradise Roller Coaster Murder Case!"
Seeing that line, Fang Zheng’s vision went dark, nearly fainting on the spot.
It’s over. This time, there’s no way I’m getting out!!!

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